Inconvenient Temptation | WLW

Chapter 2

"Alexandra! Are you in here?" A voice called through her door, a sharp knock on her door making her jump.

Putting her pencil down, Alex did a quick scan of her room before sighing. "Come in, dad." She called back, turning her head towards the opening door.

Leaning against the doorframe, his eyes lazily moved around the room, only landing on Alex when he failed to find something out of place, his jaw tightening slightly as their eyes met.

"Doing your schoolwork, I see. Good." His voice was flat, no emotion in his words. It was like he had to force himself to speak to her, his voice dead while his eyes grew heated with anger.

Alex didn't say anything in reply, just nodding while spinning her pencil in her hand, waiting to see if he had anything else to say before she turned back to her work.

He didn't like it when people turned their backs on him while having a conversation.

Not that this was much of a conversation.

"And how was your first day back at that school?" His voice took on a accusatory tone, making Alex's shoulders tense. "No misbehaving, I hope? We all know how that ended up last time."

Heart pumping wildly, Alex gave a noncommittal shrug, not trusting her voice.

"You answer me when I ask you something, Alexandra!" Her father suddenly shouted, fists clenching as he stormed up to stand beside her. "We've gone over this too many times. Do I need to-"

"No!" Alex interrupted him before instantly back peddling, realising her mistake. "I- I just mean... no. That's not- it's not necessary. Not that I think-"

Her father backhanded her cheek, making her head swing to the left as she cried out, hands flying up to cradle her cheek as it began to swell.

"Don't stutter. It's unbecoming." Was all he said, staring at her for a few seconds before swiftly turning and leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

As soon as the door shut, Alex began to cry, tears rolling down her face as she pressed her lips tightly together. She had learnt not to cry loudly when she very young. Her father didn't like the sound of crying. It was why he had never had another kid, no matter how much her mother begged him for one.

The thought of her mother released more hot tears tumbling down her cheeks as she rushed over to her mirror, a sob pushing its way from her lungs at the sight of her already bruising cheek.

Apart of her liked to think that none of this would be happening if her mother was still alive. If she hadn't gotten cancer and died, everything would be fine and her dad would be normal, he would be able to look his daughter in the eye without hate and he definitely wouldn't hit her.

But she knew that was all a fantasy.

Alex had only been young when her mother had died but she remembered enough to know that her mother had been hit just as much as Alex was being hit now - maybe even more. She could remember the sounds of her cries, the way she would scream and beg  for him to stop hurting her, to love her like she loved him.

But he never did.

Her dad hadn't started hitting her immediately after her mother had died, he mostly left her alone with the nanny, only checking in once a week or so. He had to check his heir was alive, after all.

The thought made her let out a weak giggle as the tears began to slowly stop, thinking of the jokes she and Ryan would make about her secretly being royal. It would certainly explain why her father was so disappointed that she was a girl, constantly reminding her that she was never the son he wanted to raise as his 'heir'.