Her once true love defects to Dauntless, abandoning her.
Penelope finds herself lonesome two years later. She has everything she could ask for, but nothing is fulfilling. That's until she comes across Charlie again. Old feelings are lost but somethi...
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ONE month.
That's all the time I got before having to marry Eric. Only one person must have been behind the change of date. It all had to be Mama, no one else.
When the little gathering was done with and everyone had gone back to their housings, I immediately rushed back to the house. No one stopped me this time but I sensed someone, most likely Eric, close behind.
Back inside the house, that was when he finally spun me around. Eric held his finger in front of my face.
"Don't start," he warned lowly, before Mama and Papa made their way inside.
"You!" I shrieked once Mama came into view. "You arranged this, didn't you?!"
She gasped and looked taken back. Papa hugged her and he turned to me.
"She did it for the best, Penelope."
I tried lunging at them but Eric caught me around my stomach.
"The best?! We're rushing something I don't want! Why the need to rush this?!"
"Initiation in Dauntless," Eric answered, pulling me back as I squirmed under his hold.
Angry tears started streaming down my face. Eric's arms tightened even more but I ignored it as I tried getting to my parents.
"I don't care about initiation! Where's my say in any of this?!" I screamed, my voice cracking.
"Take her upstairs and don't let her out until she's calm," Papa ordered Eric.
Eric did as he was told, immediately starting to drag me towards the stairs.
"Stop! We need to talk!" I screeched, kicking around.
"Stop with this fucking bullshit," Eric ordered darkly.
I continued kicking until he threw me onto my bed. I fell face-first but quickly crawled out of bed and onto my feet. He had taken the chair from my desk and propped it under the doorknob.
"What's wrong with you?!" I screamed at him but he answered in a different way.
His hand connected with my cheek, throwing me off-guard. I stumbled sideways and nearly fell to my knees. He roughly pulled me to him, taking my face into his other hand. His fingers dug into my already stinging cheek, and he gave me no mercy.
"Deal with it. You and I will be getting married in one month, now suck it up!" he bellowed, shoving me back onto my bed.
My hands clenched around the neat bedsheets and a choked sob escaped my lips.
"Why do you keep doing this to me?!" I cried out, more hot tears running down my cheeks.
Eric pulled me to him, sitting me on the edge of the bed. He pulled down the straps of my floral dress then managed to yank it off. I was left exposed to him, with only my underwear on. I hugged myself and covered my bare chest but Eric pulled my arms away.
