Broken

Pilot

Today was Anna's birthday. She got out of bed this morning with a big smile on her face. She couldn't wait for today. She got dressed and ready to go downstairs for breakfast.

As she walked down the stairs, she heard her mother, Isabelle, talking to Henry, her brother.

"Oh it would be lovely, Henry. Tell him Richard." Isabelle said.

"Mum I really don't want to go." Henry said as he ate his food.

"Go where?" Anna interrupted.

"I was just telling Henry how he should come to the opera with me and your father." Isabelle replied.

Anna listened to her mother talk about the opera as she went to give her dad a hug and sit down next to him.

"Goodmorning Annabelle, and happy birthday. I have a present for you. Mary! Bring out Anna's gift!" Richard was excited to give Anna her gift. He knew she had been wanting these for quite some time.

Anna looked over to see Mary bringing out a black box with a simple white bow on top. When she set it down infront of her, she immediately opened the box to see three books. But not just any books, the books Anna had been wanting for a lifetime.

"Oh my... You really got them for me?" Anna said to her dad wide eyed.

"Of course. You said you've been wanting them and we didn't have them in the library so-

Richard was interrupted by a big hug from Anna. "Thank you thank you thank you! I'm going to read these right now." Anna said as she ran off to the library to go read her books.

"You have breakfast young lady!" Her mother yelled to her but she was already gone.

As Anna sat in her corner in the library, she thought about how excited she was to tell Thomas about the books. She had always talked about them. Everytime her and Tom would walk around Watery Lane and they would pass the bookshop, she would see them. And she would just look at them, waiting for the day she got them, and she finally did.

She never got to see the Shelby's that much since she lived in London. She hated that she lived far away from them. She only saw them when her mother wanted to go visit Martha, Thomas's mum, or if Martha called and said she and the rest of the family wanted them to come visit.

Isabelle and Martha were childhood best friends. They lived in the same neighborhood until Isabelle met Richard. They got married after 2 years of being together and then had Henry and Anna. They moved to London once they had Henry and got a big house and haven't moved since.

Anna had always loved every second of her time spent with the Shelby's. She liked being on Watery Lane better than London. She could actually be her wild self in the small city. But around her mother, she had to act proper. If she said the wrong thing, scolded. If she sat the wrong way, scolded. If she ate a certain way that wasn't her mothers liking, scolded.

Isabelle had very high expectations for her children, that was known by everyone. Henry was basically the star child while Anna was just...herself. That's why she loved being in Small Heath. She could be herself there and she didn't have to worry being scolded by anyone.

*

Once Anna finished reading the first book, she made her way into her fathers office to tell him all about it.

As she walked into the office, Richard lifted his head to see her making her way over to the chair infront of his desk. "Well hello Anna." He said to her as he put his pen down.

She sat down and got comfy in the chair and blabbed all about the book to her dad. "It's amazing, really. I can't wait to read the second book. I think that's what I'll do tomorrow." She continued to talk non stop to her father about the book and other things.

"I'm glad you had a good birthday, but are you ready to have an even better one?" Richard said to her with a smirk on his face.

Anna gave her father a confused look. "What do you mean?"

He leaned back into his chair. "You said you wanted to ride a horse. Since it's your birthday, and your finally old enough, let's go ride one." He said with a smile

Anna's face dropped then lit up as the words set in. "Wh- You're serious? Really? Oh my god! Yes! Let's go, right now." She said as she got up to go to the front door and get her shoes and coat on.

Anna and Richard walked to the stables, Anna basically running, she was so excited to finally be able to ride a horse. She begged for years to ride one, but her mother never let her. So Richard thought while Isabelle was occupied with other things for a while, he and Anna could sneak to the stables.

They walked in and Anna walked to every horse and said hi to them. "I think it would be best if you road Winny for your first time. She'll go easy on you." Richard said as he grabbed the saddle to put on her. Anna had the biggest smile on her face. Richard walked over to her and looked her in the eye. "Okay, your mother doesn't know we're out here. And she cannot know we were out here. If she asks, we took a walk, okay?" He said sternly to her.

"Got it." She said back, still with a big smile.

After Richard told her all the basics and helped her get onto the horse, she was riding all by herself in 20 minutes. She loved every second of it. She was riding fast, but not to fast.

The wind blowing in her face, the sound of the horses hooves hitting the ground, the fresh air smell, it was calming. She had that same feeling she got when she was in Small Heath. She felt free.

Richard watched her proudly. Seeing his daughter look so happy and carefree let him know that he did good.

***

A couple hours later, Anna brought the horse back to the stables and her and Richard made their way back to the house. Anna felt amazing. This was definitely her best birthday ever. "Thank you, dad. I really enjoyed today." She said as she looked up at him with a smile.

He looked back down at her and smiled back. "Your welcome sweetie, Happy birthday."

They entered the house, a maid came to them to grab their coats. Isabelle walks in and is confused. "Where were you two?" She asks, looking between the father and daughter. "We went on a walk." Anna says.

Isabelle still looks confused. "A walk? You went on a walk...?" She said looking at Richard. "Yes, we went on a walk. Why do you seem so surprised?" Richard says as he walks into the kitchen. "I'm not I just-" The maid walked in while they were talking and said that Polly was on the phone for Isabelle and it was urgent.

Isabelle walks into the living room to answer the phone. Anna looked up as she was sitting on the couch and seen her walk in. "Hello? Wh- Pol, what are you talking about?... No, no that's not true..." Isabelle dropped the phone, her knees went weak and she fell to the floor. "No no no." She choked in between sobs.

Anna ran over to her mother when she dropped to the floor. "Mum, breathe. What happened?" She asked as she rubbed her back to try and calm her down. She looked up to see her dad running in from hearing his wife's screams and sobs. "Isabelle..." He bent down to hold her. Anna stood up to watch everything unfold. "Mar- M- Martha..." As soon as Anna heard her name, she knew. "Martha- Martha is dead." Isabelle said and screamed more.

Anna stood there in silence. It felt like a brick was dropped onto her stomach, she couldn't move, she couldn't talk, she couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe. The last thing she remembers before she passed out is seeing Henry in the doorway with a blank face.

*Authors Note*
Hi guys, sorry i accidentally deleted the pilot chapter and had to re write it. It's different from the first one but it's still the same concept. Hope you enjoyed!