𝙄𝙉 𝙒𝙃𝙄𝘾𝙃
Delilah Van Der Linde - better known as Delilah Beckett - is desperately searching for her father. After being on the run for weeks, she finds the first sign of her father's gang in a saloon in Valentine.
A drunk man named Arthur Mo...
When Delilah entered her stepfather's office after he called for her, she felt like she was about to pass out from nervousness.
"Yes, Mr. Beckett?" she asked politely.
"Come in and close the door. And you might want to sit down, I need to talk to you."
After taking a deep breath, she sat down in front of her stepfather and stared at him expectantly, "Yes, Sir?"
"My dear, I regret to inform you that your fiancé has passed away," he told her, his voice was monotonous, as always.
Delilah didn't make a sound. Because instead of sadness or grief, somehow joy spread throughout her. And she felt damn guilty about that.
"Although I'm not sure if that will really bother you. Am I right, Delilah?" her stepfather continued.
Her stepfather was right, kinda. Her fiancé, James Elliott, was a good man. He was decent and polite. But still, she didn't love him. And he didn't love her either, but this arranged engagement was decided when both of them were children.
James was the same age as her, and he had always told her that he didn't want to get married until they were 21. He always said he didn't want to take away their teenage years. But Delilah knew he just wasn't ready to get married yet, he wasn't done sleeping around.
And she didn't care, James never behaved inappropriately towards her - they only kissed a couple of times. She knew that she wasn't allowed to marry for love, so maybe.. maybe James really was the best fiancé she could have had.
Shit, she thought to herself. She knew that her stepfather would soon find a new man for her and she prayed that he would be just as respectful as James.
"Thank you for telling me, Mr. Beckett. I'm going back to my room now, I need some time alone to process this loss."
But before she could get up, her stepfather let out a snort, "Don't fool me, girl. You never loved him. You are still promised to the Elliot-Family. So you will marry his father."
Delilah felt like her heart stopped for a moment, "I — what?" She jumped out of the chair and glared at the man in front of her.
"I raised you like my own child after your father didn't want you. You mother was a whore, laying with a man before being married. Her early death was God's punishment."
Delilah felt tears forming in her eyes, "Don't talk about my mother like that!"
"I'm the man of the house. I'll say whatever I want. So you are going to marry Mr. Elliot, you ungrateful little brat."
And for the first time in her life, she screamed at her stepfather, "I'm not gonna marry that 50 year old man. He's disgusting, touching women without their permission. Slapping around all their staff. He even got one maid pregnant, against her fucking will! And you're okay marrying me off to him?!"
A grin spread on his face as he slapped Delilah across her face, hard. She took a few steps back, her hand on her throbbing cheek. And then she ran out of his office. But she didn't run to her room, she went to the stable.
Mr. Wesson, the stableman, looked after her horse Apollo when she entered. He groomed Apollo and gave him an apple. But his hand immediately dropped when he saw her face.
She was crying, hard. And her left check was red, showing the print of a hand, "What happened, Miss?" Mr. Wesson asked, immediately concerned.
"My fiancé passed away and stepfather is making me marry a disgusting and abusing old man," she whispered, tears still rolling down her cheeks.
Mr. Wesson let out a gasp. He had known Delilah since she was born. After all, he was one of her mother's closest friends. And when her mother passed away all those years ago, he made his last promise to her on her deathbed. To keep her daughter safe.
"I don't know what to do, Mr. Wesson. I can't stay here, I don't wanna get married. Not to him. I—I just wanna run away. Do you think I could do that? Survive that?"
Her whole body was shaking and he led her to a hay bale to sit down. "We're gonna think of something, okay Miss? It's gonna be okay," he told her softly, laying a blanket over her shoulders.
It took her a few minutes to calm down. And when she finally did, she noticed the strange look on his face. "What?" she asked, confused.
"I.. I promised your mother to never tell you."
"Tell me what?" she asked back, getting worried.
"About your father. Your biological father."
Delilah looked at the ground, "Everyone always said he never wanted me. That he didn't care about me and left my mother because of me."
Mr. Wesson sighed, "That's not true, Miss."
"You mean everyone fucking lied to me my whole life? Even you?" she asked back.
"No, not everyone. Just your mother and I, I suppose. She never told anyone else."
Delilah sobbed, "Did he really hate me?" she asked quietly and felt that stabbing pain in her chest. That familiar stabbing pain, that she always felt when she thought of her unknown biological father, who supposedly never wanted her.
"No, he loved you before you were even born."
She let out a ragged breath, "Loved? Is he dead?"
Mr. Wesson shook his head, "No, but he thinks you're dead. Your mother left him when she was five months pregnant. She told him that the baby.. that you didn't make it. Told him that's the reason she left him."
Delilah was confused. Confused and mad and angry at her mother, "Why would she do that?"
"She was scared," Mr. Wesson started and saw that anxious look on Delilah's face, "She wasn't scared of your father. But she was scared about that life they had. You mother.." Mr. Wesson started to smile softly, "Your mother—Annabelle, she loved him deeply. I was there when they met for the first time. Even I saw it, that was love on the first sight."
Finally, Delilah stopped crying. She was curious, wanting to know everything about her real father, "Where did they meet?"
"In a general store in Saint Denis. Annabelle only wanted some peaches, but they fell in love immediately, you know?" Mr. Wesson told her with a small smile.
But then he sighed and continued, "After a few years, however, she felt like he could no longer protect her. He led a dangerous life, Miss. Your mother knew from the beginning and was okay with it. But when she got pregnant, she was afraid that you wouldn't be able to grow up in safety."
"Why?" she whispered.
"Have you ever heard of the Van Der Linde gang?"
Delilah furrowed her brows. Because yeah actually, she had. She had read the newspaper reports about them, "Yes, they robbed a bank in Blackwater a few months ago, right?"
Mr. Wesson nodded, "Yes, that was them. And Dutch.. Dutch Van der Linde is your father."
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devil's backbone by the civil wars
——————————————————————— I know the timing with Annabelle's death and so on, doesn't match with canon. But for the sake of this fanfic, she's the OC's mother.
