Unexpected

Chapter I - Run

*July,1828*

"You'll learn to love him," her mother had said. "It takes time. See how I learned to love your father?" Aurelie sighed. "No, Maman, that is not what I want. I want to just fall in love, not learn to love. And I can't fall in love with a man keeps doing this to me." She then showed her mother the bruises and cuts he had left on her body. Her mother tensed up, repulsed at the state of her least favorite daughter. She took a deep breath, and Aurelie already knew what she was going to say : If only you were more like..."If only you were more like your sister, Celeste..." her mother said. "Then he would treat you better.

*******

*September, 1828*

  Gently, painfully, she stood up. She cringed and whimpered at the pain she felt in her legs, her torso, her whole body in fact. She turned and saw her reflection, with bruises covering her pale, freckled body. Never in her twenty-four years of life had she felt as hurt, as ashamed as she did now. She carefully made her way to the mirror, and inspected the severity of the wounds. Her trembling hands touched her face, making sure this was real, making sure the mirror wasn't tricking her. But it was real. All the bruises, the cuts, the tears, they were all so very real, and  Aurelie fell to the floor, sobbing. I can't do this Maman. I can't. I've tried, and I've failed. I can't learn to love this man, Maman. She remembered their conversation, which had, as always, ended with Aurelie being compared to her twin, Celeste. She had tried a countless amount of times to try to be as good as her sister, Constance Opaline, but when Aurelie's wild read curls, freckled covered face, and clumsiness was compared to her sister's smooth red hair, perfect skin, and impeccable manners, she just couldn't win.

  She wiped away her tears, trying to reconstruct her wall. Several years ago, Aurelie Alexandrie Laroux had realized that to survive in her family, she had to construct an impenetrable wall around her, a wall that hid all emotions, desires, dreams, and hopes. And tonight, the humiliation, frustration, and despair caused it to crumble and fall.

  She hated him. She hated the fact that she was born into a family that was incredibly shallow and narrow-minded. She hated the fact that she had to marry this bastard. She hated the fact that nobody believed her when she told them what he did. But most of all, she hated the people the people who had arranged this damn marriage.

  Since she was part of an upper-class family, she was forced into an arranged marriage. Her husband-to-be was a man named Stephan Baston, and he was the man who tortured Aurelie every chance he got, while acting like a true gentleman around everyone else. She knew it was no use telling anyone. They'd all tell her what a gentleman he was, how she was so incredibly lucky to marry him someday. But Aurelie knew what he was truly like. She had seen it, and been scarred by it, both physically and emotionally. He was in of the many reasons she decided she couldn't stay in this cage called a house.

  Her family, as we have said before, was incredibly shallow. They couldn't care less about whether Aurelie was happy with her husband, as long as he remained rich. Whenever she tried to talk t them about how she didn't love him, and never would. They just want to stay rich, and claimed that she would learn to love him as the years go by. But she does not believe in learning to love someone; she believed that marriage should happen between two people who loved each other very much, and had been put together by fate, by destiny, not by selfish relatives. Many would call her a stupid young girl that had read too many fairy tales for believing this.

  Aurelie grabbed a cloth bag, and stuffed in all things she deemed necessary, such as clothes, and money. She left all her elegant gowns and dresses behind, deciding they wouldn't be of much use. She changed into the simplest dress she had, trying to avoid the purple bruises Baston had placed all over her, and slipped on the most comfortable shoes she had. She grabbed a coat, and making as little noise as possible, walked out of her room.