Supposed To Be Mine

Prologue

"River, just come home please." Her mother begged over the phone. "I'm very worried. You can't just run off like this."

"Oh, I can't?" She asked in the quietest yelling voice she had. "I've been on my own for six long years, and I am just fine."

"That's not fair, I sent you away to keep you safe."

"What's not fair mom, is the atrocity of a lie you kept going these last couple of years. You could have at least told me Ryan was getting married to someone else. I at least deserved not to have been blindsided." She sniffles. "I've spent all this time thinking I was going to marry him.  You told me that Ryan agreed to marry me. Why lie mom? I would have gone away to the all-girls school of your choice regardless."

"Look." Lucille pauses. "The truth is, I was serious the day I asked your aunt to promise me, Ryan, to you. I don't think she took me seriously. I guess she figured I wasn't in my right mind because Zoey had only recently passed."

About six years ago, tragedy struck their family. River's half-sister Zoey, was brutally murdered by her boyfriend. River will never forget the two days they spent trying to get a hold of her, then to find her bruised up, bloody, and left in her shower completely naked. It scarred River and her mother to the point of no return.

Beatings were a trend in their family. Lucille was beaten by both River's and Zoey's father. Their grandmother was also in an abusive relationship up until the day she died and Zoey met her drug dealer boyfriend right out of high school and stayed with him for four brutal years. See the trend? River grew up living and breathing it. She watched her father slap, punch, kick, and drag her mother by the hair and more. Most of her childhood she lived in fear and torment.

It got so bad, she came home from school one day to find her Lucille half-dead on the floor. Nothing can remove that image from her memory. Especially the memory of two weeks later, when he was released from jail and back in the house. Her mother always took him back. It's one of the reasons Zoey ran as fast as she did.

It wasn't until the day she really tried to defend her mother; she was fifteen, and her father was in one of his drug-induced rages. She ended up on the ground with a busted lip and bruised cheek. For the very first time, her mother called the cops and had him arrested. It's been eight years since they last saw him.

Unfortunately, life didn't get easier without him. After two months of unpaid bills, They were evicted and living in a car. During this time, it was just River and her mother, Zoey was living with her boyfriend and unable to help.

Lucille promised them both, no more abusive relationships. She even enrolled in weekly sessions of group therapy for battered women. That is where they met Angela. She too escaped an abusive relationship and was actually the founder of the organization.  She remarried and had three sons. One from a previous relationship, Ryan Shane Price, and two from her current husband, Landen, the second-born, and Zackary Brenner, the baby.  Angela was like a light in their darkness. She quickly became best friends with Lucille and has been ever since. After she found out they were living in a car, she gave Lucille a job at the clinic and practically begged for them to move into the Brenner guest house. Which they did.

Angela, her husband Fredrick, Ryan, Zack, and Landen, became River's family. Her only family. Christmas, New Years, all of the holidays were celebrated with them. It went like that for two years. To have Angela and her family felt warm and safe. Ryan made her feel warm and safe. He became very protective of her. Maybe it was because the first time he saw her she was frightened by their German Shepard, Razor. Anytime she visited, he would be the one to lock Razor in a room.

One time, they went to the beach. Lets just put it this way, large waves made her drift too far in, and almost drown. She thought she was being pulled away by a shark when Ryan unexpectedly grabs a tight hold of her arm. Then she realized that it was her regular paranoia. He saved her. He was always there, especially when she needed him the most.
It was a good thing too because she was clumsy, accident-prone, and afraid of life itself.

Those short years with them were the best of her life. She held on extra tight to those memories, because after Zoey was murdered, things were never the same. Her mother went into a depression and started having panic attacks frequently. She worried so much that it would happen to River, that she took out a loan and shipped her off to an all-girls college. Her reason, the "The Redford curse." Redford is her grandmother's maiden name. Lucille was sure that River would make the same mistakes that their relatives did. She was absolutely convinced that she would pick the wrong guy and live the curse just like her and Zoe did.

Of course, the only guy she was thinking about was Ryan, but she didn't tell her mother that. It was luck and chance or maybe it was something else, that her mother arranged for her to be married to him. She said in order to break this curse that she wanted to pick River's husband. She wanted to make sure that River didn't repeat the Redford's cycle. Ryan was her choice.

River was flabbergasted, she thought she was only going to have him in her dreams.  At the time, she was seventeen and maybe thinking with her hormones.

"River." Lucille appears through the phone. "It was a crazy idea I guess. I think your aunt agreed with it because she was afraid I would lose it again. I don't think she ever told Ryan about it."

A tear ran down River's cheek. She's been dreaming about this man, and believing he was hers, and he's been going about his life like she didn't exist. She wipes her tears and clears her throat subtly. "I have to go, mom."

"River doesn't do this. This is your graduation night."

"You should have told me." She hangs up and turns off her cell phone. She looks behind her and peeks at her friend's parent's bedroom window. It was late, and she hoped she wasn't keeping them up.

Earlier in the day, everything was perfect. She couldn't wait to see everyone. When only her mother, uncle, and aunt showed up at her graduation, she was okay with it.

When she arrived home, no one was there. So, she asked. "Where is everyone?"

"Zackary and Landen were supposed to be here somewhere," Angela replies. "And Ryan is home with Anastasia"

"Anastasia?"

"His fiancé."

"What?" River mumbles. Her aunt was acting as if she wasn't supposed to be Ryan's fiancé." 

"Didn't your mom tell you? Ryan is getting married." She smiles.

"No." River shakes her head. "I didn't know." She manages to keep her features neutral and politely excuses herself. On the inside, she was drowning. She was lied too. Why? Why would they do this to her?  She leaves the main house and goes to the guest house where she knew as home. She rushes into her bedroom and shuts the door.

A few minutes later. "River?" Her mother cracks open the door.

"You liar!"

"I'm sorry."

Quickly, she picks up her already packed bags and barges past her mother. She left the house. Now she is staying with her friend Tori, a friend that happened to live a few miles away.

Feeling emotionally drained from the day's events, she tip-toes back into the dark house and lays back down on the sofa.

What hurt her the most was that she thought that she meant more to Ryan. Now that she thought about it, she thought her meant more to all of them. They never called, only said hello when her mother called. They never emailed, or even texted. In the last two summers, she took classes so she could graduate early. She hasn't seen any one of them, and they didn't care to keep in contact. Well, Zack did. He emailed once a week to check up on her. The rest of them made no effort.

She thought she had a family.

~~~~~~~~~~~

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