A Beast Sees No Beauty

Chapter Twenty

"I... I'm sorry. I really didn't mean any of it, I just... I can't trust most people with this secret. Serena and Jeremiah don't even know. Only LuLu knows. Only her. I wasn't going to tell you, not now at least and probably not ever. I can't... I can't trust anyone." Vincent couldn't even make eye contact with Juliet. She was too pure and perfect for this world and for him. Would she still be the same after he tells her the truth?

Juliet didn't respond. She couldn't. There was no possible way for her to excuse her behavior. She hasn't responded in the correct manner, but then again, most girls would have run off screaming his secret to the winds. She took a breath to calm herself before she said anything more.

At least she learned the best way to silence the forever-angry Vincent McCoy. Not only that, but he apologized. A nice, proper apology which she had never before seen fall from his lips. It was too good to be true.  For now, she'd to put her pride aside to be more attentive. "So... Your father? He-he-"

"It's a long story and I don't think you are well enough to hear it." Vincent was so distraught that he wasn't even sure if he could tell it correctly. There were too many details he might leave out, making it nothing more than a jumbled mess. Then there was Juliet's poor mental state at the moment. She might be completely unable to handle it all!

"I am perfectly well," Juliet narrowed her eyes in a warning. Her mind was already racing from the revelation, so he might as well tell the story while she's still thinking about it. She let her expression fall back to her normal resting face before speaking once more. "I want you to tell me, Vincent."

Their eyes met in a moment of soft tenderness, green and brown each as stubborn as the other. Her pale hands sought out his darker and more calloused limbs, squeezing in friendly support. Finally, after several silent and tense moments, Vincent relented to her will.

"Fine, but it is not a story for good company, nor is it something I take pride in repeating. Should you feel faint, or ill in any way, tell me so I can stop. I don't want to scare you." Juliet nodded eagerly, suddenly startled by how dark the tale could be.

~~

It was merely two years before Vincent was born that his father married a Miss Rebecca Thompson. She was a petite girl with fiery red hair, with a juxtaposing personality. Her thoughts were few, but each was dull. Her eyes were the brightest blue, but completely empty of anything but girlish shyness.

Of course, Vincent's father was anything but kind and caring. He took the girl as his bride only for the money her father offered, and the dowry he was given.

While land would have been desirable, Vincent's father settled for other options of property. He was new to the plantation business and didn't have the means to buy slaves. So with Miss Thompson came two dozen workers, all to attend to the fields except one: Miss Aisha.

Aisha was strong-willed and beautiful. Her mind danced laps around Miss Thompson. She was a diamond in the rough. Despite all this, she and Miss Thompson grew up together. They were half-sisters even, but that's another story entirely.

This was why, in his free time, Vincent's father would find her and try to seduce her. He desired her. While her mind was tantalizing, he wanted her body. He wanted her. She was everything he couldn't have. She was everything his wife was not.

He still gave in to his new wife's whims as well, bedding her until she was pleased she might be with child, but with each passing day, he wanted Aisha.