Charlotte, a failed artist, finds herself stuck between the man she loves and her fiance who loves the power and control he has over her.
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Charlotte knew she had met the love of her life, Chase Sinclair, when she was only 20. Their relationship...
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Chapter 14
She stood there looking at herself in the mirror with a blank expression on her face. She struggled to look at herself and wanted nothing more than hide. She looked ridiculous, but she didn't have the energy to care.
She didn't have the energy to care about anything lately.
"I still can't believe my baby girl is getting married." She looked over her shoulder in the mirror to see her mother sitting down on a lavish white couch in the bridal room. Her mother was dressed to impress and looking at her, one would think they were sister rather than mother and daughter. Not because her mother looked young, but because Charlotte looked old. Her mother had blonde hair similar to Charlotte however hers was fake. She had work done in the last 5 years as her face barely moved when she smiled.
Charlotte looked at the bridal dress she was in that Landon picked out for her and hated it. It wasn't an ugly dress. She just hated it on her. The princess style long sleeve wedding dress screamed traditional with the lace long sleeves and tulle skirt. It drowned her tiny body and the lace veil didn't help.
Charlotte sighed to herself and wished she could feel that bridal bliss everyone talks about, but she felt nothing. She felt hallow like her bones and wished she was either sleeping or drowning herself in a bottle of scotch.
"And to a man so powerful. A mother couldn't ask for a better man than Landon. He will make you so happy, Charlotte." Her mother was still talking, but she was hardly listening.
After the shower incident where new scars now sit on her thighs, Landon had invited her mother over for dinner. It was a power move, to force her hand into planning the wedding she didn't want. She remembered coming down the stairs dazed to hear laughing and to find her mother and Landon sitting at the formal dining table. Her mother pretended to be angry at her for not telling her sooner, but when Landon mentioned they would be married early spring her mood changed as she started talking wedding plans.
That was almost 2 months ago.
Now the wedding was scheduled for September rather than December and Charlotte felt like there was a ticking time bomb of her freedom.
"He is so generous; did you know he paid off my house mortgage? I doubt your painting would have been able to do that. I'm glad you stopped that silly nonsense, now you can focus on the wedding and raising the beautiful children you and Landon will have." She felt a pinprick her side, and she didn't even flinch.
Landon hadn't touched her in almost 2 months, but that didn't mean he didn't verbally hurt her. Sometimes she wished he would hit her because at least the pain would go away.
"They're all down. You can take the dress off." The dressmaker told her and she picked up her dress and stood down from the pedestal and into the dressing room where her clothes were. A worker helped her undress before discreetly leaving so she could step out of her dress. Charlotte quickly put her clothes on and checked her phone and saw another message from Chase.
