Wilting Roses (Formerly known as Arranged)

Fear of The Truth

Chapter Thirty Two

Her hands fisted in frustration as she watched the old man shake his head in protest. Her heart was twisting painfully as she begged him to reconsider what he was doing to his son.

"Sir Heart please, just tell him."

"It has only been five days, and we agreed to go for a month," he persisted not convinced.

"I was forced to agree, had I not agreed to your terms you would have forbidden that I step foot into his home. He loved me and I...I love him too." she confessed. Tears pooled in her eyes as the last words slipped from her mouth. The ache inside her chest had been unbearable for the past days. It made Scarlett realize that her feelings for this man had begun to grow. She did not understand love all that well, but she was willing to learn if that it was it took.

"My dear, I know my son, and he will go back to his old ways if I give him what he wants." he explained trying to keep his voice down. They were standing near the fireplace away from ear shot so that not even Lady Heart could hear their bickering.

"He's changed," she pleaded searching his eyes.

He sighed clearly not agreeing with her but nevertheless he looked at the broken expression on her face as her lip quivered. "Alright my dear, but should things go back to what they use to be do not come running to me," he muttered.

"Oh, thank you." She gasped. She fought the urge to embrace him as everyone chatted away in the living room. Her heart skipped with joy as her smile grew wider and her eyes brimmed with thick tears.

"It kills me to see my son in the condition he's in now, but if it was to teach him a lesson that I would not have had it any other way," he whispered.

Her mood shifted and Scarlett felt the happiest she had ever had. It was as if someone had handed her; her freedom after being imprisoned for such a long time. Joy coursed through her as she found herself laughing and smiling along with the rest of her family. Nothing could rob her of the happiness she was feeling. Soon she would confront Dathan and finally explain everything that had happened. Her only fear was that he would find himself feeling hurt and betrayed.

***

Another day had come to an end, Dathan sat next to the windowsill watching the stars shine brightly. The moon hid behind dark gray clouds slowly brushing away to reveal its brightness. He felt the cold rush into his room and closing his eyes he inhaled and let out an unsteady breath. The blasted weather would give him a terrible fever if he chose to prolong his sitting near the window. Pushing away he stood and closed the window, feeling the chill linger in his room.

After starting a small fire inside the chimney he took a quiet seat on his chair facing the fire. Above in the mantel hung her portrait, the one thing he got to keep from her the day she had left. Dathan could not blame Scarlett for wanting to move on, for wanting to feel cherished and loved. He had after all inflicted upon her a miserable life. Good things came to those who sought them and all he had sought was the blind path. A path that had repaid him with heartache and hatred. Hatred for those who had claimed to love him and in the end betrayed his trust.

"I can't do this anymore," he whispered, as he pulled out her wedding ring from around his neck.