7 The Pity Party - I

Stuffing the last bit of her breakfast into her mouth, she chewed it hurriedly before getting up from the table. Joyce took her plate along with her into the kitchen to place it into the sink.

Once that was done, she moved out of the kitchen and was about to charge outside the house when the most dreadful thing happened.

"Joyce, stop."

Joyce stopped breathing. Taking a step forward when her father said stop was such a low thing when she could not even breathe properly.

"Join me in my office, child."

She turned around to stare at her father who was standing on the first floor where his office was. Without receiving any confirmation from her, Killian turned to walk to his office leaving her to follow him.

Why would he wait for confirmation? It was not like she could deny her father anything at this point.

She slowly followed him upstairs, by the time she reached the last one, her father was already inside his office.

Dread started to settle in her veins. Did he know about George? If he did then she would be led to the basement where George would be taking his last breath. Instead, she was being asked to come to his office, that meant something positive, right?

She settled in the Visitors chairs in front of his desk. The door was closed behind her.

"We are going to attend a party tonight." Her father began. "I want you to attend with your brother. Your mother and I will be there but none of that matters. You will be on your best behaviour. Is that understood?"

Jesus, Mary, Joseph. Was it her father who was asking her to show her face publicly when all he did was hide her from everyone else? Joyce had never made a public appearance for more than 30 minutes. Here, he was asking her to attend a party that might go into the wee hours of early morning.

"I.." she nodded. "I will be, please don't worry about that father. May I know what it is for?" Her words were carefully picked out and framed. Just like she had done a thousand times before in front of a mirror in the bathroom.

Killian stared at her before nodding eventually. Like he was deciding whether to tell her or not. "I have selected a future husband for you. For The time he has taken to think about this proposal, he must see that you will be the perfect wife to stand beside him. My daughter, the one who has beauty and brains."

Well, at the moment neither of them worked.

"Hu-husband?" She whispered, The worst nightmare was coming true for her. "But yo—"

"Your last class finishes at 1 PM. I want you home maximum by three. Is that understood?"

He cut her off. Why? It was understood. "Yes, father." She answered. "May I go?"

He nodded, "Have a blessed day, child."

Blessed day her arse!

Controlling her tears and her anger, Joyce Hightailed out of his office and into the kitchen. She stood in front of her mother who was averting her eyes from her glare.

"You knew!" She accused, "how long have you known? Who is it?!"

"Drop that boyfriend." Brianna said, her eyes still downcast. "You don't want your father to find out, or much worse, your future husband. Whoever he may be."

"Drop him?" Joyce hoarsely whispered through her tears. "I love him!"

Brianna gulped. She finally removed her eyes from the table and reached to hold Joyce's hand. "I tried. I tried as much as I could but it did not happen. Your father is losing territory—"

"But what does it have to do with me?!"

"Everything." Brianna whispered, her eyes watching the door as well as her daughter. "Everything matters when it comes to the marriage proposal your father has decided for you."

Joyce let her angry tears fall to her cheeks. "So, I have the po—"

"No," Brianna shook her head, her eyes filled with warning. "You might think you have the power but do not let it be that to your head. Because you are a pawn in this game. Just a pawn."