Chapter 49: Reunions

Abigail went to her bedroom, entirely drained from the events of the day. It was more than the one day, though. It was a backlog of emotion, of feelings she had refused to deal with, of quick solutions that had given her more heartache than soothed any real pain.

And all of it came to the front now.

Abigail wanted nothing more than to get into a hot shower, order some hot chocolate to her room with possibly a toasted cheese sandwich, and curl under her pajamas in her blanket. She felt she deserved a small amount of peace before everything that would happen tomorrow would happen. She still wasn’t sure how everything would work out exactly, but she was sure it would.

And because life was just not going to be easy for her, a hot shower wasn’t all waiting for her in her bedroom.

“How dare you!” Charlotte seethed, as soon as Abigail stepped through her threshold.

If she was being perfectly honest, Abigail wasn’t even surprised that she was there. She was more amazed that her stepmother had the patience to wait till she was through the door to speak.

“How dare I what, Charlotte?” Abigail challenged. She had stood up to her father, this woman hardly compared to anything. “How dare I exist? Or how dare I stop you from hurting Olivia any longer? From controlling all of our lives?”

Charlotte seethed with anger, she looked ready to burst at the seams.

‘It might just do her some good,’ Abigail mused.

“How dare you ruin my carefully laid plans,” Charlotte told her. “You will marry Lyall tomorrow. You will go through with the wedding. You will let him make that fool’s errand of trying to save his company and then you will step down in disgrace!”

“Actually,” Olivia came up behind Abigail. “She won’t.”

Charlotte stared at her daughter coolly, “You’re an ungrateful little child, do you know that? Everything I’ve ever done, I’ve done-”

“For yourself,” Abigail told Charlotte, cutting her off. “Everything you’ve ever done, has always been for yourself, each and every time.”

“Including having me,” Olivia sniffed, fighting back tears. “It’s true, isn’t it? You said all those things about Abigail’s mom, about how she had gotten pregnant on purpose, a bastard child to secure the money, as you put it. And it got me thinking. Someone did that. But it sounded more like you, than Emma.”

“How dare you say that woman’s name!” Charlotte screamed at Olivia.

But Olivia held her head high. “Why? Because she actually loves her daughter? Because she actually cares? Because you’re not her?” Olivia shook her head, looking at her mother. “You’re terrible, and sad. And I don’t owe you anything anymore.”

“How dare you speak to me like that,” Charlotte advanced towards Olivia, who had her back turned to her mother. Charlotte picked up the lamp on Abigail’s pedestal as she went, lifting it above her head.

But Abigail stopped her before she could reach Olivia, knocking her onto the bed, and knocking the lamp out of her hands.

“You were going to hit me with that,” Olivia spoke, and there was a hint of hurt in her voice, but then she steeled herself. “I hope you have a large inheritance after dad dies, because you will live on the streets if it were up to me.”

Abigail held Charlotte down into the mattress, who was pushing against her. But the older woman was weakened by years of inactivity, by ordering servants around, by lethargy. Not to mention all the drugs in her system, and she couldn’t put up much of a fight.

“How dare you!” Charlotte screamed, again and again. But neither of them could tell who she was speaking to.

They both wondered if she herself knew, anymore, who she truly hated. Anyone, Abigail supposed, other than her own self.

Olivia pushed a button against the wall, and two security guards came rushing into her room.

“Please take my mother to her quarters,” Olivia told them. “She is to be kept there till I say otherwise.”

The security came and took Charlotte off of Abigail’s hands and carted her off to her rooms, screaming the entire time.

___________________________________________

The next morning, Abigail woke up bright and early, and set to work. She fully intended on getting married today, all she had to find was the groom.

Abigail decided, that before she called Mark, or texted him, or tried to make contact in any way, she would first take a walk in the garden.

She knew what she wanted to do, now. And she knew what she needed to do. She just wanted a little bit of courage to do it.

She was going to walk in the labyrinth, and she headed there first, where she had often met Lyall on walks. This morning he wasn’t there, but Abigail felt the calm he did, walking through the stones.

Mark had lied to her, there was no questioning that. But he had lied only after she had made so many assumptions, and only after she had given him every reason to keep that part of himself hidden away.

But she had fallen in love with him, the real him. Because all the struggles and the difficulties he went through was still him. He might be a billionaire, but he was also the man that had struggled, he was also the man that had known pain.

And Abigail knew that those two things together, could be an amazing force for good. After all, look at her, look at Lyall. They had suffered, and so, they were willing to endure great personal hardships to stop that same suffering in others.

Abigail knew that was Mark’s heart, too. Abigail knew he was better than her, than Lyall, than all of them put together.

And besides, it would be a little hypocritical of her to refuse him now on the basis of his wealth, when she had just unearthed laws making herself one of the youngest female CEO billionaires in history.

Pot and kettle and all that.

Feeling like her thoughts had been gathered, Abigail headed back to the house. But she decided to make a pit stop. She now knew that the uncultivated lands she had been so casually strolling on for months did not, in fact, belong to her father and were not part of his estate.

But, Abigail supposed, no one had arrested her yet. So, she might as well take one last walk there.

She was walking for a few minutes, when she heard a familiar voice.

“I was hoping you’d agree to meet me here,” Mark answered, coming behind Abigail.

Abigail turned to face him and stepped slightly towards him. But Mark kept a respectable distance, allowing her to take the steps she wanted to.

Abigail frowned in confusion, “Agreed?” she asked him.

“In the letter,” Mark clarified, “I asked you to meet me here, and join me on a walk, just one more time.”

Abigail smiled lightly, “Oh, I never got to read that,” she laughed. “My evil stepmother burnt it.”

Then Mark frowned, “But then you’re here, how did you know to be here?”

“I didn’t,” Abigail shrugged. “I was just wandering. I was going to come to your apartment a bit later to find you.”

“Abigail, would you please let me explain, I-” Mark cut himself off, seeming to realize the meaning of what Abigail had said. “What do you, you were coming to my apartment, what for?”

“To yell at you some more, what else,” Abigail said, and then laughed. “What do you think, silly, to kiss and make up.”

Abigail then went closer to him and stepped right into his embrace. Mark’s arms wound around her on instinct, and that was the strength Abigail had missed. This was the love she had needed.

“I’ve missed you so much,” Mark murmured into her hair, crushing her against him.

“I’ve missed you, Mark,” Abigail answered. “So much. I felt so lost without you. I didn’t even know myself. I didn’t even know the choices I was making.”

Abigail had felt the pain of separation as the greatest thing she had ever felt, and she had acted like it was the only thing. She had given up on everything, agreeing to marry Lyall just so she could acquire the company. Her mother would have been ashamed of her choices. Her mother wouldn’t have recognized her.

Abigail had very nearly not recognized herself.

“Please, Abigail,” Mark told her. “I love you. I love you more than I can say. I’ve asked your father for his blessings, he’s agreed to whatever you wish, but wouldn’t give me more permission than that.”

Abigail smiled, her heart blossoming at her father’s growth.

“Abigail, I love you with all of me,” Mark said again. “Please, will you marry me?”

“Hmm,” Abigail considered. “Actually, I would love that.”

Mark smiled broadly, crushing Abigail against him.

“In fact,” Abigail told Mark, pulling slightly back from him. “How does this afternoon sound?”