Claiming Scarlett by Winter Thorn

Author:Winter Thorn [Thorn, Winter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-01-17T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

“Did you think I would approve of this?"

"There's nothing to approve, mother. Scarlett bears my mark. It's already done."

Humming insects and the mild clink of silverware filled the quiet. It was nearing midnight. The Jovans were sitting around a white-clothed table on a deck under a blanket of stars when Erie stood and announced her mateship to Scarlett. The room had gone silent as her siblings looked at their mother instead of her.

Right on schedule, Erie thought dryly as she sat back down at the opposite end of the table.

As suspected, word had traveled through select channels about her stay at the Mating Den over the weekend. Sensing the rising tension, Gregor and Onya went into mediation mode, congratulating Erie with strained enthusiasm. Their mother cut the phony praise short with the loud clearing of her throat.

“Leave us.”

The two cast glances between their mother and their sister. Erie nodded, signally that she could handle this herself. They left the deck and strayed deeper into the house. No one spoke until they were out of sight.

“Darling, I think there’s been some misunderstanding between us.”

“How so?”

“I allowed you to live under your own roof unmated. I allowed you to start your own company instead of taking your rightful place at the head of the one I procured for you. Apparently, allowing you all of this space and time to yourself after your release from that...that place has given you the impression I no longer care what happens to you.”

“That place? Would that be the hospital, the ICU, or the rehabilitation center where I spent five months learning how to walk again?”

Stacha tensed and pinched her lips together. Pain and anger flashed across her eyes before she tamed herself.

“We need to focus on the present. Your future. This faeling girl, do you even know who she is?”

“I do.”

"I mean, do you know what kind of person she is? Do you know she’s been in and out of debt with loan sharks since she abandoned you? Her parents are dead, and her brother is currently serving a five-year sentence in prison for assault and theft.”

That last part sent a jolt of surprise to Erie’s heart, but she didn't let it show, redirecting the feeling into suspicion instead.

"How would you know that?”

Rather than answer, Stacha took a long sip of red wine.

“You’ve been having me followed again.”

“You don’t call, you hardly visit. Your outburst at dinner was the final straw. How else am I supposed to make sure you’re alright?”

"How about when I tell you myself? I know all about Scarlett's past and I don't care. Father wouldn’t care, either.”

Resentment flashed over her mother’s mask of arrogant indifference. “I understand you had some sort of affection for this girl for the two seconds you knew each other at your little music camp, but that was a long time ago. You're a royal, Erieyna. Even in today's age, in our world, that still means something. You must be reasonable. Smart. Do you have any idea

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