The Cursed Fairy Tales box set: Books 1 to 3 by Ryerkerk Margo

Author:Ryerkerk, Margo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

19

Nolan

I entered the mansion with the plan to find Jolie and apologize for the kiss, which I now realized had been a horrible idea, no matter how right it had felt in the moment. However, before I could find her, I ran into Uncle Greg.

“Somebody destroyed Jolie’s room,” he said, his eyelid twitching.

“What?” I didn’t even pretend to act like I had no idea where her room was, storming up the stairs to the attic. It was only once my hand grasped the door handle that I realized how frightened Jolie would be if I charged into her room. Taking a deep breath, I knocked. Painful silent seconds followed, but I forced myself to knock again and waited a few more seconds before entering.

I didn’t find Jolie inside; instead, a disarrayed room greeted me. My heart ached at the writing on the wall calling her a lazy and talentless harlot. What cruelty.

My fists clenched and unclenched, and without turning toward my uncle, who was wheezing, I demanded, “Who did this?”

“We don’t know.”

“Why hasn’t it been cleaned up?”

“We only just discovered this mess.” Uncle Greg had barely finished his sentence when I left to fetch a maid from the kitchen. While she cleaned the ground, I wiped away the red paint and made an inventory of all the things that needed to be replaced.

“What are you doing?” Uncle asked as I grabbed my coat, which I had discarded earlier.

“Making sure everything that was destroyed is replaced.”

“We can send somebody else into the city. This is not a task for you to do.”

I stepped closer toward my uncle, allowing him to see the determination in my eyes. “This is exactly what I need to do. Do you really think I’m innocent in all of this after I made Jolie give me dance lessons and after I encouraged her piano playing?”

My uncle’s expression softened. “She isn’t Delilah. Jolie is a strong girl. She can handle this.”

I gave a sharp nod. “Yes, she can, but that doesn’t mean she has to handle this on her own. After everything she’s done for me, it’s time for me to support her.”

Uncle Greg’s attention swiveled to the maid still cleaning the room, whose ears had perked up. I ignored his warning. I wanted everyone to know that if they messed with Jolie, they messed with me. Meeting the maid’s gaze, I said, “You can pass this message officially to the rest of the staff. I will find the perpetrator, and the person will be punished. If anyone hurts Jolie ever again, there will be severe repercussions. Is this clear?”

“Yes,” the maid replied.

A few hours later, I was putting away the last item I had purchased for Jolie, new ballet slippers, when the door opened, and she found me kneeling in front of her trunk.

She opened her mouth, then closed it, the state of her room enough to explain what I was doing.

“You shouldn’t have. How much do I owe you?” she finally said.

I shook my head firmly. “You owe me nothing.

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