Chapter One
“You can’t really expect to get away with this!” Catherine screamed as her stepfather, Howard, pushed her into her bedroom.
“Your mother and I feel it’s for the best, just until you come to your senses and agree to marry Douglas. I just don’t understand you, Catherine. Your mother and I have always treated you like our little princess, we have given you everything you have ever wanted and needed, and all we ask in return is for you to make wise choices in life.”
Catherine snorted. “All you’re asking in return is for me to give up my life and marry some old crony that you have personally handpicked for me!”
Howard sighed. “Douglas Washburn is one of the wealthiest and most respected men in this state. He comes from a very influential family. Is it too much to ask that our only child marry well? We only want the best for you, princess. We just want you to live the rest of your life in the custom that your mother and I have always maintained for you. Catherine, you’re a very beautiful girl. Marrying Douglas, who by the way is crazy about you, will ensure your place in society.”
“You mean it will ensure your place in society. I care nothing about all that. I’m young! I just want to have some fun. Marrying someone who is almost thirty years older than me is not going to happen! Besides, he’s creepy. I don’t like the way he looks at me.” Catherine shuddered.
Howard frowned. “Then you leave me no options. You will stay locked in your bedroom until you come to your senses and agree to the wedding.”
“I will never agree to this sham of a wedding! If I were to wed anyone, it would be someone young and handsome and not someone old enough to be my father!” Catherine screamed. She was starting to panic, suspecting she wasn’t going to be able to talk him out of this harebrained scheme of his. And it hurt more than she would ever admit that her mother didn’t care enough to sober up and fight for her only daughter’s happiness.
Howard’s face reddened. “Then you will stay locked inside of your gilded tower until you agree or until that handsome prince you are waiting for swoops in to save you!” With that he gathered up her laptop and phone and slammed and locked her bedroom door. Catherine launched herself at the closed door and beat on it until her hands were bruised. Her screams echoed around the cavernous bedroom. She whirled, storming across the room to fling open the double doors that led to the Juliette balcony overlooking the paved driveway. It would be dangerous, but damned if she wasn’t desperate enough to try to scale it. This was going to take some planning. She would wait a couple of hours, and give them time to settle for the night. Then she could make her move. Catherine stretched out across the bed. She just needed to be patient. Within minutes she had fallen into an exhausted sleep.
Catherine’s green eyes opened and scanned her bedroom. The large room was in shadows now, illuminated only by the small Tiffany lamp on her bedside table. The room had been decorated in teal and snowy white. Her four-poster bed was built up on a pedestal and draped with billowing silk. It was a bed built for a princess thought Catherine. “What a joke,” she said out loud as she sat up in the middle of the bed. Her nearby desk sat empty of both her phone and her laptop courtesy of Howard.
“Damn him,” she muttered as she began yanking the bedcovers off and tying them together. She was getting out of here even if it killed her. There was no way in hell she was marrying creepy Douglas Washburn, with his watery blue eyes, fake smile, and wandering hands.
“Pssst.”
Catherine tilted her head toward the door. Had she heard something? Or was it just wishful thinking on her part?
“Pssst,” the sound came again, and this time it was followed by a scratching at her bedroom door. Catherine walked across the room and pressed her cheek to the smooth wood
“You can’t really expect to get away with this!” Catherine screamed as her stepfather, Howard, pushed her into her bedroom.
“Your mother and I feel it’s for the best, just until you come to your senses and agree to marry Douglas. I just don’t understand you, Catherine. Your mother and I have always treated you like our little princess, we have given you everything you have ever wanted and needed, and all we ask in return is for you to make wise choices in life.”
Catherine snorted. “All you’re asking in return is for me to give up my life and marry some old crony that you have personally handpicked for me!”
Howard sighed. “Douglas Washburn is one of the wealthiest and most respected men in this state. He comes from a very influential family. Is it too much to ask that our only child marry well? We only want the best for you, princess. We just want you to live the rest of your life in the custom that your mother and I have always maintained for you. Catherine, you’re a very beautiful girl. Marrying Douglas, who by the way is crazy about you, will ensure your place in society.”
“You mean it will ensure your place in society. I care nothing about all that. I’m young! I just want to have some fun. Marrying someone who is almost thirty years older than me is not going to happen! Besides, he’s creepy. I don’t like the way he looks at me.” Catherine shuddered.
Howard frowned. “Then you leave me no options. You will stay locked in your bedroom until you come to your senses and agree to the wedding.”
“I will never agree to this sham of a wedding! If I were to wed anyone, it would be someone young and handsome and not someone old enough to be my father!” Catherine screamed. She was starting to panic, suspecting she wasn’t going to be able to talk him out of this harebrained scheme of his. And it hurt more than she would ever admit that her mother didn’t care enough to sober up and fight for her only daughter’s happiness.
Howard’s face reddened. “Then you will stay locked inside of your gilded tower until you agree or until that handsome prince you are waiting for swoops in to save you!” With that he gathered up her laptop and phone and slammed and locked her bedroom door. Catherine launched herself at the closed door and beat on it until her hands were bruised. Her screams echoed around the cavernous bedroom. She whirled, storming across the room to fling open the double doors that led to the Juliette balcony overlooking the paved driveway. It would be dangerous, but damned if she wasn’t desperate enough to try to scale it. This was going to take some planning. She would wait a couple of hours, and give them time to settle for the night. Then she could make her move. Catherine stretched out across the bed. She just needed to be patient. Within minutes she had fallen into an exhausted sleep.
Catherine’s green eyes opened and scanned her bedroom. The large room was in shadows now, illuminated only by the small Tiffany lamp on her bedside table. The room had been decorated in teal and snowy white. Her four-poster bed was built up on a pedestal and draped with billowing silk. It was a bed built for a princess thought Catherine. “What a joke,” she said out loud as she sat up in the middle of the bed. Her nearby desk sat empty of both her phone and her laptop courtesy of Howard.
“Damn him,” she muttered as she began yanking the bedcovers off and tying them together. She was getting out of here even if it killed her. There was no way in hell she was marrying creepy Douglas Washburn, with his watery blue eyes, fake smile, and wandering hands.
“Pssst.”
Catherine tilted her head toward the door. Had she heard something? Or was it just wishful thinking on her part?
“Pssst,” the sound came again, and this time it was followed by a scratching at her bedroom door. Catherine walked across the room and pressed her cheek to the smooth wood
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