Disclaimer: I do not own Beauty and the Beast. Only this story.
Belle sucked in a breath. "But-"
"Don't look at me that way Belle..." Adam looked ashamed. "He's your father..." Belle said quietly. "A father that hurt you and has you locked in my own tower." Adam cupped her cheek.
"Was he always like this?" She placed her hand on top of his.
Adam clenched his jaw. "It's hard to talk about...my past."
Belle opened her mouth to respond when Daniel came into view. She closed her mouth immediately at the sight of him and let go of Adam's hand.
Adam stood up and glares at him. "What are you doing here?"
"I need to speak with our lovely prisoner here-"
"I am not a prisoner!" Belle cried. She stood up too. "I'm the princess of this castle!"
"I'm afraid you're not." He smiled and showed Adam a document. Adam grabbed it from him and got red in the face. "You didn't-"
"I believe I did. Belle you no longer are nothing but a prisoner and the kingdom are now made aware of it. People our horrified, including your father." Belle teared up. "Where's my father?" Belle gripped the bars. "He's tried to come into the castle several times now but I made orders he was not allowed to set foot here." Daniel took the document out of Adam's hands just as he was about to crinkle it up and throw it out the window. "You divorced us?!" He raged. "How can you even do that without our presence?!"
"I'm the king." He smiled.
Adam turned to Belle. "Darling, I'm going to figure this out okay?" He kisses her deeply, crushed inside not being able to hold her. "I'll be back this evening." He glares at his father and rushed out of the tower.
Daniel came up to Belle and gleamed at her. "Still going to fight?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Adam sure will."
Daniel grabbed her hand and ripped the wedding ring off of her finger. Belle's eyes flooded with tears. "Why are you doing this?"
"Let me tell you a story." Daniel sat down on a nearby stool that Belle remembers hitting Lumiere with. She pushed the memory away.
She crosses her arms and slowly sat back down. "Fine." It's not like she had anything better to do.
"I remember when I was Adam's age, I fell in love with his mother." He seemed disgusted with that fact. Belle looked at him confused.
"She was a maiden like you but I didn't care because she was breathtakingly beautiful. Years went by and when Adam came into our lives I was told that I couldn't expand my kingdom because my wife didn't have any royal blood." He started tracing his finger over Belle's wedding ring, over the engraved writing:
Tale as old as time.
Belle watched him and her heart's pace sped up. "Why is that a rule?" She asked not taking her eyes off the ring.
"Tradition. I suppose."
The accident.
"What happened to your mother Adam?" Belle asked kindly. "Something she drank...it was poisoned. She was the one person I could talk to comfortably..."
"I hated my father."
"You caused the accident." Belle realized. She took her eyes off the ring and looked at her father-in-law's face.
"You are a smart girl." The King smiled and placed her wedding ring safely in his pocket.
"But you loved her." Belle said softly.
"There's nothing more important than power Belle."
"Adam's not like that, he wouldn't care..."
"But I care!" The king stood. "I need my kingdom to be able to keep expanding and it needs to continue through generations! It won't be able to with you around and married to my son!"
"You're a monster!" Belle cried.
"I've heard that a lot." The king said nonchalantly and headed down the stairs.
