All Disclaimers apply.
Chap. 2
Tomoyo crashed against the wall with a sickening thud, unable to stop. Biting her lips to hold back a sob of pain that tried to make its way past her lips, she slowly staggered to her feet, using a nearby table as a fulcrum. Her eyes were shadowed with pain even as they sparkled with determination and defiance, and blood flowed from her mouth, the rusty color giving a severe contrast to her white complexion.
"Now, my dear, have you learned your lesson? Will you be obedient to me?" her father asked as a sadistic grin made its across his face. " Or do you need to be persuaded once again?" He laughed, amused, as twin amethyst orbs looked up at him with hatred and loathing. "No..." he said a trace thoughtfully, "I didn't think that you would surrender so easily. What else would I have expected from you, the daughter of the lowest bitch who I was forced to call my wife?"
Humiliation and desperation ignited into rage and anger inside Tomoyo as he insulted her mother, and she drew herself up in indignation. " My mother," she spat into his face, " was worth more than ten of you put together. Don't you dare try to insult her!
He grabbed the front of her gown and dragged her forward to slap her hard. " Your mother," he whispered venomously, " was a loose woman and a whore at that." His hard face features rearranged themselves into a evil smile. " Repeat it after me. ' My mother was a whore.'" he commanded. "Say it!"
"No!" Tomoyo jerked loose and backed away at the cruel look in his eyes. " If she was what you say she was, it was because of you! Do you have any idea what she went through? You raped her in a field and you abandoned her. You abandoned me..." she cried with unshed tears in her voice. " Who am I to blame, my lord?" she asked her father mockingly. " Should I blame a kinless woman who tried to keep herself and her child alive by taking the only path she can? You do remember, don't you? You remember that you ruined her reputation beyond recall when you took her. No decent man wanted to take her as their wife after that." Her eyes shimmered with contained hurt and pain as she remembered her childhood memories. " She sacrificed herself to save me," she cried. " She sacrificed herself to save the product of your forced union. Later, when you were compelled to come back for her by the King of England himself after he heard of your treacherous deed, she married you, not for you, but for me. She did not care what she gave up as long as I was safe," Tomoyo said viciously. " She thought it was too late for her, but for me...she told me I had a chance at happiness."
Tomoyo looked up, hoping to see pain etched on his face, just once, but she was disappointed. She saw the opposite of what she hoped to see. He was smiling. Damn him! Fresh anger poured into her like a hot acid. " Do you know what you are?" she said in a soft voice loaded with poison. " You're a despicable, self-centered, cruel bastard!"
His smile vanished at that fearless statement and was replaced by hate almost equal to her own. He suddenly lunged forward and pinned her against the wall by her throat. " You will do as I say," he whispered in an implacable tone. " You will go to the ball that the duke of Clynester has planned, and you will snare a suitable husband to repay my debts. God knows, you already have the looks."
" Why can't you pay your own debts?" she hissed. " Why should I save you from the debtor's prison? For all you've done to me, I could kill you and more."
Chuckling, her father stroked her cheek while Tomoyo turned her head. " I know you will, because you have no chance of keeping your reputation if rumor were to say that your father was bankrupt. No one will want you, no one will accept you...just like your mother wasn't accepted. You would be a public disgrace, and the ton would gossip about you. Is that what you want?" he breathed. "Also, if you want your mother to be buried properly with the complete ridiculous, elaborate burial that is common of the nobility, I need money. Otherwise, your mother's body will be left to rot on the outskirts of London."
Tomoyo stilled at the last statement. Though she wanted to destroy her father whether she was disgrace or not, the thought of her mother being left to be eaten by dogs and carrion birds was more than she could bear. " When is the party?" she asked finally, feeling frustrated at her helplessness.
He smiled. " I knew you would see things my way."
" No," she said. " My loyalty is not to you, but my mother. You should be rotting out there! My mother doesn't deserve any of that. I can't...no...I won't abandon her like you did." " How much do you need?" she asked.
" 100,000 pounds," he answered promptly, enjoying her surprise. " You thought you could get one of those admiring beaus of yours to pay my debt for me until you could pay them back in some way, didn't you? Well, missy, your schemes are not going to work this time. Only a husband would be willing to pay such a huge sum to help you."
Tomoyo sighed in despair. " What shall I wear?" she asked tiredly.
" You may spend all you wish to make yourself desirable in the eyes of the men at the party. Just know," he said with a curl of his lips, " that you will have to pay me back."
Chap. 2
Tomoyo crashed against the wall with a sickening thud, unable to stop. Biting her lips to hold back a sob of pain that tried to make its way past her lips, she slowly staggered to her feet, using a nearby table as a fulcrum. Her eyes were shadowed with pain even as they sparkled with determination and defiance, and blood flowed from her mouth, the rusty color giving a severe contrast to her white complexion.
"Now, my dear, have you learned your lesson? Will you be obedient to me?" her father asked as a sadistic grin made its across his face. " Or do you need to be persuaded once again?" He laughed, amused, as twin amethyst orbs looked up at him with hatred and loathing. "No..." he said a trace thoughtfully, "I didn't think that you would surrender so easily. What else would I have expected from you, the daughter of the lowest bitch who I was forced to call my wife?"
Humiliation and desperation ignited into rage and anger inside Tomoyo as he insulted her mother, and she drew herself up in indignation. " My mother," she spat into his face, " was worth more than ten of you put together. Don't you dare try to insult her!
He grabbed the front of her gown and dragged her forward to slap her hard. " Your mother," he whispered venomously, " was a loose woman and a whore at that." His hard face features rearranged themselves into a evil smile. " Repeat it after me. ' My mother was a whore.'" he commanded. "Say it!"
"No!" Tomoyo jerked loose and backed away at the cruel look in his eyes. " If she was what you say she was, it was because of you! Do you have any idea what she went through? You raped her in a field and you abandoned her. You abandoned me..." she cried with unshed tears in her voice. " Who am I to blame, my lord?" she asked her father mockingly. " Should I blame a kinless woman who tried to keep herself and her child alive by taking the only path she can? You do remember, don't you? You remember that you ruined her reputation beyond recall when you took her. No decent man wanted to take her as their wife after that." Her eyes shimmered with contained hurt and pain as she remembered her childhood memories. " She sacrificed herself to save me," she cried. " She sacrificed herself to save the product of your forced union. Later, when you were compelled to come back for her by the King of England himself after he heard of your treacherous deed, she married you, not for you, but for me. She did not care what she gave up as long as I was safe," Tomoyo said viciously. " She thought it was too late for her, but for me...she told me I had a chance at happiness."
Tomoyo looked up, hoping to see pain etched on his face, just once, but she was disappointed. She saw the opposite of what she hoped to see. He was smiling. Damn him! Fresh anger poured into her like a hot acid. " Do you know what you are?" she said in a soft voice loaded with poison. " You're a despicable, self-centered, cruel bastard!"
His smile vanished at that fearless statement and was replaced by hate almost equal to her own. He suddenly lunged forward and pinned her against the wall by her throat. " You will do as I say," he whispered in an implacable tone. " You will go to the ball that the duke of Clynester has planned, and you will snare a suitable husband to repay my debts. God knows, you already have the looks."
" Why can't you pay your own debts?" she hissed. " Why should I save you from the debtor's prison? For all you've done to me, I could kill you and more."
Chuckling, her father stroked her cheek while Tomoyo turned her head. " I know you will, because you have no chance of keeping your reputation if rumor were to say that your father was bankrupt. No one will want you, no one will accept you...just like your mother wasn't accepted. You would be a public disgrace, and the ton would gossip about you. Is that what you want?" he breathed. "Also, if you want your mother to be buried properly with the complete ridiculous, elaborate burial that is common of the nobility, I need money. Otherwise, your mother's body will be left to rot on the outskirts of London."
Tomoyo stilled at the last statement. Though she wanted to destroy her father whether she was disgrace or not, the thought of her mother being left to be eaten by dogs and carrion birds was more than she could bear. " When is the party?" she asked finally, feeling frustrated at her helplessness.
He smiled. " I knew you would see things my way."
" No," she said. " My loyalty is not to you, but my mother. You should be rotting out there! My mother doesn't deserve any of that. I can't...no...I won't abandon her like you did." " How much do you need?" she asked.
" 100,000 pounds," he answered promptly, enjoying her surprise. " You thought you could get one of those admiring beaus of yours to pay my debt for me until you could pay them back in some way, didn't you? Well, missy, your schemes are not going to work this time. Only a husband would be willing to pay such a huge sum to help you."
Tomoyo sighed in despair. " What shall I wear?" she asked tiredly.
" You may spend all you wish to make yourself desirable in the eyes of the men at the party. Just know," he said with a curl of his lips, " that you will have to pay me back."