Chapter Two

When she woke up in the morning she thought that she would wake up on that island, but instead she woke in her small bedroom. It was then that Chloe remembered that today was her wedding day. She wondered whether the upper class weddings were the same as the ones that happened in the poor part of town. She guessed that she would find out today, and so she rolled out of her bed. She pulled out a black dress from her small closet, she wore it for the funerals that happened in town, and she figured that it would be nice to wear it today. She was mourning her loss of independency after all. Then Chloe went into the bathroom and washed her face and hands. She brushed her hair and then tied it into a bun. Then she went downstairs, and found her father who had breakfast ready for them. She sat down at the kitchen table with him and then they ate their breakfast in silence. It was hard for Chloe to even look at her father because she knew that she wouldn't be seeing him ever again. She also knew that it wouldn't be him that would walk her down the aisle to her husband. Somehow having him walk her down the aisle had always been something that she thought that she could count on, on her wedding day.

"It's almost time." Her father said solemnly looking at the clock that hung in the kitchen.

"I don't want to go." Her eyes fell on his begging him to let her stay.

Gabe heard the clapping of horse's hoofs along the dirt road. "You must go." He got up from where he was sitting and took his daughter's hand. He helped her up from her chair and then wrapped her in a hug. "Even though we may never see each other again, I will always love you, and I will always think about you."

"I love you too." She whispered hoarsely. Then she left his arms and headed to the front door. Gabe followed behind her, and went out the front door with her. Chloe walked close to the carriage sensing her dad was behind her. The man who was driving the carriage jumped down from where he was sitting to help her inside.

Once Chloe was in the carriage Gabe placed his head inside it and pressed a kiss on Chloe's forehead. "Goodbye Chloe."

"Goodbye dad." She tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

"I love you." He said again and then tears fell from his eyes. He touched her face one last time, after Chloe had said that she loved him too, and then his face disappeared from the inside of the carriage.

Chloe felt the carriage jerk around to head to her new home. She felt awful because she couldn't even look back at her father or the house she had grown up in, because the curtains covered the windows and Chloe couldn't find the energy within herself to move the curtain away so she could get one last look.

When she arrived in the upper class part of town, she was led out of the carriage by the man who had driven her there. She was led inside a huge mansion that was built from stone, and looked like a castle. Once they entered Chloe was amazed by the high ceilings, and the unique paintings that hung all over the walls. After she finished looking she noticed that Lex's father was standing inches away from her. "Chloe." He said with a smile. "I can take it from here Avery." He told the man who had led her in. The man gave a slight bow to Lex's father and then he left. "Now we should get you upstairs so you can be cleaned up." He offered her his arm, and Chloe took it. She knew that now was not the time to be defiant, because she was out of her father's care and not yet married any man could do whatever they wanted to her. "I can't tell you how glad I am that my son is finally going to get married. I thought I was forever going to be left without grandchildren." He told her as they walked up a large flight of stairs. If only he knew that she and Lex had already decided that they weren't going to have any. "Now I don't want any funny business, or there will be consequences my dear. As long as you obey every order you are given today nothing will happen to you, or to your father." They were standing outside a large wooden door now, and Chloe knew that this is where she was going to get cleaned up. "By the way my name is Lionel I don't think you have been informed of that information." He smiled at her and then he turned to leave.

"Excuse me Lionel, but may I ask a question?" Chloe hoped that this wasn't pushing the limits; she wasn't sure what exactly the rules were here for asking questions.

Lionel turned and walked over to her. "I guess that would depend what your question was."

Chloe felt as though he was giving her permission to ask as long as it wasn't a question that she knew she would pay dearly for. "I was just wondering what my last name would be."

"Ah well now that is a good question my dear." Lionel smiled at her, and Chloe felt relief fill her glad that this wasn't a question she was going to get punished for. "Luthor." He said simply and then he strode off away from her.

Luthor, she had heard that name before but she couldn't place where she had heard it from. She didn't have time to figure it out either because the large door that she was standing in front of opened. The man that had opened it was wearing a suit, and had greasy black hair. "Chloe come inside." He reached out for her, and Chloe took his hand. He led her into the room and then he shut the door. Chloe glanced around the room and found it covered with fabric of all different colors. The room also held about a dozen girls who appeared to be younger than she was. "Now I am the one who has designed your wedding gown, and I will make you look presentable to the crowd today. As you very well know the law prevents me for taking complete control of this type of situation and so you will find that my girls will be taking care of you for most of the morning. You are not to talk to them, and you are to let them do the work that I have assigned them to do. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Chloe told him as she looked at him up and down. His black suit fitted his body nicely and he was wearing a purple tie.

"Good." He then turned towards the girls who were in the room. They all were wearing worn dresses and they looked as though they hadn't had a good cleaning themselves in months. "Remember I have eyes everywhere my dears. Savannah come here." He pointed to the girl who looked as though she was the oldest. The girl walked over to him and put her head down so that she was looking at the floor. "Remember who I hold the most responsible if things do not go as planned." He put his hand under her chin and forced her to look at him. "You don't want what happened last time to happen again do you?" He spat at her, and Chloe could tell that some of his spit had hit the girls face.

"No sir." She told him slowly, and once her head was released she looked back down to the floor.

"Good get back in line." He then turned back towards Chloe. "My name is James and I will be seeing you again in a few hours, my girls do good work, and I expect them to be even greater today. They all know how much a Luthor wedding means, and they will do well to make sure that it meets my high expectations." He smiled at Chloe and then he glared at the girls that were in the room one last time before he headed out of the room.

Once he was gone the girl whom James had called Savannah came up to her. She took Chloe's hand and led her into the bathroom. The girls followed behind them. Once in the bathroom Savannah turned on the bathtub and the other girls started to help Chloe undress. Chloe didn't have to do anything for herself, they were doing everything, and so she watched Savannah as she put different soaps into the tub. By the time it was ready for Chloe the water had turned a deep shade of purple, and Chloe wasn't sure if she wanted to get into the tub. But the girls were all gesturing for her to get in, and so she did. She didn't want any of them to get into trouble. It was then that Chloe was scrubbed from head to two by four different girls. Another girl was washing her hair with a white liquid that she had gotten from a strange black bottle. Chloe figured that the girls knew what they were doing and so she let them work.

Once they had finished cleaning her they took her out of the tub and wrapped her in a towel. The tub was then drained, and Chloe was left standing in the middle of the room. Chloe thought that she was going to be dressed after her bath but she was wrong, instead the girls led her back into the room with all the fabric and they made her sit down on a chair that was in the middle of the room. They then poured hot wax on her legs, and placed strips of what Chloe thought looked to be paper on top of the wax. After it had set for a few minutes they pulled the strips off. It took all of Chloe's strength not to yell out in pain. They then did the same thing to her underarms, and then a lotion was placed over the parts of her that they had waxed. Chloe's skin changed from a bright red to the normal shade her color had been, and the pain faded away. The girls then went to work on her face putting makeup on her, and when it didn't look good enough they wiped it clean and tried again. Chloe hated that she couldn't talk to them, that she couldn't ask them if James was their father, or if they even had parents. She had heard that the servants that were put in place in the upper class homes were orphans. The upper class liked having orphans for servants because the law didn't protect them, and so they could be treated in any way that the upper class saw fit.

Chloe tried not to think about that though and instead focused on what was going on around her. The girls seemed pleased with their work, and Savannah glanced at each of the girls making sure that they were all agreed that they were done. Once they had all shaken their heads reassuringly, Savannah left the room. Chloe could tell that she was shaking, and she felt sorry for the girl. Within minutes James was back with Savannah at his side. He walked over to Chloe who was still wrapped in a towel. He bent down and looked at her legs and then he looked in between her toes. He then touched her arms and looked at what the girls had done to her face. "Savannah." He said sternly as the girl came over and faced towards him. Her chin was not pointed at the ground this time instead she was looking straight into his eyes. "Nice work." He told her and then he brushed her cheek with his hand. "Now leave us girls." He looked at the rest of the girls and they all left the room. Savannah however didn't move and she was still looking at James. "Go sit." James ordered her and she quickly moved to sit down in a chair that was in the room. Then James looked at Chloe. "Now let's see what we can do with this hair." He said as he moved behind her and grabbed her hair harshly in his hands. He ran his fingers through it and then he started making measurements in his mind. "Go and get my scissors."

Chloe heard Savannah scamper off to the other side of the room and then she gave James the scissors. The only thing that Chloe heard after that was James clipping away at her long hair. Chloe couldn't help but wonder how much he was taking off, she loved her long hair, and although she knew her hair was going to grow back she wanted it to be her choice of how much he could cut off. After he was done cutting he put her hair up in many different ways before he braided her hair elegantly. "Savannah go and get Chloe dressed into her gown."

Savannah came over to Chloe and took her hand and then she led her into the bathroom again. She then opened the large cabinet that was in the room and Chloe saw the gorgeous dress that was hanging inside it. It was sparkling all around the collar that was shaped into a v. There was a romantic style design that was draped around the rest of the dress, and Chloe couldn't believe that this was what she was going to wear. The only thing she had pictured wearing was her mom's wedding dress, which had been given to her by her mother. The dress was old and worn and not nearly as beautiful as this gown.

Savannah took the gown off from the cabinet and then she walked over to Chloe. She gestured for Chloe to remove the towel that she was wearing, and then Savannah carefully placed the dress over Chloe's head without messing up the work James had done. Savannah then went and fixed it carefully making sure that everything was perfect before she led Chloe out of the bathroom, and back to James. "I think that the Luthors will be pleased with the work we have done. You will get a wonderful treat tonight Savannah, as long as the Luthors enjoy our work." He smiled at the girl and then he looked back at Chloe. "Lionel should be here any minute to collect you. You are a lucky girl to be married to an upper class man my dear."

Chloe looked at James and then at Savannah, she seemed a bit happier than when Chloe had first laid eyes on her. So Chloe could only hope that Lionel would like what they did to her so that Savannah wouldn't be punished.

The knock on the door signified Lionel's presence, and James went over and opened the door. "She is done then?" Chloe could hear Lionel ask James.

"Yes I think you will be very pleased with the work that we have done Mr. Luthor."

"The work you do James is the best that is why I hired you. Now let me see her." Lionel walked past James and then went over to Chloe. "Does she have a vial?" Lionel asked as he walked around Chloe examining her body just as he had yesterday.

"Yes." James said as he pulled the long vial from a chair and placed it on Chloe's head.

Lionel shook his head as he went around Chloe one last time. "She is perfect, I wouldn't think of her as lower class, seeing her like this." Lionel put his hand under Chloe's chin and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "I would marry her myself; if I wasn't in the position I'm in." He removed his hand from her face. "How much time is there left?" Lionel asked James.

"Only about ten minutes Mr. Luthor."

Lionel looked back at Chloe. "Then we must be on our way. Make sure Savannah sees me later she deserves a nice treat, and you of course will be paid well James." Lionel looked at Savannah and then at James.

"I will be sure that she sees you Mr. Luthor. Thank you for the opportunity." James bowed to him and Savannah curtsied.

Lionel then held out his arm again to Chloe, and Chloe took it. "Now we better get you down to get married." Lionel led her out of the room and down the stairs in which they had come. He led her out of the mansion and outside to the huge grounds. There was a tent that was set up close to where the ceremony would be going on. "Such a beautiful day for a wedding, the sun is shining and there isn't a cloud in sight." Lionel told her as he led her into the tent. "I do expect that you know about what goes on at weddings. One thing you may not know is that since your father is not going to lead you down the aisle that will be my job." He smiled at her gently releasing her from his arm. "Weddings that happen here are very much like weddings that happen where you live; we just have larger feasts, and larger crowds. You are not to tell anyone where you come from, because it is frowned upon when we marry women who are beneath us. As far as the crowd is concerned you come from the wealthy from another town." He looked at Chloe again with greedy eyes. "What I said was true you know I would have chosen to marry you had you really been from an upper class. But being in my position my colleagues would find out, and I couldn't have that. By the time my son takes my place everything will be covered up, and so he won't have to worry about being found out." He touched Chloe's face again feeling the smooth skin. "My son is a lucky man." He said before trumpets started blaring. "Well that is our cue." Lionel offered Chloe his arm again, and Chloe again took it. Even though she was disturbed by the way Lionel was talking to her and touching her.