*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter they were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much*
Days had passed since Seth took Adelle from her family to be used in place of Della to be a wife to Seth against her will. Life for her had changed the day Seth took her from her Mama and Papa. Her days were full of hate, Seth was so hateful toward her. She cried every night she had been gone. Seth treated her the same way he treated Della but he was worse toward Adelle to punish Della. It was a way to get back at Della for leaving him. Adelle was never going to escape he would never allow it. If he never got Della back Adelle would be his wife; his acting wife.
Stephanie was beside herself over the loss of their daughter Adelle, she was too young to be a wife, she wasn't ready to be a wife. She hadn't talked to Hunter since he allowed Seth to take their daughter from them. She had not heard from Della for all they knew Della could have been in trouble, Seth could have done anything to Della and instead of protecting Adelle Hunter allowed Seth to take her from their home. Stephanie was sitting at her table schooling her children when there was a knock on the door. "I will return in one second," she said to them. "Please work on this page while I see who's at the door." She stood up and her 6 year old daughter stopped her. "Yes Evelyn?"
"Don't answer the door, Mama," she said with tears in her blue eyes. "It might be the bad man again."
"I have to answer the door, Evelyn."
"What if it's the bad man?" she asked. "He might take me next."
"Poppet, no one is going to take you or your other sisters and brothers again. Mama won't let them. You're going to be safe," she promised her young daughter and it broke her heart that she remembered Seth taking Adelle from their home the way he did. It caused a lot of sleepless nights. Seth wasn't who they thought he was. Stephanie knew Seth had done something to Della to make her run away so he said or the worst thing possible murdered her. Stephanie feared for Della and now Adelle neither were safe at the hands of Seth Rollins.
"Okay, Mama," she said wrapping her tiny arms around her mother. Stephanie wrapped her arms around Evelyn as there was another knock on the door.
"Evelyn, go read and answer the questions. Mama will be right back," she said.
"Yes, Mother," she said before she joined her brothers and sisters at the table before Stephanie made her way to the door.
Stephanie opened the door to see a messenger standing on the other side. "Yes, Sir?" asked.
"A letter for Ms. Helmsley," he said delivering an envelope to her.
"Thank-you," she said as she looked at the front of the envelope it was addressed to her but she recognized the beautiful writing of the letter. It was from Della. She had finally received the letter she had been waiting for. She hadn't heard from Della since she departed for Spain with Seth. Stephanie grasped the letter in her hand as she thanked the messenger one last time before shutting the door. She smiled as she opened it to read the words of her daughter. She couldn't expect to know what she was about to find out after reading the letter.
Dear Mama,
By the time you're getting this letter Seth may have already arrived at your residence and I apologize for that. I'm unsure of what he is capable of and I don't trust him. He will be looking for me if he arrives don't allow him into your home. If he asks where I am tell him you don't know of my whereabouts. I left Seth. He is not the man that you thought he was. He wasn't the man I believed him to be. He is spiteful, aggressive and evil. The travel to Spain was full of love and comfort but upon our arrival in Spain he turned his entire being into Satan himself. He put me through Hell. He hit me, he raped me and he belittled me. He kept me prisoner in my own home. I was not allowed to do anything that I wished to do. He was vindictive and evil. I didn't know a man could possess such evil inside their being but Seth is filled with an evil I have never seen. I have run away from Seth and escaped to my freedom. I cannot tell you my whereabouts or my company I am with. It is unsafe. It would be dangerous for you and our family but just take comfort in knowing that I am alive and I am safe. I am happy. You don't need to worry about me, Mama. I promise I am safer now than I was married to Seth. This will probably be my last letter I write to you. I cannot risk our safety. I love you and Papa very much. I miss you and I always will. Please take care of Adelle, Henry, Jacob, Isaiah, Evelyn and Sarah and give them a kiss for me. I love you, Mama.
Yours,
Della
Stephanie's eyes burned with tears as she finished reading the letter from Della. She picked up her skirts and ran out to her husband to tell him the news. She ran out the door, down the porch steps to the backyard where Hunter was working. "HUNTER! HUNTER!" she yelled as she ran holding her skirts and Della's letter in her hand. "HUNTER!" she yelled with panic in her voice.
Hunter stopped plowing the yard and turned to see his wife approaching him. He could hear her yells and knew something was wrong. He waited for her to reach him. "Stephanie, what is it?" he asked as she finally reached him.
"It's Della, it's Adelle," she answered trying to catch her breath.
"You must really relax. You should not be running like that, Steph," he said. "What's wrong with Della and Adelle?"
"Seth," she said still trying to catch her breath. "A letter from Della," she said holding it up for him. "He's not who we thought he was. He terrorized Della. She left him because he terrorized her. She ran away from him to be safe and to be happy, Hunter."
"What?" he asked. "Let me see that," he said taking the letter from Stephanie. He read over the letter and his face turned white. He was sick to his stomach. Seth had destroyed Della and he was most likely destroying Adelle. It could have been worse for Adelle than it was for Della because Seth was angrier, more vindictive than before. His heart hurt for Adelle. "Where is she? Where is Della?"
"I don't know she wouldn't tell me she said it is safer if we don't know but what about Adelle? God only knows what that evil man has done to her and you let him take her. You didn't stop him. You let him take her," she said with anger and pain. "You should have protected her. You should have fought for her. She's only 10 and 6," she said. "She's not ready to be a wife or to endure whatever Seth is doing to her."
"I'm sorry," he said, "Stephanie, I'm sorry. I should have protected her."
"But you didn't. You let him take her," she said with tears burning her eyes. "You let him take our baby. Now I'll never see Adelle again and I will never see Della again because you promised Della to a man she didn't love and allowed the same man to take Adelle from us out of spite. I HATE YOU!"
"Stephanie, isn't that a little aggressive?"
"I hate you. You're going to go find my daughters and you're going to bring them back to me. If you want me to stop hating you, you're going to find my daughters and bring them back to me. If you don't, Hunter, I will NEVER forgive you for allowing our daughters to go through the hell they have gone through with Seth. You're going to find Seth and you're going to get my daughter back and then you're going to find Lord Reigns and get Della back."
"You don't know if Della is with Lord Reigns," he said.
"I do and you know how I know?" she asked.
"How?" he asked.
"Because she loves him, Hunter she has always loved him. She loved him the moment she met him but you had to keep her away from him. You had to stop that from occurring," she said, "you gave her away to the first man that came along just to get away from Lord Reigns. You knew she loved him but you were so stubborn to even believe that maybe it wouldn't matter that she was the Farmer's Daughter and that maybe he would marry her. You didn't want to believe that our daughter was worthy of being married to an Earl so you gave her away to the first man that came along and that man raped our daughter repeatedly and hit her repeatedly," she said shaking her head. "You're fully responsible for this. If you would have just let Della love Lord Reigns NONE of this would have happened."
"It was YOUR father that promised Della to Dr. Rollins," he said, "I didn't promise her to anyone."
"But you allowed it. We didn't know that man and now we lost our daughters because of him. You're going to find them and bring them home to me do you understand me?"
"Yes, Stephanie," he said. "I understand. I don't even know where to begin."
"You're going to Lord Reigns' residence and speak with his mother to see if she knows where he could be with our daughter but you know the worst part of this? If Della is caught with Lord Reigns, caught with another man she will be punished for her crimes. FIND HER!" she yelled before she stormed off to finish schooling her children.
Hunter wasted no time to arrive to Lord Reigns' house to speak with his mother. He hoped that she would be able to tell him of Roman's whereabouts so that he could find his daughter. He had no idea how he would find out Seth's whereabouts to rescue Adelle. His heart hurt knowing she was in trouble. He also knew that Seth would not hesitate to kill her if he needed to. He had to be careful about everything to keep their daughter alive. He arrived at his old employer's residence and knocked on the door. The servant answered and he told him he was there to see the Lady of the house. The servant invited him in and went to get Roman's mother for him. He stood in the foyer of the home has he waited for her presence.
"Farmer Helmsley," said the Lady as she made her way down the stairs and caught glimpse of him in the foyer. "I've been waiting for your arrival. Where is my son?" she asked.
"That's why I came to call. I was curious as to where my daughter was."
"You don't know where my son is?" she asked.
"I know where he is as much as I know where Della is. She cannot be found," he answered. "Della had gone to Spain with her husband. Her husband turned out to be a terrible man and she ran away. I am to believe she is with Lord Reigns."
"Lord Reigns departed weeks ago," she answered. "He left his wife, his residence took some coin with him but no one has heard from him in weeks. Where is my son, Helmsley?"
"I assure you I do not have any idea where your son is," he answered, "but I do believe they are together. Della wrote us a letter. She made it seem that she would never tell us where she escaped to and she would never tell us who she was with. They don't want us to know and for good reason. Della can be punished for her crimes."
"And I will make sure that she is punished when my son and her are discovered. He left his wife. He gave no explanation but that he didn't love her. He took his belongings and left. He has not been seen or heard from since."
"The only thing we have received from Della is a letter and according to her it is the final letter. I don't know if we will ever find either Roman or Della. If they wanted to be found they would make sure they could be but they don't. It's not safe for either of them if Della's husband finds them. He took our daughter from us in place of Della that ran away. We found out that he had raped and beaten Della."
"And Roman needs to be the knight to save her," said his mother. "It's noble but Dr. Rollins is known for being aggressive. He has been married previously but his wife disappeared without a trace. Some suspect he murdered her while others suspect she ran away like Della did. Rollins is not a man to be taken lightly and Roman knew it. He loves Della and he would not wish for harm to come her way. He needed to rescue her. I wish I could stop his heart from loving her but I can't. He loves Della. If Della is with Roman she's safe and you're correct we may never hear from either again but we know they are both happy and safe as much as it pains me to see him settle for a farmer's daughter. He obviously chose his heart over his wealth and power. I cannot be upset with him. Della is in good hands. If I hear from Roman I will send for you. Will you do the same for me if you hear from Della?"
"Yes," he answered. "So we just wait."
"IF they want to be found yes if not there's not much more we can do. We can just hope to hear from them," she said.
"I understand," said Hunter. "Thank-you."
"It was my pleasure," she said. "He does truly love he's loved her since the say he met her."
"Same with Della," he responded. "It was destined to be I suppose."
"I suppose," she said. "Have a wonderful afternoon. I will send for you if I hear anything."
"Thank-you," he said as he tipped his hat before he left the residence. He knew they would never be found. Seth was looking for them and they knew it. They were long gone by now. Roman was a smart man he knew how to stay under the radar. He knew how to hide himself well. If he wanted to be found he wouldn't have run away with Della.
*A/N: What did you think? Please review and thank-you for reading.