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“No, just a man dangling a higher social status over our family,” I snapped.

This was the argument that no one else wanted to have with me. My family knew I was right. Years ago, we never would’ve had this many people helping us or be able to throw the yearly parties we have currently.

As one of the few farming families here, we never struggled—but we certainly never had servants waiting on us, either. Any celebration was a small occasion with cakes baked that morning. Now, our family invited the entire town to celebrate with enough food to feed an army. No, those small cakes used to be something my mother would be so proud of. She used to be so happy with all the things she could do for us, from making our favorite meals to sewing new dresses.

Now, with our engagement having been announced to me and Adrian a few days ago, our house was filled with others to do those things for us. I wasn’t even allowed to dress myself anymore. Instead, his family hired Marie to live with us and ensure I was presentable at any moment for my fiancé.

“Cece.” Josi’s hand against mine pulled me from my thoughts.

I moved my hand away from hers before she could finish. Something in my gaze made her stop. We both stared at each other for a moment. There were only a few years separating us. From the stories I had been told, Josi was so excited to be a big sister. Now, I could hardly tell we were related. Our eye colors were the only similarity we shared. Her dark hair was such a harsh difference from my muchlighter, blonde strands. Even our height was so different. Josi stood almost half a head taller than me, and our parents were both taller than her.

“Go see your chambermaid before people show up.” Her words were slow and soft, like she was parenting a screaming child.

I clenched my hands. My life wasn’t something to just be disregarded. It wasn’t a pawn for my mother to use, either. I needed to get everyone else to understand that.

“I’ll leave soon,” I said instead, shifting my gaze from her.

There was a huff as she left. My body sagged forward at the sound of her sliding down the rope. I braced my hands against the edge, knuckles turning white as I focused on my breathing.

Any pink in the sky had been replaced with pale blue. Voices from below carried with the wind as the party was being assembled. Josi knew nothing. My fiancé, Adrian, certainly didn’t know me. Not anymore, at least. A few years ago, he might’ve been sympathetic. Though, that Adrian would be just as disgusted by this union as I am now. His family were our neighbors. We became inseparable the moment we learned that the only thing separating us were the hedges.

Then his family changed. His mother started making dresses for a duchess. They stayed next to us for another year before they moved closer to the center of the city where the elite lived. Our mothers still had lunch once a week, sipping tea and gossiping about the clients. Next time I saw Adrian, he wanted nothing to do with me.

He sat as far from me as possible. Anytime I tried to talk to him, he would just sneer down at me; looking at me as if I was nothing compared to the life he had now. At first it felt like a dagger to the chest. Someone I cared about deeply simply ignoring my existence as if I meant nothing. After years passed, the feeling eased until I stopped caring.

All his actions did now was seal the fact that the moment our vows were finished, any remnants of my life would be gone. I’d officially be his property. Just the thought placed a heavy weight on my chest. He’d expect me to keep up with high society with him. I tried to ignore what else he’d take from me. He always talked about having a large family growing up.

“Cece.”

The voice from below wrenched me from my spiraling thoughts.My breathing quickened as I pulled my legs up. It was a slim chance, but maybe she didn’t see them dangling off the ledge. The tiles were warm against my cold feet. The morning sun was finally warming up the world.

“Cecelia Finch.”

There wasn’t enough luck in this town for her to have missed me. I glanced at where my sheet rope was swaying off the edge. She was on the lawn, yelling up at me. It would be so easy to run. I could make it to the chambermaid’s bedroom before she made it up to the second floor. One more call of my name was all it took to send me sliding down the sheets, running off to her room.

Thankfully,the chambermaid, Marie, had the bedroom that was right next to mine. The stairs that ran up the center divided the upper section of the house. The left side was reserved for Josi, Marie, and me while the other was an assortment of well-decorated bedrooms for the guests who never stayed. Our parents were in a large room on the main floor.

There was one door that separated me from Marie. It used to be Josi’s bedroom before she started moving her belongings to her fiancé, Ben’s house. When I was in there last, only the bed remained. So many wonderful memories had occurred in our rooms. Nights when we hid together, giggling, pretending that we couldn’t hear our parents calling for us to quiet down.

Now it was all gone. I was sure that within the next few days, even her bed would disappear. Then, once she returned our nice set of trunks, it would be my turn. To pack away every piece of myself and pretend it never existed. A pit settled in my stomach. It felt like everything around me was changing except me.

Marie’s room was one of the easiest to recognize out of the three of ours. She’d hung her paintings over the door. They were beautiful. Most of them were charcoal sketches of a nearby lake she visited in the first few days of being here. Our house was closer to it than where she had been living before.

I knocked on her door a few times, rocking my weight from foot to foot. Shuffling faintly came from the other side of the door along with a muffled voice. It opened a crack so light blue eyes could peerthrough it. I parted my mouth in greeting, yelping instead as a hand grabbed me, pulling me into the room.

Marie shoved me until I was sitting on the edge of her bed. She glared at me, hands digging into her hips. I was older than her, but at that moment, I felt like her misbehaving child. I shifted against the soft bedding, rubbing the wrist she tugged. Disappointment radiated off her in angry waves.

“Hello to you, too,” I muttered, which was met with a roll of her eyes as she moved away from me.

The walls were white at one point. Now, every part of them was covered in drawings. Most of them remained unfinished, unlike what she displayed outside. They were partial sketches in here. Half of a forest. The head of a bird. Experiments with the few colors she had. Papers scattered along the wooden floor. Most were filled with partial faces that gave the eerie feeling of constantly being watched. Broken pieces of charcoal laid on top of them.

Her room was the same size as mine and Josi’s, but it felt much smaller than that. Pressed against the decorated walls were trunks that contained most of my clothing. They were dresses Adrian’s family bought me, so I had something presentable to wear while I was in their presence.

Guilt crawled through my stomach. I wished the trunks were kept in my room. At least I had other places I could retreat to, unlike Marie, who was stuck in these claustrophobic walls. I wasn’t trusted with anything nice like these. A few too many stained dresses ruined any trust in me to keep these ones pristine.

Those chests were where she moved to so she could pull out one puffed up dress after another. My nose crinkled at the thought of being trapped within those dresses.It’s only for a few hours. For now.I tried to ignore my thoughts. Enough time had been spent dwelling on them today.

“Do you know the trouble you’ve already caused?” Marie snapped.