The message still lingered on her phone.
"Your mother wasn't the only one who had secrets"
.
The message stared back at her like acid on her skin. She sat and held the edge of her bed
tightly. Her breath fastened. Her body, damp with sweat. Her heart thundered, each beat ticking
louder in her ears and her stomach churned urging her to vomit. The magnitude of the text
suffocated her.
She wondered.
"Why was this sent now? What did it mean?
The words repeated in her mind. Vague memories of her mother flashed back. The horrific
incident. Her sin. Her mistake. Her guilt. And her shame. It clawed at her like a scar that never
left. But her mother wasn't the only one with secrets. Others had, just that hers was revealed
earlier.
Her hands instinctively moved to her stomach.
"I can't let anyone find out about this, they
would kill me"
, she paused.
"And Ryan…
"
The door creaked open.
"Still up?" His voice cut through her thoughts.
Elara turned her phone to the other side and straightened her spine.
"What do you want, Ryan?"
she asked, voice sharper than expected.
He walked in like he owned the room. He was tall, broad shouldered with dark and mysterious
eyes.
"You look worried"
, he observed, closing the door behind him.
"You've been quiet since the
announcement"
.
Elara laughed bitterly.
"What do you expect me to do? Oh! I should just thrill and celebrate the
fact that I'm being sold like an animal by my family?
"Assume whatever you please"
, he said, voice dry.
"Thought it wise to tell you that you can't
escape. The decision has been made"
.
She paused.
"You think I'll escape from the charade you and father call marriage?"
.
"I don't run
from my problems, I fight them"
.
"Good. You just have to play your part well"
, he said, voice low.
"Marry Damon. Protect Monroe's
legacy. Ensure our safety"
.
"Protect what legacy? Elara pressed,her throat tightening.
"What danger I'm i not aware of ?"
"And what happens if I refuse?" she asked, trying to get the truth from Ryan.
Ryan chuckled faintly.
"Then everything crashes. Chaos erupts. The past possibly repeats
itself"
.
Elara's heart pulsed when she heard those last words. She hadn't recovered from the trauma of
the previous one. The night she lost her mother. She wasn't ready for another. But how could
marrying Damon be tied to all these?
Elara's chest constricted.
"Are you threatening me?"
"No. I'm just stating the facts,
" Ryan said softly.
"And the sooner you get that, the better for us"
,
he warned.
She bit her lower lip.
"What is the problem? What do we need protection from?"
"From ourselves"
, Ryan said without realizing when those words escaped his mouth.
Elara's brow furrowed in confusion. That message made her mind spin. What was he hinting at?
Ryan surely knew something.
Ryan's gaze darkened.
"You just have to marry Damon. Not for love but for survival. For the
protection of the Monroes. He's important"
.
Her mind spun.
"How could Damon be so important to my family? Did he know something that I
don't? Something that evoked dread?
For a fleeting second, she felt she was in the same dilemma as her mother. The only difference
was that she wasn't forced to marry.
"Stop thinking about her"
, she scolded herself.
"What's your fear, Ryan?" She asked, voice low.
Ryan fixed his eyes on her.
"That you'll cause wreckage"
.
"Cause wreckage how?" That question struck her but she didn't ask Ryan. Rather, she
muttered.
"You talk cryptic like, father"
.
"And is that a problem?"
"No. It's suspicious"
.
There was a brief silence. Elara's mind spiralled out of control.
"Why does it feel like he knows
something? Something big. Something that can change our lives"
.
Ryan stepped close to her.
"Do you think Damon would change his mind about the marriage?"
Elara blinked.
"It's possible"
.
A faint smile played on his lips.
"You're wrong to think that"
.
She moved towards her window.
"Don't act like I have a choice. Father made that impossible for
me"
.
"Father wasn't the only one"
. His voice trailed her like darkness.
Elara stood still. Those words struck her. She turned slowly to face him.
"What are you implying?"
Ryan smirked.
"You have no idea what's going on. When the time is right, you'll know"
.
"And what if it's too late by then?"
"Nevertheless, you'll still be married to him"
. Ryan said, moving towards the door.
Her gaze narrowed. She wanted to scream, to force Ryan to spill what he knew but she couldn't.
Rather she sighed.
"You're keeping something from me. I can feel it. But I don't get why you're
doing so?"
Ryan paused and turned.
"Some secrets are meant to be buried. Once you dig into them, you
burn yourself"
.
Her heart skipped.
"What secrets? What do you mean, Ryan?"
.
Ryan left the room. The door slammed shut with a loud sound and it echoed in the room like a
warning.
Elara stood alone. Hands trembling. Her heart pulsed in rhythm to the noise outside.
"What are
they keeping from me? What is this legacy all about?"
Suddenly, her eyes drifted to the phone that laid on her bed. Slowly, she turned it over, hands
shaking.
Just then, another message popped up on her screen from an anonymous number.
"Ryan knows more than he's letting on. The secret can't stay buried forever"
.
Her chest was heavy. Her throat tightened. Her breathing turned ragged.
Who's sending these messages? What's the person's purpose?
She sat on the bed, thoughts racing. Her hand moved to her stomach. The secret growing
inside her. A secret, no one was permitted to know.
If the first secret didn't destroy the Monroes, this one would.