Unchosen (Chosen #2) (19 page)

Authors: Alisa Mullen

EPILOGUE

SAMANTHA HUGHES

I sat on the chaise lounge on the deck of my parent’s estate in New Braunfels, Texas. Mom was sipping on her iced tea and reading a Do It Yourself magazine, occasionally holding up the magazine. “Isn’t this sweet, honey?”

I didn’t even look as I nodded. Her DIY projects were always transformed into
have someone else do it for you
projects. I didn’t care anyway. It had been over two months since I had gotten home from Boston. The cast on my arm was set to come off tomorrow and the bruises were long gone. The bruise on my heart, however, remained and I woke up every day without a purpose in life. I was a murderer. I was the reason another family was broken.

My father, in all his glory, walked out onto the deck and handed my mother a card. “It looks like Nicholas is going to marry that Elizabeth girl in Boston,” he said haughtily. My mother looked at the card and back up to him with a nervous expression.

“Yes, I spoke with Margaret yesterday. She and William thought it was a good idea to announce their engagement now, although I don’t believe they have set the date yet.”

My mother turned back to her magazine after my father nodded. I could see the relief she had on her face. She knew Nick was getting married and hadn’t told Dad. I could only imagine the grief he would give her later.

Dad came to sit across from me and looked at me thoughtfully. “When do you get that cast off, Samantha?” His voice was determined. I could see the wheels turning in his head. I knew what was coming next.

“Tomorrow,” I murmured. Dad rubbed his hand over his jaw and looked off into the distance as he thought. I stared at him blankly, waiting for his next plan of action. Dad always had plans in the works. He wasn’t a well known investment super mogul for nothing.

“Well,” he said as he clapped his hands on his legs. “I will set up the details to get you back to Boston, then. This time, I want you to rent a place close to Nicholas. This wedding. This wedding with this Elizabeth person is preposterous and cannot happen. All our lives we have groomed you to be his wife and no one is going to stand in our way. Just because Nick fell off the face of the earth after Mitch died, it is clear now he has gotten his head on straight if he is willing to marry.”

“Dad, he doesn’t love me. He loves Lizzie,” I said numbly. And he did. I saw it in his eyes the night he told me he couldn’t imagine a life without her in it. He had never said those words to me.

“Oh, love has nothing to do with it, Samantha. Don’t be so naïve. Margaret and William were devastated when they learned he was proposing to that girl. He proposed in a bar of all places! They want you to be his wife and that is what is going to happen. Now, I know things have been rough for you these past few weeks, but it’s time to get your head back in the game. The Sawyers and the Hughes families are supposed to merge for the sake of our future businesses. You don’t want to let us all down.” He pointedly looked at me. The future of our families lay on my shoulders. I couldn’t even imagine a future. Not without Conner.

“Yes, Daddy.
Just tell me what I need to do,” I said. I didn’t care. I needed someone to tell me what to do because I sure as hell didn’t know.

“Have your mother take you to the spa after your cast is removed. Get that beautiful blonde hair of yours done up and get pampered. I will have the staff pack your things. In the meantime, I will look for an apartment real close to Nicholas’ and we will talk about getting you a job right near his work once you get settled in. Yes, that is a great idea!” Dad stood up and beamed at himself as he plotted the demise of Nick and Lizzie’s relationship.

“Then what do I do when I get there?” I asked. “I tried to get him last time, Daddy. He didn’t want me. He told me he was in love with Lizzie.”

“Oh, that is just nonsense. That girl doesn’t come from a well-established Texas family. She has an illegitimate child for Christ’s sakes,” Dad spat out angrily. He crouched in front of me and put his hand on my shoulder. It felt so warm.

I loved my daddy and before Conner, I would have done anything to please him. Now that Conner was gone, Daddy became number one again. I deserved to be the horrible person he wanted me to be. Hearts were breaking all over the world. What was one more?

“I know you can do it, honey. You will find a way to make her leave him,” Dad said adamantly. “Then you will be there for him, make him love you like you two always have and it will all work out.”

I looked over at Mom, who continued to look through the magazine with a concerned look on her face. She didn’t like this idea but what was she going to do? Dad always ran our lives.

I recognized by Dad’s superior posture and lottery winning smile that we were on our way to ruin Nick Sawyer’s life, too.

THE END

Stay tuned for Unrequited, the third and final installment in The Chosen Series

Unrequited will release in Summer 2014