Mildred POVThe guardian gave me the rules of the cave of answers. It could answer any question, but there were many risks to it.I was strictly told that the cave knew the answer to almost everything including my deepest desires and it was going to take advantage of that, but I was not supposed to be swayed by that. All I was supposed to do was ask my questions and leave.Also, the last rule, I had only two hours to finish everything.Arnold was not happy about my decision in the slightest and as I was getting ready, I could see the frustration in his eyes. I was dressed in a flowing off-white gown so that my movement would not be hindered and my hair was pulled into a tight bun.As I was finishing up the bun, I saw the unhappy reflection of Arnold and I knew that he wasn't upset at me but, his helplessness in this situation, he said that he would have really come to the cave of answers himself, but he had already gone there before and nobody was allowed to go twice.It was also so d
I sat up in a moment, staring straight at the woman that was caressing my hair while wearing the face of my mother. My fingers sunk into a soft duvet and I realized that I was on a bed.The woman was smiling at me even though I was gazing at her awkwardly and I didn't really know how else I was supposed to look at her."Who are you?" I asked impulsively. "How did I get here? Why am I no longer in the cave of answers?" The woman just stared at me as if I was growing a horn on the other side of my head, then she smiled, understanding, and patted me."My poor daughter must be stressed out now because of all the work she does. Maybe you should stay home today and rest?"I shivered away from the woman's touch. As far as I knew, my mother was gone, so who was this person that was wearing her face and her appearance and speaking to me?But that was not the only surprise that I had as I placed my hand on my stomach feeling this twisted sense of hunger. I realized that my stomach was now com
Mildred POVI laid down in my bed trying to fall asleep but I couldn't, was any of this real or is it just my imagination but it was far too heavily to be my imagination by the same time it didn't make any sense to be reality.Has my entire life been nothing more than a dream?So did I never really meet Arnold? Was I never pregnant for him?Just then as I was buried in my thoughts I heard a knock on the door and before I could even respond there was a man that was peeking into the room."Hey, Mil…I heard you were stressed so I got you your favorite strawberry ice cream."A man stepped in holding the bowl of ice cream but he was referring to and smiling at me while I was being filled up with dread. "Dad?" I said testing the word as if it was the first time I had ever allowed it to roll past my tongue and he smiled at me sitting next to me and handing me the ice cream then he patted me on my head and told me that I worked too hard and I needed to rest sometimes for my own health.I cou
Arnold POVI was pacing around back and forth waiting for my mate to come out of that dreadful cave.I had my heart in my throat and the slightest sound would make me glance over to the entrance of the cave, desperation painted over my eyes. I should not have allowed her to do this.I repeated to myself over and over again until the words were echoing in my head, but as I sat against a rock throwing my head back and running my fingers through it, I came to the painful realization that even if I tried to stop her she would still have asked the guardian to lead her here for the answers that she needed.But she had been there for so long…Did something happen? I wondered with dread running up my spine and I turned over to the guardian who had a neutral expression on her face.Sensing that I was staring at her, she glanced over at me, her face betraying no emotion."Isn't there anything you can do? I asked her, wrapping my fingers together even though I already knew the answer and she sho
Tanya POVI was pacing around the room struggling not to pull my hair out and frustration and when I glanced over to the person sitting beside me for the slightest shred of sympathy I saw that the idiot was actually snickering. I stumped over to him and planted my hands on my hips."Is this situation looking funny to you?" I feel mad at him he wasn't acting as if we were in a lot of trouble when is situation is actually that bad he could not say a word me and shrugs without saying anything I grab a pillow on the bed and tried to slam it over his head but he dodged it, sweeping the pillow out of my grip."Tanya you need to relax it's not that bad" He said"Not that bad?" I yelled at the top of my voice throwing my hands above my head. What situation was then rock bottom enough for him to see."You tried to kidnap that b*tch that he is infatuated with right now and not only that…she was taken from you right under your nose then he caught us in the same bed together! And you still think
Mildred POV"I can't believe that I'm finally hearing your voice after so long. How have you been girlie?! Tell me! Tell me!!"I pulled the phone away from my ears so that I would not end up going deaf with my friend scratching my ears with her high-pitched voice of excitement.When she had calmed down a little bit I cautiously brought the phone back to my ear and responded with an apology telling her that I should have called sooner but I was dealing with so many things at the time."I know it must be tough, moving in with your baby daddy but I hope he's treating you well," I glanced down at the breakfast in bed that had been served to me personally by my unborn baby's father and smiled into the phone even though she couldn't see me with that corny smile on my face."He treats me well enough," I said "That's good…"she said with excitement."He should know that my best friend deserves nothing but the best," I smiled into the phone. "But what about you? How have you been putting up?"
Mildred POVEven though Arnold tried everything to cheer me up I remained depressed for the following days and curled up in our bedroom, I couldn't go and sleep on my own anymore. Everyday I knew a little bundle of life was growing inside of me, and every day I could feel myself getting weaker. I will not be able to do this for long and that was what really shattered my heart. I wanted to be able to see my baby.But from the looks of things in the best case scenario I would only be able to push him or her out before I said goodbye to the world and just thinking about this was enough to make me burst into tears in the middle of the day.Arnold was around most of the time but sometimes he wasn't. I understood that his presence was needed in other places however if it wasn't of utmost importance he was always by my side curling arms and telling me that everything is going to be okay.Those words used to be so soothing to me but now the more I hear them, they seem to penetrate my ears a
Mildred POVI had to make a choice.The words echoed in my head over and over again, stealing away my sleep and any peace I had. The morning that followed after that one I decided to go down to the garden and get some fresh air. Arnold was so elated, I didn't know that he was that worried about me becoming a recluse.He told me that I could summon any of the servants whenever I needed anything and if it was something that none of them could provide, they could call out to him, and he would immediately come to my side.I slowly brought my fingers up to cup his cheeks, well they were too small compared to his chiseled face to achieve that effect he gently leaned onto my fingers and then he let out a soft sigh.For a moment his mask fell, and I saw how tired and drained he looked, a prick of guilt pierced through my heart. I had only been thinking about myself in this whole situation but how many times have I actually sat down to comfort him as well?If I couldn't do that at least well e
Mildred POV"Mil!"I held out my hand with joy as my best friend ran into them.My husband and I had been waiting several minutes for her plane to finally land and I was so excited. Behind her was the guard that my husband had left to take care of her coming out, calling out that she should not run so fast. She rolled her eyes back, looking at him."You are always treating me like a child!" She said defensively, crossing her hands and with a sigh."... That's because you act like one sometimes, "He responded.After saying that, he looked over to me and my husband and greeted us with a slight bow and also recognized the baby that was cradled in my husband's hand."Oh my gosh, he's so cute!..., oh now I want one so badly." She said, gushing over the baby, and then her bodyguard hovered over her with a worried expression."Children aren't supposed to take care of children," he said without missing a beat, and she turned around."Besides…where are you going to find a guy that can handle a
Mildred POVI could not describe the relief that washed over my entire body like a cool relaxing shower when I finally had a bed to lie on. I didn't realize that Arnold was staring at me strangely until I rolled on the bed and my eyes came over to him, looking over with a mixture of confusion and perplexity.Even if I had been walking a long way so that way he had carried me halfway back, it was not enough reason for me to act like that after seeing a bed.Before I could even get the chance to think of a good excuse, he came over scooting on the bed, and then, with a hard gaze fixed on me, he asked me."Millie, can you tell me what was happening to you when I was asleep?"I sat up feeling hesitant to talk about my experiences with him. I just wanted to push it into the past because it was so terrible, and I didn't want him to feel guilty that he had not been there for me, since it was basically my fault that I had injured him.He kept on pressing for the truth and so, eventually, I ha
Arnold POVMy heart was beating hard against my chest as we were making our way through the woods I had left some markings on the trees quickly as I was rushing here, from time to time my mate would casually point out a deformed tree that had one of the two branches torn off.I would just soothingly her head, telling her not to bother about it when deep down inside I knew that it was because of how madly I had been running when I knew what was about to happen to her.".... Arnold…" she called my name in a weak voice as she clung to me I looked at her asking her she needed to rest a bit giving her the offer of carrying her again but she looked at my hand that was still tearing and shook her head to that invitation saying that she could be here for a little longer until my hands were better.My heart clenched when she said this even when she was in this situation she was still thinking of me and my own well-being and she was pregnant just going through such a traumatic experience that w
Mildred POV"Move faster…"I felt a painful jab on my side caused by someone poking me with a stick. Following that was a burst of laughter and a bunch of laughter followed by the group that had been walking behind me for several minutes now.Now that I had finally gotten to see Arnold, I would have to live up to my own part of the deal or rather die for it, so leading the group was traitorous and then behind me were warriors that were mostly loyal to him and in their midst was Tanya, who was desperate to witness my debt even if it meant her not being there to support Arnold in his last moments.Watching her join the group earlier made me scoff below my breath. Despite doing all of this, she would still viciously claim that she was in love with him. It was ridiculous.No, it wasn't satisfying enough to the group that I was about to execute myself while dragging heavy chains across the forest. They decided that they were going to mock me and do petty, ridiculous things like poking me w
Mildred POV"Millie, if it's a boy, are you fine with him having my grandfather's name?""Hmm, I was hoping that we could name him after my father…""Should we flip a coin over it?"This was the conversation that we had before the world fell apart. crackling I'm just crumbling like a world that I thought will stand forever. Suddenly, the world that I thought we had that was so firm was actually as fragile as a stack of cards messily placed on each other. It was just my imagination that it would last forever, but in a brief moment, a small wind came along and set everything to disaster.Back then I thought that we were going to have a happy family, the two of us and our baby and the ones that were to come.And now I had my fingers entangled in his own, from my side, I was strapped down with chains and on his own he was being held down by drips."Arnold, I am so sorry…"I had thought that I would not get the opportunity to see him. That was until I made a proposition, a proposal that no
Mildred POVSometimes I truly wonder if I am not the one that is cursed if my child is actually innocent and I am the problem here. Perhaps that is so and I am just making myself believe otherwise.I woke up feeling the cold concrete floor brushing against my skin as I stood up and then be clicking sound of chains filled my ears as I tried to sit up. The cold wrapped around me like a thick blanket, but despite this, there was an overwhelming heat that embraced my waist and my ankles when I took a closer look.I realized that with the help of the dull naked bulb that was swinging above my head, I was chained there.I bit my bottom lip as I stared at the chains contemplatively as though my eyes had never seen anything like it before. Maybe I was hoping that if I blinked enough times it would fade away, but, I missed and it would all be nothing but a blurry dream that had infiltrated my thoughts. Even after doing so, my eyes went wide like saucepans and I saw that it was nothing more tha
Mildred POVI took a few cautious steps back when I saw the aggressive look on her face and she noticed it."Why are you stepping back…I guess you already know what you did and that is why you are trying to run away now…"A heavy sigh carried my whole chest as I noticed that more and more people were beginning to look at her so I tried to subtly bring it to her attention, but she had a razor-sharp look at me, not minding that so many people were looking at us.Or maybe that was exactly what she wanted."So are you going to confess to what you did or are you going to play dumb and innocent…""I didn't do anything…at least not to you…" I clarified, but she suddenly stepped closer."Last chance…" she hissed."I didn't do anything gosh you people need to stop suffocating me," Then in a burst of emotions, I pushed her…I was so fed up…they watched me like I was a delinquent child and not even an adult with this uncomfortable bracelet on I was basically not even a threat at all and yet…they
Mildred POV"All better, do you think that anyone will notice?"This question was directed at the lady that was helping me to stitch up the dress. Fortunately, I was able to find a maid that was handy with the sewing machine and she had one within her reach to help me. She even added some decorations on top of the dress that made it more palatable to look at and the stitches more intentional, even though it was because of how randomly I had cut the dress.When she was finally done, she handed me the dress and I was standing in front of the mirror, even without all the extra stitches. I had a feeling that it was still meant to be short and revealing and it clung to me like a second skin. I turned around to look at how it was wrapped around my butt.Gosh if I even dropped anything at that worthless party and might as well just leave it on the floor for the rest of the night because there was no way I would be able to pick it up without unveiling myself in front of everyone.From the cor
Mildred's POVI had already tolerated so much from him and this was just too much."Take it back to him," I seethed at the maid with burning eyes and she looked at me like a deer in front of headlights."He…he told me that I shouldn't return it, he told me that I would be punished if I did…" She said, her voice shaking with unison to her body, I gritted my teeth as I paced around my room, this was the final straw…I couldn't allow him to turn me into his freaking puppet.He was just far too insufferable he knew that I wouldn't accept the dress and was now using the maid as a pawn I told her that she could drop the dress, all so that she wouldn't end up in trouble and dismissed her for my room.When I was done with my morning routine and my eyes went straight over to the box that was lying on my bed out of sheer curiosity I decided to look at the dress when I wasn't going to wear it no matter how pretty it was.That bastard's intentions towards me were crystal clear to the last thing I