Chapter 39: The Bedroom

Crap. Lily was on to her.

"I literally have no idea what you're talking about," Roselle said. "It's not all about you, you know."

Lily giggled. "Clearly neither you or Dylan know how to keep things subtle. He shows up to MY party, steals the attention from ME, directs it on you, and then plays our song? Clearly it IS about me. Nice try though."

Roselle's face reddened, and some people around were slowly beginning to look at the scene. "I--"

"You want to talk in private now? Yeah, that's what I thought. Come with me."

* * *

The girls walked into another section of the strobe mansion that Roselle had never seen before: the private rooms that were reserved for only Lily, her father, and the staff that cleaned them. Up until this point, she'd only been in the living room, dining hall, garden, and servants quarters.

It was elegant back there, somehow more so than the rest of the house. The furniture was antique and delicately crafted. It would have been dark, but the shimmering turquoise from the giant aquarium that decorated the entire hall filled the space with light.

Lily opened a door and gestured to Roselle with her eyes to go in. The latter wasn't sure if she could trust the former, but she was already too deep in this to back out now.

They went inside the room, and Roselle was actually stunned about how small and simple it was (for a rich family, anyway). There was a bed, dresser, and a closet, but that was about it. The forest green and brown hues were pleasant in their own way, but they were nothing to marvel at.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Roselle finally asked. She couldn't relax her arms in a way that seemed natural. For whatever reason, she kept fixating on them. She crossed them, and then tried to reposition them in front of her, but nothing truly felt right.

"Oh, I don't know," Lily said, looking around, playing coy. "Maybe, stop trying to make the moves on my fiancée, and stop trying to use my ex to make me jealous. Honestly, it's embarrassing, and it's not going to work. You even invited Armani to spend the holidays with you. How humiliating is that?"

"I didn't invite him." She rolled her eyes. "It just happened to be that--."

"Did it just happen to be that you moved to Washington D.C. to be with him after he already proposed to me? Did it just happen to be that somehow, you're there at every single event he's at? Did it just so happen to be that you're a stalker?"

"Actually, some of those things DID just so happen to be, Lily. I didn't ask for the situation that I'm in, but things get complicated."

"Well poor you, Ro. I'm so sorry that you've failed in stealing my future husband away from me."

Roselle's face was so hot that she could practically feel her own cheeks producing their own steam. "You don't even deserve him! Why do you even want to marry Armani anyway?"

"I DON'T!" The heiress jumped on the bed and sobbed into a pillow. Though the cries were muffled, they were booming.

She stood there in shock, taking in what was happening. "You . . . don't?"

Lily got her head out of the pillow and faced her. She'd only been crying for a couple of seconds, but her makeup was already completely ruined. "OF COURSE NOT! THIS IS AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE!"

Roselle wasn't sure what to do, but she forced herself to get on the bed next to her and pat her on the shoulder. "Uh, there, there."

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

She pulled her hand away. "So, if you don't want to marry Armani, why are you agreeing to this?"

"Daddy is making me! He says that if I don't marry Armani, he'll throw me out on the street." She sniffled. "And he said if I cheat on him again and be a bad girl, he'll cut me off." More sobbing.

"I . . . I had no idea."

"Yeah. You really didn't. You don't know what it's like, Ro. You're good at something. You're so talented and pretty and down to earth that it makes me mad! Me? I've spent my whole life sheltered and showered with glitz and glamor. I don't know how to do anything by myself. Daddy always manipulates me with money because he knows I'm afraid to leave it all behind. I feel so . . . trapped."

"I think I know what it feels like to be trapped too." Roselle thought about her years in Michigan, wanting to break away, but being too afraid to. "There's a way out of it, but you need to take a chance. Don't marry Armani if you don't want to. You'll regret it if the person you actually love slips away."

"You DON'T know how I'm feeling AT ALL." She wiped her tears away. "I have to do this."

Roselle's auditory senses narrowed in on thumps from the outside along with bickering voices. "Someone's coming."

The girls stared at each other for a moment, eyeing each other in shock. When The doorknob turned, they both jumped off the bed and climbed under it.

"It's so nice for you to finally agree to speak with me face to face, Warren," said Grandma Scott. "This room isn't rigged with cameras or audio recording devices, is it?"

Warren sighed. "I know you'd be smarter than to fall victim to that, Meredith."

There was a pause between them, followed by the sound of an instrument that gave interference noises. Grandma Scott's heels clacked all throughout the room. She waved the instrument under the bed for a moment, causing the girls to hold their breath, but luckily they weren't caught.

"Clean," 'Meredith' Scott said.

"As promised." Brief pause. "Why do you always have to drink that tea?"

"Calms the nerves. So, let's get down to business, shall we?"

"Of course. What did you want to discuss with me?"

"Well, I guess you could say I wanted to make an appeal to your heart, assuming you had one." She sat on the bed, causing a stir between the hiding girls.

Lily was petrified and frozen, looking at Roselle, as if it were for help. Roselle, who was just as petrified as Lily was, shrugged at her and shook. It was unclear who reached out first, but at some point, the girls ended up gripping their hands together so tight that their hands were plum as they continued on hiding.

"Your daughter and my grandson are in love," Grandma Scott said. "Anyone with eyes can see that. Dylan was ready to marry your daughter, and when he asked you for her blessing, you forced her to break his heart. I can understand if you have qualms with me, but my grandson is a good man."

"Don't act like you care about 'love'," spat Mr. Strobe. "You just want to merge our families to hide all your family's dirty laundry. You know that my family is the only one in D.C. that's as powerful as yours, and you see me as a threat. You just want my daughter to marry your grandson so you can have more control over the situation." Tsk. "Me of all people should know you're incapable of love."

"Oh, Warren." She got off the bed. Roselle peaked her head out to see what was going on, and Grandma Scott was rubbing her hand on his cheek. "We were in love once, right?"

"Up until you left me for a man you thought was richer."

"That's what it's really about, isn't it? You're angry about what happened all those years ago." She whispered in his ear. "If you want, I can make it all up to you right here, right now."

Meredith Scott threw Warren Strobe onto the bed and kissed him. Roselle stopped peaking, and cringed. Lily was gagging.

"No," Warren said, catching his breath. "No matter what you do, no matter what you say, and no matter what happens, Lily has to Marry Armani. I don't care who's upset by it. It's going to happen, and that's my final answer."

"Why? Are you so desperate for power that you'd force your daughter into marriage with a man she doesn't love? That's despicable."

"DON'T YOU DARE TRY AND TELL ME THAT! YOU'RE THE LAST PERSON IN THIS ROOM WHO SHOULD SPEAK OF DESPICABLE NATURE!"

"Oh, Warren, care for some tea? You seem as though you need to calm the nerves."

"Fuck you and your condescension. I know what's best for me and my family, and I'd rather burn my house down than add you to it. I know who you are, Meredith. I know the things you've done. Sorry to disappoint you, but my answer is no."

She sighed. "Fine, but don't blame me for whatever happens next."

"If you lay a finger on my family, my father will destroy yours."

"I'm well aware. Consider your family safe. I'm still going to break up that wedding. That Roselle girl is the key."

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
maxyperson

Thank you to the ones who voted with their power stones today including HotRedFlaming, Johnson_Stephanie, Fallingleaf, and purpliciousj. I appreciate you guys so much! See you in the next chapter :D

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