Chapter ７

Three days later we pull up in a limo to a mansion. I can't help but gape with my mouth open as I try to take it all in. The manor is so huge that it won't all fit into my vision at once.

Outside, beside the large front double doors, several people stand and wait for the limo to park. Someone opens the car door for us from outside, and Sterling exits first, then takes my hand and helps me out.

The greeting crowd is all smiles, and Sterling hugs a few of them and exchanges greetings. My mind is racing and filled with so many thoughts and emotions that I barely understand when Sterling introduces me to his family.

Victoria Bellegarde. That's my name now. This is my family. This is my house. These are my servants.

One of the women there to greet us has short blonde hair and is wearing a suit. She extends a hand in greeting and I take it.

"Lovely to meet you, Vicky," she says. I haven't been called Vicky since high school, and it makes me smile. "I'm Paula."

Standing beside Paula is a man dressed just as smartly as Sterling and the rest of them, though his shrewd handsomeness puts me off a bit. Something about him is so familiar, and it takes me too long to realize that this is the man who saw me and Percy on the balcony at the party last week.

He holds out his hand to shake mine. "Vincent. Sorry we weren't able to meet formally at the party earlier."

I smile at him. "Well, it's great to meet you now."

Paula says to Sterling, "I thought you were kidding when you said you'd gotten married."

"Why would I joke about that, Paula?"

"Let me see it, then." Paula smiles at me with an excited look in her eyes and it takes me a moment to realize she meant my ring.

I remove my gloves and reveal the enormous diamond on my finger. Paula and Vincent gasp at the sight of it. I feel out of place, on the spot, embarrassed, but I don't show it.

I'm not sure how everyone is related, and I feel too awkward to ask just now. The servants bring us into the house. It's even bigger on the inside, and my mind can't take how beautiful and elegant and expensive everything is.

One of the butlers takes us upstairs and shows us our room. The bed is enormous and looks very comfortable. The closet and wardrobe are big enough to be bedrooms themselves, and they're filled with clothes for both me and Sterling.

That evening, a servant knocks on our door and I open it. She's a girl younger than I am, holding up a beautiful gown.

"Miss Paula would like you to wear this to dinner tonight in an hour."

I take the dress and am surprised at how light it is. "Thank you. What's your name?"

She appears startled, as if the question was out of place. "My name is Lydia. Can I get you anything else?"

"No. Thank you, Lydia." I smile and shut the door.

Sterling is laying on the bed, his eyes on his phone. "You should have asked her to help you get dressed."

"I don't need help putting on a dress."

Sterling dresses and leaves me alone in the room to join the others for dinner. It's only five minutes to the hour and I need to get down there, but I can't get my zipper all the way up. I struggle and force it, and my hair gets stuck.

"Ow, ow, ow," I say as I try my best to get the hair out of the zipper. But it's jammed now, with my hair tangled hopelessly in the zipper, and there's nothing I can do.

I waddle to the bedroom door. I can't turn my head and I'm stuck looking at an upward angle. If I move my head it pulls at my hair. I force the door open and hope that there's a servant out there.

"Hello? Anyone? Lydia? I need help…"

I hear someone come up behind me, and I feel tugging at the zipper and in my hair. Relief washes over me as my hair comes loose and I feel the zipper rise up my back and fasten at the top of the dress. I sigh and turn around.

Percy grins at me, and my blood freezes.

"Why the hell are you here?" I hiss at him. Suddenly I feel dirty now that he's touched me and my hair.

Percy just laughs and says, "You're still as clumsy as ever." He pushes me up against the wall and whispers in my ear, "Has Sterling needed to cut your steak for you yet?"

"Let me go," I whisper. "I'll call out for help."

Percy looks deep into my eyes and I feel him put something into my hand. He straightens, fixes his crooked tie, and turns to leave.

"Victoria," he says.

I feel that I'm blushing. I don't answer him.

"I don't think I can let you go," he says.

"Please go," I say. And he does go.

I go back into my bedroom and look at my hair in the mirror to make sure it's okay. It's a little messed up in the back, but I brush it down and it seems fine.

In the mirror I see the reflection of the bedroom window and the balcony outside. Someone is standing there, and I gasp and spin around to see Vincent climbing through into the bedroom.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Sorry," he said, straightening his blazer and closing the window. "I heard you call out. I wasn't spying, I promise."

I frown. "Did you hear everything?"

"Yeah."

"Are you going to tell anyone?"

"Would you want me to?"

I rub my face with my hands and exhale in frustration as I smudge my mascara. I turn to the mirror and fix it with my fingers. "I'm sorry," I tell Vincent's reflection. "I'm just...so nervous."

"This isn't exactly a relaxing place." Vincent makes his way to the bedroom door and holds it open. "I'll meet you down there, I guess." He looks at the dress I'm wearing. "Did someone want you to wear that?"