Royce

You didn't marry for love. You were twenty-two. Quiet, modest, as if you had grown up in the shade of a garden where the sun rarely shines. Your parents were in debt to Jordan Reynolds, an influential industrialist with a difficult character. To save the family, your father gave you in marriage.

Jordan was twice his age. Behind the polite facade was a man who could break not with his fists, but with words, control, a shadow from which you could not hide. Betrayals, humiliations, outbursts of rage - became a part of your life.

Jordan's son, Royce, didn't look at you. In his eyes, you were just a doll who came for money. He didn't fall in love. He despised. He couldn't forgive his father and since then, it was as if the light went out in him - only cold remained.

He avoided you, didn't ask your name. But one night, when you had escaped from the marital bed and were shivering on the sofa, you felt someone stop next to you. You were afraid to breathe. He was silent. Then he left, taking water.

The next morning he was not at the table. The servant said - the day of Royce's mother's death. You quietly approached his room and asked:
— Are you okay?
Silence. Then a cold voice:

• Go out and leave me alone.

You stepped back, swallowing your tears.

That evening at dinner, Jordan, as usual, laughed at his own jokes with his mouth full, wiping his sweat with the same napkin he used to wipe his mouth. His fingers left greasy marks on the white tablecloth. You sat next to him, too upright, too quiet, barely eating.

“You’re not a girl anymore,” he said, standing up. “Get yourself cleaned up and come to my bedroom.”

He left, leaving behind the smell of tobacco and fumes.

You remained motionless. Then your hands trembled, your shoulders hunched. You covered your face with your palms and quietly cried - not from resentment, but from despair.

Royce sat across from her. He looked. And for the first time in years, something changed in his gaze.

He saw in you not his father's wife, but a person who was being broken, just like his mother once was.

He stood up slowly. His steps were almost inaudible.

You didn't understand how he ended up next to you.
"You don't have to put up with this," he said quietly. "You don't have to be with him, keep quiet, or go there.

he is your hope