Claimed Series

Claimed

Emma:::

“Thank you,” my older sister whispers as she sits beside me. She wore a pale pink dress similar to our mother’s, a floppy white hat to match, and her wrist and neck draped in jewels. I know she was thanking me for indulging in all these wedding activities.

I give her a tense smile before kissing her cheek. She has happily become a replica of the other women in our family, sending a bitter taste into my mouth. Just another reminder that I was unlike them. My dress was the only one with a design or pattern. Everyone else had different solid pastel colors. The only difference was who wore dresses or a skirt/jacket combo.

She smiles back, “I love the sunflowers.”

Sipping the mimosa, I cross my knees, leaning back into my seat as the women around me continued greeting each other and finding the assigned seats at the table. “Mother said it was childish.”

Ophelia sighs, grabbing her glass and settling into the chair closer to me, “She doesn’t understand that you’re a free spirit. You’re not meant to be caged by this life.” She lifts her glass and waves slightly around us.

I held back the grimace because it wasn’t entirely true. If my family knew me, they would know I wanted nothing more than to be a mother, the perfect housewife. But if there was a man, who tried to give me everything, and all I had to do was spread my legs every night for him to fuck another child into me, I would marry him. I wanted to be surrounded by children and the love I never saw growing up. I just didn’t want to do all the society schmoozing every weekend, the galas and dressing up, the useless board meetings on a foundation that rarely donated the money they had.

Clenching my thighs, I tried not to think about how close I was to that possibility now, and with the man I never believed I could have. What I thought was a silly teenage crush on an attractive male figure in my life, and my nighttime fantasies paled in comparison to how he really is. His touch wasn’t gentle, I could never have guessed the monster hiding in his pants, and the dirty words that spilled from his mouth were unlike anything I’d experienced.

“What are you two girls whispering about?” My aunt Serena sneers from across the table, her nose tilting up as her narrowed gaze stares down at us. She had arrived sometime in the morning, visibly upset her husband didn’t pick her up from the airport, and we’ve all been paying for it since. Her nasty comments continued the entire time we had gotten ready at the main house and walked to the gardens.

How sore my pussy is from your husband’s giant cockis what I desperately wanted to say.

Instead, I gave her a saccharine smile, “How nice it is that everyone could come out for Lia’s wedding.”

My sister nods, “We have missed you, Auntie.”

Serena lips twist, and she turns to my mother, “When are you marrying off the unruly one?”

My eyes widen at her tone, and even my mother looks taken back, sparing me a glance as she frowns. “Our children are free to marry who they choose.”

I bite the tip of my tongue, unsure why she wasn’t mentioning that she had planned to be a matchmaker this weekend.

“Well, she’s not getting any younger. Ophelia is already 30 and just getting married. I know how much you wanted grandchildren,” My aunt snipes, taking a long sip.

“My god,” my sister mutters under her breath.

“She does have a grandchild. Our brother Michael has a daughter,” I tilt my head at my aunt. Her lips purse, and I know she wants to comment on the fact my brother and his girlfriend were not married. I wait for the word bastard to drop from her vile mouth, I would defend my niece no matter how my behavior was deemed inappropriate in the social circle. Even if my mother wouldn’t do the same, which is why my brother has nothing to do with us.

She glances at my mother before turning back to me, “Of course, my mind slipped for a moment.”

I hummed, “I heard that happens with age. Curious if that’s also the reason for the infatuation with children. You never had any of your own, right? A little late now?”

“Emma,” My sister hisses, and my mother gasps. I lean back, wanting to point out that no one has scolded my aunt for her behavior all morning.

Serena stares blankly at me, blinking once before smiling, “I like her tongue. I can finally see the family resemblance.”

My stomach turns at the reference, and I frown. I didn’t want to be like her at all. I look at my sister, an apology in my eyes for the way I was acting at her wedding brunch. I had let her provoke me into acting the same way she does.

“And I never did have any; I never wanted to. By the time father found a man somewhat worthy of marrying, I never could fathom being forever tied to someone like that,” She says, a laugh leaving her lips. “Not that didn’t stop Jaime from trying.”

My mother drew in a breath, “W-what are you saying? Did he force you?”

I clench my fists, waiting for her answer. I knew Jamie wasn’t that type of man deep down, but my aunt was the type of vindictive woman to lie about it.

She waves my mom’s worries off, “No, no. He’s been rough a few times, but that’s a man for you. No, he tried to give an ultimatum a few years ago. He said he wanted a child or would remove me from the company.”

Ophelia leans forward, “Our family’s company? Could he do that?”

“No,” My mother says, “Our lawyers would never allow that. It would have said so in the prenuptial agreement, which is why we had one drawn up for Theodore.”

My sister nods, and I want to roll my eyes. As if Theodore would ever leave her, this was his

golden ticket to everything he could want.

“Exactly, I laughed in his face,” Serena smiles, “It’s been the perfect marriage ever since. I do what I please, and he does god knows what.”

“And that’s the perfect marriage for you?” My brow furrows, and she nods.

“You’ll understand once you marry. The less they care to check on you, the more freedom you are granted.”

I exchange glances with my sister, “I would think you would want to marry someone because you love spending time with them.”

She scoffs, “Delusional fairytales of a child. You want a partner who will look good on your arm and paper, but behind closed doors, they leave you alone.”

“My mother and father are always together,” I point out, and my mother smiles. I didn’t return it because I wasn’t thinking about it romantically. My parents were always together and never home, happy to leave us in the care of nannies. My mind wondered if there would ever become a point where I got sick of Jamie’s presence, and it didn’t seem possible. And when that particular daydream added small children surrounded us, I couldn’t understand pawning them off the strangers.

“We were one of the lucky ones,” My mother explains, sipping on her drink and glancing around before leaning towards us, “Out of all your grandfather’s matches, we truly found happiness with one another.”

“Matches?” My mouth falls open, looking at my aunt’s twisted face and then at my sister, “like an arranged marriage?”