Mr. Thorne

CHAPTER 4

I closed the door of my car as I stared at the place I once called home which was now nothing but a battlefield filled with unpleasant memories. A heavy sigh escaped my lips as I walked towards the imposing entrance.

When I got inside, I met my stepmother walking towards me with a surprised look on her face. "Oh, my baby..." she cooed, her arms outstretched in a gesture of fake affection... one that I don't think I would ever get used to. "I heard about what happened with you and Rylan. Oh, I'm so sorry," she continued, pulling me into a suffocating hug. But her crocodile tears held no water. I knew the truth.

All of it.

Her affair with my uncle, her plan to manipulate the inheritance, and her scheme to marry her daughter into the Thorne family. Her carefully constructed facade was as flimsy as a house of cards in front of me.

"Poor you," she sympathized, her voice dripping with feigned concern. "What are you going to do about the marriage?"

I gently removed myself from her grasp, a cold smile playing on my lips. "The contract still holds," I replied, my tone firm. The shock in her eyes was almost enough to make me laugh.

Her expression shifted to disbelief. "What?" she sputtered. "You don't mean you still intend to go along with the arrangement after everything!"

"I have no intention of marrying Rylan," I corrected, my voice edged with finality.

"Then who?" she pressed, her curiosity piqued.

I offered her a wide smile as I made my way through the house, leaving her standing there, dumbfounded, her mind racing with unanswered questions.

I wanted to laugh but I had to hold it in. I shouldn't laugh, Not yet!

You can call me hasty but I didn't waste time in choosing the wedding date and soon the news traveled through the internet. And it soon reached the ears of the people I wanted to hear it the most. Rylan and my stepsister. Though I wasn't expecting Rylan to barge into my house like he owned it, but there he was, towering over me, his face masked with fury. I’d always known he hated me, but this was a new level of intensity. I felt a surge of excitement as he threw a slap against my cheek. The pain was oddly satisfying.

“What the hell do you think you are doing!” He yelled at the top of his voice, almost bursting my eardrums. “What the actual f**k, Joanne!”

I couldn’t help but smirk. “I think I would be adding a little more respect to that name if I were you since I will become your stepmother in a couple of days.” He raised his hand to land another slap but I held it before it reached my face. “And don’t you dare!” I growled.

He hesitated, his eyes narrowing. For a brief moment, I saw something flicker in his eyes, something almost like fear. Then it was gone, replaced by his familiar rage. It was in that instant that I felt a surge of power. I was in control. I watched as he gritted his teeth in anger and didn't say a word. A shadow moved behind me, and I felt a reassuring presence. It was the bodyguard Mr. Thorne, stationed to guard me.

Rylan seemed taken aback when he saw the bodyguard. “James, what are you doing here?” He asked in surprise, but after not receiving a reply, he pulled his hands from my grasp and returned his gaze to me. “Stop this madness, Joanne!”

"Madness?" I asked as I chuckled softly, the sound echoed in the quiet room. "Madness!" I yelled, my voice rising in pitch as tears welled up in my eyes. "Madness is f*****g my sister behind my back! Madness is thinking you have the f*****g right to barge into my house and slap me in the face! That's madness!"

He took a step closer, but James intervened, blocking his path. "Don't you think you're being pathetic, chasing after my father out of some childish grudge because I didn't return your feelings? Stop being so f*****g petty and acting like a child," he spat, his words like daggers to my heart. A wave of pain washed over me as I bite my lips. "I don't know what you did to convince my father, but I advise you to stop before you make a fool of yourself," he added, his voice dripping with contempt.

I pushed James's hand away and walked closer to Rylan. "Get used to calling me stepmother, you f*****g asshole," I spat. “And you know what?” I held his collar and pulled him closer to me. “You are not invited to my wedding.”

Rylan stumbled backward as I released his shirt. A phantom speck of dust caught his attention, and he brushed at it, a ridiculous attempt to clean an invisible stain. He looked up at me and scoffed.

"Leave!" I commanded, my voice heavy in the air. As he turned and walked away without a word, a strange sense of relief washed over me. Guess I wasn't over him as much as I thought, because warm tears traced salty paths down my cheeks, not from rage but from a broken heart.

I let out a bitter laugh, a cruel mockery of the pain clawing at my insides. This was what I wanted… I didn't want him back. I expected all this to happen, but for him to label it all a childish grudge felt like a betrayal of my own suffering.

"Miss..." James called out, his voice laced with worry.

I turned to face him, wearing the best faux smile I could muster at that moment. "Contact the designer. We have a wedding to prepare for."