1 Zoë

" Zoë Dale and Connor Morgan" the speaker announced. We both raised our hands and walked forward down the aisle together. He turned to face me with a disinterested look. I'd been trying to put off the ceremony for a long time. I didn't want to be with Connor but at 20 I had no choice. He'd delayed it as much as possible due to his business but now I was at 20 I was expected to produce offspring. Fuck that. The ceremony was over in seconds, it wasn't like a marriage ceremony from the before times, we weren't a married couple but we were life partners, expected to bring in children and live a life together. Happily or not.

Connor beckoned me to a car and I slid inside the back next to him. Most girls would have been thrilled to have Connor. We went to school together and he was the eye of every girl for a partner, except me, so why was he my life partner? I didn't know at the time but he was the reason for my education. The son of the mayor couldn't be seen with an uneducated life partner. I rolled my eyes internally as I thought about it. I thought he was a dick then and he was an even bigger dick now. He'd taken over his families business from the before times which was still going despite the conditions we lived in. Connor thought he was all that because unlike most people he had a house and electricity and servants.

The car pulled up outside Connor's house or more like my fortress. We entered the house and he spoke to me for the first time that day. "I have business to attend to, Mr Williams will show you around." And with that he turned around and stalked into his office closing the door behind him. 'Wow definitely a dick' I thought. Mr Williams walked slowly towards me. 'Mrs Morgan, ma'am, if you'll come with me, I'll show you to your room' and without waiting for a reply stalked up the grand staircase. I noted he called me mrs Morgan, my stomach did a flip because that's what I was now. No longer Zoë Dale, the daydreamer, the free spirit, at this moment Mrs Morgan, the trapped and caged forever. The house was fabulous I wasn't denying it but it had that hollow empty feeling, like it had never truly been lived in. A prison, my prison.

We walked up the stairs and down a long corridor, rooms to the left and right of me, some open, most closed. We came to one almost at the end and it was the grandest room I'd ever been in the ceiling was higher than my whole house, in the middle stood a massive king size four poster bed adorned with what looked like silk bedding. Through an open door to the side I could see a huge claw foot bath. I stood spinning around taking in all the beautiful artwork and ornaments placed in the room. The decor was old but modern with grand paintings but tastefully framed with silver boarders. There was a grand oak wardrobe in the corner and I wondered if I would ever be able to fill it. I didn't really have any clothes with me. Just the ones on my back.

Mr Williams broke my trance 'Mrs Morgan, there are clothes in the wardrobes to your right if you would like to freshen up. Dinner will be served at 7pm in the dining room". "Will Connor being joining me? I replied. Williams hesitated, " The master usually eats in his study" and with that he turned and walked away leaving me in the room feeling more lonely than ever before.

I shook my head clearing the thoughts. I didn't need him but I could used a freshen up. I walked over to the bathroom, the shower was beautiful, a big waterfall shower head and jets all placed on the wall behind. Stepping in was amazing like I'd never been clean before. I used the expensive shampoo and soap that smelled like exotic fruits. Even the towels felt different here. Fluffy and soft. A pang of guilt washed over me. That was the best shower I'd ever had in my whole life and Connor probably never thought of it that way. My family back home didn't have this luxury. But it was a given here. The whole days event suddenly caught up with me and I lay down on the bed as tears began falling until my eyes closed.