Chapter 2

"Willow!" Philip exclaimed loudly, slamming the letter down in the process, which led his sister to snap around in an instant. "How many times have I told you not to burst into my study like this?"

"I was just in desperate need for a new book." Willow replied, obviously not really bothered by the fact that she may have interrupted her brother working. "And by the way, who ever said that this was your study only? I cannot remember father specifying that this study would be yours, therefore it is OUR study and I am allowed to come here whenever I please." The young girl folded her arms in front of her, looking at her brother in a challenging way.

"First of all I am the older sibling. Second I am the one in charge of things here, which also includes you, and third I am the one in need of a study since I am the one taking care of this estate, in case you haven't noticed!" Philip had stood up from his chair, now not just annoyed at his little sister but fuming.

"Oh, come on Philip," Willow rolled her eyes and let out a grunt, "would it really hurt your ego that bad to just for once share something with your sister? I am really by no means asking for a lot!"

"That is not the point here!" Philip was raging. "You need to learn some manners and grant people their privacy! I have a ton of things to take care of and I cannot have you bursting in here without a thought!"

"I am just grabbing a new book. If you wouldn't make such a fuss about this I would be long gone and you could attend your so very important business!" Willow sassed, not understanding at all, why this would be such a big deal. Her brother thought he was the most important person on earth since their father passed away.

"Grab as many books as you desire. All I'm asking is for you to knock on that goddamn door, before you enter! That really isn't too hard, now is it?" Philip burst out, his head now completely red with anger.

"Jeez Philip! Why do you have to be so-" Willow started her reply, but was interrupted before she could even finish.

"So what?"

"So.... so grim! Ever since father's death all that mattered to you was business. Were you really so eager to take over the estate?" Willow bust out and that sentence hit home hard.

Philip was left speechless for a moment. "How dare you say something like that?" He yelled back at her, once he had regained his composure. "You better watch your mouth, or there will be consequences. I am not going to let such inappropriate behavior pass, like father did! He might have been too drunk to teach you some manners these past years, but I am not! And I will not have you disrespect me in that way, do you hear me?"

Now it was Willow that was taken aback at her brother's outburst and stunned into silence.

"I asked you a question!", Philip demanded an answer, taking a threatening step towards her.

"Yes." Willow answered in a small voice, letting her head drop and her gaze lingering on the floor between the siblings.

"There are rules in this house and I will not have you break them any longer! Enough is enough!" Philip continued in a stern voice. "You are to treat me with respect as I am the one in charge here and you will follow the rules. I have had enough of your childish nonsense!"

Willow nodded her head in defeat, without even lifting her gaze towards her brother. "And treating people with respect also includes looking at them, when they are talking to you!" her brother added, grabbing her chin and forcing her head upwards to look at him in a harsh way.

"Fine!" Willow spat, tears brimming in her eyes, not because he was hurting her, but because of his seemingly stone cold heart.

"That's it!" Philip declared loudly "I am not going to put up with your attitude any longer."

Letting go of his sister's face and instead grabbing a hold of her upper arm, he started dragging her out the room and down the hallway.

"You are going to spend the rest of the day in your room and think about what you did. And I sure hope you learned your lesson by tomorrow morning or, so help me god, you will stay in that room until you do!" Philip declared once they reached the door to Willow's room. He pulled open the door, practically threw his sister in and slammed the door shut again, locking it.

Still fuming he made his way back to his study and slammed that door shut behind him as well. That child would cost him his last nerve. But he would make sure to teach her a good lesson! This behavior was completely unacceptable and he was not one to tolerate such disrespectfulness towards him. Once the deal was settled with the Grand Duke and he wouldn't have to worry about those debts anymore, he'd make sure that his dear sister knew how to behave around him!

Slumping down on the chair behind the desk once again, Philip picked up the letter and finished folding it up neatly and sealed it. With a sigh he called for Thomas, the butler of the house, to deliver it to the Grand Duke right this instant. He made it clear to Thomas that this letter was to be given to none other than the Grand Duke in person.

Once the butler had left, Philip let his head fall into his hands once again. Why did he have to deal with all of this? Why couldn't his sister at least support him in the slightest by behaving like a decent young lady? Her behavior today had only been proof that it would have been a lot of trouble to find her a proper husband. Especially since Philip wasn't able to provide her with a dowry.

But now that was taken care of. He had it all under control. Tomorrow he would meet up with the Grand Duke and settle the deal. Pretty much all his problems would be solved then. The Grand Duke would take care of the debts and he wouldn't have to worry about the future of his sister. The only thing that was left to do was to teach her some manners.

Philip couldn't risk her behaving like this when she'd meet Marcus. She would have to be at her best behavior. No man would want their wife to be to behave like Willow had this afternoon.

But he would get her tamed. Their father was to blame for her behaving like this. He had never set any rules for either of them. And while Philip had felt the need to behave himself and take care of himself and his sister, when their father wasn't, Willow was enjoying her freedom. Well, she would have to kiss that freedom goodbye. Philip wouldn't let her out of his eye. Or at least not of the grounds. There couldn't be the slightest rumor about her being with a man. The Grand Duke would never accept her as his daughter in law if he thought that she wasn't pure anymore.

Also there was no reason for her to leave the grounds other than to get a new dress every once in a while. She wouldn't have to attend any of the balls as she was already promised to someone. No, his sister would stay right there on Cornwall grounds. He would accompany her himself for dress shopping and anything else she could need and other than that she would stay right there. There would be no discussion about this either.

Philip was finally feeling like things were under control again. The past weeks had been hard on him. There had been no time for grief, there were things that needed to be taken care of. First the funeral and then he had to get a grasp at all the bills that needed to be paid. He had to clean up the entire study and sort through a mountain of papers. Only to discover what a mess they really were in. But he had finally managed to find a solution to all of those problems.

The young Duke got up from the desk and strolled over to the window, looking down into the gardens stretching out below. How he missed playing out there with his sister. Not a single worry on their minds. Life seemed perfectly fine at that time. But things only got worse from there. Now the gardens were empty. The small children playing tag, screaming with laughter, had to grow up and face this troublesome world. There was no way to go back to those happy carefree days. Even if he wished that they could. He hated the distance that had grown between him and his sister in these past years. And their fathers death had added miles to that distance. But right now, Philip couldn't care about it. There were more important things at hand that needed his attention. Their future was at stake.

Meanwhile Willow was walking up and down her room, angry tears streaming down her cheeks. Who did her brother think he was? She was not a little child anymore. He couldn't just lock her up in her room like that! And for what? Wanting to get a book from the study! This was madness!

He could have just asked her to knock the next time in a decent way, let her get her book and leave. It was his short temper that had caused this huge drama. She wouldn't have been smart with him, if he hadn't been such an idiot. But ever since their father died, Philip had completely closed himself off of his sister and everybody else in this house.

Never in her entire life had Willow felt this alone. This betrayed. How could he just show her the cold shoulder in this time of grieve? Was he not hurting at all?

Obviously not. He was too caught up in his business stuff, that he wouldn't tell her about, to notice anyone or anything around him.

Willow felt like with her father's death she also lost her brother.

She remembered how they used to play together in the gardens when they were little kids. She remembered how he would push her on the swings for hours whenever she wanted to. He had always been there for her, when their father was once again nowhere to be found. He would read her stories before it was time for her to sleep. He would let her come to his room and sleep in his bed, when she was scared of the monsters under hers.

But those times were long gone.

The older they got, the more they had seemed to grow apart. All of a sudden, playing with her wasn't good enough anymore. All of a sudden, he prefered to spend time with his friends and Willow was left in the gardens by herself. All of a sudden, he would be annoyed when she'd ask him to push her on the swings. All of a sudden, he was out riding with his friends, when their father was nowhere to be found. All of a sudden, the door to his room was locked.

This wasn't fair. He had to see how hard their father's death was on her. He had to understand. They only had each other now. And yet he had not once brought up their father's death in her presence. She was left alone to deal with the grieve. And as if that hadn't been enough he thought he could go ahead and boss her around. He was not her father! He had no right to treat her the way he did. In fact, no one should be treated like that. Especially not in a situation like this.

Willow slumped down on her bed, staring out the window into the gardens.

The gardens that once were such a happy place. Now they were empty. And all that was left was the memory of how it used to be and how it would never be again.

Ever since their father's passing, the sibling hadn't talked much. Philip had been too caught up in the business to pay much attention to his sister.

Of course Willow knew that she was supposed to knock. But doing what she was told hardly got her any attention from her brother. Even though they were fighting, she at least got some attention. Willow knew that this was not how things were supposed to go. She should go and ask for him to take some time so they could talk about things. But would he really take time to do that? Willow doubted it.

She understood that he had a different way of dealing with grief than she did. While she wanted to share her emotions he preferred to shut everyone out. She tried to accept that, but it wasn't that easy. There was no one else for her to talk to, that would really understand. Sure she could talk to her best friend Theresa, but that wasn't the same. The closest family member that Theresa had lost was her great-aunt, that she had only met twice in her life.

Of course she was trying her best to help Willow through that grieve and tried to understand, but she couldn't imagine what it felt like. She just didn't know what it was like to grow up without a mother to look up to and with a father that would rather spend his time drinking and gambling than with his kids. Theresa didn't know what it meant to feel truly alone. She had three sisters and a brother. There were always people around at their house. There were always people to go to that would give advice when she had problems. And who had ever been there for Willow?

Willow didn't like to admit it, but sometimes she envied Theresa. When she was complaining about her siblings, Willow wished she had siblings that could annoy her by running around in their house screaming. But the only way her own brother could annoy her was by telling her what to do.

He had tried that multiple times before, but never had he been so set on the thought before. He never made her feel like he was superior to her until today. And that scared Willow if she was honest with herself. She didn't want her brother to turn into someone like that. Someone she didn't think she ever knew.

She wanted her old brother back. The one that would push her on the swings even if there were things he'd rather do. The one that would comfort her, when she was sad or scared. The one that would tell her, that everything would be alright and the one that would make sure that things did turn out alright.

But right now he seemed further away than ever before. Willow wondered if deep down he was grieving just as much as she did. If he wished for them to be close again as well. Maybe he felt like he had to make it seem like he was oh so strong and not even his father passing away could shake him up. Willow knew that deep down he had to care.

A knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts. For a moment she thought it would be her brother, coming to apologize to her. But it was just her maid Elise with a tray of food, which Willow assumed to be her dinner. Of course her brother would not come to apologize to her. How stupid of her, to even think of that.

Elise placed the tray on the dresser next to the door and left after sending a small sad smile in Willows direction. Obviously she felt sorry for her, but there were really no words she could have said, that could have made the situation any better.

The food was left untouched, as Willow did not even have the slightest bit of appetite after that fight with her brother and with all those thoughts in her mind.

She still couldn't understand why he had been so extremely short-tempered today. He had never been the most patient person but something had been off today. He had never gotten this mad at her for such a minor thing. Maybe it had just been that little drop that made the water spill over the edge. Or maybe he had already turned into a complete blockhead.

Willow watched as the sun was setting. She watched as the colors slowly faded and the world outside turned dark. The darkness seemed to match the thoughts on her mind. Whatever did she do to deserve all this? You killed your mother. That little voice in the back of her head whispered. Yes... It was Willow's fault that her mother had passed away. And she guessed that that had been the reason why her father had been the way he was. That was the reason why he started drinking and gambling with his so called friends. She was what had driven him away from the Cornwall Estate so much. Because every time he looked at her, she reminded him of his dead wife. Willow would never forget the way he looked at her, tears brimming in his eyes. The pain he was feeling so clearly visible it was hard for her to endure. All she ever did was hurt her family. The people that she loved the most. So maybe she did deserve this.

At some point Elise had come back to pick up the tray, with the now cold food and offered to help her getting ready for the night, but Willow declined. She didn't want to see anyone right now. She was too caught up in her own mind. In those consuming thoughts, that told her, that it was all her fault and that it would have been better if she had never been born in the first place.

---------------------------

I would highly appretiate it, if you take the time to leave a comment.

Let me know what you like and dislike and feel free to point out mistakes.

Thanks!