♡︎~Chapter 11~♡︎ AMBER

She didn't want to see anyone that morning.

After Amber's daily morning exercise, she freshened up and locked herself in her room. No phone calls. No text messages.

Just peace and serenity--

Her cellphone had other plans. She could feel the vibration all the way from her bed, as her phone had been placed on the table that rested opposite her.

Amber grunted. "You had one simple task, Amber. And you failed!" She dragged herself over to where her phone had been buzzing, muttering curses to herself as to why she had forgotten to turn on her 'do not disturb' option. The call stopped abruptly before she could see her caller.

She was about to switch her phone off when a text popped in.

She swallowed, feeling all the nerve buttons in her system turned on. It was a simple message with too much pain in it.

Kendall is now dating her. It's official!

Her brows furrowed, thin lines delineated her forehead. She was infuriated by rage now. Her whole body vibrated just as her phone had done while it rang. Without a second thought, she picked up the phone and dialed the number again. It felt heavy in her hands for some reason.

The other lady picked up, "hey Amber, did you see my message--"

Amber was fidgeting now. "How dare you disturb me on my quiet day?" Her voice sounded a bit louder than she'd anticipated.

"Oh, I--I'm sorry. I just thought that--"

"I've told you times without numbers that this, it's a fake news! Stop telling me craps like this if you have no real proof. Cut the crap, you asshole! Keep a close watch on this... This girl. And don't text or call me regarding this issue again, not unless you have a solid proof. Bye!" Her breathing quickened and became unstable, like she'd just ran a marathon.

She couldn't hang up. She'd been too rude, and she knew it. The silence from over there wasn't helping things either. A soft sigh escaped from her lips. Her vision blurred, and the tears of pain began to drop down her eyes. She sighed again, and this time it sounded like a shiver.

She couldn't show her fear, not to this spy of hers, not to anyone. She swallowed. "I'm sorry..." her voice trailed off, and holding back her tears suddenly seemed like a difficult thing to do.

Drawing in a shaky breath, she apologized once again, and ordered this friend of hers to keep a close watch on the so-called lady her husband-to-be had suddenly grown interested in.

Immediately the call was hung up, Amber threw herself on the bed and bursted out in tears. It was all too much. She knew he would find somebody else, and fall in love. What caused her pain and suffering was the fact that their so-called relationship was already public. It was a huge slap on her face.

She was all alone. Who could she run to for help? Who would be around to listen to her worries, and just comfort her? Who?

She was all alone. Left to face her trouble by herself. She knew she was never going to be fine no matter how hard she tried to pretend to be strong, and not be bothered by the rumors, because they were only just rumors as far as she was concerned.

Kendall Shay was her husband-to-be. Whether he liked it or not.

✩★✩

Amber was not enjoying her meal. Her mother talked and bragged about how beautiful she was that day, and there was nothing she and her dad could do about it other than to listen.

"I wore no makeup, you see. It is quite fascinating. This is what I--"

Amber's patience was running out now. She had been chewing her piece of steak for minutes now. Emily Rhett was pretty with dimples that added to her beauty every time she spoke, smiled, laughed or even cried. This woman was pretty, all on the outside. On the inside however...

Her father said nothing, his stiff face buried in his meal. Well, he dared not. Since her mother was the wealthy one, her father had been trapped in her bullshit for way too long. This annoyed Amber often.

He looked a lot older than he was supposed to, and perhaps anyone who was that close to Emily would suffer such drastic age growth. Her nagging and cruelty was enough to drain the youthfulness from one's face.

Nothing else filled the air besides Emily's continuous rapping.

Just out of the blue, this woman dropped her cutlery down and menacing eyes fixated on Amber.

Amber's brows arched up as she awaited her mother's criticism. The woman had never for once given her a compliment. Living with someone who only found faults in what you did was getting exhausting. One would think Amber would have gotten too used to her harsh words by now.

However, they still hurt.

"Green lady," Emily frowned. She must have hated the outfit Amber was on.

Straightening her posture, Amber's eyes locked with hers, but she quickly buried her gaze on the table below. "I will burn this gown."

A scoff escaped from Emily's mouth. "Dear lord, nothing's wrong with the gown actually. It's you. Something is wrong with you. Can't you see, my dear?" She turned to face her husband. "Why so silent, my dear?"

The man panicked. "Uh, well--uh, Amber you, uh... You--"

"Cut the crap already." Commanded Emily.

"Yes, my love!"

Amber watched her father crumble to the simple order of her mother. She was disappointed, but not surprised.

"Me? What have I done this time?" There was fear in her stomach, not her eyes. She had been way too good in hiding her feelings from the world. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms beneath her breast, waiting for her mother's nagging.

Emily took a napkin from the table, and wiped invisible pieces of food from her cheeks. "When I was about to marry your father, I was stubborn." She began, and Amber rolled her eyes. "I didn't give a crap about what anyone else said. I..." She paused, leaning back on her seat. "Actually, I stole him from the so-called love of his life. I did everything I could to call him my husband, and he called me his wife."

Amber was lost at first, but as her mother got towards the end of her tale, she was beginning to see her motive in the first place.

She felt a flutter of panic, eyes lined with harassing anxiety. Amber cleared her throat, but it didn't stop her mother from her ranting.

"I did everything I could, because that was the kind of woman we were trained to become. We are Amazon warriors--"

"Amazon warriors didn't have to fight for any man back then since they were all women..." Emily's husband froze, terror already spread across his face. He shut Amber a quick nervous glance, then kept quiet. The heavy frown on Emily's face had been enough to shut anyone up.

Her lips stretched into a smirk, dimples forming on her cheeks as she smiled. "Which brings me to you, my only daughter who has refused to stand like a bull and claim what belongs to her!"

Her words started like a soft whisper, then ended in a roar, shaking the room.

Amber could now hear the slow, dragging beat of her heart. She moved her lips slightly to indicate a smile. A weak, wobbling smile. "You don't happen to believe the rumors that these people are saying, do you? I thought you were more than that." She was glad her voice came out loudly enough for Emily to have heard.

A ripple of laughter went through their midst. Amber tried to wrap her head around the idea that must have sounded amusing to Emily. She was laughing profusely now.

Fear squeezed the air from Amber's lungs. Emily's menacing laughter came to a halt, a gaze at her daughter like a blast of ice following. Amber kept her cool, though she was fidgeting now.

"Is that what you think? You are such a fool!"

"It is!" Yelled Amber. "It's a rumor. You're bigger than this to actually believe this--"

Emily's palm met with the table forcefully in a loud thud. "Oh for fuck sake, shut up! If you mess this up, if you let your stupidity get in the way of our big plan, I will have no choice but to bring to you that shame and embarrassment that you have been searching for!"

Amber jumped up on her feet. Her whole body was shivering, and she had to hold her position still, strongly convincing herself not to fall flat on the ground at the feet of her mother. "I won't disappoint you, mother. I promise!"

✩★✩

When everything seemed to have died down, and supper was over, Amber headed out to clear her head. As soon as she stepped outside, she felt the cold air tingle her skin.

She screamed out loud. No one could hear her anyway.

It was more than a loud yell of frustration. It was Amber voicing out to the world. It was Amber begging to be heard. How long would she have to put up with her mother's craps?? How long!

She spat out her rage freely, a fiery exclamation of wrath and disdain. A childish wash of anger overwhelmed her. Amber's face was ravaged with despair, brown eyes prickling with tears already. Her cries turned into whimpers, and she pleaded for someone to come and save her.

"I'm not a psycho..." she wished her words made sense to her ears. She wanted to believe what she'd just said. She sighed heavily, and watched as her fury softened into a low moan of repeated crying. "I--I'm not a psycho." The whole environment was spinning, dizziness clouding her sight now. "I'm not... I'm not..."