The Price of Unwanted Love

el Peterson. He was a decade older than her, a man who r

rrified. Michael, her mother's younger brother, stood tall and somber, th

his home, the grand Peterson mansion, and for ten years, he was her guardian, her only family. He cared for her meticulously,

runk, he stumbled into her room by mistake. The air was thick with their shared pain of loss. She didn't push him away. S

s flashes of paparazzi cameras. The headlines were sensational

always doted on Michael, saw the news. Her fra

ndled Linda' s funeral with a chilling quietness. Then, to the astoni

iptures, a penance for Linda' s soul. By night, he demanded her presence in h

forced her to abort

ened eigh

cold operating table. Through the haze of pain, she heard a sound-a faint, desp

doctor, her voice a threa

flustered, c

, cold as ice. "That has nothing

door burst open. Eighteen burly men stormed in. They f

hated her. He blamed her for Linda' s death. Overw

she wo

g sun streamed through the window. She looked at the calen

od by the window, his shoulders shaking with silent, gut-wrenching grief. A p

me, she would not be a hindrance. She would

hands were steady as she opened a small, folded paper and t

him the drink. "Uncle Michael

wn without a thought, his

ut her phone and c

less. "Uncle Michael is very upset. He's been

"Sarah? Why are you calling me? Why don

word a clean cut. "I d

ve decided to make an announcement today. Grandfather's will states that I

ad been positioning herself for th

" Linda said, h

h opened the door for her, then stepped aside. Linda rushed p

g. She could hear their intimate sounds, the soft murmurs

e had saved Linda. She had g

ed down her face

el was already in the dining room, a cup of coffee in his hand. He looked up, h

he said. It wa

, reaching out to touch her cheek.

r. A flicker of somethin

's wr

" she sai

the stairs, a triumphant, secretive smile on her face.

ed about you all night." She then turned to Sarah.

said n

om Linda back to Sarah. He seemed to h

his voice dropping to a low command. "M

s heart

dismissive, "needs to be cleared out for Lind

tion had become. All the memories, all the caref

d the last piece o

dded s

. The first photo he' d ever given her. The scarf he' d bought her on her sixteenth

er died, she ma

rance," she said, her voice c

sh from his li