Chapter 6: Letting Go, Loving On

I packed in the East Wing. Many visited, but I only saw old friends.

Savannah brought her fiancé. She’d been sulking for weeks, finally cheered up.

Savannah: “He didn’t trust me, kept secrets!”

Zeke grinned: “You’re a handful, but I love you.”

Queen Bee cracked pistachios: “Hey, you’re silly, but he did nothing wrong.”

Savannah: “You don’t have a boyfriend, you don’t get it.”

Queen Bee: ?

Savannah fake-cried: “She scolded me!”

Zeke hugged her: “You’re innocent. Such a pure girl doesn’t need all this trouble, right?”

Savannah pushed him away: “See, you don’t have a boyfriend, you don’t get it.”

Queen Bee: ?

I couldn’t take it and cut in.

“Such a young big shot is rare.” In this shuffle, Zeke went from third to second rank. I teased, “Congrats!”

Zeke hugged Savannah, beaming: “Thanks to Harrison and you!”

As soon as they left, the Lady arrived.

Lady: “I still don’t get it. Even if you’re a traitor’s daughter, Harrison could make you Lady, right? He left the main house empty for you, hasn’t touched any other girl!”

“You’re right, but I don’t want to marry him.”

I was learning to pack, failing miserably. My suitcase looked like a yard sale in progress.

The Lady couldn’t understand: “He loves you, but you refuse?”

Me: “It’s normal not to get it, but I just don’t like this whole setup.”

After all, if I don’t say ‘forever and only you,’ it’d give away my outsider status.

The Lady, tongue-tied, called the two back to help persuade me.

Savannah and Queen Bee returned, arms linked after bickering.

Queen Bee: “You’re the last Bennett. How’ll you survive outside?”

Me: “Harrison will send people to watch over me.”

Queen Bee: “He loves you but lets you go?”

Me: “It’s normal not to get it, but love means letting go, not owning.”

Harrison and I are half childhood friends, so I influenced him.

Queen Bee poked Savannah: “Say something!”

I looked at Savannah, only to see her with a mysterious smile.

I was lost: ?

On her face... why was it full of ‘shipping this couple’?

Savannah: “Ah, I love you, but I want to leave you, and want your support.”

Savannah: “Ah, I love you, but I let you go, and send people to protect you.”

Me: ...

“Don’t say it, I get it.” Savannah grinned. “My review: match made in heaven.”

Queen Bee: ?

Queen Bee: What are you saying?

Savannah started chanting: “They call me crazy; I say they just don’t get it.”

Savannah shook her head: “Easier to see from the outside than when you’re in it.”

I deadpanned to Queen Bee: “See? That’s your future.”

Queen Bee: ?

Queen Bee: What ghost story are you telling?

I thought, then corrected: “No, Mariah will live at the mayor’s house, maybe they’ll all end up like this.”

I still packed up, determined to leave.

At the gate, I met Harrison in plain clothes. There was a beat, a quiet moment as we faced each other.

Harrison: “I was sent to protect you.”

Dang, I was moved. My heart did a little flip.

Rain started falling in the city. It was the kind that soaked you through, but felt good anyway.

Harrison and I walked quietly through the rain. I didn’t mind the wet, and he didn’t either. We were both stubborn that way.

I didn’t ask for an umbrella, he didn’t offer one.

Our clothes brushed the wet grass as we stopped before a grave, watching its shape blur in the rain. The world felt smaller, quieter, just the two of us and the past.

During his years up north, who knows what my dad plotted. He seemed to betray the gangs, trying to keep the general’s rep. He wanted back in, spread rumors, hoping to force the old patriarch to cave. The old man didn’t. He abdicated happily.

My dad thought Harrison would be easy to handle, but he was tougher than he looked. So he hurt the Bennett women, trying to make it look like Harrison was to blame.

Harrison immediately brought me into the house, making me a top girl.

“Afraid the board would suspect, I demoted you. That way I could protect you and let you work.” Harrison’s tone subtly sought praise.

I said: “Ah yes, the best way to protect a girl is to bring her in but ignore her.”

He once promised Zeke to protect Savannah. No harm ever came to his house.

Harrison didn’t explain. He just looked away. “Sorry.”

I said: “Why apologize?”

The Bennett women were buried near the hilltop. The rain stopped. We stood together, the bustling city below us.

The people never knew what Harrison did. They lived in peace, living their lives.

The people didn’t need to know anything.

I gently confessed: “Harrison, I regret it.”

I really liked that hard-working young man. I really liked the guy who protected girls by bringing them in.

You’ve had a Lady, dozens of beauties, but I still love you.

We’re a match made in heaven.

I said: “Let’s go home.”

Harrison listened: “Okay.”