CHAPTER 102: LOVE ISN’T KINDESS...?

Jenna forcefully pulled her hand away from her father’s grip after she had walked a little distance away from Rhane. She had a lot to say to her old man, and she didn’t want Rhane to hear any of it. Jenna also knew it would be the same for Rhane, staying around to find out things about Rhane that he might not like.

"Get your things, Jenna. I have the horse ready for us to depart before the first light." Brown muttered under his breath, "I won’t have you dragged away by the council, I have already spoken with Nikolai. He’s agreed to let his son bear all consequences. You don’t—"

Jenna’s soft chuckle interrupted her father, and he turned to glare at her. With his brows knitted together,

"You still make a jest out of these? My child, you should be crying and on your knees. Do you know that?"

Jenna shook her head, "I don’t," she replied boldly, "And I do not wish to understand the reason my father wishes me to kneel."

"You are an adulteress! You went to bed with your husband’s brother, a shame!" Brown threw spit on the ground to make his point, his face scrunched in disgust. "I can no longer raise my head in front of other men."

Jenna raised her hand to her face and rubbed her eyes. "Better your shame than mine, Father." she asked with a tired sigh.

"What does that mean?" the man asked.

Jenna pressed her lips and nodded, "You worry about your noble image, while your only daughter withers away in a man’s house. Yet you boldly proclaim her an adulteress. Father!" Jenna exclaimed.

"That man outside whom you see as a cur saved me! He found me when even I lost myself. You should bow and thank—" Jenna heard bells followed by a painful sting on her face that caused tears to fill her eyes.

"Speak of that fool once more and I will do more than strike your face!" Master Brown barked, his eyes red with rage. His anger stemmed not just from his daughter’s insult but also from the pain in her eyes. He had never hit her before. He threatened but never did it because Jenna was meek and never disobeyed until now.

Jenna’s trembling hands slowly reached to her face, her eyes blank and shaky.

"I did not wish to hit you," Master Brown began, clearing his throat. "You are my sweet daughter, don’t you see? Everything I do has always been to give you the best."

Jenna didn’t say a word; she was yet to process the pain on her face. Her own father had hit her for speaking up. Something she forgot was inevitable in men after she met Rhane.

"I don’t know why you’re always attracted to these poor animals, Jenna." His voice drifted like it wandered to a distant memory. "First it was Cortez and now..."

Master Brown clasped his palm together and nodded, "I know what it is, yes!" His smile widened, "You’ve always taken in strays, Jenna. Cortez was no different. These men bleed your kindness."

Feeling more aware of the situation and even more confident, Master Brown grinned, "My darling, love isn’t kindness. You can be good to them and not let them soil you. Do you understand me?"

Dropping her hands down to her side, Jenna’s shoulders slouched in defeat. She had been living in a fool’s paradise to think that men like Rhane still walked among them when her own father would still hit her at the slightest argument.

"If that is all you have to say, I will take my leave now. Kali needs care." Jenna began, she no longer wanted to argue. The longer she stayed with her father trying to explain, it would only end one way. Most importantly, she had seen Kali bleeding earlier, that worried Jenna.

The smile on Master Brown’s face fell, "What is a Kali—" he shook his head,

"Well there won’t be any need, go to your room and pack what you need. You have to return home with me. After speaking with Nikolai, he agreed to bury everything, if we can pay extra of the dowry with a land returned for it. That was a fairer bargain, I can’t have my child dragged further through the mud. Another wedding is worth it."

Jenna rubbed her face, still feeling the sting of the slap. She gritted her teeth so she wouldn’t cry, also a way to distract herself from listening to her father. She began to walk away but her father’s words stopped her.

"Cling to him, and you drag him deeper into misery." Brown blurted. "Turn away now, or Gerald will see him ruined,"

Jenna turned around, her eyes burning red with rage. "I am the one who shouldn’t be saying that!" she screamed, ruffling her fingers through her hair. "Argh! By heaven’s mercy! To think my own father proves a fool as well."

Brown had his mouth hanging open, and void of speech.

"Why are you paying for your daughter to return to her death? Do you wish to see me dead so fast?" Jenna dragged her hair, she screamed internally, blood rushing up to her face. "Why must I relive a memory that took me years to for...get," the inevitable happened, a tear slipped down Jenna’s eyes but she wiped it off quickly.

"Why can’t I have Rhane? Why, Father, must happiness be denied me? You made me leave Cortez, with hopes of a greater perfect life. And I endured horror after, believing I don’t deserve happiness because I hurt someone out of selfishness. Turns out...I did deserve to be loved to...I do and I’m going to be happy this time."

"Even if the man you cling to now... is the very one who first stole your innocence?"

Jenna halted, her breath catching while her heart slammed noisily against her chest. She didn’t want to believe it, but her hands were shivering and not from cold. On a second though, Jenna knew her father could make up just anything to hold her back, but she wasn’t going to believe him. Not again.

"Poor child of mine," Master Brown tutted, "He didn’t tell you about it? Of course he wouldn’t." The man exhaled tiredly before he continued, his voice cold and deliberate.

"You speak of love, yet you’ve forgotten who he is. Your mother and I swore never to speak of it...That boy— your savior, is the same wretch who once defiled you." He delivered the words, knowing they’d hit Jenna with force.

Jenna had already stopped walking; she turned to look at her father. "What extent do you plan to go in ruining an innocent man? Rhane has never met me his en—"

"The nightmares you have about waters, it started after he almost drowned you. If I hadn’t arrived early enough, I don’t know what that young man would have done to you." Brown cut his daughter short.

Jenna blinked, she remembered the nightmares she used to have as a child but it wasn’t connected to Rhane. Her parents made her believe that someone evil almost abducted her. She waved it off as early childhood nightmares.

"You think Gerald is worse? But you know the extent he can go, this young man...one whom I punished, now back proclaiming his love for you. You never truly know a man unless you share his roof. And yours is Gerald, you’re meant to be."

Master Brown stretched forward his hand for Jenna to take, "Don’t be fooled, you might be willingly following a wolf to his den. Rhane or whatever is not what he makes you believe. He might make Gerald look better."

Jenna glanced at her father’s open arm, she’d had the same thought. What if Rhane was lying, what if he was pretending, waiting for the perfect time to ruin her...but a question remained unanswered, what would he stand to gain?

"I’ll ask him myself," Jenna decided.

Brown took out the small cane he usually held, patting it on his palm. "I knew you would say that, I only wished you wouldn’t."

"Wha—" Jenna turned and her world went pitch-black, gliding with a force she couldn’t control. She went lump on the ground.

"Take her to the carriage, we leave by morning." Brown ordered, with an exhausted sigh escaping his lips.