"Not you too..." she whispered in utter, disappointed disbelief at the realization that, just like Deven, Claire, who had been her friend since childhood and knew her better than anyone else, had gone against her as well.
She was so stunned that when she finally recovered from it, the only thought in her mind was to shake her maidservant.
"Not you too! How could you?!" she shouted, grabbing Claire by the shoulders. She shook her hard and screamed for her to tell them the truth, to tell them it was Deven she had gone to meet. But no matter how much she begged, Claire only cried out, "I am telling the truth! You went out to meet men! You ordered me not to tell anyone and whispered to me many indecent things you do out at night when you return!"
"She’s lying to you, Deven did this to me! He made them rape me! They hurt me so much; it still hurts! Listen to me, Ma, you are a woman yourself, you should believe me! I swear I didn’t throw myself at men! Somebody listen to me, you can’t let him go like that! PLEASE!" she cried, lunging for the locked door as her parents and everyone present left the room, her mother weeping, her father disowning her all over again and washing his hands off her.
The more no one listened, the more Isabelle’s emotions became tangled and chaotic, and anger slowly turned into her only way to cope. It became her escape, until she was left weak and exhausted.
Night after night she was hunted by Deven’s betrayal and the faces of the men who had hurt her so badly sitting down still hurt. She was in pain, but nobody could see it.
Why couldn’t they see she was suffering? Why wouldn’t they believe her and see that it wasn’t her fault? How could they trust strangers over their own daughter?
How dare he hurt her like this and get away with it?
Soon, news reached Isabelle that Deven had returned from Barbara, when in truth he had been back for a while. That set her emotions aflame again, and she started to yell that it was all lies, a setup by him, and that they were playing right into his hands!
Isabelle’s behavior began to worry her family. She stopped eating and grabbed anyone within reach to shout that Deven had done this to her. It reached a point where she became so sick that traveling in that condition couldn’t be done, and her family were forced to postpone the traveling and bring a doctor to examine her.
It was then discovered that she was pregnant.
"She’s carrying a babe, Your Grace." The doctor delivered the news to her parents.
Isabelle stared at the doctor like he had grown two heads before she looked down at her flat stomach. A sick, nauseous feeling consumed her at the thought of carrying a child conceived from that violence, a child that came from men like that.
In blind panic she began to hit her own stomach, wanting to rid herself of whatever was growing inside. "I DON’T WANT IT! I DON’T WANT THIS CHILD! I DON’T WANT ANYTHING OF THOSE MEN!" she screamed as she grabbed the doctor who was examining her and shook him. "REMOVE IT FROM MY BODY!"
That night when she woke up, left alone in her dark room and rocking on the chair numbly, she heard the doorknob turn. She stopped the rocking and turned to see the man she hated the most in the world standing in the doorway, the man who had destroyed the life she had known.
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