Chapter 2 Fine, I Will Marry Him!

"Mother, do you really want me to marry Lucian Marsh?"

I stayed quiet for a long time before I asked. It was the first time I had called her "Mother" since I woke up. I kept my voice light, with almost no feeling in it.

Margaret's face went stiff. She pressed her lips together and waited so long that I thought she would not answer. Then she said, with great effort, "This morning, your grandmother went to the Marsh house. Lucian and his parents all promised to treat you well."

So I would marry into that house whether I liked it or not.

I almost laughed.

I felt sorry for the girl who owned this body, for having a mother like this. And I laughed at Isolde, who was so silly and so blind.

She changed her mind overnight and said she must have Edmund Hale because of a dream, right?

Fine.

Then I would let her have what she wanted, and wait for the day her dream came true.

"Fine," I said. "I will marry him."

My voice was a little cold, but Margaret did not notice. She was too shocked that I agreed so fast.

When she woke up from her shock, she smiled with relief and rushed to say, "Then rest well. I will bring you something to eat. I will even fry you two eggs to make you strong again."

She turned to leave.

Those eggs were not a kindness. To make me agree, Grandmother Thornfield did something she had never done before. She gave Margaret two eggs from her secret stash, to cook for me as soon as I woke up.

They were meant to shut my mouth.

Margaret had barely lifted her foot when I called her.

"Mother, why? Why do you treat your stepchildren better than your own daughter? You even joined the Thornfields to force me into a wedding that was never mine."

In Elowen's memories, Margaret's unfair love had made her hide in dark corners and cry again and again. She never understood why, even though she was her mother's own child, she got the least love and the least care.

And that was not all. Whenever the stepsiblings bullied her, or a fight started, Margaret always told her to be patient. Do not fight. Do not argue.

She had been patient for thirteen years.

Margaret stopped. Suddenly, she could not look her daughter in the eye. She lowered her head, and after a long moment she said slowly, "Elowen, a person must be thankful. If Mr. Thornfield and his parents had not let me bring you with me when I married, I doubt we would have lived this long."

I knew her story. Margaret had always been a woman with no opinions of her own. When her husband died, the village whispered that she was a widow with nowhere to go. After she married into the Thornfield house, her new husband's word became her whole world. She respected his parents and treated his children like her own, all so Elowen would have food to eat.

As long as there was enough to eat and nobody starved, she believed any unfair treatment was worth it.

"I don't know that! I don't want to know!" I said coldly. "I only know your heart turned away from me a long time ago."

I looked her in the eye. My voice was calm and far away. "All my life, whenever I fought with those people, you protected your stepson and stepdaughter. I was always the one treated unfairly."

"Even when Fiona and I argued, you only took your youngest daughter's side. Did you ever think about how I felt?"

Even a little.

If she had just given Elowen a little love, even while loving Fiona more, the girl would not have hurt so much.

My plain words cut her like knives, and Margaret could not say anything.

She opened her mouth. She wanted to tell me that yes, she loved her younger daughter a bit more, but she loved her oldest too.

Before she could, a loud, impatient voice came from outside.

"Mother, are you done yet? Grandmother wants you in the kitchen right now. They are waiting for your help!"

That was all. Not one word about me. To Fiona, her sister was just a piece of old furniture, and she felt nothing for her.

That was perfect. I did not care.

In fact, I hoped the Thornfields would treat me even worse. Then, after I got married tomorrow, I could cut all ties with these people and feel nothing.

I was not the original owner. I did not know what it meant to have a soft heart.

Margaret looked at me with pain. She was afraid that if she left now, I would feel hurt. But she was more afraid that if she stayed, her mother-in-law would get angry.

"I understand..." I said lightly. "I'm tired."

I turned to my side and ignored her.

Margaret stood by the bed for a moment and sighed. "I left the honey water on the cupboard. Please remember to drink it later. I will come back to check on you."

Then she left the shed with a heavy heart.

The moment the door closed, my eyes snapped open. I needed to know one thing right away: did my space follow me?

I raised my right hand, and there it was. On the inside of my wrist, faint but clear, was a silver moonflower mark.

Thank goodness. My space came with me.

That moonflower space was always my base. In my old life, it saved me from death again and again. I sold things from it for dollars and put the money into a few companies. Then I used the profits to buy more property.

At the same time, I bought supplies by the truckload and stored them inside.

After all, I was a huge fan of novels.

I read stories like this so many times that I used to dream about traveling to another world like those heroines.

And then...

It really happened to me.

Luckily, I was ready. A dozen storehouses in the space were full of supplies. Dozens of acres of rich black soil were planted with crops. There were lakes, orchards, and herb gardens too. Nothing was empty.

My moonflower space was like a huge city full of resources.

So even if I was thrown into a backward world, I could start over here.

I closed my eyes and checked every storehouse in the space. They were all full. Nothing was missing.

Only then did I breathe out.

Isolde wanted my fiancé? Fine.

Tomorrow, the Marsh family would get a bride they could never understand.