(Ava) I'd accepted the fact that my father didn't care about me two months, six days, and four hours after my mother's death. By then, he'd wasted pretty much all of our money on hookers and bars, and he kept looking for the solution to our problems at the bottom of a liquor bottle.

Still, it hurt like shit for him to send me away without a care in the world.

After Prince Axel had chosen me to be his future wife at the ball, the royal guards had escorted me back to my house to get my things. I'd been dazed with shock and fear, and, like any daughter, I'd sought comfort in my father.

But unlike any daughter, I was told to get over myself and be grateful that I'd been chosen. He'd barely given me enough time to pack my things before he was ushering me out the door demanding I send him money at the first chance I get.

Love you, too, Dad.

My pale reflection gazed back at me with dull green eyes. Last night was a mess. Eleanor was still a no show since Prince Jaxon had dragged her out, kicking and screaming, after he'd chosen her. I had to say, I didn't see that one coming.

I sighed.

I looked around at the room they kept trying to tell me was mine.

There was a large queen sized bed bigger than any I've ever slept on, and I had my very own walk-in closet that was already stacked with new clothes for me. The bathroom was so high tech that I'd had to skip showering last night because I didn't know how to make anything work.

They were trying their best to make me feel comfortable, and I felt guilty for being so ungrateful. It was all simply too much like a fairytale. I was still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

These people were vampires--and royal ones, at that. I was completely at their mercy with nowhere else to go now.

I brushed through the tangles in my hair, staring into the mirror, and the reflection of my violin resting on the nightstand caught my eye. I smiled a bit.

It was a piece of home.

“I don’t understand why you’re letting her shit all over you like this, Axel.”

I jolted at the sound of Prince Jaxon's voice outside of my room.

Shit.

I hurried to make sure that my door was closed.

There were a few moments of silence, then he scoffed.

“She should be worshipping the ground at your feet for choosing her," he said harshly. "Her whole life has been changed—for the better. You took a fucking drunk's daughter and made her the future princess."

He must've been speaking on the phone with Prince Axel.

I leaned my head back against the door with a thump. My eyes stung with tears at the truth in his words.

More moments passed in silence.

"For fuck's sake," he said impatiently. "As if she'd be any happier with that waste of space of a father."

I bit down on my lip hard enough to draw blood.

"Oh, please. Don't be naive, brother. She's probably used to bending over for the man with the fattest wallet. I know girls like her."

I couldn't take it anymore.

I ripped the door open and fixed my furious gaze onto a surprised Jaxon.

"You're an asshole," I said. My voice came out a lot more shakily than I would've liked, but hey, at least I haven't passed out yet.

The surprise in his expression was replaced by a frostiness the likes of which I've never seen.

"What did you just say to me?" He demanded, deathly calm.

"You--you don't get to talk about me like--"

Prince Jaxon hung up the phone and dropped it into his pocket slowly. I stopped talking.

When he took a step toward me, I hurried to back up, and in my haste I stumbled and fell on my ass. I wasn't down for long, though.

A hand fisted itself in my hair and yanked me upwards. I shrieked, grabbing onto his wrist, trying to get him to let go.

He threw me onto the floor in the middle of the room and shut the door. I scrambled back against the wall, trying to put some distance between us.

My body ached from the impact of hitting the ground, and terror had my pulse racing as I heard the click of the key in the lock.

Jaxon’s eyes chilled me to the bone, colder than the arctic blast.

"Seems like the little angel needs to be taught a lesson about talking to her superiors, hm?" His gaze searched my room for something.

I didn't know what he was looking for, but I tried to block my violin out of his view with my body.

I knew I'd made a mistake when his lips curled up.

Using his vampire speed, he snatched it off the nightstand, his movements a blur. I lurched forward to--I don't know, to take it away from him or something.

Jaxon only laughed coldly and shoved me down to the floor at his feet. He took my violin out of its case, and just the sight of it in his hands had tears slipping down my cheeks.

"Please, dont--it was my mom's--"

He made a soft shushing noise and crouched down to my level, still holding my violin.

"It was your mom's?" He repeated in a quiet voice.

I nodded vehemently. "It's the last thing I have of her. Please."

"Well, here, take it, then. I had no idea it was so important."

My body sagged with relief when my fingers wrapped around the bridge of it.

But then Jaxon gripped my chin, staring deep into my eyes, and he said, "Now, go smash it to pieces against the wall."

I froze.

No.

No, no, no.

I rose to my feet and walked over to the wall, even while my mind screamed its protests. No matter how hard I fought against the compulsion, my arm lifted up into the air, trembling with the force of my resistance.

"No! Please, stop!" I cried. "Don't make me do this!"

But it was no use.

I smashed it against the wall. The sound of it echoed through the room, and the force of the swing rang up my arm painfully.

"Again," Jaxon ordered.

I did it again. I was sobbing openly--loud, violent sobs that hacked through my chest and tore out of my throat.

All of a sudden the bedroom door came crashing down.

There was a startled sound.

"Ava--fuck--what the hell are you doing to her?"

Axel.

"Reminding her of her place," Jaxon responded.

I could only stand there and continue slamming my most valuable possession against the wall.

"Get her to stop, Jaxon. Now."

"Christ, alright, fine. You can stop."

I froze mid-swing.

I collapsed against the wall, cradling the broken pieces of my violin to my chest. I couldn't see past it. I couldn't hear.

I couldn't breathe.

Axel covered the distance between us in a heartbeat. He looked from my face to my violin, then he let out a pained noise.

He sat down beside me and pulled me into his arms. One of his hands rested on my waist, while the other cupped my cheek, pressing the side of my face against his chest. I was getting his shirt wet, but he didn’t seem to care.

"Shit, I'm so sorry," he mumbled. "I'm so fucking sorry, Ava."

"You know," I hiccuped. "I'm pretty sure that's the--that's the first time anyone's said that to me."

He didn't respond--didn't know how to, probably. He just held me tight and stroked my hair.