“You’d have to be an absolute fool to believe that!”

“It would help if you stopped saying that, mother. I know he loves me, he said so.”

Her mother snorted, attempting to find some humor from her daughter’s idiotic words in such a horrible time as this. “People say things they don’t mean, dear.”

“I know he meant it.”

“I thought that too about your father, and where is he now? That’s right. Off with some tramp in the woods. Darling, I’m just trying to protect you.”

The girl paused, biting her lip. “I know you think I’m still a child, Mother. But I’m old enough now to be able to make my own decisions. He’ll come back, I’m sure of it.”

“You need to accept the fact that you’ve been lied to.” Her mother put a hand on her daughter’s cheek. “He was no good anyway. Besides, I hear arranged marriages are popular nowadays.”

The girl smiled sadly. “I’m going to go to bed. If you hear anything, please wake me.”

“Of course, anything darling.” She waited until her daughter’s door was closed. A satisfied smile spread on the mother’s face. The banging that had been covered up by her daughter’s wails before could now be heard. Her smile dropped, and she fished around in the nightstand’s drawer until she came across a shiny gold key. She went to the wardrobe in her large walk-in closet, and unlocked the door, opening it a sliver.

Inside was a young man, his hands and feet were bound, while the gag was still securely in his mouth. He grunted silent pleas, but she just ignored them.

“I’m not sure if you heard that conversation, but you’re out of the picture. Now, if you promise to be quiet, I can assure you nothing…terrible will happen to you.” The grin returned to her face, an evil glint in her eyes as she closed and locked the wardrobe door once again. Her plan was slowly falling perfectly into place.