The Carter stagecoach set off straight to the Austen Manor with Edward telling the stagecoach driver to go faster than usual. He was practically giddy with excitement as he became closer and closer to their home. Meanwhile, Rolf could barely pull it together as the guilt he felt was immeasurable.
He was panicking, attempting to find any way to salvage any bit of hope or his plan, but there was simply no way; it was far too late.
Edward was unaware of Vienne's plan to run away with Sebastian that night, but Vienne was also unaware that Edward was on his way to her home right now to tell every single secret she had or knew about Sebastian to Claudine, and he knew that they stood no chance after that one. Vienne was secretly packing her things upstairs while Edward came closer and closer.
Vienne didn't even notice as the Carter family stagecoach pulled up to the home, as she was too busy in her closet grabbing some clothes, too far away from the window to see it come into view or to hear the sound of the Thestrals hooves.
The moment that it came to a stop, Edward quickly stepped out of the stagecoach, the ten-year-old newspaper clutched in his hand. He still wondered out of curiosity just how his mother had come into possession of this, but he didn't care as long as he could use it to his advantage. He walked up to the door, giving three firm knocks as he waited with a smug smile on his face.
Moments later, the door was opened by Ceci, who looked less than excited to see him. "Ah, Mr. Carter, what brings you here?" She asked, looking at him up and down. His smug smile immediately filled her with skepticismâclearly he was up to no good.
"I wish to speak with Mrs. Austen; it's urgent." He replied quickly. He took a step forward as if to invite himself in without actually being invited in, but Ceci blocked his way, not allowing him to move forward any more.
"I'll fetch her." She said before subsequently shutting the door in his face, shocking him.
Edward scoffed. "Rude." He said, his face full of disgust.
It was pretty obvious that Ceci did not want him there in the slightest. Everything about him was off-putting to the older woman, and she could practically read him like an open book. Nothing about him gave her any comfort in the fact that he was the man Claudine had chosen to marry her daughter. A stupid choice, if you asked her.
Eventually, Ceci came back with Claudine, who was shocked to see Edward at the door and that Ceci hadn't let him in. "Oh, Mr. Carter! Terribly sorry that you've been left standing out here!" She exclaimed once she got to the door and saw who it was. "I'm not sure why Ceci didn't invite you in, but please, come in!"
Edward stepped in, shooting an annoyed look at Ceci, who happily returned it. She might've been helpless against what was happening, but she was going to make it known that she did not like Edward, and she was not in any way respecting him.
Claudine took it upon herself to take Edward to the parlor since she knew Ceci wouldn't do it. "My greatest apologies, Mr. Carter. I'm unsure of what has gotten into that woman." Claudine said, shaking her head. "What brings you here? Your visit is certainly unexpected but welcomed, of course!"
Edward cleared his throat. "Well, Mrs. Austen, I've come bearing some worrying news." He declared.
On the outside, he was able to keep a neutral demeanor, but he was absolutely giddy on the inside that he was about to break the news about Sebastian and Vienne to her mother. The sick part of him took pleasure in knowing that he was going to be the thing that ruined their relationship and drove Sebastian out of town.
Claudine furrowed her brows, a worried expression crossing her face. "Oh, Merlin. What about? What has Vienne done now?" The words rushed out of her mouth with no second thought; she knew this had something to do with Vienne. But she was incorrect to assume that Vienne was the one in the wrong.
They entered the parlor. "You might want to sit down for this." Edward suggested with a solemn sigh. His expression hid his true feelings on the matter, and Claudine was buying right into it.
Claudine sat down, filled with even more anxiety now as Edward sat opposite her. "It's come to my attention that your daughter has secretly entered into a relationship with another man while the arrangements for our engagements were being made." He spoke, his tone conveying solemnness. "I've seen it with my own two eyesâshe's been hiding a relationship from you for a while now, right under your nose."
"I didn't want it to come to thisâme having to tell you myself. Part of me was hoping she'd do the right thing and confess herself and, of course, make the right decision to move forward with our arrangements. But I simply couldn't wait any longer." He added, shaking his head.
Claudine's eyes widened in shock and horror; she gaped for a moment before forcing herself to close her mouth. "Iâ" she sputtered, unable to find the correct words. "Pardon? A secret relationship?!" She exclaimed.
"I knew Vienne was disobedient and reckless, but I never thought she'd do something like this!" She insisted, putting a hand over her chest as if she were feeling faint. "Please tell me you jest, Mr. Carter."
Edward shook his head. "My apologies, Mrs. Austen, but everything I've just said is true." He replied. "I never expected Vienne to act out in such a way as well, but clearly she does not understand the importance of your decision to marry her to me. She could ruin her reputation with this."
Those words sunk hard into Claudine, and she could feel her heart begin to beat faster. If anything scared Claudine, it was being humiliated publicly or having her public image changed into something negative. Edward knew what he was doing with the words he was choosing, and he could quickly begin to see it working on her.
The idea of Vienne being in a secret relationship while supposedly being promised to another man would be a massive scandal if the word ever got outâtheir entire family image would never be the same! That terrified Claudine Austen.
But just when it couldn't get any worse, Edward pulled the paper out of his suitcoat, holding it with both of his hands. "Unfortunately, it gets worse. The seriousness of this situation shouldn't be overlooked, though; it's much worse than it seems."
"So, the secret relationship wasn't enough?" Claudine thought to herself, bracing herself for whatever Edward was about to say. Her heart was racing, and it felt as if it was threatening to burst from her chest at any moment.
"The man's name is Sebastian Sallow; he's the one currently living with Mr. Gaunt in his manor, not too far from here." Edward began to explain.
Claudine's eyes widened. "That fellow living with Mr. Gaunt? That's who she's been running off to?" She asked. Ominis had never seemed like the kind of person to encourage such a scandalâbut that was because he didn't think it was one, and he thought Claudine's idea of a "scandal" (which really just meant her daughter being happy) was stupid.
Claudine didn't know Sebastian; she had never spoken to him and didn't know anything about him, but she had seen him around a few times and knew that he was currently living with Ominis for the time being. Needless to say, it was a shock to her, especially because she was still so close to home but daring to do such a thing as hiding a relationship.
Edward nodded his head. "Yes. At first he seemed like an alright fellow, but I've uncovered something very concerning about him." He stated, letting his words hang in the air for a moment to draw out Claudine's anxiety. He reached over, offering the paper to her so she could read it for herself.
"Sebastian Sallow is a convicted criminal. He spent ten years in Azkaban for a plethora of crimesâone of which was killing his uncle with an unforgivable curse."
Claudine couldn't believe what she was hearingâpart of her wanted this to be just some sort of elaborate prank, some stupid joke; but as she read over the words of the newspaper Edward had handed her, she couldn't believe her eyes.
So many emotions rushed over herâconcern, fear, dread, everything. It was only a natural reaction, really, to find out that a convicted criminal had stolen the heart of your daughter, but unfortunately, the missing piece to the puzzle was quite literally all the context of the situation.
The paper failed to mention anything about Sebastian's uncle's past abuse towards Sebastian and the neglect towards him and his twin sister, Anne. It failed to mention anything leading up to it, the situation with the relic, everything. And of course, even if Edward did know about all of that, he still wouldn't tell Claudine. And even if Claudine knew, she still wouldn't like the idea of her daughter being in love with an ex-Azkaban prisoner.
"IâI don't even know what to say." Claudine said, her eyes filled with horror. "How could she do something like this? Behind my back as well! IâI simply just do not understand!" There was a slight tremble in her voice as she spoke.
"I'm sorry you had to find out this way, Mrs. Austen, but something must be done." Edward insisted. He had planted the seed of fear in Claudine's already anxious heart; now all he needed was to continue his plan to grow it. "He's already proven himself to be violent even ten years later. He threw me up against the wall of a bar when I was trying to discuss matters about Vienne with him just merely weeks ago."
Claudine's eyes could widen no more, and she now felt sick to her stomach knowing. Edward had conveniently left out the part where he was referring to Vienne as more of an object and a prize to be won rather than a human being, but when did he ever leave in the details that made him look bad? Sebastian was defending Vienne, and Edward didn't like that, especially being publicly humiliated.
Suddenly, Claudine burst into tears, her emotions overwhelming her. "Oh, what am I to do?" She exclaimed, her voice wailing out throughout the parlor and the hallways around it. She attempted to wipe her eyes with her handkerchief, but the tears kept rolling as well as the sense of helplessness she felt.
Edward put on a face of fake sympathy, leaning over to her. "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Austen. But something must be doneâclearly Vienne has been manipulated by this man. But if we don't act now, who knows what will happen to her?"
"Yes, yes, that's right." Claudine sniffled between the tears. "That wretched man has manipulated my daughter! Vienne has always been disobedient, but she'd never do this to me. Oh, my poor, little girl, what has this man done to you?" She wailed.
"Mr. Carter, what am I going to do?" She asked, tears still fresh in her eyes. "I cannot continue to allow her to see him; he's a danger to her!"
Edward looked at the ground solemnly, as if he weren't enjoying every minute of this conversation. "I'd hate to suggest this, but it might be in your and Vienne's best interest." He began, taking a deep breath.
"What is it?"
Edward pursed his lips. "Vienne is going to attempt to see him, no matter what you say. She'll sneak out, lie, or whatever she needs to do to evade what you say." He spoke. "Perhaps something needs to be done to ensure that she stays in this very house until things get sorted out. I'd hate to suggest that you confine her to her room, but she's quite crafty."
Claudine had stripped freedoms from Vienne before, and in fact, she was trying to strip her of her freedom to choose for a while now, but she didn't see it that way, so taking away a freedom such as being able to come and go freely seemed like a bit of a bigger matter to her, but the thought of her leaving the house and something happening to her filled her with absolute dread.
Little did she know the man she was promising Vienne to over Sebastian was the one she truly had to worry about.
"I suppose you're right." Claudine said, her voice slightly hoarse from crying. She wiped her eyes again. "I'd hate to do this to her, but I simply do not think she knows what she's getting herself into. A criminal, of all people! He could harm herâhe could be harming her, and I've had no idea!"
She frowned. "Oh, I feel like a terrible mother; how have I missed this?" She exclaimed, her eyes filling up with tears again.
"Do not blame yourself, Mrs. Austen; blame the man doing this to her, the one who is clearly manipulating her into this." Edward insisted, ignoring the fact that he was quite literally manipulating Claudine right now in a very vulnerable moment.
Claudine shook her head. "If only George were still here, none of this would've happened." She opined.
"I'm sure Mr. Austen would want nothing but the best for her as well." Edward replied.
"I just don't understandâI've tried my hardest, I've given her everything, so how come she repays me like this?" Claudine asked warily. "I've practically set the perfect life up for her, and I even introduced the two of you! The perfect match, yet despite that, she still insists on being rebellious!"
Her worry was gradually being replaced by anger as her concern for Vienne was overcome by her so-called "rebelliousness" after all she had done for her. This is exactly what Edward wanted.
Edward had to physically stop himself from cracking a smileâit was almost as if his plan was falling perfectly into his hands. "You're right. Some people would kill for opportunities like this, and yet... she still chooses to simply throw it away." He replied. "Perhaps it's time to take matters into your own hands, Mrs. Austen, for good this time."
Claudine nodded, Edwards' words only giving more life to her thoughts. "Yes, yes, you're right." She stated. "I'm taking matters into my own hands, and I refuse to let her keep on like this. This is what her father would've wanted."
It was, in fact, not what George would have wanted, but unfortunately he wasn't there to do anything about it.
Without wasting another moment, Claudine was standing up and composing herself; she was going to talk to Vienne and get some answers out of her. Edward was following closely behind as Claudine practically interrogated Marie about whether Vienne was home or not.
Marie shakily replied that Vienne was home, but she quickly remembered that she was "busy" and tried to stall Claudine. But there was no use; Claudine was upset and was not going to be deterred. She was getting to Vienne even if it was the last thing she did.
***
Meanwhile, Vienne was upstairs packing her things, unbeknownst to the chaos going on downstairs. Little did she know that her action of packing her things was about to rid her of any chance she may have of pleading with her mother.
She was supposed to leave that night. She only had a few hours before she would set out to Ominis' home and leave with Sebastian, but unfortunately, those plans were about to be seriously interrupted.
Without warning, Claudine came bursting into the room. No knocking, no vocal indication that she was entering the room, nothing. Vienne's head snapped around as she heard the door slam into the wall, her eyes widening when she saw her mother, looking both furious and concerned, standing there.
Vienne froze; it was obvious as to what she was doing. Claudine had come in on her packing her things so she could skip town.
Oh, Merlin.
"What are you doing?" Claudine asked, her eyes wide with fury. Her tone was not soft in the slightest, and it was rather demanding.
"Mother, Iâ,"
Claudine cut her off, despite being the one to ask her a question. "No! You're packing your things, aren't you?" She hissed. "You're going to leave with him, aren't you? You're packing your things so you can run away with that wretched man, is that right?" Her tone was full of disbelief; she could hardly believe her eyes.
"Mother, what are you talking about?" Vienne stammered nervously, attempting to quickly think of any excuse she could use to get out of this. But above all, she knew her mother was talking about Sebastian. How did she know about Sebastian?
Just then, Vienne caught a glimpse of Edward as he was watching the situation go down. Her expression immediately turned to one of anger; it was him; he had told her. Sebastian's gut feeling was right; Edward was planning something, and he had beaten them by merely a few hours. Both dread and anger washed over Vienne as the reality of the situation came crashing down on her.
When she had seemingly found the only way out, she was now trapped again.
"I raised you better than this. I gave you the life thousands could only dream of!" Claudine exclaimed angrily. "I gave you everything, and this is how you repay me? By being so rebellious that you'd go out of your way to have a secret relationship with a criminal than marry the perfect man? All of this because you're just stubborn? Vienne it's one thing! That's all I ask after all I've done for youâwhy can't you understand that?"
Vienne snapped much quicker than she thought she would, but she was just so tired. So tired of her mother, of how controlling she was, of all the lies and everything else.
"One thing?" Vienne scoffed with fake humor in her tone. "That one thing being the biggest decision of my life? That one thing being me marrying a man I do not love, a man who is hiding behind a façade and has all of you eating out of the palm of his hand thinking that he's the perfect man?"
Edward paled; he was lucky that he was standing behind Claudine so she couldn't see his expression but also that she was angry so that she wouldn't be reasonable in the slightest.
"Oh, silence with all this nonsense!" Claudine scoffed. "Those are all probably lies that that git has fed to you! He's a murderer, Vienne! He killed his uncle! I thought it couldn't get any worse after all Edward had told me, but to come up here and find out you were going to run away with him? I am disgusted and appalled!"
Vienne swallowed hardâhow did Edward find out about all of this? Her heart sank to her stomach, absolutely terrified for what may happen to Sebastian after this. "His uncle attacked him! He was neglectful his entire life raising them, if that's even what you want to call itâ!"
"Again, with the lies he's told you!" Claudine exclaimed, cutting Vienne off.
She was not willing to hear her out in the slightest, and Vienne had no way of winning this battle. She was so scared.
"You're really going to believe a man who has lied about his entire life over your own daughter?" Vienne asked, her voice full of disbelief. She knew anger was blinding, but she didn't know her mother would stoop down this low.
"And whatever you're believing, you've been manipulated into believing it by whoever this Sallow criminal is!" Claudine spat back. "You've made your choice, and now I'm making mine! I forbid you from ever seeing him again, and you will be marrying Edward. That is final."
"Mother, you're being unreasonable!" Vienne exclaimed, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
Claudine rolled her eyes. "You don't get to talk about being unreasonable; it's all you've been doing for the past few months! You do not understand how fortunate you are, and I am not about to let you throw away this opportunity." She spoke. "You can stay in here and think about what you've done, but just know my mind is not changing."
Without another word, Claudine slammed the door, locking it from the outsideâsomething she had put in when Vienne was just a teenager and sneaked outânow she was an adult and was still being locked in her room.
Vienne rushed up to the door, trying to jiggle the handle as if trying to undo the lock. Tears of fear and anger pooled into her eyes as she could no longer hold back. She slammed her fist against the door, sobs leaving her mouth. "Unlock the door, Mother!" She shouted, slamming her fist against it.
But no reply cameâthe only thing she could hear was her mother apologizing to Edward for such a scene. It was sick and made Vienne feel like she was going to throw up.
To think that just a few hours from now, she was supposed to be leaving town with Sebastian, the man she truly loved and wanted to be with. But now she was locked away in her room, her fate practically sealed up for her.
Her knees practically gave out under her as she fell against the door, choking on her sobs. Her head fell into her hands as she could do nothing but just cry. Everything felt like it was crashing down on her at the same time, and it was overwhelming; soon, it felt hard for her to breathe.
She didn't know how Edward had gotten any of this information, but one thing was for sure: he used it to his advantage against her and Sebastian and had ruined everything. He had gotten what he wanted, and she was about to be subjected to a life of misery.
Oh, how she longed for her father to be hereâhe would've never let this happen to her. But he wasn't, and she was left in the hands of a controlling mother and a man with bad intentions.
In her own eyes, her life was over.
A/n: hate you edward & hate you claudine <3