A/N:  Ola! Behold  THE DUNHILLS!!!!    Tada! just imagine Brad Pitt having slightly red hair..... if you like the chapter press on that cute little star till it turs orange......

||Chapter VIII: Now it all makes sense.||

|Sawyer Mansion- In the guest room.|

Few hours ago, Raymond and Simon had left the room after scoffing at each other and muttering few colourful words. Raymond's words still rang in her ears, 'Remember, my wife!' he had directed it at Simon but his stony intense gaze held hers. After they had left Vivian had apologized many times, she had fed Abigail, or rather forced soup down her throat  and few bread slices, after many denials from Abigail. Vivian's pregnancy hormones getting best from her; she fed Abigail just like a concerned mother would take care of a child. She felt like she had established a special bond with Vivian. Vivian had talked to Abigail about many things and lightened the mood. It made Abigail happy. She came to a final realization she liked Vivian even if she hadn't taken much liking to other Sawyers. The exception being Simon. When Shane called, Vivian very reluctantly left, but only after making Abigail promise that she would come to them if in any need rose.

Every Sawyer had dropped by asking her for her health, but it all had been brief visits, she didn't mind them at all. The less she associated with them the better. Her mother and her brother were to visit her today again, because Raymond was too stubborn pain in her ass to let her go home. Her father hadn't visited her but she figured he must be busy and pushed it aside.

_~*~_

"Where were you? I was worried sick! One moment you were dancing with Simon and next disappeared! And then you come back the next morning dressed in rags! What the f.uck was that!"

"I can't marry him! Or rather I don't want to marry him!"

"What...? What happened?"

"Please....please.... You have to ....get me out of this......Callum..... You don't understand.... You...you have to get me out of here. I can't do this! He...he's f.ucking mental. This ...this whole f.ucking family is mental!" Abigail whisper yelled in anxiety.

"Abigail...."

"No...No... NO! You don't understand. There was something in the woods! It was in that house....someone tried to kill me! Do you hear me! He tried to kill me, Callum! He's f.ucking insane!"

"Well if you tell me what actually happened I'd be more than willing and able to help you!"

"He tried to kill me! Raymond tried to kill me!"

"What! Why ...why would he...?"

"It's not Mia, it's me. I'm the thorn between Raymond and Mai. He loves Mai...I don't know why he'd marry me and not her....but he loves Mai and he wants to kill me because I'm coming between them....For f.ucksake they were firsts of each other! He's trying to get rid of me!"

"Whoa. Whoa... hold your damned horses. Where is this coming from?"

"In the woods—"

"What in the devil's name were you doing in the woods?! And I want the truth this time. I'm not stupid; you can feed bullshit to the whole world but not me. I know you since your birth."

"I ran into the woods..." Abigail mumbled knowing too well Callum had lost his sh!t because of her. If he looked cute with a Rudolph-the- reindeer- nose ; he'd look freaking adorable with a flushed face due to rage in a minute. But it was all making sense now!

"Is that where you were the whole night!"

"I... No...I mean yes bu—"

"WHAT! In that woods at night...the whole night! You f.ucking insane. I—"

"I was in a house in the woods I was—"

"What were you doing in the forest? Forget it! First you tell me why...WHY you were in the forest."

"I... I caught... Raymond and Mai getting it on..."

"What!" he looked stunned and was held captivate in an instant rage. "You caught them...getting it on in this house? I'll kill that bastard!" Abigail saw him stand off the bed with a clenched jaw and fists; it was a brotherly sense of protection. She knew he was hurting just as she was. What kind of a brother wouldn't and in the end she was his only baby sister and he was obviously protective of her. She also knew that making a scene here won't help either.

"Well.. not like sex but like a full make out session. And no not in the house there is like a foot trail that leads to a canopied sitting area behind this house near the woods."

"But you both were dancing a few minutes before you disappeared...."

"Yes but when the music changed Simon asked me for a dance, and Mai asked Raymond and when I was dancing with Simon I saw Mai drag him out and I followed..." Abigail told Callum everything; the kiss, how she ran into forest, meeting Athena, going to her house, everything. She was scared from all possibilities of Raymond marrying for a dubious cause. She wanted nothing but a comforting hug from her loving but now a confused yet worried brother.

"...and last night he admitted he wouldn't mind hitting me if that meant I learned 'ropes of being a trophy wife.'" Abigail completed with a depressing sigh.

"What the f.uck is wrong with that nutcase? Who hits a woman and that too my sister! What a waste of space!" Callum fumed and his brain burned with images of slaughtering Raymond.

"I think he's been forced into this marriage. I mean, why would a filthy rich heir to the biggest global company in UK, want to have a marriage of convenience, with the only daughter of a not so famous bankrupt business man? Sounds shady, doesn't it? It definitely wasn't to help the bankrupt man and his distressed family nor was it love at first sight. It all makes senses. He'll marry me now, so he can, you know, get out of whatever reason he's been forced to do this and make it look like he's the good guy and his wife died—aka kill me and get rid of me— in the difficult time Mai would help him and end up marrying her! Such a pretty little fairy tale!"

"I...I don't... holy sh!t!" Callum sat in the same bed as Abigail had been for two days in Sawyer mansion; gob smacked.

"There is something off about him, Callum I'm telling you. When I was in that forest I fell down and I had broken my ankle and grazed my left elbow and I met Athena –the one I saved from suicide, the day I was supposed to receive Raymond. It was so f.ucking weird but before leaving she had told me we'd meet again and here we met again in the forest. She told me she knew Raymond and what happened that made me run in the forest. She took me to that house to clean my wounds. She gave this weird tea and I remember like getting high until I finally passed out then woke up to her scream so I rushed up to help her and believe me Callum I was totally healed, like not a single scratch on me. When I started climbing up, a stair board broke and someone had grabbed my ankle and pulled me down that's how I got my shin grazed. She brought me here in the backyard after saving me."

Callum sat there trying to understand what his baby sister was trying to tell him. It wasn't that he didn't believe her because Abigail never lied but she had stumbled in the backyard alone without the assistance from this weird girl 'Athena' . He just found it hard to fit all these puzzle pieces.

"What?.. You don't believe me! I'm telling you the truth! " Abigail scoffed. "That's why I feed other with "bullshit" of getting lost in the forest and then falling down...blah ...blah...blah"

"I didn't say that..."

"I know you! But whatever. I don't want to marry him so I'm not going to. And that's final, he can find someone to be his scapegoat. I'm done. I'm out!"

"Abigail I think we can't—" Callum was interrupted by the door opening and Adel entering in.

"You might want to quit your childish attitude, now! Nothing that happens will stop this marriage and nothing should, am I understood?" Adel scolded Abigail.

"Mother..." Abigail and Callum said at the same time but Callum stood up.

"Do you know Abigail that Dunhill mansion has been redeemed off the entire mortgage." Adel told Abigail in a very calm tone. Too calm.

"Oh my good Lord in heaven! I knew Daddy and Callum could do it. I told you mum you didn't have to worry. Now we can slowly pull AbiCal out of the debt and everything will be just fine. Like it used to be. I'm so happy! Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Abigail grinned and thanked the Lord.

"Abigail that didn't—"

"Oh your fraidy-cat-father didn't do this." Adel let out a bitter laugh slip in, dragging Abigail back on earth.

"Then Callum did it? Oh good, but how?" her smile faded slightly hearing her mother curse her father. It only meant they had yet another fight.

"He didn't ."

"Then who?" Abigail asked in a confused haze.

"Raymond." One word and Abigail's world shattered in a go.

"What?!"

"He...he transferred the loan off the mansion the same night you ran away. After you went dancing I got a call from Mr. Will, at least he said so." Callum explained.

"Do you get what he's trying to do!" Abigail cried in desperation. It all made sense now.

"And do you get what I'm trying to tell you?!" Adel piped in with anger.

"Mother you don't understand—"

"And you don't understand the shame you bought upon them yesterday by wondering off in the forest at mid-night! There were many dukes wanting to meet and the paparazzi caused a ruckus! If it weren't for Lady Sawyer handling them at the last moment, our reputation would be in dirt . You have no sense of responsibility, you ungrateful brat. How I come to raise you like this is a question! "

"Mother...." Callum sighed in distress. This was going to cause another fight between the mother and daughter and it would further increase resistance from Abigail regarding her marriage with Raymond. As much as it hurt him to be the one forcing wedlock upon her baby sister, he had no choice. But he silently vowed to protect Abigail from Raymond and his dubious character. "I think you must be tired and I insist you go home and rest, don't stress yourself regarding Abigail's co-operation. Rest assured everything will go as you desire."

"Callum!"

"Thank you so much darling. I sometimes wish you were my actual son instead of this ungracious imp!" Adel told Callum ending in an accusatory tone.

"Mum! I have done nothing wro—"

"Perfect husbands don't fall from sky into your lap! You make a husband perfect for yourself. You face this Mai named problem because you refrain from utilizing god gift to you.....your body. S.ex is the only way to tame a rake. I have told you time and again, but if you'd ever listen to me! " Adel sniffed at the end as she battled with a deep rooted betrayal internally. Her nose turned pink and she made a sudden hasty exit before she was a sobbing mess in front of her children.

Abigail stood dumbfounded at her mother's dramatic exit. There was something daddy dearest had done in order to offend her mother so deeply. And lord knew it took a lot of effort on daddy's side to offend mother to this extend.

"You have to forgive mother she is just....stressed about...the.... urm... you're..."

"Where is father?" Abigail firmed her voice almost sounding like their angry mother. Callum chuckled lightly; the mother daughter duo clashed in ideology but were carbon copies of each other especially in anger department. He knew she'd catch his lie in a minute, but telling her now would stress her unnecessarily. Yet he lied, or at least tried.

"...you marriage.... You know..."

"Where. Is. Father?" She laid great emphasis on her words.

"He ...is ...urm there....somewhere..." last word he whispered. That caught her attention, duly.

"Callum!" She warned.

"Abigail, I don't think you need to be worried about this, I'll take care of this." He too firmed his voice.

"Callum I asked where. is. Father? " she was not having it any other way. She had small inking of something had been wrong but nothing prepared for what came next.

"In America...." Callum gave in defeated.

" What?! "  In the span of few minutes her world shattered again; she felt a wave of sympathy wash over her. Her sympathy soon turned into anger directed towards her father.

"How dare he? " she sank down on the bed again. There was only one reason he'd be there and horror griped her.

"Don't jump on conclusions he might be there for business." Callum tried getting her off the topic.

"What business, Callum? The one that we sold to save our ass or the one that shut down due to his carelessness?" she hummed in detest.

"Abigail, please don't worry—"

"How can I not! Doesn't he see how much he hurts her every time he runs away to America! When did he go?" Abigail's voice was desperate in the beginning but became demanding at the end.

"After we came here for the fund raiser he left without telling. So I called him to find that wrench on the other side. And mother wasn't with me; so I told her he went attend some business in America..... but,"

"But?" Abigail tried to prepare for worst but failed. Callum's face held not only sorrow and worry but also anger. It made her restless. She was angry at her father, she had vivid images of drowning her father in a bathtub like they did in those torture scenes. She wanted to make him suffer just like her mother was.

"Mother yesterday found divorce papers in his study. It broke her finally and I think she tried to talk to him but Mrs. Robinson picked up, mother didn't say much just asked her about his whereabouts." As Callum said those words he felt saddened for Adel—she was a very strong woman but fate never stopped playing dirty with her. Abigail's heart sank but thumped very fast in anticipation. She didn't want her suspicions coming true. It would break her mother beyond repair; and Abigail's heart bleed for Adel.

"With his signature?" She asked and Callum shook his head in denial; he bend forward to wipe Abigail's tears that annoyingly and unknowingly slipped.

Abigail deserved everything good in the world; she was a sweet little child who was forced to grow up too quick and now was forced to marry a man like Raymond, as if bricks of tons hit him, he realized there wasn't much difference between his father's and Raymond's character. On sand of time he didn't want his baby sister's fate to follow his Adel's footprint he could see Abigail in Adel's place and Mai in Mrs. Robinson's place and he hurt more. Oh, why did his sister deserve such melancholy fate?

"Does that man have no... conscience?" she asked him as if lost. Her heart was in pain and absurd question whirled her thoughts. All disturbing. But one struck her.

"What has all this to do with my marriage?"

"Mother...." Callum closed his eyes, preparing himself for the nerving truth. "...they had a prenub signed and father hasn't brought anything since then except the Dunhill mansion. Mother fears she'd be homeless if the divorce is filed in, with that house in debt. And father might refuse her any money with the help of lawyers."

"Oh my god!" she gulped in horror. "But ...but we could always take care of her...she won't be homeless...like we could stay at your place in the beginning and as we work we'll build ourselves up and we can slowly pay Raymond back and free ourselves. I don't have to marry him! We could get—" Callum cut her in.

"Mother doesn't want financial help from me," his voice was heavy with lumps in his throat.

"Oh Callum that not the case I'm sure—"

"She never considered me like her son where as I... I always gave her the place of my mother in my life without being doggy about it." The hurt of rejection by a mother rolled down his cheeks in the form of tears. Abigail pulled him in a loving and much needed hug with warmth.

"Callum, shhh it's all right...don't worry...I'll always be there for you. Always."

"I don't want your marriage to end like mothers or any way resembling hers, it will break my heart. It's all most like there is no return now... how did we get here?" Callum told her in a heart breaking tone.

"You don't worry about him I'll take care of him and Mai, but I want you to do something for me, would you do me a favor?"

"Of course baby sis. Your wish is my command." Callum pulled out of the embrace. He looked at her with blotchy face and confusion.

"I want you to bring me the debt files. I'll... no, we'll get out of this together and we'll also get rid of Raymond soon. I just need some time to get him wrapped around my fingers....just some time and we'll be free, I promise."

Abigail was sure she had to go according to her mother's plan in order to achieve her goal— get rid of Raymond. She'll show him what she was; she wasn't named 'Red-headed serein' just for the heck of it! She was going to work harder, worrying and crying doing everything that's needed but giving up.

_~*~_

|Dunhill Mansion|

The mansion was deserted just like she felt... emotionally deserted. She feared being homeless. It had been three days since she had found the divorce papers, imaging her shock. She had wasted twenty years with this man walking along with him in every aspect of life, may it be in the house or the outside world without receiving a word of appreciation and this was how he was paying her...... he had been in a deep debt when he had married her. She had lied to her rich, but now deceased parents and went to live with Des—her husband in a small flat in South Hall. In a blind belief she had followed him from Mercedes to local tubes with commoners. She had followed Des like Mary's little lamb, because she thought she was in love. Love? Des harboured no feelings for Adel than a need for her money. To say Adel was broken would be an understatement. She was beyond repair.

She had just managed to walk in the house and sit on the sofa in the living-room when her mobile rang on a high note, disturbing the trails of her malicious thoughts. On seeing the caller I.D she quickly got rid of her tear strained face, took a calming breaths before answering.

Sniffing she said, "Good Morning Lady Sawyer, how may I help you?"

"Abigail Dunhill has made to the front page due to the stunt that she pulled. There are paparazzi are crowding in front of our house with plethora of bizarre questions, it's all a ruckus.... Kim North – the journalist has published three articles in three days with nothing but mud-slinging on Abigail and The royal family's character..... London society had always seen royal families being the center of attention; we are no exception; especially Raymond being the most eligible bachelor. Certain amount of publicity was good for the fundraiser....but this unsavory event of Abigail's disappearance hogged a lot of limelight since the inner most circle is aware of Abigail's status in our family. Of course it puts Sawyer family in bad light and draws unnecessary remarks on her character... So I think it will be best if we don't—" Lady Sawyer was interrupted by a very anxious Adel, who worried that the marriage will be cancelled all because of Abigail's recklessness. And she'll be dammed if that happened.

"I apologize on her behalf and can assure you that such a thing won't ever happen again. Please be rest assured Lady and her abrupt act of disappearances would be punished..." Adel rushed.

"Of course, Mrs. Dunhill, I won't cancel the marriage... I was just wondering if we could by any chance pre-pone the marriage. There is no need raise questions on Abigail's character after the stunt, and if we give Kim North other things to talk about we'd burry this and live in peace..." Dumbfounded and surprised Adel –who had been expecting a cancelation and great shame brought to their name—sighed in relief. Too burdened with her own sorrow she didn't pay heed to this weird demand of preponing the marriage. For her it was a deal breaker and an opportunity to get freedom from Des and also solve problems of her financial well-being. She never asked 'What's the catch?!' which any sane person would have...

"Of course Lady, that's best."

"So if we go and pick up wedding gowns day after tomorrow at twelve sharp at 'Bella's Wedding Secret' you won't mind?" Adel's greedy heart soared; Bella Fox –the owner—was a big name in designer wedding gowns industry! There was waiting list of four month, even for rich people.

"Why would I mind? On contrary I'm happy. We'll see each other at twelve sharp."

"Alright then." Without waiting for Adel's reply Lady Sawyer hung the phone.

_~*~_