Grace

    Grace. He whispered. It felt like he was right there. Like he was still with me. Grace, I love you.

    Dad? I gasped. I could barely make out his broad figure. Next to him was the silhouette of a slim, beautiful woman. Mum? Hot tears rolled down my face as they seemed to draw nearer.

    Grace. Her voice whispered softly.

    Grace.

    Grace.

    "Grace." A firm voice spoke. My eyes fluttered open. "Dad's not here. . ."

    Reality hit me like a brick. Of course it wasn't dad. I slowly turned my aching head toward the voice. "Cooper—" I said in a hoarse voice.

    "Grace! Oh Grace, I missed you so much," He sobbed, holding me tightly. I winced in pain as he touched my many bruises. "I'm sorry—"

    "It's okay." I whispered, tears flowing down my cheeks. It hurt to cry, but I couldn't stop myself. "I missed you too, and I'm sorry I left."

    "It's okay," He whispered, holding me tighter. "You look terrible."

    "I think I'm quite beautiful, but that's just my opinion." I smiled, trying to make light of the situation.

    "You know what I meant," He grinned. "I'm glad to see you, but I wish you didn't come back; look at your condition!"

    I grimaced as I looked at the bruises on my body. It hurt to move, with the little mobility I had left. I was handcuffed to my chair, unable to move my legs.

    "I couldn't find a key to the handcuffs," He gestured to them. "I tried to clean you up as best I could, but all your other bruises will have to heal on their own. I have some ibuprofen ready if you'd like."

    I studied his face as he got my medicine. The usual light in his face seemed to have left; he had dark circles under his eyes and it seemed as though he hadn't slept in days. He had bruises and marks across his face. Rage filled my heart yet again when I thought of what Victoria could have done to my siblings.

    "Where's Milo? And Oliver and Amelia?"

    "They're upstairs; Milo is in charge of babysitting today, I've been in charge of helping you this past week. I'm sure they'll be excited to know you're awake! I'll have to get them in a second."

    "Week? How long have I been asleep?"

    "You've been in and out of consciousness. Before you wake up, you tend to call for mum and dad. . ."

    I just nodded and took my medicine.

    "Reeja is here as well, she's been helping me clean you up. Do you want me to get everyone?"

    "I'd love to see them." I smiled softly.

    He left the room and I scanned the room. I was in my old bedroom; it was empty, but filled with memories. I remembered playing make-believe with my brothers, my father telling me stories, watching the sunset with my mum. But I also remember the nights where I felt alone, upset, and unheard. But the good always outweighed the bad.

    I heard the sound of pounding feet on the stairs. "Gracey!" I heard the voices say. Oliver and Amelia tackled me, causing me to flinch.

    "Guys, be careful!" Milo said, his voice sounding raspier than it used to be.

    "Grace." Reeja whispered.

    I was grateful to see Oliver and Amelia were seemingly untouched by Vic; they still had their bright, youthful innocence. Though Milo didn't seem to be so lucky. He had the same fate as Cooper.

    "I missed you all so much," I breathed, my emotions hitting me like a brick once again.

    Everyone took a seat on my bed, eager to hear about my adventures as I was gone for over seven months.

    "If I tell you my story, I want to hear about everything that's been going on here." I said, knowing their story won't lift my spirits any higher.

Milo and Cooper exchanged nervous glances. "I think we should save that for when Oliver and Amelia aren't in the room. . ." I nodded, knowing my presumptions were correct.

I began to tell my story, being sure to leave out the embarrassing details and skipping straight to the good stuff. I told them about my nannying mishaps, run-ins with Melody, the numerous royal parties, and of course, about Niall. Amelia grinned when she heard the princess-y details, though Oliver had the opposite reaction: gagging whenever I mentioned love.

    I reached the end of my story, which didn't have the happy ending I would've hoped for. Reeja took that as her cue to take the kids out of the room, leaving me with just Milo and Cooper.

    "Are you sure you want to hear all that's happened?" Cooper spoke with skepticism.

    "I'm sure." I shifted in my seat, grimacing when the handcuffs pinched my skin against the chair. "Start at the part after I ran away."

    "Well, after you left Victoria refused to tell dad why you ran away. We knew something was wrong and assumed you wouldn't come back." Milo spoke, his raspy voice cutting out as he began to cry. "We didn't expect what came next to ever happen."

    "After about a week of you disappearing, Victoria went back to her parties and left me in charge." He seemed to have a far off look in his eye as he recounted Victoria's abuse toward him. "She would hurt me every day, telling me I was never doing enough. I didn't clean the house well enough, I didn't keep a close enough eye on the kids. No matter what, it wasn't enough."

    Tears started to form in my eyes. I was having the time of my life at the palace, while my own family was suffering. And it was all because I wasn't there.

    "I started running away every once in a while, leaving Cooper in charge, until I realized she was doing the same to him. I didn't want him to go through the same thing I did."

    "Why didn't you tell us she hurt you like that? All these years, she's been harming you and we never knew." Cooper asked, his emotions getting to the best of him as well.

    "Because I didn't want you to worry about me, I thought I could handle it, but I couldn't." I whispered, grimacing as my chest ached with every word.

    "Gracey, you can tell us anything." Milo whispered, squeezing my hand.

    "I know." I smiled softly. "Continue, I want to know what else happened."

    "Well, once Milo started running away more often, dad came home later and later every day. He knew something was off and went to search for you. Every night. Every night, Grace." His voice shook as he took a breath.

    "Dad thought my attitude was due to regular teenage behavior, but once Victoria started to hurt Cooper he knew something was wrong. Cooper never gets hurt. And that's when he pieced it all together." He had a grave look on his face.

"He told us all that he loves us and will get us out of the whole mess. That night, we heard a scream and just like that, he was gone." Cooper began to cry.

I took my brothers in my arms and hugged them as tight as I could. I should've stayed behind. How could I have been so selfish?

Cooper broke free from my grip. "Dad left a letter for you, we found it next to the fireplace; Milo was able to get ahold of it before Victoria was able to burn it." He handed me a ripped sheet of notebook paper with scribbles written all over the page.

Grace,

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry I never listened. I'm sorry I let this get out of hand.

I can't imagine the pain you've felt, and it pains me even further to know you went through all of it alone. I never would've imagined this much pain could come to you. I never imagined Victoria to be so evil.

I hope you know that I love you. I love you more than you'll ever know. You're a strong, brave young woman; just like your mother.

Know that we're watching over you and we're here for you through your darkest trials.

By the time you read this, I'll be long gone. I hope when you read this, you're far from Victoria and safe from any harm she may cause you. But I know I might not be that lucky.

What I'm trying to say is, please take care of your siblings while I'm gone. Keep them as close to you as you possibly can. Make sure Victoria doesn't touch a single one of them.

But that doesn't mean you should let her give you all the damage. I don't want to cause you any more pain.

Don't hold this burden on your own. Talk to someone, anyone, and don't let this get out of hand. I need you to be safe.

I love you. Never forget that.

Dad

Tears were stained on the paper, leaving some words blurry. His signature was scribbled quickly with ink blotches trailed after his name. He had to have known Victoria was going to get to him, and she must've found him before he could finish the letter.

My heart ached more than I ever thought it could as I held his letter close to my chest. I gasped for air as I continued to sob, Milo and Cooper holding me close. My chest hurt more than ever, but I didn't care.

I missed him, I missed my mum, I missed Niall.

Why? Why did this have to happen?

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A/N

note to self: never listen to anchor by novo amor and skinny love by bon iver when reading grace's dad's letter.

now my mascara is ruined 👍

y'all we only have like 6 chapters left how are we already almost done????? AH i'm so excited this is gonna be goooddddd

thank you all so much for your support and thank you for your votes and comments because they mean the world to me! I love to see your reactions to my writing and i really appreciate it <3

also GUESS WHAT I SAW LOUIS IN CONCERT AND IT WAS THE BEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE i just had to brag

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