Entangled By Midnight

DAMARIS' POV

I heard the knock before I even saw the chaos. It wasn’t the kind of knock you can just ignore, it rattled the door on its hinges, demanding attention. I jolted, nearly spilling the bowl of soup I was carrying to my mom’s bedside... Her cough is worse today, her skin pale and she's so sweaty, her hands trembled when she tried to feed herself.

She looked up, alarmed. "Who could that be?" She asked but I had no inkling.

"I will check." I said, setting the bowl on the table and rushing to the front door. My mistake was not peeking through the peephole, I should have, I should have locked it and told them to go away but no, I didn’t.

The door burst open, the second I turned the knob, nearly knocking me backwards. Two uniformed police officers stepped in like they owned the place. My next shock came when I saw a woman I had only ever seen in her polished, too-perfect world, Mrs. Arlena Blackwell walked in next, with her sleek neat bun and her ever-present sneer like the air around her was too foul for her liking.

Behind her, her daughter, Alice, followed with her arms folded and a cold satisfaction glinting in her eyes. We were supposed to be friends, but we are just too different, I guess I am just too way below her standard.

"What the hell?" I began, but one of the officers was already moving past me.

"Mom!" I called as I saw them heading straight into her room.

"What is this?" Mom struggled to sit up, confused and frightened at the same time. "Damaris, what’s going on?" I wish I had an answer to her question, but I am completely lost.

The officer didn’t answer, he just grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet like she wasn’t even a person, like the ten years she worked cleaning the Blackwells marble mansion had meant nothing at all.

"You are under arrest for theft of a luxury diamond bracelet reported missing from the residence of Ms. Arlena Blackwell." The officer said, too fast, too rehearsed and it reeked of lies.

"Theft?" I blinked, stunned at the accusation. "No, no, there’s been a mistake! My mom would never..."

"Save it." Arlena spat, interrupting my speech as she stepped into our cramped apartment like it disgusted her to be breathing the same air. "We gave your mother the opportunity of a lifetime working for us. And this is how she repays us?"

"That’s a lie!" I yelled, chasing after them as they hauled my mom through the door. "You know she didn’t steal anything, please! Tell them, Alice, tell them this isn’t true!" I pleaded desperately.

But Alice didn’t even flinch, she just ran her fingers through her platinum hair and smiled slightly... Not kindly.

Mom was coughing, begging, but that didn't deter them, not even when she stumbled, not when I screamed my lungs out. The door slammed behind them and silence followed like an aftershock.

My chest tightened with panic, I couldn’t breathe... I ran outside barefoot, but the police car was already pulling away, red and blue lights flashing down the block, taking my mom away to God knows where.

"They are taking her to jail." I whispered to myself. "They are taking her away…" I said mindlessly as I stared at the road even though the police car was long gone.

"Damaris." I turned sharply. Alice was still standing on our porch, now alone with her arms wrapped around herself like this was a casual visit, like she hadn’t just shattered my life.

"What do you want?" I hissed, tears brimming in my eyes. "Why would you do this to her? You know she’s innocent."

Arlena reappeared beside her, smirking like this had all gone exactly as planned. "She might be." Arlena said while inspecting her fingernails. "But that doesn’t matter when the law has already taken her in. You see, sweetheart, in our world, evidence is what we say it is. So, as far as we are concerned, your mother is a thief."

I clenched my fists. "Please, let her go. She’s sick, she needs her medicine. Okay fine, I will find the money. I will pay you back for whatever you think she took, just don’t do this, please."

"I admire your loyalty." Arlena said with a dramatic sigh. "Really, I do. But there’s only one thing we want from you."

I stared at her, heart thundering. "What…?" I asked tentatively because I have a feeling that what she's about to request will somehow ruin my not so perfect life.

Alice stepped forward, close enough for me to see the cracks in her lipstick, the nervous twitch of her jaw.

"I’m getting engaged in six months." She said.

I blinked, not understanding how that piece of information was my business. "Okay, congratulations?"

"To Vince Montclair." She added with an annoying smirk.

I choked on air at her statement... The Vince Montclair? The famous billionaire investor, media mogul, untouchable and terrifying in the same breath? The man who lived in a skyscraper and could buy a country if he wanted?

"I don’t understand, what does that have to do with my mom and I?" I asked curiously.

"Vince has a condition." Arlena supplied, while circling me like a hawk. "He wants to marry a virgin. One he gets to test even before the vows."

I took a step back, as her words slammed right into me. "You are not..." I looked at Alice in disbelief. "You are not a virgin?"

She didn’t respond but she didn’t deny it either. "I can’t lose him." She said flatly. "The contract is already signed, the money, the legacy, everything is riding on this marriage."

"So, you want me to take your place?" I whispered. "To… to sleep with him?"

"Just once." Arlena said, like we were discussing dinner reservations or something. "You will wear a similar look to my daughter. He won’t know, we already have everything figured out. I will get your mother released immediately all this is done, no charges and her record will be cleared. Then you… you will disappear back into obscurity where you belong."

My knees buckled as I listened to her well thought out plan. I reached for the doorframe to steady myself because everything she said knocked all the air out of my lungs.

This was insane, disgusting, and unbelievable. "You’re monsters." I said hoarsely.

Arlena raised an eyebrow. "And yet, you are considering it. Right?"

I looked out toward the road, where the sirens had vanished. The nagging feeling of my mom behind bars because of them grew even more... She's sick, fragile and she had nothing, no family but me, no friends in the city, no lawyer. If she stayed in jail, I am positive she wouldn’t last the week.

Alice’s voice was almost kind when she said, "He will never know it’s you, Damaris. Just one night. Save your mother and then you can pretend this never happened."

I shook my head, tears blurring the edges of my vision. "What if I say no?"

Arlena didn’t smile this time, her eyes were cold and gleaming. "Then your mother will rot in jail for grand theft. She will die in there, and there won’t be a damn thing you can do."

I was quiet for a while, thinking of a way out but at that moment, I realized I had already lost.

I turned my face away and nodded once, brokenly. "Fine." I whispered. "I will do it."