Page 77 of The Duke Who Claimed Her

A smile flashed across her face as she hurried to the bed. She tested the frame’s iron bars, laughing as one wiggled loosely. Putting one foot on the bed, she took the iron bar with both hands and pulled, pulled, pulled with all her might.

That was when she heard a pop.

The iron bar sprang from the frame, and she tumbled back, almost falling over and landing on her face. She caught herself, however, then stood tall and proud and triumphant.

With the iron bar in hand, she went back to the boarded window. That time, she wedged the tip of the bar under one of the planks of wood, getting a firm hold, and then began using it like a lever.

It was hard going. Her hands began to burn, as did her arms. But the more she worked, the more she felt the planks of wood prying free.

“Come on…” she groaned as she pulled back. “Please… Please…”

The sounds of splintering wood answered her, followed by a loud crack as the plank of wood snapped free from its nail.

“Ha!” she cried out with joy.

She took that plank of wood with both hands, tore it free, and tossed it onto the floor. This created a small gap in the window, not big enough to crawl through, but big enough for her to grab another plank of wood with both hands. She did so, leaning back with all her might, slowly tearing a second plank from the window.

Arabella puffed and heaved. She was coated in sweat. But she looked at the gap she had made in the window, and her smile was one of victory.

My father does not control me…

There was nothing but forest beyond the cabin. It was dark too, so she could hardly see more than a few feet into the distance. But that did not matter. She would hurry into the night, try to find the main road, and somehow make it back home in time to stop Caspian from signing those papers.

With that thought in mind, she went to climb through the window.

“This is a sight I might have never expected.” The voice cut through Arabella’s attempted escape like a hammer smashing against a pane of glass. She gasped, released the window, and tumbled back.

She hit the ground hard, cried out, turned onto her stomach, and pushed herself to her knees. By the time that she did, her father stood right in front of her.

With a glare fixed on her face, Arabella looked up at her father. She needed him to see her anger and her defiance. She needed him to know that she was not broken.

“Again, Arabella, I cannot believe how much you have changed,” he said, almost sounding proud. “Not nearly enough, of course, but a little bit. A woman grown.”

She snarled at him. “I have changed more than that, Father. You do not own me.”

“That is where you are wrong,” he sighed and shook his head. “But as a father must do sometimes, lessons need to be taught. Hopefully, you are a fast learner, as you were when you were younger.” Moving with more speed than she thought possible, her father snatched her by the top of her head.

“No!” she cried out as he started to drag her across the floor. “Let me go!”

“Again, this is your fault!” he hissed as he pulled her. “Why can you not do as you are told!”

Arabella’s hands lashed out as she tried desperately to free herself. She bucked, and she writhed. She kicked to no avail. But as her father pulled her across the room, she saw the iron bar lying on the floor not too far away…

“Get off me!” With a final surge of strength, she half-turned her body and lashed out with her right hand. It found her father’s arm, smashing into it, seeing it bend as he cried out and released her.

“Argh!” he yelped, stumbling back.

Arabella scrambled across the floor. She reached the iron bar and grabbed it. Both her hands wrapped around the cool iron like a bat, and she quickly leaped to her feet and swung it with all her might.

Her father stepped back, the swing went wide, and then he pounced.

He grabbed her by the wrists and wrenched them apart. He squeezed so hard that she was forced to drop the iron bar; it clattered to the ground by their feet. And as he held her, he snarled into her face with such venomous fury that she felt it burning her.

“You… You will regret that,” he hissed.

“Let me go!” she screamed and snapped.

“As you wish!” He pushed her back, and she fell onto her rear. She then scrambled away, her back soon hitting the wall. She pressed herself against it as her father walked toward her. On the way, he picked up the iron bar.