"What are you doing, Beatrice!" Richard's voice boomed like thunder, and she could feel the weight of his disappointment in her.
Beatrice winced and rubbed her arms where the Duchess had pinched her. It was a sharp reminder of her childhood when her mother would use physical pain to manipulate her.
As a little girl, Beatrice would try to pull away from her mother's grasp, but the Duchess would only grip her harder, leaving bruises that would take days to heal.
She would say, "Bea, why would you push your mother like this!" and then the Duchess would weep on the ground until her father, Duke Orson, believed that Beatrice was the one in the wrong.
Even now, as an adult, Beatrice couldn't shake off the memories of her mother's cruel tactics. She glared at Richard, her older brother who was trying to help the Duchess to her feet.
