Chapter 1 A Dream

• Princess To 5 Powerful Domineering Aunties
• Written By
• Okeke-Eze Ifeoma Isabella (Omaisabella)
• A loud crash rang out.
• It echoed through the small, worn-out apartment where the walls were faded and the air was thick and musty. A ceramic plate had slipped from her hand, smashing on the wooden floor. The sound swallowed everything else, even the shaky sound of her breathing.
• Outside, tall trees stood like guards between the ugly apartment and the highway. They blocked out most of the sunlight, but a small beam still fell across Aura Bianchi’s face.
• She was ten years old. Her face froze with fear. Her teal eyes trembled, then her knees dropped to the hard floor.
• She had to clean it up. Fast. Or the devil herself would come.
• “N-no! No! No… This can’t be happening!” Aura’s voice shook. Her breath caught in her throat. It wasn’t just fear. It was knowing…knowing what was coming.
• A shadow fell over her.
• Time stopped for a second. But the sharp pull on her red hair brought it all crashing back.
• “Ugh! Penelope, it was a mistake! I’m—” She gasped as she was yanked to her feet. Her whole body was shaking, her eyes full of regret and fear.
• Her stepmother, Penelope Bianchi, stood in front of her, cold, cruel, and angry. A nightmare in human form.
• Aura’s scalp burned from the pull. Her palms were swollen from constant chores. Her arms ached. Her tiny body was exhausted. But Penelope didn’t care. She only saw the broken plate.
• “You little witch! Do you know how much that cost?” Penelope screamed. She wasn’t much taller than Aura, maybe an inch or two, but she always made herself feel bigger.
• “Maybe I should rip you apart and burn what’s left!” she shouted again, her voice loud enough to shake the walls.
• “N-no, Penelope! It was an accident!” Aura cried, tears already falling. But Penelope grabbed more of her hair and dragged her across the floor.
• “Penelope, please! I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!”
• Her cries echoed through the apartment. Loud. Sharp. Heartbreaking. Anyone nearby could have heard.
• But no one came.
• Except someone did see.
• A quiet shadow stood in the corner.
• Her father, Leonardo Bianchi, sitted on a ragged old couch. He looked like a broken statue. His face was pale, his eyes dull, his body limp like he’d already given up.
• Aura saw him. Her heart broke again.
• “Papà!” she cried.
• He didn’t move.
• “Shut up!”
• “Ah!” Aura screamed as Penelope yanked her again, then grabbed her cheeks with sharp nails that dug into her skin.
• “How dare you call him that?!” Penelope hissed. “You ruined his life! He lost his wife because of you!”
• Aura whimpered. Her eyes, already filled with tears, now brimmed with guilt. Somehow, it was true. Her father’s wife, the woman who had brought her home as a baby… died. And they all said it was Aura’s fault.
• “Your witchcraft killed her! You’re a curse, Aura. You don’t belong here. I should lock you away forever.”
• “No! Please! Penelope, please! Papà! Help me, Papà!”
• Her feet dragged as Penelope pulled her out of the room. Their footsteps pounded on the floor. The shouting filled the air.
• But her father didn’t move. He just sat there.
• The farther they walked, the more Aura’s heart sank.
• The small, dirty barn at the edge of the land came into view.
• “You’ll stay here tonight!” Penelope yelled. She shoved open the door and pushed Aura inside.
• Aura stumbled. The door slammed behind her.
• “Penelope! Please!” Aura ran to the door and banged on it. Her small fists hurt, but she didn’t care. The barn was cold, dark, and smelled like mold. She hated it.
• But then she heard it.
• “…Rain?”
• Her body was sore, but her eyes went straight up to the roof. It was leaking.
• One drop landed on her face.
• Then another.
• Then more.
• “It’s… it’s raining…” she whispered.
• And just like that, the rain turned into a storm. Loud. Angry. Wild.
• “No, no, no!” she screamed. She banged harder on the door.
• She wasn’t scared just because she was alone. It was something worse.
• She had dreams about this. Always the same, flooding water, drowning, darkness. She hated rain. Hated water. It terrified her.
• “Please! Penelope, please let me out!” she screamed.
• Suddenly—CRACK!
• Something heavy hit the roof. Aura looked up just in time to see part of it collapse.
• Water poured in.
• “No!” she screamed.
• She tried to run, but the water was already rising. Cold. Fast. It hit her chest and knocked her off her feet.
• As she struggled to stay above the rising water, Aura realized something terrifying, she might actually drown in this old barn. Alone. Forgotten. The water kept rising, and if she didn’t find a way out soon, it would swallow her whole.
• “Please…” she whispered, soaked to the bone. Her tears had blended with the rain. Her strength was fading fast.
• “Someone… Papà… Mamà… Cassie…” She was about to close her eyes when the door suddenly yanked open from the outside.
• The flood of water pushed her out, and the next thing she knew, she was lying in the wet grass just outside the woods, still under the rain.
• But… how? Someone had opened the door. She was sure of it. But her head was spinning too much to think clearly.
• Gasping for breath, she turned to look back at the barn. It was empty. Then her eyes shifted to the apartment, her hell. The place she’d called home.
• Was there even a reason to go back?
• Leonardo had given up. And Penelope…
• “I…” Aura clenched her fists into the wet soil, her lips trembling. “I’m… not going back.”
• A loud thunderclap crashed through the sky as if to agree with her.
• Something inside her, something strong, woke up. Her body ached, but her heart felt lit up. She looked ahead, eyes fixed on the woods.
• She remembered how close she had come to dying. And just like that, another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky as she took off, running into the trees.
• ★
• The highway was empty. Just puddles, rain, and silence.
• Rosabelle didn’t mind. She was glad no one could see her right now.
• Inside her sleek black Pagani Huayra, parked at the edge of the woods, she sat still, eyes on the rain.
• “It’s raining again,” she said with a tired sigh, resting her gloved hands on the wheel.
• She started the engine, the car’s growl filling the quiet road, and slowly began driving.
• Wearing her usual sharp black suit, the top buttons of her white shirt undone, her reddish birthmark was faintly visible on her chest.
• “I can’t stay in this country one more damn minute,” she muttered, reaching for her phone. One hand stayed on the wheel, the other scrolled through her screen.
• In the dim reflection of the car window, her honey-brown eyes looked dull, tired. Strands of her strawberry-red hair clung to her face, soaked from the rain.
• She opened a new notification, news about her sisters. The famous La Rosa Sisters. Her lips curled into a smile.
• People treated them like royalty, and their strength made even powerful men nervous.
• But all of them, no matter how different, shared one thing — they hated the rain.
• Belle kept scrolling, not noticing anything else.
• That’s why she didn’t see the figure running out from the woods.
• Aura ran blindly, her tiny feet slapping the wet ground, her lungs burning. The rain hit her face so hard she could barely see. She just kept running.
• “I hope someone finds me,” she whispered between pants.
• Belle finally looked up and her eyes went wide.
• There, in the beam of her headlights, was a little girl. Soaked. Alone. Time slowed down.
• The tires screamed on the wet road.
• “Argh!” Belle's body jolted as the car struck the child, sending her onto the hood before she crumpled onto the road.
• Belle slammed the brakes. The car slid to a stop. She jumped out, phone forgotten, and ran straight to the child.
• “Oh my God!”
• The girl was lying there, blood mixing with the rainwater.
• “Shit! Shit! Shit!” Belle dropped to her knees and pulled the girl into her arms, not caring about the storm.
• As the rain pounded harder and the girl whimpered softly, Belle’s heart pounded in her chest. Guilt and fear gripped her like ice.