Chapter 4 Meeting The She-devil

• Seated in the front seat of her father’s car was her stepmother as they were driving out of the parking lot.
• “How did her stepmother get here?” she wondered.
• She watched the car as it disappeared from her view and shed tears that had been threatening to fall. She kept on walking without taking notice of her surroundings until she collided with a wall. Wincing, she rubbed her forehead and looked up. She was met with the back of a man.
• “Get in, Miss Bennett,” Lawrence uttered.
• Without waiting for other words from him, she entered the car, and it soon moved out of the car park.
• The car ride to the house was silent, except for the occasional beeping of Lawrence’s phone. Aurora stared out the window, trying to hold back tears as the familiar streets of her childhood passed by, transforming into unfamiliar territory. Her mind raced with questions and fears about what awaited her.
• She had no time to admire the beauty of the residence they passed by, as what was on her mind was heavier. She had just been sold to pay her father's debt. She couldn’t control the tears as they kept falling.
• “Why was the world wicked to her? First, she lost her mother and father; then her father became her nightmare; she lost her caring grandmother too; she lost her only lover to her stepsister; and now she’s sold off as a slave without knowing what tomorrow holds.”
• Her mind drifted to yesterday one more time. She had caught her fiancée and her stepsister having sex. Broken and shattered, she had returned home with no one to comfort her. Instead, she was informed of Jason, her ex-fiancé's engagement with Jenny. She wasn’t even given room to nurse her heartbreak as the news was dumped on her. She wondered how things got to the stage of her father selling her off.
• After her mother and brother’s deaths, her grandmother moved in with them after two years due to the maltreatment she noticed whenever she visited. Her moving in made the punishment lessen, and they always looked for ways to torment her, but her grandmother had been there for her. She had seen to it that Aurora was educated just as Jenny was sent to school. Aurora and Jason had met at the university, and in their second year, their love grew deeper, with both being introduced to their respective families. Everything was bearable until she returned home in her fourth year to the demise of her beloved grandmother. She was shattered and thrown back to her square.
• Thankfully, she was in her final year and had just finished her exams; otherwise, her father would have stopped her education. She had lived off her grandmother and her IT skills while she was in school. As a well-known programmer and designer in college, she does not need money. She studied architecture in college but learned design and data science as a hobby. Sadly, she had been shut indoors, deprived of freedom.
• “We are here,” Lawrence announced when the car finally stopped. Thereafter, he opened the door and extended his hand to help her out. She hesitated for a moment before taking it, grateful for the small act of kindness amidst the overwhelming fear. She didn’t have time to collect herself as she alighted from the car but she did manage to wipe the tears from her face and look ahead.
• "This way," Lawrence said, guiding her towards a grand yet foreboding mansion that lay ahead of them. The iron gates opened slowly, revealing carefully trimmed gardens and an imposing structure that stood erect.
• As they approached the front door, it opened, revealing a tall, stern-looking woman who regarded Aurora with a mixture of curiosity and disdain.
• "Welcome to your new home," Lawrence said. "This is Mrs. Conti. She will be in charge of your care."
• Lawrence exchanged greetings briefly with Mrs. Conti before he faced her. He thereafter informed Aurora that Lorenzo would be home soon to tell her more about her new job role before he left.
• Mrs. Conti stepped forward, her sharp eyes taking in every detail of Aurora's appearance. "Follow me," she instructed curtly.
• Inside, the mansion was a sparkling, marble hall and dark wood panelling. The air was thick with an unspoken tension, and Aurora felt a chill run down her spine. Mrs. Conti led her to a room on the second floor of the mansion.
• "This will be your room," she said. "You will stay here until you are summoned. Do not wander the halls. Do not speak unless spoken to. Is that clear?"
• Aurora nodded, too afraid to speak. Mrs. Conti left without another word, closing the door behind her with a resounding click.
• She released the air she had been holding after the devil left. That is what she could make of Mrs. Conti's behaviour towards her.
• Aurora finally turned around to survey her surroundings feeling the weight of her new reality settle over her like a suffocating blanket.
• With a heavy heart and sad feet, she made a step to walk into her new prison while she awaited her warden. Her eyes widen at the sight that greets her and makes her pause momentarily.
• She took a hesitant step forward and felt the soft plush carpets under her feet pulling her to sink in her feet deeper. She was glued to her spot for a while but moved on and threw a glance at the room as she walked to sit on the chair. The room welcomed her with opulence, a stark contrast to the emptiness that pervaded her soul.
• The wall of the room was painted in hues of grey and white, with intricate designs on them, and the windows were draped in brocade curtains. To match the colour of the curtains, a huge king-size bed dominated the space, covered in white satin, and pillows embroidered with gold designs beckoned her to sink into their softness, promising her a night of luxury. It’s been a while since she last lay on a bed, and she was very tempted to jump on it, but the fear of what would happen to her made her think otherwise.
• A mahogany dressing desk sat opposite the bed, and far off stood a velvet-lined chair, beckoning her invitingly. Unable to resist the urge and sheer exhaustion, she walked towards the chair and sat on it. She felt the soft texture, and her mind drifted to how she had been treated in her own house. Memories of the past engulfed her, threatening to drown her in a sorrowful depth.
• She remembered the day she lost her mother and brother to a tragic accident, a day etched into her soul with the pain of a thousand wounds. As if that is not enough, her recent betrayal hit her like a wave, finally crumbling all her walls and letting loose a dam in her eyes. Her heart raced on as memories of her home and past flickered like ghosts in the recesses of her mind, taunting her with visions of warmth and safety. But here, in this forsaken place, there was only emptiness and desolation. She longed for the familiar embrace of her mother and the reassuring presence of her brother by her side. But they were gone, stolen from her by the cruel hand of fate.
• "Mom, where are you?" Aurora's voice echoed in the empty room, a plaintive cry for a love she could no longer hold. In her mind's eye, she saw her mother's gentle smile, heard her brother's infectious laughter, and felt the warmth of their embrace. But they were mere phantoms now, haunting her with their absence.
• As she sat on the chair, Aurora’s mind travelled to the day she had lost her mom and brother to a road accident.
• It was her brother’s science fiction day, and the whole family was supposed to go support him, but Aurora had been down with a fever the night before, so she couldn’t make it.
• “I want Aurora to come see my work, Mom.” Ken had said
• “Honey, Aurora is down with a fever. Let’s allow her to stay in to get better.” Her mother had persuaded him.
• After her mother had attended to her health, she set out with her brother, while her dad had left for work to join them later. She had been away from them for a whole day, and when her father came back home that night, he was looking depressed with a swollen eye. Her naive mind couldn’t picture what could have happened to him to make him look that way. Caringly, she approached him to ask why her mom and brother were not back yet.
• “Where are Mummy and Ken, Dad?” she had asked, but his response was tears and a loss of words.
• He had indeed put her to bed that night with the promise that her mother and brother would be back the next morning.
• Early the next day, she ran to her father’s room hoping that her mother would be there since her brother wasn’t in his room, but the scene that her eyes landed upon shocked her greatly, and her little mind was confused as to why her father’s secretary was in bed with her father instead of her mom. She had summoned the courage to walk into that room that day, but her father reprimanded her for intruding on his privacy, and in the blink of an eye and out of anger, he announced to her, “Your harlot of a mother and bastard brother is dead, you little bastard.”