Cruel By Design

ISABEL MAYS 

“Isabel!  Why ain’t you dressed up already? Come on!, You are not allowed to put on those rags you called cloth.” 

I stopped halfway on the staircase, clutching my rough trousers in my hand.

My sister stood by the window in a gold coloured mini dress, a large bow resting at her back. She moved around, opening the windows and carefully setting the curtains. She didn’t look at me, she had heard my footsteps. 

From the window’s reflection, I caught the slight lift of her chin…that annoying look she always gave me. 

Tonight is the night the three-year celebration returns, bigger, louder, and more forgiving than ever. An event held in our household where family, relatives, and friends come around to celebrate and flaunt themselves.  A night for appearance, for laughter and music, for people to show off who mattered and who didn't.

“Sadie, I have a very important meeting to attend in two hours, I only came downstairs to iron my rumbled trouser,” I said flatly, heading towards the ironing table. 

“Of course Sadie, don’t mind her,” My mother, Kara said, her voice dripping with sweetness. “She would always have one excuse or the other!” 

My mother’s heels clicked sharply on the staircase, announcing her approach before I turned. Her floral dress floated behind her as if she were on a runway to attend her wedding or a Bridgerton event.

“Isabel! Wait! Are you even sane? Or possessed? I see no reason why you don’t want a normal social life, or maybe you should tell me if you’re the only one in this working class.” 

I stiffened, gripping the iron like it was a lifeline.

“Well, that's none of my business, that trouser you’re holding, you can iron it later. You need to attend to the cooks and waiters downstairs. They arrived thirty minutes ago and don’t know where to place their items. I have things to handle, and Sadie is busy too.” 

“No Mum, I really need to attend this meeting as it….” I began, trying to keep my voice low. 

“Is it important right? “ Mum cut me off sharply. Her eyes narrowed, scanning me from head to toe. “Do you even understand what tonight is, Isabel? Do you know how much time, effort, and money your father and I have spent on this event? And you…you just ignore it as if it’s beneath you?”

I swallowed hard. My throat was dry. I wanted to disappear. “I… I said I’ll be downstairs shortly. I just…”

“You just what?” Sadie’s laugh was sharp, cruel. “You just want to sit there in your filthy trousers while the rest of us shine, right? That’s it. You’ve always been useless, haven’t you? Invisible.”

I felt my fingers tremble around the iron. The words stung more than any slap. Invisible. Useless. The daughter they never acknowledged, never introduced, never let exist in the open.

My mother took another step closer, her floral perfume invading my senses, suffocating. “Do you know how embarrassing you are, Isabel? How will everyone who comes here whisper about the poor, ragged girl they hide in their house?”

“I… I didn’t mean to…” I began, but she wasn’t done.

“Not meant to?” Kara’s voice climbed higher. “Do you even know how it feels to have a daughter who isn’t worth mentioning? Who doesn’t deserve a place at the table? Who can’t even carry herself properly in the presence of real people?”

Sadie stepped closer, twirling a lock of her hair like a weapon. “Really, Isabel, why are you even here? Honestly, you should have stayed locked in your room. No one cares about you. Not tonight, not ever.”

I backed up a step, the iron now hanging loosely in my hand. My chest ached with something I couldn’t name. Sadie’s words, my mother’s judgment, they were familiar, but tonight they cut deeper than usual. Tonight, everyone would be watching, and I was still the shadow in the corner.

“You know, Mum,” Sadie continued, her voice sweet and venomous all at once, “it’s embarrassing for you too, raising a child like her. Someone who doesn’t belong to this world. A stain on the house. If it were me, I would’ve made her disappear by now.”

Kara’s eyes flashed, and she nodded in approval. “Exactly. This is why your father and I never… Well, we tried. But she insists on showing herself, making me question our discretion. Every time you come downstairs in those rags, Isabel, you shame the family.”

I wanted to scream. To run. To vanish. But my legs refused to move. My throat caught on my own sob, the words I wanted to say stuck like thorns. I was trapped by their voices, by the judgment, by the same family that had buried me behind closed doors my entire life.

Sadie leaned closer, lowering her voice to a whisper sharp enough to cut glass. “You know, Isabel… one day, people might see you for what you are. But not tonight. Not in this house. You’ll stay quiet. You’ll stay hidden. That’s your place.”

I gripped the iron tighter, willing it to turn into a shield I could hide behind. I wanted to disappear so badly it hurt. Every whispered insult, every glance from them, reminded me: I had no place here. No family pride. No love.

“I… I’ll be downstairs in a moment,” I whispered finally, my voice barely audible. My body shook, and I didn’t know if it was from the cold or fear.

Sadie rolled her eyes dramatically and moved to the window again. “Finally. Maybe now Mum can see she’s really not worth wasting breath on.”

Kara’s sharp heels retreated down the stairs, leaving me alone with my sister. I could still feel her gaze from the reflection in the glass, the smug tilt of her chin, the satisfaction in knowing she had won this battle.

I let the iron slip from my fingers, clattering against the board. It echoed through the quiet room, a small, hollow sound that made my chest ache even more. I swallowed back tears, wishing desperately that I could be invisible… but not like this. Not where they could still see me fail.

I picked up my trousers again, holding them close like a fragile shield. Tonight, I was expected to smile, to mingle, to perform the role of the quiet daughter who didn’t matter. The one they hid. The one they ignored.