CHAPTER ONE

CLARA’S POV

I felt dizzy again as I almost fell on my face this time around.

It's been two whole days and I still haven’t been able to sleep properly due to all the house chores that were kept for me to do.

I had no choice but to wake up so early when the others were sleeping so I would be done with the chores before my stepmother woke up.

After about an hour of washing dishes and cleaning the house, I decided to rest on the floor for a while at the corner of the living room since I wasn’t allowed to ever sit or lie on the couch.

In the process of trying to rest, I didn’t know when I fell asleep.

A few minutes later, I noticed that I was lifted from the ground but I was too dizzy to realize whatever was going on and as soon as I came back to my senses, I was thrown into the pool.

“Just observe the look on her face!!!” Julius, my stepbrother said as he laughed.

“It is completely priceless!!” Jerry, my second step brother, also said as he joined in the laughter.

I was struggling so hard to catch my breath as I was not much of a swimmer.

“She is going to die guys, please bring her out.”

Julia, my step sister said as she looked at me with a worried look on her face.

“Then let her die…she is a useless piece of shit anyway.” Julius said, smirking.

While the debate of saving me or leaving me to die was going on, I lost count of how many times I swallowed the pool water as it went through my nostrils and ears too.

“Hel…help…help me..pl…ples…pleaseee.” I managed to say as I continued drowning.

“What did you say??? Jerry, did you hear a call for help??” Julius asked as he pretended not to hear me.

“No I didn’t brother.” Jerry said smiling.

I was beginning to see blurry dots as I couldn’t hold on much longer.

My body was tired and so was my mind and my will and accepting my fate of meeting my parents soon made me smile as I gave up struggling and sank deeper into the pool.

“Mom, dad..hold on, I will be there with you shortly.” I said to myself as I welcomed darkness.

Suddenly, I opened my eyes as I coughed and looked around in confusion.

“Is this heaven??” I asked.

“No but this is your hell Clara.” Julius said as burst into laughter.

“You should be happy, you little piece of garbage that Julia pleaded with us to save your life…if that wasn’t the case, you would have been with your useless parents by now.”

“I would have loved that.” I muttered inaudibly.

“What was that???” Julius asked.

“Nothing.” I said as tears rolled down my face.

Julius suddenly pushed my face closer to his as he pressed my cheeks so harshly that it hurt.

“You are hurting me.” I said as I struggled to push his hands off but his grip only tightened.

“Look Clara, whatever happened right now stays between us and if you tell Mom and Dad about it, I will make sure to give you a slow and painful death and arrange it like you commited suicide and trust me when I say that nobody will miss or remember you…am I clear??”

“You are hurting me Julius.” I said as I continued struggling.

“I said, am I clear!!!!!” he yelled.

“Yess…I won’t tell mom and Dad.” I said.

“Good girl.” he said as he let go of his grip.

“Clara!!!! Clara!!!!” my stepmother called.

“I am coming Madam!!” I yelled as I stood up from the ground and ran back into the house to respond to her call.

“Where were you??” she asked.

“I was throwing the dirt I cleaned up from the house away, Madam.”

“Why is your body wet??”

“I..I..fell into the pool madam.” I said stuttering.

“Hmmm…I thought you were lagging off again.”

“No I wasn’t Madam.”

Even though she was my stepmother, I wasn’t allowed ever to call her Mom.

The day I tried calling her Mother, I was beaten so badly that I thought I was going to die… so from that day, I only called her Madam and she was okay with it.

“Your sir will be going to work soon so put some water in the kettle and make hot coffee for him just how he likes it….and after doing that, make some scrambled eggs for my children.” she said.

“Yes, Madam.”

“And you better be fast about it!!” she yelled.

“Yes Madam…I will.” I said as I went to work immediately.

After boiling some water, I made the coffee for my sir who was also my father but I was only allowed to call him sir.

I took it to his room and greeted him before handing the coffee over to him.

“Clara!!Clara, where is our food!!!!”Julius and Jerry yelled.

“I am coming!!”

“I thought I asked you to make scrambled eggs for my children??” my stepmother asked in anger.

“Madam, I wanted to make sir his coffee first before doing that so it wouldn’t get burnt.” I said nervously.

“Will you get out of here right now and go make my children something to eat!!!”

“Yes madam.” I said as I rushed back into the kitchen.

After making scrambled eggs for my three step siblings, I dished it out for them as well.

“Thanks but no thanks bitch.” Julius said.

Just a few seconds after they began eating, Jerry spat out his food.

“Are you trying to kill us??!!!!!” he yelled out in anger.

“How?? I don’t understand….is something wrong??” I asked in confusion.

“Did you taste these scrambled eggs before serving it to us??” he asked.

“Emmmm, no I didn’t but I did it just the way you all like it.”

Before I could utter another word, he slapped me so hard across the face that I almost fell.

“When I am talking to you, you keep quiet and accept your mistake, you worthless piece of shit!!!” he yelled at me.

“What is going on here??” my stepmother asked as she walked in on us.

“This bitch is trying to poison us…the scrambled eggs taste awful.” he said.

And just like always, my stepmother didn’t find out if he was right or wrong.

She took a wooden spoon from the kitchen.

“Madam please, I didn’t do anything wrong…please spare me.”

“So you are calling my children liars right???”

“No Madam…pleasee.” 

She began hitting me repeatedly as I pleaded for mercy.

Even when I fell to the ground, I could still feel the impact of each hit on my body as I stopped struggling and closed my eyes to welcome darkness.