Chapter 3

In the middle of the parlor, Nana and Aurora were left standing, gazing at each other. While one was seething with anger, the other was calm, as if the eyes looking at her with deep hatred weren’t directed at her at all. The tension around the parlor was so high that it could be cut through with a knife.

Pak!

Aurora’s head tilted to the side, her beautiful face stained with five handprints on her cheeks, as she looked at the angry nana. This time, her once calm face turned expressionless, and her voice almost lowered to the point of a whisper with a hint of surprise. “Can you tell me what's the meaning of this ?” she asked. Nana wasn’t done as she tried to scratch the other party's face without success. “It’s all your fault, you bitch! Bryan doesn’t want to abandon you. You always take every little thing that belongs to me. Will you be satisfied after taking everything away from me?” As she said it, her voice was hysterical. Aurora, who was slightly stunned and speechless, burst out in laughter. It was cold and lacked any warmth.

When she was done laughing, she looked at Nana as if she was a dumbass, her eyes twinkling with amusement before leaning close to her and said, “It’s not my fault if you’re always interested in the breadcrumbs I leave behind and—” her voice coming in a pleasant manner as if she was cracking a joke, “Bryan did belong to me until a certain someone entered the game, but don’t worry, I don’t want already used items. Since you want it so much, you can have it. I once learned somewhere that you must give out the things that you don’t need anymore.” When she ended, she stifled a yawn and turned around to leave, but before she could make two steps ahead, she felt her scalp tingle and stepped to the side.

As she moved aside, Nana swung a jar to where she was previously standing, expecting to kill her in one strike. But she didn’t expect the girl to dodge. As Aurora saw it, her eyes turned cold. She sidestepped Nana, and her hand landed on the back of her neck, making the raging Nana knocked out and fall on the floor. Afterward, she looked at the body lying on the floor for a long while before she crouched down to observe more about the girl lying awkwardly on the floor.

As she tilted her head to the left and continued to observe the girl, she muttered, “Tsk, I would have preferred if he found a girl a bit more beautiful than me, but he settled for the worst one. Yet, what can I do? I was the one who got cheated. I’m looking forward to that day wh-.” Before she could finish her words, she heard a voice coming from upstairs and hastily picked up Nana in a bridal style and climbed the stairs. But before she could reach the end, she was stopped by her aunt in her black nightgown with a jug of water."What are you doing to my daughter?" she asked, her eyes narrowed, as she moved towards Aurora.

Aurora looked up and answered, "She fell asleep in the parlor, so I was bringing her back to her room." As she said that, she was about to bypass her aunt. She was stopped, and her back turned slightly stiff. If her aunt observed closely, she would have seen the change, but her eyes were more focused on her daughter. She walked towards her daughter, gave a kiss on the forehead, and then left in the direction of the kitchen.

Aurora breathed a sigh of relief and headed for Nana’s room on the second floor. As she stood in the hallway, she looked to the left and saw bright bulbs shining and two doors facing each other. The room on the right belonged to her aunt, while the one on the left belonged to Nana, the girl she was supposed to bring to her room. On the other side of the corridor, the light was almost off, with darkness being the only thing visible. At the end of the corridor was her bedroom.

As she stood in front of the door, wondering how she was going to enter, a hand held the door handle and opened it. As she observed the hand, she immediately recognized that it belonged to her uncle. After bowing in greeting, she entered the room. As expected, the room was beautifully decorated and much larger than hers. Her room was gloomy, with only half of the light barely lit, while her cousin's room shone from ceiling to floor, making it feel like entering straight into a fairytale land. Her closet was filled with neatly folded dresses and branded shoes that shined brightly. She wondered if people would pay more attention to the shoes she was wearing or to the person wearing them.

Her toilet was even more well-furnished with the daily necessities like a bathtub, toilet, and shower. But above all, it contained enough space to walk around, while she only had a shower, toilet, and a small sink. She placed the girl on the bed and tucked her in before leaving the room.

As she walked from the brightly lit corridor to her room on the other end. But when reaching the front of the door she made no move to enter, she leaned her head on the door thinking about all what she has endured staying in here in this house, before I believed in the story of a prince and Cinderella expecting someone to come and save me from here, maybe my mother who abandoned who never cared to come and check on me, nor tried to call, but there was never anything not even a soul, until I grew up believing in nothing but luck. And like that she entered her room.