She didn’t have to put up with their mistreatment any longer.
She had options now.
“Well,” she snapped, stomping past her stepmother into the house. “I wish you luck.”
“What are you doing?” her stepmother demanded.
“I’m leaving,” Ella said firmly, “and you can’t stop me.”
She hurried up the stairs to her little corner, gathered her extra dress and her Bible, and made her way back downstairs.
“You can’t take those!” her stepmother shrieked. “Those are mine!”
“I’d like to see you stop me,” Ella shot back.
She walked out the door and down the walkway.
She didn’t know what would happen next, but she knew Danise would help, and she couldn’t stomach staying in that house another minute.
“Goodbye, Tabitha.”
She ignored the woman shouting behind her and closed the gate as she walked away.
Tears flowed down her face as she made her way to Danise’s home. She wasn’t entirely sure if it was from relief, sadness, or fear, but she knew things could only get better from here.
She was free.
It was only a few minutes before she arrived at Danise’s home and knocked at the door. Danise opened it, and it took less than a moment for her to pull Ella into her arms for a hug when she noticed the tears.
“He wasn’t my father,” Ella choked out. “I’ve been living a lie my whole life.”
Danise didn’t say anything, just held her until the tears slowed and the sobs turned to hiccups.
“I’m here,” Danise said, rubbing Ella’s back.
“I left,” Ella said as she took a step back, gesturing to the dress hanging over her arm. “This is all I have.”
“It’s a good thing my son no longer lives here,” Danise said, “because I have a spare loft, and you can stay as long as you need to.”
Ella nearly started crying again.
“I think we ought to send word to Dietrich about what happened,” Danise added. “But I don’t imagine you’ll want to go to him just yet.”
Ella shook her head. “I want to learn how to be nobility first,” she said. “I don’t want them to think I’m not good enough.”
“Oh, my girl,” Danise said, pulling her into a hug again. “You are more than enough. No matter who it is, no matter the situation, you will always be enough, because you were made with love and you are loved.”
Ella shook her head and pulled away. It was more than she could handle right now, and Danise must have sensed that because she didn’t push the issue.
“We’ll get you sorted,” Danise said. “I’ll send word to Dietrich, and he’ll come. We’ll figure all of this out.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Ella admitted.
“Neither do I,” Danise said cheerfully. “This is my first time hosting a gentlewoman in my home.”
Ella’s eyes widened. She hadn’t heard herself referred to as nobility yet, even if the others had alluded to it. The thought that she might be nobility staying in Danise’s loft was rather funny.
“You mean your loft isn’t used to having a duchess stay in it?” she said, giggling a little. “Are you sure Dietrich doesn’t think he’s a nobleman?”
