Sleep is what I need right now, not food and more of Simeon Ravera. I can’t deal with his arrogance, his wicked tongue and sinful eyes. I must recharge my social battery and figure out a way to make this marriage work to my benefit.
Such a tragedy.
I’m too young to contemplate what that means, but I hear it whispered around me from the servants as I pass. Their smiles of sympathy and concern don’t really register because everyone has always looked at me that way.
I have grown up knowing my mom is an angel now. I can’t remember when she wasn’t. Rose’s mom is with her. Two angels in heaven looking down on us, at least that’s what wehave been told. It’s strangely comforting, and as I never knew any different, it’s normality. My mom doesn’t live with me; she lives with God, and I accepted that until, well, I didn’t anymore.
‘Alice.’ My nerves fray as the voice of a demon enters my mind, and I stand to attention as Morgan beckons me to her side. She is standing in the open doorway of her bedroom and she says abrasively, ‘Come and tidy up my clothes and make yourself useful for once in your life.’
The fact that I am always, making myself useful, as she puts it, doesn’t deserve worrying about because for some reason Morgan hates me—hates us and uses me and my sisters as unpaid servants.
Despite wanting to run, I do as she says because it will make my life easier that way.
As I enter her closet, I note with dismay the heaps of clothing as if scattered around the space in a blind fury.
There are shoes suspended from shelves, clinging on by their heels, their partner lost in the disarray of the room. It’s as if a tornado struck, but from the fury in Morgan's eyes, I’d say she had another hissy fit. One of many.
I know better than to argue and begin by picking up an item of clothing while searching for a hanger under her cruel gaze.
She towers above me, spite in her eyes and hisses, ‘I want every inch of this closet shining. If it’s not up to my high standards, you will be hauled in front of your father and blamed for this entire mess.’
That is also not unusual. Morgan’s temper is hidden from our father, and if he comes across it, we are blamed. She has perfected the art of the much-maligned stepmother, and we are rewarded with a slap around the face and imprisonment with no food for no other reason than her mood swings.
Father is a cruel beast who presides over his empire with autocratic cruelty, and they are a couple well suited to one another.
I’m grateful my mom is no longer under his overbearing dominance, even though I regret the loss of memories and the opportunity to get to know her.
Then Morgan changes everything by sneering, ‘It’s no wonder your mother staged her own death living in this madness.’
I’m instantly on high alert as her words sink in.
Instinctively, I stop what I’m doing, and she screeches, ‘Did I tell you to stop?’
A sharp blow to the back of my head is caused by a flying shoe, and my eyes smart with tears as the pain reminds me who is holding all the cards here.
‘Yes, she was weak and couldn’t live up to his huge expectations. Ingenious, really, staging a crash and setting fire to the vehicle. I’m almost convinced that the woman in the car was her friend Lola because she was never seen again after that fateful day.’
‘Lola?’ My remark spills out before my sanity hauls it back, and Morgan laughs. ‘Yes, Lola, her maid. The poor, unfortunate woman who had to listen to your mom whine every minute of every day about how she hated having it all. How she hated being a mom and wished you had never been born.’
I crumble inside, her words tearing through my bleeding heart that never really repaired itself. It’s as if there has always been a hole there, and despite my age, I remind myself that Morgan is wicked. She says things that are untrue to provoke a reaction and so I keep my thoughts to myself and merely concentrate on my task.
‘Yes, Enrico was so angry. She had left him and escaped her responsibilities as his wife. Not that he loved her, he told me as much because, like every one of his other wives, she merely served the purpose of depositing her inheritance into his bank. That’s what he did. He married for money and took mistresses on the side for pleasure. Making certain to get his wives pregnant so he could secure their inheritance.’
I carry on in silence, her words hitting home, and another shoe hits the side of my face, narrowly missing my eyes as she hisses, ‘Work faster. I’m due to escort your father to a gala tonight and can’t be late. If I am, I will tell him you wrecked my closet out of spite and you will be punished.’
The tears dried up years ago. When Morgan entered our lives, the shadows came with her. Not that there was any love in our home before that, but at least we didn’t have to explain ourselves to her every day.
‘I expect she’s laughing wherever she is now. Gloating about the fact that she rejected her own child and left her to a life of subservience under her father’s cruel thumb. I don’t blame her. I mean, have you looked in the mirror lately? You’re a huge disappointment and a disgrace, and I’m just grateful you’re not my blood. I mean, how embarrassing. You’re ugly, stupid, and can’t even perform the simplest task, and your mom did the right thing in abandoning you.’
She laughs out loud, clapping her hands in glee. ‘I expect she has a new family now. Kids that she adores, ones she deserves. She probably loves them with her entire heart, grateful she made the break and swept away the trash in her wake.’
A blow on my back sends a huge ripple of pain through my body, and as Morgan grasps my hair and pulls me to my feet, I almost expect my hair to pull out by the roots.
‘You are a cold bitch, Alice. Look at you. I’ve just told you something most kids would weep for, and yet you carry on as if I’m talking about the weather.’
I bite my bottom lip to prevent myself from reacting because then she would have won. However, this time her words scored a direct hit, and I resolve that if my mom is still alive, I will make it my life’s mission to find her.
CHAPTER 25
