-JOANNE -The present > As the revelations from Trinity poured forth, I found my jaw plummeting in stunned disbelief. My mind, once nimble and quick, now labored to organize this flood of disorienting information. Trinity's words had transformed what I thought I knew about Lisa and Hardy into a harrowing tale of deceit, confusion, and unrequited love, leaving my comprehension reeling.I was trying so hard to stay composed.It wasn’t just the fact that Trinity and Lisa had something going on. Well it was part of it. But it was mainly the fact that the woman Hardy was pulling all lengths for, pulling down seas and mountains for. Restraining every one that breathed out her name, the same woman that he had clearly offered his entire life to never loved him.It was shocking.Deeply.She only married Hardy to live a stable life?The fact that Hardy was clueless was alarming. Trinity let out a tired smile.“I’m sorry for boring your day out with this”I shook my head.“No. It’s good you sh
-JOANNE— Two days before my celebratory party. Theodore and I are seated with Hardy in one of the mansion’s empty rooms, talking about the twentieth.For some reasons. I felt enlightenment.Because Hardy was always fond of disdaining me whenever it came to sharing his plans. He would only let Theodore in on it, but tonight he was making me part of it.And it made sense because I was aware of it all.We were trying to fix the crazy puzzle together and rearrange ours. Trinity had walked in and out of the room every now and then, getting us water and all sorts of food.We’ve spent a good six hours in the room trying to come up with different alternatives and routes to take if plans A or B don’t align and manage to collide.We’ve managed to come to the conclusion that Lisa’s killer could be anyone. But the source we needed to pick from was from the White Ale-o house. Hardy looked unfazed, mentioning Lisa’s name a few times, and I tried to fight the urge to scream the truth out lou
-JOANNE—I was gasping for breath as Anne’s grip tightened around my neck, suffocating me. She was a tornado, twisting me around and smashing me into the table like a ragdoll. Adrenaline kicked in, and I fought back with everything I had. My fingers clawed at her hair and pushed against her slim frame, trying to gain any kind of advantage. But her strength was superhuman, and her nails dug into my neck like talons.I had to think fast.Desperation set in. I lunged at her shirt, gripping it tightly as if my life depended on it—and it did. I pulled hard, forcing her slender form to stumble forward. It was a desperate gamble, a Hail Mary pass to even the odds. I might’ve been down, but I wasn’t out. Not yet. My heart was racing, my muscles screaming, but I wasn’t about to let Anne win. I wasn’t about to let her take everything from me.I finally got the upper hand at things, and as I tried to hit her, Ruby came in full charge at me, pushing me to hit my head on the brick wall and causi
I simultaneously felt the cold nail polish on my fingers and the soft brush on my hair. The strong metallic and sweet odor caused my stomach to churn, but I couldn't tell whether it was the nail polish or my nervousness that was involved.As one of the maids attempted to apply mascara to my unstable blinking eyes, I apologized after she attempted to conceal her anger by tsking incessantly."Ma’am”, please," she pleaded.I apologized again after clearing my voice.Once I had completed adorning my face, I was calmly instructed to stand and cautiously enter my luxurious purple silk gown.I was following whatever these maids in black and blue uniforms told me, and before I knew it, I looked like a completely different person as I stood in front of the mirror to look at myself."You look amazing, ma'am." The youngest-looking maid among them said, smiling at me.I wanted to thank her, but I couldn't find my voice after she continued."Master will really be pleased with you."Master...The wo
The sun had set, and the night coldness had slowly crept its way through the day.My mind was in complete havoc, and my body refused to relax.I quietly let out a grunt as Trinity, the head maid, tightened the corset around my waist. She immediately flashed me an apologetic smile."I'm sorry, beauty is pain, isn't it?" She joked and laughed to herself.I remained quiet and watched nothing but my reflection as I recalled what their 'Master' said to me this morning."I'm sure you know it's tonight." His words repeated themselves for the hundredth time in my head, and I shivered.What was tonight?What about tonight? I've had on about three outfits today in this very room, just for the sake of this master, and all the dresses were made of silk, but I only saw him once. I was very likely to meet him tonight, and that is to say, ten minutes from now.And now this third dress came with a corset that was trying to squeeze the blood out of my body, leaving me drained.Trinity quietly arrange
-JOANNEComing from a low-income back bone and being a workaholic, I was rarely exposed to luxurious places.So I gasped like a fool when I took a good look at the breath-seizing dining room in front of me. The walls were nearly as high as the sky, with strings of gold glistening on them.A large crystal-like chandelier hung from the roof, brightening the area and adding gold hues to the big dining table beneath it.The floors were wooden carpets that reflected practically everything above them, and the dining table was fit for a king and queen. Everything was deeply untouchable, and I instantly felt out of place, recalling the small, terrible apartment Bailey and I shared.I gulped.Out of all the rooms, this looked the most expensive, given that it was only a room to dine in.I haven't been in many other rooms, so I guess there is still so much I haven't seen. But heaven help me, because I wouldn't want to break anything here. I immediately noticed the man called 'Master' sitting
JOANNE contd. I stared back and forth between Hardy and Theodore.The two men were trying to kill me before I could get a chance to life. The words Hardy had breathed seconds ago were still making my entire body shake.I would be carrying his child and I signed a contract on it?On what planet did that happen?“She’s not the one, there has been a mistake Hardy” Theodore repeated his words, getting Hardy’s face to slowly morph into anger.I had no idea who Theodore was to Hardy, but I could tell they were really close, because of the way he spoke, he didn't care to place the formal tone everyone else did. But what is actually going on? "What do you mean? What mistake?" Hardy spat getting on his feet. Theodore breathed out a sigh, before he started speaking. "Joanne here, is here against her will, she did not sign the contract or any contract from us, she doesn't even know what she's doing here. She was basically robbed." "And How did you find out? Why are you just finding out? H
JOANNE- I opened my eyes to meet nothing but a pure white surface; my stomach gave an uneasy feeling as I tried to ponder where I was. Suddenly the events and words that happened earlier replayed in my mind and I found myself gasping for air. "Miss Joanne... Are you okay?" A familiar feminine voice rushed towards me, but I was too busy trying to catch my breath to decipher who it was. "It's okay, miss. Just breathe" I felt someone hold my hand, and I immediately grabbed a hold of the person's hand to gauge myself.Like an infliction every said words from Hardy and Theodore hit me. Surrogacy. Contracts... Debt.. What in the world had I fixed my legs Into. I shut my eyes and could only hear the sound of my breath and slowly my mind traveled back to 'that night'. I opened my eyes again and turned to my side to make out who was beside me. And of course it was Trinity. "You're okay," she smiled. "What happened?" I asked, about to sit up. "You passed out," Trinity replied, g