Chapter 26

Maia

Leah and Jewel help me out of my second bath today, and when I’m dry, I walk into my room and sit on my bed

‘Arms up!’ Jewels instruct, and I throw my hands into the air.

Leah and Jewel pull a cream corset down my arms, over my head, and down past my underarms.

‘Hands on your hips, Miss Maia,’ Jewel instructs as she and Leah stand behind me. They work their way up from the top of my backside and slowly upward, pulling at every piece of string, trying to kill me. The corset is tight, my ribs are being forced inward, and I can’t breathe.

‘Are you trying to kill me?’ I ask, melodramatically, gasping for air and holding my sternum, feeling winded. Jewel and Leah laugh in hysterics at my reaction to the corset.

‘Beauty is pain, Miss Maia,’ Jewel says, her face reddened with laughter.

They tie the strings in a double knot at the top of the corset and tuck them into the corset, hidden away.

‘What’s next? The dress, right?’ I ask, knowing it