Chapter 4: Unmasked Demons

Mrs. Knight's hand trembled in Ashlyn's iron grip. The cold emptiness in her stepdaughter's eyes made her stomach turn. This wasn't the weak, pathetic girl she knew.

"What happened to you?" Mrs. Knight whispered, trying to mask her unease with anger. This was not the same girl she was used to bullying. She was something else entirely.

"I woke up." Ashlyn's lips curved into a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "And I'm not afraid of you anymore. Remember this moment, because soon you'll be living like the animal you truly are."

Mrs. Knight's hand froze mid-air as Ashlyn caught her wrist. The elderly woman experienced a sudden stop in her breathing when she saw the empty gaze in her stepdaughter's eyes.

Ashlyn cautioned in a gentle tone, "Try it again and I will make sure you spend the rest of your days living as the animal you really are."

Mrs. Knight pulled her hand away quickly and began to massage her wrist. "How dare you threaten me in my own home!"

"Your home?" Ashlyn's laugh was hollow. "Let's not forget who really owns this place."

"How dare you—"

The door burst open. Penelope waltzed in, Christopher trailing behind her like a lost puppy. She brandished shopping bags with designer labels. "Oh, sister! What a surprise to see you here!"

"Quite a collection you have there," Ashlyn said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Penelope beamed. "Christopher has such excellent taste. Look at this necklace he bought me!" She pulled out a glittering diamond piece. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"How much?"

"Pardon?"

"The price of betrayal. How much did they pay you to frame me?"

Penelope's eyes widened in feigned innocence. "Frame you? Sister, I don't understand. I've already forgiven you for hurting me that day."

"You've forgiven me?" Ashlyn's laugh was hollow. "That's rich."

"Of course!" Penelope grabbed Ashlyn's hand. "In fact, I want you to come to our first anniversary celebration next year. We're having it on Christopher's yacht—"

Ashlyn yanked her hand away, causing Penelope to stumble dramatically and fall.

"Ashlyn!" Christopher rushed to Penelope's side. "How could you be so cruel to your sister?"

"Sister? That snake?"

CRACK! Mrs. Knight's palm connected with Ashlyn's cheek.

"How dare you lay a hand on my beautiful daughter!" Mrs. Knight screeched.

Christopher helped Penelope up, but his eyes kept drifting to Ashlyn's bare face. The heavy makeup was gone, revealing striking features he'd never noticed before.

"Mother, please," Penelope whimpered, noticing Christopher's wandering gaze. "Don't be angry with Ashlyn. We're sisters, after all."

"Stop defending that ungrateful brat!"

Ashlyn straightened her spine. "Ungrateful? That's funny coming from you, you miserable scum. And you," she turned to Penelope, "you manipulative bitch."

Christopher's jaw dropped. "Ashlyn!"

"What's wrong, Christopher? Shocked that I found my voice?" She smirked. "At least I'm natural. Unlike your plastic girlfriend there."

"How dare you—" Christopher stepped forward.

"Save it for someone who cares about your opinion." Ashlyn turned on her heel and headed upstairs.

Here's an expanded scene of Ashlyn searching her old room:

Ashlyn burst into her old room, immediately assaulted by memories that weren't quite hers. The space felt both familiar and foreign – a testament to the girl whose body she now inhabited.

She yanked open the dresser drawers, rifling through carefully folded clothes. "Where is it?" Her hands trembled as she touched a blue silk scarf. Original Ashlyn's mother had given it to her on her sixteenth birthday.

A memory flickered – not hers, but Ashlyn's. A gentle woman with kind eyes wrapping the scarf around her daughter's neck. "Blue was always your color, sweetheart. Remember, no matter what your stepmother says, you are worthy of love."

"Damn it!" Ashlyn slammed the drawer shut, moving to the desk. Stacks of diary entries scattered across the surface. Her eyes caught fragments of the original Ashlyn's writing:

"Dear Diary, Christopher smiled at me today. I know Mother would say I'm being foolish, but maybe he really does love me..."

"Penelope keeps telling everyone how lucky she is to have me as a sister. But sometimes, when she thinks I'm not looking, her eyes are so cold..."

"Mother's document is the only thing I have left of her. Mrs. Knight keeps trying to find it, but I've hidden it well. Or at least, I thought I had..."

Ashlyn's throat tightened. She picked up a small music box, opening it to hear a familiar lullaby. More memories flooded in – original Ashlyn crying herself to sleep to this tune, clutching her mother's photo while her stepmother's cruel words echoed through the walls.

"You really were too kind," Ashlyn whispered to the ghost of the girl she'd replaced. "You saw their true faces but kept hoping they'd change."

She found a photo album tucked behind the bookshelf. Inside, pictures of a younger Ashlyn with Christopher showed a genuine smile that had long since disappeared. In the margins, little hearts and notes: "Our first date," "The day he proposed," "I can't wait to be Mrs. White."

"So naive," Ashlyn muttered, but her voice held a hint of sadness. The original Ashlyn had loved purely, trusted completely – and they had destroyed her for it.

She glanced one final time around the room, observing remnants of a life that was abruptly ended due to betrayal. She vowed to seek revenge for the ghost of the first Ashlyn. They will not escape the consequences of their actions towards you. To us."

After ransacking her old room for the missing script, she stormed back downstairs to find Penelope practically in Christopher's lap.

"Where is it?" Ashlyn demanded.

Mrs. Knight frowned. "Where's what?"

"The script. My fricking script."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Penelope said sweetly, but when Christopher wasn't looking, she mouthed, "I took it," with a triumphant smirk.

The room fell silent. Then—CRACK!

The room was filled with the reverberating sound of flesh colliding. Penelope suddenly turned her head, her cheek marked by a red handprint.

Mrs. Knight screamed. Christopher jumped up. But Ashlyn stood perfectly still, her hand still raised.

"You—" Penelope touched her cheek, tears streaming down her face. "You hit me!"

"Consider that a down payment," Ashlyn said coldly. "The real punishment is yet to come."

"Guards!" Mrs. Knight shrieked. "Get her out of my house!"

"Your house?" Ashlyn laughed. "We'll see about that very soon."