4 - Baron

"Why are you acting all righteous now? You haven't been very kind to her either. Have you forgotten, you were the one that poisoned and killed her brother, your own son?"

Belinda could hardly believe her ears. No, there had to have been a mistake. She must have overheard wrongly. Her family was cruel, but they weren't bloodthirsty. They would never go as far as murdering their own blood. Every muscle, bone, and vein in Belinda's body shook. They wouldn't. They couldn't. Right?

That day was still so fresh in her mind—the day her twin brother had died. He'd suffered for weeks, so weak that he couldn't so much as get out of bed. Belinda had had to take care of him because no one else in the family would. She'd fed him, bathed him, and ensured he'd taken his medicine. She'd been 15 years old then—a young girl who was losing the one person who loved her and she loved back.

Belinda remembered holding tightly to Baron's hand on his last day on earth. They'd both known he didn't have much longer to live. None of the drugs or herbs the doctor had prescribed were working, and he was nothing more than a shadow barely hanging on to his life. Yet, Baron had remained smiling. He'd chuckled, his laugh sounding more like a strained cough than a chuckle, and told Belinda everything would be alright.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can protect you anymore. You will have to go on without me." He smiled down at his younger twin, trying so hard to keep the sadness from his eyes. "I know it doesn't seem like it now, but mother, brother, sister, and stepfather do care for us. They have their reasons for acting the way they do, and I suppose someday, we'll understand. You'll just have to give them a chance when the time comes. Promise me you'll forgive them when they reach out to you."

How could they kill someone that good? Oh, Baron, Belinda thought, how wrong he was. Their family didn't just not care about them, they were hated, so much that it had brought about one of their deaths. Belinda took a staggering step backward, then another. These were the people she called family. She didn't notice the cupboard with the vase on top behind her till she bumped into it. The vase fell, its ceramic shattering into several pieces and resounding across the hallway.

Panic shot through Belinda. Sure enough, her mother and stepbrother had heard, and they rushed out to meet her standing pathetically beside the broken vase.

"Belinda!" Georgina gasped. "Were you eavesdropping?"

"What does it look like?" Belinda had never seen Paul this way. His narrowed eyes held so much fury, that it sent daggers of fear right through her. He looked terrifying, his bloodlust clearly visible. "Someone heard something she wasn't supposed to." His voice came out low and threatening.

Alarm bells rang in Belinda's head. She was in danger, she could feel it. It was necessary that she got away as fast as possible. She knew she had to run, but her legs chose that moment to give out on her. Crashing to the floor, she looked helplessly up at those she had once considered family. Her image of them slowly began to grow blurry, till all she could see was black. Unconscious, Belinda slumped to the floor.

Night had fallen by the time she awoke. She dangled over a broad and hard shoulder, till she was roughly dumped on damp grass. She had a good view of the Knight family villa half a mile away, the lights glowing through all the windows. Even from a distance, music could be heard playing from the speakers at the wedding reception—a wedding that was meant to be hers but was now happening without her.

"What do we have here? You're awake." Paul grinned down at Belinda.

He watched, amusement dancing in his eyes, as she struggled to get on her knees. God, she was pathetic. He hated that he was remotely related to filth like her. It was a relief he wouldn't have to deal with her after tonight.

"You know what's going to happen now, don't you?" Paul squatted so he could stare directly into her eyes. "I'm going to kill you, just as our mother killed your brother. Mother wanted to leave you alive since you weren't much of a threat to us, but we can't do that now." Paul placed an affectionate hand on her cheek. "How can one person be so unlucky?"

Never had Belinda felt this much hatred towards anyone. Her heart felt like it could burst from the emotion. She decided there and then—she would make them pay. Even if it was the last thing she did, she would make them all pay.

"Tim, throw her in," Paul ordered the servant who had carried Belinda from the villa to the river.

Without hesitation, Tim picked up the cannonball attached to her ankle and threw it into the water. The heavyweight descended rapidly to the bottom of the river, dragging Belinda with it. As she sank, her mind was filled with memories of weeping beside the corpse of her brother. She'd protested as the servants took his body away to be cremated, but they'd kicked her off them. Dejected, she'd then retreated to her room and cried for days.

No one came to comfort her, and neither did anyone hold a funeral in honor of Baron. She'd never cried again.

The next time Belinda opened her eyes, she stood in her bedroom. Confused, she took a look around. It was certainly her room, but at the same time, it wasn't. The walls were a different color and the bedspread was all wrong. What was she doing here? Catching movement from the side of her eye, she turned to the one other person in the room.

Cecily beamed brightly as Belinda faced her. "Oh my, you really are pretty no matter what."