Chapter 2

(ten years later)

ROSSETE'S POV:

I stared at the cloudless sky, the air was chilly yet not a sign of snow clouds. About a month was left for Libelle to give her finals . All I could hope for her to be happy and never come back to this place .

 I got up from the park bench . The early morning sun didn't help much with the cold either. I smiled at how terrified Belle was of giving her finals . She had clung on the phone call forever to find comfort .It felt good to know that the things that scared her were as simple as that. I picked up my pace to the haunted place I was forced to call home .

My mom had died when I was 15, Belle was only 11 at that time. And just when I thought things couldn't get worse ,our dad married again . At first I thought that maybe Belle and I could find comfort in her , that she would at least try to be good to us , but my worse fears came true . 

It took just one meeting for me to judge that , She was no kind lady , she had a son two years older than me , who looked at me and my sister as if we were delicacies to be devoured. His eyes were those of a predator. An abuser and a man with no morals whatsoever.

That was my first instinct to send my sister away ,no matter what these people had in store for us ,I would rather die at their hands then see my sister suffer even as little as a scratch . 

She had wept and cried herself to sleep that week ,but I knew what those smirks meant that played at the corner of Eric's lips . 

My dad had questioned me and asked me to change my mind , but I had placed an easy offer , either to send Belle to a good boarding school or refuse the marriage.

I entered the house to find dad sitting in the living room, Eric beside him was on his phone , and I had no intention to call out to any of them, when my father called "Rossa?"

"Yes dad, can I get u something?" It wasn't like he ever bothered to call me, he had become distant after mom's death, after all she was the love of his life. He used it as an excuse to push us all out of his life. He slowly became a sad excuse of the man I used to call my dad.

"No, we have some guests coming over, better dress accordingly and help Amy with the food." Amy my step mom never steped in the kitchen so I knew better than to call her , I might as well have received a beating if I tried.

"hm" was all I could say .

I walked silently to the kitchen, I knew better than to disobey in this house. I entered the kitchen to find Amy and Mrs. Smith standing there as in waiting for me . I froze and asked in a timid voice , "Is there something I can do for you ma'am?" Amy never allowed me to call her anything but ma'am .

Sometimes I could almost see the smirk on her face that disappeared after a split second when I called her ma'am, it satisfied her in some way I guess, maybe it confirmed to her that I was really a little slave wrapped around her pinky .

"Today we have guests coming over , and I want you to stay out of it, you see, the people coming are very important for your dad's business.." she came forward and grabbed my arm so tight it hurt and said in a low enough voice that only I could hear "and I don't want a hoe like you to ruin everything, watch your steps tonight girl."

The blue gray of her eyes was so fierce that they looked like frozen fire, her beautiful face looked as if it had scary written all over it . Her sharp features had looked so pretty to me the first time I had seen her. But now they were petrifying.

 I, even as a grown up woman shook to my bones . All of a sudden I bacame the small kid standing all alone in the cold cellar, frozen on the spot, everything so dark that I could barely see, sitting there on the cold floor sobbing because I knew there was no point in screaming my lungs out.

"Rosette" said a firm voice "Am I understood" Amy was glaring at me. I pulled out of my thoughts , my body wildly shaking, I nodded , satisfied at my body's reaction she let go of my arm and started walking out of the kitchen, "Good" she said without looking back.

Mrs. Smith gave me a sympathetic look, and passed me a glass of water, though she couldn't help much, at least she tried to be good to me, that was more than anyone had offered me in this house.

I smiled weakly at her and started helping with the kitchen.