2: A Beggar!

Cursing at herself, she dived toward her phone with a panicked expression. The fact that she caught the sight of blood on the bed made her feel worse than she already did. Damn it! She fell for Lucy's plan which wouldn't end well.

As she walked toward her bag, Lenora frowned when she didn't feel any discomfort between her legs making her blink. She simultaneously bent down to glance between her legs even if its a weird thing to do but she couldn't help but wonder...

Shouldn't I feel sore or anything if something happened last night? But then again, how will she explain the blood stains on the bed?  

It can't be that the faceless man orchestrated the whole thing to make it appear as though they slept together just so he could take photos, can it?

A shrill call from her phone snapped her out of it which caused her to reach for her bags. She quickly saw dozens of messages from her family and coworkers, as well as hundreds of other messages.

 As a smart lady, Lenora could already guess what was going on, but she couldn't believe she had fallen into that wench's trap!

Instead of attending to the calls, she wordlessly went into the bathroom, got into the shower and began scrubbing her body using the hotel soaps there. After which, she came out and search all through the hotel for a different set of clothing.

 Soon after, she changed into a blouse and a pair of trousers. Lenora then walked back into the bathroom and prepared to chop off a section of her hair, but despite how badly she desired a disguise, she couldn't bring herself to do it. One of the things she admired most about herself was her hair, especially how long it was and how it reached her butt.

Remembering the hair tie she always leaves in her bag, she rushed back to the room again. Once she's satisfied with her disguise, she phones her personal assistant at the office. “Lily, what's the situation?”

“Oh my goodness, boss, it's horrible! Your image is all over the internet. Don't leave or return home from wherever you are. The media is everywhere looking for you!”

 “Okay, push all of my meetings forward for the next few days. I won't be coming to the office,” with that Lenora hung up.

 Lenora appeared remarkably composed for someone who had been set up, which is why she has gotten to where she was today. Others would have cried or panicked at having their pictures spread out in the world but Lenora wasn't.  Why? Because even though everyone else might believe otherwise, she was confident that her chastity was still intact.

She was more enraged with herself. Indignant by her carelessness!

She took the necessary stuff out of her backpack, bypassed the door, walked to the bathroom window, smashed it open, and leapt out, oblivious to the glass that slashed into her palm.

As an heiress, one might think Lenora acts like one. But she's far from it. The opposite.

  When her mates try to learn piano, she learns how to drum, and when others go to tea parties, she goes for car races. Many people think she's a spoiled brat or assume that she comes out rudely, but she never corrects them since, in her world, maintaining a fake persona is always the goal.

 Even while her family had concerns about her behaviour, they naturally never spoke out against it because it never broke any of their rules. Their reputation. But more crucially, they are aware of her significance to the family business. She was responsible for saving the Gonzalez enterprise from bankruptcy and turning it into one of the most successful businesses in the world.

 Thanks to her disguise, she soon arrived home undetected. She intended to go seek Lucy, but when she came in, she discovered the entire family arguing vehemently.

Seeing her grandfather sitting amongst them, she winced and slowly turned back on her heels to go to her room. However, she hadn't even taken a step when her grandfather's shrill voice rang out, "Stop right there Lenora Paige!"

All eyes turned to her at once.

The guests included her cousins, Kyro and Lucy, as well as her uncle Ethan and uncle Dane and aunt Priscilla — Lucy's Parents. 

Lenora cautiously turned to face her Grandfather when she noticed him furiously approaching her. He smacked her across the face with his raised palms, his hands shaking with rage.  “Explain what this is!” he flung the pictures at her watching as they scatter to the ground. 

Hah, what will she say? Will they even believe a word that falls out of her mouth?

Instead of responding, Lenora moved past him to Lucy and gave her a similar filthy slap, shocking everyone in the room. Everyone became enraged as she gave Lucy another slap on her cheek.

"You impudent kid! How vile of you to hit your sister.”  Old grandpa Gonzalez spat.

“That's right! Who gave you the right to touch my daughter?” Priscilla added stepping in front of Lucy protectively.

Lucy's cry was instantly heard in the room, "Elder sis, why would you hit me? I have done nothing wrong. I've always tried to be nice to you, even as the Gonzalez Heiress, but you treat me like the enemy!” she said aggrieved looking pitiful that everyone's heart melted. 

Old Gonzalez was so furious when he heard that. “You are not only embarrass the entire family, but you also dare to act disrespectfully in front of me? You are just like your mother! A disgrace to the family. Bring me the staff, please! Guards, hold her down; I must instil common sense in her.”

Even as Lenora was grabbed by the guards and held down to the ground, she didn't struggle as she was frozen in place.  Although she's naturally strong-willed, she loses all composure when her mother is mentioned. It was her weak point that everyone knows it.

At her age, Lenora has no idea who her mother and father was. 

At age 20, her mother became pregnant with her, abandoned her with the Gonzalez family, and fled to who knows where. Since then, all of her images and data had been destroyed. Nothing connected her to the Gonzalez family any longer since she was shunned. No one even mentions her. Lenora manages to know all these from whispers which is why she was always treated like the bad egg in the family.

Right when she was still in a daze, Old grandpa Gonzalez handed the whip to Lucy. “Here. Keep hitting her till the pain on your cheeks subsides.”

"Yes, Grandfather," said Lucy, taking the whip with a malicious glitter in her eyes.

Lenora remained silent. This wasn't the first time, after all.

Her breath caught as the first lash made contact with her skin, followed by a sharp agony. Lucy didn't just strike her; she exerted all of her power.

At the twentieth lash, Lenora was shivering on the ground. At this point, the skin on her back had ripped open but she didn't cry. She wouldn't. 

Her nails sank deep into her palms enduring all the pain as she always did. She wouldn't break. If anything, her hatred for them and her mom only intensified. Would she be experiencing this if she hadn't run away?

Though Lucy was enjoying punishing Nora, she stopped there gazing at Old grandpa Gonzalez innocently. “Grandfather, please have mercy on big sis...”

The old grandpa was very satisfied with his granddaughter, he turned to the one on the ground with hatred not forgetting the same thing her mother did back then. “Keep her locked in her room. Until I tell them otherwise, no one will go see her. Henceforth, your position in the office will be transferred to Lucy and you'll be sent abroad to continue your studies after the annual gathering.” 

And just like that, Lenora felt like her life has been sucked out of her. The company she has worked so hard to bring up to this state was taken away from her by the person who schemed against her?

A disbelieving laugh escaped her lips as she began laughing maniacally as they dragged her out of the room. 

She couldn't help but ask herself why she still remained in this family after everything. Was she hoping her mother will someday show up to take her in? 

And so now that she has helped them raise the company to this state, they were going to ship her off to some unknown country? 

Never!

The moment they locked her inside the room, she quickly changed into other clothes, hissing as they brushed against her back. She then picked the necessary items needed— her phone, her identification documents, her bank cards, and finally the old jade amulet that was worn around her neck right from birth. She briefly considered leaving it behind, but eventually changed her mind and threw it inside her luggage before leaping out the window where she left the Gonzalez family undetected even by the reporters who remained at the gates. 

She began walking aimlessly, lost in thoughts. It's a habit she has formed over the years, walking whenever she wanted peace of mind or to think better. As she strolled, she tried to figure out her next move. Let them go or not?

A loud honk startled her out of her stupor, and only then did she realise she had waddled into the road.

Her head snapped up to see a large trailer heading straight for her making her freeze, paralysed from fear. Just when the trailer got nearer, a hand pulled her out of the way, knocking into the person in front of her as they both rolled to the opposite side of the road.

The hair tie she had over her head came off her head making her long dark locks tumble down her shoulders as she tried to sit up and when she did, she noticed who her saviour was. A beggar!