Chapter 3: Lie

Rori did not feel at ease when her sister, Sandra stepped inside her room to talk to her about their parents' death. The whisper of Sandra's pink satin dressing gown was the only sound in the empty room she could hear clearly as she hurried to make her statements add up properly in order to simplify things for her.

"Let us eat," Rori offered after a brief moment of silence. "Food is good for a troubled soul."

"Food?" Sandra scratched her forehead softly. "I don't want to eat food now. But if I refuse to eat, you will start acting like Mark. You will either complain I am trying to lose weight or I am too thin to reject a food offer."

"I don't judge, Sandy," Rori said, dropping the bowl of rice she had gotten from the kitchen on the dining table in the dining room. The kitchen was close to the dining room.

Sandra took her place at the empty chair and pressed the discreet ruby and jade bell push beside her.

"You don't have to do that," Rori cautioned. "It is a gift for someone special."

"Someone special?" Sandra's eyes twitched as she rubbed her face with her palm. It was so early for her to be taking breakfast here, unlike her sister, who ate breakfast on the family's dining room alone since their parents' death, on a thick dark tray covered with impeccably starched linen.

"So, tell me about this special person you bought a bell for?" Sandra said between chunks of beef.

"He doesn't matter to you," Rori said, trying to avoid their eyes meeting.

An old woman in a blue uniform with stiff white apron, cuffs, and cap immediately appeared, glancing nervously at both of them as they sat opposite each other.

"Yes, Miss Reeler?" The old woman said.

Sandra turned as she took a quick look at her family's loyal servant for twenty years.

"What is she still doing here?" She asked Rori. "I thought Father gave us clear instructions to relieve her from her duties if anything bad ever happens to him."

"It is not her fault, it is mine," the old woman who was called Betty said. "I want to still be with Rori for a while until I find a better place to go to."

Sandra exhaled as she dropped her spoon on the table. "Don't you have a son who lives in the big city?"

Betty did not answer.

"Are you deaf? Can't you hear me properly?"

"He is dead," Rori answered for Betty immediately she noticed the rise in anger in Sandra's tone. She turned to Betty. "Only coffee and milk for me this morning, thank you, Betty. You can go."

Betty bent down a little as a sign of appreciation. She left.

"I don't like her these days," Sandra confessed as she began to eat again.

"You have never liked her. You don't have to deny it. Both of us know," Rori said.

"She is too slow and inactive."

"She is just being careful. She knows her work. If you give her space, she will do it."

"Yes, Miss Reeler! Why won't she do it when her eyes are like blue stained glass that has survived a fall. She barely smile when she works here. Even when Audrey was employed and assigned to help her out, she still didn't smile. She just watched her wrinkled face until she could no longer watch again. People are afraid of women who don't smile. They believe that most of them, especially those of them who were present during the last full moon came in contact with a strange force that has had a strong impact on their attitude. The way they see life."

"That is purely barbaric," Rori confessed. "Only deranged people would consider an old woman's abnormal display of affection as evil. Betty is a nice hardworking woman who knows her duty."

Sandra agreed. She didn't have the strength nor the wisdom to debate a woman's way of life with her sister. She was a girl of fun years, and she knew only a woman with a firm hand, and strong ideas could conquer the heart of an alpha in a secretly splendid sense of humor as she did. It was hidden there in her dark blue eyes. She was a queen and she knew it.

"Are you still going to tell me who owns the bell on this table?" Sandra asked.

"Of course," Rori smiled. "It is for a human friend of mine. I met him in a restaurant."

"You met a human friend in a restaurant and you are proud of your exploits?" Sandra's voice was slightly raised. "You know how dangerous it is to develop a romantic relationship with a human friend?"

"I wish!" Rori said, placing her middle finger close to her right ear. "I wish that was possible, Sandy. He is getting married to a beautiful blonde woman, and I made this special bell for him. I want to wish him a happy married life."

Sandra laughed gently as she felt the bell. "You are such a sweet pie," she said. "I don't know if I am going to find someone with a better heart. Your habit of putting people's feelings over your feelings has always separated me from you. I am a beast, Rori. I take whatever I want in the forest. No matter the cost, I take whatever I want!"

Rori watched as her sister continued eating her rice. She took three more spoons then stopped.

"Mark told me you came very early in the morning yesterday. Is it true?" Sandra asked.

Rori heart skipped a beat.

"Why didn't you call me before coming? I thought we had already concluded the plans regarding Father and Mother's burial. Why did you see Mark and not me?"

Rori did not answer. She bit her lips.

"Rori! I am talking to you. And you have to give me an answer before I start raining volcanoes on top of your head. Why did you visit yesterday?"

"I was sick," she lied.