Chapter:03:Conspiracy:

Locked inside the darkness of her room, Nora wept until her eyes became sullen.

Right now, she was sitting on the floor with her head resting on the bed as she continued to cry her eyes out.

First of all, she was saddened by the sad reality that she had indeed disappointed her family, and now they hated her even more than ever.

She thought she would be able to win their trust by simply trying to be a better version of herself, she wanted them to be proud when introducing her to other people.

However, all of her efforts went down the drain all in one night.

 Thinking of this matter, another round of tears gush out of her eyes and she whimpered. She hated the fact that she made them feel like she was a disgrace to them.

       

When she came back from the countryside a year ago, she was told that she was going to be reunited with her family. There she would be treated like a princess and even have all the comfort of life. But, it was all a lie, a big fat lie that left her crawling in pain.

After arriving at the Willard Mansion, Nora found out that everyone hated her and only wanted her back for the betterment of the family.

 It was all their selfish plans, and she was her parent's pawn.

They wanted to marry her off to the Quade family. One of the wealthy families in the Sun city for their own selfish gains. In all of this, her feelings were not even put into consideration.

     Even though she was aware of the fact that she was not loved by the members of the Willard family, she still decided to work harder until she was up to their desired standard. Nonetheless, no matter how much she worked, her parents still showed their displeasure toward her without mincing their words or actions.

Nora was only grateful for having a wonderful and thoughtful sister like Nancy, who was her only backbone.

Nancy helps her out of trouble and even solicits for her.

And most times she takes the fall for her mistakes, her kind gestures warmed Nora's heart and she felt better.

After Nancy, the only person who likes and supported her without being judgemental towards her at the time was Cecilia Emerson.

Coming back to the Willard family, Nora didn't have many friends and she wasn't allowed to go out in the public either.

This is because, her mother, Tessa Warner feared that she would be an embarrassment to the family if she was allowed to mingle outside with others when she wasn't properly groomed enough to be introduced to other people, especially people of the upper class.

One day after a series of lonely days and helpless nights, she finally met Cecilia, who came to visit the Willard family with her mother at the time.

Cecilia Emerson immediately took a liking to her and their friendship clicked immediately. They loved and supported each other like they'd known one another forever.

Nora was really happy to have finally found a friend, who didn't feel ashamed to admit to being her friend.

Because of this, she was so invested in her friendship with Cecilia Emerson that she didn't dare to doubt anything that she told her.

Thinking of this matter, Nora raised her head abruptly after she was hit with a throbbing pain in her head. She felt that maybe, it was a result of the long hours of crying.

She stood up and was about to go to the bathroom to wash up. 

As she pass by the mirror in her room, her eyes immediately fell on her own reflection and she was shocked by the sight before her.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she inadvertently peel off the layer of clothing on her body and her gaze landed on the bright marks on her skin.

She was instantly taken back by those marks that appear as a reminder of the night before.

Looking at this sickening sight, Nora sighed heavily and her mind flashed back to the night before.

Last night was both her and Nancy's nineteenth birthday party. 

Their parents threw a big party at the Royal Pearl Hotel to celebrate their birthdays, on that same day, Nora was allowed to go mingle with other people in public.

This was her first going out in the open since she came back from the countryside. Because of this, she was so excited that she didn't notice anything odd about her best friend Cecilia.

Suddenly, her parents got a call from a business partner and left for the meeting immediately leaving the three of them at the hotel.

She was left in the care of Nancy and Cecilia. They continue to have fun until Nancy insisted on having a rest in the room for a while. Nora wanted to come along with her, but she refused.

After Nancy left, Nora and Cecilia were the only ones in the hall. However, Cecilia went to the bartender and got a drink for both of them.

 “Wants a drink? Have a drink with me” Cecilia said as she held a glass for her.

Knowing that she wasn't good with alcoholic drinks and that her alcohol tolerance was less than zero, she immediately refused the offer.

“You know, I can't have a drink, right? What if I went haywire and caused trouble for everyone..No, I don't want one to please” Nora blatantly refused.

“What the hell are you saying now? I didn't offer you an alcoholic drink, I know what and what you shouldn't drink. This is just juice”  Cecilia said with a calm voice.

      Nora was still a little doubtful about this. So, she looked at Cecilia with disdainfullness. 

However, she was forced to have the drink when Cecilia flared up accusingly.

   “You don't believe me, do you? How could you even doubt my intentions? I'm your best friend, the only friend you have. I became your friend even though no one wanted to be close to you. Is this how you repay me? With doubts?”  Cecilia sounded like she was aggrieved by how Nota reacted.

 “No, it's not what you think, Cecil. I'm just afraid that I might cause a scene if I had anything with alcohol, that's why I haven't had any drinks...Give it to me, I will have the drink if you say it's just juice, there is no harm in having one glass of juice”  

With that, Nora took the glass of juice from her and gulped it down in one take and Cecilia smirked when she saw her drink the juice to the last drop.

    When she tasted it, she realized that it was indeed juice and not alcoholic drinks as she feared.

Regardless, a few minutes after having the drink, Nora felt dizzy and her legs wobbled.

She couldn't stand straight anymore, and she began to fall over.

Seeing her pitiful state, Cecilia scrambled over and pretended to help her.

  “Nora, are you tired? Don't worry I will take you to your room to have a good rest”  Cecilia said and held her waist.

  “No, I'm not tired at all, Cecil. I feel so dizzy and my head is spinning, I think I've had something bad. Let's go home already, I don't feel too good anymore ” Nora insisted on going back home, but Cecilia wouldn't be convinced.

“Do you even know what time it is? We definitely can't go home on our own at this time of the night, Nora. It's too late and my driver has gone back to run an errand for me, I'm afraid you have to wait in your room in the meantime. I'll take you back once the driver arrives” 

Cecilia said and proceeded to hold Nora by her waist once again.

   “We can't do that, dad and Mom wanted me back at the mansion after the party, I can't stay here for the night they might get worried about me. I don't want to get them worried about me, it wouldn't be right. I'll go on my own”  Nora flung her hands away and wanted to leave but Cecilia pulled her back.

     “Have you gone mad!? You are so naive that it would be so easy to take advantage of you by other people, there are bad guys out there,  you'll only hurt yourself if you are out there so late in the night without company. Come on, let me take you to your room first, we can go back later” 

 Sensing that Cecilia was indeed right about this, Nora didn't resist anymore and allowed her to help her up to her room.

   “Go in, I'll come back in a while, my boyfriend is waiting for me downstairs. Just wait for me”  

Cecilia said. After seeing how Nora waited for her to come into the room as well.

    “Okay, I'll wait for you”  

Nora said weakly then her groggy body slumped into the room.

After getting into the room, she was shocked to have met a man inside the room but before she could get away from him, she was pinned down by him. However, she couldn't see who it was.

Nora's snapped when she realized what has just happened.

This was all Cecilia's plan all along, she was responsible for whatever happened to her, but why?.

Nora couldn't wrap her head around why Cecilia would do such a thing to her or was it all of her silly imaginations?

However, reality says otherwise and Nora became even more confused but she didn't want to blame Cecilia for this.

Maybe Cecilia didn't know anything either. She thought.