"You mean you want to establish a gallery and auction your paintings?""Yes,yes. Whatever you say butler Zoe"She waved her hands in the air."So tell me what do you need?" He too was also excited. The young Madame wanted to make money and be independent,he had to help her."Well I need so many things!"She started listing them out."And lot of frames,a place to..."Her voice suddenly trailed off. Her previous enthusiasm died down.Noticing her frown,Butler Zoe asked her what was wrong."Creating a personal art studio is no problem but creating an art gallery has to do with so much money and I have to be popular and so many things are involved.""So what are you trying to say?"She held his shoulders and enounced every single word clearly."I need money""But money is not a problem. Look around the house. Your husband doesn't lack it at all""I know. But I want to make this money by myself. With my own hard work. I do not want to rely on anyone's money""That's good. However,Mr Froster i
Nate and Rory started talking about Medicine and he found out she was really good. Infact,too good.He even told her about a surgery he was having next week and asked for her opinion. Her answer was professional but extremely difficult, that if he wasn't the best doctor in the world,he might have refused to carry out the procedure.If Nate liked her because she was cute and funny,before,he now liked her because she was smart and talented.He was really waiting to see what she'd become in the future....After an hour,they finally stopped in front of a building,that looked like a bar. However,instead of a normal bar crowded with people,this bar was scanty and huge men wearing suits and sunglasses were standing at the entrance,looking all tough and scary.This place must be what they call 'L. Bar'. She heard of it from Blaire,who told her that not just anyone can enter. Even the wealthiest families in the city couldn't come here.It was for the powerful and most influential.Nate was a
"what?! No!"Her ears were red,so was her face.Rory wasn't a novice to these kind of things. The only reason she didn't know things like a library and swimming pool,was because she had never been to what.When Sammy had her friends over,she'd often over hear them talking about things like this. She knew a lot about this topic. She just acted indifferent about them."Don't feel shy. It's just us girls"Asher giggled."You have to make him fall in love with you and for that,you need to seduce him. Or else he'll just see you as a kid"Siao advised her. Rory really liked Daniel but seducing him was on another level. She'll feel to embarrassed to do so."Don't worry,you won't let him know. You would be seducing him but acting like you are not. "Asher smiled mischievously at her."I don't know how to seduce anyone"She confessed."It's fine. We'll teach you. You are beautiful and have a banging body,no guy would be able to resist you."Rory laughed. She felt really happy.They continued talki
The class was fun and really lively.The only disturbance was Blaire and David's constant fighting. It was really an eyesore.After the lesson,all the kids went home apart from David,Terrence,Frank,Kay,Blaire and Rory. They all stayed behind,to go the mall......Once they entered the mall,they saw a boutique.The place was nice and big so they decided to shop for some clothes there.The sales attendant greeted them warmly. After,all 6 of them separated into two groups. The boys and the girls. While looking at some clothes,Rory suddenly said,"I am thinking of opening a gallery and auction my paintings."Blaire and Kay came to a halt and looked at her."Gallery?"They said almost at the same time."Yes"Rory nodded at them."You can paint?"Kay didn't quite believe. However,she was good at so many things,so if she knew how to paint,she won't be surprised."Sure"She took out her phone and showed them a picture of one of her drawings."Wow! This is beautiful!"Blaire looked at the painting
She wanted to get revenge on the Devane family,so she posted a video she had obtained long ago from David.It was a video of Sammy bullying another girl and pushing her down.Sammy was laughing at her.Although there wasn't any audio in the tape,but it was enough to stir up the netizens to criticize her.Rory took out her phone and started to read the comments people were saying about Sammy.Sammy wasn't in the entertainment industry but she was quite popular in the country.She was known for her kindness and generosity towards the less privileged. People loved her.Now,this image that she had of being good had been destroyed,thanks to Rory.The comments were going crazy over this.[She's such a hypocrite! How can she bully such a poor girl like that?][I always knew she was evil. Such a person deserves to he skinned alive. It's one thing to pretend to be good,it's another to become bad when you're in the shadows][I am no longer a fan of Sammy!][How do you justify such actions?! Thi
Rory woke up the next day feeling happy.She danced her way to the bathroom and out. She got dressed and had breakfast.She had a busy day ahead of her. She first had to tutor her classmates and go over to the nice Grandpa's house for dinner.So she was really not going to have any time to spare."Am off,Zoe Zoe"She informed butler Zoe and skipped out of the house happily.Butler Zoe smiled and continued doing his work.......The moment she stepped out of the house,she received a call from an unknown number.Her brows furrowed in confusion but she still picked up the call."Hello Rory"The person on the other end sounded rather happy."Who are you?"She frowned not being able to recognize the caller's voice"You don't remember me?"Instead of answering,the person asked her another questionRory immediately got alert."Tell me who you are?"Her voice was soft but it was also dangerous.The person on the other side chuckled."Would you relax? It's me Blaire.""Blaire?"She still wasn't sure.
Rory got back into her room and started preparing for the class this evening. The school decided for them to rewrite all the tests because the staff room also took a hit and some questions couldn't be found.She spent hours in the room,typing and printing. That wasn't all she did though, she also prepared the Devane Family a little present. She was going to let them have it this evening.....5pm.Rory entered the cafe they were using for tutoring and saw all her classmates all anxious and tensed, except for Terrence."Rory!"One of her classmates Louisa saw her and couldn't help but exclaim.The rest turned into her direction. Once they saw her,it felt like all hope wasn't lost.She walked over to them and said calmly,"These are questions,practice this today. That's all you need to do. If you don't know the answers or you get stuck on a problem,just text me"That was all she said,she dropped the huge questions on the table.Before any of her classmates could say anything else,she ha
***Flashback*** "Rory! Where are you?!"A young girl shouted. She was about 7 or 8. Her small face which was meant to emit innocence was cold and arrogant. "Here I am,Young madame"Rory came rushing and bowed her head. Not daring to look up. She was wearing a maid's uniform but it only made her cuter. Her chubby cheeks were filled with bruises caused by Mrs Devane and Sammy. Her father didn't really care about what they did to Rory. To him,Sammy was his only child and Rory was a servant. Rory was frequently abused and tortured by the mother daughter pair. "My room is a mess! I am going to have teaparty. My friends are coming and my room hasn't been cleaned. Yesterday,my friends came over and they said my room was to dirty!"She yelled at Rory. Anger and viciousness was in her eyes. Rory just looked down and didn't say anything. But her silence only made Sammy angrier. "Can't speak? Huh? Are you mute?"She yanked Rory hard and started hitting her,but Rory didn't make
Rory’s gaze locked onto the tail lights flashing like taunts in the distance. The night was thick, the road weaving like a black ribbon through the desolate countryside. Nate gripped the wheel beside her, jaw clenched and eyes narrowed in concentration, while Oliver sat in the backseat, his laptop balanced on his knees, fingers flying over the keys.“They’re gaining speed,” Rory muttered, adrenaline flooding her veins. “Can you keep up, Nate?”He gave her a quick, fierce nod. “I’m not letting him get away with Daniel.” His voice was tight with determination, as he pressed down harder on the gas. The engine roared in response, pushing the car forward as it veered dangerously around another sharp bend.Oliver’s face glowed from the laptop screen in the backseat. “I’m trying to hack into Jordan’s phone,” he said, his tone laced with urgency. “If I can disrupt his GPS or disable the car remotely, it’ll give us an advantage.”Rory threw a glance over her shoulder. “How long will that take?
“Right!” She yelled, jerking away from Jordan’s evil touch. “Really? Well, I’m sorry, love. Your guess is wrong!” Jordan informed her and she closed her eyes, trying to stop the tears from flowing.“Please don't kill them! Please!” She pleaded and Jordan clicked his tongue repeatedly. “Awww. But you should have guessed properly!” He brought out a gun and shot the woman on the right in the head. ‘Bam!’“No!” She shrieked. “No, no, no! You monster! You freak of nature! No wonder your parents die! They deserved to die than to see the monster that you've become! Yes! They deserve to die!”“What did you just say?” His head snapped to hers, looking her dead in the eyes, his gun pointed at her, daring her to speak.The gunshot echoed in her ears over and over again but she didn't care. He should get it over with. “I said that your parents deserved to die the way that they did! Who would want to have a deformed and debased being as their son? I most certainly would not even if my life depen
[Trigger Warning: Mention and mild depiction of SA. I tried my best to shorten it.]***They said darkness enveloped you when you were dead. However, Rory felt the opposite. Darkness shrouded her because she was hopeless. Because no one was going to save her but herself. That's what she did. She played the part of a docile girl after the beatings Jordan had given her. She stopped saying, ‘Fuck You’ and curled herself into a ball and sobbed. Jordan crouched down beside her, as her shoulders shook. “Awww. Weren't you the one who wanted to pretend to be brave, Aurora? You know I like you like this. Weak, defenseless, and helpless.” He reached out and touched her hair, twirling them in his fingers but Rory kept shaking, tears streaming down her face.It felt like a thousand horses were stampeding on her body and that she was being thrown off a cliff, over and over again that the pain became a sound. It was a sound at this point, pushing her to the brink of insanity.Jordan smiled, a rea
The table was the only thing dividing Oliver and Daniel. But what kept Daniel calm was a mystery to Oliver as the video on his laptop played. Daniel had aged badly. He had stubble, his eyes were heavy, and dark circles covered the beauty of his steel eyes, still, the sharpness in them swirled as he peered at the screen. What was playing was a blurry video of a woman in the car who had almost hit Nana Clarisse as she tried to escape. It was very fleeting and unclear but he got a glimpse of those blue eyes and he knew who it was. His Koala. “How is the old woman?” he asked monotonously. Life had been sucked out of him these past few weeks and to make matters worse Rory’s family had been attacking his company non-stop because they blamed Daniel for everything. Oliver understood that they had lost their daughter twice and this was a normal reaction but how did this solve the problem? Although both sides were working together to save Rory. That was the most important thing at this poi
The car sped down the road, its headlights cutting through the night like blades. The hum of the engine was the only sound in the tight space, broken occasionally by the crackle of the walkie-talkie. Rory packed at the side of the road, gathering her thoughts. “This is The Riddler to Sleeping Beauty, do you copy?” Jordan’s voice came over the static. “The Riddler. I like ‘The Riddler’ but that’s already taken. What about ‘The Puzzler’? No that sounds terrible. What do you think, Sleeping Beauty?” Aurora hesitated, her fingers gripping the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles whitened. Her eyes narrowed in on her target. The task he gave her was to run over Nana Clarisse, who was buying something beside the road. He wanted her to kill her Nana? How could she? How would she? “Sleeping beauty? I asked you a question. Which name do you want me to use? I need an answer.” Rory would never take for granted his light and playful tone. He never joked around. Everything he said was
Aurora awoke with a pounding headache, her temples throbbing in rhythm with her heartbeat. A low groan escaped her lips as her eyes fluttered open, but she instantly regretted the movement. The world around her was dim, blurred. She could feel the rough wood pressing against her back, the cold bite of tightly knotted ropes digging into her wrists and ankles. Panic gripped her, sharp and immediate. She was tied to a chair. As her senses slowly returned, fragments of memory surged forward in jagged flashes. The sound of a gunshot echoed in her mind. Zoe... Butler Zoe was shot. Her heart clenched, bile rising in her throat. The old man, who had cared for her like a father, had died. For her. Because of her. A tear slipped down her cheek, unbidden and burning. She quickly blinked it away. She couldn't break now. Zoe's sacrifice couldn't be in vain. She had to get out. Her eyes swept her surroundings light barely illuminated the large, grey expanse. It was barren and cold. The place l
Daniel stepped into the dimly lit house, expecting the usual stillness, but instead, a strange scent filled the air—coppery, metallic. His pulse quickened as he scanned the room, his eyes freezing at a horrifying sight. Butler Zoe, his loyal companion, sat slumped against the couch, blood staining his white shirt, the fabric darkened around a bullet wound in his chest. “Zoe!” Daniel’s voice broke as he rushed forward, falling to his knees. His hands hovered over the wound, shaking, unsure where to press, where to help. Zoe’s breath was shallow, each inhale a desperate grasp for life. “Mr. Daniel…” Zoe’s voice was faint, almost swallowed by the gurgling sound in his throat. He tried to lift his head, but the effort seemed monumental. “Where’s Rory?” Daniel’s voice was frantic now, his hands pressing harder against Zoe’s wound, trying to stop the relentless flow of blood. “Where’s my wife, Zoe? What happened? Tell me!” Zoe’s eyes fluttered, struggling to focus. His lips parted, but t
Aurora sat at the long, polished oak table, the clink of silverware on china filling the air. The dining room was imposing with its towering walls lined with ancestral portraits that seemed to watch her every move. Her family—the family she had only just found out about—sat across from her, each holding a strange, silent tension. It was as though she were a foreign object, placed delicately on the surface of their world, and no one was quite sure what to do with her. Her mother, Anita, sat at the head of the table, her face a carefully constructed mask of poise, though Aurora could see the warmth of curiosity beneath. Her eyes darted occasionally to Aurora, as though she couldn't quite believe her daughter was real. Her father, Romero, gripped his wine glass a little too tightly. Emiliano sat across from her, Santiago beside her, and Diego, another brother she just found out that she had sat beside Santi. Then there was Antonio. Her twin brother was seated directly across from her.
Daniel was behind his desk, Oliver seated in front of the desk and Rory at his side. “First, we have to put all the clues we've had so far for the past three years,” Daniel said. “Three years? Didn't everything start this year?” Rory furrowed brows. “I’ve been receiving threatening messages from an unknown number after Blaire’s banquet. The first one was sent to Malcolm: ‘Sleeping beauty has pricked her finger.’” “And you didn't think to tell me? That my kidnapping was not by the Devanes?” Rory’s voice hardened. She wondered what other things he was hiding. Their hug at the hospital didn't mean their relationship was fixed. She wasn't sure if their relationship could ever be mended. “Let’s not stray off-topic for now. We know that the person involved likes riddles but is more straightforward when speaking to Daniel which means he has a personal vendetta against Daniel. Targeting Daniel is the goal since he attacked his mother first.” “The person also loves anagrams and is