“Your death will not be in vain, father,” Ella whispered to her father’s coffin.
“Stand up,” Ella flinched slightly as her stepmother pulled her up by her arm. “There are some things you must do.”
“I would like to stay here for a little, mother. I haven’t said my goodbyes yet.”
The old woman scoffed. “Mother? That’s Lady Tremaine to you.”
“… what do you mean, mother?”
“Hah. This kid. You are incredibly slow, aren’t you? Well, you are his flesh and blood after all.”
“!?” Ella squirmed in her stepmother’s grip as she started dragging her indoors. “Mother, what are you-”
“Shut that pretty mouth of yours. I’ve had enough of your tomfoolery. It’s time you knew your place.” As soon as they stepped inside the mansion proper, she pushed Ella to the floor. “Anastasia, Drizella, take care of her,” she mumbled as she started walking to the stairs that led upstairs, to Ella’s father’s room.
Anastasia gave a clap and a young maid rushed out of the kitchen wing, holding a set of a maid’s uniform. “Change into them,” she mumbled.
“What-”
“Stop the confused little princess act. You are no longer the princess here. You are the little rat that needs to be dealt with,” Drizella scoffed as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“Where is the key to the vault?” Anastasia asked.
“Didn’t I tell you to drop that confused expression. That old man’s vault. Where is its key? We did look through the dead man, but didn’t find it. So, you must know where it is.”
Anger flared within Ella as she heard the words. “You went through my dead father’s corpse?”
But Ella wasn’t an aggressive character, though. She was the innocent, helpless orphan. She had to keep herself composed. Ella didn’t have the will to rip their throats off. Ella didn’t have any intent to kill. Her expression was that of a girl who had lost all hope.
“Where. Is. The. Key?” Drizella yelled.
Ella shook her head. “I don’t know.” They couldn’t know. That vault didn’t just contain her father’s gold, but also proof of-
Drizella rushed to her and grabbed the sleeve of her dress. “Tell me where it is right now. I know that you know.”
Ella furiously shook her head, looking terrified to death, “I really don’t know.”
“Leave her be. There’s no way this fool would have been able to keep on a brave front for this long.”
Drizella looked disappointed that her sister had stopped her. She almost looked hurt as she gave Anastasia a glance. When her eyes returned to Ella and her own hand grabbing Ella’s sleeve, some sort of anger flared in her and she ripped off the intricate lace sleeve.
This actually managed to shock Ella. She hadn’t expected for her to go that far. But Drizella was on the go. She grabbed another fistful of fabric near her waistline and pulled hard, ripping it. Ella covered her exposed abdomen with her hands and shrunk away from her stepsister. It took everything in her to not hit her back. After all she too was a young girl full of ego and arrogance. No matter how sweet and innocent a girl was supposed to be, of course she would be mad when she was assaulted in broad daylight.
But Ella was supposed to be different. She was frail, and acting out would only result in her getting hurt. She stumbled backwards and bumped into the young maid.
“Please wear this dress, young miss.”
“Did you call her ‘young miss’? She is a maid just like you,” Drizella yelled.
Anastasia grabbed her sister’s hand. “Let’s go to mother, Drizella. You are embarrassing yourself.”
“But-”
“And you!” Anastasia fixed her gaze on Ella. “You’d better follow mother’s orders. If you want to live here, that is.”
Ella nodded as she hugged the clothes the maid had offered her.
“Young miss?” the maid called after the two sisters had disappeared from sight.
“They finally show their true colours, huh?” Ella mumbled.
“What will you do now, young miss?”
“Why don’t you take a guess, Bluebell. They’ll have to pay for messing with my family, of course.”
“But young miss, there are more important matters at hand.”
“What?”
“A letter from the palace arrived addressing the madam of the house. All young maidens are to attend a ball to choose the next monarch’s bride.”
Ella’s head turned to the maid.
“I see. So, it’s finally time to set our plan into motion, huh?”
“Indeed, miss.”
“Very well, then. Get the preparations started, I must go sharpen my knives.”