Chapter 1 The Long List

Lisa's POV

"You greedy piece of trash," the words hurt me as I stood up and began arranging my bedspread. It didn't seem like my adopted parents would stop hating me, it definitely didn't seem so. I didn't even know what they derived in making my life miserable every single day.

After my parents' death, I stayed on the street when everyone refused to take me because they felt I was a bad person who killed my parents. It was really hurtful because I would never do anything to hurt anyone.

"Get down here, you animal." Aunt Linda's voice came from downstairs, she was obviously angry. She was the one who married the man that adopted me.

I quickly ran into the bathroom, rinsed my face and legs with water and wore my clothes. Running out of the door, I climbed down the stairs.

They were all staring at me surprised. "And why do you think you'll be going to the Academy today?" Mr Jones asked, he was my adopted father who once liked me but still followed the footsteps of his wife.

I was confused. I was supposed to be at the Academy. "Yes sir."

A slap landed on my face and it dawned on me that they had other evil plans for me. "We'll send our daughter instead of you... You're not our daughter so you're worthless to us."

Tears gathered at the corner of my eyes as she made those terrible words. I wondered what kind of person she was. How was she able to insult someone without even thinking of my mental health? It was really bad of her, I could never do that to anyone.

"You're going to stay here and do the whole house chores. My husband and I would be attending the masquerade ball, Zoe would also be attending the masquerade ball. You'll just be the only one at home and you can't even meet the Prince if you're at home." She mocked.

I was speechless but managed to stutter, "Y-yes ma'am."

I had honestly forgotten that it was the annual masquerade ball tonight. I had always wanted to meet the Prince but it seemed like my plans were not going to work. They were never going to let me go to that Ball.

These people were heartless.

"And yes, before we forget, we actually made a list of things to do." She dipped her hands into her pocket and brought out a long list of things to do.

I became utterly shocked when I read the whole list. How was I able to do all these things by myself? It wasn't even possible. My hopes of sneaking out of the house to actually go to the Masquerade Ball was dashed without mercy.

It wasn't going to be possible with the amount of things to do on the list. This was even more frustrating as she included things that didn't concern me in the list. How was she able to do this freely to me without any conscience? Why was she so evil and wicked?

"Make sure you complete all these before we return at night, we do not want to hear any stories. We want everywhere to be sparkling clean before we arrive at midnight. The party starts at exactly 8PM and we're sure you wouldn't have completed most of the works on that list before that time." Mr Jones told me and headed for the door..

Megan walked down the stairs in a normal simple gown, her outfit was in the car and she didn't want to ruin it so she decided to dress simple for the event since it wasn't starting early.

"Hey Lisa, make my room clean. I scattered everything while looking for my clothes. I don't want to see a small stain on my bathroom door. I had my period and it probably did stain everywhere. Make sure everything is sparkling clean before I come back." She ordered and I nodded.

Why wasn't that surprising? It was not like I expected a snake to give birth to a frog. Staring at this evil family, I just felt like killing myself. How were they able to make my life miserable each time?

As soon as they left the house, I slumped down on the sofa and took a deep breath, I didn't even know where to start from. I didn't know what to do, I was just tired and sad.

Standing up, I climbed the stairs and walked into Megan's room. It was like she intentionally made her room scattered and dirty. There was no space to walk, I had to step on her clothes to get to her bathroom.

Opening the bathroom door was the worst thing I've ever done in my life, it was full with tomato sauces. She knew that if she had not cleaned her period blood, I would have casted a spell on her. She was just so wicked like her parents.

I didn't know what to do, I was feeling sad about everything. How was I going to be at the Masquerade Ball when I had a lot of work to do here? I stepped out of the bathroom and began picking her clothes one by one. I picked for over 30 minutes but I wasn't even done with half.

I was careful not to mix her dirty clothes with the clean ones, I didn't want her issues. I heard a knock on the door and rushed out of the room and ran down the stairs, it was Zoe.

Zoe was my best friend who had always helped me. She had always made sure I was happy each time she visited.

Opening the door for her, she noticed my stressed face and walked into the house. "You're alone in this mansion?" She asked, surprised as I slammed the door shut.

I nodded. "As expected, I was given a lot of house chores to do. Today's the Masquerade Ball at the King's palace and I'm not even sure if I would be able to go."

There was a moment of silence before she finally asked a question. "Do you have your outfit for the Ball?"

I didn't even have any outfit but I could make something, I was very good at designing gowns to look gorgeous. "I don't but I think I can do something about that. Why are you asking?"

"My Aunt and her friends are cleaners so I can plead with them to come here quickly so they can help you... I'll also call an exterminator in case there are any insects in the house, they'll get rid of them."

That was a good idea, she was about to save me again. I was going to be able to go to the party and I couldn't stop being excited.

I got up and hugged her. "Thank you Zoe, you've been the best person in my life so far. I love you so much."