Chapter 5 Another Loss

My heart sank, and I felt a gnawing unease deep within. "Yes, Belle," I replied, trying to keep my voice steady. "I can't seem to find him. Do you know where he is?"

Belle's cruel smile widened, and her eyes sparkled with malice. "Oh, Fluffy is gone," she said, relishing my growing anxiety. "Mother took care of it. You should ask her."

A chill ran down my spine as I struggled to comprehend her words. The idea that my stepmother had something to do with Fluffy's sudden absence sent a wave of dread washing over me. I could feel my pulse quicken, and the weight of her actions bore down on me.

Determined to get to the bottom of this, I steeled myself and decided to seek an answer from my stepmother. Belle's cruel revelation had awakened a fiery determination within me, and I couldn't rest until I knew the truth about Fluffy's whereabouts.

As I entered the room, my stepmother looked at me, her eyes filled with a cold indifference that sent shivers down my spine. In a voice as chilly as the evening breeze, she uttered the words that pierced my heart like a dagger. "I've sold Fluffy," she announced nonchalantly, as though she had discarded an inconsequential trinket.

The world around me seemed to crumble as her words sunk in. The pain of betrayal was a weight that threatened to crush me. My tears flowed freely as my stepmother explained her reasoning.

"Child don't be ridiculous! It's only a cat," Lady Clarissa said with disdain.

"Fluffy is a gift from Father! How could you do this?" I ask while crying. "That cat was my loyal companion, my only treasure in this world," I pleaded with her.

"Your treasure will help our family, don't be so selfish!" She said angrily.

With overwhelming sorrow, I couldn't bear to stay in that suffocating room any longer. My heart heavy and torn, I dashed out of the house and into the night. As I ran, my cries echoed through the quiet streets, a wild torrent of emotions consuming me.

I made my way to the market, my heart racing with the hope of finding Fluffy there. I asked merchants and traders if they had seen a cat, my beloved Fluffy. The realization that my pet could be in the hands of a stranger gnawed at my heart, a torment I could barely endure.

Amidst the market's bustling activity, I finally spotted a cage containing a familiar furry form. There, I saw my dearest Fluffy locked in a cage. Relief washed over me, but it was short-lived. I rushed to the cage, my heart pounding in my chest.

"Mr. Falco please don't sell fluffy to anyone, please?" I pleaded with him in desperation.

He was reluctant, but he had seen the desperation in my eyes. "Okay, I will give you five days to repurchase your pet" He replied at last.

"Thank you, Mr. Falco, I will get back to you." It was a small comfort amid my despair. I knew Mr. Falco. Over the years, I interacted with him frequently in the market, often selling our livestock.

I knew I had a fighting chance to reunite with Fluffy. "It's time for me to talk with my stepmother," I said as I returned home.

The room is dimly lit by a single candle on a bedside table. The atmosphere is tense. Ella stands before her stepmother, Lady Clarissa, her eyes filled with anger and sadness. Lady Clarissa, adorned in opulent jewelry and delicate fabrics, lounges on a plush chair.

"How could you, Mother? How could you sell Mr. Fluffy?" I was trembling with emotion.

She looks at me with a cold, disdainful smile, eyes devoid of warmth.

She smirked, saying, "Why, my dear, I thought you'd be thrilled to be rid of that mangy creature. That cat was such a nuisance."

My fists clenched, my voice growing stronger. I was never so angry in my entire life until now. I shouted at her. "Mr. Fluffy was not a nuisance! He was my only friend, my confidant, my family!" "You've never understood that because you've never cared."

She raises an eyebrow, intrigued by my sudden defiance.

"Oh, what could you possibly know about me and my feelings?" She said Coyly to me.

"I know everything! I've watched you these past six years. I often wondered what happened to our servants and our belongings! Then I realized that you sold them! All for what? Your vanity? Your selfish desires?"

Lady Clarissa's expression hardens, and her tone becomes sharp.

"I'll have you know, Ella, I'm simply maintaining the lifestyle I deserve. Luxury is my birthright." She said coldly to me

I pace the room, unable to contain my emotions any longer.

"Your birthright? What about my birthright? What about the life I should have had, the love and companionship stolen from me? You've trampled on my dreams, on my heart, and you dare to call it your birthright?"

Lady Clarissa rises from her chair, standing inches away from Ella.

"Your dreams were foolish, Ella. A life of luxury, of being admired and desired, that's what truly matters. You're too naïve to understand."

My eyes burn with fiery determination as I meet my stepmother's gaze.

I fiercely told her, "Naïve or not, I understand something you never will. There's more to life than empty luxuries and hollow admiration. There's love, compassion, and the bond between living beings you've never experienced because you've chosen a cold, empty path."

Lady Clarissa's face reddens with anger as my words hit their mark. She was so furious that she slapped me in the face, and I was thrown off balance to the floor because of the impact.

She said, "How dare you speak to me this way! You, a mere commoner's child! I took you in, and this is how you repay me? I should have sold you with the servants when your father died!"

I said to her defiantly as I touched my face: "I may have been born as a commoner, but I'm every bit my father's daughter. He was a man of honor, love, and compassion, qualities you'll never understand. You've turned his memory to ashes."

My chest heaves with emotion as my stepmother fumes with rage.

She was shouting when she said, "You insolent girl! You think you can defy me?"

I cried when I told her: "I think you've taken enough from me. I won't let you take anything more. Mr. Fluffy was the last straw."

She points a trembling finger toward the door.

"Then go! Leave this house and never return!"

I take a step back, tears streaming down my face.

I answered her while sobbing, "Maybe I will, Mother. Maybe it's time to leave behind the emptiness and cruelty that's ruled this place for too long."

I turn and rush out of the room, leaving my stepmother seething with rage.

The room is now empty, bathed in an eerie silence. Lady Clarissa is left alone, her expensive garments clashing with the emptiness surrounding her. In her furious isolation, she contemplates the truth in Ella's words, a reality she had been too blind to see.

She is convinced I will never leave the Mansion because I have nowhere else to go, but she doesn't know everything about my mother.