I heard Shirley Pierce’s timid thoughts as she shrank by the doorway. Despite the resentment surging through me, I raised my hand and beckoned her over with a look of tender affection.
Noticing the way I gestured for her, her face flushed red as she clutched a small box in one hand and the other fidgeted nervously with her dress.
She opened her mouth yet failed to say a single word, looking utterly nervous and uneasy.
Beside her, one of the relatives chuckled and teased. “What’s wrong, Shirley? Is your new sister-in-law so frightening that you can’t even speak?”
Shirley quickly shook her head and carefully held out the box to me, her eyes filled with expectation.
I smiled as I accepted it, though I knew this very gift had led to my death. I opened it, a look of delight on my face. “This is beautiful, Shirley. I love it.”
With that, I clasped the bracelet around my wrist in front of everyone.
A flicker of triumph flashed across Shirley’s eyes before she looked up at me with delight and joy.
As the bracelet gleamed against my pale skin, the crowd was full of praise for Shirley. They noted that even though she was just a stepsister, she was a good child.
In the two years since she’d joined the Aldridge family, she’d always been well-behaved and modest, unlike her scheming mother, Helen Winthrop.
But they would never know that Helen was nothing but a fool who put on airs, while the real cruelty and cunning lay in Shirley, who was blushing from the compliments.
The next morning, the Aldridges gathered together for once, with Shirley and Helen bustling about for breakfast.
I casually said, “Shirley’s already 17, so she shouldn’t be spending her days at home. She needs to study.”
“Shirley finished elementary school, Diane. She can read.”
At that, I turned to Helen and feigned surprise. “Just elementary school? That’s not enough. She should continue studying. After all,she’s a daughter of the Aldridge family.
“I have relatives who work at a boarding school in the city. I’ll arrange for her to be enrolled there.”
Shirley’s expression darkened at that. She shot Helen a warning glance, and the latter was about to speak when I pretended not to see and cut her off.
“Plus, she’s the daughter of a general. If her education matches her looks and family background, she’ll have no trouble finding a good match for marriage.”
At that, Shirley’s expression fell, knowing there was no way she could avoid going to school. She reluctantly packed her belongings and left the military family compound, heading to a boarding school in the city a few hours away.
In my past life, she’d begged and schemed her way into staying. I’d pitied that, as a young lady, she would have to stay away from home for so long. So, I’d taught her myself and refined her manners. Little did I know that I was just raising an ingrate.
But now, I was sure that my cousin, the headmistress of the boarding school, would see to her.
Two months later, I met Shirley again. But before I could speak, she seized my hand in a panic and cried out, “Where’s the bracelet I gave you?”
I pinched myself hard, forcing tears to my eyes, and cast a wounded look at Helen. The silver bracelet dug tight into her plump wrist.
Seeing that, Shirley shoved me aside and lunged at Helen. Yanking that bracelet off Helen’s hand, she hurled it far away.
