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Chapter 2

Like a pack of hungry animals, they pounced on Alyssa’s purse, greedily snatching out the cash enclosed within. Susie, her older stepsister, marveled, “Wow, she must have made a fortune today. No wonder she walked in here with such confidence.”

Sandra, the envious stepsister, quickly grabbed the money and began counting it, a glimmer of jealousy in her eyes. “I bet that guy she was with gave it to her,” she insinuated, her voice dripping with spite.

Alyssa’s patience wore thin, her heart heavy with hidden sorrow. “I earned that money by working hard at my job, not by relying on anyone else,” she protested, her tone tinged with annoyance.

Helen, her stepmother, seized this opportunity to criticize Alyssa once again, using it as a weapon against her. “Did you hear that? She just admitted to selling her body for money,” she accused, her voice filled with concern for appearances. Her gaze shifted, secretly watching her daughter count the money, suspicious that Alyssa might be stashing some away.

Alyssa’s frustration surged within her. “I already told you, that money came from my own efforts. And you know perfectly well how hard I work,” she emphasized, her voice quivering with a mix of frustration and yearning.

Helen, refusing to acknowledge Alyssa’s truth, exploded with aggression. “Shut up! How dare you speak to me like that, you fool. I always knew you would turn out like this. I always expected you to follow in your mother’s footsteps,” she spat, venom and bitterness lacing her words.

Alyssa’s heart sank as her stepmother’s harsh words echoed through the room, tarnishing the memory of her beloved mother. The deep bond she had shared with her mother was unbreakable, even in death. Growing up, her mother had been her guiding light, her rock of support, and her center of love.

Alyssa’s anger flared, and she yelled defiantly, “Don’t you dare insult my mother!”, Her bright hazel eyes sparkling in her anger and her long brown hair shook making Sandra go green with envy at how beautiful she looked even when she was furious.

Every night, before drifting off to sleep, her mother would tuck her in with tender kisses, whispering tales of strength and perseverance. She filled Alyssa’s heart with warmth and the belief that love could overcome any hurdle life threw her way. She taught Alyssa to be kind, compassionate, and to always seek the light even in the darkest of times.

But now, that precious memory was being trampled upon by her stepmother’s venomous words. The pain coursing through Alyssa’s veins felt unbearable. The crude insinuation that her mother was anything less than the radiant, compassionate soul she had known hurt more than any physical blow. It was as if her stepmother had robbed her of the last precious connection she had to her mother.

Feeling adrift in a sea of emotions, Alyssa’s sorrow mingled with anger and frustration. How could she ever find solace when the woman meant to love and protect her belittled the memory of her mother?

Tears welled up in Alyssa’s eyes, but she fought to hold them back, determined not to let her stepmother witness her vulnerability. She clenched her fists, silently vowing to preserve her mother’s dignity and honor, even in the face of immense adversity. Deep within her, a fierce determination ignited, and she resolved to rise above the cruelty and forge her own path, guided by the love her mother had instilled in her.

Helen, feeling threatened by Alyssa’s fiery gaze, turned to her husband for support, desperate for him to intervene. “Can’t you see how she’s glaring at me? She’s threatening me. You have to say something, dear. Your daughter is disrespecting me,” she pleaded.

Her husband, detached, impassive, finally spoke, his words full of indifference. “You two can continue your quarrel. I have no interest in getting involved. It’s not my concern,” he dismissed, rising from the couch and retreating to his room.

Alyssa glared bitterly at his retreating back, feeling a surge of resentment. He never bothered to try to defend her or her mother’s memory. She realized that she hated him some more every since time she saw him he never hurt her or tried to hit her or yell but he always stood or sat there like whatever was happening was if no concern of his. Like she wasn’t his daughter.

Helen turned towards Alyssa, “You heard him, he said I could do whatever I wanted. Right now, I’m too traumatized by how upset you’ve made me today and I can’t have you stay the night here. When you come back tomorrow morning, we can talk better when we are in a refreshed and calmer state of mind”.

“What are you talking about? I can’t stay outside, I have nowhere to go”.

“You should go back to that lover of yours. He might give you more money if you spend the night”, Sandra commented with a wide grin.

“But I…”, Alyssa stuttered.

“Get out! I don’t want you here right now. Leave”, Helen shouted, pushing her out of the house.

When the door shut behind her, Alyssa did her best to hold back the tears that threatened to spill down her eyes. She could hear their raucous laughter and subsequent argument as they fought over who got to keep the largest share of her money.

Alyssa sniffled, upset that she had allowed them to make her feel bad again. It wasn’t like this was the first time they did this. She decided to head over to Lexi's apartment to spend the night.

After trudging for half an hour and doing her best to ignore the catcalls and leering she got from the drunk men that walked by, she arrived at Lexi's place to find out that the girl wasn’t in.

She took out her phone and dialed her number to see if she could ask when she hid the key to her front door but Lexi wasn’t picking her calls. Alyssa remembered that she had mention going on a date to the museum and seeing that it was only a ten minute walk from where she stood, she hurried over there, hoping to catch Lexi and Tom before they left there for Tom’s.

Alyssa got there only to find the museum closed for the day. She knew it was reasonable, they had no reason to still be open this late at night but she couldn’t stop the tears that rolled down her cheeks. She didn’t understand why life wasn’t fair to her and why her life was just so miserable.

She was about heading back to sit in front of Lexi's place in hopes that she might return that night when an old man called out to her.

“Hey! Where are you going? You must be the maid the agency sent here to help us with the cleaning”, He said.

Alyssa blinked. “I…”.

“Hurry up, dear. There’s so much to do”, He interrupted, leading her to the museum as he unlocked the doors.

“But…”.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be paid immediately after you’re done. I don’t owe the workers money”, The man said, reassuringly.

On hearing the man mention money, Alyssa brightened up though she felt a little bad for stealing the work from the person that was actually hired.

The man led her deep into the museum into the storage room where the new arrivals were being kept.

“Don’t touch anything. Your job is to clean the floors and move the empty boxes into the hallway for them to be taken out by others tomorrow morning”.

Alyssa nodded as the man explained the rules to her. He left after briefly watching her work after giving her the necessary cleaning supplies.

While cleaning, Alyssa caught sight of an old book in a show glass. The book looked extremely old but it wasn’t ripped or dusty and there was just something about it that drew her and made her want to touch it. She pulled on the handle of the show glass and the door opened, surprising her. She expected it to be locked tight to prevent any accidents of any kind.

She touched the book and picked it out, waiting and expecting something to happen.

I was expecting something drastic to happen but nothing happened. She had heard previously that the book had special, supernatural powers and she became disappointed when she didn’t notice anything strange happen.

“I knew it wasn’t real”, She muttered to herself with a hiss. She shrugged. At least now she could prove to Lexi and her dumb boyfriend Tom that they was nothing special about the book. She continued cleaning the room and then walked towards the door to inform the man that she was done with the assigned job but as she crossed the threshold, the light was so bright it blinded her eyes for a few seconds and then she remembered that it was late at night when she got into the museum.

She closed her eyes and when she opened them, she found herself in a strange room. The room was large and spacious and didn’t look like any of the room she had gone through to get to the storage room.

“I really like you”, Came a voice from a corner of the room and she hid as she moved closer to the people who were conversing.

Trailing the quiet voice, Alyssa saw a young girl talking to a man who stood in front of her and with his back to her, she couldn’t see his face properly.

“But I don’t”, The guy responded, coldly.

“Why? Did I do something wrong?”, the girl asked, her face turning pale.

“You’re not as pretty as I would like. You're just not my type”, The man said to her, unfeelingly.

Alyssa was shocked by his response. He could have just gently and kindly refused her, why did he have to say something so cruel? This man must think that he’s God's gift to women, She thought.

The girl was just as surprised as Alyssa was and her already pale face got even whiter. “You… You…”, She stuttered, trying to find words to express her hurt.

“I would watch my words if I were you. You should know by now the right things to say”, The man interrupted.

The girl sniffled as tears rolled down her eyes and Alyssa couldn’t help but feel sorry for her while feeing incredibly repulsed by the man's attitude. She knew that if we was in the girl’s circumstances, she would reward the haughty idiot with a nice slap on the face. As she was getting lost in her musings of the punishments she would mete out to the man, he turned towards her, his beautiful blue eyes right at her and Alyssa couldn’t deny how incredibly good looking he was. No wonder he was so arrogant.

“I’m sorry you had to witness that, Alissa”, he said, suddenly staring at her.

Did he just call my name?, Alyssa wondered.

“These women have continued to bother me and being harsh is the only way to get them off my back”, He added, looking at her like he was watching for a reaction.

Alyssa felt even more confused. How did he know her name and who the hell was he?

Just then, the door opened and six men dressed in black came running in and then they all bowed to him.

“Your Majesty”, They greeted in unison.

This isn’t right…Alyssa was sure that she was just in the museum cleaning up less than five minutes ago.

The book, she remembered. The book did something to her.

The book brought her here.

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