No One Touches What's Mine
I was in the library, reading about this kingdom, when Sasha entered. One look at her face—pale and trembling—and I knew something was wrong.
"Why do you look like you've seen a ghost, Sasha?" I asked, lowering the book.
She rushed to my side, leaning in to whisper—something I absolutely hate.
"Lady Elena is outside. She wants to meet you," she said, stepping back, fear still clouding her wide eyes.
Ah. That explains it.
Lady Elena. My stepmother's eldest daughter. The very girl who pushed the original Isla off a balcony and put her in a coma—put me here.
My stepmother has two children: Lady Elena, three years older than me, and Lord Edward, her younger son, just six months older. Both from her previous marriage. Why she never had children with my father? No clue. Not my concern. Yet.
"Well then, why are you so tense, Sasha? Let her come in if she wants to meet me," I said, turning back to my book. If I'm going to survive here, I need knowledge. Or maybe it's just the student in me who can't stop reading.
"But… My lady—" Sasha looked at me like I'd just declared war.
I smiled. "Why are you looking at me like I just dropped a nuke on you?"
"Nuke? What's that, my lady? I don't understand…"
"Don't worry about it. Just tell Lady Elena that if she wants to meet me, she can come here herself."
"But—"
"Shh. Don't disturb me. Do as I asked."
"Yes, my lady…"
.....
A few minutes later, Elena's voice echoed through the halls like thunder.
"What did you say?!" she roared, loud enough for the entire estate to hear. "Did your brainless lady forget who I am?! How dare she not come when I called her?!"
Sasha stood silent, head bowed, trying to disappear. But her stillness didn't save her.
A sharp smack rang out. Sasha fell to the floor, clutching her cheek, eyes wide with shock. Looming over her was Lumi, Elena's maid, wearing a smug smile.
Lumi yanked Sasha up by the hair. "Go tell your little lady that if she doesn't come, her fate will be worse than a rat in a mousetrap."
Then she shoved her down again. Sasha scrambled away, tears in her eyes, while Elena and her maids laughed behind her like they were in some sick comedy show.
"You did well, Lumi," Elena purred, tossing her a sapphire ring like she was feeding a dog. Lumi cooed with delight, and the other maids looked on with envy.
.....
Back in my room, I stood up the moment Sasha burst in.
"What happened to you?!" I gasped, horrified by her disheveled appearance.
"My lady… Lady Elena said… you must come to her chambers or…" Sasha's voice trembled, her cheeks wet with tears.
"Or what, Sasha? And who did this to you? Was it Elena?" My voice rose with fury. "Tell me everything. From the beginning."
"My lady, that doesn't matter. We must go… They said they'd do the same to you…" Sasha's voice cracked as she begged me to come, hoping it might protect me.
What has this poor girl gone through? And what about the previous Isla? How much had she endured?
But I'm not her.
"I'll go, Sasha. But not because she called me. I'm going because I'll do far worse to the one who dared to lay a hand on you."
I grabbed her hand and stormed toward Elena's courtyard.
In Lady Elena's Courtyard
"Who was it?" I asked Sasha as we entered. "Tell me who did this."
But Sasha just shook her head, scared to make things worse. Her silence only made me angrier.
"Sasha, are you going to tell me or not?" I snapped, my patience razor-thin.
"What's going on here?!" Elena's shrill voice cut through the air like a blade. "Who gave you the right to barge into my courtyard without a proper greeting, you brainless mutt?!"
I turned slowly toward her, eyes blazing.
Without a word, I walked up and grabbed a fistful of her expensive hair, yanking her down and slamming her to the ground.
Gasps rang out around us.
"How dare you?!" Elena shrieked, flailing. She turned to her maids. "What are you standing around for?! Beat her until she begs for mercy!"
Her maids rushed toward me, faces filled with righteous fury.
But the moment I twisted the first maid's wrist and heard the satisfying snap of a broken bone, they froze in their tracks.
One down.
And the rest? They'd better think twice before coming at me.
Because the new Isla doesn't just fight back.
She wins.