Chapter 14 The Princess Who Lost Her Crystal Shoe
"Mrs. Sydney, must you insist on doing this?" Emma River asked in defiance.
Keira Leaf listened to their argument in bewilderment, she couldn't quite comprehend why her stepmother was arguing with her grandmother.
She quickened her pace, intending to mediate, but as she approached the staircase entrance, the door to her stepmother's room suddenly swung open.
Her grandmother, looking enraged emerged, closely followed by her stepmother in a dark green long skirt, an expression of panic on her face.
"Felicity! We are leaving!" Her grandmother, leaning on her walking stick, came to her side and without a word, began to drag her down the stairs
Keira Leaf was jerked around, but as she did, she clearly saw Emma River extending her hands.
Her hands, unaccustomed to any hard work, had delicate carved fingernails, yet it was these hands, one of which wore her mother's emerald ring, forcefully pushed her grandmother from behind.
Thud--!
All that Keira remembered was her grandmother instinctively letting go of her hand, tumbling down the stairs, and then sharply hitting the ground below. Immediately afterward, a splash of blood spilled out from the back of her grandmother's head, gradually seeping into the crimson carpet.
She was utterly shocked, everything before her eyes a bloody blur.
She looked incredulously at her stepmother, but as she turned around, she found no trace of her.
Terrified, she shuddered uncontrollably, dashed up the staircase, losing one of her crystal shoes in the process, and after frantically pushing open the door, ran into the room.
"William... my grandmother, she..."
Standing in disbelief, she watched as her childhood sweetheart and her sweet and lovely bestie rolled together on her light pink princess bed…
She was even too stunned to cry, with only the streaks of tears left on her face. She turned around in a daze, took one step at a time to leave, feeling as if the world had gone mad!
No, perhaps it was just a dream, a nightmare that would eventually end.
Barefoot, she raced out of the villa's main gate. But the images of her stepmother's extended hands, her grandmother's wide-open eyes, her bestie and boyfriend entangled together kept flashing in her mind.
She covered her mouth shaking uncontrollably, clutching her remaining crystal shoe while tears streamed down her face like pearls, utterly at a loss as to whom to turn to.
Her bare feet stepping on the stones of the board oil road made her wince in pain, a constant reminder that all of this was not a dream.
Her crystal crown askew on her head, she resembled a defeated soldier fleeing. From that moment she understood that her eighteenth year of life was destined to be a joke.
After running for an indeterminate amount of time, a pair of hands suddenly reached out from behind her; a handkerchief with a strange smell was tightly wrapped around her mouth and nose.
She fought desperately, each wave of intense fear attacking her increasingly numb senses, but in the end, she succumbed to darkness.
When she awoke, she found herself lying on a soft big bed, and for an instant, she felt an overwhelming sense of relief, thinking that all that transpired was nothing more than a nightmare.
But as she glanced down, a strange man lying next to her brought her back to reality, causing her to cover her mouth as she began sobbing uncontrollably.
Before she had time to react, a strange woman accompanied by a group of people busted into the room, harshly slapping her repeatedly. The swelling pain contradicted her hopes that things could not possibly get any worse.
"What is your relationship with Secretary Brown?" A police officer asked impatiently.
Looking at the unfamiliar man lying next to her, she had no idea what had happened, had no one to turn to, and could only shake her head frantically in bewilderment.
"You are suspected of committing adultery with an official, you need to come with us for further investigation."