Anastasia's Revenge (2)

Lady Anastasia walked slowly to where Melissa was standing and interrupted her conversation with a few of the guests. Melissa's hair stood on their ends when she heard Lady Anastasia's sweet voice.

"Lady Melissa, may I speak with you for a moment?" 

Seeing that it was Lady Anastasia, the other guests politely nodded to Melissa and walked away, leaving the two of them alone.

Melissa's mind started racing and she wondered what is this lady up to now. 

"Yes, what can I do for you?" 

"You played the piano so well, it's truly unbelievable. It looks like it should be me learning from you!" Lady Anastasia said, her fake smile stile plastered across her pretty face.

Melissa merely smiled politely and waited for Lady Anastasia to go on. 

"Actually, I do want to speak with you privately. I wonder if you can spare me a few minutes?" Lady Anastasia said. 

Don't go, don't go, don't go. A small voice in Melissa's mind is urging her to stay put. 

"You can talk to me here if you want. I'm sure there's no need to speak in private." Melissa answered while her eyes quickly searched for Sir Andrew. Upon spotting him standing not far away, she felt assured. 

'Damn this bitch!' Lady Anastasia gritted her teeth. 

"Well, are you sure? It's about the Prince and what happened back then. I'm sure you don't want to embarrass the Prince, do you?" Lady Anastasia said, her voice turned into a whisper. 

Melissa was taken aback when she heard this. What did she mean? Back then? Is she talking about the incident two years ago, or the one where the Prince was drugged? Either one, it's a private affair and shouldn't be discussed openly. 

Melissa was in a dilemma. Of course she didn't want to discuss these things here, with so many guests around. This girl really has no shame! But Melissa really didn't want to implicate the Prince should Lady Anastasia started sprouting nonsense in public.

In the end, Melissa sighed inwardly and said casually, "I see. Alright then, lead the way." 

Lady Anastasia smiled triumphantly and walked ahead, while Melissa followed her. She signalled to Sir Andrew to come along and the man quickly appeared by her side. Melissa looked around to find Lord Benjamin but he seemed to be engrossed in a conversation with a few gentlemen and didn't notice her. However, Melissa was glad that she still had Sir Andrew to protect her should anything bad happens. 

Lady Anastasia led them to a long corridor and at the end of it, she stopped in front of a door. When she turned around, she noticed a man who seemed to be Lady Melissa's guard and said, "Lady Melissa, this is my room. I do apologize but he can't enter."

"Isn't there somewhere else that we can go?" Melissa asked cautiously.

Lady Anastasia chuckled and shook her head. "I need to show you something and it's in my room. Don't worry, he can wait for you out here." 

With that, Lady Anastasia opened her room door and gestured Melissa in. Melissa cautiously took a step in front and looked around the room. Seeing the room was empty, Melissa turned and said to Sir Andrew, "Sir Andrew, it's alright. Please wait for me outside." 

When they were both inside, Lady Anastasia invited Melissa to take a seat while she went to take something from her dresser. 

"What do you want to say to me?" Melissa hurriedly asked, not wanting to spend more time alone than necessary with this woman. 

"No hurry. Let me show you something first." Lady Anastasia replied, her back facing Melissa. No sooner than she said that, Melissa suddenly felt something wasn't right. The room felt eerily quiet and there seemed to be a faint smell in the air. She wanted to shout for Sir Andrew but she couldn't muster any energy to do that. Her eyelids got heavier as time passes by and suddenly she blacked out. 

When Lady Anastasia turned around, there's a sinister smile on her face. She quickly went to the large balcony windows overlooking the garden and opened them. Two burly men, with their face half-covered, were waiting outside. They nodded at Lady Anastasia and then stepped inside and went towards Lady Melissa. Both of them exchanged looks and gulped. This little lady was so gorgeous! Their boss is in for a treat tonight. They grinned and quickly carried her away. 

Lady Anastasia still needed to deal with Sir Andrew and therefore she couldn't celebrate her victory just yet. After the two men took Lady Melissa away, she left the windows open to air out her room. After a few minutes, Lady Anastasia closed the windows and waited for a few more minutes before stepping out. 

Before Sir Andrew could ask about Lady Melissa, Lady Anastasia hurriedly said, "Your Lady is using the washroom in my room. I think she might have a little bit of stomach ache. I'm giving her some privacy. You can wait here if you'd like. I'll go back to the party." 

Sir Andrew was puzzled. Lady Melissa looked fine just now. Why would she suddenly have a stomachache? Looking at Lady Anastasia's retreating back, this lady seemed to be in a bit of a hurry to leave. 

Giving her some benefit of a doubt, Sir Andrew decided to wait for awhile. However, as seconds turned to minutes, he couldn't help but felt troubled. Something is not right. He wanted to check on his Mistress but he couldn't possibly barge into Lady Anastasia's room without permission. Sir Andrew made up his mind to find Lord Benjamin. 

When he turned around to look for Lord Benjamin, he came across him coming from the opposite direction. He quickly ran to him only to see Lord Benjamin's worried face. 

"Where's your lady?" Lord Benjamin asked urgently. 

"My Lord, I was about to find you! Please help my Mistress." Sir Andrew said in panic.

"What're you talking about? Where's Melissa??" Lord Benjamin asked.

"She went with Lady Anastasia just now. But Lady Anastasia said my lady is not well and she's still in the room. Can you please help me check on her?"

"Which room?? Bring me to her now!" Lord Benjamin immediately followed Sir Andrew to Lady Anastasia's room and without waiting, he opened the door. There was no one inside. He rushed to the washroom and knocked on the door impatiently. After a few knocks, there was still no response from Lady Melissa. Lord Benjamin pushed open the door, only to find it vacant. 

At this moment, reality started to set in and he turned to Sir Andrew. Sir Andrew was already sweating profusely, thinking the worst. He had failed to protect his Mistress and she's gone missing!

"You said, the last person who saw Melissa was my sister?" Lord Benjamin asked.

"Yes, yes, it was Lady Anastasia who brought my lady here, My Lord." 

"Follow me. We're going to find my sister now." Lord Benjamin said in a low voice. In true fact, Lord Benjamin was now seething with such an anger that he didn't know he had in him.

'Damn you Ana!!'