Riiiiiiiing~~
(Wait, wait, why does this chapter also starts with a Riiiiing~~? Are you planning to start each chapter with a stupid sound?!)
Inside an ordinary looking house with walls painted light-pink was where the Luce family lived.
In the front yard, though it was more like the space right before the street, there were many different kinds of plants to be found. San Franciscos, Palm tree seedlings, and Birds of Paradise in pots. Actually, there were just three kinds, my mistake. And on these three kinds of plants, the rising sun settled its golden rays.
The security gate was a dark hue of red and though everything seemed to be pretty simple, they all seemed to be simply pretty too. The walls were thin and throughout the whole house a mysterious ringing could be heard.
Riiiiing~~ riiiiing~~ it went.
Further into the house and up the stairs, one can hear the mysterious ringing a little more closely.
And into a certain neat little bedroom was where the ringing originated. The ringing of Hiori Luce's alarm clock!
Inside, one can see a little teenage girl of 16 trying to get up and hit the ringing alarm clock with a hammer. Where on earth did the hammer came from?
Smash! Went the poor clock, and the 16-year old teenager who just murdered it went right back to sleep. Heartless! I, the narrator, say!
And she would have gone to sleep unscathed were it not for a voice that boomed angrily, threatening to shatter the thin walls to debris.
"HIORI LUCE, GET DOWN HERE! Right this minute, young lady!!"
But Hiori only turned sideways.
"If I don't see your wretched face downstairs, I swear!"
Hiori covered her ears with the pillow.
"!!!"
Taking it no more, Hiori rose like a zombie from her bed and stomped her feet down.
Hmph! Wretched face? Let's see who has the real wretched face here!
And she stomped her way across the room and down the stairs.
"What do you want, Mother?"
She said, sarcastically saying Mother.
"How dare you talk to me in that tone! And what were you doing upstairs, huh? Why were you not slaving away in the kitchen? Its almost 8 and I still yet to have breakfast, you useless child!"
Steeling her gaze, Hiori replied
"Nice of you to use the terms 'slaving' and 'useless'. They perfectly describe me, thanks!"
And with that, Hiori ran away and hid herself in the kitchen.
Kana Luce's face purpled so much from anger that one could imagine steam coming from her ears (and nose). She turned around and went to her room thinking of calling on her niece. Honestly! That elegant child was a hundred times better than this problematic and ugly stepdaughter!
That's right. Hiori wasn't a biological child of Kana Luce and neither was Kana Luce the original mistress of the family.
She came in barging to the picture when Hiori was only 12 years old and the original Mdm. Luce was still alive. Hiori remembered how her mother would look suspiciously at Kana who used the guise of being a 2nd-degree cousin of her father.
Kana had said in the past that she had nowhere to live and badly needed her 2nd-degree cousin's help. Who knows what happened to her 1st-degree cousins.
Yet, her father sympathetically agreed to Kana and allowed her to stay at their home for the time being.
Preposterous! Her mother said. She could find help in other places!
But father got mad with her and accused her of being cold-hearted. Shouldn't we help the people who are in need?
As if that's why he allowed her homage!
Remembering her father's reasons now only made Hiori sneer in contempt.
The living regulations were issued and her mother could only turn a blind eye.
But if only Mother never did.
Akarin Sakuragi was half Japanese. When she married Mr. Luce she took on the name of Mdm. Luce. But before that, she was Akarin Sakuragi who loved sketching and reading. She was a wise quiet woman and firmly stood by her values. Despite barely talking to other people, she was quick to express advice and to defend others.
If only she defended herself too.
When Kana Feng arrived, she silently endured her doubts and the fights that would arise from her husband. Unfortunately, the body was not as enduring as her will and could only succumb to sickness.
Akarin Sakuragi fell ill and died from that illness.
Hiori's father then married Kana Feng after only a month of her mother's death. At the time, Hiori couldn't stop wondering how it was possible for her father to marry his 2nd-degree cousin. And only when the treacherous couple coldly replied that there were no documents that proved them to be blood-related did Hiori finally realized.
That she truly hated her father to the core.
Hiori Luce was then left alone to fend for herself. She dearly loved her mother but she couldn't help wishing that Akarin Sakuragi continued to stay strong instead and became someone who was an expert at verbal insulting or was at least a detective.
"You better be preparing breakfast there!!!"
Hearing the threatening words, Hiori snapped back to reality and stared at the kitchen sink.
Oh yeah, I should be preparing breakfast.
So she brought her sleeves up and grabbed ingredients from the fridge. No longer than thirty minutes later, a light stew was boiling deliciously and Hiori had finished frying the breaded chicken she had prepared.
She laid the table and everything else then brought a plate for herself and headed back upstairs to her room.
Reminiscing old bad memories was enough to lose courage to face a wretched stepmother.