Samara Shaw

I didn't have the best childhood.

I was born in Santa Monica California, USA by Veronica and Tom Shaw with a twin brother, Jonathan. Being the children of the wealthiest lawyers in the city and DNA of the Royal family running through our veins gave us more reasons to look the best we could, talk with the finest accent, learn multiple languages and show perfection while handling the simplest tasks. It wasn't as easy for me as it was for Jonathan. He did have a lot to do as the heir and all the days of his life was spent learning how to be the perfect clone of his father. The words from his mouth was like his, his actions was the exact same and even the phrases he used and clothes he wore was like father's. As he grew, he became even more submissive to our parents. Everything he did was in their favor or an attempt to impress them. Yet, he got punished for the slightest mistakes. The consequences were always severe, even for the meaningless coincidences and like a puppet dancing to their every beat, he never saw the wrong in what he did. It was as if he would be nothing without them and that truth blinded him.

Being a girl was far wose. Looking effortlessly beautiful wasn't the easiest thing in the Shaw mansion. I was born with ginger red hair but my mother hated it so much, it was dyed blonde and was never allowed to have the smallest red ends or curls forming at the edges. It was always straightened and it's length never exceeded my mid back. My hair had to be in a tight bun every minute of my life and the only time I was allowed to leave it in a ponytail was when I went to bed. No blonde strands could fall across my face, neither were pins permitted to be pulled out of my bun.

On most days, I wore long dresses with a pantyhose beneath and leather shoes adorning my feet. The sleeves were always long and covered my entire arm. I always had gloves on in public and was only allowed to take them off at the end of the day. I wasn't permitted to wear clothes with short sleeves anywhere outside my bedroom or in the presence of anyone besides my maid who only got the opportunity because she dressed me everyday.

I also wasn't allowed to speak without being spoken to, play any board games, interfere in conversations including men, whisper a word about politics or the world's economical affairs. If I got the chance to speak to any man in certain circumstances, I could only stare down at my shoes and not at them in the eyes. I could only look up only if they insisted I did and that never happened, not even once. Disobedience to any was considered rude and not lady like. I made a few mistakes once and when I did, I would be starved for a whole day or two, depending on what rule I broke.

We attended special occasions at least twice every month. Severally, I would undergo painful beauty treatments a day or two before the event. The sessions usually took hours and I was forced to stay in uncomfortable positions while things were injected into my skin. My hair would be dyed once more to retain it's bright blond color, my nails would be trimmed, my face would be coated with oils and serums to keep it moisturized. Sometimes, I would get liquid injected into my cheekbones and into my lips to make them look plump and red. My pedicure was always painful and ended with my toes swollen and red.

Everything I consumed had little or no calories. I was required to have the slimmest figure with my waist never exceeding 18 inches. I was measured every week and if It increased with at least 0.5 inches, my meals would be reduced the following week and sometimes, I won't be allowed to eat dinner to attain a smaller figure.

Our eighteenth birthday came and for the first time in our lives, we had a birthday party hosted in the Shaw mansion. Finally, I was going to be eighteen and with that, freedom, maturity and all I had ever dreamt of, or so I hoped. Moving away from my parents couldn't be that easy for any one of us but the chance to live my life without their supervision was enough freedom for me. I counted long days in high hopes and when it was finally before me, when I thought it was at my finger tips, things took a turn.

I should've taken a hint when I was forced into undergoing series of beauty treatments a week before that day. They were more severe and painful than the ones I'd learn to get used to. For the first time, I had nail polish coating my nails. One thing mother never allowed when I was younger. She forbade I ever used any nail polish or make up.

I was denied access to food a day before the party. Mother said it was to maintain a slimmer waistline for any suitors. I was only eighteen and my mother never joked about anything. I knew she was serious about finding suitors but my immature self didn't think much of it. I wasn't looking forward to speaking with any men, all I wanted and hoped for was the freedom after that day and it blinded me to seeing the actual truth.

It wasn't just a birthday party, there was more to that gathering that I didn't see till that very evening.

At first, things didn't look suspicious. Presents were presented to both Jonathan and I who didn't look like he did half of what I did as preparation. He was with father, just as always and both men sat by a table with a few guests with them as they dined together. Jonathan and I never spoke to each other, even as twins. We got no opportunities to spend time together as he was always with father, learning his ways and I was always with mother, learning to be the best woman I could ever be. It was as if we weren't connected at all and he didn't try, not even once, to speak to me even when he knew he was mother's favourite child and she would do anything for his happiness. We lived in the same building but different parts and only got to meet during dinnertime and sometimes coincidentally in parts of the mansion.

That was till I got to speak with my twin on our birthday and even though he only said a sentence, it left me in hapiness because he did and confusion because I didn't understand him. I remembered that line like I did to my own name 'I hope the right one chooses you'. He then placed a kiss on my cheek and walked away. I couldn't follow him to ask what he meant, it was considered wrong and doing that in the presence of at least one hundred people would get me a lot of trouble.

I was taken by my mother and side by side, we welcomed every guest. I then noticed that most of them happened to be men with just a few women that were at least my mother's age. They eyed me with every chance they could and whispered things to one another. I got more questions that day than I had in my entire life. Most of them were directed to my mother and some at me when it was related to my likes and dislikes. Still, I didn't understand what it was all about.

Minutes later, both my parents were out of sight. Jonathan was busy speaking to other men to notice his parent's absence but that being my only protection from the hungry eyes around me, I took a walk around to find mother. It wasn't the easiest thing to do. Wherever I went, eyes trailed after me like they were watching my every step.

However, I gracefully left the hall in search for my mother. At that point, I feared something bad had happened to her. She wasn't the type to leave during gatherings as important as that was and I knew only something or someone worth it could make her leave. My senses clicked and the first place I went to was father's office. The place delicate conversations were held. If it meant that much to both of them, it could only be discussed in father's office.

My thoughts didn't fail me. I heard noises a few feet away from the door and sped up my movement. I was walking into trouble, that would lead to grave consequences and I did it with my eyes wide open, well aware. The more I tried to turn away and act like nothing happened, the more I wanted to know what was going on

I broke my mother's first rule by peeking through the peephole. Standing there were my parents with one of the men I welcomed earlier. They seemed to be in an heated argument with my mother's face red in anger and father's thick eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. The man, however, had a devilish smirk on his face.

"Listen here Katherine" He said, referring to my mother by her first name "It's either you give me the girl for free or I go in there and tell every single being your secret and you know how much destruction that would bring to your reputation, don't you?"

"No peasant like you will marry my daughter, not while I'm alive"

"Peasant?" He laughed "I'm not the one selling my daughter out in a lame excuse for a birthday party. Now, it's either you let me have the girl for free or the proud idiots you think so high of would know the real truth and I'm sure you don't want anyone knowing she's not really your daughter"

I learned two shocking discoveries that day. First, my eighteen birthday wasn't the day I would get freedom. It was the day I would be married off to anyone that had enough money to have me. I finally understood what my brother said, he too knew what was meant to happen that night and didn't say anything about it. My parents, the ones I thought so much of, wanted to sell me off and as if that wasn't enough, they weren't really my parents and Jonathan wasn't my brother.

I walked away without a single tear in my eye. The anger bubbling inside me surfaced all the emotions I had inside. I was mad at my parents for all they had done and to Jonathan because he knew what was meant to happen that night. I guess he also knew I wasn't his actual sister and that probably explained why he never spoke to me. I was just an investment to them, like a piece of gold ready to be sold. They didn't care about me like they did to Jonathan and it hurt to think that all those years I spent obeying their every word was just because of the money they were going to get at the end.

My entire life was a lie.

I got back to the party with rage in me. Breathing fast with my heart thumping in my ribcage, I took off my heels and ran into the gathering like a lunatic. I stood in the middle of the whole crowd and did one thing I never thought I would in my entire life.

I yelled 'None of you arrogant bastards are having me tonight! So it's better you go home and think about how much of a fool you are to gather yourselves here to buy an eighteen year old!"

Everyone parted way for me as I walked out. I only heard gasps and whispers around me, no one dared speak back to me, not even Jonathan. I kept my eyes glued to the exit of the hall with every step I took. I feared looking at anyone in the eye would make me feel remorse for what I did and that was the last thing I wanted.

Then that was when I realised, there was nothing anyone could do. The worst that would happen was my parents yelling at me and that did happen, a few minutes after I settled in my bedroom. The answer was right before me and I'd been blind all the previous years. I was free to do whatever I wanted in the mansion. If I didn't obey them the way I did before, none of those grown men would want to spend so much on me so that was what I did.

I became the worse version of myself. I started missing my beauty sessions, I would sneak around the house at midnight and steal some food to eat, I let my hair down whenever I wished, walk around with no shoes on, cut the sleeves of my dresses, sing as loud as I could, burped in the dining hall and every single rebellious act my mind could muster.

I started gaining weight, my roots became ginger red and my blue eyes, they looked more alive than the pale dull ones I was used to. My character was considered bad but my body and spirit finally looked alive. It had gotten the spark it needed and even though I was confined in the walls of the McCain mansions, I felt free.

Months passed by and I would wake up to mother yelling every day untill one day, it stopped. I thought something had happened to both my parents and really, I didn't care or think much about it. I bathed myself and wore one of the dresses I'd beautified with my scissors and stood before the mirror like I did everyday. The ginger roots had grown to my ears, making my hair a curly mix of blonde and red. The blonde was a daily reminder of how my life used to be and with nothing else to do, I pulled out my scissors and cut it off.

I was done with the last strand when my mother barged into the room and that was the angriest I ever saw her but she didn't say a word. She slammed the door shut and almost immediately, the door was open again and a bunch of suited men walked in. I was held down like an animal and carried out of my bedroom.

The last words I heard mother say were 'I hope you learn your lesson there'

That was the last time I ever laid my eyes on Katherine Olivia Shaw.