"Hey, why are you pulling my hand?"
"Are you deaf? Let go of my hand!"
"I'm telling you again, Arabella Revenhurst. Let go of my hand!"
The loud shout ended with a jerk of the hand from the little girl called Arabella. She smiled faintly at the look of annoyance on her classmate's face. Her wavy black hair jumped into the air as both of her hands pushed the other with a strong jerk.
"Are you out of your mind?!" screeched the blonde-haired girl who fell to the ground.
"Evelyn, listen to this carefully. I never bothered you, but you bothered me first." Arabella folded her arms in front of her chest with a hostile expression on her face.
"You know that I really like my shoes and you deliberately stole them. You should be handed over to the police, Evelyn."
Evelyn's eyes widened. Suddenly she rose to her feet to match their height. "Damn, you poor girl! You can never win against my family. I'm not going to jail!" she snapped and turned to walk away.
Evelyn stopped, turned around, and looked at Arabella with her eyebrows raised. "You can't be with Alex, Alex is mine. I'll ruin that pretty face of yours if you tease him again!" the twelve-year-old girl completely disappeared after turning the corner.
Arabella remained in her position. Her facial expression did not change, but her smile grew wider.
"You should have noticed, Evelyn. Alex approached me, not me approaching him. You shouldn't consider me an enemy if you still don't know me. You will regret it."
Shortly after, Evelyn's parents and Evelyn were summoned to the principal's office. Evelyn's test papers were filled with graffiti containing hate speech against her classmates, teachers, and the school. The hate speech was so crude that the principal could barely tolerate the mistake. However easily formed a new path, and Evelyn was not expelled from school.
Evelyn's reputation became bad among her friends. Arabella used that to bully Evelyn with her classmates. A few days later, Evelyn was rumored to have changed schools.
***
Six years later.
"Why haven't you prepared breakfast? Do you want to starve your husband?!" A thunderous snapping sound was followed by the loud sound of breaking glass.
"It's not that, I'm just busy working. You should understand my situation!"
"Elena is even better off than you! Damn it, you're just a stupid woman who bears the status of my wife!"
The creaking of the door that made a guttural sound did not disturb the couple who were arguing. The thick black jacket that warmly hugged her entire body moved when the owner extended her hand.
The couple immediately fell silent. They looked at Arabella with a large suitcase by her side and then at a brown envelope that the girl had placed on the table.
"I'm going to leave this house and live independently. I put a thousand dollars in the envelope to thank you for giving me a place to stay. I'm leaving." After saying that, Arabella turned around and let the door swallow her up.
The man in the blue shirt with a surprised face grabbed the brown envelope, soon smiling broadly. Unlike the woman wrapped in a brown blazer who immediately ran after Arabella as soon as she woke up from her reverie.
"Bella, stop!"
The girl who felt summoned then turned to look at her mother with irregular breathing. The woman approached and Arabella's hopes grew. But that seed-sized hope was instantly dashed as soon as her mother's hand lifted and flew to her cheek.
"What are you thinking right now, huh?! Do you want to leave home after finishing your high school education? How could you abandon the mother who raised you?!" the woman snapped with a hardened jaw.
Arabella chuckled with her face still turned to the side. What did she expect from that woman?
Arabella straightened her gaze, looking at her mother with a flat face. "You're saying that I abandoned you? Mother, you should open your eyes wide before saying that. It was my mother who abandoned me to pursue father's love. You were always blinded by love to the point of ignoring that he was drowning among the prostitutes he hired!"
Arabella's scream made her mother gasp. Arabella, her daughter who always obeyed her, suddenly snapped at her like this.
"Mother, I repeatedly told you to get a divorce from that man or ignore him by being with other men who are better than him, but you didn't do anything. I'm fed up. I'm leaving. Take care of your health."
The wheels of the suitcase turned with the movement of its owner. So did Arabella's mother who hurriedly turned around and walked away, no longer wanting to see the face of her daughter who became a rebellious girl.
***
Each passing second marked an inevitable change, turning the streets once filled with laughter into lonely alleys with memories. The colors of the season danced in the breeze. Wildflowers began to bloom, emitting a fresh fragrance that filled the air.
"Happy 23rd birthday, Bella!"
Arabella smiled so sweetly that her eyes narrowed slightly. She closed her eyes, paused to make a wish, and immediately blew out the candles once her pretty eyelids opened. She patted her hand a few times before finally planting a kiss on the cheek of the man in front of her.
"Bella, you just suddenly..." The man placed the cake in his hand on the table. He pulled Arabella's slender waist until their bodies touched. His fingers explored Arabella's jaw which was so perfect in his eyes.
"Do you have something to say, Jude?" asked Arabella with a seductive smile.
Jude didn't reply to Arabella's question as his eyes were fixed on Arabella's full lips. Suddenly he scooped up Arabella's lips, explored every corner of Arabella's small lips ferociously, and played with the tongue that became Jude's addiction.
Arabella did not close her eyes. Her facial expression turns flat at the sight of closed eyes and the hot expression on Jude's face. She gasped softly as Jude bit her lower lip.
"Stop it." Arabella gently pushed Jude's shoulder. There was a look of disappointment on Jude's face as Arabella suddenly stopped their hot kiss.
"Do you have something to say to me?"
Jude straightened his body. His facial expression turned serious with a sweet smile beautifully placed on his lips.
"Arabella, I like you." Jude took out a small box from his pants pocket, knelt on one knee, and presented the small box he had opened to Arabella.
"Will you marry me?"
Arabella's gaze fell on the ring with the beautiful red diamond that Jude was showing her. A smile played on her lips. Not a smile of happiness, but a smile of triumph.
Arabella folded her arms across her chest and said, "Alright, that's enough. Let's end our relationship here."