Electra finally threw her body onto the bed after arranging her things and taking a warm shower in the main house. She smiled to herself as she stared at the familiar ceiling, still not believing she was back in the main house.
"Miss Electra, Mr. Cunningham wants you downstairs at the dinner table," one of the helpers in the house knocked on her door and said.
"Okay," she responded and stood up from the bed, heading downstairs. A while later, she was quietly taking her seat beside her father but was abruptly stopped by her stepbrother, Alexander.
"What are you doing? That's my seat. Get lost!" he let out with a frown plastered on his face, startling her.
"Alexander, I told Electra to sit here, right beside me. She's my daughter, and we haven't been together in eight years. It only makes sense that she sits beside me during dinner," her father said.
"That's nonsense! Only the son of the family gets to sit there. We can't have this pest sitting on that chair," her stepmother, Neveah, and Alexander's mom said her first words to her in eight years, and it pained Electra that her first words were insults. Was she sad Neveah called her a pest? Yes, but was she happy to see her again after eight whole years? Yes.
"Also, I have an announcement..." her father trailed off. "Electra is getting married to the second son of Cadel Law Firm, Ryker Cadel. She'll be here until her wedding in two weeks, and so you all need to treat her with respect as she's taking a big step on behalf of the family," he finished.
"Well then, I guess I won't be having dinner for the next two weeks if this peasant will be sitting at the same table as me," Neveah said and stood up from the table. "I'd rather eat with maidservants than eat with her," she finished, rolled her eyes, and stormed off.
"I won't be sacrificing my precious dinner because Electra is here, but did you just say she's getting married to the second son of Cadel Law Firm? Ryker Cadel? The hot lawyer?" Neveah asked, laying emphasis on his name.
"I'm sure I didn't stutter when I said it," he replied sarcastically.
"But why? Why is Electra the one to get married to that hot lawyer? Why not me? She's not eligible to get married to him. She's not even a Cunningham, she's a Beaumont! Dad, this is not fair. You hooked Electra up with the hottest bachelor in the country and not your daughter?" Neveah raised her voice.
"There is a reason why I didn't pick you when I went to Mr. Cadel with the marriage proposal. It's because you are irresponsible and unpredictable. You don't listen to anybody, and I didn't want you ruining the only chance we have to get back on our feet," he responded sternly with his voice also raising in volume.
"We wouldn't need to 'get back on our feet' if Alexander hadn't gambled with all our money and properties!" she yelled, air-quoting 'get back on our feet' and left Electra completely shocked on the sidelines.
It never crossed her mind that something like that could happen, and if she had been told by an outsider that Alexander gambled with the family's money and properties, she would never have believed it, but hearing Neveah say it rendered her completely and utterly speechless.
"Our money and properties? The money you did zero work for? If anyone is talking about owning things in this family, you should be the last to say something because all you ever do is spend money on alcohol and drugs at nightclubs!" Alexander retorted back, standing up to yell at her.
"For all we know, you might not even be sober right now!" he added.
"At least, it's better than being a gambling addict and losing the family's hard-earned money and businesses for three generations to a blackjack game!" she stood up and countered back.
"Neveah, shut up, or I'm going to—"
"You're going to what, Alexander??!! What are you going to do? Gamble with me as the prize?" Neveah cut him off and yelled, daring him.
As much as Electra loved watching fights, she couldn't stand watching her brother and sister fight each other. "Guys, stop! We shouldn't fight amongst ourselves! We're all family, and no matter what any of us do, we need to forgive one another!" she let out, trying to put an end to the unnecessary fight so they could sit and discuss everything with their words like mature adults.
"Family? Did you just say we're family? That's so funny because I don't remember you being part of this family, Electra! You are a pest, and just like mother said, a maidservant is better than you. Your mother abandoned you here, and you think that makes you part of this family? No, it doesn't! And don't think we'll worship you just because you're getting married to the second son of Cadel Law Firm to help the family. We're the ones helping you because there's no way in your miserable life will you ever get the chance to marry someone as sophisticated as him. He's an elite, and you're a leech, a bottom feeder!"
Electra couldn't believe the words her ears were hearing. She had to squeeze her hand to make sure it was reality and not some nightmare.
Alexander hurled out insults that brought tears to her eyes when she never did anything wrong that warranted her to be spoken to like that. She never thought he could speak to her in that manner when all she was trying to do was stop him and Neveah from fighting.
He called her mother a prostitute, he called her miserable, he called her a leech and a bottom feeder.
"A-a prostitute?" she questioned in disbelief. Alexander was around nine years old when her mother had her, and he must have been old enough to understand things back then, but she couldn't believe he saw her mother and labeled her as a prostitute.
"Oh, I'm sorry, she's not a prostitute, she's a pimp. I met her a few months back at a casino," he said.
"You mean the same casino you lost the family's money and properties to?" she didn't know why her mouth moved without agreeing with her brain first, but she already spoke rudely to her stepbrother that was nine years older than her, and she had no idea how to take the words back.
Sometimes, her mouth moved faster than her brain, and she let out unacceptable things that got her in trouble, and she had no idea how to stop herself from doing it.
Alexander's face drained of color at her words, and all she wanted was to shrink and vanish from reality. He glared at her with fire in his eyes, and she could have sworn she saw smoke pop out of his ears.
"Oh oh, Electra put you in your place!" Neveah exclaimed before leaving her dinner untouched and storming out.
"How dare you open your filthy mouth and speak to me like that. Are you crazy?" In just a blink of an eye, he was in front of her and landed a tight slap on her face.
She let out a yelp at the impact as she held the table to stop herself from falling off the chair. Her vision got blurry for a few seconds before she felt him pulling her up by her collar.
"Who do you think you are? Because you're helping the family get money, you think you can speak to me like that? You think you can't be replaced? Neveah can easily replace you, you little piece of nothing," he released her collar, pushing her away in the process. She stumbled backward and landed on the floor, wincing in pain at the impact of her body colliding with the hard floor. Tears rushed down from her eyes as it felt like her tailbone got hammered simultaneously.
"ALEXANDER!" Alexander stood above her and glared down at her manically, scaring the living daylights out of her. Her body trembled in pain and fear, but in one swift move, she forced herself up and sprinted to her room, ignoring the pain she felt in her bones as she ran.