"A girl child? What? I can't even smell my pup in her. How dare you give my son, the Alpha, a girl child," The first woman thou her face was blur snapped.
"He knows, and he doesn't care. So what is your problem?" The second one laying on the bed replied calmly.
"He knows? I was the one who accepted you into this family, only because you were already pregnant. Not knowing you were carrying an embarrassment in your womb and in your bloodline," woman 1 spat, her voice sharp with disdain.
"Embarrassment? I promised not to be the last of my kind. So yes, she is my precious Sentinel. And if you try to harm her, I will come for you," woman 2, her voice trembling but fierce.
"How? You're already dying. You sacrificed yourself to bring forth your child. So tell me, how are you going to protect her? You can't even heal anymore. You're completely useless," woman 1 laughed cruelly.
"I might be dying, but I promise you, the more you see my child, the more you'll see me. And if you kill her, she will keep coming back until she fulfills my legacy. She will avenge me. She will watch you die, and you will not know peace until you bring her back. I curse you," woman 2 said with her final strength.
"You talk too much," woman 1 hissed.
She stepped forward, tore the baby from woman 2's weak arms, and in one swift motion, exchanged the living child with a lifeless one wrapped in a white cloth.
"Now watch me as you take your last breath," she said coldly as she turned off the machine that kept woman 2 alive.
Woman 2 voice broke through the room in a final cry. "No! My baby! Haaannnnah!"
I jolted awake, heart pounding "why do I keep having this same dream gosh and
How did I doze off while cleaning? When will this habit of sleeping everywhere I lay my head stop huh???"; I thought then I heard the name again,. But this time It echoed.
"Where is she? That wretched witch. H-A-N-N-A-H."
Just as I heard my name being called again, I got up from the chair I was sitting dropped the mopstick I was holding and dashed out before I could get in trouble for stalling.
"Ms. Jane, you called for"
I didn't get to finish before she grabbed me by the collar of the black-and-white uniform I was wearing and yanked me halfway up from the ground.
"How dare you try to tempt and seduce my boyfriend?" she yelled.
I froze, searching her face for a clue that this might be another of her online pranks. Ms. Jane, my adopted sister, was always making prank videos for her social media, but what I saw wasn't humor. It was rage.
"What do you mean, seduce your boyfriend? You must be mistaken, Miss," I said, still trying to process what was happening.
"Oh really, Hannah? You've got the nerve to deny this?" she snapped. "Just yesterday I was begging Mom and Dad not to kick you out. But now? After what I've seen? I'll tell them what you did, and this time, they will throw you out."
As soon as she said that, I dropped to my knees, pleading.
Because I knew her pranks never escalated this far. And even though Jane only ever talked to me when she needed me in her content, I had never seen her like this. Maybe, just maybe, if I begged though I did nothing wrong she might stop.
"I didn't do anything, I swear. You're misunderstanding me. Please don't call them. Please don't call Mom and Dad."
Mom and Dad. Words I only used around strangers or visitors. Technically, they were my parents. In reality, they were my bosses.
I remained on my knees, rubbing my hands together fast as if that might change something. Because I knew what they'd do if they believed her. The last time I was accused of something I never did, I went three days without food.
But the twenty-three-year-old blonde ignored me and did exactly what she wanted. She stormed down the hallway, her heels clicking like gunshots.
"Mom! Daddy! Where are you? You need to hear this!" she shouted.
My heart beat faster. I was in deep trouble. I looked around, searching for any way out, but I knew there wasn't one.
Mr. and Mrs. Ragnar came running. I could hear their footsteps echoing from the first floor to the second, where we were.
"What's the noise about, my child?" Mr. Ragnar asked as he walked towards where I knelt and Jane stood.
Mrs. Ragnar didn't say a word. She simply stood behind him, staring at me with those icy eyes that always knew how to slice right through.
"Why is she on her knees?" Mr. Ragnar asked, his voice calm but firm.
"Mom. Dad. I just saw Hannah's picture in Desmond's phone. And not just any picture that type of picture. She actually had the guts to take a sexy photo and send it to Desmond," Jane said, folding her arms dramatically.
"What? Hannah, is that true?" Mr. Ragnar asked.
"No, it's not. My smartphone's camera is terrible, and you told me that phones aren't even allowed while working. So when would I have had the time to take pictures? I'm always working," I replied, voice steady but my hands trembling.
"Who knows what you do at night?" Jane scoffed. "Nobody ever approaches her, so she got jealous and now wants to steal my man. My Beta."
"This isn't true. You're ly"
"Shut up!" Mrs. Ragnar shouted before I could finish.
"I've noticed the way you've been acting so seductively whenever the Beta is around," she added.
She leaned slightly forward, even taller than her husband, and turned to him.
"Honey, why are you even asking her? Of course she's capable of this. I've seen it. And now that she knows she has no scent and no one wants to mate with her, she's gotten jealous. She tried to seduce our daughter's mate."
She reached for Jane's cheek and stroked it gently.
"Jane, baby, don't worry. Go to him. Don't worry I'll sort this out. You know Mummy always fixes everything."
She kissed Jane on the forehead. As Jane turned to leave, her mother called out again.
"Take my card. Go get the newest designer bag they just released. And make sure you look even sexier. Mummy's got this, okay?"
She handed Jane her card. As Jane walked away, she gave me a long, smug look from my head to my feet before she disappeared around the corner.
"You. You're not even grateful that we got you out of the orphanage. We adopted you. We gave you a roof over your head. And this is how you repay us?" Mrs. Ragnar stepped closer, face contorted with disgust.
I didn't know where it came from, but somehow I found the courage to rise to my feet.
This time, I wasn't going to take it quietly.
Because I knew that no matter what I said, I wasn't escaping the outcome.
"Adopted me? Do you even know what that word means?" I challenged. "You literally bought me from the orphanage to become your maid. I clean after you all and what do I get in return? Punishment. Accusations. Empty stomachs. No matter what I say, you'll never believe me. So just do what you've already planned to do. Because all of this is just formality."
"What did you just say?" Mr. Ragnar asked, lowering his hand to his belt.
"I said your wife bought my freedom. You were supposed to be my foster family. But I became your servant."
And for the first time in thirteen years, I finally said what had been trapped inside me all along.
And it felt good.