Chapter 20
Calamity
Approximately fifteen minutes later and in her own bedroom, Sakura found herself being inspected by Beth’s critical eyes. Mary and Katherine, on the other hand, left once again after informing her they had to help Brenda prepare dinner since Sakura had stolen Beth away from the kitchen. Sakura chuckled and said loudly before they closed the door, “Not my fault. Yours, Mary, yours!”
“Stop talking, missy,” Beth muttered under her breath. “And stay still.”
Sakura hid a smile as Beth pinched the silk material out from the side of her waist.
“What did I tell you?” She went on. “You never eat right. What with you missing lunch here and there. Now you’ve lost weight and who’s to blame but yourself?”
“I didn’t think I’d missed that many lunches,” Sakura murmured.
Beth stood straight, her plump face sour. “It’s all that Ned’s fault. If he hadn’t taught you how to draw and paint, then you wouldn’t have become so obsessed and spent hours on them.”
“I like my paintings, Beth,” Sakura said. “And you do, too.”
Beth scoffed. “Me? Don’t you dare contradict me, missy. Now, my dear girl, you’ve got to fatten up. Otherwise, what man’s going to ask you to marry him?”
Uh-ho! Here we go again.
“Mark is a good man,” she continued. “He doesn’t mind that you’re a bit on the thin side. He hasn’t proposed yet, has he?”
Sakura cocked her head to one side. “What makes you think he’d propose?”
Beth looked up to her. “You two are dating, aren’t you?”
Sakura chuckled. “No, of course not.”
She frowned. “I thought so.”
Sakura blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
Beth cocked her head to one side. “You don’t actually like Mark like that, do you?”
“Beth, you’re the first person who’s said that.”
“Ah, I see. So it’s the brothers, then?”
“Huh?” Sakura blinked, wondering where Beth was going now.
“Which one is it?” Beth teased. “They’re all mighty handsome and still single. God bless them. Now then, tell me your pick.”
Sakura laughed. “Beth, I think you’re actually going senile.”
Beth was offended. “I may be old, but I’m not senile, my girl. Conrad seems to be taking a liking to you, but then again, he’s too young. Now Sebastian, that man is to die for. If you have your eyes on him, better make it quick before he’s snaffled away. Yes, he’ll make you an excellent husband. A perfect husband, no doubt, who would love you and cherish you until the day you’re gone from this earth.”
Sakura laughed. “Really?”
“Stop contradicting me, my girl. Now Darcy, there’s my man. Dark and mysteriously handsome. He doesn’t show much emotion, but we know he’s very sensitive and sincere. Once he loves you, my girl, he’d never let you go nor will he ever lay his eyes on another woman. Now that’s what I like about a man. And yes, he will love you and cherish you to bits.”
Sakura shook her head. She wanted to tell Beth there was no way she was going to fall in love with any of the brothers. First off, they were supposed to be siblings, albeit not blood related. Secondly, she knew they didn’t like her, let alone love her.
Deep down inside, however, she was beginning to have doubts. Why had they been so nice to her since their return? She was sure if they had to endure one another’s presence, then a word here and there would suffice. Then there was also the fact that her emotions were beginning to play havoc with her lately. She’d been feeling very restless since the day they arrived, and her mind kept wandering off thinking about them. Not to mention she kept seeing their faces in her mind’s eye—especially Sebastian and Darcy. Was it because seeing them again brought back so many unpleasant memories? Or was it something else?
“Nicolas, now there’s a good man for you. He’d look after you well if he’s your husband. He’d love you to bits, very much like James. He’d protect you and your children. You’d never have to worry about a thing.”
“Have you finished your lecturing yet, Beth?” Sakura teased.
Beth frowned at her and pulled the material a bit too tightly to show Sakura that she wasn’t pleased. “Listen to your elders, my girl. I’m only telling you what’s good for you.”
Sakura laughed.
“Now, Tristan is a bit of a flirt, but he’ll settle down when he finds the one. And Logan, he’s just like Tristan. Hayden, on the other hand, we know he’s a bit wild. He’ll settle down when he finds his girl.”
Sakura cocked her head to one side. “So at the moment, none of them have found their so-called girls yet?”
Beth thought about that for a moment. Then she stood up and harrumphed loudly. “They seemed to be settling down. They seemed to have changed. Maybe they have.” She looked at Sakura closely. She wondered if the girl the brothers had all fallen for was in fact their adopted sister.
“Are we done?” Sakura asked, wondering why Beth was looking at her so weirdly.
“Yes, just about,” the housekeeper replied, pulling the material of the dress this way and that again and Sakura along with it. A few moments later, she said, “Now you wait a minute while I go and get my sewing basket.”
Sakura nodded, and the woman left. Alone, she sat down on her bed and sighed with relief. She hoped when Beth returned she wasn’t going to continue with her lecture.
Out of the blue, her mind—of its own accord—started wandering off to la-la land again. It was Sebastian who came to her thoughts first.
Why was he being so overprotective of her all of a sudden? And he did say neither he nor his brothers were stupid. Had they known all along that it had never been her who had been telling on them when they were children?
She was so deep in thought that she didn’t notice the door open. When she heard it closing again, she expected Beth to return and hastily got up, readying herself for the woman to do her magic. But it wasn’t Beth who came in the door. It was Alaina and Tara.
“Good Lord!” Tara said. “Is that the dress you’re wearing for the wedding?”
Alaina chuckled. “Well, ugly dress for an ugly girl.”
Sakura knew the moment they stepped into her room that they were there to hurt her. She braced herself for the oncoming bullying and said, “Who told you to come into my room?”
Alaina cocked her head to one side. “No one, bitch. But this is my house, so I go into any room I want. You don’t belong here. You know that.”
Sakura decided she’d cock her head to one side to show them she was no longer afraid of them. And to that she added a smile as well, for good measure. “I believe I belong here, Alaina. After all, I have been living here for the past few years, and you haven’t.”
Alaina couldn’t help herself. She charged forward like a raging bull and slapped Sakura on the cheek, causing the girl to swing her face to the right.
Tara smirked from behind, obviously pleased with what was happening.
Sakura felt pain burning her cheek. She closed her eyes and counted to ten because otherwise she’d surely explode and retaliate. She didn’t want to do that. Not yet anyway. She could still handle this. She didn’t want to make a big deal out of this. After all, they’d only be here for another week, and once the wedding was over, they’d be gone, out of her life once again. Yes, she could do this.
“I’ll let it go just this one time,” she said under her breath.
“Let what go this one time?” Alaina snapped. “Why are you being such a bitch? Don’t you get it? No one wants you here. Everyone hates you.”
Sakura didn’t respond to that. She simply glared at Tara, who was sniggering behind Alaina.
“Do you have something to say, Tara Byrd?” Sakura asked, knowing the other woman hated it when people reminded her of her real last name.
“Shut the fuck up, bitch,” Tara shouted at her. “Who do you think you are? Liv
ing here like you own the place. And of all things, rubbing in with James and Brenda as if they’re your real parents.”
“I can’t believe you’re friends with Mary,” Alaina said. “I can’t believe she didn’t see you for what you really are.”
“Did you beg her to be her bridesmaid?” Tara asked. “Oh, I could just see it. Mary must have felt so sorry for you.”
“Hmm,” Alaina said. “Maybe we should help her fix it.”
“Fix what?” Tara asked, pretending confusion.
“Her dress,” Alaina chuckled. “It’s awfully big on her, don’t you think? Not suitable for her at all. Mary would be ashamed to see her bridesmaid wearing such a hideous dress at her wedding.”
Sakura’s heart skipped a beat. Oh, God! She knew these women too well to be ignorant of what they were implying. Without delay, she braced herself by lifting her skirt up and rushed out the door as quickly as possible.
“Where do you think you’re going, Silly Sally?” Tara shouted. “We’re going to help you with that dress.”
Sakura wasn’t listening. Oh, she knew they were going to ruin her dress all right, and there’s no way she’d let them do that. Not this time. Not Mary’s choice of dress.
She raced across the corridor and then toward the back stairs that no one ever used except for her and the maids. At the same time, she held tightly onto her dress, afraid it might fall off her person. Even worse, though, she might topple on the long skirt, fall down the stairs, and break her slender neck.
She gathered up the thick, long material of the skirt and hugged it against her chest as she raced. Oh, dear God! She could hear them coming after her, laughing merrily like they used to when they were children. God! She couldn’t believe they hadn’t changed. Not one bit.
“You’re still running the same old route, my dear Silly Sally,” Alaina shouted after her from the top of the stairs. Tara giggled as if she were really thrilled at the thought of chasing and hunting down Sakura.
Sakura wasn’t thrilled, however, and felt that fear again like she’d always felt when Tara and Alaina were harassing her. Oh, God! What was she going to do? She couldn’t possibly run into the drawing room and accuse Tara and Alaina of wanting to hurt her in front of everyone, especially now that they were all grown up.
She finally opened a door and found herself in the large indoor pool area on the ground floor. No one was there, and she decided the two women wouldn’t find her here.
She hastily closed the door and collapsed against it, breathing heavily, relief sweeping through her body.
Her relief, however, was short lived when she heard both Tara’s and Alaina’s laughter not too far away, and only moments later the door was thrust open from the other side, throwing her off balance.
“Aw,” Alaina began the moment she saw Sakura, who was looking at them with fear in her eyes. “You ran to hide in the wrong room.”
“What do you want?” Sakura asked, her voice quivering.
Tara shrugged her shoulders. “Just want to help out, dear sister. After all, that dress is awfully pretty on you.”
Sakura couldn’t help herself and decided she had enough of this stupid harassment. She wasn’t going to run any longer and stood her ground.
“You know what?” she said, her voice stronger now as she stood there, her head held high and her whole body stiff and tense. “I never said this to you before, but you two are bitches. So if you want to beat me, there you go. I’m right here. But don’t expect me to just stand here and allow you to beat me senseless like before.”
Tara cocked her head to one side. “Oh, we know you’ve grown up, Silly Sally. We know you’ve grown your broken wings.”
“And we also know you’ll never tell anyone about how we treated you,” Alaina said. “Because it’s just you, dear sister.”
Sakura gritted her teeth. Her heart was pounding hard as she glared at them, her hand fisted tight.
“I think that’s enough talking,” Tara said. She stalked forward and pulled Sakura by the arm. Because Sakura was smaller, she couldn’t really offer much resistance and found herself being dragged along. Alaina helped by pulling at her gown, ripping out the beautiful, expensive material from her shoulders.
“Stop it!” Sakura screamed. “You’re ruining my dress!”
Alaina chuckled merrily. “We’re just fixing it for ya. Now don’t move, dear sister. You’ll look very beautiful in a minute. Isn’t that what you want?”
Sakura couldn’t help herself and she slapped Alaina in the face, sending her staggering backward. Alaina touched her cheek and glared. “You bitch! You slapped me!” She marched forward and sent her hand smashing on Sakura’s left cheek. Tara held on to Sakura, allowing Alaina to slap her again.
“Have you learned how to swim yet, my silly girl?” Alaina asked, her eyes on the deep pool just a step away.
Sakura’s eyes widened in fear as the meaning of Alaina’s words sank in. She shook her head, fear rising within her chest.
Tara felt pleasure rushing through her veins once she saw the look on Sakura’s beautiful face. Alaina was laughing like some maniac, which also pleased Tara.
“You haven’t?” Alaina asked. “I can’t believe that. After all these years, after what happened that last time, you still haven’t learned?”
Sakura felt her heart thumping faster. Oh, God! They were going to throw her into the pool like they had years ago, throwing her into the sea. If Daddy James hadn’t arrived on time, she would have drowned and died back then. But no one was here now. No one would hear her. No one would see her. She’d really die here if they did throw her into the pool.
She shook her head. “Don’t. Please don’t.”
Alaina shook her head and her lips turned downward, as if she were imitating Sakura. “Don’t? No, don’t. No, please.”
Tara couldn’t hide her excitement when she saw the wild look on Alaina’s face. “Throw her in, Alaina. Throw the bitch in.”
Alaina chuckled. “Time to go say hi to your maker,” she said to Sakura and forcefully shoved her back.
“No!” Sakura screamed as she fell backward into the deep pool, her hands reaching out for them to help her. All she could see, however, were Tara and Alaina standing there, smiling as they watched her struggling in the water.
Sakura felt suffocated, the water pulling her down, dragging her to her doom. She tried. Oh, how she tried to scream for help, but she was tired and her body was weak. She closed her eyes, knowing very well that this could be the end of her. Yes, it was the end of her.
“Mom,” she whispered for her mother, the woman she’d never met, the woman who had given her life. This was it. She would never meet her, and she felt rather sad about that. She closed her eyes and her body sank toward the bottom of the deep pool.