Hellish nightmare

As Kayla got home, the smile on her face turned sour. "Back to this hellish nightmare," she thought inwardly as she entered after paying the cab driver.

As she entered, she was confronted by Victoria, her stepmother, and Vidya, her stepsister, a pair created to frustrate her life. The suspense heightened as the tension in the room thickened.

Victoria, richly dressed, looked at Kayla with anger. "You have grown wings, where were you last night?" Victoria asked, her voice dripping with disdain.

Before Kayla could reply, Vidya, who wore an innocent facade, quickly interjected, "Mother, don't be too harsh on her. She just got a heartbreak. I am sure she is just recovering," Vidya said with a sly smile, hinting at a shared secret.

"Heartbreak? You dare go out with men?" Victoria asked, her voice filled with anger. She walked towards Kayla, her footsteps echoing ominously.

*Pa!* A loud slap struck Kayla's face, the suspense intensifying as the room fell into a tense silence.

The slap made her face red, and a palm print appeared on her cheek. Kayla held her cheek, tears streaming down her face.

"I would see how you will be able to seduce men like your bitch mother when I destroy your face," Victoria said with a chilling, sinister laugh. Her gaze remained fixed on Kayla, her eyes filled with a cold, calculating cruelty that sent shivers down Kayla's spine.

Kayla did not mind the abuse directed at her, but her anger flared when her mother was mentioned. She looked at Victoria with a newfound determination, her tears replaced by a fire of defiance burning in her eyes.

"Bastard, how dare you look at me that way?" Victoria asked, her rage boiling over as she launched another slap at Kayla. The suspense in the room was unbearable, and the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.

"What, your mother was a bitch and a witch who killed her own husband. Do you think a woman like her should exist? It's a good thing she escaped on time; otherwise, she would have rotted in jail," Victoria said, giving out a sinister laughter as she left the house. She strode to her black car, inherited from late Mr. White, leaving Kayla in a state of shock.

Hearing the harsh words about her mother was like a dagger in her heart. How she wished she could do something about it and prove her mother's innocence. The suspense and anger within her grew stronger as she was consumed by a burning desire for justice.

After the incident of her father's death, her mother disappeared without a trace, almost as if she no longer existed in this world. Kayla believed her mother was innocent, but without proof, they had labeled her as a bloodthirsty witch. This had caused severe trauma and psychological breakdown.

At the age of ten, she had grown up living in bitterness and a harsh reality. In school, no child wanted to be around her. No one wanted to risk being touched by the supposed witch. Kayla had grown up lonely until her best friend, Emily, came into her life.

Emily had been like an angel sent from heaven. Unlike other kids who had run away from her and even bullied her with harsh remarks and torture, Emily had comforted her and defended her.

"Are you done daydreaming?" Vidya asked as she walked towards Kayla with a mischievous smirk.

"Only two slaps? I am so disappointed," Vidya said with a disappointed look. She had been expecting more drama, which was why she had created the perfect opportunity to expose Kayla's secret, causing her to suffer more. But it seemed to her that Kayla had been lucky to get away with only two slaps.

"What did I ever do to you?" Kayla asked, her voice filled with bewilderment.

"What did you do? Why are you so pretty?" Vidya asked with a sneer.

"How dare you be prettier than me? I'll make you suffer for that," Vidya said with a malicious glint in her eye.

"Take," Vidya said, tossing a bunch of keys to Kayla.

"Mom said you should clean up her room," Vidya said as she stood up and left for her room.

Kayla picked up the keys and dragged herself to Victoria's room. She suspected Vidya was lying; Victoria had never allowed Kayla into her room before. Now, she was giving her the room key. The suspense was building as she wondered what Victoria's motives were.

As she entered Victoria's room, the sight was exhausting. The room was scattered with clothes pile everywhere.

Kayla sighed as she looked around the chaotic room. Cleaning up Victoria's room seemed like a deliberate act of cruelty, but she knew better than to argue or disobey. She began picking up the scattered clothes and tidying the room, trying her best to ignore the bitterness and humiliation that welled up within her.

As she worked, her mind wandered back to the cruel words her stepmother had spoken about her mother. It was a wound that had never truly healed. Kayla had always believed in her mother's innocence, and she desperately wanted to clear her name. The suspense in the room was unbearable as she contemplated her mother's fate.

After she finished cleaning up, a sense of weariness washed over her, but she couldn't shake the burning desire for justice. Her mother's honor and her own future were at stake.

With the room now tidy, Kayla's gaze wandered to a strange statue of a peacock in the small library within the room.

"What's that?" Kayla asked herself, her curiosity piqued.

This room had been her father's, but after he died, Victoria had taken over, restricting Kayla from ever entering. Kayla remembered the small peacock statue; it was the gift she had given her father on his birthday.

Seeing it again brought a sense of warmth, and she walked over to the small statue. As she picked it up, she noticed it was stuck to the wooden surface.

She struggled to remove it, and suddenly, a loud clicking sound was heard. The library opened, revealing a hidden passage.

"A secret passage?" Kayla asked herself inwardly, her heart racing with excitement and suspense. It was unlike anything she had ever seen, lavishly furnished and illuminated.

Kayla entered cautiously, the suspense thickening as she ventured deeper into the hidden passage, guided by a dim bulb for light.

She came to a small box, which she opened with ease, as it wasn't locked. Inside, she found some documents, and as she opened them, the first word she saw was boldly written: "My Will."

"Father's Will?" Kayla asked herself inwardly, her heart pounding.