1 Breakfast Quarrel

Thana takes a quick-paced stroll in London's streets. It is her usual morning getaway from the conflicted place that she could have dared to call home. The breakfast quarrel loomed over her head, and it had bothered her so much that she could scare anyone that passed her with the deep scowl on her face.

As always, her obnoxious step-sisters find ruining her mood to be their best hobby despite how untalented they can be. And as the dogs kept barking nonsense too early, she decided to lose her appetite and gave them her teeth.

"Thana, I heard you called it off with Joshua, or was it the other way round?" Isla batted her fake lashes, seemingly acting innocent with hidden malicious intent.

"How upsetting, wasn't he the only lad generous enough to lend you attention because everyone fears your face? I guess he wasn't as charitable as I thought he was," Charlotte seconds, chuckling below the napkin as she covers her mouth.

What a brat.

"No one, I believe, would ever date anyone as less attractive as her," as if pretending to be unaware of the steaming head of their sister, Isla bravely attempted to aggravate her further, "poor Joshua could not handle the mortification of her face!"

The room erupted with sickening laughter of two vicious ladies whose enjoyment they obtained by exploiting others with bashful words. Despite how spiteful Thana's step-sisters can be, they seem to let the thought slip from their minds.

Thana does not tolerate their nonsense, and she is not afraid to claw their eyes out.

The step-sisters will be finding themselves in an untimely situation since today marks the calendar of Thana's monthly menarches. And as everyone knows how women can be when the monthly curse threatens them, they bring the curse to the world.

"Hoodrats. Do you think that I'd never know of your weekly endeavors with Joshua?"

Isla and Charlotte gasped simultaneously, together with their hands holding their chest most artificially, like their faces. They turn at each other before one speaks up, "you're pushing the blame on us? Why should we feed on your leftovers? We don't want to touch anything that belongs to you; you're filthy."

"You still dare spout lies? Let's see you eat your words then."

Thana pulled out her phone from her pocket, harshly tapping on it with her newly trimmed nails before showing the picture to her step-sisters caught in action. The image on the screen shows the loving kiss that Joshua and Charlotte shared outside a cafe. Coincidentally enough, it's the cafe that Thana loves to visit often.

It's as if they really wished for her to find out about their shady business.

The room erupted with unbelievable gasps, while Charlotte looked rather fascinated with the picture. Isla, on the other hand, froze on her seat upon seeing the following image. It was Joshua and her becoming heated inside her mini cooper vehicle. Isla's top goes above her bra, her hair messier than Einsteins'.

"Receipts? I have them," Thana smiled proudly.

"I left him because I don't like having someone infected by whores. You've been eating after my leftovers, are you proud of that? I'm feeling rather generous, so put Joshua to your use; he's all yours. Wait, he already is."

Isla stood from her seat, outraged by Thana's ruthless words. She points her long bony finger as she always does, "watch your horrid mouth beast; you're only here because my father feels every bit of remorse for you."

"Your father begged me to stay with him in this mansion. If only I knew that I would be staying with obnoxious rats, then I would have rather stayed in New York."

Thana was fuming mad that her emotions were on a rollercoaster, but she doesn't let it show on her face. She made sure that her words were loud and clear and sharp enough to pierce through her step-sister's fake chests.

But she wanted to take it back as soon as she realized the flaws in her statement. Maybe she would have thought about her words more carefully before spitting them out.

There's no more chance that she could rewind time and take it back when Charlotte got the idea, making her face twist into a terrible scowl. She mentally scolded herself for letting them have the upper hand.

"Right! It would be best if you had stayed in New York with your abusive mother that caused your face to look like that," Charlotte shakily shifts her pointed finger toward Thana's face. Her face twisted into a smirk, disgust written all over Charlotte's eyes as she stared at Thana.

"You don't deserve to be in this household. Go back to your drunkard mother; we don't want you here!" Isla screamed from the opposite side of the table. Shrieking enough for glasses to shatter.

Did Thana flinch? Her step-sisters knew that bringing up Thana's painful past will make her speechless. As a result, they would win the dispute.

Wrong.

Their eyes went wide, seeing Thana smiling instead. Isla's lips quivered, and Charlotte tightened her grip on the dining table upon realizing that they had failed. They wondered why that didn't affect her as it did before but little did they know; it was not the reason why Thana was smiling.

She stared at the clock while she counted the seconds in her mind.

"Charlotte, Isla, watch your horrid mouths!"

A man in his late forties arrived to join his dear daughters for breakfast. He hoped for an excellent start to his day before going on his long business trip, but it was unachievable to his dismay.

Hopes are shattered in the household.

Both Charlotte and Isla stood from their seats as they started to tremble in fear. They would dare disappoint anyone but their father, the only person that would provide them with all the luxury in the world. Where else would they go when they need new nails or the latest bag releases.

"Daddy! Thana started it; she made us!" Isla exclaimed with a loud voice that shattered Thana's eardrums and made her cringe.

"She called us names first; you know we would never start a fight!" Charlotte followed, whiny as always.

"My goodness, my head. It hurts from all your pitiful and fraudulent remarks. I'm out of here," Thana groaned, massaging her temples too violently that her head might crack at how forced she pushes with her fingers.

Thana dragged the chair loudly, making a cringing sound as she stood abruptly. Despite her father coming to her rescue, he's so much more useless by scolding her step-sisters at this moment but only to pamper them again later.

For all she knows, her father only pretended to care about her. His pity and the demand of his sister, Thana's aunt, to save her from her mother's abuse is what made Thana arrive in this stinking home.

"Where do you think you're going, Thana. I shall want to have breakfast with all my daughters before I go on a long trip. Please, daughters, cooperate," the man grumbled, pulling his chair rather grimly.

"I hope you accept disappointment because a nice and quiet breakfast with your daughters will never happen. I certainly can't sit and pretend that I enjoy seeing plastic faces in front of me," Thana spat without holding herself back, and despite knowing this will only bring her father closer to the edge of disowning her.

"Thana-" the man warned, coming to his last and final straw. He wonders where he went wrong, and the gods would give him this much difficulty to care for his daughters.

"Pardon me."

Thana left without waiting for her father's response. She's got away as always, and it shouldn't be a new scene for any of them. But she wondered why her father looked determined to gather the entire family this morning. The way he shouted her name to bring her back confused and amazed her in many ways.

Why was he pretending to care now? Why was he acting as if he had a perfect family?

"A bunch of pretenders, it's sickening," Thana mumbled to herself, seeing the door to her freedom nearing her reach.