Chapter 19: A Greedy Cindrella
He kept staring at her. If only she would apologize and tell him the reason! He would understand, he would help her. But… her eyes were cold and full of scorn as if he was a mistake.
"Yes, you are! But my daughter is not." The cold reply raged her further as she scoffed and looked away. The carriage was filled with silence again except the random questions of the young girl when she saw something interesting from the window.
"Are those apples on the tree? But they are green!"
"Yes, they are precious. Apples can be red, yellow and green. I will give you a green apple to taste when we reach the palace." he offered, for which she smiled and leaned on his chest again.
He handled most of her questions with the same smile making Cassey confused and hurt.
—-
When the carriage stopped in front of the large palace, it was already past midnight. The girl was sleeping on the broad shoulders of her father.
Cassey felt strange standing between the garden she had created once. The flowers had changed. She had preferred daffodils and sunflowers but the whole garden is full of roses of different colors.
Whole staff was standing with their heads bowed in front of the entrance. She knew the butler, Edgar, the head maid Agatha but the rest of the staff was new.
When they looked at her, their eyes filled with surprise but then they turned cold, just like Tyrone. The head maid had cared for her like her mother, yet she resented her return. Cassey felt wounded, humiliated and scared as she walked in.
The palace was exactly as she remembered, grand and majestic, it was huge with the panoramic views of mountains behind it. It used to be her home. It still felt like one.
"Is this?" Agatha asked with shock as she stared at the small creature snuggled in the arms of Tyrone.
"She is my daughter." his face filled with tender warmth while many gasped.
"Oh good lord! Congratulations to your highness. I am truly happy for you." The old woman could not help but come closer and took Penny in her arms.
"I have always prayed that I will be the one to take care of your kids before retiring like I have taken care of yours." she smiled as she touched the cheeks of Penny who wriggled and tried to lean on her chest.
"She is clingy! Just like you used to be." Tyrone smiled as he walked in.
"Make sure that she does not have trouble here. No one would refuse her for anything and she must be guarded by two knights wherever she goes." Cassey was completely deserted by the maids and Tyrone as they walked away only talking about Penny as if she was the only one who had come back.
Cassey was wandering around listlessly before finding herself back in her room. He had not changed it at all. Everything was still exactly the same that surprised her looking at the condition of the garden and the grand hall that was redecorated as if he did not want her traces in the palace.
But.. though the room was clean, it felt unused. It felt like he had not set foot in the room for the last three years. The room contained so many memories, they had spent hours in it, making love and snuggling to each other. This was the room where they spent their last night together.
Her eyes flooded with tears and she covered her face with her hands. The memories that used to be so beautiful stung her like a sharp needle pierced in her heart.
"You can take this room." she jumped and swung around. She was so lost in her memories that it took her a few seconds to realize that the time was already gone.
Agatha was staring at her with a stoic face.
"Master did not live in this room anymore. So you can stay here." She repeated slowly, "I will ask the maids to bring your luggage here." she added when Cassey started to wipe her tears, "or you do not have it like before!"
"......." like before! The words stung her heart but they were true. She was Cinderella in rags. She was born and brought up in an orphanage with nothing on her name. She never got the chance to be adopted and when she turned sixteen, she had to leave the roof.
She had only started working in the boutique for a year when she had met Tyrone! She was barely meeting her ends, so when he married her, she did not even have money for her wedding dress, forget about jewels and dowry. But he was kind enough to prepare everything for her. He had never made her feel that she lacked anything.
And this lady… she had made sure that her every need was met. She was treated like royalty by always assuring her that she did not need to worry about materialistic things. What matters was.. She had brought happiness with her.
And now that very same person was looking at her with disgust!!
"Agatha, i…" she choked.
"Princess had woken up from her sleep and she was confused because of the new place. Master is asking for your presence!" Agatha did not give any response to her tears, in her eyes, they were fake. She was a great con artist! She had fooled all of them in the past and she was never going to be a victim of her crocodile tears again.
She looked at the woman with ridicule! Amazed at her bravery to return back and still behaving like a victim instead of apologizing to their master.
And she felt bad for her master who was still trying to share the space with a woman who destroyed him.
"You should be ashamed!" she could not help but curse. She had promised herself that she would not react, would not care but now.. She only felt her soul burning looking at the vulnerable state of the woman.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone