2 The ugly and the fool, two peas in a pod
2104 Words
Russel family.
Joanna Russel returned home right before lunch. Along the way, she succumbed to the memories from the previous night. She wished she could see that perfect man again, but she couldn’t. A gigolo like him could only make her suffer later.
Opening the front door, Joanna soon woke up from her fantasies when hearing a loud cry from inside. She immediately recognized the high-pitched, annoying voice of her elder sister. Well, step-sister actually. She always got what she wanted with a few sobs, so what could she possibly need right now that she was using her little trick to convince her parents?
“Mom, please! I don’t want to marry that ugly beast! His own servants say that he is so brutal and nasty that his sight will give you nightmares. If I wed him, you may as well consider me dead!” Liliana was actually crying her eyes out, desperate for mother to comfort her. She was shaking, her mascara had dripped all over her face from the heavy crying and her hair was all ravished, as if someone had pulled her locks in a fight. Seeing her, one may believe she is the monster of the city.
Well, except for her parents. To them, Liliana would always be their precious little princess.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart! Mom will find a way out! You won’t have to marry the ugly Brown.” Angela, Liliana’s mother and Joanna’s stepmother, was adamant about finding a way to save her only real daughter. Her eyebrows turned into a deep frown and she was weighing in all the options. Suddenly, her eyes lit up at the sight of Joanna coming into the living room!
“Fool! You’re home! What a sight for sore eyes! Care to share with us where have you been? Your beloved family is tormented by drama and there you were, out, gazing at God knows what?”
Liliana eyed Angela incredulously. Since when did it matter if the bastard daughter of her father came home or not? Her mother knew very well she wished she never saw the daughter of the woman who disgraced her family again.
When she was just a baby, Harry Russel wanted to end his marriage with her mother, as he fell in love with another woman. Everyone still remembered the huge scandal as Angela was trying to keep her marriage afloat for her little girl while her husband knocked up someone else.
Eventually, the man gave up on love in favor of his daughter, Liliana, the light of his life, and returned home, to Angela. He promised he would never do anything to hurt their feelings again but, when Joanna was orphaned, he had no choice but to step up and take her in.
Angela resented that. She only agreed to take Joanna in her house for fear of what people would think if she denied, but she hated the little girl with all her strength. Eventually, she began influencing her own daughter, making her pick on Joanna and humiliating her.
As Harry was almost all day long at work, Joanna was always at the mercy of Angela and her evil spawn, Liliana. They tormented the little girl, called her names and even made her work and eat in the kitchen with the maids.
“Hey, blockhead! Come here!” Liliana made no effort to hide her disdain towards her step-sister. She always saw her as a klutz.
Joanna was in no mood for Liliana’s little games, but she complied as per always. By a chance opportunity in her childhood, Joanna had started her own game years ago. She pretended to be shy and frightened by her sister, so she would leave her alone. Timidly walking past Lili, Joanna bumped into their piano.
“Are you frickin’ blind?” Liliana was enraged and raised her hand to slap Joanna. She couldn’t believe that one could be so oblivious to everything. How could she not see the huge piano in the middle of the room?
Joanna got down on her knees, asking for forgiveness. She knew that if she didn’t do so, she would suffer later. There were many bruises on her body, witnesses to the women’s malice. Over the years she had learned to use tons of foundation to cover them when leaving the house. Thank god for transfer resistant foundation!
The truth is, she wanted nothing more than to teach those hags a lesson, but this wasn’t the time. Her life was still in their hands, and she needed to keep up with her pretense of being the family’s fool.
Angela, who had watched and enjoyed the scene, adjusted her dress and gave her daughter a pointed look. Liliana was dumbfounded for a second but soon she understood what her mother was silently implying. ‘Mom. you’re a genius!’
Instead of slapping Joanna, Liliana changed her disdain expression into a compassionate one.
“Tell me, sis! Where do you see yourself in a few years? Don’t you want to have fun and enjoy life?” Liliana was talking to Joanna while patting her head like a master caressing his pet.
“Of course!” Jo answered while also nodding her head.
“Don’t you dream about marrying a hot guy one day? Maybe even fall in love?”
“Of course!”
“Then, we have an understanding. You will marry Brown’s son for me, won’t you, sis?”
“Wwhhaatt?” Joanna started stuttering. She couldn’t believe her ears! She may act like a fool, but she surely wasn’t one. “Nnno!”
“Say what?” Liliana didn’t have much patience with her step sister. She grabbed a fist full of the girl’s hair and pulled hard. “I dare you to say that again!”
“Ppplease! No marriage! He ugly!”
At this point Liliana was laughing.
“You think you’re too good for him because he’s ugly? You are fool and he is a beast! A match made in Heaven! Or Hell, I should say!”
Suddenly, the front door could be heard, so Angela widened her eyes and motioned for Liliana to take action. The girl immediately released Joanna’s hair from her grip, grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the couch, sitting her right next to some comfy pillows.
The Russel precious daughter laid down on the couch with her head on Joanna’s lap and started sobbing heavily. The girl was a good actress! She could easily cry on command! In mere seconds, Harry Russel entered the living room, his eyes fixated on his precious baby, Liliana.
The girl sat up instantly and ran in her father’s arms. Her cry seemed so desperate that Harry dropped his suitcase from his hands and embraced his offspring. Angela put on a vicious grin, truly proud of her daughter and slowly approached her family.
“Harry, our daughter is so sad it breaks my heart!” She started weeping as well, pretending to wipe away inexistent tears with her tissue.
“What happened?” The man’s gaze never left his daughter, his concern for her was real.
“Daddy! Pleeease! You know I’ve never dated anyone, let alone sleep with a boy!”
Joanna mentally rolled her eyes hearing her step sister’s words. She was the town’s slut! Ever since she turned eighteen she slept around with guys with social status, hoping that one of them would help her become a big television star.
Liliana stopped sobbing and continued with her pleading speech.
“How can I marry a beast, daddy? My life would be over! I can’t wed that ugly Brown guy!”
“Harry, do you have anything to say regarding this matter?” Harry’s mind went bonkers hearing his wife’s voice. He knew that she only asked him out of courtesy, as Angela always did whatever she wanted. Harry may be the head of the family, but she was the mastermind behind all decisions.
“The Brown family’s net worth is over fifty million dollars. Even if Brown’s young son is ugly and pitiful, our daughter must marry him. Hell, even if he is a murderer and has urges to go on killing sprees, we won’t back down! Our daughter will be his wife!” For the first time ever, Harry used such harsh words when speaking to his wife. The union between the two families was imperative, and he knew that.
“Exactly, Harry! Our daughter must marry that insane man. But, don’t we have two daughters?” Angela finished her sentence speaking slowly, but clearly. It didn’t take long for Harry to understand what his wife was implying.
Liliana rejoiced in her mother’s words. They had the loophole they needed to let her out of wedlock and get rid of the fool. A moronic grin spread all over her face.
“Daddy, doesn’t my sister deserve a good life as well? We have given her a lifetime of family love and affection, it’s time she had her own family.” She pulled her father down on the couch, gently caressing his arm. “Please, dad! For her, for Joanna. That Warren guy may be ugly, but he can take good care of her. It’s her only chance at happiness!”
“Do you think the Brown family would accept the family’s spare? The fool daughter, no less.” Harry was pondering whether Angela’s idea was good or not. On the one hand, his beloved daughter would be saved, but on the other hand, they risked facing the wrath of the Brown family if things could go wrong.
“The Brown family asked for our daughter’s hand in marriage, but they hadn’t been specific on which girl they preferred.” Angela was very proud of her plan. “After all, Joanna should be grateful for being offered such a chance. She is such a fool, that no man will ever be drawn to her. Not even the ugly beast.”
“Please, daddy, pretty please!” She batted her fake eyelashes at her father and used her squeaky voice and that seemed to do the trick!
“All right then. If Joanna agrees, she will be the one to marry the Brown son.”
Harry finally gave in.
“Jo, honey! Let’s face it! You’re not very pretty and you’re not very bright. Just take this opportunity!” Angela used a sweet voice but it sounded more like she spit the words out. She really hated talking to the girl.
“Jojo! Listen to your daddy, princess! You know I want what’s best for you and money… I mean your future is very important! This union is necessary for our family! Plus it’s better to be a rich fool than a poor one!”
“Sis! Please!”
Liliana stood, grabbed Joanna’s hands, pulled her for a close embrace and added in a slow voice, so Harry couldn’t hear her.
“b***h, if you don’t do this, I swear to God, your life so far would seem like Heaven on Earth compared to what I’ve prepared for you! I’ll bring you Hellfire and torture beyond compare!”
Liliana pulled away from their embrace, smiling innocent and blinking sheepishly. There was silence for few minutes. No one talked, everyone waited for Joanna’s response.
The girl pondered, her entire life flashing before her eyes. She remembered the day Angela called her mother a slut, the times when she was sent to bed without eating dinner even though she helped in the kitchen, the times when she watched her sister receive nice things and all she got was terrible scolding.
Then, looking at Liliana, she reminisced the times when she humiliated her, making her eat candy tossed on the floor, the times when she slapped her, pushed her and pulled her hair.
She finally had her decision. It didn’t matter if the beastly son of the Brown family was horrendous. As long as she could get away from this house and family, she would embrace her future.
“Okay... I will marry the ugly guy….”
The happy family of three let out satisfied smiles, no longer focusing their attention on the family fool. As if celebrating a festive event, they even called upon the maids to bring them champagne!
Clenching her fists, Joanne quietly slipped away, back into the shadows as she ‘ought’ to belong
‘Enjoy the party while it lasts! I promise you, Mommy and Sis, I will make you pay for each and every one of my tears! My revenge will hit you hard!’
- Writer
