The Mocked Miss’s Hidden Crowns novel Chapter 1

The front door of the old brick house swung open and a middle-aged woman with sun-darkened skin stomped out, hands planted on her hips. She tossed a faded backpack to the ground and started complaining under her breath.

“It’s already midday and there’s still no sign of them. Maybe they never wanted you in the first place.”

“All that talk about your family being rich. If they really had money, why haven’t they sent a single cent all these years?”

“If that stubborn old woman hadn’t threatened to die unless you stayed, I would’ve kicked you out a long time ago…”

“Ow!”

A stone flew from somewhere and hit Zoe right on the mouth, cutting her off mid-rant.

In the shadowy corner of the yard, a girl slowly lifted her head.

She wore a simple, pale dress, her figure slim and tall. Her lashes were long and dark, framing clear eyes that glimmered with a lazy kind of brightness. Her features were delicate, her face small and beautiful, cheeks with a natural flush. There was something about her that didn’t fit the countryside at all.

This was Charlotte. She was eighteen now.

When she was thirteen, she’d almost hurt someone badly. That was when the doctors diagnosed her with severe schizophrenia. Her family shipped her off to a sanatorium out here, deep in the countryside. Yesterday, out of the blue, her so-called family showed up, saying they were taking her home.

“I brought money with me when I first came here. You two took it. And this house—Grandma built it. She left it to me in her will…” Charlotte leaned against the wall, her voice flat, her face unreadable.

At her words, a nervous look flashed in Zoe’s eyes. She raised her voice. “What money? Who ever saw any money?”

“Ungrateful brat. You’ve lived here, eaten our food, and now you want to talk about inheritance?”

“Enough.”

Zoe kept going, but the man who’d been crouched near the door finally stood up. He walked over to Charlotte, picked up her backpack, and held it out to her. “You’ve had a hard time with us.”

“A hard time? How has she suffered?” Zoe shrieked, digging her fingers into her husband’s arm. “When her family gets here, you make sure they pay for all these years. We didn’t feed her for free.”

Right then, the sound of a car engine shutting off came from the front gate.

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