Chapter 3: Slaps and Shifting Alliances

“No, it’s not…” Piper’s voice was a whisper, her cheeks burning with shame.

Around us, the other girls exchanged looks, some trying to hide their smirks. Only Lily dared to speak out: “Piper, you disrespected the first lady and lied—a serious offense! Staff, escort her out and punish her!”

Piper stood frozen, disbelief etched on her face. She didn’t even struggle when the staff grabbed her arms, only started to panic when they dragged her away. “Let me go, let me go!”

For the first time, Piper tasted real fear. She began to understand what power meant in this world.

I stepped forward and curtsied to the first lady. “Ma’am, Piper just returned from the countryside and hasn’t learned proper etiquette. If she offended you today, please let her off this time.”

The first lady wouldn’t really have Piper punished too harshly. Piper was the Whitmores’ biological daughter, and hurting her would cause problems for everyone. Allowing Lily to punish Piper was just a way to scare her, calm her anger, and assert authority. My plea wasn’t really for Piper—it was to give the first lady a dignified way out.

“Ma’am, I’ll never do it again.” Piper sobbed, her bravado gone.

“For Marissa’s sake, and the Whitmores’, I’ll spare you today. But Piper, even if you were a country girl before, now that you’re back, you must act like a young lady. Take her out and teach her a lesson.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” I nodded, hiding my satisfaction.

Piper didn’t dare resist anymore. Compared to being ruined, this was mercy.

After Piper was led away, I exchanged a glance with Lily. First round: a complete victory.

After the punishment, I returned to the Whitmore estate with Piper, whose pride was in tatters. She lay pale and silent in the car, staring out the window as if the world had ended.

Suddenly, she gritted her teeth and turned to me. “Marissa, what’s your secret?!”

She couldn’t figure out how her plan had gone so wrong.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I kept my tone flat.

“Are you a time traveler too?” she pressed, voice shrill.

“What?” I feigned confusion, as if the idea was ridiculous. I’d never let her know the truth, never give her a reason to try to take me down again.

“Otherwise, how could you know all those poems and songs?!” Piper looked ready to lunge at me.

“Oh, you mean that poetry collection? I found it on the road and thought it was well written, so I kept it. Why, is it yours?” I raised my eyebrows, innocent as could be.

“You—you actually claimed something you found as your own?!” Piper’s voice trembled with fury.

Her anger only made her bruises throb harder.

“Aren’t you the same?”

“You!”

“You’d better keep quiet. You’re already in rough shape.” I glanced at her, shaking my head in fake sympathy.

Piper’s face twisted with rage. But she couldn’t say another word.

When we arrived home, my parents were waiting on the front steps. The sight of Piper’s miserable state made them gasp. She was carried upstairs, sobbing as the nurse dabbed ointment on her bruises.

I stood back, arms crossed, watching the drama. Looking at her wounded pride, I finally felt a bit of justice.

“Dad, Mom, it’s all because of Marissa that I ended up like this!” Piper suddenly wailed, turning the blame on me.

I dropped to my knees instantly. “Dad, Mom, I did not.”

“Still denying it? If not for your poetry collection, how could I have been punished by the first lady?”

“But I gave it to the first lady before you recited your poems. How could I have known you’d copy from it…”

“How can you call it copying?”

“Enough!” My father’s voice boomed through the hallway. “I know everything you did to offend the first lady. I thought you’d learn your lesson after being punished, but you still haven’t learned your lesson and even blame Marissa. If Marissa hadn’t pleaded for you, do you think you’d still be here?”