Bullied Cinderella (Olive Skin Devils Book 2) Read online

  That was the most annoying part about Lucia. She wasn’t all smiley and giggly and easy like the other female staff that fawned over me and my cousins. No, Lucia was stone cold and quiet. She kept her head down and focused on her work, or at least pretended to while I was breathing down her neck. For all my provocations, she wouldn’t give in to an inch of flirting. She never gave into much of anything at all. She didn’t even back down from my threats or arguments.

  It was all really annoying the more I thought about it. So, good. I was glad she was gone. I idly picked up a few nearby sticks from my bench and chucked them across the garden lawn.

  “Good riddance!” I shouted as they flew through the air.

  I imagined each one was Lucia, flying away like a bird being chased with a gun. I thought it would make me feel better, maybe even laugh a little. But it only seemed to darken my spirits even more.

  I slumped down in my seat and looked around with a bitter expression. One of the gardeners was standing nearby frozen with an empty water can in midair, staring at me with wide and startled eyes.

  “Get back to work!” I ordered him with a vicious growl.

  6

  Lucia

  As I smoothed my hands across my custom made dress and studied my reflection, it was hard to believe just how far I had come from the hideous brown uniform I was used to wearing every day at the Valencia estate. My sisters and I were getting ready for the monthly high society party that was thrown to welcome new landowners, and we were the guests of honor.

  I was left speechless after Jada explained everything that had happened since I left. Our estranged American father was ill and wanted to meet us before he died. Elaina went to the states with them, and they stayed with him until he passed away. I was heartbroken that I didn’t have the chance to meet him and make my peace with his absence from our lives before then.

  It only made my hatred for Leonardo and his cousins burn deeper. Elaina was allowed to write letters home and take phone calls. We were meant to be employees, not slaves. In addition to everything else they had done to me, I now had my missed opportunity to meet my father to add to my list of reasons for despising them.

  The only thing that soothed my passionate disgust for them was knowing that in just a few hours, I could begin the quest of vengeance I had vowed to carry out against them.

  Apparently, Elaina had found more than just money at her placement as a veterinarian on a horse ranch. She had fallen in love with one of the brothers - Marco. Jada suspected she was also in love with the other brother, Felix. She thought perhaps the three of them had some kind of arrangement, but we didn’t dare bring it up and risk our mother hearing about anything like that.

  Before he died, our father had purchased the property next to Marco and Felix’s. With the land she owned and the money we all inherited, Elaina had acquired the financial status she needed to marry Marco. They married very quickly because she was expecting. My heart ached even more to know I missed hearing the news of her pregnancy along with Jada and our mother, and that I missed her wedding on top of that. Each new bit of news about what I had missed just added salt to the wound, and that only motivated my vengeance more.

  “You look beautiful,” Elaina gushed over my shoulder as she marveled at my dress in the mirror.

  We had been closer than ever since I found them. After I was gone for so long, she had started to wonder if she would ever see me again. And her heart was plagued with guilt. She blamed herself for what I had experienced because of the lie she told in her letter about her placement not being so bad. Of course, hers ended up really not being bad at all. It led her to finding love. But she still hadn’t forgiven herself for feeling like me fleeing to the auction was all her fault.

  Every time she looked at me, I could see the pain in her eyes...Like she didn’t think she would ever fully make it up to me. I squeezed her hands around my shoulders and smiled. She couldn’t fully know just how glorious I was about to feel.

  I knew Leonardo, Jorge, and Dario would all be attending the landowners’ party. Their mother never let them miss the opportunity to meet a high-class woman with money who was suitable to marry one of them. None of them suspected that I would be the one strolling in as a guest of honor. I was one of them now, and I couldn’t wait to relish in how much they would hate that fact. The looks on their faces would only be the beginning. I had money and some status now, and I was going to use it to my advantage in getting back at them.

  Our mother had been feeling much better after getting the best medical treatment we could now afford, and the fresh air of the countryside seemed to be good for her. But she still decided to stay home from the party.

  “I’m much too old to be galavanting around at these things,” she told us with a flustered smile. “You girls go and have fun.”

  Jada, Elaina, and I hugged her and exchanged a look. Oh, we were going to have fun alright. They knew all about my plot for revenge against the cousins, and they were excited to watch it go down. Elaina had already dipped her toes in the waters of the affluent circles of landowners and swore that the introduction from her Perez brothers would only make the cousins squirm even more under the light of our newly acquired place in their world.

  As we made our way over to the party, my heart was pounding with joy but I also had a nervous pang in the pit of my stomach about seeing the cousins again. The Perez brothers were hosting, and it was an especially prominent affair since they had spent the last few years being highly unsocial. Things changed when they met Elaina, and everyone was bustling to enjoy themselves at the lavish bash being thrown on their ranch.

  We were escorted across the garden to the tables and tents, and I couldn’t believe that just months ago I was toiling away inside the Valencia estate watching events just like this one take place from afar. All those nights I spent missing home, watching the laughing guests out the window, I never once dreamed I would be attending one in my life...much less so soon, and under the perfect circumstances to throw it right in Leonardo’s face.

  I stopped my sisters and nodded my head towards the cousins seated at their table, waiting for everything to begin. I intentionally wanted to stay out of sight until we were introduced. Elaina and Jada took note of who they were and shot me devilish grins. I glared at them from hiding and felt my body flush with renewed anger. Everything in me squirmed with the need for revenge, only now I finally had the means to carry it out. I was no longer powerless and at their mercy, and I intended to make good use of it.

  “Right this way,” Marco directed us. He took us to the side of the stage and prepared for our introduction.

  I loved seeing the way Elaina lit up around them. Both Marco and Felix were tall, strong, and impossibly handsome. My heart panged with a longing to find love for myself, but if I couldn’t find romance in my placement through the auction...the happiness I would get from my revenge would have to suffice. I imagined myself lighting up just like Elaina as my plans were carried out.

  Marco and Felix took turns making a speech to the audience of rich landowners while we waited on the sidelines. Elaina and Jada locked their hands tightly with mine in anticipation. My heart was pounding with excitement as I stayed hidden behind them, keeping a close watch on Leonardo, Jorge, and Dario.

  Elaina took the stage first, being introduced as Marco’s new wife. Then finally, the moment came when Marco announced my name. I was filled to the brim with pride and satisfaction as the wave of shock crashed over the cousins’ faces. Felix held out a hand to Jada, then to me, and paraded us across the stage while everyone applauded. The cousins did not clap. They were too paralyzed from my big reveal.

  Leo’s expression was particularly entertaining. He looked like he had seen a ghost with his gaping mouth and wide eyes. Even from the stage, I felt like I could see the sweat pooling on his hands that he kept clasped and wringing together in his lap. His usual cocky, open stance had been sucked right out of him, and he couldn’t seem to look anywhere but at me.


  I held my head high and smiled ear to ear. I had never felt so beautiful and confident as I did at that moment. I never would have dreamed my sisters and I would have come so far, much less that I’d have the pleasure of knowing how it tore the cousins up inside to see me intrude their beloved world of the wealthy that they used to think I had no place in.

  After the introduction, Elaina and Marco led everyone out onto the dance floor. Jada and I were handed off to two very rich and handsome guests for the first dance. The man I was paired off with was almost as gorgeous as Marco, and he was an excellent dancer. Every so often I would cut my eyes over to Leonardo just long enough to delight in the way he squirmed and sulked in his seat. He didn’t bother getting up to join in on the dancing.

  After a few songs, I excused myself from my dance partner and took the opportunity to mingle with everyone. They were all very friendly and eager to meet the beautiful, young new landowners. As I talked with each of them, I didn’t dare tell the full extent of what I endured at the Valencia estate or the whole story of what my place was there. But I never missed the opportunity to mention that I knew how horribly they treated their employees.

  Each time I mentioned it, no one seemed surprised. I suspected it had been a topic of gossip for a while, but now I could confirm it was true. And every time the people I talked to would shoot subtle looks of disapproval over to Leonardo. His cheeks turned bright red with anger, but I just smiled more.

  The looks between me and Leonardo grew less subtle as the evening went on and he continued drinking himself silly. The short flashes turned to long murderous glares. The angrier and more depressed he looked, the happier I became.

  Soon, we returned to dancing, and as I switched partners, I was surprised to see a familiar face cut in. Dario grabbed my hand and pulled me along the dance floor. He smiled back at me as if nothing bad had ever gone down between us. The last thing I wanted was to be twirling around with him, but pulling away would only cause a scene. Besides, the sight of us dancing with our fingers laced together seemed to enrage Leonardo even more, so I decided to tolerate it.

  “Well, I see you’re doing quite well for yourself these days,” he smiled awkwardly as we continued dancing. “Considering that the last time I saw you, I was pulling you out of the barn and rushing you off onto the back of the horse cart.”

  “Without a penny of the money I earned,” I scoffed resentfully.

  “I can see that it’s paid back to you.”

  I proudly tilted my chin into the air as our palms pressed together. “I don’t need it now. Keep it.”

  His cheeks turned a little pink while he struggled to find the appropriate words, but I think we both knew there wasn’t much he could say to make up for how I had been treated.

  “I wanted to apologize to you. It was unfair that you were accused of something you didn’t do and treated the way you were. I’ve worried about you ever since. I’m glad that you’re okay.”

  I carried on with the spectacle of our dance, not saying a word. I wasn’t going to say all was forgiven, because it wasn’t. But the look on Leonardo’s face combined with Dario’s humbled stuttering was soothing my wounds quite a bit.

  “Don’t you have anything you’d like to say to me?” He asked after a while.

  “Like what?”

  He shrugged. “A thank you, maybe? I did save you after all.”

  With that, I jerked my hands away from his and answered sternly. “Oh, I should thank you for tossing me into a horse cart in the middle of the night and sending me off with a stranger!?”

  He didn’t say it, but I could see he was obviously thinking - yes, I should thank him for that. I couldn’t stand the sight of him anymore and stormed off to find another drink. It was exhilarating to not have to worry about being polite or cordial to them anymore if I didn’t want to. I wasn’t their employee anymore. Now, we were equals, and I could treat them however I wanted to.

  My spat with Dario sent me back into my quest of subtly talking trash about the Valencia cousins to the other landowners. I’d squeeze in whatever disdainful remarks I could here and there and feel giddy inside with how they looked over at Leonardo and the others like they had some kind of infectious disease. Elaina, Jada, and I were all young and beautiful and highly respected because of our affiliation with the Perez brothers. If the popular girls weren’t fond of the Valencias, everyone else was inclined to agree.

  There were a number of handsome and eligible men at the event. Getting married off was the furthest thing from my mind given our newly gained independent wealth, but I noticed how Leonardo winced whenever he saw me flirting with them. So I made a big show out of it just to torture him.

  I was talking to one particularly tall, rich, and charming man, laughing very loudly at something he said when Leo finally got fed up. I could see him charging towards us through the corner of my eye. It seemed he had one too many drinks, and I could smell the liquor on his breath from two feet away. The other gentleman excused himself, leaving me and Leo alone as he swayed and slurred in front of me.

  “Care to dance?” he asked, even though that portion of the evening was obviously over.

  “Even if people were still dancing, I think you’d fall over and probably drag me down with you.” I eyed him up and down as he wobbled on his feet.

  He let out a snarky laugh. “I’m impressed with you, Lucia Chavez.”

  “Is that so?” I raised a brow, bracing myself for what he might say next. His tone insinuated he wasn’t impressed at all.

  “Oh yes,” he nodded and hiccuped. “I’m impressed by how underneath that expensive dress and all that fancy makeup, you are still just as ugly, irrelevant, and low-class as you have always been!”

  He seemed quite pleased with himself and the little blow, but his drunkenness made the delivery of it a lot less impactful. I could have slapped him across the face, but I imagined my gossip about him to all of his rich friends was enough damage for the evening. The rest, he’d take care of himself by being three sheets to the wind. I smiled back at him, looking completely unphased, and spun around on my heels to prance away, still holding my head high.

  7

  Leonardo

  I slowly wake up to what quickly becomes the most blistering hangover I had experienced to date. My stomach churned, my head was pounding, my eye sockets ached...the total package. I very carefully flung the covers off and moved my legs to the edge of the bed. I let out a low roaring grumble of agony and shuffled across my room to throw on a robe.

  The only thing motivating me was the smell of eggs and bacon wafting from the kitchen. I knew my mother and cousins would be gathered around the table to eat, and while I didn’t want to see or talk to anyone, I knew I needed food. And a few gallons of water.

  As I splashed some water on my face, it all started coming back to me. The monthly landowner’s party the night before. Lucia Chavez. That dress she wore. How snide she was. The way she was obviously talking trash about us to everyone who gave her the chance. Oh...and then the things I said. I was proud of that, right? That I got in some jab back at her at least? But I could barely remember her response, and that made the thrill of it less satisfying.

  How the hell did she turn things around for herself so fast anyway? To go from one of our servants to owning land right next to us in such a short amount of time was no small feat. She hadn’t married and wasn’t promised to anyone. The Perez brothers may have done well for themselves, but it was hard to believe they’d float both of Elaina’s sisters and their mother so extravagantly. A guest house in the back of the property, maybe. But a whole damn estate and hacienda? It was unheard of.

  Dario and Jorge were wondering the same things as I joined them around the breakfast table. I barely listened to their obnoxious chatter as I piled my plate high with biscuits, eggs, gravy, bacon, sausage...anything and everything to soak up the alcohol still sloshing around in my gut. I didn’t know how they had made it through the evening without drowni
ng themselves in booze, but they were obviously faring better than I was. And of course, our mother looked smug and fresh as ever, having not bothered to attend the party at all. Or if she did, she popped by for a quick hello just for appearances, and then left.

  “She was hardly recognizable,” Dario marveled.

  Mother chimed back over her morning tea. “Who’s that dear?”

  “Lucia Chavez. Grandfather’s old caregiver.”

  “Oh, do we really have to keep talking about that dreadful girl? She stole from us like most employees are want to do, and you three threw her out. Rightly so.”

  We shot each other glances around the table. We had managed to keep Don German’s peanut incident a secret from her. If she knew, she’d never leave him again, and we thrived on those breaks from her presence. Regardless, it seemed if she had made an appearance the night before, she missed Lucia’s grand reveal.

  “She’s much more than some lowly servant now,” Jorge grumbled. “She was the guest of honor last night. She somehow managed to buy a plot of land nearby. Parts of it line up with our property, as it so happens.”

  Mother froze for a brief second, hiding the full extent of her shock. But she was quick to brush it off. “New money,” she scoffed. “Well, nevermind her all the same. She’s still a lowly servant in my book. No amount of money can change that. Only good breeding and being raised in a good family can make a person worth anything.”

  Jorge and Dario ignored her and continued going on and on about Lucia’s sudden transformation into a high-society woman. I knew if they kept on, it would only make mom lecture them more. I didn’t want to hear any of it. I had scarfed down my food too quickly and was feeling sick. I didn’t bother getting fully dressed before excusing myself to the garden for a walk. I traipsed across the lawn in my slippers and robe, moaning with every step.