The book is so amazing. The selection of words and settings for every story line are beautiful . . . It is my second favorite book after The Fault In Our Stars.

~PrinceAnthonyluv

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It was her fingers, her nails and most importantly her dimples that she was most sure of. Her fingers were sleek, long and beautiful, her nails were polished smooth and unbroken, her dimples were deep and mysterious and she was sure Amelia McKinney could not, at her best, trash talk about them. She pulled her cell phone, arranged her silky long braids and set for a selfie. She snapped and her flash flared, reflecting off her shiny mahogany skin and another one of her classics was born, she was sure. The heart-shaped pouted lips and the strategic placement of her beautiful fingers just beneath her left dimple usually did the trick.

Melanie was about to upload the picture to her Facebook, anticipating mostly, Felicia's comment which usually made her day when she realized that she probably shouldn't, because she was in a cab, and that would definitely give Amelia something dirty to rub on her face and something not so funny for her numerous minions to laugh at and tease her about. It's quite unfortunate. It was really one of a kind selfie.

Life in St. Katrina's High was ostentatiously savage. It was not like any other private boarding school. Only the elite of the elites survived, and even though Melanie's father, Dr. Mark Blake was recently promoted to a high status, Melanie had to admit that sometimes she still felt a little out of her league. In fact that was what sort of gave her an edge and gained her quick rivaling popularity against the bonafide Ivy League Amelia who had not quite mastered the street version act of mischief and savagery.

Melanie sighed and turned her phone's screen off. She had to admit that she was some sort of jealous over the fact that Michael her big brother was going to get married. There was no doubt that the invasion by a lady named Natasha would change the usually smooth commensal relationship she so cherished with her brother. He would have someone else whose feelings he would have to cater for aside from hers. It was at that moment that she began to observe how far off the main town the cab driver drove her. He drove them through a lonely road through which other cars passed at baggy intervals. She checked her time and it was getting late but she was not the type to scare easily. Besides, Michael had texted her two days ago that they had moved to a new fairytale-castle-like house that seated over a beach but before she was going to ask more about it, he dropped the explosive news that he was getting married and that rattled her cognitive faculty intensely.

She peered through the cloudy cab window at the tip of the hilly distance of the road when she noticed a dreamy glassy white house at the end of the road at the peak of the hill. Wow! She exclaimed softly then her jaw dropped. She prayed and prayed right then that the driver would not drive past the house, heading else where.

"Say what?" The driver asked but looked through the rear-view mirror to find her popping eyes gawking the house. "Yes . . . Finally we are here."

"Shut . . . up!" Melanie exclaimed absent mindedly.

"Huh?"

"Oh my God!" Melanie's voice went shrill and disturbingly high. "Oh my God! Oh my God!"

The driver felt unsettled as he pulled up the site. He took a moment to ogle and take in the picturesque façade of the house. He shook his head and sighed in desire and awe as he took in the fine lawn and finely cobbled driveway that elevated gently to the façade of a very wide white glass house that stood two floors high, and stretched from a beautiful orchard by the right to the edge of a cliff at the left which provided a balcony that overlooked a rocky magnificent pool of raging beach water from which a lunatic could leap off and tumble through air into water. The lights that lined the edges of the house, perhaps as decoration or perhaps as utility, blinked like the heavenly stars and illuminated Melanie's intense dimples. The creeping flowers that climbed its pillars and fences illuminated her heart. The metal door knobs and window frames and others looked like they were made of gold but the driver would have to touch them to be sure. He bit his lower lip then he proceeded to get Melanie's luggage from his trunk.

Melanie was already imagining how she would fall in love with the house. She would read and take selfies at the balcony overlooking the beach in a hot summer dress and get a puppy with which she would play Frisbee in the orchard yards. She would throw birthday parties, Christmas parties, Easter parties, or anything party that gives her the opportunity to flaunt what she has got. It was her time to shine, and at fifteen her time had arrived so perfectly it made her head spin.

"Hell yeah!" Melanie exclaimed as she pulled out her phone, stood backing the house and took a selfie that flaunted her new palace in the background over her shoulder. She clicked quickly at share and captioned it:

THE NEW EMPRESS OF THIS MAGNIFICENT CASTLE.

Then pressed send. "In your face, Amelia." She said to her phone as the cab driver dropped her bag next to her and mumbled something Melanie couldn't care any less about. Melanie returned her gaze upon the house and took in its view again. "Wow!" she exclaimed again and mock-fanned herself. She stood, gawking for a couple of seconds before she pulled her bag and walked towards the gigantic gold front door of the house. The gate of heaven.

The driver had zoomed off by the time Melanie pressed the bell button the second time. "Mum!" She shouted, sighed impatiently then banged the door. "Open up. It's cold out here."

She heard the door click so she put her feet together, stood straight and wore the smile of that cute naive toddler her mother had always wanted her to remain. She braced herself for too much mushy gestures of affection including but not limited to face violating kisses and rib-cracking anaconda hugs, but instead as the door pulled open to her, she found only a fine curvy lady standing before her and she didn't look very happy to welcome her.

Melanie thought it was Natasha, and for the tear that flowed from her eyes and her contorted expression, Melanie dismissed them as an excessive and totally unnecessary expression of exaggerated happiness for her arrival; perhaps, if right, a failed attempt to gain her rare approval. Without a word, she pulled her bag behind her as she stepped into her castle when she then saw her father, then her brother and her mother just standing by a corner and they too seemed like the last thing they wanted was to see her, but most importantly they seemed subdued by an unseen force.

"Dad?" She called with an undertone of confusion and inquisition. She stepped passed Natasha who whimpered and flinched. Melanie was getting worried and/or bored for in case this was only a game. "Mom? What's going on?"

"Run Melanie!" Natasha said to her in a shaky whisper. "Run!"

Melanie was about to turn to her, to query her about what she was saying when she heard a creak, then felt breeze blow against her school skirt then the door slammed shot and it wasn't Natasha's hands that pushed it.

Melanie was startled. She spun, and from behind the door appeared a masculine figure in a totally black leather suit with a burglar's mask covering his face. In a sharp move he reached out and grabbed her by her collar to yank her into his tighter grasp, but Natasha intervened and bit his arm through his leather sleeve. He cried out and Melanie fell to the floor when his manly fingers freed her shirt.

"Run!" Natasha shouted but was quickly shut up with a thundering slap. Melanie's shock made it harder to move her limbs. She needed a second to gather the new scenario into her cognition. Her mind felt blunt and she heard seemingly distant voices yelling to her "Run!" and she would have liked to obey these voices if only her legs would obey her.

The man threw Natasha at the wall and she crashed against it, then he turned to the hyperventilating Melanie, whose helpless fear and wobbling sleek legs enticed him. Melanie struggled and kicked against the floor until she managed to get on her feet and run to the curved stairs by the high left wall. She did not know where the stairs led to but it was in the opposite direction to the man in mask.

"Get that girl" Another strange voice yelled but Melanie did not find the time to look for the owner. She ran as fast as she could, up the stairs and began to wish she trained better with the school team. She didn't hear any footsteps after her, so she felt she had escaped. In two strides she would pass through the door in the first floor, lock it, catch her breath and then call the police, but as soon as her finger tips touched the cold knob, she felt an intense stream of pain in her head as if someone grabbed a handful of her braids and yanked them in attempt to pull her hair right off her scalp. She screamed in incredulous pain and staggered back. Next thing she knew, she found herself tumbling off over the staircase rails and falling freely. Then she heard her mother scream her name and lastly a big crash just before everything turned hollow black.

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To be continued in the next part...

A/N:
Hi. Thanks for giving my book a try. Hope you're enjoying it. If yes, please don't forget to support with a vote (not a pity vote, but a merited one). It helps a lot. More than you think.

Thank you.

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To the readers that has been on this journey with me:

Dear friends, thank you for having been supporting R&S.
I thought to let you guys know that I have been experiencing a technical difficulty with my Wattpad on the first version of this book so I deleted it and restarted updating.

Please do not be alarmed. In no time I will manage to update it to the latest chapter. Thanks for being amazing supporters.

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖I love you.

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To the readers that might be missing out,
Check out R&S and drop your comments.