"Not really," Joanna said. She adjusted the way she sat on the bed.
"You know I am not the type to beat around the bush so I will go straight to the point and not waste your time," Adhara said. She made herself comfortable on the only chair in the room.
[Isn't it exhausting acting like someone she is not? I have seen the lowest point she can go so I wonder why she is stressing me out with her pretence]
Joanna stared at Adhara with a blank expression.
"I am going to a friend's party tomorrow and I need some sets of clothes washed and ironed tonight so that I will have varieties of options to choose from for the party," Adhara said bluntly.
[Wow, the wolf is finally showing her true colours… Keep on doing this stepmother because it is only when you act up that I can deal with you]
Joanna smirked devilishly as she faked a gentle look.
"Oh…," Joanna remarked, not sounding surprised.
In the past she has done this almost every week so why would she be surprised by what she said.
"You know I hate having my clothes washed with a washing machine. I will have to trouble you with this tonight," Adhara said.
The way she sounded as though she didn't have a choice made Joanna roll her eyes.
"It's not like I have a choice," Joanna said standing up from the bed.
Adhara stood up from the bed pretending like she didn't hear Joanna's comment.
"I will go check up on your Laura to make sure that she is not playing with her phone, refusing to sleep on time," Adhara said.
She left without feeling any sense of guilt that she wanted to steal another girl's sleep while she was afraid her daughter didn't go to sleep.
"Kay, even though there was a 0.00001% that I would dream about you tonight, the she-devil has reduced that chance to 0%," Joanna muttered, taking her cellphone from where she kept it.
When Joanna got to the bathroom and saw the heap of clothes sitting there for her to wash, she didn't know whether to shed a bucket of tears or laugh.
"Be it now or in the past, she really has the cruellest way of keeping me awake all night," Joanna muttered massaging the space in between her eyebrows.
She walked and sat on the plastic chair kept close to the wall.
"I would have loved to use my powers and let their efforts go in vain but I am afraid I would freak them out if I made them lose twice in a roll today…," Joanna said.
"I mean seeing them jubilate thinking that they have won only to get their hopes crushed during their next try will be more fun than winning now".
Joanna stood up and poured water into the big bowl used for laundry.
Just like she said with her powers she would have been able to finish washing the clothes earlier but she chose to make her stepmother and sister think they had won.
While she was washing the clothes Laura snuck to the bathroom and watched her.
[Mr Fin doesn't only hate students coming to his classes late but he loathes when he is teaching and a student is dozing. I can't wait to see you fail his course after committing these two things he considered an abomination]
Laura grinned evilly. She thought she was well hidden not knowing that Joanna had sensed her presence from a distance.
The smart girl was only pretending to be ignorant of her presence to give Laura a sense of satisfaction.
She walked away after confirming their plans had worked.
Joanna spent the entire night getting her stepmother's task carried out.
By the time she was done it was already time for her to freshen up and get set for her early morning lecture.
After freshening up Joanna took her bag with her. She didn't fail to drop by Anthony's room to make sure that he was set for school too.
Reaching downstairs she met her father and Stepmother in the sitting room talking.
She nonchalantly greeted them and tried to leave.
"Joanna, why are you leaving so early? Are you not going to prepare breakfast for the household before you leave?" Adhara said to Joanna's annoyance.
She could tolerate anything but not anyone trying to mess with her studies.
She has missed six months' worth of study and hasn't caught up with that already.
She is not gonna let anyone stand as a stumbling block to her road to success, never!
"As you can see I am going to school so I don't have time to cook anything," Joanna said, not able to mask her dislike for the mean woman.
"Besides, I am not a chef, the household chef is around you can ask him to prepare breakfast for everyone or you can as well cook for…,"
"Is that the manner to talk to your mother? Were you never taught manners on how to treat your mother?" Mr Anderson asked, standing up in anger.
"I never had a mother or father to teach me manners, do you have a problem with that?" Joanna asked, not cowering away like she always did in the past.
Instead of being disappointed, she was furious that her father sided with her stepmother.
Mr Anderson was a bit taken aback by her sudden boldness.
"Also, she is not my mother so why should I watch the….," Mr Anderson took Joanna by surprise when he appeared in front of her with his right hand raised, ready to slap her.
"Don't you dare talk to her like that ever again or else…,"
"Or else you will hit me right?" Joanna completed the words for him.
The look in her eyes didn't show any fear instead it was blazing with fury and he could see it.
He could see that the girl standing in front of him with her head raised wasn't the same daughter he has known all his life.
"You can go ahead and hit me. I have been disappointed in you all my life and you can go ahead and make me more disappointed by hitting me, so do it?" Joanna said provocatively. She kept her cheek properly so that her father would have access to slap it.
...
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