ALOE

PROLOGUE

The home was a luxurious three storey villa with a driveway and a beautiful garden in the back. It was surrounded by bodyguards and cameras. There was something tickly about it,  but Alondra was used to this.
  Aloe's mother Beth or Annabeth as her husband would call her was busy fawning over her eldest daughter, Christen, who was telling her all about the Louboutin she saw in a magazine.  Her husband,  Julien was giving orders to his assistant.
The three sat on a beautiful couch in a room filled with expensive furniture looking like the perfect family. Nothing unusual about that except the gorgeous young lady sitting in the corner looking out of place.  Anyone with eyes could see the falsehood of this setting.
  "Alondra, " called Julien. "Yes sir," she responded. Her response sounded alienated and a bit fearful but Julien did not seem to mind as he said, "your sister tells me you'll both be attending a party". He did not give her a chance to respond as he continued, "while you're out there, try not to be a disgrace and act appropriately."
  Julien had never put this stepdaughter of his in his eyes,  to him she was but a nuisance, an illegitimate child brought by his wife after a night of debauchery.
"Your father is right,  you must act accordingly. Be thankful for your sister's kindness , If it were up to me, you wouldn't  be attending this party or any party. So do not embarrass your sister or this family," said Annabeth. 
She had never loved her second daughter.  Alondra is nothing but a stain on her perfect image,  a reminder of the night she made the mistake of cheating on a her rich politician husband, with a lowlife whose face she couldn't even remember. 
"Yes mother," replied Alondra perfunctorily. She was used to this biased treatment.  Even when she did everything right they would always find fault.  She made sure to be perfect but not too perfect,  so as not to outshine her elder sister. 
Christen on the other hand loved being the center of attention,  she pretended to be generous and kind while secretly plotting against her younger sister.  Having all her parents love was not satisfying enough for her,  she wanted more and hated her sister for always acting graceful when she was nothing but an unloved illegitimate child.
Alondra knew of her sister's hatred for her but chose to do nothing. Anyway, what could she possibly do when her parents would never believe her if she were to say anything. 
She thought it was just another bothersome party with rich second generation heirs and heiress' talking about cars and jewelry. 
However,  Alondra would soon realize her sister's hatred ran deep and that night, she would experience something no woman would ever want to experience. This would be the beginning of her story.