Chapter 1 The make-up was all wrong! Why was her eyeshadow not coming out the way it should? Giving up in disgust, she threw the pencil on her vanity table and brushed her bangs over her forehead just as she heard her sister calling for her. "I'm coming, P'Jariya!" Jiranan shouted from her room on the second floor. Grabbing a thick black shawl to drape over her bare arms, she raced down the stairs, her ponytail whipping behind her as loose tendrils came around her ears. "Yui!" Her mother gawked at her in utter shock, calling her by a nickname that only family members called her. Jiranan stared at her mother's distraught look and gave a crooked smile, tucking the loose hair back. Her mother only sighed and shook her head, already walking towards the car and Jiranan obediently followed. "When will you learn to act more lady-like. Look at your sister, Yui. Why can't you be more like her?" And what would that be? Jiranan silently thought. Beautiful. Smart. Clever. And confident. All of which she wasn't. From the moment Jiranan could walk and speak, she's been her sister's shadow. Everything she did never compared to Jariya. She always came in second, to the disappointment of her family. She was an embarrassment to the Manojem family. Her father, the biggest international businessman never had time for her. He never complain about her defect because he was always off somewhere else. But in the presence of her mother, Jiranan's faults were displayed like that of Jariya's beauty trophies and crowns. "Yui, haven't you listened to a word I've said!" Her mother's exasperated voice called her back. With a depressing thought, Jiranan sighed. "Yes, mother." ~ ( * ) ~ The governor's ball was the most envied event of the year. Everybody who was anybody wanted to attend this ball. Movie stars, business people, famous artists, and hi-society. Jiranan just happened to be her father's daughter and was dragged by her mother and sister to make an appearance. If it were up to her, she would be curled up in front of a television set watching the latest lakorn or reading some romance novel. Oh, the adventures she would have through the novels with strong heroine and handsome hero. She would never be the heroine, but she dreamt that she could through her books. With an inward sigh at her situation, Jiranan followed behind her mother and sister up the marble staircase. At the top stair, she realized that they were being announced. Jiranan didn't lift her head and didn't move to stand beside her mother. When they descended the stairs, she quietly followed. The night drifted without much happening. Jiranan found herself by the refreshment table and purusing the room. Behind her, Jiranan heard voices. "Have you seen the Manojem sisters?" A quiet, yet masculinely strong voice asked. Jiranan stiffened. "I only saw Miss Jariya, but from her looks, I must say the youngest sister should look as exquisite," another man replied. However, a third rejoinder was not as nice. "The youngest sister looks like a drowned duck. Poor girl. If it wasn't for her money, no one would have wanted her here." Jiranan flinched as the words pierced deep and felt tears coming down her face. Jerking forward, pulling her shawl close, she tried to go look for a bathroom. But through the process, Jiranan had accidently bumped into another lady, spilling the red punch onto a beautiful white silk dress. The lady screeched so loud that Jiranan almost covered her ears. "You stupid girl!" The lady shrieked. Jiranan apologized, but no one heard it over the lady's scream. "Look at my dress! This is expensive! You idiot! Are you from the country? Don't you have any manners? What are you doing at my father's ball? I can't believe this." "I'm really---" "Is your sorry going to make my dress clean? You're an embarrassment to society! You geek!" Jiranan paled, her lips beginning to quiver as her eyes turned puppy-like with tears. Unable to speak, Jiranan found herself putting her hands together and bowing down, bending her knees. Before she could get down, her sister and mother grabbed her arms and jerked her back up. A scolding look from her mother only made her quiet as her sister and her mother apologized and took care of business. But the lady refused to listen. "Excuse me, Miss Pakjira." Jariya said, standing toe-to-toe with her with her ex-schoolmate, as well as rival. "My sister did not mean for this to happen. It was an accident. Do you understand the word or do you need to go to school to learn that again? Have being in America taught you to be so unforgiving? If so, I'm ashamed to know. I might just have to tell my father, Khun Jookran Manojem to cancel his trip and come home immediately." Pakjira Wannasut faltered to say something, but stuttered her anger back in realization to whom she had just quarreled with. Her father came by her side and told the Manojem that it was no problem and pulled Pakjira away. Still shaking from the confrontation, Jiranan saw the deadly revenge look on Pakjira's face before her mother grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room. "Why can't you be like your sister, Yui?" Her mother complained as they slipped into the shadow of the night to escape the embarrassing situation, not knowing that her words had broken Jiranan's spirit, causing her heart to bleed even more. Shadow Main       Home       Prologue       Next 2 >>

Copyright 2003 Lina Em.
This story is fictional and any similarity to real life is coincidental.
Please don't take this story and pass it off as your own, all work belongs to Lina Em.
Layout Copyright 2003 Noikichan