Another Fairytale - Sacrificed to the Beast ✓ (completed)

Chapter 1 - Tough Questions

   "Miss Belle?"

   I glanced towards the door. A slightly over-weight, black haired man stood there, watching me from the doorway. He had on nice clothing, a wealthy man.

   I stood from my crouch on the wooden floor, where I was reorganizing the herbs. I quickly scanned the man for injuries and took a few steps towards him.

   He didn't have any visible injuries so I warily took a step towards him. "Please, call me Bella. Belle was my grandmother."

   "Um, okay. Miss Bella-"

   I couldn't stop myself from laughing lightly at the way he was addressing me. I was far from worthy of the title he so easily attached to my name. He quickly cut himself off and narrowed his eyes slightly at me.

   "I'm sorry, do proceed." An amused expression found its way to my face. The man squinted his already narrowed eyes further at me but continued speaking.

   "Is Miss Larissa here?"

   I nodded my head. I abandoned him in the doorway and walked to the foot of the stairs. I called up to Larissa, leaving out the detail of a man being here.

   As she came down the stairs she brushed her blonde hair back and tied it in a loose knot.

   "Bella, dear, what do you need? You haven't forgot that you will be running this place, have you? You can't rely on me for everything," Miss Larissa said teasingly as she shook her finger at me with a smile on her face.

   I smiled back at her while brushing my stubborn brown curls away from my face.

   Larissa practically adopted me when my father died. She had been a close friend and knew me from the time I was in diapers. After getting fired from the bakery I started working in to help take care of my family, she moved me in with her permanently. She taught me everything I needed to know about medicine and quickly started making plans to leave and travel when I turned eighteen. She was going to entrust her medical reputation to me, which is something I didn't take lightly.

   Although I had enjoyed working at the bakery, it never would have worked. Apparently after my father's death, my already 'tasteless' cooking turned into 'did you dig this out of a dumpster' cooking. In my opinion, it was an improvement. At least it started having flavor.

   "Actually, Miss Larissa, I don't think this is something I can help with," I said shortly.

   She sighed as she reached the last step and grumbled something inaudibly.

   "Actually ma'am, you see, I do need to see Miss Belle-"

   "Bella," I grumbled under my breath.

   "Miss Bella," he corrected and I smiled to myself happy that he heard me. "I was just going to ask for your permission to take a walk with her. I'd hate for her to get into trouble with you for just leaving and as I understand it, you are currently her guardian."

   I cringed inwardly at the thought of going anywhere with a man without telling anyone first.

   One thing that my mom and Larissa taught me was the same - Never trust a man, especially if he is wealthy and wears a smile.

   Miss Larissa carefully nodded her head. "Very well. Don't be long."

She turned to look at me. Her eyebrows were scrunched up and her eyes shimmered with worry. She pulled me into a tight hug. "Hurry back, darling," she pulled me closer and whispered quietly, "I feel like something is going to happen."