Believe

39. punishments

Hannah leaned against the cell wall, letting out a scoff as she looked at her sister. "I can't believe you did that to save that pathetic man."

Bella glanced from Hannah to Harry, giving him a look. "You never told her, did you?"

"No."

Hannah looked from her brother to her sister, wearing a look of confusion. "Tell me what?"

Bella didn't look at Hannah. She kept looking at Harry. "—even when you guys lived with him?"

"We couldn't do it." Harry said with a shake of his head, gesturing to his twin sister. "She wouldn't listen."

Hannah let out an uneasy chuckle as she stepped toward her brother and sister. "Will someone please explain to me what's going on?"

"Ben and I were born on the same day, the same year, and at the same exact time. Because of this, Mom thought that she needed to arrange a marriage between us. She sent a letter to Adam and Belle, but thankfully, they denied. She came up with this plan." Bella started to explain as she gestured around. "She told Dad about it and he said she didn't need to do this; that she shouldn't use me to get what she wanted. She didn't like that, so she banished him and told us that he left."

"Oh my goodness." Tears welled up in Hannah's eyes as she sat down. "So all those times I yelled at Dad and accused him of leaving, he didn't say anything because—"

"—he was protecting Mom; and me." Bella shrugged softly before she sat next to Hannah. As Bella leaned against the wall, Hannah let her head rest on her sister's shoulder. "I never got to see Dad again. After Mal, Carlos, Evie, Jay, and I aggravated those guards when we were ten and Mom saw, I accidentally gave her a plan—for Adam to adopt me—and she made me train for six months before she sent you guys to Dad's and snuck over to Auradon with me." As Bella started to recollect on her past memories, Jay, Evie, Mal, and Carlos shared confused looks. She was starting to remember everything. "Before I left, the five of us spent the night at our hideout. We took it from Gothel when we were six."

"Wait." Evie spoke up, making the blonde look at her. "Bel, you remember that?"

"Yeah. I remember everything." Bella looked from Evie to Uma, sending the girl an apologetic smile. "Uma, I owe you an apology. Everyone called you Shrimpy because of me; not Mal."

Uma sent Mal a look of confusion. "You took the heat for her?"

"Yeah. I was protecting her." Mal crossed her arms as she shrugged. "She's my best friend."

"This is sweet and everything." Jay spoke up, making the group chuckle. "—but how are we gonna get out?"

"Oh. I picked that lock fifteen minutes ago." Bella revealed with a small shrug. "We were just gushing and I didn't know when to say something."

"Now what?"

"We leave." Bella stated as she stood up. "We go back to Auradon and tell Dad about Cora's plan so they can prepare for it."