chapter one

There was never a day when Caroline Sonich wasn't scared. She was a paranoid woman, always worrying about something. Her eyes were constantly searching for something out of order on the streets, like a suspicious expression on a woman's face, or dried blood on a man's coat. Despite her paranoia, she never found a thing. But that didn't stop her searching.

Caroline was engaged to a young rich man that went by the name of Gregory Balchester. They cared for each other deeply, it was evident, and to them it seemed the perfect arrangement. Miss Sonich was never scared of losing her fiance because Gregory happened to have no good looks on his side, and since Caroline was the only woman to ever show him any attention, he was completely devoted to showing her his only attention, and that never would a better woman come along. Mr Balchester had no worries himself about Caroline because she was rather rich and had her own money, meaning she had no need for his, no matter what his parents had happened to think. The late Mr and Mrs Richard and Miltrid Balchester had strongly disliked their son's 'dearest Caro'. Before their untimely, and unlucky, death, they had said that there was simply something venomous about her, but Gregory thought the whole idea was 'balderdash'. 'Balderdash' was a word Greg Balchester had made when he was a child, and it had stuck with him and his vocabulary ever since.

Mr Balchester's parents had died in a tragic car accident. It struck the Balchester siblings, Miss Grace Balchester, and Gregory himself, quite hard. Although he upset him deeply, Mr Balchester was delighted with the fact that this cloud had a silver lining. For it mean't that he could finally marry the beautiful Caroline.

It was not hard to imagine how G. Balchester fell in love with Miss Sonich. She was rather attractive, with chestnut brown curls and giant chocolate eyes. She was also slightly short, but her height was very unnoticeable, which went to her advantage. Plush full lips, she had, which many said was the cause of her constant murmurings. Miss Sonich's murmurs were by far her worst feature, and yet, being beautiful and rich meant that it was overlooked, just like her height. Many people said that she would make a good new 'Mrs Balchester', because she had her own money, and had beauty with even more fame than Miss Grace. Grace Balchester was a pretty blonde, had many suitors, and rosy cheeks, but she refused to marry. She had been in love once, but the poor girl had been betrayed, and at only the age of fourteen. Now nineteen, she satisfied herself with trying to convince her brother to cancel his wedding. It was no secret that Miss Balchester disliked Caroline Sonich, but her reasons, no one knew.

TO BE CONTINUED