From a young age, Alice knew she was beautifuleveryone said so.
“Our little girl is so pretty, stands out from all the others,” her mother would gush to colleagues and friends.
And it was truepeople noticed. Though their neighbour, Mrs. Whitaker, had her doubts. “All children are lovely, but looks fade with time,” she muttered once, then quickly added, “Not that I mean any harm, but it happens.”
By her final year of school, Alice had grown into a striking, statuesque beautyproud, spoiled, and well aware of the power she held over the boys who gazed at her with longing.
She didnt get into university, though she had dreamed of it. Instead, she settled for a trade college, earning a diploma in retail management.
“Darling,” her mother suggested, “why don’t I get you a job at the factory lab? Its easy workno heavy lifting, and youve always been delicate.”
“But what about my diploma?” Alice protested.
“Oh, who even works in their field these days? And why waste your looks on retail?” her mother insisted, having spent her own life at the factory alongside Alices father.
So Alice took the lab job. By then, she was even more beautifuland knew it. She fell madly in love with Vincent, an engineer from the next department. Their romance burned hot and fast, and within months, he proposed.
“Before someone steals you away,” he said with a grin, “marry me. Will you?”
She said yes.
The wedding was like any otherheld in the factory canteen, modest by modern standards but packed with guests. Not long after, Alice discovered she was pregnant.
“Vincent, were going to have a baby,” she told him.
“Thats wonderful,” he murmured, hugging her tight.
Their daughter, Sophie, was bornjust as pretty as her mother. For a while, they were happy.
But time changed Alice. After maternity leave, she grew colder, treating Vincent like a servant while she stayed late at workthough he knew the lab never ran overtime. He dared not confront her; her temper was legendary, and he couldnt bear Sophie witnessing their fights.
“Vincent, your wife was seen with the head engineer at The Crown last night,” colleagues whispered. He just looked away.
“Vincent, why marry a beauty?” his friends teased. “You know a pretty cake never stays on one plate.”
Everyone knew Alice moved in higher circles now, while Vincent remained an ordinary engineer. Soon, rumours spreadshe was seeing Anthony Webster, a well-connected civil servant who showered her with jewellery and designer clothes.
Vincent became a shadow of himself, quiet and worn down. He handled everythingchildcare, meals, cleaningwhile Alice only gave orders. Divorce never crossed his mind; he couldnt do that to Sophie.
Then the political tides shifted. Anthonys position crumbled, and with it, Alices safety net.
“Alice, if anyone asks about me, say nothing,” he warned her one night. “I dont think well meet again.”
He vanishedarrested, she later learned. Then came the knock at her door. Authorities interrogated her, refusing to let her go home. She begged, swore she knew nothing, but her reputation was already ash.
Eventually released for lack of evidence, she returned home feeling filthy, as if shed swum through sewage. Everything was goneher savings drained, Vincent forced to sell half their belongings to fund her legal battles. The factory dismissed her, and though Vincent refused to divorce herfor Sophies sakethey lived as strangers.
There was a moment he almost left, but Sophie needed her mother.
Alice, humiliated, swallowed her pride. “Vincent, dont go. Forgive me. It wont happen again.”
He stayed but couldnt touch her. “You slept with other men,” he said.
“I did it for us,” she lied.
Yet she strayed againthis time with a younger man, Ethan, her new “business partner.” With old connections and sharp instincts, she clawed her way back, borrowing heavily to rent a souvenir kiosk in a tourist-heavy spot. Soon, she owned two shops.
“Vincent, meet me at HeathrowIm flying to Istanbul for stock,” she ordered. “Or Warsaw. Honestly, quit your job and help me. I need a mans strength.”
“No,” he said flatly. “Im no salesman.”
“Then hire someone,” he muttered.
So she didEthan, her lover, hidden in hotel rooms. Money flowed again, though Vincent knew.
“If you paid me attention, I wouldnt need him,” she snapped.
“You disgust me,” he replied.
Years passed. Sophie married and moved north. New Years Eve arrivedAlice jetted to Shanghai, Vincent celebrated quietly with friends in Edinburgh.
When they returned, Vincent stared. “Alice what have you done?”
She looked decades youngerno wrinkles, no weight, her body taut as a girls.
“How much did that cost?”
She laughed, wild and brittle. “Everything. I gave it all.” She held out bare fingers, emptied her purse. “Chinese treatmentsmassages, needles. Worth every penny.”
She couldnt bear aging beside Ethan. “Youre old,” she sneered at Vincent. “Look at me.”
“Were the same age.”
But she just laughed.
The money dwindled. Then Vincent had a heart attack. He returned from hospital frail, unable to work.
“God, is this what Id look like?” Alice whispered, staring at him, then her reflection.
“Alice, stay with me,” he sometimes pleaded.
“I cant. Time is money.”
One day at the shop, Ethan handed her a file.
“Read this.”
“What is it? I dont have time”
“Its the deed,” he smirked. “You own nothing now. I do.”
Her lawyer sighed. “Alice, I cant help you. The contracts are flawlessyour signatures are on every page.”
“Youre bought!” she hissed.
“I dont take dirty money,” he said coldly. “You shouldve read the fine print.”
Defeated, she trudged home.
“Alice what about the business?” Vincent asked weakly.
“Gone,” she said. “But I need money.”
“We have nothing left.”
“The flat, then.”
“No”
“Well sell it, buy something cheaper.”
“And what will I do?”
“Ill get you a computer. Virtual life.” She laughed, shrill and empty.
Alice knew shed rise againsell the flat, start over. Like a phoenix from ashes. She always did.
