The Girl in White Shoes
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It was a sunny afternoon when she arrived.
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Anatasia watched from the window seat, curled into the corner like a forgotten doll, as a carriage pulled up in front of the house. The door opened, and a girl stepped out. About her age. Slender. Pale. A soft glow seemed to follow her like the sun was too eager to love her.
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She wore white shoes.
Not expensive.
Just... clean.
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Too clean for someone who had just lost her father.
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Anatasia’s lips twitched—not quite a smile, not quite a frown. Just confusion.
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Victor stepped out beside the girl, placing a hand gently on her back. “Come now, Ella,” he said, his voice filled with the kind of affection Anatasia hadn’t heard in months.
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Cinderella, her mother called her a few moments later, during introductions. “But we’ll call you Ella, darling. So much easier.”
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Ella nodded politely. She didn’t speak much. She didn’t cry either. Just stood in her perfectly ironed dress with her hands clasped in front of her like a painted doll.
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Anatasia hated how beautiful she looked.
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Not in a jealous way—not yet—but in a distant, haunting way. Like someone who didn’t belong here. Like someone who was made for prettier places. Brighter rooms.
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Dinner was quiet that night. Victor told stories. Her mother laughed a little too hard. Ella smiled politely, cutting her food neatly, as if every bite was a silent performance.
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Anatasia didn’t say much. She just watched.
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Every glance between Ella and Victor.
Every time her mother adjusted her necklace.
Every time the chair at the head of the table was avoided like a ghost no one wanted to speak of.
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That night, in the quiet of her room, Anatasia stared at her reflection. She brushed her hair slowly, listening to the tick of the clock on her vanity.
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A new girl had entered the house.
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Beautiful. Gentle. Perfect.
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And for the first time, Anatasia felt it—the unfamiliar sting of being replaced.
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She didn’t hate Cinderella.
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Not yet.
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But she feared her.
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Because something told her this girl wasn’t just her
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e to stay...
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She was here to take everything.
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