The Broken Heiress Returned For Revenge

20 YEARS LATER

CRUELLA

**HUMAN WORLD**

“And that’s all for today,” Miss Cushion announced. Chairs scraped the floor as everyone rushed out of the lab.

Just as I stood up, she called, “Cruella, a word please.”

Of course. I already knew why she wanted to talk to me, but I stayed behind like the obedient student I always tried to be. If I wanted to survive in the human world, I had to adapt—and honestly, I’d been doing a decent job.

“I noticed your grades are slacking off this semester,” she said gently. “Should I be worried?”

I forced a small smile.

“It’s nothing to worry about, Miss Cush. I’m just… a little distracted.”

Miss Cush wasn’t just a teacher—she was a mother figure to me here. Aside from Swayer and Ethan, she was the only human who treated me kindly.

“Alright then. Let me know if you need anything,” she said with a warm smile.

I nodded and walked out, spotting Swayer leaning on the doorframe with her arms crossed.

“Let me guess—your grades?” she asked.

I nodded again.

“I told you to stop worrying about Maeve and focus on your studies. If you fail this last semester, you can forget graduation,” she scolded.

She had no idea that Maeve was the least of my problems. Every morning I woke up hoping something—anything—would change. That my powers would finally awaken so I could return to Greenville. But every day was the same disappointment.

“I’m sorry. I’ll study more,” I muttered.

Swayer grinned and grabbed my hand.

“Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day! What are you doing? We could go shopping. Oh! There’s a frat party at Jada’s!”

“I don’t like parties,” I said quietly. The last one didn’t end well. Maeve had embarrassed me in front of everyone, reminding me how useless I was—even in the human world.

Sometimes I wished I was never born. On my eighteenth birthday, when my wolf side was supposed to emerge, nothing happened. Days passed. Then months. Two whole years later—still nothing.

I tried witch school. Failed every spell.

I wasn’t an Elite vampire either.

With no powers at all, they assumed I was human—and to “protect Greenville,” they banished me to the human world. My powerlessness meant I couldn’t find my way back.

“Ella! Are you even listening?!” Swayer shouted.

I snapped back to reality.

“Sorry—what were you saying?”

She sighed dramatically. “What is going on with you? We’ve been friends for three years, and I still feel like you’re hiding something. You know you can tell me anything, right?”

“I know,” I whispered. “I just… some things are better kept in the dark.”

She didn’t push further. Instead, we walked to the cafeteria.

As soon as we entered, Maeve spotted us. She got up with a can of orange juice in her hand and strutted toward us.

“You shouldn’t be here,” she said with a smirk.

“What is it now, Maeve?” Swayer snapped.

“I was going to bother loser Ella, but hey—two for one.”

I felt something inside me snap. I was tired—tired of being treated like trash, tired of being powerless. Today, I wasn’t letting her walk all over me.

“Don’t you ever get tired?” I asked calmly. “Is your life so miserable that you have to share it with others?”

Maeve’s eyes widened. Swayer’s jaw practically hit the floor. I had never talked back before.

“What did you just say to me?” Maeve hissed. She immediately spilled her orange juice all over my shirt.

“Maeve! Are you crazy?!” Swayer yelled.

But I didn’t move. Something strange and hot was stirring inside me, building like pressure. A burning sensation crawled through my veins.

Before I understood what I was doing, my hand flew up and slapped her.

A simple slap.

But she crashed to the floor.

Gasps echoed through the cafeteria. Even I froze, shocked.

Maeve jumped up, furious and embarrassed. She lunged at me, but Ethan grabbed her from behind.

“That’s enough. You started it,” he said.

“I’ll kill your useless girlfriend! Let go!” she screamed, struggling wildly.

Swayer grabbed my hand and dragged me outside.

“We’ll just eat out. We have an hour before our next class.”

I barely heard her. I stared at my hands, breathless, a smile creeping across my face.

“Is this it? Did I finally get powers?” I whispered.

“Powers? What are you talking about?” Swayer laughed. “I’m just shocked you slapped Maeve. That was epic!”

“It just… happened. I don’t know how.”

“Well, you need to avoid Maeve now. She’ll definitely come for revenge,” she warned.

But my mind was far away. If this was the beginning of my powers… I could finally go home. I could finally belong. I could finally stop being the weak, powerless girl everyone mocked.

But what about Swayer? What about Ethan? Leaving the human world meant leaving them forever.

“Swayer,” I said softly, “don’t take this seriously, but… what if there was another world? One is different from this one. A place with people who had special abilities. Would you want to go there?”

“You mean like witches and vampires?” she asked.

“Yes. And werewolves,” I said, unable to hide my excitement.

She laughed. “Ella, those things only exist in fantasy books.”

“But what if they were real? Just hidden from humans?”

“I think we should go eat instead of talking about fairytales,” she said, pulling me along.

I swallowed my frustration. She wouldn’t believe me—not until I had proof. Real proof. Powers, a shift, anything.

I never even knew my real parents. My adoptive mother reminded me constantly that I wasn’t her blood. I didn’t know if I came from werewolves, witches, or vampires.

“Just a little longer,” I whispered to myself. “And you’ll believe me.”