Sin, our stepsister, was an expert at putting on a sweet face. One day when my stepfather was about to go on a trip, he asked what gift we would like. Of course, because we rarely got nice presents from him, we said a beautiful dress. Sin said a rose would be enough. No wonder – even without Father travelling anywhere she got all sorts of extravagant treats. Notice how she wanted to play the part of a nice girl who isn’t materialistic? Feh! Such a phoney. If she didn’t care about money, then why did she insist on going to the ball to meet that filthy-rich Prince Charming?

Yes, that’s how it was, child. Because we resented Sin, we made off with her beautiful dresses as soon as our stepfather died. We gave her our old clothes – which were her own clothes, gifted to us by her father, now returned to her once more. What was once yours is always yours, right? So began life without my stepfather.

Years passed. We grew into flowers ready to be plucked. But who did the young men sneak glances at in the market and the town square? That damned Sin. Even though she no longer had such beautiful clothes, her face was beautiful. Her skin had a golden glow. Her hair was black with lovely curls. She had a slender waist and shapely legs. Her voice was soft, appealing. We, on the other hand, had inherited more from our father than our beautiful mother: we were big-boned and dark-skinned. We could only gnaw our fingernails as the neighbours constantly remarked on how perfect she was. How upset we were when we learned that every last one of the young men lining up at the front door had come to seek Sin’s hand! Mother tried to bargain, ‘Sin is still very young. How about her older sisters marrying first?’ But apparently that idea didn’t appealed to anyone. Mother was angry and frightened that we might become old maids, so she sent Sin to hide in the attic whenever guests came. When in competition, women need to eliminate rivals and be unsparing in their hatred.

The ball was the climax of these events. We were merchandise in the market and Prince Charming was the sole customer. Of course, he couldn’t purchase everything on display. He had to choose the best to be his queen. He could have a thousand mistresses if he desired, but there could be only one queen. We felt threatened by Sin’s beauty that night so we did everything we could to prevent her from going. Sin whined that she wanted to attend, even though she had so many suitors already. Some were even sons of the rich! Why was she never satisfied?