"Melody Starling!"

Melody woke up from her restless slumber. She had been dreaming about her parents. They were giving her a necklace with a diamond pendant. That was one of her last memories of her parents...

"Melody!!!"

Melody got out of bed. "Coming!" she called. She was wearing a plain white nightgown and her dark red hair was messed up.

A stern, cross woman barged into the room. "Why are you still in bed? You're supposed to be making breakfast!"

"I'm so sorry, Aunt Lena," said Melody. Her bright green eyes looked around nervously. "It won't happen again."

Melody sighed as her aunt left. For ten years, she had been living under her aunt's roof. Her parents had died in a car accident when she was seven years old and she was placed in her aunt's care as she had no one else.

Sometimes Melody had considered running away, but she had seen beggars starving in the streets, and she didn't want that to happen to her.

Not that she was exactly well-fed. Her portions had been relatively small compared to her cousins. Melody's three cousins, Lucy, Tom and Anya, were all spoilt and privileged (not to mention lazy). They didn't have to do a single bit of housework as Melody had to do all of it.

However, no matter how bratty and mean Melody's cousins were, they were always praised by her aunt. Melody even suspected that her aunt encouraged her children to be mean to her.

Melody fingered her necklace that her parents had given her. She could easily sell the necklace and use the money to find somewhere else to live. But at seventeen, she was still a minor. Besides, she was never going to give away the only heirloom her parents had given her. Her aunt had sold the rest of her belongings.

Because Melody was treated like a slave, she lived in the basement. It was constantly dusty and had spiders. Her clothes were all hand-me-downs and she wasn't allowed to attend school.

The day was a long hard one for Melody. She cleaned the house from top to bottom and cooked all of the meals. It didn't matter if she had already cleaned the house the day before. She had to do it every day.

But Melody refused to let her spirit break. That was what her aunt wanted. She had a plan for when she would reach adulthood and would no longer be under her aunt's influence.

Melody had always loved playing music and singing. Her parents had always told her that she had the voice of an angel. Her aunt and cousins said that she sounded like a screeching cat.

Melody was planning to be a musician. She would start small, of course. She would audition for small bands and occasionally play music on the streets. But maybe if she could earn enough money, she could start a music class and teach young children how to play instruments.

That night, Melody was playing a song on her guitar and singing a song. It was a song her parents used to sing to her when they were alive.

As Melody sang, she imagined her parents smiling at her, proud of their daughter for being so brave. She closed her eyes and pictured her parents in her mind.

Her father's bushy black hair, kind blue eyes, and cheeky grin. Her mother's wavy red hair, green eyes, and warm smile. Her father's tendency to tickle her and make her laugh. Her mother's soothing voice and kind words.

Suddenly, a voice jolted Melody out of her daydreams.

"Will you stop singing? It's giving me a headache!"

The voice didn't belong to her aunt. It belonged to the twins, Lucy and Tom. They were the same age as Melody.

They both had shiny black hair and cold blue eyes. They were both as pale as Snow White. However, they were cruel and callous.

"I'm singing," said Melody.

"We know that!" snapped Lucy. "But why do you keep singing? Think some prince is going to hear and rescue you?"

Melody was used to the taunts, so she kept a cool head. "I don't need a prince to save me. I'm going to use my musical talent to save myself. I'm going to be a musician."

The twins laughed cruelly. "You, a musician?" asked Tom. "Please, don't make me laugh. You will never be a musician."

"Yeah. No one is going to like your singing," said Lucy. "They will just boo you."

Melody stared at her cousins. "Why are you so mean?" she asked. "I never did anything to you."

"Because Mother says so," said Tom.

Melody frowned. "Did it ever occur to you that she might be wrong?"

For a moment, the twins looked uncertain. Then they looked at Melody coldly again.

"You're lying," said Lucy. "Mother will never lie to us."

Without another word, the twins stormed out.

Melody sighed. She knew what her cousins wouldn't admit. They were scared of their mother. She started singing again.