The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella) novel Chapter 2005

“My parents absolutely adore Arabella. If they get wind of what you pulled today, I’d bet my bottom dollar they’d have a sit-down with your folks that’d be anything but pleasant. And let me tell you, my auntie is no pushover. If she hears about today's shenanigans, it won’t just be a couple of kicks to the rear you’ll be getting!”

With those words, Luna flicked her luxurious mane back and rose to her full height, indifferent to the gathering crowd, and coolly slid into her ride. The chauffeur promptly whisked her away.

Harriet’s chauffeur hurried over to help her up, “Ms. Monroe, are you alright?”

“Where the hell were you? Didn't you see me getting bullied?” Harriet snapped, landing a smack on him, and then barked at the onlookers, “What are you gawking at? Scram back to work, will ya?”

The crowd swiftly dispersed like scared rabbits.

Two days later.

The hashtag #DrBellBotchesUp was trending, and Arabella was caught in a storm of controversy, with a barrage of skepticism online.

[Did you hear? She visited a car crash victim, thinking she’s the bee's knees in medicine, and decided to perform surgery. Ended up killing the guy!]

[How does a kid her age waltz into a hospital and play surgeon? Even if she’s some sort of medical prodigy, that doesn’t give her the right to bypass hospital rules and regs!]

[Is her medical prowess for real? I remember Phillip raving about how she cured him and his wife, but it sounded fishy.]

“Thirdly, with so many of Martha’s goons and all those weapons involved, it’d be a PR nightmare for public safety. It would force the authorities’ hand if it got out.”

“And fourthly, they’ll wonder how Bella managed to escape from that many captors. That explosion took out a bunch of people, and Sean and Romeo had smoothed things over. Raking up all that again is just asking for a headache.”

Louisa, biting her lip with worry, said, “So what do we do now? We can't just sit on our hands after all this time.”

“Didn’t Bella say she’d handle it? Let’s not torture ourselves with the online hate. Trust Bella, she’ll sort it out.”

With a heavy heart, Louisa, not wanting to mess up her daughter's plans or let her take the heat for nothing, decided to take action. She created a burner account and started clapping back at some of the more venomous trolls online.