Chapter 13

Ella continued, "I saw Lola sneaking off to make a call, so I followed her. She came back with a few men, and I overheard her mentioning my name, instructing them to find a way to take me to a room. "It didn't take long for me to realize how serious the situation was, and soon after, I started feeling nauseous. I recalled Grandma asking Mom, Dad, and me to raise a toast for her earlier. I had a couple of drinks at the time, so there's a chance I was slipped something then. "Uncle Ernest and Aunt Ada must have been involved too. They sent Mom and Dad away, leaving me alone. I had no choice but to rely on myself. I grabbed Lola's handbag, hid in the restroom, and disguised myself to look like her, hoping I could escape by passing as her." When Ella was ten, her maternal grandfather, Philip, had taken her to a remote village inhabited by the Dawnfire people. There, a master of a legendary art of disguise thought to exist only in ancient martial arts manuals had agreed to train her. Ph