He was mine first. She stole him.
I first met Alexander on a wednesday, I think, or maybe a thursday, at some ball or another. My mother, being Lady Tremaine, got invited to everything, and this was no exception. The only difference was that this time, the prince was going to be there. And that meant I had to spend twice as much time getting ready as I usually did.
Driz and I were pros by now. Our hair was perfectly curled, our dresses long and spectacular, our faces made up with finesse. We were ready to love and be loved by none other than Alexander Charmingon, the Prince.
The minute we stepped out of the carriage, we knew we were getting what we had come for. All eyes were on us, which Driz treasured and I appreciated (my sister was always the vain one) and in all those heads, I knew one of them had to be the prince.
"Anastasia Tremaine? You are...breathtakingly beautiful."
It was Alexander. With those words began a relationship that would last for almost three years. It was a match made in heaven.
I was fifteen then. Three years later, Alexander and I lay in his garden, our fingers intertwined. He kissed me, long and soft and bittersweet.
"I'm excited. Tonight is the night, I think. Something magical is about to happen."
How right he was.

We did nothing wrong. She was just a spoiled brat who didn't like that she had to sleep in the attic because her father married our mother and moved into our house. She didn't work in rags, she wore our all hand-me-downs. And she never scrubbed the floor--she only stayed at home because she said that people as beautiful as she was didn't need to get an education.
That night, though, she had been dying to go the ball, and we told her she couldn't. There was a three person maximum on the invite, and last time, I had had to miss out, the time before that, Drizella. So she complained, stole my favorite blue dress, twisted her blonde hair into a knot, and borrowed a neighbor's carriage. Worst of all, she took my glass slippers.
When I arrived at the ball, I only had eyes for Alex. He swept me away to the balcony passionately, gripping me tight in his arms.
"Anastasia," he said, hints of a grin creeping on to his face, "you are the most beautiful woman I have ever encountered, inside and out. I need you by my side forever."
I looked at him in shock. Was this a--
"Will you marry me, Anastasia Tremaine? Will you be my princess?"
The word yes was on my lips. It was there, and if I had only just said it, just been a little hastier. Instead, Drew, Alex's most annoying friend, tugged him away.
"Alex, God, you've got to come here! There's this...wow, just come, okay?"
Alex frowned. "It's not really the best time right now, alright?"
"Why, because you're with Anastasia? Don't worry, it's worth it."
Alex shot me a pleading glance, sympathy in his eyes, as if to say, "I'm sorry," and went with Drew. I followed them down the halls of the palace, going through courtyard after courtyard, room after room.
When we finally reached the ballroom, there she was. My mooching stepsister, who's father my mother had stupidly married (he then left us behind with his stuck-up daughter, to go after a much younger woman named Rapunzel), was there in all her splendor. The prince had never seen her like this before, because she had never worn my clothes. Everything she was wearing was mine. She was being me.
"Is that Ella?" Alexander breathed, love filling his voice. Drew nodded.
"Go get her, Alex. You could have any woman in the land, have her."
Alex walked towards her, slowly, hypnotized, as if he were in a trance. "
I couldn't do it. It was too painful to watch the love of my life, the man that had been proposing to me, fall in love with one of my least favorite people. I screamed, running through the crowd of people and diving on top of her.
What could only be described as a cat-fight, with us rolling around and pushing and screaming. In the end, my necklace was torn, my arms were scratched, and I was sobbing. But Ella had gone, leaving only a glass slipper in the middle of the ballroom.

"Lady Tremaine?"
I knew that voice, could recognize it anywhere. My heart filled with hope, fantasizing that the Prince was here to give me my ring, hug my close, and apologize.
My mother must have thought the same thing, because she ran to the door, flinging it open. In his hand, Alexander held the glass slipper.
"I need to find the wearer of this slipper. The one it fits best." He looked at my mother and she smiled, pointing me in his direction.
It went on my foot perfectly, on the first try. But Alex looked critically at me. "I need to see all the young women in your house, Lady Tremaine."
My mother shut her eyes tight and nodded, shouting out "Driz! And, er, Ella, come here!"
Driz tried on the shoe, but with her tiny feet it was much to big.
Then, it was Ella's turn. She had to cram her toes in to that dainty little shoe, twisting and contorting, wrapping her face up in shapes of pain. But eventually, it went on.
"Wait!" My mother called, putting her hand up. "Let Anastasia try it on one more time."
I slid my foot in once more, and it was clear that it was my shoe.
But the prince just muttered. "No, no. It was Ella's. We shall be married!"
There were no words to describe the pain that I felt.