Chapter Two

A NEW LIFE

Amelia's POV

I took in a deep breath and nodded at the words of the doctor, my mind zoning off as he began to list off the things I should do to stay healthy, from my diet to how I take care of myself.

I nodded mindlessly when I thought he looked up at me to check if I was still listening.

“That would be all,” he said, closing the document and giving me a small but evidently sad smile, before stepping out of the room.

Silvia sank into the chair beside the bed and burst into tears like she could feel my pain. She squeezed my hand and spoke words of encouragement.

“It's fine Silvia. I will be fine.” I said to her and just as I said those words, my father's assistant burst into the room, beads of sweat on his forehead, as his chest heaved from running over.

“Miss. Amelia. The company… the company is nothing now.”

My heart constricted but I forced myself to breathe. I knew this would happen sooner or later.

“What are our assets?” I asked, trying to keep my voice confident.

“None,” he muttered and if I thought my world had crumbled, it had worsened.

“It’s fine,” I said, my voice shaky but I forced it to be steady. “Tell the staff to gather in the main hall back at the house.”

The assistant hesitated. “Now?”

“Yes. Now.”

He nodded and hurried out.

Silvia helped me out of the hospital bed and down the halls as we went to the car, driving home.

When we got to the doors, pushing them open, every familiar face turned to me, men and women who had worked beside my father for years.

“You’ve all heard by now,” I began, keeping my voice as calm as I could. “My father is gone, and the company is no more. I can’t pay your salaries. I can’t keep you here. You’ve all done enough. Please… go home.”

Murmurs filled the room as they looked at each other, confused before nodding slightly and grouping out of the hall one by one.

By the time the hall emptied, my knees trembled. Silvia stood beside me, tears streaking her face.

“You should go too,” I told her.

She shook her head firmly. “No, madam. I made a promise to your father. I’ll stay with you until you can stand again.”

I wanted to argue, but the lump in my throat made it impossible.

Days turned into weeks. The mansion that once buzzed with life was now silent. Dust began to gather on the furniture, and I avoided the study where my father used to sit. I didn’t have the strength to face it.

My pregnancy advanced faster than I thought. The first time I felt the baby inside me, I broke down completely. It wasn’t joy that overwhelmed me, it was fear. Fear of bringing into the world a reminder of the man who’d destroyed everything I loved.

Still, when the months passed and the contractions began, Silvia stayed by my side, wiping my sweat, holding my hair back, each time I vomited. Being with me through it all.

When I heard the first cry, my world stopped.

“He’s a boy,” the nurse said, smiling softly as she handed me the small human.

I looked down at him, his eyes still shut, his tiny fists curling in the air. He was so small…

“Cade,” I whispered. “Cade Stone.”

Silvia leaned close. “He looks like you.”

I smiled faintly. “That’s a relief.”

Months passed. Cade grew stronger, more beautiful each day. His laughter filled the empty house, and for a while, I almost forgot the bitterness festering inside me. Almost.

Every time I saw Xade’s name flash across the television, new projects, global expansion, smiling for cameras as the youngest billionaire in the country, the anger returned.

I knew then I couldn’t stay buried in grief forever.

One cold evening, as I rocked Cade to sleep with Silvia knitting behind me, I spoke. “You’ll know your grandfather’s name one day, my love. And when you do, you’ll know I didn’t let it end this way.”

I turned to her as Cade had finally gone to sleep. “I’m planning to start over.”

“Where will you go?”

I gave her a knowing look.

She sighed but didn’t argue. By morning, I’d packed what little I owned.

“Maria Davidson,” I said, testing the name on my tongue. “It sounds ordinary enough.”

Silvia forced a smile. “You’ll always be Amelia to me.”

“I know.” I looked down at Cade sleeping in her arms, the soft rise and fall of his chest breaking me inside. “Take care of him for me.”

“You’re leaving him?”

“I have to. He’s safer with you. I’ll come back for him when I can.”

Her eyes watered. “Then go. Before you change your mind.”

So I did.

—

Three years later

The knock on the door startled me. I dropped the brush I was using to dye my hair a darker shade.

“Miss Davidson?”

I opened the door. A middle-aged woman was there with a thin smile and holding a clipboard. “You’re hired,” she said simply.

I blinked. “Hired?”

“For the maid position at the Cross estate. The man of the house personally approved your application.”

I forced a polite smile. “Thank you.”

The woman nodded. “You’re to start tomorrow morning. Be early. They value punctuality.”

As soon as she left, I shut the door and leaned against it, heart racing.

Three years. Three years of hiding, saving, planning, and it had come to this.

I went to the mirror. The reflection that stared back wasn’t Amelia Stone. Her brown hair was gone, replaced with black. Her freckles were hidden under a layer of foundation and I had contacts in for good measure.

“Maria Davidson,” I whispered to the mirror. “The maid.”

—

I clutched the strap of my small bag tighter as the head maid led me in. “You’ll handle the living quarters. Keep your head down and speak only when spoken to.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

We kept walking till suddenly she paused, straining her ears for the sound of the door. She then hurriedly grabbed my hand, running down the stairs.

We got down just in time for the other maids to be in a line. The head maid then straightened her apron. “Mr. Cross just returned. Eyes down. No one speaks unless spoken to.”

Everyone took a bow as I heard his footsteps walk into the room, his perfume filling the air and my nostrils, almost making me lightheaded from nostalgia.

He paused and my heart thundered in my chest.

“New staff?” His voice was deeper now. Years had done something to him too. He sounded colder, different from the man I knew.

“Yes, sir,” the head maid replied. “Maria Davidson. She’ll be assisting in the east wing.”

My hands trembled, hidden in the folds of my uniform.

Xade Cross stepped closer.

“Look at me,” he said.