Chapter 2:Broken vows mended hearts

Anna's body trembled, her fragile  fame curled up in the suffocating  darkness of the locked room. The absence of light made the space feel smaller, the air heavier. Her chest tightened  painful  as she gasped for breath, her hands holding her throats.  She  had been holding back her  pain, trying to stay strong, but now, terror clawed at  her inside  that she could  not hold her pain. She screamed at the  top of her voice.  “ Aunty!” Banging the  dustbin  room door. “ Please … I can't breathe well!” . There was no answer.  The house remained silent except  for the  muffled crackling of the dying fireplace downstairs.  Her knees ached her as another wave of dizziness hit her. The shadows in the room seemed to dance around her, mocking her helplessness. She tried  to take  a deep breath but it only made her chest tighten further. Her vision  blurred . The walls felt like  they were closing in on her.

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When  Anna's  eyes opened widely.  She was no longer trapped  in that suffocating  room.

Instead, she was lying in a sterile, white walled space , the smell of Antiseptic  entering her nostrils. The beeping of medical equipment  rang softly around her. “ You're  awake”, a voice  murmured.  She turned her  head weakly to see a tall man in a white coat standing beside her bed. It was Dr. Collins, The Earnshaw family doctor. His  face was filled  with concern,his sharp eyes studying  her  calmly. Anna's  throat was dry. She tried to speak, but her voice came out as nothing more than a deadly whisper.  “ Here, drink this.” Dr Collins  handed her a  glass of water. She sipped it  slowly,feeling the cool liquid soothing her dry throats. It was then she realized how weak she felt. Her arms were trembling slightly as she held the glass.

“ Do you know  where you are?” The doctor asked calmly.  Anna nodded faintly  as she looked   round  the place.  “ The hospital,” She whispered. Dr Collins took a deep breath, pulling  up a chair beside her. “ Anna, do you know  what happened  to  you?” She hesitated

before answering . “ I … I couldn't breathe”, She  admitted. “ I  felt trapped  and everything went blank”.  “ Well, you had an asthma  attack”, he said gravely. “ A strong one. Why didn't  anyone tell me you were asthmatic?”

Anna lowered her gaze. The truth was, no one cared enough  to mention it. Dr Collins  frowned his face in concern. “ You shouldn't be locked in small, dusty rooms . That kind of environment  is dangerous for someone with your  condition”. A lump formed in Anna's throat, but she forced herself  to remain calm. The doctor  stared at her  slightly. “Tell me, Anna … What's  going on in that house?”  She stiffened.   “ You're safe here,”he assured her. “ No one can hurt you. But I need to  know,how are you being treated at the Earnshaw  estate?” . Anna's  Lips  shaked out of fear. She wanted to tell him everything.  How her aunty barely acknowledged her existence, how her  cousins treated her like  a servant, how she was given the hardest chores and the smallest portions of food. Tears filled   her eyes as she swallowed  the lump in her throat. “ Please… Please  don't  tell my aunt”, She whispered.”She will make things worse for me”. Dr. Collins' expression  changed. 

“ Worse? Anna, What  exactly is happening  to you?” She hesitated  at first, but something  about the  Doctor's kind  eyes  made her feel assured  and at peace.

She took a deep  breath  as she spoke. “ I'm  not treated like  a family”, She admitted. “ My aunty doesn't want me there.  She only took me in because of my mother”. Dr. Collins  looked nervous  but he let her continue. “ I  cook, clean, fetch water and I do all chores all day”. Sometimes I  don't  eat until late at night, after everyone  else is asleep”. The doctor  stamped his feet on the floor. “ You're  thirteen, Anna. You should  be in school. You should  be cared for”. She lowered her gaze, her fingers holding  on to the hospital blanket. “ Please”, She whispered  again. “ Don't tell her. If she finds out I told  you, she will punish me”. Dr  Collins  took a deep breath, his eyes meeting hers. Finally, he nodded. “ I  promise I  won't tell her”. She had a soothing  relief  calming her nerves but it was short lived.

“ But I'm  not going to let this continue”, He said firmly. “ I  will convince your  aunty to send you to school”. Anna's  breath caught in her throat. School?

“ She won't  agree,”  she said  quickly, shaking her head. “ She thinks I am a burden  to her and her family”.  “ Then I will convince  her and make her see it as a necessity,” Dr Collins  said, giving her  a gleam of hope.

 “ You deserve an education, Anna. You deserve  to have  a better future”. For the first time  in years,a flicker of hope  was  Filled  in Anna's  chest. 

That very night, as she lay in the hospital bed , She overhead gossp voices just outside  her door. “ That girl is nothing but trouble,”A familiar  voice  hissed. Anna's  heart  pounded. She recognised  that voice, it was Martha, one of the Earnshaws  maids.

“ She's  her mother's  daughter”, Another  voice, softer but filled with sadness, replied. 

“ And you know how that ended”. Anna tried to process their words. What do they mean?. Martha  gave a mocking  reply. “ The Earnshaw  never forgave  her mother. That woman brought the family into pure shame by marrying a clergyman”. “ She loved him”, The second maid argued. “ And he was a good man. But you know  how this  family  is. They wrote her off the moment  she chose him”. A chill ran down Anna's  spine. The second maid exhaled. “ Did you know that  Anna's grandfather cut her mother out of the will completely?”. Anna opened  her mouth wide  in shock.  Her late parents  never told her anything about  this. The hallway outside felt silent. Anna's  breathing  left Her. Her mother had been erased from the family wealth? That meant, if her parents had been supported, they wouldn't  have struggled. A cold realisation  settled deeply in her chest. She had never truly been  a part of the Earnshaw  family. The following  morning, Dr. Collins  entered the room with a calm and reassuring look on his face. “ I  spoke to your aunty”, he said. Anna sat up immediately  in happiness. “ She agreed,” he continued . “ Agreed to what?” She asked cautiously. “ You're going to school, Anna”. Anna's  breath caught in her throat . This was exactly what she looked forward to.  Her chance to leave the Earnshaw  Estate. But before she could  respond, she caught sight of something over the Doctors  shoulder. Standing  in the doorway,dressed in her long, casual gown was her  aunt  Regina. Her dark eyes stared at  Anna's, her lips pressed into a thin, unreadable  line. At that moment, Anna knew, this wasn't  going to be easy. Her so-called freedom would  come at a price.