Chapter 4

Grace 24 Dean 32

I should have been in my studio an hour ago practicing ‘Cello Suite No. 1 in G major’ for my upcoming concert, which was on Sunday. Two days from today.

Yet here I was in the mansion, pacing in my bedroom with anxiety as my only companion.

Was I actually worried about Daphne?

Well, no. She knew what was coming when she left the house, rode her on-and-off boyfriend's car, and ended up on that tiled floor.

The silence that loomed around the walls made me feel uneasy.

"Weird" was an understatement to describe the silence. Especially in a house where someone was always making mistakes.

The world recognized my father as a mayor who joked around and was fond of laughing with everyone. He was the man this city adored just as much as they did Morgan Freeman. Mayor Hale was everywhere, doing something for mankind, and of course, giving back to the society that helped him stay in power for the past fifteen years. Playing basketball with seniors, raising money for the homeless, or speaking against corruption was part of his daily chores.

He threw Thanksgiving for disabled kids, celebrated Christmas with the orphans, and the new year was exclusively reserved for God knows what.

It was hard to keep track of his good works. A man with a calendar as busy as his should deserve a round of applause. Here arrived the but. But inside the mansion, he was nothing like that.

To the public, he was a man they could rely on; to us, he was a monster.

“Why are you still here?” Jenny waltzed into my bedroom with cleaning supplies.

I picked up my phone from the nightstand and typed the text.

“Where is Dad?” I turned the screen for her to read it.

“Left three hours ago. He has a meeting with a senator before lunch.” She calmly replied while changing the beige curtains.

“And Daphne?”

“Still in the attic.”

“Did she eat something?”

“You know the rules, Grace. She doesn't get a grain until Mr. MAYOR orders.”

“Is she awake?”

“Last time I checked, she was still sleeping. That was two and a half hours ago.”

“I need to see her.”

“You can't. The mayor strictly prohibited your presence near her.”

I expected that.

What took me off guard was Jenny’s composure. This woman was alien with words like ‘peace, tranquility, serenity, calm, peace,' and every other word that was associated with the same meaning.

Jennifer Hart was the definition of aggression and ready to pull your hair when it was totally unnecessary. Part of the reason she became one of the beloved right-hand women of my father.

Over the last eight years, I witnessed most of the cruelty this woman concealed under her sleeves. Starving Daphne, slapping me, beating Daphne while locking me in the closet just so I could hear her cries, serving rotten food, mixing the dishwasher in water.

Her loyalty to my father was deep, engraved in her bones. This woman could die for Lorenzo Hale in a heartbeat. Just like Hugo.

“Your driver is on sick leave today. Vinny is waiting for you outside. You should leave. Your assistant has already called three times.” She finished her work with the curtains and now was mopping the marble floor.

Wait, why was she mopping the floor?

Where were the other maids?

Jenny never did this sort of stuff. She loathed touching cleaning stuff, brooms, and bleach. Currently, she was touching all three things.

Something was wrong.

“I think I will practice from home today.” I scrawled those words on my screen.

“No. Not happening.” She snapped. “You are leaving. Right fucking now.”

She picked up my bag from the walk-in closet, clasped my wrist, and began marching toward the destination she had set in her head.

No matter how much I resisted and smacked her arms in this entire seven-minute journey, it didn't bother her at all. Honestly, nothing and no one bothered her. What only mattered to her was Mayor Hale and his satisfaction.

She opened the door of the car and thrust me inside, followed by my bag, before closing the door with the same Superman strength.

“Be home by 6 pm. Mayor Hale wants you on the table tonight. Don't be late.” She turned to Vinny then. “Bring her home by 5.”

“Sure.” Vinny nodded his head, hopped in the driver's seat, and started the engine.

Dad wanted me at the table during dinner.

How the hell was that even possible?

He barely asked if I ate, forgetting about sitting at the same table and enjoying a meal. Even though we stayed under the same roof, we hardly shared a word with one another.

He wanted Daphne and me out of his space, which both of us were merry to comply to. The awkwardness between the three of us was apparent no matter which angle one saw. We were a family, but we just couldn't incorporate with one another.

The last time we had dinner was the night before Mama died. Eleven years. It had been eleven years since I sat at the dining table in our dining room and ate a meal.

Tonight, it was going to happen.

Instead of feeling anything positive, my heart was sinking into the bleakness.

Jenny might think she scored a home run with her sweet words and hollow smile, but I wasn’t born tomorrow nor was I foreign to the people of this house.

I could sense the fishy smell in the air of this house before the monsters inside it performed it. And right now, my heart was telling me tonight’s feast wasn't a simple dinner. It was more than it appeared or people tried to show.

I tightly gripped the necklace around my neck, the only thing my mother left for me. It was a gold chain with a princess-cut diamond pendant attached to it.

“What was happening?” My inside whispered to the necklace. “I am afraid, Ma. I don't know what to expect. I don't understand what is happening and what is about to happen.”

For the first time in my life, I wasn't ready to face whatever Dad was planning.

I was exhausted, my bones were in pain, and my soul was torn in a thousand different pieces. The little hope left in me was about to wither.

And once it did, making a comeback would be an impossible task.