Chapter 2: RULES OF THE MANSION

The staff room was not a room. It was a confession box.

Mrs. Benson locked the door behind them after Mira almost got shot by Sienna and almost got killed by Mr. Cold in the same five minutes. Mira was still holding her slippers like they were evidence.

"Sit," Mrs. Benson said.

Mira sat. The plastic chair made a squeak.

"You have already broken rule one on your first day. Do you know what that means?"

"That I should kill the cockroach faster next time?"

Mrs. Benson stared at her. Then she closed her eyes and pressed her forehead.

"Child, you don't understand where you are. This is not a normal house. This is Hudson Mansion. Do you know who Daniel Hudson is?"

"My boss that has abs and dead fish face?"

"No. He is the head of Hudson Group. Oil, real estate, hotels. And underneath... underneath, he is the head of the Raven Syndicate. The boys you will see carrying guns? They are not security. They are his men. They have killed people for looking at him wrong. And you... you just entered his private wing chasing a cockroach with slippers."

Mira's mouth went dry. "Raven... like bird?"

"Like death. And you made him laugh. Nobody makes him laugh. Do you know the last maid? She worked here for two years, never spoke to him. You have worked for two hours and you have seen him without shirt."

Mira thought about the water dripping down his chest and felt her face get hot. "It was an accident."

"Everything here is an accident that can kill you. So listen. If you want to survive and collect that 300k to pay your mother's hospital bill, you will follow ten rules. Memorize them like your life depends on it, because it does."

Mira sat up straight. This was serious now.

"Okay ma. I'm listening."

Mrs. Benson brought out a small, old notebook. The paper was yellow.

"Rule One. NEVER enter the East Wing. That is Mr. Hudson's private wing. His bedroom, his bathroom, his private office, his private balcony. No one enters. Not even Sienna. Not even his gang. Only Mrs. Agnes, who was his nanny before she died, was allowed. If you enter, you will be fired immediately. And if Sienna sees you, she will do worse than fire you."

Mira nodded quickly. "Never. I will not even look at that side. I will be blind on that side."

"Rule Two. Do not speak to Mr. Hudson unless he speaks to you first. And when he does, answer short. Yes sir, No sir, Sorry sir. Not stories."

"But—"

"Short, Mira."

"Okay. Short."

"Rule Three. His coffee. Black, no sugar, no milk, 7am sharp at the entrance of the East Wing. Not 7:01. If you are late, throw it away. He will know. He times it. He was a soldier before."

Mira frowned. "Soldier? He looks too fine to be soldier."

"He was special forces. Three years. That's why his eyes are like that. Empty."

That explained the cold. Mira filed it away.

"Rule Four. Do not touch his things. If you are cleaning his office, do not move his files even one inch. He knows. He takes pictures before he leaves."

"Like a psycho?"

"Like a billionaire with trauma. Rule Five. When his men are having meetings in the back dining room, do not go there. Even if they call you. Even if they are bleeding. You call me."

"Rule Six?"

"Rule Six. Sienna is the boss when Mr. Hudson is not around. Whatever she says, you do. Even if it is stupid."

Mira's face twisted. "Even that one with gun and red nails?"

"Especially that one with gun and red nails. She is not just his girlfriend. Her father is a partner in his dirty business. She has power here. She hates all female staff. Especially young ones. So make yourself ugly."

"Ma, I am already trying my best."

Mrs. Benson almost laughed, but held it.

"Rule Seven. Do not bring your phone into the main house. Leave it in staff quarters. They think you will snap pictures and sell to blogs."

"But my mother's hospital calls—"

"You can check during break. But not inside. If Axel catches you, he will smash it."

"Rule Eight. Do not eat from the main fridge. Your food is in staff kitchen. The main fridge is for Mr. Hudson and his guests only. Last maid ate his imported cheese and he fired her that same night."

Mira's stomach growled. She had not eaten since morning. "Noted. I will not even breathe near his cheese."

"Rule Nine. If you hear shouting, gunshots, or someone crying from the back room, you continue mopping. You hear nothing. You see nothing. You are deaf and blind."

This one gave Mira chills. "Do they... kill people here?"

Mrs. Benson looked at the locked door. "This is Lagos, my daughter. People disappear every day."

Silence fell. Mira felt the weight of the mansion for the first time. It wasn't just big and cold. It was dangerous.

"Rule Ten?" Mira whispered.

Mrs. Benson closed the notebook.

"Rule Ten. Don't fall in love with him."

Mira blinked. "What?"

"Every girl that works here falls in love with him. Every single one. Even me when I was younger, I had a small crush. He is rich, handsome, broken. Women want to fix broken handsome rich men. Don't. He will never love you back. He has not loved anyone since his parents died in that East Wing ten years ago. He doesn't know how. If you fall, you will be broken too. And he will not even notice."

Mira let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Her heart was doing something funny.

"Ma, I don't want love. I want salary. Love cannot pay hospital bill. And besides, I don't like cold men. I like men that laugh and have teeth that show. Not dead fish face."

For the first time, Mrs. Benson smiled fully.

"Good. Keep that mentality and you will survive."

She stood up and opened the door.

"Now go. Your uniform is on the bed. And Mira... your socks. Please. Wear matching ones tomorrow. For your own safety."

Mira looked down at her blue and yellow socks. "But they are lucky."

"They will get you killed."

Mira laughed. Despite everything, she laughed.

She went to her small staff room, changed into the grey uniform. It was too big. She had to fold the sleeves. She looked in the small cracked mirror. She looked tired. Eyes slightly swollen from holding tears. But she looked determined.

300k. She repeated it.

300k.

She tied her hair up and went back to work.

The rest of the evening was quiet. Too quiet. The mansion was empty. Mrs. Benson said Mr. Hudson had left with his men for business. Sienna had also left after making a lot of noise about "rats in the house."

Mira was alone to mop the West Wing corridor. She mopped aggressively, like the floor owed her money. She was singing under her breath — a silly song from her childhood — when she heard footsteps.

She turned.

Three men were standing at the end of the corridor, watching her.

She recognized one — Axel, neck tattoo, gum chewer. The other two she didn't know. One was tall, very dark, with a shaved head and a scar on his lip. The other was lighter, younger, with curly hair and a very handsome, bored face.

They were all holding guns. Not pointing, just holding. Like phones.

Mira froze.

Axel said, "That's the cockroach killer."

The scarred one said, "She's short."

The curly one said, "And loud. I heard her singing from the garage."

Mira, who was supposed to be deaf and blind and short in answers, said, "If you are here to kill me, can you wait until I finish mopping? I don't want Mrs. Benson to say I left work unfinished."

The three men stared. Then the curly one burst out laughing. A real, loud laugh.

"Oh shit. Boss was right. She has mouth."

Axel walked closer. He was huge. Mira had to look up and up.

"I'm Axel. This is Jace." He pointed to scarred one. "This is Raven. Don't mind his name, his mother watched too many movies."

Jace nodded at her, serious. Raven gave her a small salute.

"We are not here to kill you," Axel said. "We are here to tell you dining table needs cleaning. We just finished meeting."

Mira looked past them. The back dining room table had bottles, papers, and... was that blood on a napkin?

She remembered Rule Five.

"I... I will call Mrs. Benson," she said quickly.

Raven grinned. "Scared now, cockroach killer?"

"No. But Mrs. Benson said if you are bleeding, I should call her. Are you bleeding?"

Jace looked down at his hand. There was a small cut.

"It's nothing."

"Nothing can turn to tetanus," Mira said, already walking towards them with her mop. "My mother is a nurse, she told me. You people play with guns but you don't have first aid box."

She reached the table and started cleaning, trying not to look at the blood.

The three men watched her, fascinated. No maid had ever spoken to them like that. Most maids ran.

"Do you people pay electricity bill with bullets?" she asked suddenly, picking up an empty magazine from the table. "Because you use a lot."

Jace choked on his water. Raven laughed so hard he had to sit.

Axel just stared at her, then slowly smiled.

"You are going to be interesting," he said.

From upstairs, from the East Wing that was supposed to be empty, a door slammed hard.

All three men went instantly silent. Hands on guns. Eyes sharp.

Axel pressed his earpiece. "Boss?"

A cold voice came through, so cold Mira felt it from where she stood.

"Who is making noise in my house?"

Axel looked at Mira.

Mira mouthed, "Sorry."

Axel said into the earpiece, "It's the new maid, boss. Mira. She was... cleaning."

Silence. Then Daniel's voice, even colder:

"Bring her to me."

Mira's mop dropped.

Her heart started beating like it wanted to jump out of her chest and run out of the gate by itself.

Jace whispered, "First day and you are already summoned to the East Wing. Record."

Raven whispered, "RIP, mismatched socks."

Axel just said, "Come. And don't talk this time. Please."

Mira followed him, legs like jelly, up the stairs, down the dark hallway she was never supposed to enter again. The black door was open.

Daniel was inside. He was sitting in a chair in the middle of his cold, dark room, in a fresh black shirt, elbows on knees, looking at her like she was a problem he needed to solve.

On his bed, laid out neatly, were three pairs of brand new socks.

All mismatched. Blue and yellow. Pink and green. Black and white.

Mira stopped breathing.

He looked up at her and said, in that dead, calm voice,

"Explain."