Chapter One

Ivy

The society we live in is a world we never thought would happen. Men have always had the upper hand, but now they rule everything.

The male population a few decades back was declining, for every five female births there was only one male birth and as time carried on men were becoming concerned about female domination. It only took a group of a few men to create a radical group that overthrew the society we were used to.

Women are weak and made to only be used by men. If you were lucky, you might get to marry a sympathetic man who would let you live freely behind closed doors. If you were one of the unlucky ones, you were forced into servitude. Unfortunately, I’m one of the unlucky ones.

My name is Ivy, and I have been assigned to the Ronan home, the leader of the Knights. The one that holds us to our way of life, the one that has the power to say if we can have children, or if we live a life of servitude. The man that makes my life a nightmare.

My mother was pregnant with me when this society was formed and was forced to enter me into a lottery that sealed my fate on my eighteenth birthday. Each female is required to be registered for the lottery at birth. This lottery assigns them to their job or career. Some are told to become teachers, bakers, nurses, and other careers I would like to do, while others like me are told to become servants.

I’ve been working for the Ronan family for the past year and the only thing that has made it easier was keeping my head down and making myself invisible.

I’ve had my fair share of punishments, and I try to avoid them at all costs. Mr. Ronan does not take mercy on those that disobey him.

Mr. Ronan was blessed with twin boys, Maverick and Maddox. Twin boys were rare and worked in Mr. Ronan’s favor for gathering followers. His sons are due home today for their year of training. I’ve never met them, but I’ve heard they are like his father, just as cruel and just as handsome.

“Are you almost done with the cupcakes?”

“I’m icing them now.”

“You’re behind. They’ll be here soon and if they’re not done, I’m the one that gets in trouble.”

Sierra freaks out over the smallest thing. She’s been with the family the longest and is just as mean if she gets mad at you.

“They’ll be done. I promise.”

I sat the last plate on the table and let out a sigh. We accomplished everything we were supposed to and before the deadline. All that was left was to get cleaned up and be prepared to serve people.

We were given two types of uniforms, chore uniforms, and our event uniforms. Our event uniforms were so kind black with a white apron, whereas our chore uniform was light blue.

“The place looks nice.”

I jumped at the voice and accidentally made eye contact. My eyes lingered on his face. The man was tall with dark hair and had full facial hair.

I quickly dropped my head.

“I’m sorry. You startled me.”

“I didn’t mean to. What’s your name?”

“Ivy, sir.”

“Are you new? I don’t remember you being here before we left.”

He must be Maverick or Maddox.

“I’ve been here for about a year.”

My hands were shaking. I was waiting for him to say or do something.

“Thank you for the hard work you’ve done today. The place looks nice.”

“You’re welcome. I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to get to work.”

“Of course. Don’t let me keep you.”

I rushed past him and through the kitchen door. I took deep breaths in trying to calm myself. I looked at him without being told. He was too calm for this to end well. He’s probably waiting to punish me.

After I calmed down, I made my way to the help quarters to change into my event uniform. We will serve dinner soon, and I need to be ready.

We were lined up waiting for them to tell us to serve. I was to wait on the right upper side of the table. In order to give personalized service, we split the table into four areas and my area falls into the area the Ronan family sits.

“Grab the wine and water and start serving drinks.”

I grabbed a bottle of wine and a pitcher of water and walked to Mr. Ronan first. He has to be the first one served.

“Wine or water, Sir?” I bowed and kept my head down.

“Wine.”

I carefully poured the wine before moving on to his wife and allowing everyone else to be served.

The next person at the table was the person I was scared to see. It was the twin that I looked at when he caught me in the dining room.

“Wine or water?”

“Both, please.”

I started pouring the water and my hand was shaking so much it was causing the pitcher of water to clank against the glass. He placed his hand on mine, causing me to drop the pitcher because of the surprise. I wasn’t used to a guy touching me, let alone a guy I serve.

“I am so sorry,” I said in a panic.

I quickly grabbed some napkins and placed them over his lap where I spilled the water before getting on my knees to pick up the broken pieces of glass.

My vision was getting blurry from the unshed tears I was trying to hold back. I really messed up, and I’m going to pay for that later.

“Can you do anything right?” Mr. Ronan yelled out. “Get off the fucking floor and look at me.”

I stood up while holding the glass shards in my hand. I slowly tilted my head to look at Mr. Ronan.

“What is wrong with you?”

“It was an accident.”

“Don’t lie to me. You’re trying to ruin this special night for my boys.”

“Father, it was an accident.”

“Did I ask for your opinion, Maverick?”

“No.”

“Then let me deal with it.” Mr. Ronan turned his attention back to me and looked at my closed hand. “Come here.”

As I approached him, Mr. Ronan placed my closed hand into his and squeezed it shut, causing the glass to dig into my palm. The sting of the glass and the blood running through my fingers was enough for the tears to slip down my cheek.

“That's only the beginning of it, my dear.” He said with a smirk on his face. “I’ll see you in my office tonight after the party. You’re dismissed. I don’t want to see you at this event.”

I bowed and walked to the nearest sink, which was in the butler’s pantry. I ran warm water over my hand as I tried to pick the glass out of it. My hand was sliced open in several places. It was going to make completing my chores harder for the next few days.

“Ivy. Why did you do that?” Sierra asked.

“It was an accident. You should get back out there before you get in trouble.” I sniffled.

“Mr. Maverick sent me to check on you.”

“Tell him I’ll be fine and he shouldn’t care about me. This was his fault.”

“Don’t say such things. Placing blame will only make it worse on you.”

“I won’t place blame. I’ll take my punishment and move on.”

“Well, clean up your hand and wait in your room until the party is over. I’ll come and escort you to Mr. Ronan’s office.”

I cleaned my hands the best I could. I’m sure I had a few tiny pieces of glass left, but I couldn’t get them out with tweezers. The only thing left for me to do is to bandage it and rest in my room. I doubt I’ll be getting any rest for a while after tonight.

Maverick

“What the fuck was that about?” Maddox asked.

“She was nervous, and I was trying to calm her down before she got in trouble.”

“Why do you care? Do you know her?”

“No, but I believe our employees shouldn’t fear us.”

“You’ve become too much of a pussy when dealing with women. They’re only good for one thing.”

My brother believed the way my father did. He believes men were meant to rule and women were only here for procreation and to contribute to society.

“I’ll see you in my office after the event as well, Maverick. We need to talk.”

He was going to make me punish her. It was his way of making us guilty. If I didn’t punish her, I would be seen as weak and I can’t have the reputation before I take over for my father.

When I first saw Ivy in this dining room setting the table. I noticed how pretty she looked. Her blonde hair was pulled into a bun and she was carefully setting the plates and silverware on the table. I watched her for a few minutes before I spoke to her.

I believe women should be our equals. It’s not their fault the male population was declining. It was the way genetics was working out. There was a time when I thought my father was right, but as I got older and did more research, I realized he was scared. He didn’t want to lose the power he had.

My brother and I will take over when my father retires in the next few years. I want to change the way things are done, but my brother likes the way things are being done now.

“I understand that she’s pretty, but you don’t have to show her extra attention,” Maddox whispers in my ear.

“There’s more to it. She was afraid of me, and I don’t like that.”

“Fear is a powerful tool; it allows you to control people. They should fear you as they fear father.”

This is where our ideology differs. I want the society that used to exist. A society where we were free to choose who we loved, and what we did for a living. A society that didn’t beat women for merely existing.