Chapter 2

The banquet hall looked grand, with its walls tainted in gold. The diamond chandelier lit up the floor, filled with guests in tailored suits and elegant dresses. Masks covered their faces to look mysterious. No one thought that one of them couldn’t go back home after the party ends. They only thought it was a friendly gathering organized by a wealthy entrepreneur. The maids and butlers were busy serving everyone. They were walking in different directions, holding trays.

Lucas stopped at the top of the wide staircase overlooking the party, and Camila mirrored what he did.

“Stay here. You can’t go down,” the man told her without looking at her. He then walked down the staircase without another word.

“I will, my lord,” she answered.

Camila scanned the crowd below. Though her desire to meet other people was high, she couldn’t defy the man. That was the only thing she could do, watching from a far. She noticed a guest looking up at her who standing near the foot of the staircase. She was sure the man’s eyes were on her. Their eyes met for a second before she looked away. She wouldn’t know who that was wearing a navy blue suit because of the black mask he had on his face.

She turned to her left when she heard someone approaching her. She found her biological uncle, who was glaring at her. It was no surprise that the old man was like that to her. There wasn’t a time he was not a mad at her for something she didn’t do.

“Do you really think if you stick with our lord, you can meet other people? Stop dreaming,” the old man said. Disgust was visible in his voice.

“I know my place, uncle. You don’t have to remind me,” she said to him.

Because of what she said, she received a slap from him. It was so loud that the sound echoed in the hallway. Her cheeks throbbed, but she didn’t winch or complained. It wasn’t something new, and she expected it to happen. She just looked at him blankly, as if he had not hit her.

“I told you to stop calling me that.” The old man clinched his fist.

“How should I call you? Accept the truth, uncle. You’re already old for you to deny it.”

“I don’t have a niece like you.” He pushed his finger on her head twice, making her to step back. “Insolent. Because of you and your mother, my younger brother died. You better go back to your room if you don’t want to get hit again.”

“I can’t do that. Our lord will look for me,” she reminded the old man.

She received yet another slapped but this time it was heavier. It made her bow her head.

“Are you really dumb? Do I really have to repeat myself?” the old man growled.

She glared at the man, surprising him.

“I will go now,” she said without emotion, and walked away from the old man.

She left not because she listened to him. It was just that she didn’t want to deal with him any longer. Looking at the old man made her blood boil. If she wouldn’t leave, she might explode. That would only make the matter worst. She didn’t look back as she walked into the hallway. Her footsteps echoed to its length. The old man gave her back a death glare before he walked down the staircase. She could explain herself when Lucas would look for her, even though she wasn’t sure the man would believe her.

Her feet were slow as she caressed her cheek, that was now as red as the tomatoes. She was in that state when her mother found her as the older woman stepped out of a room carrying a tiny box.

She had tied her hair neatly at the back of her head and she was wearing the same uniform as her. She might be in her forties, but her beauty stayed the same, that mesmerized any man looking at her.

“What happened to you? Did that bastard hit you again?” She held her cheek, cheeking its redness. Her hand was warm after working all day.

“I am fine, mother. I am used to it,” Camila told her mother and removed her hand.

The sorrow in her mother’s eyes intensifies. “I am sorry, Camila. I can’t do anything,” she said while her voice breaking.

“Don’t ask for forgiveness, mother. It’s not your fault our life is like this.” She grabbed her mother’s other free hand and dabbed it.

“This makes me think I shouldn’t have accepted your father’s proposal. Love blinded me. I really thought life would be better in this mansion.” Her mind wandered as she thought of the past.

“I am curious what happened when I was born,” Camila said, to make her mother talk. “You haven’t told me the story.”

Her mother averted her eyes from her and walk. “I will tell you another time. I need to go to the party. Go to your room and study.” Her mother forced a smile and walked fast, leaving Camila in the middle of the hallway.

Camila looked at her back. She already knew what happened to her father. It was just that she wanted to hear her mother’s side of the story in case she heard it wrong about what happened to him.

After a day when she was born, her parent decided to runaway from the mansion. Her mother convinced him that the life in the mansion wasn’t for Camila. The couple even fought until her father gave in. They escaped the walls because during that time there wasn’t an array. Lucas only put the array after this incident. Unfortunately, as they were crossing the street, a truck bump her father. She only survived while on her mother’s arm after her father pushed them away.

 Every time she thought of what happened, it really made her sigh. She also wondered life would be better if her father didn’t die.