Trapped

"You shouldn't stand like that; grab a basket and work!" The woman behind her complained for the umpteenth time, causing Gia, who had been lost in herself, to jerk around again.

The woman scowled, and Gia lowered her eyes to the ground, a frown on her face.

She picked up the basket that was beside her, arranged her skirt, and walked past the woman. who looked like she was fed up with her. She had just one job—gathering all the dirty clothes from the manor to be washed.

They were usually stained with blood, and most were torn with knife cuts. Most smelled of tobacco and alcohol. Good thing she had stacks of nose masks given to her by Maximo.

Since the past two weeks, since Zayne brought her back from the hospital, she hadn't spoken one-on-one with him, much to her relief, until the second week, when she got orders from the caretaker of the manor that Don wanted her given chores.

Well, that was okay, considering she was living in the manor and wasn't expecting to be treated like a guest