جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 19

The Eviction~TARA'S POV~The mood in the room changes right away. It's stuffy and hard to breathe.Lea stops moving, her hand hovering near the champagne bottle. For a moment, I notice fear in her eyes, like a child caught breaking something. But she quickly gets herself together, putting on a face of innocent confusion."Alexander," she breathes, forcing a smile that doesn't reach her eyes. "You're home early."I stare at the floor tiles. They are wet and sticky with the champagne she poured over me.The smell of expensive alcohol mixes with the taste of blood in my mouth; I have bitten my lip so hard the skin has broken. My hands are clenched into fists at my sides, my nails digging into my palms until they sting.I am kneeling in a puddle of humiliation, and he is watching."What does it look like?" Lea asks, her voice pitching slightly higher than usual. She gestures vaguely at me with her glass. "I was just disciplining a maid who doesn't know her place. You know how hard it is

The Devil in the White Room~TARA'S POV~"Tara.""Tara."I heard a voice coming from far away, like it was echoing in a long, dark tunnel.My sight was blurry and foggy, then suddenly became very bright. I saw a clean ceiling. There was a strong smell of medicine. I also heard a machine making a beeping sound to my left.Am I dead?For a fleeting second, a wave of relief washed over me. If this was death, it was peaceful. No more scrubbing floors until my knees bled. No more Lea screaming in my face. No more hunger clawing at the empty pit of my stomach."Tara."The voice came again, rough and bumpy, pulling me back from the edge. I turned my head to the side, the movement feeling heavy and slow, and the illusion of heaven broke instantly.Alexander was sitting in the plastic chair next to the bed.He looked like he had been in a fight and lost. His usually nice hair was a jumbled mess, strands falling over his forehead. His tie was gone, his dress shirt unbuttoned at the collar to

The lion's den 2~TARA POV~I make my way to the stairs. Every step is a struggle. My rib throbs in time with my heartbeat, a quick, rhythmic punishment. Pain shoots up my entire body, spreading out from my hip to my shoulder.I was hoping to get into a hot tub. I was hoping to eat actual food. I was hoping to sleep for a thousand years. Instead, I have to deal with whatever drama these two are cooking up.How things never work my way, I think bitterly. Even when I am in pain, I am treated like a servant who runs on command.I curse under my breath as I grip the railing, pulling myself up the first step.Then, something strange happens.Alexander, who was pacing ahead of me down the hallway, suddenly slows down.He doesn't stop. He doesn't look back. But his stride shortens. He is counting his steps. He is matching his pace to my slow, limping rhythm so that I don't have to rush to catch up.I pause, my hand tightening on the banister.Why are you doing that?Why is he trying to confu

The Eulogy of the Living~TARA'S POV~The mansion feels more like a place where someone watches you all the time, not a cozy home.everywhere I turn, eyes are watching me.Victor stands by the gates like a gargoyle, his gaze following me whenever I take the trash out. Jamie, the maid with the silent footsteps, lingers in hallways she has no business being in, polishing the same vase for twenty minutes just to watch me scrub the floors.And Alice... Alice is the worst of them all. Since the laundry room threat, she doesn't even hide it. She smiles when I refuse food. She hums when I flinch.Are they finally trying to get rid of me? I wonder, my grip tightening on the mop handle.I'm not ready. I'm not ready to leave this house without burning it down first."Tara."The summons comes from the intercom on the wall. Alexander's voice.I sigh, leaning my forehead against the cool plaster of the wall. He has been weird for the past three days. Calling me into his study for mundane things.