Chapter 9 Chapter 9

Amira's POV

I cleared my throat awkwardly. “I’m sorry for misunderstanding you.”

“No need,” she replied with a small shrug.

“Now that you know who assigned you a personal assistant, do you still have any complaints?”

I gave her a weak smile and shook my head. “No, no problem.”

She didn’t stay long after that. The moment I nodded, she left.

My eyes turned to Judy, who finally looked like she could breathe again.

“So, you’re Judy?” I asked, chuckling lightly.

Of course, I already knew her name. I just wanted to break the tension a little. From the way she stood, hands clasped tightly, eyes low, it was clear she was too nervous to start talking first.

“Yes, ma’am,” she replied quickly.

I stepped closer and smiled. “You don’t have to call me ma’am. My name’s Amira.”

Her brows furrowed, and she looked genuinely troubled. “It wouldn’t be right to call you that,” she said carefully.

Her serious face almost made it look like saying my name would be a crime. I couldn’t help it, I laughed.

“Oh, Judy, you should see your face right now! You look so serious it’s funny.”

It was the first real laugh I’d had since arriving here.

Her confused expression only made it worse, I started laughing harder until I began coughing. Tears blurred my eyes as I struggled to breathe. “Water,” I gasped out between coughs.

Judy panicked and rushed out immediately. She came back moments later with a glass of water, hands trembling as she passed it to me.

I snatched it quickly and drank it down in one go, like someone who hadn’t seen water in days.

“Ma’am, are you okay?” she asked anxiously.

I glanced at her without answering. It took her a second, but then she understood.

“Amira… are you okay?” she corrected softly.

I smiled faintly. “That’s better.”

Hearing my name felt good, like a reminder that I was still me.

Unlike in the Silverpine Pack, where I’d spent years pretending, blind to the truth until it was far too late.

Too late to escape. Too late to stop the betrayal.

If I had known that the love I trusted wasn’t real, I would’ve run long before they sold me off.

But there was no use regretting now.

Judy’s gentle voice pulled me back. “Are you okay? Is your throat better?”

I nodded and placed the empty glass on the table. “Yeah. There’s nothing else for now. I’ll go to my room.”

“Oh, alright,” she said, following as I walked upstairs.

When I reached the room I’d slept in last night, I turned to her and asked, half-tired, half-curious, “Why are you still following me?”

“Did you forget I’m your personal maid?” she reminded me.

“Oh, right. My bad,” I said, scratching my head awkwardly.

It was my first time having a personal maid, so I didn’t really know what they did or how it worked.

I smiled and gestured for Judy to follow me inside. I didn’t notice the strange look on her face until I lay down on the bed and glanced at her.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“Not really,” she said with a tight smile.

“Okay,” I replied, not thinking much of it. We’d only just met, maybe that was just her usual expression.

She sat quietly on a chair across from the bed. We didn’t talk much, and after a while, I drifted off to sleep.

---

The next morning, I woke up feeling surprisingly fresh, no pain, no headache, nothing like yesterday.

I didn’t get up immediately. I just lay there for a bit, enjoying the quiet, before finally deciding to take a shower.

Instead of heading straight to the bathroom, I stopped in front of the mirror and slipped off my dress.

Yeah, I know, it’s weird. I’ve always had this habit of checking myself in the mirror before a bath, no matter how I feel. But with everything that had been happening lately, I hadn’t done it in a while.

Then I frowned.

Purple marks covered my shoulder. The same ones Santiago left on me that first day. I remembered the pain, but I hadn’t realized they’d left such visible bruises.

Seeing them again made my stomach twist.

Aphia, you bastard.

I couldn’t change what had happened, but that didn’t stop the anger boiling inside me. He’d ruined me, and I would never forgive him.

Still seething, I grabbed a towel and went to bathe. When I was done and dressed, I headed downstairs.

The dining room was a bit far, so I had to pass through a few hallways. That’s when I heard voices.

I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, it just happened.

“Have you seen the new girl living here?” one whispered.

“No, but some say they’ve spotted her,” another replied.

“I thought she must be someone important when Ma’am Lily told us to follow her orders.”

“Same here, until I found out she’s staying in the servants’ disposal room.”

I froze.

Servants’ disposal room?

They couldn’t be talking about me… could they?

But deep down, I already knew.

Bitterness filled my chest. I didn’t expect to be treated like royalty, but that room? A place for broken furniture and useless things?

Was that why Judy looked so uneasy when she showed me my room last night?

I would’ve been fine sleeping with the other servants, but that? That was too much.

Tears stung my eyes. I turned around and ran, not toward the dining room, not to my quarters, but straight outside.

The cool air hit my face, but I didn’t stop. I didn’t want to go back in. Not to that room. Not to that house.

To hell with it all. To hell with those three men. Why were they so heartless?

By the time I stopped crying, my nose was red and my eyes were puffy.

No one came to look for me, or maybe they did, and I just didn’t notice. I must’ve fallen asleep from exhaustion. The fresh air made it easy to relax, and slowly, I drifted off.

When I finally woke up, I rubbed my eyes. The anger had faded a little, leaving only quiet numbness.

I was just stepping back through the door when someone suddenly rushed toward me.