Rain fell so heavily on a peaceful Saturday morning...
It streaked down from the sky in cold, relentless drops, soaking the gravel path and blurring an iron gate that loomed ahead.
Elise, a girl in a jean trousers and an overly sized rainbow coloured jacket, stood just beyond the gates, drenched to the bone. She should have brought her umbrella along, but she had no idea the rain would fall today.
The sky had been so clear this morning. And even the weather report didn't say a thing about any rain.
Rain fell without mercy pressing down her hair until it lay plastered against her pale cheeks. Elise held the iron gate as she tried to peek into the yard to see if she would find anyone, but she didn't.
The old-looking iron gate was cold beneath her trembling fingers. Beyond them stood the mansion, a very humongously beautiful modern mansion.
Elise lifted her hand and knocked but no one answered.
Minutes passed into an hour. Then another hour after another.
Still, Elise stood by the gate, refusing to give up. This was her only chance to live. If she goes now, she probably would be dead in the hands of her father and sisters.
The rain didn't stop either, it soaked through her shoes until they filled with water. Her fingers went numb. Her vision blurred faintly at the edges, that familiar warning settling deep in her chest. She was about to pass out again.
Elise pressed a hand over her heart and breathed slowly, carefully, the way she had been taught.
Not yet.
Please… not yet. This was not a time for that. Why wouldn't this sickness just leave her alone?
She stepped back from the gate and stood beneath the narrow overhang. It barely shielded her from the storm, but she stayed. She would stay all day if she had to.
Because she had nowhere else to go.
She had run away from home without anyone knowing. Her best friend had refused to take her in because of her father and sisters so she searched for shelter elsewhere.
Anywhere was better than her father's house where she got no peace.
She was here because she saw a job notice that a maid was needed for the private estate. No mention of the master, no mention of working hours, only a generous wage that made her tremble when she read it.
No job she ever did has paid her this much. This was ten times her salary. Who offers this huge amount for a maid?
Elise hoped no one had taken the job already. It would be a disaster if someone else did. This salary was enough to buy her drugs and she could also rent one of the biggest apartments in the city with just a month's salary. For the first time, Elise felt lucky.
This is why she couldn't leave no matter the rain. This rain is way better than donating your last surviving kidney to your father because your sisters think you're better off dead than him but they cannot donate theirs.
Elise frowned slightly at her thought. She came from a family of 8, having seven married sisters who already have children and her immediate elder sister was already pregnant. And then there's her.
The sister who has been sick since she was a child. Her sisters cussed her every day for not only causing their mother's death, but also being a bad egg. The least attractive, and least presentable because of her illness.
She looked malnourished and out of this world. Almost like a dead person. But she was fine with it. After all, her doctor had always told her to count her days on earth. She said every minute was worth it and that Elise should never take them for granted.
She never did. She had done everything possible since a child, but the only thing she lacked was love. No man ever looked at her because of the way she looked.
If only she could find a man who would be willing to look past that and see her for what she was. But that was impossible.
Instead of looking for that imaginary man, Elise worked hard instead to be able to afford her drugs. But no matter the job she got, she just couldn't afford her basic needs.
Elise had thought maybe if she made enough money she would be able to hire a pretend husband till she dies but life hadn't been fair until... Now. Elise stared at the mansion ahead and smiled faintly.
The rain softened into a drizzle as afternoon bled into evening. Her limbs felt heavy now, her strength thinning as a thread pulled too tight. Elise slid down against the gate, careful not to collapse completely.
Her breath fogged in the cooling air.
"I can do this," she whispered, clenching her white knuckles into a fist.
She thought of the life she could live if she got this job. The money would last her for months even if she worked for just one month.
She smiled faintly.
When night finally began to fall and the rain returned harder than before, she pushed herself back to her feet. Her knock this time was weaker, but no less determined.
She would not leave.
Not until someone told her to.
Then, there was a sudden car flash from behind and Elise turned to look at it. She saw a dark shadow belonging to a tall man step out of the car.
"Hello." The man's voice sounded.