CRYSTAL'S POV
The car ride from my home seemed endless, though it barely lasted twenty minutes. My parents didn't follow. They didn't even look back, just a stiff nod and a whispered "be careful," before I was left alone. Completely alone. My hands gripped the bag in my lap so tightly my knuckles turned white. I could feel my heart hammering against my chest like it wanted to escape. I was eighteen, stolen from everything familiar, and delivered into the hands of a man I barely knew a man whose name alone made grown men tremble. Ace DeLuca.
The mansion loomed before me like a fortress. Black iron gates, tall hedges trimmed with precision, and a driveway that stretched farther than I could see. My stomach twisted. This would be my home now. My prison. Six months. Six months to survive, to remain alive, to keep my family safe. Fail, and the consequences were unthinkable.
Ace was waiting. Naturally. He didn't greet me, didn't even glance in my direction. He stood like a shadow carved into human form, perfect in posture, suit impeccable, every movement measured. I felt the weight of his presence as if it pressed against my chest. I tried to shrink into my seat, to make myself small, invisible but I knew invisibility wouldn't save me.
"You will live here. You will work. You will obey," one of his men said flatly. "Do not make mistakes. Do not leave. Do not be noticed."
I nodded silently. My tongue refused to work. Survival had become my only thought.
Inside the mansion, marble floors gleamed under cold lighting, and crystal chandeliers hung like frozen stars. Everywhere I looked, there was wealth but no warmth. It was a cage, polished and pristine, and I was its newest prisoner.
Valeria, the head maid, appeared almost immediately. Her sharp eyes scanned me like a predator, her lips curling into a smile that carried nothing but cruelty.
"You're late," she snapped. "Do you even know what your job is?"
I tried to speak, but no words came. My hands shook, my chest tight.
"You'll learn," she said, smirking. "Or you'll fail. And this house does not forgive failure."
I swallowed hard and nodded. Obey. Survive. That was all I could do.
Salish, another maid my age, appeared quietly beside me. Her voice was soft, almost fragile, but it carried a warmth that made my chest ache. "Don't let her scare you," she whispered. "I'll help you survive. You'll be okay… I promise."
Her words were a fragile lifeline, the first thread of comfort in a house filled with shadows.
The days blurred together. I cleaned, cooked, scrubbed floors until my hands ached, polished silver, and ran endless errands. Valeria was relentless. Every mistake, no matter how small, was noticed, critiqued, and punished. My hands bled from scrubbing, my feet ached from standing, my back screamed under the weight of constant labor. I tried not to cry, tried not to show weakness, but exhaustion weighed on me like chains.
Ace avoided me for the first two days. But his presence was everywhere. The staff moved like they were constantly tiptoeing around invisible landmines. He didn't need to speak to control the mansion; his authority was absolute.
It was during the second day that I saw him truly, in all his terrifying glory. I was cleaning near the back garden when a man stumbled into the yard, panicked. Ace stood perfectly still, eyes fixed on the man. The man pleaded, words tumbling in Italian, and then bang. One shot. The man fell, lifeless. Ace didn't flinch, didn't speak, didn't even lower the gun. My heart stopped. I pressed myself against the wall, frozen. This man had just been killed. This… this was my new reality.
Salish became my only anchor. She whispered encouragement when no one else could hear, small jokes, tiny bits of comfort that reminded me I wasn't entirely alone. Without her, I would have broken in those first terrifying days.
Then came Angela Romano.
Her arrival was announced by the sharp click of her heels echoing through the marble halls. She moved like she owned the mansion, though she didn't live here. Designer clothes, flawless hair, and an air of arrogance that made the staff shrink at her presence. She was a mafia daughter, here to see Ace, and it was clear everyone knew it.
I froze in place. I couldn't help comparing myself to her her flawless posture, her confidence, the way she commanded the room. She's beautiful… so beautiful… I whispered in my head, heart sinking. For the first time since arriving, I felt small, inadequate, like the weakest thing in the house.
Ace appeared behind her, his presence instantly suffocating. Calm. Cold. Unyielding. He didn't smile, didn't acknowledge her beyond what he needed. She was a distraction, a plaything, a visit he tolerated. That much was clear. And yet, my stomach knotted seeing them together, him so indifferent and her so arrogant.
I tried to shrink further into the shadows, hoping he wouldn't notice me. But of course he did. His eyes flicked toward me, sharp and cold, and the world seemed to constrict around me.
"Via."
"Go."
I obeyed instantly, retreating, my heart hammering, stomach twisting. Fear surged through me, sharper than it had ever been. His gaze alone was lethal. His dismissal was a reminder: my place was small, invisible, obedient. Any misstep could cost me everything.
Angela laughed loudly, tossing her hair, completely unaware of the storm in the corner of the room. I watched, trembling. She was mean, arrogant, and cruel. And yet… I thought, she's prettier than me. My stomach twisted, my face burned with shame at even thinking it.
Days turned into nights. My body ached, my hands blistered, my head throbbed. Valeria's cruelty was relentless. Every mistake earned scolding, mockery, or extra labor. I learned to clean faster, to scrub harder, to move with perfection. Mistakes were not forgiven here.
At night, I lay awake, listening to the distant laughter, whispers, and clinking of metal. The mansion breathed danger. Every shadow seemed alive, every creak of a floorboard a threat. I hugged myself, thinking of my brother, thinking of the six months that now stretched before me like a minefield. Survival was all I had.
I learned three crucial things in my first week:
Ace DeLuca is merciless. He doesn't bend, doesn't forgive, doesn't compromise. Even avoiding me, his presence is deadly. Valeria is cruel. She thrives on breaking those under her, testing limits, and humiliating mistakes. Salish is a lifeline. The only reminder that human kindness can exist even here.
Angela visited two more times that week. Each time, my stomach tightened, my hands trembled, and I stayed hidden. She flaunted her beauty, arrogance, and power, laughing and talking as if the mansion belonged to her. I watched from corners, silent, small, afraid to exist. She's prettier than me… I reminded myself repeatedly. Fear made me shrink, obedience made me invisible, and survival made me endure.
Ace's attention was terrifying and brief. A glance, a dismissal, a single word in Italian)and I obeyed without hesitation. I knew better than to linger in his presence. He tested, he observed, he controlled. His ruthlessness was absolute.
By the end of the week, I felt the full weight of the mansion, the people, and my own fear. My body was exhausted, my mind always alert, every nerve raw. Yet, somewhere deep inside, tiny sparks of courage began to flicker. I watched, I listened, I learned. Survival wasn't just obedience it was observation, patience, endurance.
And as I lay in my tiny room that night, staring at the ceiling, listening to the distant footsteps, laughter, and metallic clinks, I whispered to myself: six months. I will survive six months. Somehow.
But I didn't know if I would even make it to sunrise.