The following morning;
As usual, Emilia was in the kitchen as early as humanly possible to prepare breakfast.
"Make it more tiny, Ava. You should have known better by now." She said gently to the maid who was assisting her to cut up the vegetables.
"I'm sorry, ma'am..." Ava apologized and Emilia shook her head.
"No, don't apologize, Ava. I know you are good at your job and it seems I am just complaining too much. But you know Victor will flare up if he finds chunks of spring onion in his meal yet it must be there... Just not visible." Emilia explained kindly to the maid.
"No, ma'am, I won't dare say you are complaining. I understand your point." Ava replied and Emilia nodded.
"Ma'am, do you need me to add more..."Ava was asking but stopped midway.
"Good morning, sir." The maid greeted and Emilia looked up in surprise, wondering who entered the kitchen.
It was Victor and just his presence seemed suffocating for Emilia. She swallowed hard and quickly stopped what she was doing and turned fully to face him.
"Good morning, Honey." She greeted softly.
Victor's sharp eyes scanned her face before narrowing.
"Give us a moment, Ava." Victor said to the maid without even sparing her a glance and the latter scurried out.
"So, what happened?" He asked Emilia and her breath hitched. She knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Actually, the assignment..." She tried to find an excuse but Victor cut her off.
"The assignment took you the whole night right? So, Art projects take a full night to do, is that what you are telling this oldie who, fortunately for you, didn't study arts?" Victor demanded lowly, his tone holding a hint of mockery.
"No... I mean, yes... It did take time but not the whole night. By the time we were done, it was really late and I figured you might have fallen asleep since you had a long day yesterday. I didn't want to disturb your sleep." Emilia told him, softly, desperately praying in her mind that he would take the lie.
Victor scoffed and took a step closer. Instinctively, Emilia took a step backwards and he grabbed her wrist roughly.
"Now, you think you can lie to me?" He raised an eyebrow and smirked evily.
"You purposely stayed out till late in the night to avoid me." He stated as a matter of fact, his grip tightening on her wrist and she whimpered.
"No! No, I wasn't—" She stammered, shaking her head.
"I swear, I wasn't avoiding you." She maintained even though her voice lacked conviction.
Victor narrowed his eyes on her, studying her facial expression for a moment, to determine whether she was lying or not.
"Okay. We will get back to that when I return." He finally said and freed her hand.
"You are traveling?" She asked flatly, trying not to show her excitement that he was going to be away.
"Yes. I have a business trip for a few days. But don't think you are off the hook. We still have unfinished business, and you will get your punishment." He informed her firmly and shoved her for a reason best known to him.
Emilia staggered backwards and hit the kitchen counter.
"You had better behave while I'm gone." He said.
Emilia winced but she nodded quickly.
Without waiting for a response, Victor strode out of the kitchen.
"Uhhh..." Emilia let out a shaky breath, clutching the counter for support.
After collecting her breath, she felt a wave of relief wash over her.
"At least I have a few days of peace before he comes back." She mumbled under her breath.
~~~~~~~~~
Later that evening:
Emilia stood in the corridor, leaning against the railing. Her eyes were fixed on the horizon, but her mind was far away.
She sighed, lost in her thoughts.
"Will I ever be able to escape this hell?" She whispered to herself.
Her fingers gripped the railing tightly as she pondered on that and she didn't notice the sound of footsteps approaching.
Adrian paused a few feet away when he saw her.
"Oh, what is she doing there? She looks distressed..." He observed and unconsciously, his eyes went to her hands on the railing. He noticed the faint bruises around her wrist and he furrowed his eyebrows.
"What is that?" He muttered, his gaze moving to her neck. There were faint marks there too, as if someone had gripped her throat.
After a moment of just watching her in silence, he cleared his throat.
"Hey..." He called out.
She flinched at the sound, snapping out of her thoughts. When she turned and saw him, she forced a small smile.
"Hi." She replied.
"You seemed deep in thought." Adrian said, stepping closer.
"I guess I was." She replied softly.
"Is everything okay?" He asked gently.
"Yes, of course. Everything is fine." She said quickly, and Adrian could see she was forcing the smile on her face.
"But you don't look okay." He blurted and she quickly looked away.
"Do you need anything? Food? Snacks?" She asked him after a moment of silence, glancing briefly at him.
"No, I don't need anything. But I... feel you could use a talk." He pointed out.
"I don't think so." She maintained firmly, her forced smile fading slightly.
"Okay, fine. I know we barely know each other and aren't even friends to be sharing secrets with each other, and I know this isn't any of my business, but I think something is going on in this house." He paused to assess her reaction but she gave nothing away. He sighed then continued.
"With what the doctor told me last time about your health and how you seemed desperate to avoid..." Adrian was saying but an approaching footsteps cut him short.
"Ma'am! Your phone has been ringing nonstop." Ava, the maid told her, handing her the phone.
"Oh..." Emilia muttered nervously. She was certain it was Victor and knew what could happen if she missed his call.
But when she looked at the screen, she saw her mother's name instead.
Relieved but confused, she answered the call.
"Hello? Mom?"
"Emilia!" Her mother's voice was shaky.
"What's wrong?" Emilia asked, panic creeping into her voice.
"It's... It's your brother again!" Her mother sobbed and Emilia's gulped fearfully.