"K... Kill me?" My body was shaking. "Why?"
He ignored my question, and dragged me out of the house.
"I told you Bennett, you go wherever I ask you to go. Where did I ask you to go?" He asked and then threw me on the ground.
I was about to beg for mercy, but I felt this massive wave of anger in me. "How can you do this to your fellow human being?!" I pointed a finger at him. "You're a monster!"
"You haven't answered my question yet."
He took out a gun from his pocket.
My heart almost collapsed. I immediately answered. "You said I should go to the stables, but—"
"What is your problem?!" He screamed at me. "Do you want die?"
"You already said you were going to kill me. So I'm dead anyways."
He shook his head, and put his gun back in his pocket. "I'm not going to kill you. Your father's debts haven't been cleared yet."
I breathed a sigh of relief.
He continued. "But trust me, the next time you disobey me, I won't be this lenient."
Then he walked away, and left me there on the floor.
…
The next morning, an expensive pink SUV drove into the estate. Mrs Lang and a few guards were already outside.
A lady came down. She was unnaturally beautiful, with a tall slim build. The kind you only see in magazines or on tv. She looked to be in her late twenties. Her outfit could definitely buy my entire wardrobe, and she wore a whole lot of makeup.
"Goodmorning Mrs. Lang." She said with a wide smile.
"Welcome Ma'am." Mrs Lang replied. "It's always a pleasure to have you. Shall I carry your bags?"
"Of course." She kept her smile as she looked at everyone around. The moment she saw me, her smile dropped.
"And who is… this?" She looked me over from head to toe, stopping at my short uniform.
"Her name is Andrea Bennett ma'am, she's a new housekeeper." Mrs Lang spoke before I could.
The lady paused for a bit, and said. "Let her bring my bags." Then went into the house.
I set down the last of her bags in the guest room, when I heard her voice through the wall. She was Mr Vance in his study. I went there to inform her I had dropped all her bags. As I approached the door, I could make out their conversation.
"But Ethan darling, why would you let her walk around dressed like that. It's indecent."
"How my staff dress is none of your business, Avery."
I knocked, not wanting to get caught eavesdropping.
"Come in". Ethan Vance spoke.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I just wanted to inform you that your bags are in your room." I said quickly, turning to leave.
"I didn't need you to come here and tell me that. I'm not blind, I would've seen them myself," she looked at me with disgust.
Then she turned to Mr. Vance, and her face softened. "My love, this is what I'm talking about. She's dressed like a whore, and doesn't even know how to follow instructions. I think—"
"Shut up Avery." He said firmly. "I don't care for your silly opinions. I'm very busy, leave me alone."
"Of course, I'm sorry Ethan." She stood up respectfully. "Just let me know when you need me."
She left the study, and I followed closely behind
"Go make me a jug of lemonade." She ordered me immediately we got out.
"Alright, I'll just inform the chef—"
"Are you deaf? Or is it that you don't understand plain english." She interrupted. "YOU, go make me a lemonade."
"I'm sorry, but that isn't a part of my responsibil—"
SLAP!
Avery slapped me so hard, my cheek went red.
"You have no rights to argue with me in my boyfriend's house." She narrowed her eyes. "Either you go make me that lemonade, or a slap will be the least of your worries."
It took all the strength in me not to respond. I swallowed my pride, and started towards the kitchen to make the lemonade.
"I'll be waiting in my room." She said from behind.
After three long and treacherous hours, I was finally done. I carried the tray of lemonade to Avery's room. I was about to knock on the door when I noticed it was already open.
"Miss Goode? Your lemonade is ready."
There was no response.
"Miss Goode?" I repeated, as I made my way in.
I entered her room, and the tray I held dropped, glass shattering across the floor.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
There on the floor was Avery Goode.
Lifeless.
In a matter of minutes, Avery's room was full of Ethan's men. He was there as well giving out instructions.
"Put the body in her car and dump it in a river. Somewhere far away." He said to one of his men. An empty syringe was found beside Avery's dead body.
"You… you can't just dump her body like that." I was shocked by how calm he was. "Someone clearly murdered your girlfriend."
"I'm not blind, Bennett. I will find out who that person is." He narrowed his eyes at me. "Tell me again what you saw."
"I didn't see anything. I just came in to serve the lemonade she asked for, she was already…. dead by then." My hands were still shaking, all this was too much for me to handle.
"You don't think I did this?… I didn't do anything."
He rubbed his temples. "Someone in this house is working for my enemies." He stared into the air for some time before turning to me. There was something in his expression that I'd never seen before.
Fear.
"Go to your room, take the rest of the day off. I'll get to the bottom of this."
I paced in my room, mind racing with thoughts.
What sort of house is this?
People are chained up and tortured, and now someone dies?
Ethan didn't even show any emotion. His girlfriend was murdered and he's going to just dump her in some abandoned place.
Right there I made the decision to pack up and leave. I would find another way to pay back the debts. I wasn't about to risk my life.
As I took out my box from the closet, my phone pinged.
It was a message from an unknown ID. There were two pictures attached.
One was of Avery and I arguing in the hallway. The other was of me making her lemonade.
The message read: I'm watching you, step one foot away from that house and this is going straight to Ethan Vance.
The pictures looked like I had poisoned Avery Goode after we had a fight.
Somebody was trying to blackmail me.
I replied immediately: Who is this? And what do you want?
There was silence on the other end.
Then another message entered: I want Ethan Vance's head on a plate, and you're going to give it to me.