Chapter 35: The Hunger Strike

Marilyn's POV

Everything suddenly hit me once… like a heavy wave crashing into my chest.

My body felt weak, and my arms were already shaking. My legs couldn’t keep me upright any longer—they felt like they could give up at any second.

I've been cleaning since I'm the morning—scrubbing floors and wiping walls.

I didn’t sit or try to take a break—of course, I dared not. Not while Tessa seemed to be in every corner of the house, breathing down my neck even when I couldn’t see her. Somehow, i could still feel her eerie presence.

I've been bending, standing, crawling, kneeling, bending again, crawling again… just to make sure I didn't have to come back to do the work again if Tessa manages to spot a single dirt on whatever I cleaned.

I did all of these without rest.

The house felt too big and I know it isn't my brain lieing to me. I was damn certain that this house was big and it's very impossible for one person to clean it alone.

I bet this was just a way to execute me without having to use any blade or gun on me.

And honestly, I don't think I would be able to survive the night in this house.

I swear I might die before tomorrow.

My head was pounding, and my stomach was empty and burning… not to talk about how much my back was hurting me like someone had beaten me up so badly.

I glanced at the wall clock behind me and couldn’t even believe how many hours had passed. Still, Tessa hadn’t told me to stop. Instead she just came up hear to stick her ugly ass around Lucian. I bet he rejected her. Her plan failed. And in order to vent out her anger, she made sure I wouldn't be having dinner tonight.

Tessa is just being a witch.

So just imagine if I were the real Riley—I can’t imagine how she must have felt working as a maid in a house where she was once called madam, while every head bowed to her.

Right now, what hurts even more was my denied dinner.

I hadn’t eaten anything all day—not even a small bite… except the grilled chicken I was served earlier in the morning. I could easily pass that off as an appetizer, so I wouldn’t really say I’d eaten anything substantial the entire day.

I could feel M6 hands shaking when Tessa stood there with that cold face and sharp eyes and angrily declared that I wouldn’t be eating tonight.

I didn't even know my offence. I bet she couldn't tell what exactly I did wrong. Except the reason was so embarrassing that she didn't want to say anything about it.

She must be mad because Lucian didn’t find her ass pretty enough. I couldn’t believe an ordinary maid would be wearing such fancy underwear. Just look at her matching bra and panties—like a stripper. How could someone look so extremely sexy underneath… a maid? Really?

I bet that witch has gone to lock herself up in one of the many bathrooms and who knows? Maybe she's crying out her eyes already.

I didn't care.

After all she punishee me for wha5 I didn't know I did.

I couldn’t endure it anymore. The pain, the hunger, the humiliation, everything mixed together.

It's too much for me to bear.

For how long can I do this?

I suddenly felt so pissed off that I didn’t even know when the tears eventually formed in my eyes—they just appeared, hot and heavy, blurring her vision.

I blinked hard, forcing the tears back.

I refused to let them fall.

Crying would only make me look weak, and I'd been weak for far too long already.

My chest felt tight, like something was stuck there, like a scream I couldn’t let out.

My fingers curled tightly around the mopping stick as anger started rising withing me—it was hot and dangerous.

Without even thinking, without planning, without fear stopping me, I suddenly turned around and marched straight to Lucian’s door.

My heart was beating so loud I could hear it in my own ears.

Before I could talk myself out of what I was about to do, I'd already slammed the door open and burst in without announcing myself.

The door banged loudly against the wall, and my eyes immediately landed on him—Lucian.

He was shirtless, his skin exposed and muscles tense like Simeon who has spent half of his life on earth carrying weight.

Lucian only had his boxers on and he was in the middle of wearing his shirt. One arm was already through the sleeve, and the other was just about to go into the sleeve when I suddenly stormed into his room like a storm he didn’t see coming.

Lucian froze completely.

Shock washed over his face so clearly it was impossible to miss.

He didn’t speak. He didn’t move. He just stood there with his shirt dangling from his fingers, staring at me like I'd just lost my damn mind. I bet I did.

His brows pulled together slightly, confusion and disbelief written all over his face as his eyes narrowed into mine.

He clearly wasn’t expecting this.

From the look on his face, anyone—even a blind man—could tell Lucian was stunned by my boldness, by my confidence, and by the ugly fact that this crazy Riley of a girl had just invaded his private space without fear… except that I'm not the Riley he thinks.

Right now, right here—this is the Riley that'll turn out to be his DOOM.

I didn’t act scared—not even for a second.

In my mind, I already knew this could cost me my life, but it had already happened. I was already standing in his room. No explanation would save me now.

No apology would undo that I'd already invaded the most dangerous space ever.

So in my mind I'd already come to a conclusion that I might as well have to finish what I'd already started.

My hands were shaking, but I stepped forward anyway.

Without thinking again, I flung the mopping stick I was holding to the floor, the sound loud and sharp in the silent room. Then I threw my hands forward, stretching them out in front of him, palms open, fingers trembling.

“Look at them,” I said, my voice was low but shaking. “Just look at my hands.” I snapped.

My palms were fucking soft, red, tired, almost swollen from hours of cleaning. “I’ve been cleaning since morning. Since morning,” I repeated, my voice cracking slightly. “Scrubbing, wiping, kneeling, standing… I didn’t even rest once.” I swallowed hard, fighting the tears threatening to fall. “And now they say I don’t deserve to eat. They say I should sleep hungry because I ‘messed up’ a room I cleaned with my whole body.