Chapter 13 Chapter 13

Chapter 13 Chapter 13
Amira's POV

I bit my lip so hard that blood filled my mouth.

“It’s fine. I’ll leave,” I said, clenching my hands before turning away.

“And who told you to leave?” His voice stayed calm, and I swear I was about to lose my mind.

“Santiago, don’t take it too far,” Alex interrupted.

Hearing him stand up for me, I looked at him with gratitude and tried to hold back my tears.

“How am I going too far? Why don’t you ask her why she dared to accept a personal maid when we haven’t even decided if she’s staying here?”

What was he saying? Wasn’t it Maximus who made me have a personal maid?

I looked at Maximus and instantly understood from his expression that he hadn’t informed Santiago, which made Santiago misunderstand me.

But I didn’t bother explaining myself. What caught my attention was what he said, ‘they haven’t decided if I’d stay here or not.’ Did that mean I wasn’t fully accepted yet? If they didn’t like me, would they send me away?

The thought sank in, and oddly, my face brightened a little.

Alex noticed and said, “You’re smiling? Wow.”

I didn’t reply. What was there to be surprised about? Just because I rarely smiled? Maybe if I hadn’t been taken here, if Aphia hadn’t ruined my life, I would still know how to smile. But now… I doubted it.

Seeing I was getting nowhere with Santiago, I decided to leave.

“I’m leaving,” I said shortly.

“No, wait.”

What again? I thought but didn’t say it aloud. I turned back, my eyes dull and tired.

When I saw it was Maximus, I wanted to speak, but he beat me to it.

I couldn’t read his expression as he faced Santiago instead of me. That pissed me off even more. What was wrong with these triplets? They all acted like something was loose in their heads. Why tell me to wait only to start talking to someone else?

I’d had enough and was about to shout and walk out when I heard my name.

“Your name’s Amira, right?” he asked.

Confused, I nodded. “Yes.”

He didn’t even look at me again. He turned to Santiago once more, and I gritted my teeth.

“Can you get Judy back for Amira? I was the one who assigned her a personal maid, so don’t punish her by dismissing Judy.”

My stomach fluttered with excitement. Did he just ask Santiago to bring Judy back for me? He actually spoke up for me! Santiago always acted like he was untouchable, like no one could question him.

Before I came here, I used to think all three of them were demons, cruel, heartless beings. But now I was sure of one thing: if anyone truly fit that description, it was Santiago. He was a demon all on his own.

My brief happiness faded instantly when Santiago said coldly, “No.”

What?

Even I thought he was going too far this time. What did he mean no? The person who had originally arranged Judy for me was right here, yet Santiago still chose to make things difficult.

Honestly, ever since our first clash, I’d been avoiding being in the same room with him. If I was, with my short temper, I might have ended up getting choked again.

The atmosphere suddenly grew tense, so heavy that I felt like I was standing too close to fire. I instinctively pulled my neck back.

Alex stood up and gently pulled me aside. “You should go rest. We disturbed your sleep earlier, so try to get some more.”

I knew he was trying to send me away, but I didn’t move. Maximus had gotten into this because of me. Who would’ve thought Santiago would act this unreasonable? I couldn’t just walk away.

Still staring at Santiago, Maximus said, “You should listen to Alex and leave. I’ll have Judy join you soon.”

“Really?” Santiago mocked with a low laugh.

I ignored him completely and did as Maximus said, I left the main building.

Since Maximus asked me to leave, it was best I did. Staying there wouldn’t fix anything. In fact, I’d nearly gotten into a fight with Santiago again.

When I got back to my building and sat down, I realized I hadn’t eaten anything yet.

If Judy were here, she would’ve reminded me.

A tear rolled down my cheek, but I quickly wiped it away.

After I ate, I went to my room, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t sleep. I kept tossing and turning, unable to get comfortable.

By the time morning came, I stood up with dark circles under my eyes. I hadn’t slept at all. For two weeks since I came here, this was the first time I’d gone a whole night without proper sleep.

Looking around, I noticed my bathing things weren’t ready. It wasn’t that I was lazy or couldn’t do it myself, I just hoped Judy might have come back.

Didn’t Maximus talk to Santiago yesterday?

Because of that small hope, I didn’t leave my room all day. I bathed and changed into casual clothes as usual. One minute I felt fine, the next I didn’t. If the boredom in this house didn’t kill me, sleep would.

When I woke up again, it was already late at night, but this time, the dizziness was worse than before.

I hadn’t eaten all day, just drank some water from the jug left in my room. Normally, it wouldn’t have made me this dizzy if I’d at least eaten last night. But no, after leaving the main building, I came straight here and never went back downstairs to eat.

“Oh my goodness, this stomach is going to be the end of me tonight,” I groaned, clutching my belly. If I didn’t eat something soon, I was sure I’d collapse before morning.

Dragging myself toward the light switch, I flicked it on, and the dark room instantly filled with brightness. My head spun from dizziness, and I bit my lower lip just to stay awake. Sliding into my slippers, I carefully made my way downstairs, my hand brushing against the wall every few steps for balance.

Luckily, even though it was well past midnight, the lights in the house were still on, thank goodness. If they hadn’t been, I doubted I would’ve made it safely to the kitchen. When I finally got there, the place was empty and quiet. All the workers had already gone to their quarters to sleep, leaving me alone in the silence.

With no one to help, I decided to cook something myself. I ended up making a quick bowl of noodles that looked anything but appetizing, watery, pale, and lifeless.

“Wow, I actually cooked,” I said sarcastically, laughing at my own misery. Well, don’t judge me, I’ve always known that cooking was my biggest weakness. Actually, scratch that, it’s one of many.

I didn’t even bother to criticize the noodles further. I just sat down right there on the kitchen floor and devoured them like someone who hadn’t seen food in days.

In under two minutes, the bowl was empty. That alone was proof of how hungry I had been.

I stayed seated for a while, waiting for the food to settle in my stomach before slowly standing up to wash the dishes.

Instead of going back to my room afterward, I decided to take a walk. I had slept almost the entire day, so there was no trace of sleepiness left in me for the night.

The moment I stepped outside, the cool night breeze brushed against my skin, and I breathed out in relief. My eyes wandered until they spotted a low rail nearby, and without thinking, I hurried over to it.

It was surprisingly comfortable, and I sat there for a long while, soaking in the quiet air. It felt so peaceful that I thought I might not even go back inside until dawn.

Just as I started to think this night might not be so bad after all, a loud, sharp barking sound shattered the silence.

“Oww! Owgg!”

The noise was so fierce that I flinched and fell off the rail, landing awkwardly on the ground.

What on earth was that?

This was the first time I’d heard a dog since arriving here. Wait, did that mean there really was a dog in this place?

My heart thudded hard in my chest as I scrambled to my feet, ready to bolt back inside. There was no way I’d take my chances with a dog that sounded that wild.

And it was the middle of the night, if anything happened, who was even going to save me?

In my panic, I kicked off my slippers because they were slowing me down. But then my feet froze.

Under the streetlight stood a figure, small, about the height of a young boy.

But there couldn’t possibly be a boy out here at this hour. Which meant… it had to be the dog.

Even from where I stood, I could sense the heavy, intimidating aura radiating from it. My whole body trembled.

Mommyyy! I screamed inwardly, but my legs refused to move. It felt like my feet had been nailed to the ground.

When the creature stepped further into the light, my breath caught. My eyes rolled slightly as I nearly fainted right there.

It wasn’t just any dog, it was a Tibetan mastiff, massive and terrifying. I didn’t know much about their breed, but I knew one thing for sure: they were extremely aggressive.

“Hi,” I said with a shaky, awkward laugh.

“My name’s Amira. What’s yours?” I added, trying my best to sound friendly, though I was seconds away from passing out.