The church was silent, cloaked in black and white. White lilies adorned the altar, and the scent of incense hung heavy in the air. A single framed photo of Jackson Wang—smiling gently with his eyes—rested atop a closed casket, which held nothing inside. No body had been recovered from the crash. The sea had taken everything.
Nuong stood in front of it, her face pale and blank, as if the tears she'd once shed had long dried into silence. She was dressed in a simple black dress—borrowed, not hers—her hair tied back neatly. She looked older than seventeen, and yet so heartbreakingly young.
"No one survived," the news had said.
One year. That was how long she had lived under Jackson's roof. A year of warmth, laughter, discipline, terrible dad jokes, and quiet safety. Gone.
The priest read a prayer for the dead. Piseth stood beside Nuong, somber in his black suit. He had his hand gently on her shoulder, offering her a presence. Not comfort. Nothing could comfort her right now.
After the funeral, Piseth made the decision to take Nuong in. She had no family, no home, and no money. But the mansion had room, and Piseth—despite his cold exterior—had a heart.
Still, he made the conditions clear.
"You will live here," he told her calmly. "You will eat at this table. You will go to school. But if you want to stay, you will work. The world is cruel, and no one owes you anything—not even me."
Nuong said nothing. She only nodded.
Pisal looked at Nuong with helpless eyes. He couldn't do anything! The girl who used to have someone to take care of her, now has to stand alone for herself. However, he tried his best to help her. But he couldn't persuade his older brother.
But nobody knows behind those cold expressions of the big master Piseth, hiding something he couldn't express. The man sits in his office, thinking about what would happen next after he accepts Nuong into the mansion. This mansion has had so many rules, strict rules, since the early period of time. Even some of the women in this mansion couldn't survive and had to escape. But as a new generation of the family, he doesn't wish to continue those traditions of his father.
He worries about that girl.
The last expression he saw on her face was beyond sadness but despaired. She tried to be strong and act normal while her inside was broken beyond remedy. What could he do? And he couldn't let his father know about that yet, or it will become a problem since this family's tradition is so strict. But putting her in the maid hierarchy isn't very helpful. The punishment when the maid makes a mistake was considered cruel for this young master.
"I tried! I hope I can help her before she can walk by herself." Piseth murmured.
Whereas Dalis, when she saw Nuong enter the mansion she was so joyful. The young mistress of the mansion forgot to keep her manner, ran and hugged the girl. She hasn't changed into the maid uniform yet, and Dalis didn't know anything. She asked with excitement forgot about the tragic happened lately;
"Nuong! Finally, we can be together!"
Beside her excitement, Nuong's facial expression is still calm, and that freaks her out. In front of Pisal and Piseth, her older brothers, Dalis was dumbfounded.
"Nuong will live here under my care and she will have to work as a maid in her free time beside her study." Piseth, the big master, declared to all.
He turned to the housekeeper, Oum Chan, and commanded, "Oum Chan, prepare the uniforms for her; all people here need to follow the family's rules."
"Yes, master." the old lady replied then dragged Nuong with her.
This leaves the young girl, 17 years old Dalis as the new generation furious. She stares at her brother without any smile, and says, "Why do we have to do this? She saved my life! She should have been treated as a guest, not a maid!".
Piseth looks at his sister, "Since when has this family ever let the outsider in?!"
Yeah, it was right. This mansion hold a old tradition family, where the outsider, never entered as a stay guest, except their own families and relative. In essence, the family would be prioritizing their direct lineage (bloodline) above other forms of kinship when determining residency in the mansion.