I wake up to see that there is an envelope sitting on the locker next to me.
"Thanks for the fun," it says.
I blinked at it, hoping to make sense of what happened last night. My thoughts keep drifting back to him, the stranger who showed up out of nowhere, saved me when I needed it most, and then left me with so many questions. Who was he? Why does his memory feel like a shadow that I just can't shake?
"He was also a good kisser," I admit, feeling shame and anger as I remember. I look at him in surprise, shaking my head in embarrassment that to this day, I can't help but smile at the memory.
Then panic. "My necklace!" I shout.
It's gone.
The only thing that my mother left me.
I clench my fists, my heart pounding. Could it have been him? Did he take it? A wave of desperation and determination washes over me. I need to find him.
I take my cellphone and call Sophie, my voice shaking. "Adrian didn't go to the place you gave me," I say.
Sophie's voice is steady but firm. "I'll send you the address to his place. Go there now."
"Bye," I say before hanging up.
I hang up and look at myself in the mirror. My hair is disheveled. My eyes are swollen. But my thoughts are racing. I get dressed quickly, putting on clothes that give me confidence despite all that's going on in my soul. Something is waiting for me. And regardless of whether or not I'm prepared, I'll have to go through it.
The mansion looms over me as I draw closer, and the iron gates erected before it seem intimidating. I walk into the huge entrance, the heels of my shoes clicking against the marble floor. The mansion is silent, and all I hear is the sound of footsteps echoing as I walk. Not to say that it's not well-decorated ,a world that I know I do not belong to.
"And you must be Miss Lina?" someone with a sharp, authoritative voice asks.
I look up. "And you are?" I manage to reply, my voice cautious.
"I'm Mrs. Blackwood, mother of Adrian.
My heart skips a beat. "I nod slightly, trying to maintain my composure," says the speaker. It's in this moment where everything for the characters will somehow be determined, "or so I think."
"Since you have arrived, I will honor my words," she says calmly. "I will transfer 20 million to your father."
I look at her, shocked. "Wait, my father asked for 20 million?"
She sighs harshly. "Come on, stop acting. Your father demanded 20 million. Even if it means selling his own daughter."
My stomach coils in pain and revulsion. My father. Could he actually be so depraved? Even in the depths of his hopelessness, this is almost unimaginable.
"This is not the way to do it," I tell her, my voice shaking. "You can't even set one foot in this house without your grandmother's blessing."
"Miss Lina, let me take you to your room," the maid insists, her voice gentle, almost supplicating. She is kind, which is something of a consolation in this prison of a mansion.
I follow her, my mind reeling with thoughts of the previous evening, the stranger, my missing necklace, and the betrayal from Adrian. I walk into the room, shed my clothes, and fall backward onto the mattress with my eyes fixed on Delilah, who stands before me with an expression I can't quite read. I need sleep, I convince myself. I need rest. I need an escape, even if it's only for a few hours.
"Sleep doesn't come easy."
A voice cuts through the stillness, sharp and commanding.
"Who are you? What are you doing in my bed?"
I sit up abruptly with my heart pounding.
"I'm Lina," I whisper. I am not sure about the next thing I should say
Before I even finish my first sentence, the maid bursts in. "Hmmm… Sir, this is Lina," she explains hurriedly. "Madam has arranged for her to stay in your room."
'Get out now,' he says in an icy, condemning voice.
I blink at him in shock. "Seriously? Don't you have any decency?" The words shake with anger and incredulity.
"Miss Lina, please let me take you away to another room," the maid begs, wanting to avert further trouble.
"And take all your belongings with you, because I don't want any of your junk in here," he goes on, his voice harsh.
"Junk?" I stare at him incredulously, my face flushing with anger. "You are assaulting me! Are you really calling me junk?"
"Oh, dignity. The girl who sold herself wants to talk about dignity?" He says this with contempt, and I feel a surge of anger and embarrassment at his assessment.
"How about you keep a low profile while you're in here," says the man, his voice a warning. "Or you'll be back on the streets."
I can feel the words getting stuck in my throat, but my fists are clenched. Thoughts are racing in my head and my heart is pounding in my chest. I want to argue and yell and walk out, but I realize that he is not the kind of man that I can easily argue with. I am helpless in this manor house, at least temporarily.
"He's just being his usual dramatic self," she says when she notices that I haven't responded to her greeting. But when she sees that something's wrong, she quickly adds, "Let's get out of here. You're probably tired and need some rest." I nod in agreement.Exiting this strange house feels like an excellent plan to me.
Finally, I pick up my bag and walk out of there. My footsteps ring in the corridors as if drumming in the beat of my rebellion. The mansion closes in on me like a cage, a luxurious one. It is intimidating. Secrets are whispering in the corridors as if I am not supposed to know them.
As I proceed down the corridor, I feel a swirl of emotions ; anger, embarrassment, confusion, and an emerging sense of determination. I will not be made to feel like a stranger. I will not consent to have my value placed upon me by anyone, no matter who it is.
"Is there anything…else?" I pause for effect, taking deep breaths. "Excuse me for looking, but…Floor, doors, decoration, all very beautiful. Why am I not?" And then it passes. Of course, it's just decoration, not people.
And in the back of my head, the thought of the previous night lingers. The presence of the stranger when I was cornered, the warmth of his being, the sensation of him holding me when I was all alone, this disturbs me. I don't even know his name, yet I am not able to think of him.
The mansion is full of secrets and duplicities that I am just starting to catch glimpses of. I have no idea yet how deep this particular rabbit hole is. But this much I know, I am caught up in something much bigger than I thought.
I leave the room with a dizzying array of questions spinning through my brain. Who was that man that I met last night? Why did he show up in my life at a time when I needed assistance most? What does it all mean for me and the future that I have ahead of me?
I don't have any answers yet.
But as I walk through the corridors of the mansion, anger burning in me and pounding in my heart, I also realize something else. This is only the beginning.