CH.10

I was so bone-tired that the gentle dawn light barely registered in my consciousness.

The sun's tender and warm rays seeped into the room, painting my skin with a soft golden hue. It felt like an artist had dipped his brush in a palette of fresh colors and was gradually bringing the world back to life; it was the start of another day.

My eyelids fluttered open at the incessant prodding and reluctantly focused on the woman who had been trying to coax me out of my sleep.

"Madam, please wake up; Mr. Sullivan is waiting for you downstairs," she pleaded, her voice laced with such genuine concern that it stirred something within me.

She was dressed in a maid’s uniform with an apron tied around her waist and exuded an air of respectfulness. Her head bowed slightly as if acknowledging some invisible hierarchy.

I gave her a weak nod, hoping this would appease her enough to allow me to drift back into sleep's comforting arms. But she persisted, shaking me gently yet insistently.

"Mad