Chapter 4

The assistant swallowed hard, finally breaking under the pressure. "I swear, I don't know! They were here just a minute ago, taking a bath. Now they're just... gone."

Yoel's frustration boiled over. "That's no help at all!"

"Find them! Search every corner! We must find that wretched Julianna!" Yoel's voice echoed through the house, tinged with desperation.

The assistant nodded hurriedly, pretending to mobilize a search party.

I was furious, my fists clenching as I pounded my chest and stomped my feet in frustration. I grabbed the balloons from the bathroom and hurled them out the window, aiming for the back garden. They drifted smoothly with the wind, a final touch of defiance.

Yoel had decorated the entire house for Elaine's birthday, which explained the balloons in the bathroom. The basement and the back garden, however, were places Yoel despised. The basement was his dungeon, where he imprisoned and punished me. In contrast, the back garden was my sanctuary. I once joked to hi