Chapter One

“We hope you’ll pack up your things soon, young lady, because this house will find a buyer soon.” The man wearing a boring grey suit stared at me with his uncompromising gaze, though I could see a hint of sympathy in those eyes.

I swallowed with my body trembling. I didn’t expect that this day would come, that I would lose everything, the house that was my memories with my father and all the things in this house.

“Is there no more time?” I tried to negotiate a compromise again, but I knew it was futile. The man exhaled loudly.

“Sorry, young lady, this is the last time. You must leave this house today,” the man said in a flat tone, not wanting to be contradicted.

I looked down, tears in my eyes, as I twisted my fingers to release this shocking sadness. I nodded.

“Alright, I’ll be out this afternoon.” It was only ten o’clock in the morning, and I still had a few hours left to pack my things.

“Very well, Miss Blackwood, I will come again this afternoon to confirm your words.” The man walked away, leaving behind a scent of perfume that made me quite uncomfortable. It might even traumatize me in the future.

After tidying up my things with my mind empty, I went to my father’s grave. And here I was.

There was a gaping hole inside me as I looked at my father’s grave. After struggling with my father’s illness for years, he finally rested in peace. Still, I was left alone in this world with all my father’s medical debts while he was alive.

I feel half empty now, with nowhere to turn or even cry. In fact, the house that I was now living in was in danger of being confiscated by the party that had given me the debt in the past.

“Dad, why did you leave me with all this mess?” I asked as I stared unblinkingly at my father’s headstone, hoping it would give me an answer or at least calm me down. But only the breeze answered me, blowing a few dry leaves around me.

Even now, I don’t know where to go. I have no place to go, not even a steady job. I’ve been relying on job hopping and my father’s social allowance, but it’s all gone to pay off debts.

I looked around and found a frangipani tree whose leaves had partially fallen. I thought of ending my life there as the only way out of the solitude and loneliness I was currently facing, but the thought made me cry.

I was that cowardly to take such a reckless action. Not only that, but my father never wanted to see me give up on life. I was interrupted by my cell phone ringing with an incoming message—an unknown number.

Unknown Number: Amelia, go to this address: Los Winner, B/15 and meet me there. I know you need to move on with your life, and seeing me is the only way to do that. Your mother.

My forehead scrunched up, reading the sender at the end of this message. My mom?

“What does that woman want? Why does it have to be now?” My heart seemed to sink. It was unexpected. The woman who I thought had left me and my father all this time suddenly came back and gave me orders to meet her. What made me furious was that I had no choice but to fulfil her request.

This afternoon, I had to leave the house, and I had nowhere to go. I gripped my cell phone so tightly that I felt like crushing it in my hands. I never said that I hated my mother, but her leaving me and my father was enough reason for me not to involve her in my life anymore.

But as it seems, our destinies must intertwine once again, despite the unhealed wounds of the past between us.

**

 When I arrived at a mansion, I stared in disbelief. The estate was sprawling, with iron gates and high walls that separated it from the world outside. My heart pounded as I pulled up to the entrance, feeling as though I were crossing a line I wasn’t meant to cross.

A guard appeared at my window, silent and impassive. I gave him my name.

“Amelia Blackwood,” I said quietly, almost unsure of the words myself.

He nodded, his face impassive, and waved me through as if I were expected.

I let out a shaky breath. What am I walking into?

The driveway led me to the front door, where the mansion loomed, all dark stone and cold elegance. I took a steadying breath before stepping out, feeling small and out of place.

The door opened before I could knock, and there she was—my mother. Her face, older now, looked almost the same as in my childhood memories—the same sharp cheekbones, the same piercing eyes. But now, her expression was unreadable.

I couldn’t stay silent any longer. “Why now?” I blurted. “Why reach out after all this time? What do you want from me?”

She glanced at me, her lips curving into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “All in good time, dear. First, let’s get you settled.”

I caught glimpses of people—maids and guards—moving silently through the halls, their expressions vacant, their gazes avoiding mine. Some had bruises, others a haunted look, as if life had been drained out of them.

My stomach churned. “Who are these people? Why are they here?”

My mother waved her hand dismissively. “Just help. Don’t concern yourself with them.”

Something was unnerving in her tone, a coldness sharper than any insult. I swallowed hard, but I couldn’t let it go.

“No. Who are they?” I insisted, my voice trembling with unease.

She gave me a sidelong glance. “I told you not to worry.”

I shuddered but followed her down a corridor lined with eerie paintings that seemed like windows to a world I didn’t want to look into.

We stopped in front of a set of heavy, dark wood doors. My mother pushed them open, revealing an office draped in shadows. The only light came from a dim, amber-coloured lamp on the desk, casting unsettling shadows.

“Wait here,” she instructed, her voice carrying an edge that left no room for argument.

I stepped inside, my heart racing. The room smelled of leather and something metallic. I ran my fingers along the edge of the desk, feeling the polished wood. Documents were strewn across it, written in a language I couldn’t understand.

Footsteps echoed outside, and I turned just as my mother re-entered, her face unreadable. She carried a file, thick and bound with a string, which she placed on the desk.

“This,” she said, tapping it with a manicured finger, “is your inheritance.”

I blinked. “Inheritance? From who?”

She smiled again, that same cold smile that made my stomach twist. “Your father, of course. And perhaps, a little from...my side as well.”

I looked down at the file, my chest tight. What does that mean?

My throat went dry as she untied the string, flipping open the file to reveal various documents. Some were financial, others legal, but my eyes landed on something else—a photograph of my parents with a man I didn’t recognize. He was tall, with a severe expression, and there was something sinister in his gaze.

“Who is he?” I whispered, pointing to the man in the photograph.

Her expression hardened, her eyes growing colder. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

I couldn’t stop myself. “Mom, what... what are you involved in?”

Her gaze never wavered. She didn’t answer. Instead, she picked up the file, her gaze holding mine with an intensity that made my skin prickle.

“All you need to know, Amelia,” she said, her voice low and deliberate, “is that you’re part of this now. Whether you like it or not.”

With that, she turned and left, the heavy door closing with a soft, foreboding thud.

And I was alone, trapped in a mansion full of secrets, with a mother I hardly knew, and a past that was creeping out of the shadows, ready to swallow me whole.