The party ended close to midnight.
One by one, luxury cars disappeared through the massive gates of the Cole mansion while servants quietly cleaned the enormous ballroom in exhausted silence. Broken glasses were removed. Expensive decorations disappeared into storage boxes. The laughter from earlier had completely vanished.
Only cold emptiness remained behind.
Elena carried a stack of silver trays toward the kitchen hallway, her feet aching badly after hours of nonstop work. The mansion finally felt quieter now, yet something inside her remained unsettled.
That black car.
Her mind kept returning to it.
The engine had been running. Waiting. Watching.
And somehow, she could not shake the strange feeling crawling beneath her skin.
Inside the main hallway, Vivian stood near the staircase speaking softly with Madam Martha while removing her diamond earrings.
"I don't care what people say," Vivian muttered coldly. "Tonight was still successful."
Madam Martha nodded carefully. "Yes, Madam Vivian."
Before another word could be said, loud footsteps echoed downstairs.
Vanessa.
Her makeup looked slightly ruined now from drinking, and anger still burned across her face.
The moment she saw Elena walking past with trays, her expression darkened immediately.
"There she is."
Elena slowed slightly but kept walking quietly. She had already learned one important thing inside this mansion.
Never attract attention.
But Vanessa suddenly stepped directly into her path.
The tray shook slightly in Elena's hands.
Vanessa folded her arms. "You seem very comfortable lately."
Elena remained calm. "I was only doing my work, Miss Vanessa."
Vanessa laughed mockingly. "Your work?"
Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"You probably enjoyed watching Adrian humiliate me tonight."
Elena frowned slightly. "I had nothing to do with that."
Vanessa moved closer suddenly.
Too close.
The smell of champagne surrounded her.
"People like you always enjoy this kind of thing," Vanessa whispered bitterly. "Poor girls pretending to be innocent while secretly laughing at rich families falling apart."
Elena's patience thinned instantly.
"I don't care about your family problems."
The hallway became silent.
Vivian looked over immediately.
Vanessa stared at Elena in disbelief.
Then—
SLAP!
The sound echoed sharply across the hallway.
Elena stumbled slightly from the force.
One of the trays crashed onto the floor loudly beside her.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
A burning pain spread across Elena's cheek while shock flashed briefly inside her eyes.
Vanessa lowered her trembling hand slowly.
"You forget your place," she said coldly.
The nearby servants froze nervously.
But what hurt Elena more was Vivian.
Because Vivian simply watched.
No anger. No surprise. No apology.
Nothing.
Her expression remained calm and indifferent, as though servants being slapped was completely normal.
And maybe to people like them—
It was.
Vivian only sighed softly afterward. "Vanessa, enough."
But there was no real warning in her voice.
No punishment.
Vanessa scoffed before turning away carelessly. "I'm going to sleep."
She disappeared upstairs without another glance.
The hallway remained painfully quiet afterward.
Elena slowly bent down to gather the fallen trays herself despite the sting on her face.
Madam Martha looked uncomfortable but said nothing.
Vivian finally glanced toward Elena briefly.
"Clean this properly."
Then she walked away too.
Just like that.
As though Elena was not even human enough to deserve dignity.
Elena swallowed hard.
Anger burned violently inside her chest now.
Not because of the slap.
But because nobody cared.
Nobody.
Nearly an hour later, the mansion had finally become quiet.
Most of the servants had already disappeared into their quarters while the remaining workers finished cleaning the ballroom downstairs.
Elena quietly placed the final silver tray onto the kitchen counter before washing her hands slowly at the sink.
Her cheek still burned faintly.
She stared at her reflection in the small kitchen window.
Tired eyes. Exhaustion. Humiliation.
For one dangerous moment, she wanted revenge so badly her chest physically hurt.
Not small revenge.
Destruction.
The kind that ruined people completely.
Her fingers tightened slowly against the sink.
Then suddenly—
That black car entered her thoughts again.
The memory felt strange now.
Why would someone remain parked outside the mansion for so long?
And why did the feeling of being watched refuse to disappear?
A cold chill crawled through her spine.
Meanwhile upstairs, Adrian finally entered his bedroom long after midnight.
The silence inside the room felt suffocating.
He loosened his tie slowly before pouring himself a drink near the window.
Rain hit the glass softly outside.
The mansion looked peaceful from here.
But Adrian knew better.
Nothing inside this family was peaceful anymore.
After several quiet moments, exhaustion finally dragged him toward sleep.
But sometime later—
The nightmare returned again.
Darkness.
Rain.
A child hiding silently behind a staircase.
Small trembling hands covering frightened eyes.
Young Adrian.
Voices echoed loudly downstairs.
A woman crying desperately.
"Please... Vivian... please..."
Then—
A gunshot.
The sound shattered through the darkness violently.
Young Adrian flinched in terror.
Another scream followed immediately afterward.
A body collapsing onto marble floors.
Blood spreading slowly across the ground.
And standing there—
Vivian.
Cold. Calm. Unshaken.
The terrified child version of Adrian stared from the staircase while trembling violently.
Vivian slowly turned her head.
And looked directly at him.
Adrian woke up immediately.
Breathing hard.
Sweat covered his forehead despite the cold room.
For several long seconds, he remained sitting silently on the bed while the nightmare replayed inside his mind again and again.
The same memory.
The same blood.
The same fear.
A memory he had spent years trying unsuccessfully to bury.
Downstairs, Elena finally returned to her tiny room inside the servant quarters.
The moment the door closed behind her, exhaustion crashed heavily over her body.
She placed her bag down quietly before sitting at the edge of the bed.
Silence surrounded her.
But her mind refused to rest.
Vanessa's slap replayed painfully inside her head.
Vivian's cold indifference made it worse.
The rich truly believed poor people deserved humiliation.
That realization burned deeper than the pain on her cheek.
Elena leaned back slowly against the wall before closing her eyes briefly.
Then—
Her eyes opened again suddenly.
A strange feeling settled heavily inside her chest.
Like danger was slowly moving closer.
Without thinking, she stood up and walked toward the small window beside her bed.
Carefully, she pulled the curtain aside slightly.
Outside—
Beyond the dark mansion gates—
The same black car still remained parked beneath the rain.
Waiting.
Watching.
And somehow—
Elena knew this was only the beginning.