CHAPTER 45: THE NEW MAID: PROOF OF THE PAST.

"You are...?" I carefully asked the woman who made the room look like paradise. It smelled so fresh like a spring morning with blooming flowers. I could also smell the scent of clear chicken broth soup combined with something else I couldn’t tell, but it smelled so rich and delicious.

"I am the new house maid. My name is Victoria, ma’am," she said, curtsying.

"Where is Ms. Rita?" I asked.

"She has resigned due to some personal issue," the maid said.

Ms. Rita resigned and she didn’t tell me?

Signing in disappointment, I climbed down from the bed and sat down at the table where the scent of the delicious broth soup was coming from.

"Would you like some, ma’am?" Victoria asked. It was too early to pour some soup into my stomach, but I couldn’t say no. I really wanted to taste the soup and see if it was as delicious as it smelled.

"Yes," I said. She gently pushed the tray closer to me, then uncovered the dish.

"It will help you relax, ma’am."

As I was about to shove a spoonful into my mouth, a thought flashed through my mind. I didn’t know this woman. She came suddenly and is serving me soup. Why did Ms. Rita suddenly resign and the immediate replacement of someone new?

"Would you like me to eat first?" she asked, after noticing my suspicion.

"Yes," I said and pushed the tray to her. She ate two spoonfuls of the soup and smiled.

"Eat it all," I said. I didn’t know why I was being like that but this Victoria, there was something quite off about her.

She emptied the bowl and put it down.

"Would you like me to bring some for you now?" she asked and I could hear the amusement in her tone.

I tried to look her in the eyes, but couldn’t. It was as if her sea green eyes could see right through me and into my soul. The intensity in them made me nervous.

She was beautiful but in a different way. Her long, wavy white hair reminded me of mine. She looked young, but her eyes held some kind of wisdom beyond year.

"No," I said. "You can leave."

The maid left me alone. And once the door closed behind her, I stood up and walked out of the room to Alexander’s bedroom. I haven’t forgotten what he promised last night.

He wasn’t in the room. Has he left for work already? Without wasting time, I rushed to his study.

Getting there, I found him sitting at the desk. The room was dim as always, and as usual, he didn’t look up to acknowledge my presence. His whole attention was focused on the computer in front of him. He seemed busy. I quietly shut the door behind me and stood there, gathering the courage to speak.

"You said you would give me proof today. I am here for it."

"Sit," he said flatly without looking up from the computer.

I swallowed and walked to the chair across from him. Sitting down, I noticed the laptop on the desk in front of me, but I didn’t think much about it and waited for him to say or do something.

After some time, Alexander opened one of the desk drawers and pulled out a small USB drive. He slid it across the table toward me.

"Insert it," he ordered.

I picked it up. I could feel my fingers starting to tremble as I slid the drive into the laptop. My heart was racing wildly inside my chest. I wasn’t prepared enough for this.

Soon, the screen flickered on, and a video file popped up.

"Let me know if you recognize anyone," he said calmly.

I nodded, my throat tightening as I turned my attention to the screen.

A video began to play.

The footage was grainy and the quality was poor. But I could immediately tell it was the building he had taken me to a day ago, the same corner to be precise.

I held my breath as the scene began to unfold.

A little boy who seemed to be thirteen suddenly appeared on the screen. He was tied to a chair with a long chain. Tears flowed down his eyes as he screamed and trashed himself against the chair.

Opposite him was a woman laying on the floor, about six men surrounded her, stripping her naked. The woman struggled, fighting to free herself, but she was no match for them. And soon she was laying naked.

"No... please stop... Don’t hurt her please!!!" The little boy screamed, his voice filled with fear and pain. The men only laughed.

"Any more words from you, you will join her, you little piece of trash," one of the men warned as he unfastened his belt. His hair was golden and he had a satisfactory smug on his face as he watched the weak woman in front of him. He licked his lips and positioned himself in between her legs. The woman tried to push him away a few times, but her hands were grabbed and pinned down by another man.

"No... no... I will give you anything you want, please don’t do this... let us go... don’t hurt my son," she cried. And again the men only laughed.

"This is the only thing you can give us. Now, shut your mouth and let’s do our business," the golden-haired said in annoyance and brutally thrusted into the woman. She screamed and cried. But that was just the beginning.

The six men took turn to raped her. Blood trickled down her thighs as they brutally went in and out of her. Soon, she couldn’t keep up anymore. Her body had become drained and her limbs felt numb and lifeless. But she couldn’t stop looking at the little boy who was still tied to the chair.

He was also crying, fighting to reach her. Sorrow and pain filled her bawling eyes. She stretched her hand as if to reach him, but she had no energy left.

Her eyes began to close on their own and slowly her hand dropped.

"She had lost consciousness. Let’s begin the surgery. Be quick," the golden-haired man told another man in their midst.

The man nodded and rushed to grab a first aid kit at the corner.

Then they began an operation on the woman. They tore open her chest down to her stomach, and carefully removed her kidneys, then placed it inside a bag of liquid solution to preserve them. They continued with her liver, then her heart.

"If anything, we need the heart alive. We are going to make more cash from it," one of the men with a long beard said.

After they were done, they packaged the organs and cleaned up the blood from their body, put on new clothes, as if they didn’t just do something so monstrous and started to leave.

They all left except for the man with a long beard. He stood in front of the little boy and patted his head.

"We did the right thing, boy. Your mother wasn’t innocent," he said and grabbed the padlock on the chain. Unlocking the key, he whispered. "I hope you don’t remember today. Good bye."

He also left, now the boy was alone. For a moment, he couldn’t move. He just sat there, his body trembling, more cries tearing from his throat.

Shortly, the boy took off the chain and ran to the woman on the floor. "Mom... please, wake up. They are gone... we should leave..." He shook the woman, his body soaked in blood, but she never opened her eyes.

Two days passed. The boy never left her side. He lay beside her, wrapping his hands around her decaying body. But the smell didn’t bother him. He couldn’t even cry anymore. His small body was growing weaker and weaker as time passed. His skin was turning pale and lips purple. He was almost lifeless.

But then, a group of men suddenly entered the room. They were all dressed in suits and looked very wealthy.

One of them, who seemed to be the boss, barked an order. Two other men moved toward the woman’s body and began to lift her.

The boy jumped up, panic flashing across his face. He screamed, trying to stop them, but his frail body was no match for theirs.

However, as he turned to look at the boss, hope appeared in his dead blue eyes.

"Papa..." he moved to hug the man, but he pushed him away.

"Don’t call me that. I am not your papa. Your mother is dead now and I have no use of you anymore."

The hope in the boys eyes disappeared as he stared at the man in confusion.

The man only casted a disgusting look at him and turned away. The boy tried to run after him, but he was shoved away by one of the guards, and just like that, the boy was alone again. Hungry, scared and betrayed. He curled up in the corner with nothing left in his world. Just silence. An everlasting silence.

"Why are you crying?" The voice suddenly broke my haze, and I realized the video had ended. But wait... crying? Why was I crying?

I quickly wiped my tears with the back of my hand and shook my head.

"Nothing," I whispered. But deep down, it wasn’t just ’nothing’.

My heart was shattered into pieces. I didn’t know why I felt like that, I just couldn’t help myself.

I couldn’t imagine how he could have lived and grew up like that, all alone, unloved, scared and confused. How much pain and trauma he most have endured after witnessing his mother brutally raped and killed in front of his eyes. My chest felt so heavy that I couldn’t breathe without feeling pain. He was just a little boy, how could they do that to him?

Alexander didn’t seem to believe me, but he didn’t press further. Instead, he leaned back against the chair and stared directly into my eyes.

"Did you recognize anyone?" He asked.

I shook my head at first. The video was too blurry to recognize any faces. But something clicked in my head.

The golden-haired man. I was sure I have seen such hair color before, but I couldn’t remember where and when.

"The blonde one," I said. "But I can’t remember where I have seen him."

Alexander’s expression darkened. "Sebastian," he said bluntly. "One of your father’s errand thugs."

Sebastian? The name rang in my head and suddenly, the memories came rushing back. I remembered where I have seen him. It was back when I was twelve. The man came to our house, but not to see my father. He came to see my stepmother, Irene.

My jaw fell open, and a gasp escaped my lips. It was true.

Alexander wasn’t lying. My family was indeed involved in the murdered of his mother.