Chapter 1 - The Line in the Marble
“If you raise your hand again, I will not let you slap me.”
Alice’s voice was quiet.
That was what made everyone freeze.
Halfway down the sweeping staircase, Annabelle Johnson stood with one arm suspended between them. Alice—the new maid—had caught her wrist before the slap could land.
The mop lay abandoned across the marble floor.
Auntie Chica had stopped breathing. The driver stared at his keys. Even the security guard turned his face away.
Everyone who worked in Chief Admila Johnson’s mansion knew the rules.
Annabelle could insult you.
Humiliate you.
Fire you.
And if she raised her hand, you endured it.
Nobody stopped the billionaire’s daughter.
Until Alice.
Annabelle stared at her as though the maid had committed an unforgivable crime.
“You touched me.”
Alice released her wrist.
“Yes, Ma.”
Annabelle raised her hand again.
Alice caught it again.
This time, she looked directly into her eyes.
“I came here to work, Ma. I will do my work. But I cannot allow you to hit me.”
Annabelle ripped her arm away.
“You’ll regret this.”
She stormed upstairs.
Only then did the mansion breathe again.
Auntie Chica rushed toward Alice.
“Child, what have you done?”
Alice calmly picked up her mop.
“I stopped her from slapping me.”
“You don’t understand this family.”
Alice looked toward the staircase.
Maybe she didn’t.
But she needed this job. Every paycheck was supposed to bring her closer to university and help the grandmother who had raised her.
Minutes later, Alice was summoned upstairs.
Annabelle had already told her mother what happened.
Victoria Johnson barely let Alice speak.
“You’re fired.”
Alice returned to her tiny room and packed the same small bag she had arrived with.
Auntie Chica watched helplessly.
“You need this money.”
“I do.”
Alice closed the bag.
“But I cannot buy my education by selling my dignity.”
May you like
Then she walked toward the front door.
Before she could reach it, the mansion gate opened—and Chief Admila Johnson stepped inside.
