I gathered what was left of my child's ashes back into the handkerchief, bit by bit, folding it shut with great care and tucking it against my chest, over my heart.
Feeling its warmth there, the hatred in me only burned hotter.
Back at the villa, I pushed open the bedroom door and froze.
Everything in the room that belonged to me was gone.
One of the maids saw me standing in the doorway and said, head bowed, "Ma'am, your things have been moved to the room downstairs."
The room downstairs was the servants' quarters.
The only person with the authority to order that was, in all likelihood, Sonia.
I turned and went down, pushing open that narrow little door.
The whole room was cramped and cluttered, my clothes shoved haphazardly into a plastic bin.
I tucked the handkerchief of ashes under the pillow.
The door stood open.
At some point Alvin had walked in. Seeing me standing there in silence, he offered an explanation. "Sonia needs to rest properly for the pregnancy. The room upstairs gets good light, so I'm giving it to her."
"You'll stay here. Tell the maids if you need anything."
I didn't look at him, and I didn't say a word.
That room had once been built to order, by Alvin, just for me, the largest in the house and the one with the best light.
Back then he'd promised me that once our child was born, he'd have a nursery opened up right beside the bedroom, that our child would have the very best of everything.
But now, Alvin probably didn't even remember.
He seemed pleased by how compliant I was, and went on. "Sonia said she wants the chicken soup you make. She's picky with the pregnancy, and it's rare for her to actually want something. Go make it and bring it up to her."
I lifted my head and looked at him.
I understood that even if I refused, Alvin had a thousand ways to make me comply.
I truly didn't have the strength to argue with him anymore, so I just nodded.
"Fine."
Looking at me, so obedient, Alvin pressed his lips together. He seemed about to say something, but in the end he turned and left.
I went to the kitchen and worked for two hours to get it right, but when the soup was carried up, Sonia took a single sip and frowned.
"Too salty."
Her hand slipped, and the whole bowl tipped over onto my arm.
A searing pain burst across the surface of my skin. I bit down on my lip and didn't make a sound.
Alvin's gaze fell on my arm, already reddening and swelling, and his brow creased faintly.
But Sonia spoke first. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to."
Alvin was silent a moment. "I'll go down and get you some burn ointment."
After he left, I quietly started cleaning up the mess on the floor, only for Sonia to stamp down on the back of my hand.
The sole of her shoe ground into my fingers, and the sharp pain made me suck in a breath. I instinctively tried to pull my hand back, but she only pressed harder, a smile tugging at her lips.
"No need to rush off."
She bent down, her voice low enough that only I could hear. "Your brother, in there. Don't you want to know how he's doing?"
My pupils contracted, and I met her eyes, brimming with malice.
"A place like prison, you get all kinds of people. Your brother's got such a refined look to him. He must be quite popular, don't you think?"
She tilted her head. "I heard last week he got beaten in there. Two broken ribs. Don't tell me you didn't even know that."
Those words were the last straw.
The string that had been pulled taut in my mind all this time finally snapped.
I yanked my hand free, snatched up that bowl of scalding chicken soup, and flung it into Sonia's face.
She shrieked and sprang up, her face and arms flushing red in an instant.
"My face... it's so hot... Alvin! Alvin!"
Alvin came rushing in at once, and the moment he saw the scene before him, he slapped me across the face.
He put his full strength into it. I went sprawling to the floor, the back of my head cracking against the leg of the bed, my vision blacking out.
"Isabella! Have you lost your mind!"
Alvin crouched down and pulled Sonia into his arms. "Sonia, Sonia, are you all right?"
Sonia had passed out cold, giving no response at all.
Alvin looked at me, his words almost ground out through his teeth. "If anything happens to her, I'll have your life for it."
He swept Sonia up and rushed out of the room.
Before he left, he gave an order to a few of the bodyguards. "Lock her in the freezer! Don't let her out without my word!"
I was dragged into the freezer, the darkness and the sub-zero cold flooding in together.
My mind began to blur.
Just as I was about to slip under, I thought of my brother in prison, of my unborn child, of every humiliation I'd endured these past years.
I couldn't die yet.
I bit into the tip of my tongue, fighting to stay conscious.
By the time my whole body had nearly frozen stiff, the freezer door opened, and I was hauled into a car like a dead dog dragged by its legs.
