Chapter 3 The Escape

Cora felt a pang of guilt hit her heart as she went over her plans and reminded herself that there was no other way out.

She knew that this unfortunate maid was going to suffer a brutal fate at the hands of Valentino and this slowly weakened her resolve.

'Cora is either now or never. A golden opportunity like this may never present itself in future. It's either you leave this place tonight or suffer his cruelty for the rest of your life.'

"Ma'am, I'm done." The maid pulled Cora out of her self-absorbed thoughts. "Would you like me to fold your dress and put them away?"

"No!" Cora's said in a slightly raised tone, causing the maid to feel jumpy. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to act that way. It's just that I'm not done with the clothes."

"It's okay ma'am, you don't need to apologize." The maid smiled politely making it even more difficult for Cora to carry out her act.

"Why do you work for this family?" Cora asked while searching for a reason to condemn the maid.

"I love working for this family because the boss is an honest and good man." The maid answered hoping to please the young madam with her response.

Unfortunately for the maid, her response to Cora's question was exactly what the latter was looking for.

Cora saw the lust in the maid's eyes as she talked about Valentino's kindness.

"Can you please open the bottle and turn the water into the glass? Cora asked nicely.

"Yes, ma'am."

When the maid bent down to carry out Cora's second instruction, Cora carefully pick the club stick from under her dress.

In a swift move, Cora swung the club and hit the maid on the head. The maid instantly slumped on the ground, spilling a little water on herself.

"Shit!" Cora dropped the club stick on her bed and quickly picked up the bottle from the floor. She checked the maid's head and was grateful that there was no blood coming out.

Although Cora's whole body was trembling from her action, she didn't have the luxury of time to sit down and calm herself. She had no idea of how long Valentino was planning to stay out before returning home.

Hence Cora hurriedly undressed the maid and put on one of her sleeping clothes on her. She carefully lifted the maid and placed her on the bed.

"I'm so sorry," Cora whispered to the unconscious maid before covering up the maid's body with the duvet.

After changing into the maid's oversized uniform and a cheap wig, Cora's packed a sweatpant, hoodie and running shoes into a laundry bag. She collected a hundred dollar bill note from her wallet and hid it inside the sweatpants pocket. Then she covered these items with some of her dirty clothes.

"Oh God, please help me escape." Cora took in a deep breath to control her erratically thumping heart. She opened the door and locked it using her single spare key. Then she quietly left in the direction of the laundry room.

Just then, a fuming Valerie who had gotten herself drunk and was venting her frustration on anything or anyone in her path stopped Cora.

"You!" Valerie pointed at Cora whose head was bowed. "W---where are you coming from and where do you think you're going to?"

Cora felt her heartbeat do a fatal somersault at Valerie's question. She knew if she spoke up, Valerie could recognise her voice. Hence, she pretended not to understand Valerie's question.

"Are you deaf or something?" Valerie hurled the content of her wine glass on Cora's body.

"You are a vermin employed by my father. You do not keep mute when asked a question otherwise this is what ill do to you."

Valerie was about to pull on Cora's maid hat when Matilda's voice rang from a distance.

"Young lady, can you stop ridiculing that maid? Go into your bedroom and take a cold shower to calm down."

"You're not my mother, you whore!" Valerie yelled back at Matilda.

This gave Cora the golden opportunity to narrowly escape, undetected.

When Cora successfully got to the servant quarters, she took out her change of clothes from the laundry basket and transferred them into a black nylon bag. Then threw away her spare key where no one would find it.

Afterwards, she sneaked into one of the food trucks undetected by any of the watchful bodyguards and security men.

In the process of waiting for the driver of the truck to leave the mansion, Cora quickly changed into her black sweatpants, black hoodies and black running shoe. She remove her wig and tuck it away alongside the maid clothes she stole earlier.

After almost twenty minutes of patiently sitting still, freaking out at every sound and waiting for the driver to arrive, the truck finally moved from its original spot.

The truck was stopped at the gate for a second thorough search. But the new security man on duty had a deep sense of respect and trust for the older driver. He casually searched the truck before permitting it to leave.

The truck drove for another twenty-five minutes which felt like two hours to the agitated Cora.

When the truck pulled over at a traffic junction, Cora discreetly jumped out from the back of the truck without the driver seeing her.

Keeping her hoodie on, she carefully dumped the nylon bag she was holding in a nearby trash bin before taking a cab to the nearest bus station.

When Cora finally paid for her bus ticket using a false identity, and the bus left the station, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Goodbye, cursed city." Cora's took her first breath of freedom.

Three hours after Cora escaped from the mansion, Valentino returned home feeling thrilled at the thought of taking Cora into his arms. He first stopped by his bedroom and took a shower before going over to Abigail's room.

When Valentino tried to open Cora bedroom door, he observed that it was locked.

"Cora locked her bedroom door? She had better have a good excuse for this."

Valentino's mood suddenly change to one of rage as he knocked on Cora's door angrily.

Sadly, he was met with a deafening silence which somehow crippled his heart.

"Could she have...no she would never hurt herself."

Valentino brought out his master key and hurriedly unlocked the door. He went into the room and observe that Cora was sleeping.

However, he also noticed that there was something wrong with the sound coming from his cute princess. Cora didn't snore but the person on the bed with snoring repulsively.

"Cora..." Valentino peeled the duvet from the snoring lady's body and discovered it wasn't Cora but one of the maids.

All the colour drained from Valentino face.

"No...no...no!" Valentino boomed in a deep, chilly and terrifying voice.

Instantly, an ear deafening alarm started ringing all over the mansion. Everyone was forced out of their slumber and compelled to start searching for the missing Cora.