Chapter 4 The Unseen Wounds

Chapter 4

The mansion was alive with motion, but none of it was for her.

Aurora descended the grand staircase slowly, one hand gripping the railing as her sore legs trembled beneath her nightgown. The echoes of laughter from the kitchen drifted through the hall-she wasn't welcome there, but hunger gnawed at her.

As she reached the bottom step, the maid passing with a tray didn't bother to look up. The corner of the tray tilted, and hot tea splashed onto Aurora's arm.

She gasped.

The maid turned at the sound but only sneered.

"You should watch where you're standing."

Aurora's lips parted in shock. "You-You poured it on me."

The maid shrugged. "If you can't handle heat, maybe don't stand around like a statue."

Before Aurora could respond, Lucien entered the hallway, expression blank, dressed sharply as always. He glanced between them.

Aurora's eyes locked with his, silently pleading.

He saw the red mark on her arm. Saw the tray in the maid's hand. Saw the way she was trembling.

He said nothing.

Just walked past.

"Aren't you late for something?" he said coldly-not to the maid, but to Aurora.

She blinked, stunned. "I... I was just-"

He didn't stop walking. "This house doesn't run on sympathy. Pull your weight or stay invisible."

The maid chuckled once he was gone.

"Looks like the master agrees."

The injustice followed her everywhere.

When she tried to do the laundry, the other maids dumped dirty linens into the tub she had just cleaned.

When she cooked, they 'accidentally' spilled salt into the food and blamed her for it.

When she tried to sit in the living room, she was told, "That couch is for family."

She was a wife on paper, but in reality, a ghost.

Later that evening, Lucien sat at the head of the table, scrolling through his phone while the housekeeper served him dinner. Aurora stood behind a chair, hesitant.

She hadn't been invited to eat. Again.

"Sit down," he said eventually, not looking up.

Her eyes widened. She pulled out the chair