HIDDEN TRUTHS
Night fell like a thick veil over the Vasiliev mansion. Anne had been feeling uneasy for days, as if something dark was creeping between the walls, between the footsteps of the servants and the whispers hidden behind the velvet curtains.
It all began with a folder forgotten in Viktoria's office. She had seen it when she had been sent to drop off a hot tea. No one was watching her. And even though she knew she shouldn't, something inside her pushed her to take it.
She waited until dawn to open it, locked in the laundry room, her hands trembling. The sheets were full of official documents, foreign accounts, false contracts. But what chilled her blood was seeing her father's name.
"Payment on delivery. Transfer confirmed. Subject: Ana M."
Viktoria had bought his silence, his body, his existence. Her father had accepted.
Images and words swirled in her mind. The coldness of her childhood. The ultimate betrayal. He had not given her up out of necessity, but out of convenience. It was a deal. A political transaction. Viktoria wanted to blackmail someone higher in power, and Ana was her currency.
Ana's hands twitched over the papers. It all made sense: the veiled punishments, Viktoria's contempt, the way she always looked at her with a mixture of superiority and hatred. She was not just a maid. She was a living witness to his corruption.
That night she could not sleep. She walked around the garden like a shadow, the folder hidden under her coat. She was afraid, but also a flame burning in her chest. She was no longer a lost child. She was a scarred young woman, yes, but also awake.
And now she knew the truth.
The next day, Viktoria called her. Anna went. She entered her office with straight shoulders and a steady gaze. The woman did not greet her with insults or threats. She just looked at her with that icy smile that could split the soul.
-You've been poking around where you shouldn't, haven't you," she said in a gentle voice.
Ana didn't answer. She just put the folder on the desk, like a declaration of war.
Viktoria narrowed her eyes, but didn't look surprised. She took the folder and pushed it aside gracefully. Then she stood up, walked around the desk and leaned over to Ana.
-You don't know the world you belong to now, nor the rules that govern it. But you will learn it, one way or another.
Anne held her gaze, for the first time without fear.
-I'm already learning, Mrs. Vasiliev.
And as she walked out of that office, something changed. Not just in the way she walked. But in the way she decided.
She was no longer just a prisoner. Now she was a threat.