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The look on Violetta Ellington Conway's face resulting from my latest statement brought my thoughts to the exact reason of why I decided to confront her with what I knew.

And that was a couple of statements I'd overheard between Trevor Ellington Conway and his son during their encounter earlier.

'I thought we'd agreed you'd cut off your involvement with the matters regarding that secretary, Alexander?' The Chairman had asked his son in reference to yours truly.

'Si. I was not in Tottenham for any matters in relation to Charlotte Thorne, Padre.' His majesty had retorted coolly, without a single flinch. 'Van Darco had previously threatened my business and I wished to keep him under surveillance.'

The Chairman here had his steel slits darken at the name. 'Ah. But Van Darco is a partner of mine. If the matter had not involved that woman, he had no reason to attack your vehicle, do you not think so?' He smoothly disclosed, every word dripping tons of threat and mercilessness.

'Father.' The president's retort came in the form of a threatening tone at this.

'I do not believe the assault was aimed at me.'

To this, the Chairman had not commented, as his brutally cold features let a silhouette that resembled stun to cross them.

'But I have no profound evidence to prove my claim so far.' R.E.C. followed up his earlier phrase. 'I simply can assure you the assault was unrelated to my previous involvement in the Thorne family matters.'

And their conversation had drifted away from the main topic after that.

Which is when I decided I needed to confront the younger Ellington as soon as possible.

Because I knew Rickard Ellington's phrase about believing the assault was not aimed at him...

Was not random.

No. Nothing was random when it came to this human.

His phrase...

It was rather the tip of a thread that would lead him to eventually uncover the double life his sister been leading since I don't know when.

And even though it did not concern me...

I somehow could not just stand back and watch.

Maybe because I was curious.

Maybe because I wanted to correlate what was going on with her to the reason she looked like she hated the world.

Or maybe simply...

Because I empathised with the idea of her tough love.

The woman before me shifted at this, cutting off my chain of thoughts.

As she pulled me inside while pressing something I recognized so well against my stomach.

I shuddered, feeling the outline of her revolver threatening to blow up my intestines.

What the... hell???

How the hell did she sneak in such an item into her father's estate?!

And the hell she...

She was only nineteen!!

How did she possess this?!?!

Fixing her eyes violently into mine, her expression barely maintained its cool before she hardened it at me. "Humph! You think you can blackmail me or what?"

My jaw twitched. This little...!

"B-Blackmail you?" I frowned in her direction as my breath hitched, "Don't you think it's more beneficial for me to just expose your ass to your brother if I had bad intentions?"

She didn't flinch, clenching her teeth at the mention of her brother as she shifted the gun, "Threatening me already, I see?"

I gulped. Okay, first things first, she needs to lower the gun.

"Violetta," I slowly yet firmly spoke, "Lower the gun."

Fixing her eyes to mine, she hardened her gaze. "Convince me why."

I sighed.

As if I didn't know how stubborn an Ellington can be, eh?

"Think of it. Exposing your very... reputable double life would certainly get me on the president's good side and increase his trust in me, right?" I arced a brow at her, keeping the eye contact.

She eyed me in confusion, gulping as she clearly was not getting what I was aiming at.

"But I still chose to confront you about what I know for a reason." I wet my lips, clear determination flashing in my look.

"I want to help you, Violetta."

Violetta gasped, obviously disbelieving what I'd just said, not that I had expected any other reaction from her.

I cleared my throat to mirror confidence in what I was saying.

"I know it's very hard for you to see why I, as your brother's maid, would want to help you. And I understand where you might come from." I tried calming my tone further. "But I can promise you I just... empathize with you."

Shuddering the eyes of the Ellington before me surged with a mix of pride yet also... hope.

Quickly, she masked both reactions.

"Empathize my ass! You talk as if you know what's going on with me, eh?" She sassed in venom.

I shook my head. "Maybe not everything, but just enough about the Please and Pleasure strip club to have an insight what you've gotten yourself into."

At the mention of the club's name, the young woman's eyes widened, before her expression darkened.

I stepped in, invading her space and forcing her back into the room as she lowered her gun carefully.

Feeling like she'd opened a slight space for me to communicate with her, I took my chance:

"It's one thing to be a stripper at the club, but it's another thing to be the lover of the owner and mafia leader, Lucca Porcelli!"

A gasp was heard from her at this, and I eyed as her eyes widened and stormed. "You..."

Slowly, her fists clenched as she gulped. "What the fuck do you know?"

I let out a soft breath as I saw teeth clench. "I told you, I know enough to realize you need to be helped and protected."

Biting her lips so hard, Violetta took a defensive position before me. "Cheh! And why would you want to help?"

Her eyes numbed at this. "Do you even think I require protection?!"

I gulped, keeping my eyes fixed into hers.

"Given the fact that your so-called lover allowed you to leave from Tottenham while knowing Van Darco will target you? Yes, you do."

She shuddered at my statement, her eyes shimmering in disbelief.

I blinked not, saluting myself mentally at the correlation I'd managed to make in the little time I had to relate things together.

Between the fact that Lucca Porcelli had known Van Darco would visit Tottenham.

And the fact that he let Violetta leave alone given she's his lover and she'd definitely be targeted.

And the fact that whomever targeted us in the car was not an enemy of Mr. Ellington.

Because technically, the president and the Chairman now were on fair terms.

So hypothetically, he won't be targeted by any of his father's allies.

So the theory that the attack on the car was aimed at Violetta does stand validly.

And the fact that the woman before me was wordless about it...

Only proves it.

A laugh caused a chill to run up my spine at this.

A laugh that had come from none other than...

Violetta Ellington Conway before me.

As her beauteous and sharp eyes sank into darkness hardly believable for someone her age.

"You're one weird maid."

My eyes widened, blinking at her slightly as she kept her smile.

"To think that with those few deductions you just made, you'd probably invested more time thinking about my matters than any of my family had. Funny, eh?"

I gasped. "Huh?"

Fixing her eyes into mine, she stepped into my direction, raising her skirt slightly from over her thigh.

As she revealed a dark and complicated tattoo inked there.

It was a skeleton with bandanna on the forehead.

A bandanna reminding me of one person and no other.

My blood went cold as I recalled Lucca Porcelli's bandanna distinguishing him from the rest of the people in the underground.

"Bingo, you got it right." Violetta's voice came low and firm. "I am the lover of Lucca Porcelli."

I gulped, fixing her in confusion as I tried figuring out what she was going to say.

"And I do not possess a single remorse or regret regarding that."

My eyes widened in disbelief at her.

"Even if what you said about him knowing of Van Darco's assault of me is true," She voiced with that dark voice of hers. "I would still give my life up for him any time at any day."

I shuddered. "What the—"

"Do you know why is that?" She spat, as she clenched her fists and her entire body shook madly at this.

As her hazel greens reflected shear grudge and remorse.

"Because no one has shown me love the way he has in this entire world."

My heart sank, and bile rose to my throat at her revelations.

"And I'm telling all this to you, a maid of my brother's, to show you that I have no regret of what I'm doing." She clenched her jaw as she shook madly. "And to emphasize that you can't threaten me if you were thinking of that."

"Threaten you?!" I let out a shaking breath, my chest heaving up and down as I could barely keep up the pace of what she was trying to say.

She didn't flinch at my reaction.

"I told you I want to help you!" I shot at her madly. "I'm sure even your brother would want to help y—"

A loud laugh on her side cut me off at this.

"My who?!" She smirked. "This guy who's always busy with waging wars at my father, who in turn is obssessed with power and authority?!" She laughed again. "Ah. Good dose of humor you have there."

I couldn't react with anything but pure disbelief, as Violetta Ellington's expression remained as disturbing and dark as possible.

"Didn't you find it weird, Daisy, that I have managed to lead such a double life so smoothly while living in the Ellington Estate?" Gone was her smile now, as remorse slowly sank into every single feature of her face.

"Think of it, for me to be able to carry out being a prostitute for more than eight months now... The reason why I haven't been caught is not because I'm smart enough to hide it." She continued.

And I saw it at this.

Those eyes that mirrored the pure darkness and hatred of everything around her.

"But because neither my father nor Rickard cares enough about me to keep track of what I am up to."

My lips parted.

Noting I had to comment something at this.

But I...

Couldn't.

No words came out.

Because deep down I knew it...

That what she was saying did... make sense.

Rickard Ellington Conway possesses the strongest tracking and search engines any powerful man can dream off.

If a foreign fly enters his company, he'd know.

It was impossible he'd miss out a phenomenon such as his sister becoming a prostitute unless...

He was not keeping track of her.

I bit my lips, lowering my gaze from hers as my heart sank slightly.

Remaining silent for a few seconds, I roamed my eyes left and right as I tried thinking what to answer her.

But I my mind just went blank by the second.

I finally let out a slow breath after a few more moments.

"I'm sorry." I looked up and back towards her.

From before me, Violetta's eyes slightly widened as she blinked, having clearly not seen this coming from me.

I hadn't, either, if anything.

For me to not actually defend R.E.C. against her claims...

That was not something I'd expect of me.

"I'm sorry about what you're feeling, Violetta." I murmured slowly, remembering what she'd told me at the hospital.

'For a prostitute to have a say in who she serves.'

Of course she'd hate me.

Because to her, Rickard Ellington Conway, her older brother who's supposed to be her guardian...

Was busy with my matters.

And this business of his was indirectly pushing her away.

The further I pondered on the matter, the more things crystallized for me.

That even though Violetta Ellington Conway's correlations did not make me directly blameworthy.

They certainly reflected how bad of a place she was in.

That she wanted someone to blame to make her actions feel more justified.

My heart ached as I eyed her, seeing her fingers shaking over the gun and her lower lip bitten anxiously.

This girl...

She obviously does not belong to the underground mafia world.

Yet somehow fell into the dark side because she felt... unloved.

Because all the money in the world...

Could not provide her with the family love I was nurtured by.

Maybe she really needed her older brother during the past years.

Maybe they had been really close and then...

Mr. Ellington just got busy with my matters.

Maybe I had really...

Contributed to how this girl's life had just spiralled into a very dark place.

"Save your apologies." Violetta shrugged at this.

Locking the door behind me, I reached for my mask and hair.

Charlotte... wait what—

"I don't need your sympath–" And Violetta's voice trailed off at this.

—ARE YOU DOING?!

I didn't leave space for my hesitant self.

As I took off Daisy's wig and mask at this.

A loud breath escaped the woman before me, her eyes widening in ultimate disbelief as she clearly could not register what just took place before her.

"Y-You...!"

I flinched not, fixing my still blue eyes into hers considering I couldn't take off the contact lenses so smoothly.

"What the... fuck?" She stuttered, her voice barely coming out. "Th-That secretary... you?!"

I clenched my fists yet kept my firm gaze, uttering nothing, as I let the information sink into her slowly.

"But... why?" She slowly started questioning as she shook her head in my direction. "Why would you... tell me this? And why... would you go this far... Do you... Do you have any idea what might happen if someone knows this?!"

"I do know what might happen." I bit my lips, my voice shaking as it hardened. "But I still chose to tell you."

From the flashing disbelief in her beauteous orbs, I could tell she was still not getting me.

Just as I expected.

Letting out a shaking breath I remembered how determined and fearless her look was as she confessed about her dangerous love story to me.

"Because I know what it means to go so far for a love you believe you'd never find like in your lifetime again."

My eyes turned glassy, and I felt my heart warm up at all the thoughts of Rickard Ellington Conway invading it.

I stepped in her direction.

"I'm sorry for how busy your brother has been, Violetta." I whispered genuinely. "I... Many of the problems that have been happening with him... are possibly my fault."

With wide eyes, Violetta Ellington Conway before me gulped, a thin layer pf moisture forming over her harsh beads.

My expression remained trouble, as her words about her brother shot through my mind again. "Even though he... Mr. Ellington... had tried to push me away multiple times." I whispered, my voice shaking. "Even though he might have really wanted to save himself the trouble... I..."

A tear strolled down my face as my heart ached, and I looked up desperately into her eyes.

"I could never bring myself to give up being by his side."

She shuddered, and I let out a soft breath as another tear came down. "I always made my way back to him."

Shaking my head at her, I bit my lips as my gaze reflected desperate determination.

"Because my love for him was growing in an exponential manner, fogging my logic everytime."

From before me, a single, silent tear strolled down Violetta's cheek as she kept her disbelieving gaze in my direction.

"Nevertheless, why... are you telling me this?" She cleared her throat as though to maintain her harsh tone. "You don't think I'll help–"

"I'm telling you because I don't plan to give up on my love to your brother, Violetta." I snapped back without hesitation. "And for that... I want to help you with whatever you've gotten yourself into."

Fixing my eyes into hers, I didn't flinch.

"If you think your brother's business drove you into your current life, then as someone who made him busy, I will take some of the blame."

Now having said this, I'd expected a soft and emotional response from Violetta Ellington's side...

But who was I kidding?

She was an Ellington.

Did they ever do what one expected?

Violetta Ellington Conway turned away at this.

"Put on your disguise back and leave." She spat. "Even if you told me your secret, I'll only keep it because you know mine in return."

Turning back to shoot me a cold, frozen, and ultimately grudgy stare, she fixed her eyes into mine at this.

"But I have no intentions of ever accepting you close to me or to my family, Charlotte Thorne."

My eyes froze at the coldness in every word she'd uttered.

As I shuddered and my heart clenched.

Wha...t?

No further words were uttered, and I slowly put on my wig and mask back at this.

Biting my lips so hard not to react or comment on her very harsh response to me, I turned and opened the door to leave.

And I stepped out wordlessly.

.

.

.

Heading towards the kitchen, I remained in an ultimately hurt daze as I prepared Rickard Ellington Conway's dinner for the day.

Silently, tears fogged my vision yet I refused to let them down.

I was genuinely hurt by Violetta's reaction.

Even though I understood it.

It was not easy for her to accept the woman who everyone in her family saw as the reason why her brother was fighting their father for.

And that aside, it was impossible for her, given the place she's in, to accept the woman who possibly caused the distance between her and her brother.

This distance that possibly pushed her into a very dark and disturbing place in her life.

I saw it.

How complicated things were and how consumed she was by all the dark things around her.

But nevertheless...

It hurt me when she said she would never accept me.

I gulped, shifting as I reached out to one of the utensils present in one of the high cupboards of the kitchen.

Great, exactly what I needed given the bandaged state of my hands and fingers.

Sighing, I tried my luck reaching out, lowkey expecting to fai—

A hand cut off my train of thought, as it moved next to mine and up, picking the utensil I was trying to get and placing it back down before me.

"Should you really be working given the condition of your hands?"

A blink escaped me, slowly as I turned to eye the source of the deep, throaty, and cold voice which uttered the phrase.

He wasn't turned in my direction, yet had his deep, sharp, and dangerous oceans snapped in my direction.

His handsome features were as sharp and harsh as ever, and those pair of beads he had still comprised of the same chaotic and angry sea they always reflected.

From before me, Garrett Giovanni Ellington seemed to have expected my stunned reaction, as he simply gazed back into me, letting my