Trey - Shandi Boyes Page 0,61

I’ll force you to accept it.”

I’m terrified for my life, equally scared and horrified. I don’t budge an inch, not even when Achim commences dragging me toward the pottery barn at the side of the garden. As vomit creeps up my throat, panic sets in. My family has served the Novaks for years, but what Achim is asking for was never part of the agreement. My parents work hard for their money, and even with their stature not being close to the Novaks’, they’re good, honest people who don’t deserve to have their only child treated this way.

Just before Achim pulls me into the dark, scary void, a voice I’ll never forget breaks through the horror setting my panic alight. It’s the voice of my mother, demanding for me to come back to the main house immediately because she has some good news for me.

“If I don’t go, she’ll come looking for me,” I speak through the lump in my throat, praying Achim is as scared by my mother as the women who work with her. “Please, Achim.”

His fingers are only half weaved out of my hair when I push off my feet with a grunt, running in the direction opposite to the one I was walking. I sprint so fast, the tears streaming down my face blow off in the wind of my speed.

When I crash into the chest of my mother a few strides later, my words come out in such a flurry, I barely make any sense.

“Kristina, slow down. I can’t understand you.”

As my mother lifts my chin so she can peer into my eyes, I catch sight of the people surrounding us. Mrs. Novak isn’t the only one eyeing me with a steely glare, so is her son. He’s holding the ribbon once twisted around my braid to his nose, smiling when the scent of my shampoo streams through his flaring nostrils, not the least bit concerned I’m about to rat him out.

I discover why when my mother mouths, “Please be careful about what you say. Mrs. Novak is quite temperamental today.”

She’ll put measures in place to protect me when I tell her what Achim did, but I can’t commence that here. She needs her job. Both my parents do. This isn’t a town with money to burn. If you don’t work for the Novaks, you don’t work for anyone.

After licking my dry lips, I mutter, “I lost my ribbon. I’m so sorry.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” My mother cups my jaw in a motherly way before saying, “I’ll pick you up another one. Your father and I are about to head to town for supplies.”

“Can I come with you?” She shakes her head for not even a second when I switch my question to a beg. “Please.”

“I’d love for you to come, sweetheart, but Mrs. Novak has agreed to put you on a trial basis commencing immediately. If you can prove yourself within a week, she’ll place you on permanently.” Mistaking my gulp as one of excitement, she smiles a grin so bright, the sun appears nonexistent. “You can tell me everything that happened the instant your shift is over, okay?”

Even being genuinely unsure how I can explain what happened, I nod.

“Good girl. Now go with Rosa, she’ll show you the rooms you’re in charge of this week.”

Rosa, a lady with thick silver hair and a shadow of a mustache on her top lip, steps out from behind Mrs. Novak before gesturing for me to follow her. Since her presence guarantees I won’t be left alone with Achim, I quickly follow her into the Novak estate.

“Ma?” I question, my voice groggy since it’s almost two in the morning. I fell asleep not long after finishing my first shift. Since I was so determined to show Mrs. Novak I had the strength needed to be a chambermaid, I put in more hours than necessary.

It also meant I was never alone.

I only left the main residence when I was forced out, and even then, it was under protest. My parents hadn’t returned from town. They’d left hours earlier, and their absence is very unlike them.

A scratch impinges my throat when the face of the person entering the servants’ quarters registers as familiar. It’s Mr. Novak. He’s nicer than both his wife and son, but he never merges this deep into the grounds of his estate. He barely leaves his room.

“Kristina, honey, I need you to come to the main residence with me. There’s been an accident. The police are in

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