Unseen

Chapter Ten

The moment the Jimenez car vanished beyond the gate, the door behind Olivia swung open with a force that rattled the frame. Helena stood there, her silhouette sharp against the light, her eyes burning with indignation.

“Inside,” she said.

Olivia stepped back into the living room, the new phone trembling in her hand. She felt as though she carried something she was never meant to own, something that could be taken from her at any second. The air inside the house was tight, simmering with an anger she had grown up around but never fully understood.

The door closed behind her with a heavy click.

Helena did not wait.

“You will decline his proposal,” she said, her voice low, each word layered with command.

Olivia swallowed. “I do not think I can decide alone ma.”

“You will decide exactly as I say.” Helena advanced, the sharpness in her expression cutting through the room. “This family has been given an opportunity. A chance to rise. Clarisse is the rightful face of this household. She is the one meant to marry into the Jimenez clan. Not you.”

Olivia kept her head down. She had been told her entire life where she belonged, where she did not, what she was allowed to reach for and what she must never touch. Today’s events had shaken those lines in ways she did not know how to process.

Helena lifted her chin, pride swelling. “Simon wants Madanunan. That is the truth behind this. He thinks offering marriage gives him leverage. He thinks he can insult us, bypass us, walk around everything we built.” Her lip curled. “He believes choosing you will trap me into agreeing.”

Olivia’s voice was barely a breath. “He said—”

“I do not care what he said.” Helena’s tone cracked like dry wood under pressure. “He cannot build anything in this town without our signature. He knows that. That is why this entire spectacle happened.”

The words tasted bitter in the air.

“I have known his family longer than he has known himself,” Helena said. “They do not get to choose which Salvador daughter becomes a Jimenez. Clarisse is the only daughter worthy of that place.”

A soft scoff came from the sofa. Clarisse crossed her legs, confidence blooming across her features. “Obviously,” she murmured.

Olivia felt her throat tighten. “Ma… but what if he refuses—”

“Then he loses Madanunan,” Helena snapped. “And he will crawl back. Men like him always return for what they want.”

Olivia’s fingers tightened around the phone.

Helena stepped closer, her voice dropping into something cold. “You will say no. Do you understand.”

Olivia nodded faintly, though her heart struggled to keep pace.

Helena wasn’t finished.

“You think you have something now,” she said. “A phone. A car pulling up for you. Attention you never earned. Do not deceive yourself. This is not your world. Clarisse is the one suited for it.” Her eyes narrowed. “You are not.”

Olivia felt her chest tighten in familiar shame.

Helena’s voice sharpened. “If you dare ruin this chance for Clarisse, I will make you regret it.”

“M–Ma…” Olivia whispered, fear rising.

“I will have you fired from that department store if I must,” Helena said. “Your manager owes me favors. Do not test me.” She stepped even closer, her breath cold against Olivia’s cheek. “And your friends. Mae. Jonathan. You think they stand beside you because they love you. But they can be removed.” Her tone hardened. “Ising works for me. Jonathan’s sponsorship can fail. I can make their lives crumble.”

Olivia’s breath faltered. “Please… don’t.”

“Then obey,” Helena said. “You will decline him. Clarisse is the one who will join the Jimenez family. Not you.”

Clarisse smiled, smug and crystalline. “Don’t worry, Via,” she said softly. “I will take care of the family name.”

Olivia looked toward Renato. Her last fragile hope. But he sat in the far corner, shoulders slumped, hands clasped, unable to meet her eyes. He looked like a man who had already surrendered his voice long ago.

He would not choose her. He never had.

The room grew quiet as Helena stepped back, satisfied with her power. “I expect your answer by morning. And it will be no.”

She turned away.

Olivia stood alone in the flood of silence. Her thoughts scattered. Her breath faint.

Say no, and Helena would spare her job, her friends, her small fragile life.

Say yes, and she would belong to a cold, ruthless man who had chosen her for reasons she did not understand, a man who offered no warmth, only escape wrapped in danger.

Which world was more frightening. Which fate was survivable.

She clutched the phone to her chest and closed her eyes.

She had five days.

Five days to choose the path that would break her least.