Unseen

Chapter Seventeen

Morning crept in gently, as if afraid to disturb the house. Pale light filtered through the thin curtains of Olivia’s room, brushing her cheek where Helena’s hand had struck the night before. The bruise had bloomed into a dark mark, tender beneath her fingertips. She winced when she touched it, the ache sinking into her bones.

She sat up slowly, the events of the night returning with sharp clarity. Helena’s fury. The slap. The threats. The feeling of being nothing more than a mistake in a house she had tried her whole life to belong to.

She thought of Simon.

His voice from their conversation echoed through her mind, steady and dangerous. He had spoken as though her safety was law. As though nothing in the world could touch her once she stepped into his circle.

For a fragile moment, she clung to that promise. It felt like the only rope she had left in a world tightening around her throat.

She stood and reached for her phone, hoping to send even the smallest message. She wanted to ask Mae if she was alright. She wanted to ask Jonathan about school. She wanted to tell Simon that she was scared.

She opened her door quietly.

Helena was waiting.

A cold shock ran through Olivia’s chest. Helena’s arms were folded, her expression carved in anger.

“Where do you think you are going?” Helena asked.

“Ma,” Olivia whispered, voice cracking. “I need to go to school. Please. I have class.”

“No,” Helena said. The word dropped like iron. “You are not leaving.”

Olivia stepped back. “Please. My finals… my work…”

Helena moved swiftly. Her hand shot forward, snatching the phone from Olivia’s grasp. The force made the device slip from Olivia’s fingers like a small betrayal.

“Ma, please,” Olivia begged. “Give it back. I need that. Please?”

“You do not need anything,” Helena said. Her eyes flashed with a cold fire. “Not school. Not your job. Not your classmates. Especially not Jimenez. Nothing.”

Olivia reached out instinctively. “I need to talk to someone. I need—”

“You need to know your place,” Helena snapped. “Your foolishness ends today.”

She grabbed Olivia’s arm with brutal force. The grip was tight enough to bruise. Olivia tried to pull back, gasping at the pain. “Ma, you are hurting me.”

“You have not even begun to understand what hurt is,” Helena said. “Do not tempt me to teach you.”

She dragged Olivia down the hallway. Olivia stumbled, trying to stay upright, her breath breaking with fear.

“Please,” Olivia cried softly. “Please do not do this. I promise I will decline him. I promise. Just let me talk to someone.”

Helena did not slow. She pushed Olivia back into her room and slammed the door. The loud click of the lock followed, final and merciless.

Olivia ran to the door instantly, slamming her palms against it. “Ma. Please. Please let me out. I have school. I have work. Please.”

Helena’s voice seeped through the wood. Calm. Cruel. “Starve if you must. Cry if you must. You are not leaving until this ends.”

“Ma. Please.”

The footsteps faded. Silence settled like dust.

Olivia pressed her forehead against the door and sobbed. The sound was small and desperate in the empty room. Her throat burned from crying. Her stomach twisted with hunger. Hours passed with no food. No water. No voices.

Renato did not check on her. He always avoided conflict. He always avoided her.

The housekeepers were gone for the day. They would not return until late evening. No one would hear her. No one would care.

She curled on the floor beside the bed, arms wrapped around herself. She whispered every prayer she knew. She prayed for Mae’s safety. For Jonathan’s future. For a chance to reach Simon. For someone to open the door.

But the world stayed silent.

And slowly, painfully, the fragile hope she had built around Simon’s promise began to crumble.

She had no phone. No voice. No protection.

She felt small. Trapped. Powerless.

“Maybe,” she whispered into the quiet, “I trusted the wrong person.”

Her tears soaked the thin carpet. Her breath trembled. Hunger clawed at her stomach. Her head throbbed with fear.

The door remained locked.

And inside that room, Olivia realized she was more alone than she had ever been in her life.