THE MAFIA'S OBSESSION

Chapter 2

VIOLET’S POV

"Are you going to clean faster?" Madam Lucia, the head maid, yelled at me, startling me as I wiped the tears from my face. Bending down to scrub the floor harder, my stomach growled with anger. I felt a sharp kick to my ribs, causing me to fall sideways as she shouted, "You can't do anything right!"

With that, she kicked the bucket of dirty mop water away aggressively, splashing the foul liquid onto my face. I winced in pain before quickly standing up and bowing my head before her, unable to meet her eyes. "Make this place sparkle, or else you won't like what I am going to put you through," she commanded, storming away while the other ladies giggled and whispered to each other, their eyes mocking me. What did they find amusing? My suffering?

I sighed, wiping the dirty water from my face with the back of my hand before picking up the bucket and continuing to clean. Now I had double the work because Madam Lucia had decided to knock over the water in her anger. Just then, Madam Rosa walked in with a smile and announced to all the girls present, "Don Wiliam will be arriving today, so I want all of you to be as prepared as possible. You have to look your best because he's a high-profile client, and people of his status are always important here." The girls giggled and cheered happily.

Madam Rosa's eyes then fell on me. "When he's around, I want you to be as far away as possible. We don't want him to think we run a pigsty here with people like you around." The girls laughed again, and I simply nodded before walking away.

This had been my fate ever since that unfortunate ex of mine sold me here. He didn't have the money to repay the loan shark, and I couldn't cover such an enormous debt either, so I was forcibly taken away by them.

The loan shark beat and abused me, making me suffer for days before they finally tired of me and decided to give me to this Madam Rosa. This place was home to whores or as they like to call it “entertainers”, high-profile men often visited to enjoy the various beautiful girls provided.

At first, I was brought here to be one of the entertainers, but when Madam Rosa saw the condition I was in thanks to the loan sharks, she decided I couldn't be an entertainer. Instead, I was to be an ordinary cleaner, and ever since then, life had been unbearable as they made me suffer at every opportunity.

“Here, wash this for me,” one of the entertainers said, shoving a pile of clothes into my hands. I didn’t argue and took the clothes, heading to the laundry room while sniffing back tears and wiping them away with the back of my hands. How I wished there was an escape from this horrible place that I had grown so accustomed to. I had been here for a year, enduring various forms of torture—starved, beaten, and even accused of theft and punished by the owner.

“Have you heard? Don William isn’t just here for a one-time entertainer; he’s actually taking a woman home with him,” one of the girls gossiped while I dumped their clothes into the washing machine, listening closely as they continued speaking.

“Are you serious about that? That’s such great news! If he were to choose me as his personal mistress, imagine how great life would be,” another one said, while I rolled my eyes in response.

Truly, being the mistress of someone like Don William was a big deal, but at that moment, nothing excites me anymore. I had never seen Don William, but from the stories I’d heard, he was a powerful mafia boss controlling many territories, practically owning the town.

I sighed as I went into the kitchen as soon as I was done with work, gathering the leftovers I was mainly fed on, and took them to my room. I settled inside, finally having a decent meal after almost two days of non-stop work.

After eating, I went into the bathroom, taking a quick shower before coming out and putting on something more decent. Just then, the door slammed open as the head maid walked in, startling me. She appeared upset as she asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Umm, ma…” I stammered, trying to find the right words, sweat rolling down my forehead. “Well, Madam Rosa… she told me not to…”

“Get the hell out of the room and go serve some drinks to the guests. You look at least presentable now, don’t you?” she asked angrily. I nodded, taking a deep breath and making my way out of the room while she followed behind. I immediately went to the little wine room where some wine was already arranged on the table.

I quickly picked up some bottles, making my way out of the wine room and going straight to the main room where activities were bustling. As usual, women were dressed in outfits that left little to the imagination, entertaining rich men, while I had to do my best to control the urge to vomit. I was that irritated, to say the least.

I dropped the wine on the table, ignoring the scornful look that Madam Rosa was giving me. I knew she was going to punish me after this. I wasn’t supposed to be here, but thanks to that crazy head maid, here I was.

I stood in the corner, bowing slightly without bothering to look at the clients, anxiously making my way out of there. I exited the main building, trying to catch my breath as I inhaled deeply. I wondered if Don William was already around.

I had a lot on my mind and didn’t even know where to start. I walked towards a bench in the garden, settling into it as I looked up at the stars. The craziness and smell of alcohol in the main building were too much to handle at that moment, and I desperately needed some fresh air.

My eye caught a man standing under a tree, smoking in a private area. I groaned, standing up and walking toward him. There was a strict no-smoking policy here, and if Madam Rosa caught him, I'd be in trouble for not stopping him.

“Hello,” I said, gently tapping his shoulder. He turned to face me, and I had to admit, my heart skipped a beat. Damn, was he handsome. He was a sight to behold.

His blue eyes stared at me, framed by nice black hair and a perfectly sculpted body. Everything about him screamed perfection from head to toe. I had to stop myself from drooling. He looked older, perhaps in his thirties, but still incredibly attractive.

He simply stared at me dangerously, not saying a word, as if sizing me up with his eyes. I shrank under his intense gaze but swallowed hard, trying to muster my courage. “You shouldn’t be smoking here,” I said.

He looked at me, still silent, taking a big drag of his cigarette and blowing the smoke into the air while maintaining eye contact. His eyes traveled up and down my frame, and I glanced down to see if there was anything interesting about my plain attire. “There’s a sign on the wall, sir. You really shouldn’t be smoking here,” I repeated, hoping he would understand.

He took another drag, seemingly trying to upset me, before tilting his head and saying, “Do you work here?” He looked around before his eyes landed on me again. “Are you one of the entertainers?” he asked curiously, his eyes roving over my frame. “You don’t look like you work here. You’re not dressed for it.”

“I work as a cleaner here,” I confessed, and he nodded, taking another drag of his cigarette.

“A cleaner, how interesting,” he mumbled, walking toward me. There was something about this man that screamed danger, but why was I still weirdly drawn to him? Was it because he was irresistibly attractive, or was there something more? I struggled to comprehend it.

He closed the distance between us while I stood my ground, not wanting to show I was intimidated. He finally lowered the cigarette, no longer blowing smoke in my face. He stared at me again, then reached for my face. I flinched, but he didn’t seem to mind as he gently held my jaw, his fingers brushing against my skin. “You will do…” he said.

He stepped away from me, returning to his cigarette just as Madam Rosa’s voice boomed from nowhere. “Don William!” she called, rushing toward us. Her smile vanished the moment she saw me, replaced with a scornful look.

Forcing a smile again, she walked over to Don William, pushing me aside roughly while I stumbled but quickly controlled myself from falling. “I have been looking for you. Why don't you come with me? We have a few new beautiful ladies you might be interested in.” He didn’t reply, keeping his eyes fixed on me.

The smile on Madam Rosa's face disappeared briefly as she glared at me. She quickly forced it back before asking, “Do you want to come inside?”

“I don't need to,” he replied nonchalantly, finally tearing his eyes away from me to look at her. “None of them interest me.” Just then, a sleek black car arrived, parking next to us. A few men got out, holding the car door open. Don William glanced at me one last time, his eyes traveling up and down my frame before saying, “But this one…” Without another word, he got into his car and drove away.

I let out a sigh of relief as soon as he was gone. There was something about his aura that screamed danger, but in a sexy way. Just then, I felt someone grab a handful of my hair, and I screamed in pain.

“What did you do, you f*****g b***h?” Madam Rosa snarled, letting go of my hair and delivering a hard slap to my face, making me fall flat on the ground.

I hadn’t done anything wrong, but the fact that Don William wasn’t interested in any of her girls meant she would take out her anger on me. The head maid ran out of the building, followed by a few entertainers. Madam Rosa shot a glare at her. “I thought I strictly said I did not want to see this animal anywhere near high-profile clients. How come she was outside talking to him?”

The head maid stammered, “I really have no idea. Honestly, I thought she was in her room. I had no idea how she got out here.” She lied, and I opened my mouth in shock. The head maid had been the one who told me to come outside, and now she was lying.

Madam Rosa glared at me before bending down to grab my hair again, using it to pull me up. I struggled against her, but it was all in vain. She hit me with another slap before gripping my cheeks tightly, her nails digging into my skin. “Are you going to tell me what you did to make him not want any of my ladies? What did you say to him?”

“I promise, I didn't say anything,” I pleaded as she pressed harder into my cheeks.

“I see you don’t want to tell the truth.” With that, she strengthened her grip on my hair, dragging me into the building. I fought against her abuse, but I was powerless.

She led me to a room downstairs where she always kept me when I misbehaved, shoving me inside and slamming the door behind me. I was back in the dark room, with zero light filtering in. I banged on the door, pleading to be let out, but no one heard my cries. No one helped me.

I gave up, sitting on the floor and crying uncontrollably, sniffing and wiping my tears with the back of my hands. The pain was almost too much to bear.

As I sat there in the dark, I couldn’t help but wonder: what the heck did I do wrong this time?.