The large brass clock in the hallway struck two in the afternoon.
Clara was still on her knees carrying a heavy water bucket across the room.
Her breath was shallow and her shoulders were sore from continuous lifting.
Victoria: Move those buckets faster!
Victoria: You are the slowest worker I have ever seen in my life.
Victoria walked down two glass steps and glared at Clara with disgust.
She enjoyed watching Clara suffer under her strict commands every single afternoon.
Clara: My dizzy spell is getting worse, Miss Victoria.
Clara: May I please sit down for five short minutes?
Victoria: Absolutely not!
Victoria: Lazy people do not get special treatment in my presence.
Suddenly, a chime echoed through the silent marble hall.
A digital notification rang loudly on Victoria's personal phone.
She glanced at her screen and smiled at her social media messages.
She had posted a short clip of Clara scrubbing the floor earlier that day.
She wanted her wealthy friends to see how strictly she managed the staff.
Victoria: Everyone online agrees that ungrateful help must be kept under control.
Clara felt a wave of deep shame wash over her heart.
She had never done anything wrong to deserve such public humiliation.
She remembered the sweet promises Mark made to her on their wedding day.
He had sworn that she would always be safe and cherished in his arms.
Now she was stuck in a house full of cruel strangers who mocked her.
Clara: Please take down that video, Miss Victoria.
Clara: It is not right to record me like this.
Victoria: How dare you tell me what to do in my home!
Victoria stepped down to the lower landing with an angry scowl.
She pointed her long golden finger directly at Clara's face.
Victoria: You have no rights here, do you understand me?
Victoria: You are just a temporary employee who takes my orders.
Clara looked down at the soapy water in her bucket and swallowed hard.
She felt a sharp drop in her energy as fatigue took over her body.
She held onto the edge of the stair railing to keep her balance.
Outside the front entrance, the tires of a luxury car crunched on gravel.
Heavy footsteps began walking up the front stone steps toward the grand door.