“Mom,” Vivianne called out to her mother Ella with a furrowed brow. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be resting in your room?” she asked as she approached her mother, offering her support. “You might get hurt.”
“I’m just feeling weak, dear, but I managed to walk here,” Ella smiled at her before pointing to the door. “Look, I was able to walk from my room to here. Somehow, I feel a bit better…”
Ella suddenly struggled to speak. She also couldn’t breathe properly. She had been feeling like this for a long time, and she didn’t know why. She had no idea what was wrong with her. Maybe it was because Alfred had confined her here in the house, so her body couldn’t take it anymore.
“Wow. Is that what feeling better looks like, Mom? Your forehead is already dripping with sweat,” Vivianne sighed. She helped her mother sit down on the side. “How did you even get here, Mom? Isn’t anyone watching over you in your room?”
“No one,” Ella shook her head. “They’re busy with something, and I found out you’re here too. And your father isn’t here either, so I sneaked out to come here.”
Vivianne nodded before removing the boxing gloves from her hands. She placed them aside and then looked at Ella.
Her mother’s condition wasn’t improving. Her skin and lips were pale, and she was losing weight. She often had to stay in bed due to extreme weakness and used a wheelchair when she couldn’t walk anymore.
It seemed like she might not hold on much longer.
Vivianne sadly smiled and held her mother’s hand. “How long has it been since you started feeling like this?”
“Honestly, I can’t even remember,” Ella sighed. “I don’t know what it feels like to be strong anymore. Even breathing feels like a huge task for me.”
It was indeed a miracle that Ella managed to walk such a distance without using her wheelchair. Vivianne thought she would weaken further when she lost her appetite, but that didn’t seem to be the case. It appeared that she was feeling better.
“I’m sure there’s something unusual going on,” Vivianne thought to herself, but with Alfred’s many cronies, she found it difficult to investigate from the inside.
“Alright, how are you, my child? It’s been a while since I looked at you this closely,” Ella said again, bringing Vivianne back to reality. “You’ve lost weight, and you look sad. Are you struggling, my dear?”
“No, Mom.” The girl shook her head while keeping her gaze on the floor. “I’m okay. It’s just hard to do things you don’t like, but seeing you okay is enough for me.”
Ella sadly smiled and took Vivianne’s hand back. Her gaze wandered to the wound on her pulse.
“Do you know why I did that back then?” Ella asked. “Because I didn’t want you to get caught up in this mess. I didn’t want you to feel like you’re imprisoned… but it seems like that’s still what happened to you.”
Ella’s voice choked after saying that. Tears welled up in her eyes.
Vivianne noticed it, causing her heart to ache. “Mom, I really am fine. Don’t worry about me. Just focus on your health-”
“Do you really want to escape from this hell?” Ella suddenly interrupted Vivianne’s speech.
“Mom… What kind of question is that?” Vivianne forced a laugh, but her mother remained serious. “Yes, of course, Mom. I really want to get away from this place with you.”
“If that’s the case, you need to make sacrifices,” Ella said, staring at Vivianne intently. “You need power.”
“Mom, I don’t understand-”
“You understand me. You know what I mean,” Ella cut off her daughter. “You won’t find a way out if all you do is obey Alfred. If you want to get me out of here, you need to be the one to break free first. You need to let me go.”
Vivianne shook her head while biting her lower lip. “That’s not possible, Mom. What about you? He’ll turn on you again if I do that.” Tears streamed down her face. “I could barely stand it when he hurt you in front of me. I feel… It’s all my fault. It’s my fault why this is happening to us…”
“That’s not true, dear… It’s not…” Ella calmed Vivianne down before hugging her tightly. “This isn’t your fault. Please, don’t think that. Don’t burden yourself with unnecessary things. Let go of everything.”
Vivianne simply bowed her head and leaned on her mother’s shoulder in response. She fought back tears. “Mom…”
“I’ve endured this before. I’ll endure it again for your freedom,” Ella reassured her while gently stroking Vivianne’s back. “And I know you can do it too.”
“Do what?” Vivianne glanced at Ella, and they both looked towards the door as someone spoke from there. They almost paled when they saw that it was Alfred. His face was dark, and his anger permeated the entire room.
“What can she endure, Ella?” Alfred asked again in a frightening tone.
“Uh-”
“The boxing,” Vivianne answered her father’s question. She was annoyed to see how terrified her mother was of Alfred. “I said that many are better than me at boxing, and I don’t know if I can reach their level. Mom said I can do it too.”
Alfred looked at her angrily, clearly not believing what she was saying, but Vivianne didn’t back down. She looked at her father with the same intensity. She didn’t avoid his gaze.
They stayed in that situation for a few seconds until Alfred himself looked away. He glanced at Ella. “Who said you could come here? And where are your guards?”
“I haven’t been here for long,” Ella replied.
“I don’t care if you’ve been here for long or not. That’s not what I’m asking,” Alfred said as the servants entered the gym. Their expressions were almost unreadable when they saw Ella there, even Alfred’s look was sharp now. They knew they would be reprimanded for letting Ella slip through their sight. They didn’t mean for that to happen.
“Take her away,” Alfred ordered them abruptly.
“Yes, Sir,” they replied before pulling Ella up, away from Vivianne, and taking her outside.
Ella looked at her one last time before one of the servants finally closed the door. Vivianne showed her a small smile and nodded. She understood what her mother wanted, and even though she didn’t want to do it, they needed to take the risk.
They couldn’t let their lives be like this anymore.
“You’re really not listening to me,” Alfred said in a stern tone. “I told you, didn’t I? You can’t see your mother until you’ve brought back our client. You should have reported it to the maids when she got here.”
“Why would I do that? I missed Mom, too,” Vivianne replied with a grin. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “And about the client? I already got him back. Don’t worry about it.”