Chapter 10 - The Muddy Footprint
Vanessa snatched the bracelet off the floor and fastened it around her wrist, her chest heaving with misplaced indignation. She turned on her heel and marched toward the foyer, determined to find another reason to assert her dominance. I followed slowly, clutching my dusting cloth.
As she reached the grand entryway, she stopped abruptly. She looked down at the pristine, white marble floor, then out the window at the garden. A cruel, calculating smile spread across her lips.
She stepped backward into the mudroom, deliberately pressing her designer sneaker into the wet soil of a potted plant I had used to dirty my hands earlier. With deliberate force, she walked back out and pressed a muddy, ugly footprint right in the center of the foyer's immaculate marble.
She turned to me, pointing at the mess she had just created.
“Look at this,” she commanded. “You tracked mud into the house, you disgusting woman.”
“Miss, I haven't been outside,” I replied softly.
“Don't talk back to me!” she snapped. “I said you tracked mud into the house. And now you are going to clean it. Get on your knees and scrub it off.”
I stood perfectly still. The memory of Rosa crying over Luis being forced into this exact degrading position fueled my resolve.
“I can fetch a mop, miss,” I offered.
“I didn't say get a mop,” Vanessa snarled, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. “I said get on your knees and use your hands. You need to learn your place in this house before I fire the agency that sent you. Scrub it.”
I raised my head slightly, looking at her through the thick, cheap lenses of my disguise.
“No,” I said quietly.
Vanessa’s jaw dropped. For a second, she was too stunned by the defiance to speak. Then, her face contorted with absolute fury.
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“What did you just say to me?”
“I will not kneel for you,” I answered, dropping the dusting cloth to the floor.
