Chapter 2
Chapter 2: The Monster's Lair
I drove the Suburban back to the estate and entered through the rear gate. The servant's quarters were entirely obscured by towering pine hedges, ensuring that the masters would never have to see "poverty" lingering in their line of sight.
I stepped into the massive kitchen, which was filled with the rich aroma of roasted garlic and grilled meat. Doña Rosa, the elderly cook from Oaxaca, was busily scrubbing the counters. She had worked here for fifteen years, her eyes perpetually downcast, carrying the heavy, exhausted weight of fear.
"Come have a glass of lemonade, muchacho," Rosa called out softly, smiling timidly when she saw me. "Did the Madam torture you much today?"
"I'm used to it, Doña Rosa. It's just a job," I offered a faint smile, pulling out a chair. "You've been here a long time, you must know everyone's temperament perfectly."
Rosa sighed, dropping her voice to a whisper. "Just keep your head down and survive, son. Don't look, don't listen, and absolutely never talk back. Especially not to young master Mauricio."
Before she could finish, the heavy thud of footsteps echoed from the wooden stairs. The service stairs. The exact place where my Elena had been pushed. My chest tightened, a burning sensation spreading through my ribs.
Mauricio walked into the kitchen. He was twenty-eight but behaved like a spoiled, petulant child. His clothes were wrinkled, and the stench of cheap tequila and stale cigarettes radiated from his pores.
"Rosa! My head is splitting open!" he barked, slamming his hand onto the granite counter. "Make me some extra spicy chilaquiles. Now!"
"Y-Yes, young Mauricio. Right away," Rosa fumbled, dropping her dish towel.
Mauricio opened the fridge, chugged from a bottle of mineral water, and then turned to stare at me with dull, arrogant eyes.
"Are you the new driver?" he sneered.
I stood up immediately, clasping my hands in front of me. "Yes, sir. I am Mateo."
"Listen to me, Mateo," he stepped closer, poking a finger hard into my chest. "Your job is to drive and shut your mouth. If I need you to take me out at night, you do not report back to my mother. If I tell you to wait outside a bar until 4 AM, you wait. Understand?"
"I am an employee of the family, young master. Your word is law."
Mauricio scoffed, lightly slapping my cheek in a deeply degrading gesture. "Good. At least you're smarter than the last idiot."
With that, he turned on his heel and walked out. I stared at his back, feeling every muscle in my body twitching with the effort to restrain myself. He was the root cause. He was the predator who harassed the maids, who had cornered Elena, making his mother paranoid that the child she carried was a threat to their family's honor.
Rosa turned back to me, her eyes brimming with tears.
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"In this house... good, young girls never last long," she choked out. "A few years ago, there was a sweet girl named Elena... she was thrown out in the dead of night. They said she stole. But I know... I know Doña Victoria did something terrible to her."
Hearing Elena's name spoken aloud in this cursed house forced me to grip the edge of the wooden table to keep from breaking down. I was right. They all knew. But money had bought their silence.
