Chapter 44 - invisible
44
~Lisa’s POV
The water was cold against my skin, but I didn’t stop scrubbing. I kept rubbing my arms, my legs, every inch of myself like I could somehow erase what happened. Like I could wash the pain out of my bones. My fingers were sore and trembling, the towel rough against my skin, but I didn’t care. I wanted to feel clean. I wanted to feel like myself again. But the harder I scrubbed, the dirtier I felt.
Tears ran down my cheeks, warm and endless. I tried to wipe them away, but they kept coming. My shoulders shook with each sob as I knelt beside the bucket, breathing hard, my chest tight. I pressed my forehead to my knees, curling into a small ball on the cold floor.
I didn’t know how long I stayed like that. Minutes? Hours? Time didn’t make sense anymore.
Eventually, I pulled myself to the bed, still damp, my skin burning from the harsh scrubbing. I didn’t even bother drying off properly. I wrapped myself in a thin cloth and lay down, face pressed into the pillow. My eyes were swollen and sore from crying, my body aching in ways I couldn’t describe.
The pain wasn’t just physical. It was everywhere. Inside my chest, my heart, my mind. I felt shattered. Like something inside me had broken that would never be fixed.
I cried myself to sleep.
But peace didn’t last.
The banging on my door startled me awake.
"Open up!" a sharp voice barked.
Before I could respond, the door creaked open, and two maids stepped inside, smirking like they had just stepped into a comedy show.