Chapter 7. Shackled Fate
Maria sat in the rusty room where she had been locked up, her body slumped against the cold walls.
A crushing weight of grief pressed down on her, suffocating her in its relentless grip. The pain she felt was indescribable, an abyss of sorrow, rage, and helplessness.
Tears streamed down her face, hot and endless. She needed someone—anyone—to talk to, but the silence around her was deafening.
Her thoughts spiraled back to the past, to the days when she would run through the fields with her parents, laughing and playing without a care in the world.
Now, those moments were nothing more than fading memories, cruelly overshadowed by loss.
"How do I deal with this?" she whispered hoarsely. Her voice cracked as she gritted her teeth in frustration.
"How do I make those responsible for my parents’ deaths pay for what they’ve done?"
The reality sank deeper. She was truly alone. Cassandra’s whereabouts remained unknown, and there was no one she could trust.
"I have to play along... for now," Maria resolved, swallowing her rage.
"I may have lost everything, but my parents’ wealth and properties still belong to me. I am their only child, and I will use whatever they left behind to fight back and avenge their deaths."
Lost in her thoughts, she barely noticed the door creaking open. A shadow fell across the floor, and when she looked up, she found herself staring at Bernard.