The suffocating pressure did not come from gun barrels or threatening shouts; rather, it gnawed at Maya's mind bit by bit, as smooth as a sugar-coated dose of poison. The vast Gothic castle with its magnificent crystal chandeliers and polished granite wall sections now seemed to be shrinking, tightening around the air surrounding her.
That morning, after guiding Mark through his first-grade math exercises, Maya left the boy dozing off on the velvet-upholstered sofa. She picked up an empty glass tumbler and stepped out of the reading room, intending to go down to the auxiliary kitchen on the ground floor to fetch a bit of warm water.
The east wing hallway was so quiet that each of her feather-light footsteps on the crimson velvet carpet emitted vague rustling sounds.
As she stepped past the bend leading down to the servants' passageway, Maya paused in her tracks. Through the ajar red rosewood door of the laundry room, the sound of water streaming from a faucet blended with the low, whispered voices of two female servants.
They were two middle-aged women who normally maintained faces as cold as ice, having never cracked a smile or uttered an unnecessary word before her. But at this moment, their whispering echoed out with extreme clarity amidst the quiet space:
"Does she truly think she is the new mistress of this house? Look at the way Young Master Mark clings to her..."
"Shhh! Keep your voice low! If the boss hears, you'll lose your life in an instant. Besides, how could she know what happened..."
"That's why I said it! She is dirt-poor, pitifully naive. Did Young Master Mark's mother die or get divorced?" The servant sighed, her voice dropping so low it was almost a whistle: "...She vanished. Vanished right inside this very castle three years ago."
"Enough, clean up quickly. Don't mention that woman anymore. Has anyone who knows too much around here ever lived in peace..."
Vanished?
Those three short words were like an icy blade plunged straight into the back of Maya's neck.
All the blood in her body seemed to stop flowing. Mark's mother had not passed away from illness as rumored at St. Jude School, nor had she divorced and left without a trace after emotional rifts. She had vanished — an unexplainable disappearance without a trace right inside this heavily guarded, secure fortress!
Maya tremblingly backed away a few steps, her back leaning tight against the ice-cold stone wall. Her heart pounded violently as if wanting to jump out of her chest. The sweet warmth, romantic physical touches, and Travis's captivating smile over the past few days were suddenly covered in a soft, gentle yet utterly ruthless layer of mist. Who was that man? What was he hiding behind the dignified facade of a tycoon boss and dark ash-grey eyes?
Staggering back to the guest room, panic began to ignite into a suffocating flame in Maya's heart. She hurriedly pulled out her personal smartphone — the item Travis had requested her to store in her handbag since her first day here.
Maya pressed the power button. The screen brightened.
The top-left corner of the screen displayed merely a single line of ice-cold text: No Service. Even the Wi-Fi connection icon had completely vanished, replaced by a sunken grey dot.
She frantically paced back and forth across the vast room, holding the phone up high, stepping all the way out to the wind-swept balcony to search for a signal. Not a single bar of signal. This castle seemed to be enveloped by a high-end military jammer system, completely severing every telecommunication method with the outside world.
"What are you looking for?"
A deep, composed voice abruptly sounded behind Maya's back.
Maya was startled, nearly dropping the phone onto the stone floor. She hurriedly spun her body around.
Travis was standing at the balcony threshold since who knows when. He wore a neatly rolled-up light grey shirt, one hand in his pants pocket, the other holding a file folder. The soft, sculpted smile remained present on his lips, but his ash-grey eyes were razor-sharp like a blade, pinned tightly onto the phone in her hand.
"I... I wanted to call the principal at St. Jude," Maya swallowed, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "I haven't been to school for several days. I'm afraid my internship will be canceled, and the university will discipline me..."
Travis walked leisurely closer to her. Each of his footsteps tapping lightly on the wooden floor carried an invisible pressure that made the room seem to narrow.
"You don't need to worry about that," Travis smiled, a smile so warm it was terrifying. He extended his hand, gently retrieving the phone from Maya's trembling hand and slipping it into his coat pocket. "I have already had someone submit your long-term leave request to the St. Jude Board of Directors. I also sponsored a large fund for the school under your name. The principal won't make things difficult for you; your internship will still receive top marks."
"You... you requested leave for me?" Maya stared bewilderedly, her chest heaving with unease. "But what about my belongings at the rented apartment? What about my friend, Chloe..."
"Everything has been arranged safely," Travis cut her off in an extremely gentle voice that accepted no argument whatsoever. He took another step forward, drawing close to Maya, his hand gently resting on her slender shoulder. "Everything on the outside right now is very dangerous, Maya. The people who attacked us are still lingering. Staying here is the sole option to protect your life. You understand me, right?"
Travis's smile was still charming, his gaze still overflowing with sweet care like the past few days. However, right here and now, looking at that perfect smile, Maya felt a cold fever run along her spine. She felt extremely suffocated — the sweet air in this castle seemed to have been drained of oxygen, replaced by an imprisonment disguised as protection.
Unable to endure it any longer, Maya walked quickly out toward the main hallway, using the excuse of taking a stroll to relieve the stifling feeling.
But as she stepped down to the ground floor and advanced toward the giant oak doors leading to the front yard of the castle, two tall figures immediately stepped out, blocking the passageway.
They were two guards wearing black suits, radio earpieces, their faces as cold as stone.
"Regrettably, Ms. Maya," one fellow spoke up coldly, raising his hand signaling her to halt. "Superiors have ordered: You are not permitted to step out of the east wing area without Mr. Travis accompanying you. Please return to your room."
Maya stood rooted to the spot. The two guards stood straight as two unshakeable steel walls. She turned her head back to look at the magnificent castle behind her — where endlessly long hallways, gloomy classical portrait paintings, and silent servants stood like shadows. She realized a staggering truth: This place was not merely a protective fortress; it had officially become a sturdy golden cage imprisoning her.
That night, autumn rain began drizzled down onto the pine forest again.
Maya sat hugging her knees on the velvet-upholstered chair by the large glass window frame of the guest room. She did not turn on the lights, leaving the space to sink into the grey, hazy light of the rainy night.
Never before had Maya missed her old life so much. She missed her small, narrow, dilapidated rented apartment in the suburbs — where although the roof leaked a few drops every time it rained heavily, she was free to breathe her own air. She missed Chloe's boisterous, carefree laughter over video calls, missed the evenings when the two of them ate instant noodles together and gossiped about wild dreams. All those simple, humble things had now become infinitely luxurious.
"Ms. Maya... are you not asleep yet?"
A tiny voice sounded from the room doorway. Mark wore blue pajamas, holding a small teddy bear in his arms, awkwardly stepping in.
Maya hurriedly wiped away a tear about to roll down her cheek, forcing a gentle smile: "Mark? Why are you not asleep so late, my child?"
"I couldn't sleep... I wanted to find you," The boy ran over, climbing onto the velvet chair cowering into Maya's lap.
Looking at the naive, lonely child in this vast castle, Maya's heart pinched tightly. She hugged Mark close, pulling down a sheet of colored paper from the desk. The young teacher's skillful hands slowly made each fold, meticulously turning the flat paper into a tiny paper boat.
"Look at this, Mark, this is a paper boat," Maya handed the small boat to the boy, speaking in a sweet whisper. "It can glide over every large wave, carrying people to the most peaceful places."
Mark received the paper boat, his ash-grey eyes brightening with pure happiness: "I love it... Ms. Maya, teach me to fold one too!"
Maya smiled, wrapping around Mark's small hand, folding more tiny paper boats together with him. The boy's warm, soft giggles sounded softly amidst the dark room, dispelling some of the coldness of the rainy night.
However, Maya did not know in the slightest that, in the dark corner outside the ajar guest room door...
Travis had been standing there for a very long time.
He stood silently in the darkness of the hallway, leaning his back against the ice-cold stone wall. The powerful man's dark ash-grey eyes captured the image of the young teacher patiently and gently teaching his son to fold paper boats.
Gone was the teasing smile or everyday arrogance; Travis's face at this moment sank into a profound complexity. His gaze looking at Maya was filled with a fierce possessiveness, a gentle craving, yet also hiding a dark secret that could shatter her entire naive world at any moment.
He stood watching her for a very long, long time amidst the silent night, before quietly turning his back and walking away into the abyssal void of the castle.
