All men in this house are bad.

I take back everything I had thought about the people here a few nights ago as I kept staring at the dining room in pure horror.

The huge chandelier which was supposed to be high up in the air is right on my feet, broken in pieces. Windows are having the holes of what I assume bullets, the flower pots are broken along with the utensils.

Hell, these men didn't even leave the dining table intact.

What the hell happened here?

Rylie nudged my stomach and gave a look which clearly said, "You thinking what I am thinking?"

"Are these men animals? Wild animals to be exact. Why do we have to clean up the mess they create?" I voiced out our thoughts.

"Because that's why we are here." Louisa chirped in. "And I suggest you young ladies to get to work."

Rylie and I groaned and took our places.

"Hey Louisa." I gained her attention as I broomed the floor.

She turned around and gave me a smile. "Si, Amy?"

The cutting of metal bars on the window of my room is almost done. I do have a fool proof plan to escape from here, but I need to know what I am going against if things go wrong.

"You have been working in this house for a long time, right?" I asked.

"Si, Amy. For almost thirty years now."

"That's...nice." Mentally, I was grimacing. How can a person be stuck here for thirty years?! Rylie has been here for eight years and I have been here for almost seven years.

"Why? You want to ask something based on my experience?" She asked amusedly. "I'm telling you, there isn't much to tell."

I chuckled. "No. It's not that. I was just hoping that as we are stuck here cleaning for several hours, why not entertain us with a story?"

She crossed her arms and gave me a stern look. "You want me to tell you a bed time story instead of working?"

"I...uh...yes." I answered shamelessly.

She hummed. "What do you want to know about?"

"I don't know. Why are the people here so wild?" I asked, eyeing the ruined room ahead of us.

"Because that's what they are being taught. No mercy." She answered nonchalantly.

"In short, these people don't give a shit about anybody."

"Si."

"That's wild."

She chuckled. "Are you done with your questions, Amelia? We have a lot of work here."

"One more question, has anybody tried to go, you know, against these men? Like trying to leave them or something like that?"

Louisa stopped functioning.

"W-Why are you asking me this, Amy? Do you know something?"

"Oh, no. No, I was just curious. I mean, sure we have cleaned all the blood and stuff they spill 'accidentally' but has anybody successfully left them...or escaped from the house and the people?"

Louisa kept staring at me with scrutinizing eyes. I stared back with a bored look.

Then she smiled. "You are asking a lot today, Amelia. You sure that you don't want to tell me something?"

"A hundred percent sure!" I chirped and batted my eyelashes sweetly, much to her amusement.

"If that's the case, I haven't heard of any of the uomini—men leaving the family of Agostini because they had chosen to stay in the family."

"And the women?" I asked, "What about them?"

"There are no women working for the famiglia. It's just us, the housekeepers." She said.

I frowned and collected all the glass pieces together. "Don't they have women in their own family? Mothers, sisters and daughters?"

Louisa sighed. "They do, but they keep them away from this life. They keep them safe. The Agostini famiglia are very protective over their women. I'm guessing that it's in their blood."

"How many people are there in the family? And please don't say the numbers in hundreds and thousands. The actual Agostini family, how many are they?" I asked curiously.

Her eyes shine in amusement. "Getting curious, aren't you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course. Since I was basically brought here by the great family itself, I think I have the right to learn more than what I know about them."

"Fine," She hummed. "They are just two men."

"What?" I whisper in shock. "So you are telling me that the actual people who have the surname Agostini are only two? As in T-W-O two?"

"Yes. It's just the boss and his son." She said nonchalantly as she wiped the only flower vase which was intact in the room.

My jaw went south. "That's unbelievable. Two people handling the whole house full of men and staff? How is that possible?"

"It's simple. They work together like we are working here to clean up."

"Wow." I mumbled. "That's incredible."

"Any more questions? Or should I give you more work after this?" She asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

"I have a few more questions." I said.

She laughed. "Do ask. I am having fun answering them."

"You...you said that the men chose this family, right?" She hummed in response. "What about the people who hadn't got the chance to choose. People like us?"

"What are you trying to ask, Amy?"

"You said it yourself, the men don't leave or try to escape from this house. What if one of the women working as a housekeeper tries to leave...or escape?" I asked warily.

Louisa gave me a big smile which showed me all of her wrinkles. "Nobody ever has, Amelia, because we know how things work here. The men show no mercy to others and get angry very easily, but..."

"But what?" I asked curiously.

Louisa stopped working. "There was one woman, decades ago. She was very rebellious and I still remember her."

"What about her?" I picked a plastic bag full of glass shards and walked with her.

"She tried to escape and she even succeeded."

This woman is officially my inspiration! Woohoo!

"But she came back on her own only a week after she escaped."

Screw that woman to hell! Who does that?!

"W-Why?" I asked incredulously.

"Don't know. She never told me."

There was too much curiosity settled in my stomach. "Is the woman still working here?"

"I don't know." She answered.

"Is she...is she dead?"

"Don't know."

"Then where is she?"

"I don't know. There were too many rumours about that woman and I had only heard them but never bothered to acknowledge them."

"What rumours?"

She chuckled. "You are too curious about these things, aren't you?"

I shrugged. "Of course. I mean, that woman stood up for her life."

She shook her head and sighed loudly. "Don't believe them because they were just rumours."

"Fine, but what were they?"

"It was said that the woman got lost in her way and ended up in a circle so she found her way back here while some say that she fell in love with one of the men here and the famiglia simply took her back when they got to know that. Some other rumour says that she still lives in the house, with the famiglia and away from her love because that was her punishment for running away or she killed herself after the famiglia made her watch her love getting killed by the men of the house itself. These are just rumours, Amelia. I wouldn't waste my time thinking about them. I rather work instead being lazy like you!" Louisa ruffled my hair and I laughed.

"I am sorry, but I'm just too lazy today. I don't feel like working." I giggled.

She shook her head. "Silly girl. If you finish picking up every glass piece, I'll give you the night off. How does that sound?"

I frowned. "But I always have my night off."

"They won't be if you don't work now." She threatened.

I gulped and started brushing the floor.

Never in seven years, I have worked so fast only to have my nights off.

I picked the last plastic bag full of glass shards and kept it in the corner when something strikes me.

"Hey, Louisa?" I called out her name again and she hummed in response as she presses the table cloth.

"You said that there are two people of Agostini family; The father and the son, right? What about the mother?"

Louisa stopped functioning again and cleared her throat. "Y-Yes, I did. What about her?"

"I'm pretty sure that the big bad Agostini boss had not given birth to his son, right? Because that would be so gross. What happened to the mother?" I asked.

She sighed and looked out of the bullet holed window. "She was forced to leave, that's what I saw. It was too dangerous for a woman to stay with a man who owned the Agostini empire and had enemies lurking in the corner."

"Forced?" I gasped in surprise. "Who forced her?"

"Her husband, the boss himself."

******

I couldn't sleep. There were too many things in my mind. Too many questions.

Louisa's words kept repeating on my mind.

Even though what she said were rumours and she had clearly told me not to waste my time thinking about them, I can't help myself but waste my time on it.

I did learn that the men in this house can be cruel not only physically, but emotionally too.

Forcing someone to leave? That's sick.

I can't even imagine what that woman must have gone through.

I was snatched away from my family years ago and it still hurts but I also know that it won't hurt anymore longer.

I didn't exactly get what I wanted to know, but my hopes did get risen up to unreachable heights.

A woman did escape from the house of Agostini.

Let's forget the part where she came back on her own.

If that woman did, I can too. The only thing I have to be careful is of my path after I escape from this hell house.

So why am I wasting my time thinking and simply lying on my bed? I have got to cut some metal bars.

I jolted up from the bed, swiftly took out the knife which was under it and started cutting the bars. There isn't much left. I have already cut the three sides of the bars and there are only few bars left on the upper side of the window.

I kept cutting them till I heard a faint tink.

What was that?

I checked the three corners of the window and saw them already disjoined then I looked at the remaining untouched portion of the upper bars and my eyes widened in shock.

It can't be, can it?

"Rylie! Rylie!" I heard her groan and shift in her sleep.

"Rylie!" I whisper yelled which made her jolt up from her bed and she looked at me in concern.

Then I heard another faint tink.

Rylie's eyes widened when she saw the source of the sound.

The remaining upper metal bars were breaking on their own. It was too weak to handle the whole railing if its three sides, which were not supported in the corners anymore, were holding onto the upper side for support.

"Help me!" I whispered.

She got up from her bed and grabbed a side of the railing.

"Don't try to make too much noise." I warned.

She nodded her head in response and we pulled the railing towards our direction.

Two more faint tinks later, the whole railing was in our hands and the window was wide open with a slide of its glass door. Carefully, we placed the huge metal on the floor and felt the cool breeze coming in full force inside our room.

I kept staring at the open window in shock.

But it wasn't just a window, it was the gateway to my freedom.

I just opened the door to my freedom.

Tears of joy pooled in my eyes and my face broke into a smile.

Finally! After seven years of waiting, three years of hard work and over fifty knives used...

I was going to get out of here and reunite with my family.

Author's note:

Double update! Yaay!

Try to find something fishy on the stories Louisa told. 🤭

Btw, who's ready to jump?😂

Vote and comment. 😁