Chapter 3 - Shadows of the Past
By midweek, Anna and the twins were settled into a private residence managed by my personal estate. For the first time in years, my clinical routine felt disrupted. I found myself visiting the residence under the guise of delivering legal documentation regarding her lease.
"Sophia drew this for you," Anna said softly one evening, handing me a piece of construction paper covered in bright crayon strokes depicting four figures outside a hotel.
I looked at the drawing, a strange warmth tightening in my chest. "She made me tall."
"She thinks you're a giant who chased away the monsters," Anna murmured, offering me a cup of tea. She sat across from me, her guard finally slipping. "I never got to thank you properly, Mr. Vance. Most people in your position see workers like me as invisible."
"My mother was invisible," I confessed, the words tasting foreign on my tongue. "She worked eighteen-hour shifts at the Grand Continental. When she collapsed from exhaustion on the floor of room 402, management fired her for incomplete duties. She died two years later."
May you like
Anna reached out, her hand lingering near mine before pausing. "Is that why you bought the hotel group?"
"I bought it so no one could ever throw me out again," I said softly. "But lately, I wonder if I became the very thing I hated."
