The mansion was spotless. Polished floors, chandeliers glittering even in daylight. The faint scent of lemon polish clung to the air. Yet beneath all that perfection, there was a silence that felt heavy, almost suffocating.
Elena, the black maid who had worked in the house for less than six months, felt it every day. She had grown used to scrubbing marble floors while hearing nothing but her own rag dragging across the stone. But what unsettled her most was not the silence of the house, but the silence of the little girl who lived there.
Sophie, just seven years old, sat curled in a wide armchair near the window. Her pajamas hung loosely on her thin frame, and her chest rose and fell with a slight wheeze. Sophie had been diagnosed with a respiratory condition when she was four. It made her fragile, easily fatigued, and vulnerable to every cold breeze. While the doctors had said she could still live a full life with careful attention, Elena could see how the illness had already marked the….Read Full Story Here……….
