The villa was silent, just like it often was the day after chaos.
Margot was smoking a cigarette, sitting on the steps out back. I needed air. Or at least I thought I did. Air that didn't smell like spilled whiskey, gunpowder, or the sweat of soulless men.
Angelina was finally asleep. The weight on my chest lifted, at least for a few hours. I left the room quietly, barefoot on the cold tile floor, my throat tight, my heart extinguished.
"You didn't sleep?" Margot asked, her sharp eyes mercilessly scanning the dark circles under mine.
I shook my head and sat down next to her, hugging my knees. She took another drag and held out the cigarette to me.
I refused. As always.
"You need to stop hiding like a rat, Emma. He's gonna eat you alive otherwise. And not in a good way," she said with a bitter tone.
I laughed without humor. A hollow sound.
"I didn't choose this, Margot."
"No one chooses to be stuck in shit, doll. We fall into it. The real question is: do you have the balls to get out?"
I didn't answer. I didn't know yet.
All I knew was my life hadn't been mine since the day I got into that damn black car.
A shiver ran down my spine. And it wasn't the wind.
I stood up. Margot raised an eyebrow, amused.
"Did you see a ghost or what?"
I didn't answer. I walked on, still barefoot, toward the large living room window, my heart pounding for reasons I didn't want to name.
And then, I saw them.
---
Through the glass.
Ana was sitting.
No. Not just sitting.
She was straddling Eyass's lap.
Her legs crossed, resting on his thighs. Her tiny black shorts pulled so high you could almost see the lace of her underwear. Her shirt, a minuscule white tee, clung tight to her skin, stretched over her too-perfect chest. Her golden skin shimmered under the warm living room lights.
One hand rested on Eyass's tattooed shoulder. The other slid slowly through his black hair, stroking it like he belonged to her. Like he was hers.
She was laughing.
A high-pitched laugh, almost too perfect. One of those laughs that sound fake when you know pain.
I stood frozen.
Eyass stayed still. Shirtless. A cigarette dangling from his lips. His black eyes staring into the void, somewhere beyond the villa's walls.
He didn't smile.
He didn't speak.
He was here but somewhere else.
---
P.O.V. — Eyass
Ana talks too much.
Her fingers in my hair don't do anything. Her weight on my legs doesn't bring any shiver or warmth.
Her words float around me like background noise I haven't listened to in a long time.
"Baby... are you with me or not? I'm talking to you," she said, tapping my cheek lightly.
I took a drag from my cigarette. Looked at the fire. Said nothing.
She kept going, unfazed.
"You know, Laurina says we should go to Miami for a few days. Just the two of us. You could take a break from business, right? We need it, baby. We're always surrounded by those people. And then there's that girl... that Emma..."
I finally turned to her.
My look was enough to shut her up.
"Shut up, Ana."
My voice was calm. Cold. Without emotion.
She swallowed but smiled anyway. That empty smile she wears to avoid getting hit.
"Okay... I was just saying, baby. Don't get mad..."
She ran her fingers through my hair again, but this time it wasn't gentle. Not natural. She could tell I was somewhere else.
And it's true.
My gaze drifted away again.
It slid toward the window.
And there... I saw her.
Emma.
Her slender figure. Arms wrapped around herself. Long black hair falling over her shoulders.
Her eyes locked on me.
Like she was trying to understand something. Like she dared to challenge me with her stare.
---
P.O.V. — Emma
His gaze pierced me through the glass.
He saw me.
And he didn't look away. Not right away.
One heartbeat.
Two heartbeats.
Then he slowly dropped his head, exhaling smoke toward the ceiling.
Like I was nothing.
Like I didn't exist.
Ana hadn't noticed a thing. She kept touching him like a doll behind glass.
And I... I was on the other side of the window.
A ghost in a house that didn't want me.
---
I sat back down next to Margot.
She asked no questions.
She already knew.
She blew out one last puff of smoke and said:
"You're gonna have to choose, Emma. Be the girl who watches or the girl who's watched. Because trust me, being invisible isn't an option in this house."
---
I said nothing.
But inside, a promise was forming.
One day, I wouldn't be the girl behind Eyass's glass anymore.