I tried to stay quiet as Jason dragged me up the stairs.

I had to jump, sometimes two steps at a time, to avoid getting injured. He obviously wouldn't slow down to let me adjust.

I hadn't been here for over ten minutes and he'd already tried to choke me to death.

A tear escaped my eyes and I quickly wiped it off with my free hand. He'd ordered me to stop crying, and disobeying him would just attract more punishment. Just 178 days left.

You're doing great, Mel. I reminded myself, repeating my mantra in my head.

Just don't try to be brave. Focus on the project and get it done. You'll be okay.

Succeeding in steadying my breathing, I decided to stick to my resolution.

Desperate to distract myself, my eyes scanned the mansion.

I had thought it was beautiful the night of the party. But this right here was... magnificent. It was even more exquisite in the day, even.

My eyes scanned the chandeliers, the marble floors, the Victorian-like staircase, the walls and floors so shiny I was scared of stepping on them or touching them.

This was the Dream Home. Straight out of a magazine.

A vicious tug on my left arm from Jason jolted me out of my admiration trance.

I winced in pain at the impact on my left shoulder which nearly brought tears to my eyes.

"You're staring like an idiot." He stated. "Not like you aren't one or anything," He continued, smirking.

I forced my mouth shut.

Let him have his fun.

"Don't you dare try to steal anything," He said, clearly not finished. "I know, I know, you're not used to such luxury. But... try to control yourself. We don't want to kill your grandma off finally by telling her you're a thief as well, do we?" I felt my temple throb as he mentioned Nana. Determined not to fall victim a second time today to his bait, I tried to block out his words.

"Not that she'd complain anyway, right? I mean anything to get away from you." He let out a loud laugh.

I still kept quiet, concentrated instead on not letting the tears that had begun to pool in my eyes fall.

No matter how much I tried not to let things get to me, they always did.

Always.

Maybe it's because everything he said was true.

I knew Nana truly loved me. But what about everybody else?

What about Mom and Dad? Did they get tired of me too?

Why do I feel like such a burden to everybody?

It's because I am. No matter how much I tried to deny it.

Jason finally stopped as we came to a part of the house that looked like the living room.

He shoved me aside, rolling his eyes when he saw me wiping my face.

"Jeez. You're such a f*****g crybaby. Can't you do something else with your time?"

He dumped the pile of books he had taken from me when he'd been dragging me up the stairs on the table and plopped down on a sofa.

I wasn't sure I was allowed to sit so I stood awkwardly, waiting.

He looked up from his phone he'd already begun to scroll through and gestured toward a chair in the middle of the living room.

"Well... the f**k are you waiting for?" He said. "Quit staring like a moron and do your work, midget." He sneered, a look of disgust on his face.

I slowly made my way toward the chair, selecting the books I needed for research and reference.

Trying to make myself as comfortable as anyone could be around Jason Davenport, I bent my head over the books and started working.

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