Inside lay my only real possessions—relics from the orphanage. The expensive clothes Elisa had "bestowed" upon me to play the role of her well-dressed accessory? I left them where they hung.
I walked out just as Elisa and Kevin emerged from the master bedroom. They stood on the second-floor landing, staring down at me with cold contempt.
"Adam Mason, what trouble are you trying to stir up now?" Elisa clutched her silk robe.
I ignored her. Headed straight for the front door.
Her temper ignited. She grabbed a vase from a side table and hurled it.
*Crash.*
I sidestepped. Porcelain shattered against the floor where I'd stood a heartbeat before. I turned back. Looked up.
Checked my phone.
Three minutes.
The three-year agreement hadn't ended yet.
"Nothing." My voice was calm. "Just going out for a walk."
"If you dare walk out that door today, we are through!" She shrieked. "If you know what's good for you, get your ass up here and serve us. Clean up the room. Do that, and I won't hold you accountable for embarrassing me tonight."
I said nothing.
Turned around. Walked up the stairs.
Kevin burst into laughter. "I'm telling you, Elisa—your dog-training skills are world-class! You could make a career out of this."
Elisa snorted proudly, arms crossing. "This useless trash. If my mom hadn't been so soft-hearted... I don't know what kind of bewitching potion he gave her to make her insist I stay with him."
She sneered as I reached the landing. "A cowardly waste like him... if he leaves me, he'll never live this kind of luxury again in his entire life."
Hearing this, I finally laughed.
"Elisa, you're right." My voice was steady. "I really did rely on your mother to live a 'good life.'"
The contempt in her eyes deepened. She pointed a manicured finger toward the master bedroom, where tangled sheets lay in chaotic evidence.
"In there. We were a bit too... intense. Hurry up and change the sheets and the quilt. Why aren't you moving? We have important matters to discuss."
But I didn't move toward the bedroom.
I stood in place. Eyes locked on Elisa.
On my phone screen, the numbers shifted.
The time had passed.
"Elisa Fox." My voice dropped to a temperature that matched the frost in my gaze.
"I quit."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Kevin Gilbert clutched his stomach, that grating laugh scraping against the silence. "Elisa, look! The lapdog you keep is actually trying to rebel!"