Chapter 3

Kristal Gillespie POV:

The dining room at the McCarthy estate was a cathedral of wealth. Crystal chandeliers dripped from the high ceiling, casting a warm, golden glow on a mahogany table laden with delicacies. Silver gleamed, porcelain shimmered, and the air was thick with the rich aromas of roasted meats and expensive wines.

I sat at the very end, farthest from Dozier and Dallas, my assigned seat a silent declaration of my status. My eyes, practiced in their downward gaze, focused on the pristine white tablecloth. The array of food was overwhelming – lobster bisque, seared scallops, a prime rib so perfectly cooked it looked like a painting. But my hands, with a mind of their own, reached only for the plain bread roll.

I tore off a piece, then another, stuffing it into my mouth with frantic speed. At Serenity Heights, slow eaters were starved. Meals were a race against the clock, a brutal competition for survival. You ate fast, or you didn't eat. The habit was deeply ingrained. I chewed, not tasting the soft, bland bread, just swallowing, needing to fill the emptiness. My jaw ached.

My plate remained otherwise untouched. The steak, the lobster, they might as well have been made of plastic. They weren't plain. They weren't safe. And they certainly weren't guaranteed.

The conversation around me was a low hum, punctuated by polite laughter. I kept my silence, a skill perfected over three years. Don't speak unless spoken to. Don't express opinions. Don't exist beyond what is required.

Then, a voice, soft but clear, cut through the hum. "Kristal, dear, are you enjoying the dinner?" It was Mrs. McCarthy, Dozier's grandmother. Her voice was kind, reminding me of a gentle breeze.

My body reacted before my brain. Forks clattered to the table as I pushed back my chair, scraping it loudly against the polished floor. I shot to my feet, my heart hammering against my ribs, a piece of half-chewed bread still in my mouth.

"Present!" I shouted, the word ringing through the suddenly silent room. It was a bark, a reflex from roll call, from the daily inspection, from the years of being a number, not a name.

The room fell into stunned silence. Every pair of eyes, which I had so carefully avoided, was now fixed on me. Dallas, further down the table, let out a delicate gasp. Dozier, beside his grandmother, looked mortified.

My own response shocked me. My cheeks burned. Control. You must control yourself. I could feel the tremor starting in my hands again, spreading through my arms. This wasn't Serenity Heights. There was no nurse with a syringe, no security guard with a tranquilizer dart. But the fear was real. The fear of punishment, of being seen as "unstable," "uncooperative."

Mrs. McCarthy, bless her heart, was the first to recover. "Dozier," she said, her voice laced with an unexpected sharpness, "You startled the poor girl." She turned to me, her eyes, though kind, held a hint of sadness. "It's alright, dear. You can relax. Please, sit down."

I obeyed, my movements stiff and unnatural. My eyes remained glued to my untouched plate, to the piece of bread I had dropped. I didn't dare look up.

"Kristal," Dozier said, his voice low, filled with a controlled irritation. "Did you hear Grandma? Sit down. And for God's sake, stop acting out."

Acting out. The words were like a slap. He thought this was for attention. He thought I was playing games. The old Kristal would have been furious, would have lashed out. But the new Kristal just shut down. My body tightened further, a coil ready to snap. I squeezed my hands into fists under the table, my nails digging into my palms. Anything to stop the trembling. Anything to stop the feeling.

The dinner resumed, the clinking of silverware and hushed conversations slowly returning, but the spell was broken. I sat there, a statue, my untouched food a testament to my fear, my silence a monument to my compliance. Dozier's words, "stop acting out," replayed in my mind. He still didn't understand. He thought he had "fixed" me. But he had only replaced my love with fear, my passion with obedience. And the realization was a cold, hard stone in my gut.