I look down as my ballet flats tread the marble floors carefully. I’ve already wiped them on the mat by the huge double doors at the entrance of this mansion, but I still feel too dirty to be here.

I hope I don’t leave any muddy footprints. A couple of women wearing black polo shirts and black pants turn toward us as we pass the giant antique vase they’re meticulously cleaning with rags.

Maybe they’re looking at Caine, but I can’t help feeling self-conscious. Are my shoes dirty? Am I leaving dirty shoe prints? Or am I the one who’s dirty?

Do they know what I’ve just done?

It’s impossible for them to tell that Caine has just fucked me in the woods while we were on our way here, but the mind is not always rational.

The truth is, this brings back some painfully vivid memories from my childhood, memories I’ve been trying to suppress, memories that have been plaguing me since I signed the contract with Caine.

I was nine, and my mom was with me, holding my hand as we walked down the school hallway. She didn’t always hold my hand. Looking back, maybe she was trying to draw strength from me.

I don’t even remember anymore why we were at school. All I remember is the other parents—the other mothers, especially. They were huddling together, whispering among themselves, their eyes flicking toward my mom accusingly, even when they knew she was looking.

It felt strange. The other kids had been avoiding me, but I had no idea the grown-ups were doing the same thing to my mom. What was wrong with us? Why did people shun us?

A few years after that, when I was a teenager, I made friends with a girl whose parents were at the same meeting. One day, I asked her about it.

“Oh yeah, I remember that day,” she said.

“I felt like people were staring at me and my mom. Maybe it was just my imagination.”

The girl, Anna I think her name was, went quiet.

“Did you feel like they were staring at us?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you know why?”

She hesitated. After a pause, she said, “Back then, my mom told me to stay away from you, to just play with the other girls.”

“Why?” I asked, hurt but glad to finally get some answers.

“I didn’t know back then, and I didn’t ask. But now that she just found out we’re hanging out together a lot, she brought it up again, trying to tell me to avoid you. So I asked her why.”

“And?”

“She said you were a bad influence.”

“Why?” I frowned. I was a good student, and I always got good grades, despite the struggles we faced due to Mom’s inability to get her shit together.

“It wasn’t really about you,” Anna quickly added. Softly, she said, “It was your mom.”

“What about my mom?” I sigh. Of course she’d be the one behind this as well. Why wouldn’t she be?

“There were rumors about her. They were never confirmed. Nobody had any evidence.”

“What did the rumors say?” Knowing Mom, they were probably accurate. I knew she was capable of some messed up shit.

“They said one of the dads was having an affair with her. His wife wasn’t happy about that. She spread the news through the gossip mill. They called your mom a home wrecker.”

I winced. Of course. That’s exactly the kind of thing that she did. It had to be one of the married dads, too, when there were plenty of divorcees at school.

“Sorry,” Anna said. She was a sweet girl. “I tried to tell my mom she was being crazy. It wasn’t completely your mom’s fault. Nobody was blaming the man who actually cheated on his wife.”

I smile wryly at the memory. Of course nobody blamed the man. Nobody ever does.

That’s why, when I was growing up, I swore never to follow in my mother’s footsteps, never to let a man stain my reputation.

And yet, look at me now. Only hours ago, I was moaning and howling in ecstasy for a man who had bought my virginity. Not even my mom has ever sold her body—not as far as I know, at least.

I used to judge her for attaching herself like a parasite to her shitty boyfriends. I swore to be strong, to be independent, to be my own savior so I wouldn’t have to depend on any man’s pity to survive.

I’m realizing now that sometimes my own strength isn’t enough. Even when I try my best.

I tried so hard to leave that life, to separate myself from my mom, but maybe the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree after all.

Maybe I’ve just been dealt a bad hand in life, but so has she.

At least I don’t have her alcoholism, or chronic unemployment, so I’m making some kind of progress. Yay, I guess.

After these thirty days, though, I’ll go back to being a nurse. An upstanding, respectable member of society, instead of a wealthy man’s plaything.

Most importantly, I’ll have enough money to pay off all my debts and put Jack through college, so he’ll have a better start in life. That apple better roll the hell away from the tree.

“Wait there,” Caine says, pointing at a cavernous room with an arrangement of giant couches around an oversized coffee table in the center.

I nod and, like a good lap dog, go sit on one of the couches. I pick the seat that gives me a view of the door through which Caine has just disappeared.

Seconds and minutes tick by on the big grandfather clock. I’m getting bored when I hear a familiar voice.

“Hey. Daisy, right?”

I turn around and see Todd, the cousin who came to Caine’s apartment yesterday. I guess now I know he’s actually related to Caine and not just a random stranger.

“Hi, Todd,” I say with a smile.

“Wow, I’m surprised to see you here.” He takes a seat beside me, making the couch cushion hiss from his weight.

“Oh?” I tilt my head and raise my eyebrows.

I don’t know how else to phrase a question without revealing how little I know about this place, given that Caine hasn’t told me anything about it.

I don’t even know if this place is a hotel or a private residence. It seems too quiet to be a hotel, but it seems too big to be anyone’s home.

I don’t like to ask Caine too many questions because I never know what would set him off. He let me use his phone to call home, but nobody picked up and I’m hoping he’ll let me try again later, so it’s best to keep him in a good mood.

“Yeah, Caine doesn’t ever bring a girl home,” Todd says. Okay, so this place isn’t too big to be a home after all.

“Do you live here?”

“Me? Oh, no. I came here with my dad. He’s in the office talking to Caine’s dad.”

I nod and give Todd a polite smile. So this is probably the Foster family home, then.

Strange how the same words can refer to completely different things. To me, the family home is an old, dilapidated house with leaky ceilings and broken tiles.

“You must be something special, Daisy.” Todd places his arm over the back of the couch so his hand is almost grazing my back. “First, Caine takes you to his apartment. And now, here.”

“I don’t know about that,” I say, starting to get uncomfortable with how close Todd is, and with the general direction of this conversation. I don’t really want to tell Todd I’m only here because Caine bought my virginity and got a bonus of unlimited sex for a month.

It’s nice to interact with someone other than Caine, though. At least, when I’m talking to Todd, I don’t have to be anyone’s subservient sex doll.

“So, how long have you known each other?” Todd asks.

“Um, a few weeks.”

“Really?” Todd’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise, making me wonder if I’ve said the wrong thing. “I didn’t peg Caine as the type to move that fast.”

“I don’t know. I haven’t been keeping track. It doesn’t feel like it has been a long time, but maybe it has.” I smile outwardly, while inside I’m worried about blowing my cover. I need to keep my mouth shut.

“Oh, I know what you mean. Sometimes time moves really fast when you’re enjoying yourself.”

“Exactly.” I’m glad he’s satisfied with the answer.

The door of what I assume is the office opens, and a man steps out. He’s older, with silver hair and silver eyes. He gives Todd a look and walks away without acknowledging me.

“That’s my dad. I have to go. See you around, Daisy.” Todd gets up.

“See you, Todd.” I heave a sigh of relief as he disappears down the hallway behind his dad.

After staring at the grandfather clock for exactly fourteen minutes, Caine emerges through the same door, looking annoyed.

That can’t be a good sign.