The De Rucci Greenhouse, 7:05 p.m. Six Years Ago
"Y–Young Master! Sir Luca! Mr. Robert! Please—why—ah…? In front of Miss… Arte?!"
A hard slap landed on Martha's sharp jaw. It came from one of Luca's bodyguards—Yudha.
"Shut your mouth! You want Odil to replace you right now, huh?!" At the mention of her younger sister's name, Martha instinctively shook her head hard, her body still jerking uncontrollably beneath the thing belonging to her employer's bodyguard. She had just turned twenty. Shame and filth clung to her skin. She couldn't force her eyes open—couldn't—though the man violating her pressed her cheeks together, angling her face straight toward Artemis.
"Hey," the large-built man with the messy mustache whispered. His name was Sakti—someone who'd introduced himself just five minutes earlier as Robert's new assistant.
"I told you before we came in… you're supposed to look like you're enjoying this."
This time, it was the master's voice—the eldest grandson of Luca himself.
"This is for your foster child, Martha."
Artemis writhed under the pressure of Jacob's foot—Robert's senior bodyguard—pinning her down. Jacob's hands clamped tightly around her head and forced her thin arms behind her back. Unlike her cousin Dennis—who would rather take a bullet for his young master's freedom—Jacob always obeyed Robert. And everyone understood, without needing it said aloud: whatever Robert ordered always came from Luca.
"F–Fa… Fa…!!" The scream tore out of Artemis's mouth, muffled by the cloth shoved between her lips. For a split second, she managed to free one hand—reaching desperately for her father's leg, standing right beside her.
Then Luca's voice cut through the night—sharp, booming, merciless.
"DO YOUR JOB PROPERLY, JACOB!! MAKE THAT BRAT LEARN HOW TO BEHAVE!!"
Effortlessly, Jacob caught Artemis's freed hand and twisted it back into place.
"Please, Miss—just watch!" he pleaded, without loosening his grip.
"Don't make things harder for me and Dennis, Miss!"
"You've had your first period already, haven't you?" Luca continued, his tone calmer now—almost instructional. "If you want to continue the family line, this is something you should understand."
But Artemis's eyes were locked onto Robert—walking slowly toward the greenhouse's main door. Leaving. Without saying a single word.
"Your father said he'd take you to rehab," Luca added quietly.
The old man's wrinkled hand turned Artemis's face back—forcing her to look again at Martha, at her exposed body.
"But Opa is sure," Luca said, voice steady, cold.
"You'll go back to normal if you watch closely."
Artemis didn't bother closing her eyes. Tears soaked them anyway. No one noticed how the dizziness in her head slowly faded—replaced by rage, grief, and the terror of abandonment. Crushed beneath people who preached morality while trampling her down.
She couldn't fight back. The great-granddaughter of Luca's eldest grandson had run out of strength long ago—reduced to screaming, begging to be let out of the greenhouse.
The place where she used to study with Kak Emily. Then—Glass shattered. Fragments clattered against the transparent floor.
Artemis blinked again and again. Her split lips—already bruised, no longer caring about the pain—curved into a broken, relieved smile when she saw Emily running toward her.
Emily crashed down to her knees, wrapping Artemis's small body tightly in her arms. Apologies spilled from her mouth as her hands worked fast to undo the restraints—her words drowned out by the chaos on the other side, where Dennis and two unfamiliar men were beating Yudha and Jacob to the ground.
Six Years LaterMonday Night — Amethyst Hotel
Being a seventh-semester student was exhausting. Double anxieties piled up, the final thesis defense, what kind of job wouldn't rot her from the inside after her internship ended, what sort of future she actually wanted to live.
For Artemis, she'd abandoned those thoughts back in high school.
Back when the person who saved her believed that leaving would heal the cuts and bruises on her face. A first love that felt real. So real that even their college friends talked about how that person was still saving money—to build a small cabin by the beach.
Not as a place for the two of them anymore, of course.
Especially not after the look in Emily's eyes—firm, distant—ordering Artemis into her room and telling her to forget everything that had happened between them.
Erasing memories, it turned out, was just as hard as rebuilding trust. Like now. Artemis waited in the hotel room Emily had booked. Her former Italian tutor had said her fiancé—Raymond Luzardi—still wanted to focus on finding the daughter he'd abandoned for the sake of his extended family.
The same family that had lent Emily's parents a huge sum of money—to put her siblings and nieces through school.
Artemis checked Emily's text again.
Emily was meeting Deontre—Raymond's younger brother—to discuss a job offer as Senior Architect at Loozard Real Estate.
Thirty minutes late.
Artemis had just packed her laptop and binder into her bag when someone knocked. Thinking it was Emily, she called out casually, "Just a second."
The knock came again—harder. Impatient.
"Open the door, you crippled brat!"
The door swung open.
Rachel Luzardi stood there, arms crossed over a halter-neck cream blouse. Her slender frame had survived time well, though wrinkles had begun to settle beneath her eyes and along her temples—despite her age rivaling Artemis's great-grandfather, Luca De Rucci.
Still scowling, Rachel stepped into the room Emily had booked.
"You know why I'm here, don't you?"
When Artemis didn't give the answer she wanted, Rachel snapped her head toward her—eyes blazing.
"Don't play dumb, Arte. And stop messing with my family!" Age and status only fueled Rachel's cruelty—grinding down a lone girl who'd embarrassed her grandson, left standing in front of friends and business partners alike. While Artemis had fled to her mother's new family.
"I've heard exactly how disgraceful the stain you brought onto Luca and his family is," Rachel hissed. "Don't you dare drag that disgrace into mine!"
"If I'm a disgrace," Artemis replied calmly, suppressing a laugh, "then what do you call a future wife—for any unmarried man in your family?"
She tilted her head. "Yeah. What does that make Kak Emily?" Another thought slipped out, sharper. "What if your grandson ends up admiring—and wanting to fuck—another woman too? Like me?"
"You shameless girl!" Rachel snarled.
Her crooked, vicious grin didn't erase Artemis's sweet smile as she leaned against the wall near the door.
"That pathetic ex-girlfriend of yours—her debt will keep growing until he and his entire family are dead!" Rachel spat.
"A picked-up stray like you should learn her place and wake the hell up! Do you really think Deontre would accept Emily as just an employee?" Rachel burst into harsh laughter, stepping closer.
"Go ahead. Wait for Emily. If you want—wait until midnight!" She stormed out, fury trailing behind her.
Only then did Artemis finally exhale.
Tears slid down her cheeks as she grabbed her bag—laptop and everything she'd carried through another long day of internship.
Walking down the corridor toward the elevator, Artemis sent the voice recording she'd secretly captured to Apollo. From the moment Rachel's voice had snapped through the door, Artemis had already started recording—unable to resist documenting the childish cruelty of a woman untouched by age.
Who would've thought Ethan's grandmother—famous for her warm authority and calm demeanor whenever family rumors surfaced—could explode like that?
"That pathetic ex-girlfriend of yours—her debt will keep growing until he and his entire family are dead! A picked-up stray like you should learn her place! Do you really think Deontre would accept Emily as just an employee?"
Apollo's reply popped up just as Artemis was about to replay the recording.
from: Polo
Picked-up stray?
We're not dadless kids, right? tf….
We need to ask Mom.