A Night with the Zillionaire Prince.

The morning sun filtered through the dusty windows of the Cactus estate, catching on the gold-trimmed curtains and scattering light across the marble floor. But in the servants' quarters, where the air smelled faintly of disinfectant and forgotten dreams, Amelia Carter was already up, hands immersed in cold water, scrubbing the family's fine china. Her fingers moved swiftly, automatically, while her mind drifted.

She glanced at the clock on the wall, 6:15 AM. She still had to iron Amanda's outfit, tidy the drawing room, and help her mother (Sophia) out of bed. A soft groan reminded her of that last task. Amelia wiped her wet hands on her apron and hurried to the small adjoining room where her mother lay on a creaky bed.

"Mom," she whispered gently, touching the older woman's shoulder.

Sophia stirred, her face pale, eyes heavy with the kind of fatigue only illness could bring. "I'm sorry, baby. Did I oversleep again?"

Amelia smiled faintly. "No, Mom. Just thought you could need some help sitting up."

She helped her mother into a sitting position and reached for the medicine bottle on the worn-out nightstand. The label had faded, but Amelia knew the dosage by heart. This was the fourth kind she had tried since Sophia's diagnosis of Kidney failure. Nothing worked for long, but it kept her stable.

After ensuring her mother was comfortable and had taken her pills, Amelia returned to her chores. She moved like someone who had memorized the rhythm of a life she never asked for.

The sound of heels clicking against the floor snapped her out of her routine. Amanda.

"Amelia!" came the shrill voice. "Where's my silk blouse? The blue one!"

Amelia grabbed the freshly ironed blouse from the hallway rack and met Amanda halfway up the staircase.

Amanda snatched it from her hand without a thank-you. Her nose wrinkled as she looked Amelia up and down. "Didn't anyone teach you how to comb your hair?"

Amelia offered no reply, she never did. She had learned that answering back will only make things worsen. Instead, she turned quietly and returned to the kitchen, heart thudding, cheeks burning. There had been a time she might have dreamed of another life, but these dreams didn't buy medicine or feed her and her mother.

Sophia had worked so hard for the Cactus family for over twenty years, ever since Amelia was a baby. Back then, Mrs. Cactus had been slightly less cruel, when Mr. Cactus was still alive, and Amanda merely a bossy child rather than the entitled monster she had grown into.

Amanda had everything handed to her, designer clothes, expensive vacations, private tutors. Still, she barely scraped through school, and that was before her mother started bribing professors to boost her grades. She graduated with a fake degree, while Amelia, who had earned her way into university with straight A's, had to drop out halfway through because of her mother's hospital bills. Life had a twisted sense of fairness.

By mid-afternoon, Amelia had completed her chores and returned to the servants' quarters to help her mother bathe. Sophia leaned heavily against her as Amelia wiped her down with warm water.

"You should be out there, child," Sophia murmured, voice trembling. "Not in here with a sick old woman like me."

Amelia kissed her forehead. "If I could choose anywhere in the world to be, it would still be here. With you."

Sophia tried to smile but the emotion broke into a cough that rattled through her frail frame. Amelia held her until it passed, blinking back tears.

That night, after putting her mother to sleep and tidying up the last of Amanda's mess, Amelia climbed to the roof of the estate's west wing. It was her secret place, one she had discovered years ago when life first started becoming too much. From there, she could see the skyline of the city, all glass towers and blinking lights. She imagined herself in one of them, maybe working in a firm, designing beautiful buildings, earning enough to take her mother to the best hospitals in the world.

But that was just a fantasy. Tomorrow, she would wake up to the same marble halls, the same cruel commands, and the same aching heart.

What she didn't know was that tomorrow would be the beginning of everything changing.

Because in another part of the city, in a palace of polished steel and velvet, a prince was about to be given a choice-a bride, a future, and a secret that would tie him to Amelia in ways neither of them could ever expect.