Chapter 2: CRACKS IN THE ICE

Orm reached her house after ling proposed the contract . She when opened door saw her brother lying on couch pale and skinny playing with her worn out paint brushes.....FlashbackA lady with two children laughing in the park as they were having their family time ..16 year old orm and her 4 year old younger brother .her mother was smiling but orm can see past her smile because her mother have third stage blood cancer and only 6 months left orm had dropped out her studies and paint to sell and do part time work to save money for her brother and mom . Her dad a bastard left her mother for another girl when wei her brother was infant only . Her mother died and she take promise from orm to take care of herself and her brother.

End of flashback.......

Orm made her mind she could lose herself and do anything to save her brother.Not only because of promise she made to mother not only because she loves her brother , but because she don't want to lose her only family after losing her mother in short of money.She thought ling seems nice cause she transferred 50% money right away proposing the contract . She signed the contract digitally and gets ready for the next 3 years for her unknown life...

Orm moved in on a rainy Tuesday after admitting her brother to nice hospital..

Ling didn't greet her at the door. It was a staff member - a quiet woman in gray who bowed slightly and gestured to the grand interior hallway that looked more like a hotel lobby than a home.

The place smelled like polished stone and nothing else. Clean. Empty.

Her entire life fit into one duffel bag and a box of brushes.

Orm found Ling in the study, seated in front of a wall of screens and papers, her back straight and her expression unreadable.

"You're early," Ling said without turning.

"You're late for a smile," Orm replied before she could stop herself.

Silence.

Then Ling looked over her shoulder, one brow lifting a fraction. "You're not here to entertain me."

"No. But I live here now. Humor comes free."

Ling's eyes dropped to the duffel bag in Orm's hand. "A single bag?"

"That's all I own. Unless you count emotional baggage - in which case, I brought a truck."

Ling said nothing, just returned to her work.

Orm sighed quietly and turned to leave, already wondering what kind of quiet hell she'd signed up for.

---

Her room was on the opposite wing of the house. Spacious. Too clean. A bed that looked like it had never been slept in. The walls were stark white, screaming for color.

So Orm painted.

By the end of the first week, a cascade of blues and yellows stretched across one side of the room - a field of wildflowers under a gold-washed sky.

No one said anything about it. Ling didn't visit.

Not until day nine.

Orm was in the kitchen, barefoot, humming while flipping scallion pancakes in a pan. She didn't hear the soft hum of Ling's wheelchair until the woman was almost behind her.

"You cook," Ling said, almost surprised.

Orm jumped a little. "I paint, too. But oil doesn't taste as good."

Ling's gaze flicked to the food. "You don't have to. I have staff."

"Do they know how you like your tea?" Orm asked, pouring from the kettle. "I saw you leave half of it untouched yesterday. Too bitter, right?"

Ling stared at her, an unreadable expression settling across her face. "You're observant."

"I'm a painter. It's a hazard."

Ling didn't smile, but something in her shoulders softened.

Orm handed her the tea. No questions. No pity.

Just warm hands and warm silence.

---

That night, Ling had another dream. The one with the screeching tires and twisted metal. The one where her father's hand was reaching for hers through broken glass. The one where she woke up gasping, her leg burning like it was still trapped beneath wreckage.

Orm was outside her room, curled on the hallway couch with a sketchpad in her lap.

She looked up as Ling wheeled into the light.

"Nightmare?" Orm asked softly.

Ling hesitated. "Go back..."

Orm stiffened at the voice of ling but she didn't care what ling would do after she just led ling into balcony stay still for an hour with providing silent comfort to ling...

Orm that day saw vulnerability of ling and how ling face looked pale after sudden nightmares She begins to understands every trauma ling had suffered without words ...