By the end of Eliana's first week in the estate after failed attempts to escape, she understood one thing clearly:
The Don did not favor beauty, he favored usefulness.
The other mistresses competed loudly.
They dressed in brighter silk. Laughed too sweetly. Touched his arm a too often, trying to impress him, but they Watched each other more than they watched him, but Eliana watched him.
She memorized his routine.
He woke before sunrise. He trained alone in the underground gym. He drank black coffee without sugar. He read reports before breakfast. He disliked unnecessary noise.
Information was her first weapon, the second was patience.
On the sixth week, she made her move.
She woke before dawn and walked quietly toward the underground wing. Guards glanced at her but did not stop her. She walked with confidence. Inside the gym, the Don was alone, punching a heavy bag with controlled precision.
She did not interrupt him,she stood next to the door side. Waiting...
When he finished, sweat lining his neck, he noticed her, her eyes fixed in one direction for too long.
"You are lost," he said calmly.
"No," she replied softly. "I was waiting."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"For what?"
"For the moment when you were done."
Most women would have tried to impress him, but she offered no flattery.
"I have been observing," she continued carefully. "You work alone every morning. No assistant, No one tracking your time."
He dried his hands slowly.
"And?"
"You value discipline," she said. "But discipline without structure wastes energy."
His gaze sharpened.
"You think I lack structure?"
"No," she said calmly. "I think you handle too much personally."
She stepped forward slightly.
"I can organize your schedules. Review your reports before they reach you. Remove distractions."
He studied her differently now.
"Why?"
She held his gaze.
"Because proximity increases efficiency."
"And you, a slave girl bought from a local town believe you are capable of that?"
"I learn quickly."
Silence settled between them, the Don seemed to take a careful thought...
"Tomorrow," he said. "Six a.m. You will sit in on the morning review."
Her first door had opened.
The other mistresses noticed immediately.
At breakfast, one of them_ Cassandra , leaned back in her chair, eyes sharp.
"You were in the underground wing this morning."
Eliana lifted her teacup calmly. "Yes."
"That area is not for us."
"His bedroom alone, is?" Eliana asked softly.
Cassandra's jaw tightened.
"You think sitting in one meeting makes you important?"
Eliana tilted her head.
"No. I think being useful does."
A few of the women exchanged glances, she was questioning the top ranked mistress, what audacity.
That evening, she began the second part of her strategy, she calls it the division strategy.
She approached another mistress named lora in the dressing room.
"You should be careful," Eliana said gently.
Lora frowned. "Careful of what?"
"Cassandra mentioned that the Don has grown tired of some of the mistresses and she asked him to start getting rid of them, your name was mentioned."
Lora stiffened. "She said that?"
"I thought you should know," Eliana replied softly.
It wasn't a lie, Cassandra had once joked about predictability at dinner.
Eliana simply repositioned it.
By nightfall, tension had grown between them, whispers replaced laughter.
The next morning's meeting sealed her position further, The Don sent one of his men to send for her.
She sat quietly beside him as men discussed shipments, territories, negotiations.
She did not speak at first, she listened to them speak and watched their every move.
When one man presented figures that didn't align, she spoke calmly.
"Your northern numbers are inflated."
The room went still and quiet.
The man glared at her. "Excuse me, a woman dare not speak in meetings where men are talking."
She looked at the Don for permission to continue speaking or not, he simply nodded, his eyes dark and cold. Her eyes moved to the papers,then she continued
"Your transport cost is too low for the reported distance."
The Don said nothing.
The man swallowed, his eyes now filled with a mixture of fear and disappointment.
After a tense moment, he admitted the miscalculation.
The Don finally spoke "miscalculation indee". His eyes darkened more into something dangerous. ", your head is no longer valuable, it should be chopped off."
The man pleaded, claiming it was a mistake. Eliana leaned closer to the Don, whispering something to his ears, after careful thought he looked at the man, "your last chance".
After the meeting, he stopped her in the hallway.
"You took a risk."
"I corrected inefficiency."
"You embarrassed one of my senior men."
She met his gaze steadily.
"If he cannot defend his numbers, he should not present them."
Silence settled between them, he offered her a slight nod, his cigar still in his hand.
The mistresses observed what was going on and started whispering among themselves. she is growing wings in this place. How dare her talk back at the Don and he does nothing about it. She's getting too close to him.
Cassandra confronted her that night.
"You are overstepping."
Eliana folded a silk scarf neatly on her bed.
"Am I?"
"You think sitting beside him now makes you untouchable?"
Eliana turned slowly.
"No one here is untouchable."
Cassandra stepped closer. "Be careful. Women who climb too fast fall harder and I'll ensure you do."
Eliana's expression remained soft.
"Only if I don't know how to land."
By the end of third month, things had changed.
The Don began requesting her presence more at private discussions. He asked for her opinions occasionally, he started favoring her more than the other mistresses. She had succeeded in moving her rank to the top though Cassandra was still more feared and respected.
Secretly, Eliana was building something in her mind, she wanted to know every shipment, every name, every location, where every power arteries ran.
One evening, as she stood on the balcony overlooking the estate, one of the low ranked mistresses approached her.
"You're different," she said quietly.
Eliana did not look at her.
"How?"
"You don't want his attention."
Eliana's lips curved faintly.
"No."
"What do you want?"
Eliana finally turned.
"I can't tell you." she didn't want to disclose anything to anyone here, if she must succeed she needs to be confidential. No one should be trusted, not even a low ranked mistress nor the most recent.
The mistress blinked and walked away quietly.
Inside her room that night, Eliana unfolded a small piece of paper she had hidden beneath her mattress. It contained names,routes and dates of powerful people and events she had secretly gathered information about.
She whispered softly into the darkness, like the wind could help her convey her message
"Diane. I'm getting closer to power, soon I'll come for you...Just wait"