The Servant Who Chose to Return to Her Master’s Harem

Going back to my father’s house was different from what I had expected. The staff treated me like the daughter of a judge and not like the servant I had been turned into: they indulged my whims, spoke to me respectfully, and wouldn’t let me lift a finger. A comfortable life I had already grown out of.

But I knew all that comfort came at a price. That life would end the day my father decided to hand me over to some rich, powerful man in exchange for political favors or alliances that benefited him. Just like the first time. Just like when he forced me to marry.

To him I was never anything more than a piece on his board.

From the moment he found out my father had come to take me from my master’s apartment, from the moment I understood my life would once again be in his hands, I began to devise a plan. One that grew stronger with each week, rooted in a hatred fed by every memory of what the commander I had married did to me. I only needed to wait for the right moment.

***

—I told you, I’m doing this because I need the support of the sectors your family controls to reach the presidency of the first court —my father said—. There are no ulterior motives, Damián.

I was with my back against the wall of the sitting room, in a corner, listening to every word. The man he was speaking with was young for his rank: commander of one of the richest districts, head of one of the most feared families in the Central Government.

—Your Excellency, forgive my disbelief, but neither my family nor I got this far by trusting other people’s good intentions —Damián replied, with a politeness that sounded like mockery—. I’ll hear your offer, but only if you tell me exactly what you intend to do once we put you in that chair.

My father sighed, resigned, and I knew he was about to confess what he really wanted.

—I suppose you know what happened with my daughter and her late husband.

—I do. A tragedy, according to the papers. Though more than a few of us saw it coming. I warned you not to marry her to that sadist, that he’d take it out on her for not being able to marry the woman he loved. It was lucky she survived. Some of us were surprised she had the nerve to get rid of him.

My father clenched his jaw. From my corner, I felt something close to pride.

—I want that position because I want to give my daughter her freedom back —the judge went on—. I’m not going to hand her over as a servant. I want her to marry someone from a good family, to be respectable again. But for that I need the authority to change the Vesta law, and I’ll only have it at the head of the first court.

Damián burst out laughing.

—What a surprise you are. I told you not to enact that law without reviewing it, I told you to put an expiration date on punishments. You ignored my advice, stubbornly insisted it had to be approved as soon as possible. And now you want to undo the very law you defended more fiercely than your own daughter?

My father took a long time to answer. It took effort for him to swallow the humiliation.

—I won’t allow my daughter to be treated like a second-class woman —he said at last, in a hollow voice. Not out of love: out of pride. He was ashamed that I was a victim of the very law he had pushed through.

A thick silence filled the room. Even I, who was not part of the scene, felt uncomfortable.

—All right. I’ll help you —Damián conceded—. You’ll have the backing of my family and of six other districts whose commanders owe me favors. Your rise will be guaranteed. —He paused, deliberately—. But that power you’re offering me isn’t enough to pay for the favor I’m about to do for you. If you want the first court, I want you to give me your daughter.

My mouth went dry. My legs trembled. I thought my fate would be the same hell as before, because they came from the same line of monsters.

—Don’t misunderstand me —he went on—. I don’t want her as a servant. I want her as my wife, once you set her free. But before sealing the deal, before making you president, I want to spend a moment alone with her. In her bedroom. If I’m going to lift you that high, first I want to make sure your daughter is up to the task.

I expected my father to tell him to go to hell. To hit him. What he said instead hurt me more than anything else.

—What guarantees do I have that you won’t do to her what your cousin did? —the judge asked. Not a word about my life. Only about how it made him look.

—I’m not that animal. I know how to treat a woman, and my line will accept the marriage. I’ll make sure everyone in my house knows that anyone who mistreats her will end up with a bullet in the head. —He said it with sick pleasure, as if savoring the idea of killing gave him an addictive kind of ecstasy.

—Fine. I only hope you keep your word. My career can’t survive another scandal.

—I promise I’ll make her happy. You have my word.

My father sighed with relief, delighted to be able to wash his name clean. Rage rose through me like fire: I clenched my fists, gritted my teeth, and trembled from head to toe. And then Damián said what I had spent months waiting to hear.

—By the way, a few hours ago I was told that that Adrián fellow’s record was cleared. A cousin of mine works in the Surveillance Unit and took care of deleting any alerts from his file. —He snorted, surprised—. What a piece of work. More dangerous than he looked: black market connections, dealings with very violent people. I can’t quite understand why you wanted to clear his record.

—I gave my word to my daughter. And… that boy impressed me. He didn’t care that I was a judge. I think he was on the verge of killing me when I slapped her. He defended what was his without worrying about the consequences. He earned my respect.

—Intriguing. Shall we call your daughter to close the deal?

I stepped out of my hiding place. I saw the judge’s eyes widen as he understood I had heard everything, that I knew he was selling me off again for a political move.

—Good evening —I said.

Damián looked at me with a complicit smile, as if he liked my insolence.

—If you want us to go up to my room, we can do it now —I offered, looking at my father with all the resentment I could fit in my chest—. I don’t need any protocol to be used as the servant I am.

—That sounds like a wonderful idea, sweetheart —Damián replied, while the judge lowered his gaze to the floor, too afraid to look at him.

I walked toward the stairs with him behind me. I knew that would be the last night I would spend in my father’s house.

***

—You’re delicious —Damián panted, his face buried between my legs, sucking my clit with no restraint at all.

He made me writhe against the sheets, caught in a pleasure that almost rivaled making love under the influence of ambrosia. But as delicious as it was, as intense as the orgasm his mouth ripped from me was, none of it felt entirely good. Not when I knew it was the consequence of a dirty deal between two men.

He stripped in front of me with his eyes fixed on my groin, a feverish expression on his face that frightened me and, at the same time, turned me on. As if danger awakened a flame of lust I didn’t know how to put out.

He positioned himself between my legs and thrust into me at once, without caresses, without sweet words, showing all the anxiety driving him. He growled as he pounded into me, setting a brutal rhythm, squeezing one breast with selfish force that made me scream.

—You’ll be a perfect wife —he said, madly—. You won’t wash a single dish again, or cook, or clean. You’re too beautiful for that. You’ll stay home, raising all the children I put in your belly, and I’ll fuck you every day.

I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see his deranged face. I obeyed: I moved my hips, let him do what he wanted, swallowed his semen without spilling a drop, and cleaned his cock with my mouth until it was spotless, until he’d had enough and collapsed onto my bed, breathless.

—Tell me, Valeria, what do you think about marrying me? I don’t want the right answers. I want the truth, because what I do when I leave this room will depend on it.

I chose my words carefully. Then I understood that, as a servant, I had nothing left to lose.

—I’m sorry, but that marriage will never happen.

Instead of taking offense, he smiled. He lay on his side, obsessively interested.

—And how are you so sure? The life I’m offering sounds better than being a servant, doesn’t it?

—That life is what my father wants for me, not me. And, with respect, it sounds too much like a servant’s life: living under your will, dressing and behaving however you decide, without choosing anything. I don’t see the difference.

—Not all men are like that Adrián fellow —he said, testing me—. Most of us see servants as an accessory to be discarded whenever we feel like it.

—On that, you’re right. Just look at my father. —He smiled broadly when he heard that—. But even so I would rather become a servant again, because that would at least be my choice, even if it goes wrong. I don’t mind being one. I’d be lying if I said I don’t long with all my heart to return to my master Adrián’s harem. It was the only place where I was happy.

—You really want to go back to that guy? —He said it amazed, not annoyed.

—Yes. Because I know that sooner or later I’d return to a place that feels like home, where there’s someone willing to risk his life just to make sure I’m okay.

—And how do you plan to do that? The deal with your father is already underway.

—If I told you, you’d be complicit in what’s going to happen tonight.

We both smiled. I took him by the nape and kissed him on the lips before lying back down, proud of what I was planning.

—I’m dying to know how your story ends, sweetheart. I’ll keep an eye on you —he said as he dressed—. But if things keep going the way they are, I won’t be able to do anything. You’ll have to give the plot a twist. —He smiled from the doorway—. Good luck, servant.

That last word made me smile. By calling me that, he was validating my dream, letting me know he didn’t think I was crazy.

***

Knowing that my master’s record had been cleared was the signal. Everything would end that same night. I put on the most beautiful dress in the wardrobe and a pair of heels I didn’t like, but that forced me into a dignified posture. In front of the mirror I felt dangerous. I opened the drawer and took out what I needed to break the vicious circle my life had become.

I walked down the hall of the mansion, hearing my heels echo against the walls, the soundtrack that accompanied me to the door of my father’s room. Inside, thousands of emotions crowded my chest, all fueled by adrenaline.

I opened it carefully, without a sound. I knew I could only do it while he was asleep; awake, I would never have been able to beat him.

Seeing him sleep so peacefully enraged me. That man resting in peace was the same one who, hours earlier, had handed me over to a madman in exchange for a favor, under the false pretense of doing it for my own good. The same one who in the past paid for every mistake with my body, the same one who gave me to that animal who turned me into his currency and dragged me through the worst memories of my life. Those memories were what gave me the courage to raise the scissors with both hands above my head and bring them down onto his neck.

I felt them sink in. I saw his eyes fly open, blood welling up at his mouth. I smiled to see him surrender to the death I had brought him to. The last decision he would ever make on my account.

—This can’t be! What have you done? —screamed one of the maids, horrified, dropping to her knees when she saw me with the scissors in my hands.

—Call the barracks. Tell them what you saw. Then call Mr. Damián and tell him what just happened. Do it now —I ordered calmly.

I let the scissors fall, walked over to the mirror, and gave a shy smile at my outfit, imagining Adrián’s face when he saw me like this.

I hope I can come back to you, girls. I hope I can come back to you, master.

***

My life and my servants’ lives changed completely after Nadia arrived at the harem. The business we designed with her help turned out to be far more profitable than we had imagined: once the girls became famous, their most generous fans competed month after month, spending fortunes for the right to spend a few hours with them. We turned them into status symbols, and the company took off until it became a leader in adult content.

We gathered enough to buy a house where all of them could stay, a home and an operations center, separate from the apartment where I lived with Elena and Mariela, my two women, reserved for me alone.

We hired staff. Hugo, who left La Corporación to become my talent scout and paperwork manager. Bruno, a big guy Mariela had grown fond of back in her black market days, who became the perfect protector for girls who soon adored him. Carla, in charge of keeping order with admirable ease.

Everything worked out. And yet, at no point could I get what happened with Valeria out of my head. It hurt me to have handed her over knowing she was going back to the hands of the man who tortured her. A burden I couldn’t shake, because neither my bank account nor my fame matched the power of one of the most important judges in the Central Government.

—My love, this month’s winners are here. Will you receive them, or should Carla handle it? —Elena asked, coming into my office.

—Have her and Nadia receive them. They’ll be happier to see them.

Elena hugged me from behind and kissed my cheek.

—Anything good on the menu? —she asked, as she always did whenever she found me reviewing candidates.

—Yes. Though the servant I want to find still hasn’t shown up.

Mariela then burst in holding a tablet, pale.

—Adrián… Elena… look at what they posted in the news.

—“Judge dies at the hands of his daughter” —Elena read the headline.

We read in silence. When Elena went out to give instructions and came back, the three of us stayed waiting, anxious at the possibility that someone would buy Valeria before us if she went back to a gallery.

The phone rang more than an hour later. It was Hugo.

—Did you find her? —I asked.

—Yes, but a man was taking her away when I got there. I didn’t push it: he was a district commander. Sorry, man. Maybe if you negotiate with him…

I felt a stab in my stomach. But the mood didn’t last: minutes later Bruno walked in unhurriedly, unwrapping one of his candies.

—Boss, a man’s here asking for you. Says he’s a district commander and that he has a gift for you. Should I throw him out or…?

I didn’t let him finish. I ran down the stairs to the foyer and found a guy in fine clothes holding the hand of a smiling girl, her eyes shining with joy.

—So you’re the famous Adrián —said the commander—. At last I meet you. These past few months you’ve been very present on my agenda.

—Really? —I replied, unable to look away from Valeria.

—I won’t keep you waiting any longer. Although… —He took out his cellphone and looked at her sadly—. Are you sure this is what you want, Valeria? My offer still stands. I would never see you as a servant. I’d treat you like a princess.

She stroked his cheek and kissed him on the lips before looking back at me.

—I’m sorry. But I’ve dreamed of coming back to my master ever since my father took me away.

The man smiled with regret, tapped something on his phone, and my cellphone vibrated with the notification: Valeria was my property. She ran to hug me and kissed me, then hugged Elena and Mariela.

—Take good care of her, Adrián. She’s a wonderful woman —said the commander, shaking my hand before leaving, defeated but composed.

—Welcome back, Valeria —I said.

And when I saw her smile, for the first time in months, I felt like I no longer lacked anything. That I could relax and enjoy my life, my girls, Elena and Mariela’s love, being the master of a harem that had become a strange and real family.