Old Dreams Drowned in the River, No One Beside Me This Life

My closest family was dying, and the housekeeper wouldn't let me leave the house. "Any outing must be reported twenty-four hours in advance, and you can only go once it's approved. Those are the Harding rules." "You're nothing but a bar hostess who got kept as a mistress. Remember your place." Three days later, when I finally got the permission to leave, the only family I had left in this world was a handful of ashes.