After having a nice breakfast with Katie the next morning, I took a quick bath and slipped back into my dress, ready to leave.
"Would you like me to come with you to explain things to him?" Katie asked as she escorted me out of her flat.
"There's no need, he wasn't at home last night, and I'm sure he wouldn't come back this early."
"Okay… just call me when you arrive."
I stopped and turned to look at her worried face. She was even more scared than I was. Even though I was sure Alexander wouldn't be home, I still knew how unpredictable he could be. But whatever, I had thousands of excuses under my sleeve. So, there was nothing to be worried about.
"Thank you, Katie. If it wasn't for you, I don't know what I would have done…" I said, genuinely grateful.
She just smiled and hit me playfully.
"We're friends, dummy. That's what friends do. Besides, you shouldn't thank me yet, we haven't gotten your necklace back, remember?"
Right. I have almost forgotten about that, and now that she reminded me, I felt even more worse than I was. The thought of meeting Seith again made my heart beat faster. But it was inevitable.
I hailed down a cab and got into it, after hugging Katie goodbye. Then the cab rode off.
Reaching the mansion, Alexander's favorite car wasn't in the garage and the mansion was oddly silent today. There was no one on sight, which was a good sign.
Sneaking in through the back entrance to avoid bumping into anyone, I crept silently through the hallways as I made my way to the master bedroom.
When I got there, I quietly opened the door and stepped in. And behold, Alexander was standing in the middle of the room in his usual business attire, his back towards me.
My blood froze in my veins. How? How was he here?
When I finally got out of my shock, I tried to close the door and escape. But who was I kidding? He already noticed my presence and was already turning to face me.
I bit my lips in horror as I released the door, bracing myself for whatever would happen, my heart was thumping so fast in my chest that I thought it might fly out.
"Welcome," he said, his voice dangerously calm.
Welcome?
I snapped my head up, but quickly went back to staring at the floor when I saw the cold, unnerving look on his face.
"Where were you last night?" he asked. My brain went dead for a second.
"At… At my friend's… place," I stuttered.
"Your friend's place?" He asked as if he didn't believe me. Then began to approach me. It took every strength inside of me not to step back in fear. Something about the way he moved now scared me to the bone.
He stopped two inches away and stretched out his hand.
"Give me your phone."
My phone? Why?
"I said give me your phone?" He repeated, his tone sharper.
My trembling hands found my bag and I fumbled through the items in search of my phone. But due to my clumsiness, Seith's card fell from my bag and hit the floor. My eyes widened and I quickly bent down to take it back.
"Give that to me," he commanded. How could I give it to him? It was my only hope in contacting Seith and getting my necklace.
"Don't make me ask again," he threatened.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I slowly handed it over to him.
As soon as he saw the company's name, he scoffed dryly.
"I see who you were busy with last night." I could hear the mockery in his tone, and it made my stomach twisted. How could he conclude such a thing just by a mere card?
"That's not true…" I tried to defend myself.
"What is not true? Is it the fact that you were out all night, or the fact that you came back with a card?"
I looked down at my hands, unsure of how to answer that.
"Go change first. You have something to do," he said, after looking at me up and down.
Have something to do? He wouldn't force his way on me, right? My palms began to sweat. I made my way to the dressing room and changed into a long gown that covered every inch of my body, just in case he wanted to take advantage of me. When I was done, I came out to see him standing in the same position with two middle-aged women, dressed in maid's clothes.
"Take her to the kitchen and give her some work to do. No work, no food. If she tries to steal, cut her hair," he told the maids with a straight expression.
"Yes, sir."
I followed the maids without any argument. I knew he wouldn't let me off that easily, and I was glad it was just menial work, the maids even made it easier for me once we arrived at the kitchen.
"You don't have to do anything if you don't want to," one of them said.
However, I still insisted on doing something. The only hard part was cooking. My stepmother never allowed me near the kitchen for some odd reasons. So, I never got the chance to learn how to cook. Apart from that, I would clean, wash and do other chores. It wasn't easy, but it was something I was already used to back at home.
But as days went by, it became even harder. And on top of it, I wasn't getting enough sleep and food, but I didn't dare steal not to get my hair cut. The maids would assign me to go clean the garage, trim up the bushes in the garden and other things. They weren't doing it to punish me, but to create an interesting facade for Alexander who would complain about me not doing enough. Just like today.
"Did you make this?" he asked, after chewing a forkful of pasta.
"Yes… sir." The staff went on a weekend break. And it was just me. I thought of looking out online to see how to make a simple pasta, but remembered he took my phone. So, I just followed the vague memories of how Mr. Harrison cooked it.
He dropped the fork and looked at me.
"Is it that you can't cook or you did it on purpose?" What would I gain if I did it on purpose?
"I'm sorry… if you don't like it. I will just…"
"Come," he cut me off.
A shiver shot down my spine.
"Did you hear me?" He repeated.
I bit my inner cheek and slowly moved towards him, my hands trembling slightly.
He stood up from his seat and held out the chair for me. "Sit down."
I was confused. But I simply obeyed to avoid worse trouble.
He stood behind me and leaned over slightly. He was too close for my liking. And his spicy scent made me feel sick.
Forking some pasta, he directed it to my mouth. "Open your mouth," he ordered, calmly.
I blinked, surprised that he would do that.
Opening my mouth slightly, he shoved the pasta into my mouth, and as soon as I tasted it, I wanted to throw up. Goodness, it tasted horrible.
"How does it taste?" He asked.
My cheek burned red with embarrassment as I forced myself to swallow it.
"Salty… and a little bitter…" I replied carefully.
"Glad you're honest," he said. "You should have told me you don't know how to cook. I could send for someone else to do it."
If I had told him that, would he have believed me?
Sighing, he leaned straight.
"Eat if you want to, or better yet, dish it inside the trash." And with that, he left.
I tried to force myself to eat it, but couldn't. So, I took everything to the kitchen and dished them into the trash. What a waste. At least, I made an effort.