Chapter 16

When we arrived at the mansion, we were completely soaked. Joffre quickly helped us while casting reproachful looks my way, knowing it was my fault his master was drenched like a duck. Still, I didn't care; today had been wonderful.

"Mr. Joffre, sorry for arriving so late. Is Mr. Cesar still upset?"

"You’re lucky Master Cesar went on a trip, or he wouldn’t be pleased with this particular situation."

"Has Mr. Cesar ever been happy?" I asked doubtfully.

"What did you just say, little girl?" Keylef quickly intervened as he saw an angry Joffre approaching me.

"Hey... Joffre, relax. You’re right to be upset. I told you I'd return this lady as soon as possible as my honorable brother ordered, but in the end, this happened..." he said, showing his soaked clothes. The man looked at him with that grumpy look from years past.

"Benelope will bring you some clothes. I’ll let you know."

"Thanks, Joffre, old friend... By the way, why did my brother's trip happen so suddenly? Is something wrong?" Keylef asked.

"Master Cesar didn't specify the nature of his trip, but it seemed urgent by how he left. In any case, before he left, he said Miss Belle could stay in the mansion working." Surprised, I watched Mr. Joffre walk away without letting me ask anything.

"Well, for now, we dissuaded him. It’s best you stay away from him; it seems he doesn’t like you."

"He said very strange things about me..." he looked at me with concern and quickly asked.

"What did he say?"

"He thinks I deceive everyone. In fact... he mentioned someone I’ve been commonly hearing about in this place. They call her..." Suddenly, his cell phone rang, and seeing the number, excitement crossed his face.

"I have to answer, wait a second," he quickly indicated, walking away.

"Where is it? Really? I’ll be right there," he hung up and quickly wrote a number on a piece of paper, approaching me. When he finished, he handed it to me and said hurriedly.

"Call me if anything happens. I don’t want to be surprised to find out you fell somewhere. I’ll try to get you a cell phone to stay in touch, and stick to the plan... don’t leave Cesar’s side. It’s clear he left because of you; he hates you. So... thanks for helping me with this, Belle..." With an excited smile, he approached to give me a kiss on the forehead that left me stunned. And with that, he left urgently without looking back, but for me, the excitement exploded into thousands of butterflies in my stomach.

♥

Almost ten days had passed, and my arm had completely healed. I was finally enjoying the fresh air and freedom in my skinny arm again. The day after the "date," I learned from the assistants that Mr. Keylef had sent me a gift bag with a note that said, "I bought it at the mall, hope to see you in it." It was a white dress with yellow flowers, so beautiful that I kept it completely guarded, waiting for Mr. Keylef's return. Just looking at it made my heart beat fast. On the other hand, my stay at the mansion hadn’t been the best. The employees weren’t friendly, and I hadn’t made any proper friends. They all seemed to hate me for wanting to steal their jobs, which wasn’t the case at all. I’d heard them in the halls saying I was a climber, that working in the mansion after working in the lumberjack’s cabin said a lot about my plans. So, I just eagerly waited for Mr. Cesar to return from his trip so I could go back to my cabin peacefully. And if Keylef was right... if Mr. Cesar hated me so much that he couldn’t even enjoy his trip, no... it was impossible. I wasn’t that important in his life; I couldn’t ruin a rich man’s trip.

Cesar
I spent ten days in different hotels and villas, only feeling more stupid for running from that incessant headache with legs and a silly smile. Then I concluded that what I was doing was completely pointless. Why should a mansion owner be subdued by an employee? I just had to ignore her and continue my life as it was. When the limousine entered the gate of my mansion, finally announcing my arrival, I got out of the car with a haughty look and firm steps. The door opened before I touched it, and a bow from Joffre welcomed me. What face will she make when she sees me after so many days?

"Welcome back, Mr. Montenegro. Did you enjoy your trip?"

"Enjoy? There was nothing to enjoy." I walked through the entrance in silence.

"Do you need anything, sir?" How was it possible that I had arrived and that woman wasn’t present to greet the owner of this house? I frowned again, angry. I took a deep breath and walked to my room, needing to center myself and not lose my temper.

"Did anything relevant happen in my absence?" I asked, looking around, wondering where that woman was. Did Joffre send her back to that disgusting cabin?

"Mr. Keylef took a trip to Paris."

"At least tell me it was for work?" I ran my hand over my forehead, completely exhausted. If he wasn’t practicing his profession as a violinist, what was he doing? He left the family business for this... to do nothing? I don’t understand what goes on in his stupid head.

"No, sir, it doesn’t seem like it was for work. Do you want me to find out what he's doing there?" I raised my hand, completely fed up.

"Leave it. I’m too tired for this nonsense." As I climbed the stairs, intending to settle into my room, I could only think about where that woman was and why she didn’t come out when the owner of the house where she ate and drank arrived. She was a shameless person who only put me in a bad mood. Maybe she’s still unwell from her injuries... I stopped in my tracks, ready to ask Joffre, when something clung to my pants. Horrified, I lifted my leg to find a horrible shiny-skinned toad climbing up.

"What is this! Get this filth off me!" Shaking my clothes while spinning around, I heard a voice running towards me.

"Gulliver! Where... oh my god! Wait, stay still, I'll get it."

"What? This is your fault? That repulsive toad is yours!" She looked at me nervously, searching for the toad on me.

"That’s why I said stay still. There it is!" she said, reaching her hand to the side of my jacket. I shuddered at her impudence.

"How strange... I’m sure I saw it. No! There it is!" she shouted again, passing her hands over each side of my jacket. I squirmed, unsure of what she was doing.

"What do you think you’re doing! Get your hands off me," she raised her eyes to look at me and said.

"I swear I saw it. I think it likes expensive fabrics, that’s why it’s attracted..." she smiled slightly, and I snapped.

"Do you think I care about your toad? Get it off me immediately!"

"I’m going, don’t yell at me! Look, there it is!" she exclaimed, standing in front of me. Seeing her approach so quickly, I feared for my integrity. She placed her hand on my shoulder, letting me see her clear green eyes up close. Our gazes met for a millisecond, and she suddenly said.

"Now I’m going to get you, damned toad!" and with force, she slammed her head into my abdomen, grabbing my buttocks firmly. She squealed and quickly removed her hands from me.

"Oh my god! That wasn’t what I wanted to grab, I swear I didn’t mean to grab your butt," she said, covering her face in shame.

"You’re crazy! I should be the one screaming, not you. I’d rather have your toad around me than the danger of your lustful hands."

"I’m not lustful!" she retorted, uncovering her face.

"Oh, really? Well, my butt doesn’t say the same! Are you lying to take advantage?" She opened her eyes wide and blurted out.

"That’s not true! It was there..." she looked down and shouted, "There it is!" I quickly looked down, and the small toad was climbing up my crotch.

"You won’t escape now, damned toad!"

"Nooo, wait!" and without warning, she grabbed my member firmly, causing me to scream and fall to the ground, writhing in pain.

"Oh my god, what have I done? Mr. Cesar? Mr. Cesar...? Answer... I’ve killed him."