Chapter 10

Clara's POV

He came back wearing different clothing from the bedroom.

As he handed me the clothing, he introduced himself as Leonardo.

"Clara," I nodded in response.

Embarrassed by the whole situation, I snatched the garment out of his grasp with haste.

"You remind me of someone I knew a long time ago." He said.

"I'll get the shirt cleaned up first," I said.

Embarrassed, I walked out of the suite, my mind spinning. Never before have I done this.

I proceeded to the laundry area.

There was Ivy, shoving some clothing into the washing machine while grumbling to herself.

It appeared as though she was struggling with her attire.

"Who pissed you off this badly?" So I did.

"You're unaware of the visitors I recently hosted. After only five minutes of being there, he was accusing me of taking his watch, which was right there on his wrist. The man acts like I'm his assistant and asks me to walk five streets away to bring him his favorite cake; it seems as though he's never heard of food delivery. I promise that if he asks for coffee, I will spit in it and enjoy seeing his expression as he takes a sip." She said.

She flung the clothing to the ground.

She let out a sigh.

"What took place with you? What brings you here? She enquired.

"I knocked my knee and spilled detergents all over the guest's work documents," I continued.

"Ouch, I can't begin to imagine the things they must have said," Ivy remarked.

"No, he was surprisingly very nice and understanding," I said.

"Let me guess, he is an older guy." She said.

As I inserted the garment into the machine, I nodded.

"If I were you, I would just exercise caution. You are aware of the tale of these wealthy elderly men, and you can never be certain of their intentions." She said.

I said, "I'm sure he was just being polite."

Marcus snapped his fingers and stepped in.

"Hurry up, what are the two of you still doing here?" He said.

Marcus could hardly be avoided; he was there everywhere. There are moments when I feel like he's watching the monitor wherever we are all the time simply to make us feel bad.

"Maybe we wouldn't be so slow if there was someone for the laundry and we didn't have to clean up the guest's room and do laundry here," Ivy said.

"Excuse me?" Marcus said.

Fortunately, Marcus was not in close proximity to us. Ivy swiftly took her words back.

"Nothing, boss," was her response.

Marcus said, "Clara," and I stopped dead in my steps. "I need you to clean up Derek's room before he gets back once you are done with what you are doing."

Not once again.

Marcus left the laundry room and strolled by me.

I murmured to Ivy, "I need you to get me a scarf and preferably some sunglasses immediately."

She gave me a perplexed expression.

I said, "I can't let him see me again."

"All right, I believe you are now acting suspiciously. She said, "Marcus just stated that he isn't there."

"Last time he just popped up unexpectedly, I can't let him see me," I said.

Ivy let out a sigh. "Okay, I'm pretty sure I can find something in lost and found for you." She said.

After going to the back room, Ivy returned a few minutes later wearing sunglasses and a black scarf.

"I'm pretty sure you won't even need it," the woman said.

"It's better to be cautious than sorry," I said.

"If you do see him, how are you going to explain the scarf?" She enquired.

I said, "I'll just say it's a part of my religion."

"No one wears shades inside the building," she said.

"I've seen people do crazier things around here," I said.

I went back to clean Leonardo's suite, and because he wasn't there, I was able to get the work done even faster.

Now that the time had finally arrived, I had to clean Derek's penthouse, something I had been dreading.

I covered all of my hair with the scarf by wrapping it around my head using the elevator mirror. I donned shades just in case.

I entered the penthouse after exiting the elevator.

I don't know how I missed it the first time, but the big painting of the number ninety-nine against the wall was the first thing I saw.

"Who keeps a painting of the number ninety-nine anyways?" I spoke it out.

"I like to keep a body count of the number of people who thought they could betray me and lie to me but suffered a dreadful ending," Derek said over my shoulder.

I was on the verge of jumping out of my skin, my heart pounding.

Derek Montenegro was there, physically present.

I was reminded of everything that had happened the morning before, and I realized that I should be terrified.

Marcus claimed he wasn't around, so what on earth was he doing here?

I lowered my head, attempting to avoid making any eye contact.

"I can come back another time when you are not around," I said.

"Oh, don't worry. You are free to continue working." He said.

I turned to go, but he stopped me.

"What's with the sunglasses?" He folded his hands and asked.

Was I going to be discovered? I should have seen that this was a horrible idea.

I pretended to have a serious eye illness while gesturing to the spectacles.

He said, "Why don't you just take a day off?"