Chapter 26

Emma

The next day felt like it was occurring in slow motion. Emma had been rushing around the house, performing chores. It seemed surprising that Alexander had not engaged more maids for such a large grandeur of a residence. The maids were limited in number. However, they were not permitted to enter the majority of the house. So they didn't have much cleaning to do, but because it was her first day, she needed to know a lot about the place. Emma had a particularly busy day.

"Emma," she heard Alexa call out her name so she ran towards her.

"Hey, if you are free, can you please put these files in the master's study room?" Emma frowned.

"I-I thought we were not allowed to go there," Emma replied.

"Oh, master has two study rooms. One is beside his bedroom and you have to put these in the study room that is beside the library," Emma nodded her head and took the pile of files from her hands.

Emma turned and began walking towards the library. Fortunately, it wasn't too far, as she arrived in about five minutes. She was walking quickly because she had other errands to go next.

When she arrived, she turned the doorknob to open it wide and went inside. The room was clean and well-organized. When she looked to the right, she noticed a large rack where the files were housed. She began gently placing the folders on the rack one by one. She was moving the files to make room for the rest when she spotted something fall from one of the files. Emma groaned and knelt to retrieve it. Since it was facing the floor, it appeared to be a picture. She could not see whose photograph it was.

She couldn't tell whose photo it was. She flipped it over to see. It was a photograph of a young boy, with a man standing and holding a baby in his arms. She noticed a little grin on the man's face, but the boy's expression was emotionless. She wasn't sure whether she was dreaming, but she believed that boy's face was filled with fear... as if he was afraid of something. She observed his hands clenched around his shirt. And he appeared to be extremely familiar.

I wonder who they are... Is the boy master Alexander? I saw a picture of him in mister King's house, it must be master... but who's the other boy? And who's that man?

The man sure did not look like mister King. She was confused about who he could be.

"What on fucking earth are you doing???"

Alexander

Alexander was in his father's house, sitting in the living room with his parents and his siblings except for Liam. He had to go for a few days for his business purposes.

Everyone had a glass of wine in their hands and was discussing things among themselves.

"The deal with Christopher was great. Our company benefited a lot from it. It was successful," Mr. King sounded satisfied by it.

"Oh, that's great, honey. I think it's all because of Alexander and his hard work. Our company's greatest success has always happened because of Alexander," Mrs. King said, smiling at Alexander.

Mr. King's stare became cold when his eyes met with Alexander's cold ones.

"Yes, indeed," Mr. King's reply came harshly.

"Son, I think we need to talk about a few things that have happened in this house," Alexander looked at him, still no emotion on his face.

His father sighed. "I've been hearing things about you and that maid... whose name I suppose is Emma."

Alexander's eyes suddenly became red with anger when he mentioned her. He knew his father was going to talk crap about her. His hand was clenching the wine glass tightly.

"There's nothing to talk about," Alexander replied and stood up to leave.

"I'm sure there is something we can talk about. Why not start from the beginning? You took a filthy maid into your bedroom in front of so many people. Then you suddenly had a thought to recruit a maid from this house and coincidently you chose that same filthy maid. Why? Was it a coincidence, son?"

Each of his words held nothing but venom, hatred, and disbelief.

Alexander was sick of hearing his father refer to Emma as a dirty maid. He tossed the wine glass in his hand and turned to face his father, eliciting gasps of disbelief from his mother and sister. His eyes were bloodshot crimson, and he was enraged.

"Whatever I do in MY life and MY house is not your business father. You should fucking watch your mouth before I make you regret what you say. Stay away from my decisions in my life. If I ever heard a single word about this topic again... you all will regret it," Mrs. King's jaw dropped in response to her son's remarks. Alexander had a terrible temper, and he and his father had clashed previously. But not that time... she couldn't understand why her son was defending a maid. Or did he become enraged because his father interfered with his business? She pondered. Someone interfering with Alexander was usually a source of discomfort for him.

She was confused and worried. Worried what her son might do... or what he was already doing.

"This is unbelievable," Sofia muttered.

Mr. King said nothing and left the living room.

Alexander took a deep breath and turned to leave. His mother called him a few times, but he never looked at her. He was sick of his father chastising him for everything. He wished for his father to forsake him.

He didn't care what other people were saying behind his back. He knew they wouldn't say anything in front of him. He didn't care about anyone, but he knew he'd hurt anyone who dared to say anything about Emma.

He took his keys from the table beside the sofa, exited the house, and approached his car. He went inside and started his car, but all he could think about was the fact that he hadn't seen her in a few days. His eyes and heart yearned to see her and embrace her. He didn't want to push things, but he could embrace her, and if he wanted, he could have forced her the moment she walked into his house.

He preferred to wait.