Chapter 5

When I reached the mansion, the guard opened the gate for me when he saw me coming. When I entered, the woman welcomed me with a gentle smile on her face. She looked at the clock so I also looked at it. It's almost six in the evening.

"The dinner will be ready soon. Mr. Chae said you will eat dinner together." She informed me again. I only nodded at her.

She was about to turn around when I called her again.

"Uhm, excuse me, can... can I know your name?" I carefully asked.

"Merideth." She answered before she proceeded towards the dining area.

When I was about to go up, I saw the guard who escorted me this morning. He looked down when I stopped in front of him.

"Jarred?" I asked. He suddenly looked at me with a surprised expression or should I say, nervous?

"M-miss?"

"That's your name, am I right?" I asked. I heard Mr. Chae call him this morning.

"Y-yes, Miss. Do.. Do you need anything?" He said, a bit hesitant.

I shook my head. "Nothing. I just want to apologize for what happened this morning. I was just scared. I mean, shocked." I said and once again he looked at me with his widened eyes like there was something wrong with what I said.

"What's happening here?" A deep and cold voice suddenly intervened. Jarred immediately composed himself and bowed at him.

Merideth also went out of the dining area, she looked at us and then at Mr. Chae to get his bag and coat.

"What are you doing?" He asked once again, still looking at Jarred.

"Nothing," I answered when Jarred remained silent. I was the one who approached him first anyway. I just wanted to know their names inside this unfamiliar place.

Mr. Chae's gaze darted at me and then to Merideth.

"She just got home," Merideth answered like it was a report she needed to tell him.

He remained watching me while he was unbuttoning his polo and folding the sleeves until his elbow.

I looked at Jarred before I decided to finally go upstairs. I took a quick bath. When I checked the closet, I sighed.

"I should get my things at the house. These clothes are not for me." I said before I picked a pair of pajamas.

When I went down, I already saw Mr. Chase at the table. Then, we began to eat without uttering any words. The only thing we heard was the sound of utensils hitting the plate.

After we ate, I looked at him. "Uhm…" He looked at me. "I can get my things tomorrow," I said.

"I'll come with you, then. We will go in the afternoon. I have a meeting to attend in the morning." He said before he continued drinking his wine. My lips parted.

"I can get it by myself," I said in a soft voice. He stopped drinking his wine and put it down. And again, he looked at me like he didn't like what he heard.

"I said I'll go with you. End of conversation, Samantha Merphie." I automatically stopped after that. He sounded authoritative it made me shut up even though I wanted to say that I can make Winter come with me.

The next day, I woke up around nine o'clock in the morning. Usually, Miredith will knock around seven. I tilted my head while fixing my bed and I kept looking at the door to see if someone would knock or come in.

I finished bathing and still, no one came for me. With that, I decided to come out of the room. Even Jarred was not outside of my room.

"What's going on…" I whispered as I kept looking around. It is intriguing to not see the people I saw from the first time I came here not around.

I went straight to the stairs and slowly went down, wondering why I didn't see people upstairs. But my walk became slow when I started to see the guards standing at the end of the stairs as well as at the door. My eyes widened and my lips parted when I saw that they were all holding guns like they were guarding someone powerful.

And that hits me.

"I have a meeting to attend in the morning."

Mr. Chase has a meeting. And they were doing that here. In the living room.

I stopped walking when the two guards at the end of the stair turned their heads to look at me.

Should I go back upstairs?

I bit my lips and held tightly at the stair railings. I don't know what to do.

The other guards became also alerted when they saw me. Oh, what now, Summer?!

"Miss," I felt relieved when Jarred came to me. Unlike others, he was not holding a gun but he is very serious right now. "I'll escort you upstairs-" he was cut off when an old man's voice suddenly spoke.

"I didn't know that you had another guest here, Mr. Chae, or is she a guest?" He looked at me while smirking like he was amused at the same time like he found something against the man behind him who now looked more dangerous and cold. Mr. Chae looked at the old man then he looked at me.

"That woman was Loay's payment to his debt." He answered before he signaled Jarred.

The old man was still staring at me. Horror covered my body when he looked at me from head to toe. That caused me to hold Jarred's arm as I slowly hid behind him.

Jarred looked worried when he glanced at me. "Are you okay, Miss?" He asked when I started to tremble a little. That old man. I am not comfortable with his stares.

"Jarred," Mr. Chae called Jarred again. "Bring her to her room." He commanded.

"Let's go, Miss." Jarred guided me carefully until we reached my room. "Don't come out until we…" He sighed, kind of frustrated. "Mr. Chae will come here later after the meeting." He stared at me for a while before he left me.

I shouldn't have come out.

Did I worsen the situation?

And who was that old man?

I sighed and decided to wait to see who would come.

Minutes later, someone knocked and Merideth came in. I stood up to help her with the tray of food.

"My apologies, Miss. I was supposed to go here earlier to inform you but things became busy downstairs. Here's your breakfast."

"Who was that?" I asked. But Merideth only looked at me and slightly shook her head. It was like telling me to not question anymore because she is not in a position to tell me about those things.

"Eat your breakfast. I'll go downstairs now. Don't worry, there's a guard outside of our room. I noticed you trembled earlier when you saw Mr. Hen- I mean, that old man."

Hours passed and no one came after Merideth. I started to think if that meeting was just like what happened between my father and Mr. Chase. But also, I think it's not an ordinary meeting. That old man was something else.

Since I am starting to get bored, I just fixed the closet. I get all the clothes inside and place them on the bed. I folded the other clothes and arranged them inside the cloth storage since I am pretty sure that I will not be going to wear those types of clothes. Then, I hang the other dresses and put them in the corner of the closet so there is still enough space for my clothes later.

Because I was focused on arranging the closet, I did not notice that someone entered the room. The moment I close the closet, Mr. Chae appeared the reason why I almost jumped in fear. "Oh fuck!" And I even cursed. For the first time. Because of him. I immediately covered my mouth because of that while looking at him, my eyes widened. He was staring at me amusedly. His lips even parted a little bit like he was going to smile but he was not.

I cleared my throat, "Y-you're here," I said softly as I closed the other door of the closet without looking at him.

"Yes," He answered, then he looked at his watch. "We'll be leaving at 3 in the afternoon. It's already one. You still have not eaten lunch." He continued before he went to the bed and sat there.

"I'm still not hungry," I said. I remained in front of the closet.

"Ah, late breakfast." He said after he remembered. I only nodded. "Okay, then." He got up, ready to leave, but he stopped and looked into my eyes. I looked at him innocently as I waited for what he would say.

"You can now go out all you want and wander around the house. I will not hold a damn meeting here anymore." He said after he left me while I am still processing what he said.