1 Chapter 1: Rich People and the New Guy

When people hear the word 'luxury', they think of money, private planes, a trip to Europe. First of all, it's boring and also somewhat annoying. It's like your entire life has been planned out, you'll feel like a sardine sitting in a can. I'm supposed to be living well and happy, right?

Wrong. Unfortunately for me, it's not like that. It's not rainbows and jewelries like people think. It's the endless expectation, the standards you have to fit and all the eyes that are set on you.

I know, one day, I'll be all over the media as some rich girl that's going to marry someone as rich as I am.

Arrange marriage is common for kids born in rich families. It's been a long time tradition for strong companies such as my father's to marry someone who is beneficial to the company. The same goes to smaller companies, they do it so their business can be ranked higher. It can be someone you hate, or someone you don't know. At the end of the day, there's no love. It's all business.

Rae Corporation, that's what I'm famously known for. The one and only successor of the most successful corporation in the business industry. My father built it with my mother, they were both in the same industry and got set up in an arranged marriage. They're always on rough terms. I guess that's one way of saying why they don't get along.

"Miss Rae, your father calls for you." A maid says, peeking inside my room. I sigh, "Yes, I'll be there Anna, thank you."

Anna - the head maid has worked for us for years, even before I was born. I could say my father trusts her more than anyone in the house. He trusts her more than he trusts his wife and daughter, which is funny.

With another sigh, I stood up, grabbed my phone, and walked towards my father's office.

Our house, well, more like a mansion - not to brag - has been bought just a few months ago and I still get lost and confused.

"Ah, finally found it." I huffed fixing my hair.

I cleared my throat and knocked before opening the door.

"Ali, sit." He instructs, sipping a mug which I guess is filled with coffee.

I sat across from him, he and I don't exactly have the healthiest relationship, I'm more attached to my mom than to him. I tend to defy him, a lot.

"What is it you need father." The only answer I got was a look that I know all too well. He wanted me to do something that he knows himself I won't approve from and I can already guess what it is.

"Have you thought about what we talked about last time." I grimaced as what happened last week flashed into my head. It wasn't a question, more like a demand for an answer.

Ah, the talk. Of course, he'd bring that up again.

"Father, I told you. I pursue myself to do music rather than the business."

"Aaliyah." The way he said my name was still, cold and strong. As if a warning. I've had way too many times this happened to be afraid of him. Now, I'm just annoyed.

"Father," I sit straight.

"I've made it clear last time that I will not take that class."

"My goal is to bake, build a bak-", "How did I end up with a daughter as defiant as you." That sentence alone made my stomach churn.

A daughter like me? What the fuck does he mean?

Oh, I get it. He wants a daughter to kiss his ass and just do whatever he wants.

"How did I end up made by you?" I snap back. I've heard a lot of harsh words from him that it doesn't even hurt me anymore.

It doesn't hurt. I feel nothing.

"Get out. We will talk about this later, I have guests coming." He stares at me, eyes cold and not a single tint of emotion. What a good fucking father.

"I don't look forward to it." I closed the door.

I walked out of the mansion and sat on the swing on the porch. My earphones were blasting Taylor Swift's Lover, my head resting on the chain looking at the sky.

It was cloudy and kinda dark, I guess it might rain. My random thoughts were disturbed as the gates opened.

The family car drove in and started parking a few feet away from where I was sitting. The car doors opened and revealed a man, a woman, and a boy that looks to be around my age in clothes that looked to be in 'lower ranks', as my father called them.

Everything about him is ranks this and ranks that. He got the top and now he's a dick. He was always a dick, but now he's ten times what he was before fame.

"Good morning Miss Rae." Our driver - Harry Hernandez - bows. He's been our driver for nearly two years since our old driver died from cancer.

God bless his soul.

I stood up, my hands in my pockets. "Harry, I told you just call me Aaliyah," I say, "No 'Miss'." he chuckled while saying it.

He was a little bit older than me. Not too old, our age not being far from each other made me much more comfortable talking to him.

"No can do, Miss," He winks at me cockily, "I'm working right now." He smirks.

I rolled my eyes, "Who are they?" I point out to the people awkwardly standing behind him as we talked.

"Ah," Harry this is Mr. and Mrs. Norris, and their son, Ashton."

"They're your father's guests for today." He finishes.

I can only nod, "So he said." I faced them and bowed slightly.

"Hello, I'm Aaliyah Rae, It's nice to meet you." I smile.

If you're wondering where I got the whole bowing while introducing myself thing, I got it from my mother. She's half Japanese.

"Oh, it's very nice to meet you, dear." Mrs. Norris greets, a smile adorning her face.

"Very pleased to meet you, Miss." Her husband says. I'm getting tired of 'Miss'.

"Please, Mr. Norris, Aaliyah is fine." I rub my neck.

I'm not used to greeting guests yet, when we have people in the house, my father would send me away and tell me to behave as If I'm gonna do something that will ruin his whole life.

"Please, come inside. Harry escort them to my father." I order, in which Harry reacted by raising his eyebrows with an amused look.

"Copy that ma'am." He salutes and walks the three to the door.

That boy I swear.

--

"Sir, Mr. and Mrs. Norris are here to see you." The driver calls from the other side of the door.

"Come in."

The door opened, revealing the man that they feared.

"The Norris family. Harry closed the door." Aaliyah's father says.

"Please, sit down." Eric points to the chairs in front of his desk, "I see you've also brought your son." He furrows his brows.

The three sat in front of him, for a minute, silence engulfed the room.

"Your debt is overdue."

"We know Mr. Rae," Mrs. Norris says, "But please, all we need is a little more time." Mr. Norris pleaded.

They owed him a massive amount of money, and have been looking for ways to pay it all off. Unfortunately, the man they owed wasn't nice and patient.

"I cannot wait longer Mr. Norris, I've told you this, I need that money." He says a bit frustrated.

"Then, w-what do you want us to do?" Mrs. Norris asks.

Eric scanned the three of them until his sight landed on their son. He looked him up and down before nodding to himself.

"Your son." He points.

"W-What?" The two chimes.

"Your son. I want your son to work for me. He seems old enough. Strong enough." His eyes land once again on the boy.

"What's your name boy?"

He replies, "Ashton, sir."

"Great, you will be working for my daughter." He explains, this raised a few eyebrows.

He wants a man to be the assistant of his daughter.

"You want me to assist your daughter?" He asks, trying to make sure if he heard him right.

"Yes, how old are you?", "Twenty-two, sir." He says slowly, emphasizing his age. Maybe he'd get the hint that he didn't want to work for his daughter. Not that he'd say it out loud since they already owed so much money to the man in front of them.

"Perfect. You will start tomorrow, you'll have gun and combat training."

"With all due respect sir, I don't think I need combat training." He says.

"Why do you say so?" The man squints his eyes.

"I've had boxing and been into street fights so I can say I'm decent enough to protect her." Ashton confidently says.

"Not enough. Combat and gun training. Pack your bags and move here tomorrow, the head maid will escort you."

"You are dismissed." Eric lead them to the door.

With that, they left the room and is escorted by Harry towards the car once more.

"Ashton, are you sure you wanna work there?" His father's voice was laced with worry.

"What choice do I have dad," Ashton shrugs his shoulders, "This is better than seeing you both break your backs." He sighs.

"Honey, our son will be fine, and Miss Rae seems nice enough." Ashton scoffs at what his mother said.

"Mom, she's rich. She'll be the same as them, arrogant and selfish." Mrs. Norris grasps his son's hands.

"You will be fine. She is a good girl." She tries to convince him.

Ashton rolls his eyes but just nods his head to avoid an argument. His mother was too soft to even think of what he's thinking.

"If you say so", he whispers before they hopped in the car.

--

"Ashton, be good okay?" His mom tells him, giving him his bag as he steps outside their house to go to an unfamiliar and new one.

Starting his next days as a bodyguard for the Rae's.

"Yes, mom. I will." He nods.

"Mr. Ashton, Sir Rae waits." Harry reminds and he sighs, giving his mother one last hug and bids them both farewell, setting off to the Rae mansion.

"So, how rich are they?" Ashton asks the driver, who looks at him through the mirror.

"If you're asking how powerful they are from a scale of one to ten I say fifty." Harry chuckles making the younger male shake his head.

"Man, you're old."

"Also, stop with the 'Mr. Ashton', It's creepy." Ashton laughs, Harry, joining in the laughter.

"Alright, Ashton. How are you finding Miss Rae?", Harry asks.

"I don't know. I don't like rich people.", he answers, looking at his watch.

"Well, you'll get along with her, she's nicer than any rich snob out there.", Harry smiles.

Aaliyah made him like her because she was different. Rich different. She wasn't snobby nor is she slapping her money and power on everyone's faces.

No. He sees her as humble and kind. She helped him on his first day because of his anxiety and his problem on how intimidating her father was.

She made him feel confident about himself.

Harry clears his throat, "Although, she might not like you at first."

The boy squinted his eyes.

"What?", he asks in confusion. First, he says she's nice, and then now he says she might not like him.

"I mean she might try to get rid of you as her bodyguard." The driver adds.

"You mean she's also a bitchy rich girl. Uh-huh." Ashton scoffs.

Harry sighs at how he completely misunderstood him. "No, I mean she loves her privacy and doesn't like being followed around."

Great. He just had to be a bodyguard of the daughter of the most powerful corporation who also happens to might get rid of him on his first day of the job.

Just great.

ASHTON'S POINT OF VIEW

"Okay Ash, take a break." the instructor says.

The gun practice was harder than hI thought. My first time firing a shotgun led me to be startled and falling back due to how strong the gun is.

"Thanks, Miles." I nod.

I haven't met the girl yet, Anna told me that Mr. Rae wanted me to get used to guns first and then I'll be introduced to his beloved daughter.

And that later is now.

"Ash, Sir Rae wants you to go to his office, c'mon." Harry pops his head from the side of the door.

I stood there, wiping my sweat and taking sips of my water bottle, anxious to see my boss alone.

"Hey Miles, I'ma go head up for a while. Sir Rae is calling me." Miles gave me a small wave of his hand as if telling me to run along, and that, I did.

I ran across the kitchen and right up the stairs as fast as I could. Harry's voice saying 'He's not a very patient man' keeps going on and on in my head like a broken CD.

"Ah." I pant, those stairs can sure work someone out. Alright, here goes nothing.

I took a long deep breath, "Sir? It's Ashton." I say through the door, my hand on the knob.

"Come in." He says, and I did, slowly closing the door behind me.

I turned around to see him standing up and facing the big window just behind his desk, and a mop of blonde hair peeking out of the other high chair. I walked closer and sat on one of the chairs.

Now I know why I'm here.

The mop of blonde hair belonged to his daughter.

"Aaliyah. This is Ashton Norris." Mr. Rae turns around and looks directly at his daughter, who is on her phone, earphones in.

'This is awkward'.

"Aaliyah." Mr. Rae repeats, the girl stopped bobbing her head to whatever she was listening to and pulled an earpiece out. "I'm sorry, what?" She asks adjusting herself on the chair.

I looked back at Sir Rae to see him seated on his chair in front of us. In his hands were papers. Two pieces of them.

He handed me and his daughter one, who cooperated and started reading.

"Bodyguard Contract" is what's on the first page.

"Wait. He's gonna be MY bodyguard?" The girl asks, pointing at me seemingly not happy with having a bodyguard.

"And, assistant." Sir Rae adds.

"What?!" The girl springs up, eyes on her father.

"Sit down, Aaliyah. His family owes us money and this is how they're paying their debt."

"You'll accept this, you have no right to oppose." He explains to her.

"Oh, so you took their son, just to pay their mortgage." She says. I'm starting to feel like a third party.

"Don't worry Miss Rae, I'll do my best." I finally say, the two whipping their heads to look at me. I stood up and bowed to her.

"Don't do that." She told me. "Aaliyah, it's fine." Her father says, "No. I'm not like you!" She yells before tossing the papers to the ground, walking to the door, and slamming the door shut.

She slammed it so hard it made us both wince. Damn that girl's got an arm.

"I'm sorry for my daughter's behavior, we consider her a bad seed." Sir Rae says to me, sighing and fixing his glasses.

"Oh." That was the only thing I could say, "My daughter maybe a little ill-bred, so bear with it a little." He sighs.

"Yes sir.", "Sign the contract, and I will have Harry find Aaliyah and sort this out." He explains.

All I could do was clear my throat and get the pen he handed me.

When I finished writing my signature and studying some of the contract agreements, one line caught my attention out of all the agreements.

It says, '23. You will report to Sir Rae everything that Miss Aaliyah has been doing and saying, and where she goes.'

"Sir, isn't number 23 a little--", "Do you have a problem with the papers?" He asks me, a blank look plastered on his face.

I gulped, "No sir. Sorry." Harry wasn't kidding about him being intimidating as hell. Rich people really are rude. All I can do was hide my pissed feeling inside my head and hope for the best outcome.

He reached his hand put, demanding me to give him the papers. His eyes examined every page. "Doesn't seem like it." He says.

Sir Rae handed me another paper, "My daughter's work and school schedules are in that paper. "

"You're dismissed." And with that he went back to checking the contract while I stepped outside his office, shutting the door slowly behind me and taking a few deep breaths.

I already feel shitty about leaving my 56 and 58-year-old parents just to pay out the debt, and now, I feel uncomfortable telling Sir Rae all about what his daughter's been doing and what she might tell me in the future or the latter.

But it's okay, right? I'm not gonna be at fault when she finds out that I've been telling her father all she's done and say to me.

Right?

Ah, shit.

AALIYAH'S POINT OF VIEW

It's not fair. It's not fair!

I, his daughter and who he's giving a bodyguard, does not have any say about this? Seriously? Curse him.

"Fucking ignorant of a father." I curse under my breath, not like anyone else is here but I just don't wanna lose my temper. After storming out his office and getting away from his annoying presence, I stumbled upon Anna, who was dusting the tables in the hallway.

She asked me a few things, 'what's wrong' and 'are you okay Miss' I truly wish people would stop calling me Miss. I know and understand that it's part of their job to respect us as the people they're working for, but I just want them to feel more welcome accepted as part of the house by calling me by my name.

You might be tempted to call me so overly dramatic about the 'Miss' thing, but that word alone drives my human sanity to bits and fuels my anger towards my father even more.

"Looks like you've had a rough morning." Oh great, more company.

I sigh, playing with my hair, "Got that right." Harry can be annoying at times, but he's a good listener. He even goes further as to making fun of my father behind his back. A natural goofball I say.

"Let me guess, did he bad mouth you again?", "Nope." I say, shaking my head.

"Shout at you?", "Still nope." I say again shaking my head.

"Can't you just tell me what he did this time?" He groans, throwing his head back, "I'm getting frustrated here." I laughed and patted his shoulder, straightening myself.

"Well, it's just, I'm not so thrilled about the whole bodyguard thing," I tell him, a look of annoyance starting to form on my face.

"Ashton is a nice kid." I gave him a 'seriously?' look and all he did was chuckle as he stood up, dusting himself, "Y'all kids will get along." I rolled my eyes at him, there he goes again, flaunting his cowboy accent at me.

He once said 'it gets the ladies' accompanied with a hat flick, even if he didn't have a hat. He's such a refreshing companion.

"He said I didn't have a right to oppose." I scoffed, tossing my hair behind my back. "Ooh, that's quite a bullet. Your dad is such a fuzz." He grumbles with me.

A light smile made its way onto my face, a chuckle leaving my mouth that soon turned to a full laugh. "You, are the best driver, you know that?" I hugged him and he hugged me back.

After a while of talking and laughing and quietly making fun of my father, he stood up and pulled me up with him, to which I dusted myself up after.

"Now child, get in and be nice to the new fellow." He says, feigning a British accent, "Alright, alright, thank you for the talk Harry," His face scrunched up to a smug smirk, "You're welcome, after all, I am the best remember?" He says before doing a small victory dance.

"Okay!" I laugh, "Don't get too full of yourself now.", "I will try Miss Rae." He bows and I slap his arm earning a fake yelp. We exchanged a few more words and jokes before we went our separate ways inside the house.

The moment I took a step inside the living room, my bodyguard, as my father would call him, made eye contact with me. I should say something to the guy. I mean, it's not his fault he's now working for my father.

"Hi, uh, I'm sorry about earlier. I just wasn't thrilled having a bodyguard." I say, putting my hands behind my back and fiddling with my fingers.

Silence engulfed the room and all he did was stare at me. "It's alright Miss Rae. I understand." He tells me, with a small smile on his face. He looked to be a bit older than me if I'm not wrong maybe in his 20's.

"Well, Miss Rae. My name is Ashton Norris," he introduces himself while fishing for something in his pocket, he pulled out a piece of paper, "Your father already gave me your daily schedule. I promise not to bother you in any way." After explaining what was printed in the paper, I borrowed the paper to correct some mistakes and on top of it, I had to ask one question.

"Did he order you to spy on me or some sort?" I say to him, sitting on the red velvet chair near me and hugging a pillow. There was a small pause.

"No Miss Rae, he didn't." Okay then, doesn't seem convincing at all. "Alright, I wake up at 7 am tomorrow, ready the car by 8:30." I handed him the paper I oh-so-gracefully borrowed that's now covered with corrections.

"I corrected a lot, sorry," I say to him before walking away to the kitchen to get something to eat. I spot Pierre along the kitchen isle, cooking something.

I laughed to myself, seeing him cook and dance at the same time always gives me the giggles, and the fact that he's french doesn't make him less funny. He tends to joke a lot, even to my dad who's stoic as hell, he makes his lips twitch until a small smile or even a chuckle to paint his face once in a while. It's weird seeing my dad smile, don't get me wrong, I don't not like seeing my father smile. It's just that it's weird for me seeing him change facial expressions like that.

"Ah, bonjour, mademoiselle Rae." He greets with his hands reaching out, "You are hungry, yes?" I pulled my phone out and sat on one of the stools.

"I am Pierre, I'm always hungry for your cooking," I say with a small laugh, like I said, almost everything he does makes me giggle.

"Ah, how sweet ma belle." He reached for a pan and raised it in the air, looking like some sort of cooking soldier. I gave him a full laugh.

"I will cook thee your favorite, fish, and chips!" He bows and then turns around, singing some songs his language, he's such an old goof, he's not that old, he's 34, well built, has nice long hair. The thing is he's single.

I remember when I was a kid, he'd act like a Disney princess and sing about true loves first kiss, it was weird seeing a grown man dancing around my room in a tutu but it was fun, he's fun.

"Pierre, how do you like the new guy?" I ask him, lightly touching the marble table while looking at the messages popping up my phone.

He stops sharpening his knife and turns to me, "Monsieur Ashton?" Pierre asks. "Yes, Ashton." I sigh. "Well, he seems nice and respectful." Pierre gives me a knowing smile and chuckles lightly.

"Is your father forcing you again ma belle?" I give him another frustrated sigh, am I the problem here? "Mon cour, give him a chance," he coos brushing a strand of my hair behind my ear, "He's a good boy." Pierre smiles at me, and I smile back. My nose took a whiff of an unpleasant smell.

Somethings burning.

"Uh, Pierre, your fish is burning." I point behind him, smoke coming out of the pan. His eyes widened and turned around frantic. "My fish, my fish!" He screams while turning off the fire. He begins to whine about his home cuisine being ruined and how his sweet little fish has been burned to ashes.

It wasn't that burned, just a little black in the middle, "I'm sorry ma belle, the fish, ah, she burned!" He whines. I laughed when he started to cry about his burned food, random french words fall out of his mouth when he's stressed about his stuff.

Even if I don't quite understand what he's saying, it's how he pronounces it that makes it funny. All in all, Pierre is just a funny french guy.

"Pierre, it's okay! I'll just order take out." I say, kneeling before him and patting his back. He puts his hands on my shoulder before shaking me back and forth, "Ah that take out you say, it is nothing but processed food! It is not good for your health!"

"It's alright, Pierre," I say holding my laugh in, "It's just McDonald's." He stopped shaking me and took a breath before taking his hands off me.

McDonald's it is.