Punishment II

When everyone arrived at Dunice's Mansion, they gathered in the spacious sitting room upstairs. Meanwhile, Madison and Dunice quietly entered Alix's room to gently lay her down on the bed, where she had already fallen asleep.

"Isn't Grandma at home?" Madison asked curiously.

"No, she's not, she went to visit one of her kids at the motherless Baby's home," Dunice replied.

"The poor boy fell terribly ill, and Grandma has been taking care of him. She won't be back until a few days," Dunice explained to Madison.

"Perfect!" exclaimed Madison.

"There will be no one to beg for those three men downstairs," she smiled internally.

"In fact," Dunice continued," Grandma mentioned that she wishes to live in the countryside where the motherless babies she works for is located.

According to her, she prefers a peaceful and isolated place. So, I'm making arrangements for her to move." Dunice explained.

"Would she be okay by herself?" Madison asked concern evident in her voice.

"I believe she would," Dunice assured. "I'll send a maid to take care of her, and I'll make sure to visit her regularly too."

"Oh, nice. Just go to your room and take a warm bath. You can come downstairs after that," Madison suggested.

"Thank you so much, Madison. You're the best," Dunice said, expressing her gratitude as she hugged Madison tightly.

"Okay, you're choking me," Madison chuckled, trying to squeeze out the words.

Hearing this, Dunice quickly let go of Madison and headed into her room. As Dunice left, the smile on Madison's face flattered

"Now, it's time for punishment," she whispered, leading the way to the storeroom before coming back to the sitting room to confront the three men awaiting her.

"Line up in front of me," she commanded with authority, and they promptly obeyed.

"There are three roles to be filled: a cook, a cleaner, and a gardener. Each of you must choose one," she declared, her tone unwavering.

"Can you cook, Alex?" she inquired, and Alex shook his head.

"You're never useful," she muttered under her breath.

Damien spoke up, "I can cook."

"Thank you, but I don't need any poison to finish me off," she retorted, earning stifled laughter from Alex and Jeffrey.

Turning to Jeffrey, she asked, "How about you, Jeff?" She said narrowing her gaze at him.

"Yes, I can. I'll do my best," Jeffrey affirmed.

"You better," she warned, handing him an apron and chef's hat.

"You can choose not to wear it though, she added and jeffery nodded.

"You're in charge of dinner tonight," she instructed as she assigned roles.

"Alex, you'll be the cleaner, and Damien, you're the gardener."

"But-"

Damien began to protest, but before he could finish, Madison swiftly removed her flip-flops and threw one at him.

"No buts, get to work," she declared, leaving them to their assigned tasks.

"Ouch, Madison, that hurts," Damien winced, rubbing the red mark on his arm left by the flip-flop.

"Everyone, start your work now. You have two hours to finish up," Madison declared again, looking around.

"Jeffrey, you too hurry up,I'm starving," she urged, leaving the room with only one flip-flop on.

Damien and Alex went to do their respective works and jeffery headed to the kitchen.

Looking around he thought of what to cook and decided to make a sandwich.

He was already fifteen minutes into it when he decided to slice the lettuce. In the process of slicing the lettuce, he thought of what happened in the car when he drove with Madison.

Jeffery glanced to Madison's direction as he focused on his driving. He noticed that she looked anxious and kept staring at her phone.

Her serious expression has changed to a troubled one it was as if she had been bottling up her emotions.

"Perhaps, did something happen?" He thought to himself.

He glanced at her direction only to see her quickly clean the single tear they rolled down her cheeks.

"Is everything okay?" Jeffery asked worriedly

"Yes, everything is," she said.

Seeing that he would say anything else she added.

"I have got some eye issues so I tend to tear up when I get mad," she lied.

"Now focus on driving, all this you are doing won't make me reduce your punishment," she said and she looked outside the window.

Jeffery simply chuckled at her reaction.

Thinking of it now, it seemed she was lied about tearing up whenever she was mad. He doubted that was the case because she looked somewhat sad.

"Ouch!"

Madison just finished supervising Damien and was on her way to check on jeffery. As she stepped Into the entrance of the kitchen, she spotted Jeffery hunched over a cutting board, his shirtless back glistening with sweat. She stopped in her tracks, staring at him in awe.

His hair fell in his face, framing his chiseled features in a way that made her heart flutter. But her trance was broken when she noticed a trickle of blood running down his index finger.

She rushed over to him, grabbing a towel from the nearby counter. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice laced with concern. He looked up at her, his Brown eyes piercing into hers.

Jeffery stared into Madison's eyes, transfixed by her beauty.

"I'm fine," he said, his voice a low rumble. "I just cut myself, that's all."

She held the towel to his finger, the blood soaking into the fabric.

"You should be more careful," she chided, her eyes sparkling with concern.

"Thank you for your concern," he thanked her.

As Jeffery thanked Madison, his deep voice sent shivers down her spine. She felt her heart skip a beat as she stood there, trying to focus on the task at hand. But her mind kept wandering, and she couldn't help but wonder if it was okay to be attracted to someone else so soon.

Her boyfriend literally broke up with her few hours ago. She not always the type to jump into new relationships, but this time felt different. There was something about Jeffery that drew her in, something magnetic and irresistible. She couldn't get him out of her mind.

"Uhm," she cleared her throat.

"I'll be leaving to check on Alex make sure you are careful," she said and she hurriedly left the kitchen.

As Madison rushed out of the kitchen, she took a deep breath, trying to steady her racing heart. She made her way to her room, closing the door behind her. She collapsed on her bed, grabbing a pillow and screaming into it.

She couldn't get Jeffery's face out of her head, his smile, his voice, his eyes. Was this what they called love at first sight? She had never felt this way about anyone before, not even her ex-boyfriend. She knew it was wrong to feel this way, but she couldn't help herself.