Beware of the Black-door Guests

"I am starting to think that this new assistant of Mr. Geoffrey has quite some pride," Came the voice of one of the men in the room.

Seraphina frowned at the words of the man but immediately schooled her features. She decided not to take that as an insult considering Raymond failed to inform her about their arrival on time so she could attend to them.

She walked into the room with a smile plastered on her face that slowly faltered when she saw who the guests were.

Lord William and his Silver-haired son!

Seraphina clutched her dress tightly by her side and offered a stiff bow at the men. "Forgive me for wasting your time, My Lord." She said and looked up and met the intimidating gazes of the men.

"Oh my, my, my," Mr. William said in a sing tone that annoyed Seraphina but she tried to maintain a polite and business-like look and be like a poised Lady.

"Son, look. It is my dear future daughter-in-law. Isn't this wonderful to meet her every time? I feel like my old days are finally blessed." Mr. William further spoke to his son in an excited tone as if his son did not see who walked in.

Seraphina gritted her teeth and chanted in her head to keep her cool. This was the Lord and also her family business partner to whom they were indebted. She couldn't act rashly.

She smiled, pretending to be unfazed by the way Mr. William addressed her informally. She said, "Welcome, Lord William and..." She turned to look at the silver-haired man whose silver mask was intact on his face.

She continued, "....Master William, please what I can I get for you as refreshments. Tea or coffee?"

"Coffee will do," Lord William answered and Seraphina waited for the silver-haired man to speak.

"Mint tea," Came his deep masculine voice.

Mint tea? Like seriously? He was making orders of the specific tea he would drink. What if mint tea was not available? Seraphina wondered.

"Okay. Please hold on while I get your refreshments." She said and left the room where Lord William and the silver-haired man were in.

The smile on Lord William's face faltered and he turned to look at his son. He questioned, "Are you responsible for it?"

The silver-haired man nodded his head in affirmation of his father's question, knowing what he was asking about.

"Yes, I am responsible for it. I asked Geoffrey to employ her. I want to see how far she would go in trying to cancel the marriage that is bound to happen no matter what she did."

"What are you planning to do?" Questioned Lord William.

The silver-haired man grinned to himself and replied, "Have fun." Came his simple answer that sounded so evil.

He went on to list his evil plans, "Give her what she wants, raise her hope that she can make up the amount her father owes us, and then crash all of it."

Lord William frowned, "Isn't that too harsh? She might end up running away before the marriage is announced."

"Not as harsh as I want it to be. And secondly, she won't run. She has a lover who is the reason why she is doing all this to get away from the marriage." The silver-haired man replied nonchalantly.

"You know we don't need the money they owe us and you're planning to make them owe us more. Why don't we follow the normal way of asking her hand in marriage?" Lord William voiced his thoughts, a little concerned about how Seraphina would feel once she found out the truth.

"The chase is fun. Leave it to me, father. I know how to handle it." He turned to look at his father as spoke, his black eyes changing into a dark shade of red before going back to its original color.

Seraphina furiously stomped her feet on the floor as she went to get the orders of Lord William and his son. How could both father and son be so annoying at the same time?

She almost missed her way because of the several passages she didn't pay attention to when she and Raymond passed through them and because of how angry she was.

Finally arriving at the down floor where Raymond sat with his chin propped under his palm while staring down at something on his desk.

She walked up to him and relayed the request of Lord William and his son.

"The guests requested coffee and..."

"Mint tea," Raymond completed her sentence.

Seraphina was surprised but didn't say anything. He must be familiar with guests to know what they usually requested.

Seraphina watched Raymond disappear from her sight and she tapped her fingers rhythmically to a song she loved signing. It was then her eyes fell on what Raymond had been staring at.

It was a whiteboard and on it were words boldly scribbled in black ink that stood out from the whiteboard.

She turned curious to know what it was and then turned it to have a better look.

On the whiteboard read, 'BEWARE OF THE BLACK DOOR GUESTS'

Black door guest? The ones she was currently attending to?

What was that supposed to mean?

Almost immediately, Raymond came back with a tray in his hand.

"Here," Raymond said and handed the tray to Seraphina. "Please go ahead now. They like it warm." Raymond continued to speak not noticing what Seraphina had been looking at.

When he did see Seraphina's line of sight, he was quick to take the whiteboard and slipped it into one of the drawers of his desk.

"Please, d... don't mind this. I like to test my calligraphy sometimes." Raymond explained but Seraphina could hear the nervousness in the way he spoke.

"Hmm," She hummed and decided not to pry on the topic for now. She took the tray and left from there after casting Raymond a glance that made her see the small red book sticking out from the top of one of the drawers. Her brown eyes shone and was quick to avert her gaze before Raymond could see where she was looking at.

On the way back to the room of the black door, so many thoughts swirled in the head of Seraphina.

Thoughts that made her curious and at the same time suspicious. Why was she finding so many weird things in the span of how many hours she became the assistant of Mr. Hansbrouck Geoffrey?

First, the history and mystery of Hansbrouck generation in the small red book.

And now, it was the black door guest she had to beware of. And surprisingly or shockingly enough, these black-door guests were none other than Lord William and his Silver-haired son?

What was going on and what had she gotten herself into?