CHAPTER THREE

Chloe's POV

Although I was tired yesterday night but I was quite okay when I woke up this morning. I woke up late though. I guess it was due to the stress of yesterday.

I went through my memories again and it dawn on me that I really did do what I did yesterday and I couldn't undo it. So, instead of moping around and regretting what I did, I decided to enjoy my self if only for today and find a solution later.

Believe me I didn't have the courage of going through the documents I stole. I haven't read it but deep down, I knew whatever it contained would be very dangerous.

If those amount of people could die on the highway and nobody else that wasn't involve heard about it, then it was a serious matter.

The issue is that I don't even know who to discuss this with. But then, I just got here. I can't tell anyone since I don't know anyone. I better start by been the lady of the castle and get to know more people.

I came out of my bedroom and I went to the castle keeper's office. She rose to greet me formally and then she called in the rest of the workers and introduced us. They were all new faces as I haven't met any of them before. After the necessary introductions, she sent them off to continue their various tasks.

The castle is a big one situated on several hectares of land. The land was fenced as it has a moderately big fruit farm on it. There is also the poultry so I can say the castle provides job to about fifty people in total. And I should not forget the small ranch too. I would like to say this is impressive.

The castle keeper told me all I needed to know and she showed me the records of how money was been spent. Now the problem is since grandfather's death, there were issues with the records as the income was now very much lesser than the expenses. I decided to see first to that. I was very good in mathematics and accounting so I think I could figure out what or who the problem is.

I noticed that the poultry was the main source of income for the castle. But recently, the profit has dropped quiet a lot. The eggs were not as much as before but the feed used in feeding the poultry of chickens remains the same. The number of chickens sold in the record was higher but why is the profit reducing unless there was a thief amongst the workers. I decided to check out the poultry.

I went down the stairs and I was mentally thinking about how to install an escalator in the castle. I don't think I can be going up and down these fleets of stairs every day. I walk to the poultry took about eight minutes and when I got there the workers stopped to greet me. I nodded my greetings back while smiling at them.

I asked them who the head was and a young boy of about fourteen led me to the head's office. I asked the boy his name and he said Jimmy.

"Jimmy, how long have you been working here?" I suddenly asked him as he looked young to me to be working here.

"Four years now miss. My mom ran away and my dad's new wife sent me away from home. So, your grandfather saw me and gave to a job here so I can continue going to school. It pays well and I get a free place to sleep and free meal, miss." The boy replied with a smile on his face. He has been through a lot even though he is still so young but he still smiles at the world. I let out a sigh and asked him another question.

"How long has the head been here too?"

"He is new. The last person left three months ago due to family issues."

"Ha-ha… so he is new." We got to the office and jimmy knocked and said," Mr. Bill, Miss Chloe will like to see you."

"Thank you, Jimmy. You can leave."

Jimmy left before the door was open by a girl. She should be the same age as I am. She was wearing heavy makeup and her lipstick was smudge. 'Got you' I thought in my mind. So this is what you do in the office. "Welcome, Miss Chloe." The lady said to me while battling her eyes at me. "Good morning. Would you like to excuse us? I had liked to have a few words with Mr. Bill." I replied her with a frown on my face. She left immediately almost tripping on her legs.

"Good morning miss Chloe." Mr. Bill greeted me with a thick voice of his. I knew he was trying to intimidate me. I sized him up in my head. He is a huge fellow. I give him that. He isn't the typical head of poultry farming department you meet every day. And he has a face that read watch what you say. But again, I am not a regular girl either and he wasn't going to scare me away with that.

"Good morning, Mr. Bill", I replied with a smile on my face.

"Trust you had a great night. But you know Mr. Bill; this is an office where you shouldn't be mixing business with pleasure especially when things aren't going that great for the castle." I narrowed my eyes and I continued."I actually came here so you could show me around. So will you?"

"Yes miss… Miss Chloe. I will lead the way." He stood up immediately to show me around. I know now that he knows much more about the dropping profit. At least that was what my instinct told me.

He took me around the poultry showing me everything that was necessary. I saw that the lady with the smudge lipstick was also a worker. I scoffed mentally. So, she was busy with Mr. Bill while others were working. I would have to change the entire staff if they were not careful. I asked him some questions and he answered so carefully that I didn't detect anything wrong.

I decided to let the matter rest for that day. Since, I was outside, I went to the fruit farm and inspected the things going on there and I also checked out the ranch. There went four stable boys and an old man of about seventy years as their head there. After breathing in the outside air for a while, I decided to go back indoors. I was nearing the kitchen when I heard people talking quietly. I tipped toe so I could listen. Yeah I know it's a bad habit to eavesdrop but I couldn't help it.

"Mom, you do know she came to the poultry this morning. How are we going to handle her? She isn't going to be as easy as her grandfather". I would recognize that voice anywhere. It was the lady with smudged lipstick. How did she get here so fast? The person she was speaking with was none other than the castle keeper. Wait a minute; did she just call her mom?

"Don't worry. I will handle her. I worked far too hard to get here. If she can't be handled then, I will have her poisoned like her grandfather". I almost peed myself when I heard that. Seriously, what the fuck is going on here. I came here for peace but it's turning out am in for one hell of a fight. I have heard enough. I tiptoed back and went upstairs to think. There was a private study in the castle that grandfather used before. I decided to set up an office there. If those people think I was a push over, they are in for it.