"Father."Melissa bowed her head to Francois, who smiled upon the sight of his beloved daughter. He was currently in the living room of Melissa"s villa and the guards with usually followed him were standing outside.
The girl smiled back to her father and sat next to him, letting him pat her head.
"Everything"s been alright these days?"
"Yes, business is going well, there is no need to worry, father."
She behaved more docile than usual, it could be seen that she was close to her father, unlike the rest of her family.
"That"s good to hear."
He looked around the living room before heartily laughing and saying,
"I"ve heard about the death of your friend"s father, is she okay? You didn"t kick her out just because I came, right?"
"Of course not, father! Who do you take me for? Jasmine brought her to her home for a couple of days."
After a brief silence, Francois added, "Take good care of your friends, ok? Those who my daughter consider friends are definitely good and trustworthy people."
"I will, thanks, father."
Melissa chuckled, stood up, and left the room. She came back a few minutes later with a cup filled with hot black coffee in her hand. The atmosphere around the duo wasn"t awkward despite the silence or lack of interaction. The two enjoyed each other"s company and despite not meeting often, were exceptionally close.
"I"ve heard you"ve run into a few problems recently… problems unrelated to work."
Melissa wasn"t surprised that he was aware of this. She put down the cup in her hand and explained,
"It"s something personal, father."
"Even if it"s personal, you must be careful. The people you went up against work for a business partner of mine… a dangerous one. I trust your judgment but it"s better not to provoke them."
"I didn"t provoke them, they were just after one of my employees."
"Employee? Since when do you get involved with your employees" personal problems?"
"Father, he"s a special person, some sort of a friend and a person I can trust. You tasked me to find a reliable person for our work and I found one… it"s just that his origins are a bit mysterious and clearly complicated."
Francois burst out in laughter as he heard Melissa and her unusual tone. Noticing her absent-minded gaze, he patted her head again whilst speaking,
"Alright alright, I won"t interfere. As long as you trust this person then so will I."
****
Apparently, Jasmine was feeling a bit unwell so Bin had to bring her the food himself. He pushed the cart filled with colorful plates all the way to her room, knocked two times then entered.
As he stepped inside, the girl was fl.u.s.tered as she quickly hid something behind her back.
"W-why are you here?"
"You aren"t feeling well so your mother told me to bring you something to eat."
He pushed the cart next to her bed and raised a small wooden table, putting it right in front of the red-faced Jasmine. She hid whatever it was under her cushion, making sure he didn"t see anything then quietly began to eat. Bin was about to leave as he had no other business here but he stopped after taking three steps.
He turned around and looked at the gorgeous girl, who didn"t look sick, and said,
"You okay?"
She"s usually strong-willed and doesn"t show any weaknesses and it"s the first time he"d seen here act obedient and non-rebellious. In fact, her behavior has been strange ever since yesterday.
Jasmine stopped eating and looked back at the young man, her eyes focusing on his face.
"Since when do you care?"
"Since I became your servant. My master"s wellbeing concerns me and if something happens to you, I"ll return to unemployment."
The girls sighed and said a few last words before picking her food again.
"I"m fine, you can leave now. Good night."
The servant gave her one last look then left the room. It was close to 10 PM and Mina already fell asleep, as for him, he wasn"t that tired but it doesn"t mean that he cannot sleep.
With nothing interesting to do, he headed to his room, changed into more comfortable clothes, pajamas, to be exact, and laid on the bed.
After making sure Bin left, Jasmine flipped the big cushion and retrieved a few wrinkled photos of black-clothed men. They were the reason Bin was so angry and although she knew that he lied, she didn"t insist on finding the truth from his mouth.
…
"Who"s this?"
Jasmine, still wearing her bedclothes, rubbed her eyes, and asked Rika. Her friend already changed into presentable clothes and accompanied her to the dining room, where everyone was waiting.
Bin was quietly standing behind Jasmine, his eyes fixated on the mask-wearing Elise. It seems she officially became Rika"s servant, fortunately.
"She"s a servant I hired yesterday."
Jasmine didn"t think much about the matter, she nodded her head and greeted Elise before lazily dragging her feet.
While her master was chatting with the black-haired girl, Elise walked closer to Bin and whispered,
"Someone"s been watching me ever since last night."
Bin instantly knew who she was talking about. He smirked and replied, "Don"t worry, it"s not an enemy."
..
In addition to Angelica, her husband, and Mina, who went ahead of her brother, there was an additional person standing right behind the little girl. It was a tall man wearing a black jacket and normal jeans, he seemed out of place and looked a bit scary.
The moment Bin and the rest made their appearance, this man, named Alpha, turned his head and looked at Elise. He seemed a bit shocked and restless as he glanced at Angelica, who smiled and ignored his piercing stare.
"Good morning."
The madam spoke with a tender tone as she welcomed Rika, who reciprocated with a soft smile and sat next to her friend. Angelica swept a look at Elise but didn"t ask about her ident.i.ty as she stood behind her master. In fact, she learnt of Bin"s sister arrival the second she set foot inside the manor but as the girl meant no harm, the invisible woman didn"t make anymore and merely watched from afar.