Ryn woke up with tears staining her face and her eyes were swollen from the cry she had last night. She could not even open her eyes wider.She looked into the mirror silently. She let out a sigh and walked into the bathroom to fresh herself.
Despite being sad and too tired to face the world, she knew she still had to face the world. She quickly used the make-up she had after slathering on so many creams she lost count just to hide the fact she had been crying the whole night.
When she opened the door, she saw the butler waiting for her outside at the hallway. Although she was not happy to see a person so early in the morning but she has to accept that the house is full of people. Whether she liked it or not she would b.u.mp into any of the servants any time of the day.
This was another reason why she wanted to move out. She felt claustrophobic when she was in the house. She had no privacy. She had no life here.
Everything was monitored by the servants. It felt like she was in a cage, a huge golden cage.
It was just a few days but she felt like years.
Looking at how normal Jeremy, Mika and Jason behaved in the house, Ryn knew the problem was hers alone. She was the one who could not get used to this. She was not born to be in this world!
She was born to be free!
The butler kept quiet when he saw her face. It was obvious Miss Catherine spent the night crying. Her eyes were so swollen, even the thick make-up could not cover it.
Oh no... what should they do?
Would their future little plump heir or heiress disappear from their eyes?
They would not allow this. He, the President of the Long"s Servants Union, would find a way to make the little baby came true.
Ryn walked slowly into the dining room. It was more like a routine now for her. Once she prepared herself, she would go to the dining room to have breakfast, then go to the living room to wait for Mei Li to pick her up. Once she reached the house, she would either go straight to her room to sleep or go to the dining room to have dinner before to her room to sleep. She was too exhausted to do anything else.
When she reached the dining room, it was empty except for a maid. She gave a slight smile to the nervous maid and went to her usual seat.
Two toasted bread slathered with jam and a bowl of porridge, she was done with her breakfast. Usually, her appet.i.te was huge, even during breakfast, but she had no mood to do anything. She had to force herself to finish the food. Even the drink, she could only drink a gla.s.s of orange juice and it felt too much for her.
It was a misery breakfast session for her.
Luckily the maids and even the butler left her alone in that huge room or it would be harder for her to eat.
Hence, when she got into the car, the temperature dropped quite drastically. Mei Li s.h.i.+vered almost immediately and leaned forward to check the temperature switch.
Nothing was wrong with the air-con of her car. It was the same as she set before she started the journey to this mansion.
It meant... gulp... Mei Li stole a glance at the stiffed Ryn.
Oh dear...
"Let"s go," Ryn muttered, adjusting the sungla.s.ses to cover her swollen eyes. Based on the reaction of the butler and the maids, the make-up she put earlier failed to do its job to cover the trace of her cry. She could only use sungla.s.ses now to cover the swollen eyes.
Gulping, Mei Li obeyed. Better do whatever is told than facing the wrath of Ryn.
"Where are we going first?" Ryn asked. She switched off the radio and crossed her arms.
"Err..." Mei Li stole some times by looking left and right, left and right before turned the car to the left. She also made use of grumbling under her breath as she switched on the radio.
Ryn did not switch it off this time. She just looked at Mei Li silently c.o.c.king an eyebrow.
The sweat started to wet Mei Li"s back. She could feel her dress sticking to her body. Why, when the temperature was so low from the air-con and Ryn, she was sweating like crazy?
She was getting crazy already!
"Mei Li?"
Mei Li took a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart and tried to force a smile.
"We... aren"t we going to check the house for rental?" she choked out.
"Near the campus? Have you found them?" Ryn asked, still not smiling.
She was now acting like a real boss with no smile at all. She was so serious, Mei Li swore the window would crack anytime.
"Ye... yes... I... I have contacted a few landlords and they are waiting for us," Mei Li said.
According to Ryn yesterday, the house to rent was more important than looking for a contractor to renovate the house she bought. She wanted to move out as quick as possible.
"Hmm... good. If we can finish everything within this week, half of what I got for next week"s work belongs to you on top of your commission," Ryn told her calmly.
"Re... really? Are you serious, Ryn? You"re not playing with my heart?" Mei Li was surprised, she almost hit the car in front of them. Luckily she managed to control her driving and stopped the car right on time. She looked at Ryn with her huge eyes s.h.i.+ning brightly like stars s.h.i.+ning in the sky.
"Yes. You"ve worked hard to find a place for me," Ryn nodded. She paused for a second before added, "as long as we can settle everything, the renovation and the renting within this week and I can move out next week. I want to move out next week."
"I will try my best. Don"t worry," Mei Li promised. The thought of able to pay more of her education loan brought happiness into her heart. She could not wait to finish paying everything. She also needed to find a house of her own. She wanted to own a house. Once she was done with her education loan, she would look for a small cute house of her own. It did not even have to be big, just enough for her and her parents.
Ryn finally smiled but it was a weak smile. Then, the smile disappeared as if it took a lot of energy for Ryn to do that. She turned her head so she could look out of the window. Her chin rested on her hand.
Mei Li nodded quickly. Her mood was lightened. She was injected by chicken blood after all that she could even forget the misery of the past two days. She did not mind having to spend more time waiting and walking around, accompanying Ryn with her search for a new house to rent and the best contractor to renovate the house she bought.
In fact, if Ryn wanted her to do overtime, to work until night just to find both the house and the contractor, she would be willing to do just that. She would do whatever Ryn wanted.
Today was a sunny day, after all, Mei Li sighed happily. A sunny and happy day.
Everything would be alright.
Nothing could pull her down. Nothing.
They reached the first house. It was an apartment with two bedrooms, just 15 kilometres from the campus. Mei Li just followed behind Ryn, taking note as Ryn listened to the landlord"s explanation about the house, the rental and everything related to the house. Ryn did not say whether she would accept it or not before she excused herself and Mei Li.
It took less than half an hour for Ryn to check the premise.
Then, they went to the second house, also an apartment.
Again, it was Ryn who did the talk. Mei Li just took her position behind or beside Ryn, watching as Ryn talking with the landlord of the house. Mei Li did look around the house but did not comment a thing. It was 10 kilometres from the campus and bigger than the first house.
Again, it took less than half an hour for Ryn to inspect the place.
And again, Ryn did not give her thought clear whether she would go with the second apartment or not.
The third, which was the last house they would check upon was not an apartment but just a small house in a quite small neighbourhood. Most of the renters were among the students and most of them shared a house with ten or more housemates. Although it was without security but it was closer to the campus compared to the previous two. Most of them even cycled or some walked to the campus when they have cla.s.s.
An ideal place for a student but for someone who is still traumatic... Mei Li was not sure about this.
Which house would Ryn choose in the end?