Chapter One

The sky is swarthy when Francis Armitage gets back to his office at Viva Foods company. There had been an update to organize an open day to launch their new branch at Malibu. Settling on his desk, he shuffles through the documents and some suspicious papers among the pile. He stands up and gathers the papers into a white file. His first thought was to show the documents to Catherine, his mother-in-law. She needs to see what he has found out. While Francis prepares to leave the office, the door swings open and two Internal Revenue Service officers dressed in their navy blue uniform walk in. Francis' heart skips a beat, confused and bothered about their presence.

    "We are from the Internal Revenue Service and you have been called in for questioning."  The Italian officer with an appealing accent says. 

    "Why?" Francis asks calmly. 

    "We will discuss further in the station." 

The Italian officer signals the shorter officer to handcuff him. He unhooks the cuffs on his belt as he walks over to Francis. Francis wills himself to remain calm but his heart is already pounding. He has no desire to be called a criminal; he had to do something to prove himself innocent and not just be handcuffed like a convict. 

    "You don't need to do that. I can walk out on my own." Francis objects. 

The bright chandelier on the white ceiling radiates brightly on the ceiling as the two officers escort Francis down the cream colored tiles in the corridor. They pass through accusing fingers and sly glances of the workers directed at Francis as they head to the elevator ahead of them. 

    "I never saw him as such." A short man in his twenties whispers to a blond woman beside him. 

    "A greedy man can never satisfy his greedy gut." A sassy woman says with a smug expression. 

    The elevator chimes and its doors open to the ground floor. Rain splutters on the glass walls of the Viva Foods Company. Among the busy employees of the company is Catherine, Melissa and Louis. Francis sees his mother-in-law, wife and business partner and he feels his heart sink into his stomach. He can clearly see the disappointment etched on their pale faces. 

    "Mother, whatever they said is not true." Francis holds Catherine's hands in his and pleads. He knows he has not been accepted as her son-in-law but he knows there is no way he could harm the reputation of the Viva family. Catherine tears her hand away and lands a slap on Francis' cheek. The impact shocks Francis and slowly the area starts reddening.   

    "I'll make sure you never see the light of day again.  Get him out of here." Catherine scolds venomously.  

The officers firmly hold Francis arms and drag him as he offers resistance.

    "I didn't do anything. This is a setup." Francis yells as he is pulled away, "Melissa, look at me. You have to believe me. You know I would never do this." Tears pool in Francis' eyes. Melissa stares at Francis blankly before she looks away. 

    The glass doors slide open and Francis and the two officers walk out into the pouring rain. Instantly, Francis' suit and plain trousers get wet. His short black hair stick his face and neck as the officers take him to the police car parked beside the glassy skyscraper. The shorter officer opens the back door and the Italian officer puts Francis in the backseat before closing the door. Francis stares at the building as the car's ignition starts before speeding away. 

Everything has to be perfect. The thought keeps running through Francis' mind. He woke up this morning by four in the morning to make sure he does not miss a process of the food and decoration.  Highly esteemed guests were expected to be here. The warm sun glistened on the large garden with well trimmed grasses and shrubs at the huge backyard of the mansion.  The cool and fragrant breeze blows the balloons tied to the silver birch trees. An organized swarm of maids carefully place vases of rose flowers on the white clothed pub table. Aromatic smoke comes out of the barbecue oven sizzling with chicken wings and beefs. Francis treads while glancing critically at the decorations, foods and champagne. 

    "I hope everything is going well?" Francis asks the maid close to him. 

    "Yes, sir." The lady replies politely. 

Francis sees Rose adjusting the white cloth on the pub table. He approaches her. Rose is Catherine's personal assistant who takes her job seriously.  She is always dressed confidentially; black suit and a skirt.

    "Miss Rose, I hope the baker will be here shortly." 

    "I have done this every year sir." Rose says. Rose has been doing her job perfectly for the Viva family. She can't believe sir Francis would question her about that.

    "I trust you. This is my first time helping so tell me if there is anything I can do."  

A maid picks up a tray of glasses filled with champagne. She turns around and bumps Charles. The champagne spills on his expensive flowery shirt and shorts. Charles is an extremely good looking guy with a slender physique. Charles clenches his fist tightly as he feels the anger boiling inside of him. He is the last child of the Viva who loves the fun and crazy lifestyle. He is literally a spoilt brat. 

    "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry sir." The young girl apologizes, rubbing her palms together. She takes out a white cloth from the pocket of her apron to clean Charles' clothes. Charles quickly pulls away as he glares at her disgustingly. 

    "Don't touch me with your dirty hands," Charles snaps. He looks at the worn out shoes the maid is wearing. He scoffs, "You did that on purpose, right?" 

    "No sir. I'm so sorry sir." 

Francis sees two maids watching something behind him. He turns around and sees Charles, Melissa's younger brother having a confrontation with a maid. He hurries over to them. 

    "What's wrong?" Francis asks. 

    "Where do you hire these idiots, Francis? Look what she did to my clothes." Charles bought his clothes from a VVIP cloth store and it is a limited edition but now it has been stained by such an insignificant person.

Francis looks at Charles' stained clothes. He exhales softly before he faces the maid. He knows how Charles loves going on his expensive shopping spree. He tries his best to calm the situation.

    "Weren't you lectured by Miss Rose on the proper etiquette of a maid in this house? When someone is walking passed you, you stop until that person walks passed you." Francis explains. Miss Rose is in charge of lecturing of newly employed maids so what happened with this? This maid must have forgotten or wasn't taught properly but he knows it's the latter because miss Rose is upright in her work. 

Charles jabs the maid's shoulder. She whimpers in pain. 

    "I'm sorry, I'll pay for the dry cleaning." The maid begs. 

    "I don't need your dirty money." Charles picks up a glass of champagne on the table beside him. He raises it over the maid's head and bends it. The champagne pours over the maid's hair, flowing down her white clothes. Her hair, face and clothes are wet and stained. Charles smiles sly as he takes in the maid's wretched look. A maid does not deserve to be treated properly.

    "Charles, stop it." Francis pleads. 

Charles throws the empty glass on the ground which shatters to sharp pieces. 

    "Next time, it will be worse than this." Charles shoves the maid with his shoulder as he walks passed her.

    "Go and change your clothes this instant before madam returns." Rose says.

The maid turns around. Rose stares at her blankly. 

    "Yes ma." The maid hurries into the house. 

Rose is about to leave.

    "Excuse me, miss Rose." Francis ventures, sensing trouble. Miss Rose always reports anything that happens in the house to Catherine. His mother in law does not need to know about this incident, at least not on her birthday. 

Rose looks at Francis, "Yes sir?"

    "Please would you keep this from mother? Today is her birthday and it should be perfect for her." Francis suggests.

Francis sees a sly smile on Rose's lips, "Is something wrong?" 

    "I answer to the madam of the house, sir. Now if you will excuse me." Rose walks away. Rose has been a devout servant to madam Catherine and she will always be. How could Francis ask her such a ridiculous thing? Of course she will report the incident involving Charles and the maid to Catherine.