BEDROOM

JADE

The moment Stacy walked into the house, our eyes met. She stood and regarded me for a while with a condescending look on her face. However, I smiled, acknowledging her presence.

"I can see why Max is so crazy about her," I thought inwardly. "How would my life have been if I was the one in her shoes; the one Max loved, the one he would have gotten married to and had a family together? It would have been nice to have the support of someone who genuinely loved me, and not someone who used me like Henry."

While I was lost in thought, I noticed Max walk into the house and quickly moved away from where I was, not wanting him to see me.

I stood for a while as he walked towards his room, opened the door, and went in to meet Stacy who had earlier gone inside.

"No, I cannot take any money while they are in the room; perhaps I should try stealing from his father's room while he is not around," I told myself.

An idea came to my mind, and I met Agatha; the maid who had been assigned to me, and said, "I'm really bored. I want to do some work, I just need to exercise myself a little, even the doctor advised it."

"I'm sorry, but I cannot let you do that," Agatha replied. "I was specifically instructed to make sure you get as much rest as possible. For crying out loud, you're six months pregnant; you shouldn't be doing any chores. Go back into your room, please."

"But I really want to work. I'm not going to do anything stressful. Just give me a mop bucket and a mop stick." I insisted.

"Why? Your room is clean; I cleaned it this morning, remember?" She told me.

I smiled, "Yeah, my room is clean, but I want to clean Mr. Anderson's room. He has been so nice to me. I want to do something nice for him too."

She stared at me as though I was crazy.

I smiled, trying to hide the violent beating of my heart, "Come on, it's not like I'll put in so much effort. I know his room is clean, but I just want to feel like I'm doing something."

"I don't want to get into trouble." Agatha hesitated.

"Trust me, you won't," I assured her. "I just need to move my muscles a little. I'm going crazy sitting in one spot; I'm not used to being idle."

"Okay," she finally gave in. "Don't forget you're not to do any strenuous work."

"Yeah, I promise you I would not," I replied.

"Okay, I'll get his room key from the bunch and everything else you need but I'm just going to watch you clean," she said before walking away.

I sighed. I didn't need her in there because her presence would make it difficult for me to carry out my plan. However, I kept silent.

She returned with the key, a mop stick, and a mop bucket with a little water inside it and said, "Let's go."

I was scared out of my wits but I reminded myself of how much Max's father loved and adored my unborn kids. I had a good plan for when I got caught and that fueled my determination.

Agatha stood by the door watching me as I picked up the mop stick, dipped it in water, and began to mop the floor in a leisurely manner while humming.

"That looks like fun," she said. "Okay, you worked your muscles, now you can stop doing it."

"Are you babysitting me now?" I asked. "Come on, I'm sure you have better things to do. You can go do your work."

"Okay, but I'll be back a few minutes later." She finally walked away and I heaved a sigh of relief.

I came out of the room after she left and silently followed behind her because I wanted to see what exactly she was doing, so I could calculate the time it would take her to be done with it.

As I kept walking, I passed by Max's room and paused when I overheard his conversation with his fiancée.

His door was partially open, and I heard him telling her, "Do not worry, my dad has already arranged everything with the doctor. Once she gives birth, we'll tell her that all the children died."

"All three?" She asked.

"Yeah, all three. We don't want her trying to get close to any one of them, so, of course, all three. I think it's better that way. We'll pretend to grieve the loss of the children and afterward, pay her enough money to start her life over and move on. That way we would never cross paths again."

"Okay, that's a very good plan," I heard his fiancee reply. "I love this plan even more because the last thing I need is for her to hang around, and try to get a relationship with our kids."

"That will never happen," Max assured her.

I scoffed, "As if I'll ever let that happen."

I walked towards the kitchen where Agatha was and noticed she was cooking. Afterward, I hurried back to Max's father's room, closed the door, and went to his drawers and cupboards to search for money.

I started by opening different cupboards, except the ones that were locked, searching as quickly as possible.

I couldn't find any money in his cupboards, so I went to his drawer. When I pulled out one of them, I was surprised to see so much money left in the drawer.

I began to take out the money. I opened my gown and hid them in the pockets of my shorts. I put in so much money until what was left in the drawer was very little.

Although I knew what I had stolen wasn't going to be enough to care for three children, I was still very excited that I had gotten something.

I closed the drawer and began walking to his closet, wanting to search the pockets of his shirts and pants to see if I was going to find more money.

Just as I got close to the closet, I heard the footsteps of someone approaching.

I rushed towards the mop stick and picked it up just as the door was pushed open.