Novels by Louise

After he handed me the tiny piece of paper, he opened his arms wide and began walking toward me—slowly, almost hesitantly. I thought he wanted a hug, so I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him, holding on tighter than I meant to. When I finally pulled back, I caught Dominic’s expression—he was frozen in place, eyes flicking between us, confusion clouding his face.“Bye,” Joshua said quietly, his voice low and final, before walking out of the house.I watched as he walked out the door, leaving me there, trying to process everything that had just happened. “A maid and a plumber,” Dominic muttered, his voice low but sharp, each word slicing through the silence.“Excuse me?” I asked, my brows furrowing as confusion tightened in my chest. I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right.“I was saying, a maid and a plumber,” Dominic repeated slowly, his voice unnervingly steady, as though the absurdity of his words didn’t even register.I rolled my eyes and carried the cleaning supplies up the

“My my, this looks cosy.” Dominic faked a chuckle. I broke eye contact with Joshua and hurried to the kitchen and reached out for a bowl. Because Dominic is much taller than me and has a certain order for how his things should be organised, he placed all the bowls towards the back, causing one of them to slip out of my hands and fall to the ground. “HOMER!” Dominic yelled at me while I stared at the broken pieces of glass right at my feet. “I am so sorry.” I hurried off to get the broom and dustpan. “It was an accident.” Joshua sighed as he came out of the bathroom to peep at what happened. Dominic, on the other hand, did not look too pleased. He had already worn his grumpy face by then and was starting to growl. “I am so so sorry, sir.” I apologised as I started to sweep up the mess. “Why are you so clumsy?!” Dominic asked angrily“Look, these things happen.” Joshua started to defend me“Joshua, it’s okay. You don’t need to speak up for me.” I quickly snapped at him“I am only

“I am sorry sir, for lying earlier. Emma Scorsone is a good friend of mine.” I finally answered “Then why do the records say that she is your sister?” he asked. I felt like everything was just getting worse and worse and going against me. Anything I said would just make everything much worse. I imagined if I had just settled for telling the truth from the start, I would not be in such a messy situation. “I don’t know. Maybe when she was arriving, she must have said something about being my sister to Wilbur and Stanley. I am not sure.” I twisted some few words around hoping it would not come back to haunt me. “Okay,” he said I remained standing above him for some more time. “Can I help you with something?” he asked “I just wanted to know where else the cameras are,” I said worriedly “They are only in the kitchen, living room, dining room and like the corridors. I am thinking of installing at least one or two in here,” he replied “So, there is none in the room I sleep in?” I as

“Homer, who is Emma Scorsone?” he asked again, only his face was starting to get a bit more serious.I knew I was definitely getting into more trouble by pretending to not know who he was talking about. “Uhm…” I still wondered what I was going to say“You know, this could end quicker if you just told the truth.” he sighed “I don’t know who Emma Scorsone is, sir?” I lied quickly “Really?” he queried I nodded. I wondered how he discovered the name and why he was asking me about her. Did the Stanley or Wilbur tell him about Emma coming over? I assumed he had surveillance cameras around the house but he would have probably asked who I was with and not the name. So, I decided that Stanley or Wilbur most probably told him about her. “Finish cleaning up the dishes and then we will come and have a talk,” he said and walked out of the kitchen. I gulped nervously. I had no way out. In times like that, I wished I did not live with him because I would have probably ran off and pretended to

“What a day!” the sound of Dominic’s voice scared me from a deep sleep. “Homer, you can’t be sleeping on the couch!”I slowly opened my eyes and rubbed them to find an angry Dominic standing above me. “There is a room for you to do all the sleeping you want to do,” he said. “I am really sorry, sir.” I stood up and apologised. He walked away, clearly irritated while I debated if I should go and take a nap, or just shower and get out of my maid uniform and call it an early night. “I am so exhausted!” Dominic groaned “How was it?” I asked “It was actually really lovely. I enjoyed it. We went to an art gallery. Her younger sister just actually just opened an art gallery so we saw a few pieces, might buy a few for my house and then we went for lunch to this Japanese restaurant. I was not really a fan of the sushi. I have better sushi but she enjoyed it and then after all that, we went to the park and walked.” he answered “So, it was a date?” I asked “No, no. Not a date. I am not th

As soon as Dominic’s car disappeared, Emma’s car showed up, all before Stan and Wilbur could close the gate. So, Dominic must have passed Emma. “Ma’am, you’re lost. You might want to make a U-turn.” Wilbur said“No, I am not lost. I believe I am at the right place,” she answered. Emma was the last person Stanley and Wilbur wanted to fight with. Even if they were just doing their job, she would still manage to find a way to fight them. “Do you know anyone here?” Stanley asked “I am here to see my sister, Harper Holmes.” She answered “HOLMES!” Wilbur called my name. I walked out of the house nervously. I did not know what Stan or Wilbur could do now that Dominic was not around and Rebecca had stopped showing up. I did not know if Dominic had left either of them in charge. “Yes?” I replied as soon as I reached them. “Well, don’t you look adorable in your little uniform,” Emma said excitedly “Is this your sister?” Wilbur asked. I mean technically she was not my sister but if I s

The rest of the evening pretty much ended once we got home. Dad was so beat, he got showered and immediately crawled into bed, leaving the house wrapped in silence. I stayed up in the living room, the dim lamp casting long shadows across the walls, hoping to find a spark of creativity to craft some poem about the events that had unfolded within the last few hours.When there was no inspiration yet, I took a pause and headed to the showers to at least cool myself down. The water washed over me, rinsing away the heaviness clinging to my chest. Afterwards, I slipped into my light pink night dress, the fabric soft against my skin, and padded back into the living room.I dimmed the lights, pressed play on some soft music, and let the melody weave through the silence. For a while, I sat there scratching my head, staring at the blank page, waiting for something—anything—to spark. And then, almost unexpectedly, the words began to flow. Line after line spilled out, raw and unfiltered, carrying

I wasn’t exactly mad at him, not in the way people expect anger to flare and burn, but there was this quiet ache I couldn’t shake, a slow disappointment that settled deeper the more I tried to ignore it. I kept telling myself it wasn’t worth overthinking, that I shouldn’t feel anything at all, yet the feeling of being let down clung to me anyway. It wasn’t rage, and it wasn’t heartbreak, but a subtle, lingering hurt that made me realise he could have done better… and that, somehow, the disappointment stung far more than anger ever could.“Did I do something? Is this because of Bash?” I asked, my voice tightening with worry.“No-no,” he said quickly, shaking his head. “I just think maybe we shouldn’t rush into anything. And besides, your father is looking for you. It’s probably best you go find him before he storms in here and starts demanding a search party.”I wasn’t entirely convinced. He wouldn’t even look at me, and there was this distant, distracted air about him that I couldn’t

“Fuck!” Russo groaned again, his fingers fumbling with the buttons of his shirt, jaw tight as he tried to compose himself. The urgency in his movements betrayed the storm beneath his calm exterior.“I thought no one saw us coming?” I whispered, worry threading through my voice as I glanced toward the door.“Yeah, I thought so too,” he muttered, his tone low and edged with irritation. “But maybe someone managed to catch us.” His eyes flicked toward me, sharp and protective, as though already calculating how to shield me from prying eyes.He steadied me as I slid off the desk, his hands lingering at my waist until my feet found the floor. I tugged at my dress quickly, smoothing the fabric back into place, my heart still racing from what had almost happened.“Uhm, come and stand here,” he murmured, his tone low but urgent. His hand closed around mine, steady and commanding, as he guided me toward the heavy curtains. “Are you sure no one will see me from here?” I whispered, my voice tigh

I found myself pressing into Alessandro Russo, our lips moving passionately as my hands tangled in his gelled hair, gripping a handful. He let out a low, almost involuntary groan at the contact.His other hand moved to the strap of my dress, slowly teasing it down my shoulder, testing my reaction.“Wait!” I gasped, breaking the kiss and stepping back, my chest heaving.He looked at me in disbelief. I knew this was not the first time I was somewhat teasing Russo, but I was scared to ever advance anything with him. “What’s wrong?” he snapped back to reality and decided it would not help being mad at me for changing my mind.“What if my father or Roni comes to look for me and they find us like this?” I asked worriedly. Then, his eyes widened before he burst out into laughter. I nervously laughed along with him because I did not understand why he laughed that hard. “What’s funny?” I asked as I continued to nervously laugh“I thought I had done something, but you are worried about your

It only dawned on me that he was talking about the pill. My throat tightened, but I dared not answer. I had already humiliated myself enough around Russo; the last thing I needed was to confirm his suspicions. How could I possibly admit that, yes, I had slept with Bash without protection, and worse—let myself get attached almost immediately? The thought of it made my stomach twist. And now, every time I caught even the slightest glimpse of him with another woman, it was like watching my heart shatter all over again.“It’s okay. It won’t last,” he said the moment he closed the distance between us.“What won’t last?” I asked, confusion tightening my voice.“Katie’s son and the model,” he replied casually, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.“Oh…” I muttered, unsure how to respond.“But for my sake,” his voice dipped lower, and I caught the faintest smirk tugging at his lips, “I hope it lasts.”He was standing so close now that I could smell his expensive cologne, laced with

“Let me go and get dessert,” Jo announced, already marching off before anyone could respond. A beat later, Katie and my father followed suit, leaving Roni and me alone at the table, surrounded by everyone else’s abandoned bags and jackets like we’d been assigned babysitting duty.“Are you good?” she asked softly, studying my face.“I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” I answered too fast, shoving a spoonful of ice cream into my mouth before she could look any deeper.My mind drifted, completely ignoring the chatter around me. I kept imagining Dove laughing softly while Bash pulled her close somewhere in one of Russo’s many hallways… maybe teasing her, maybe whispering something that made her giggle the way she always did.The images twisted in my chest like a knife, each one worse than the last.But my mind snapped out of the daydream when my father and Katie returned with their bowls of dessert, followed by Jo—and then finally Bash and Dove. She had Bash’s blazer draped over her shoulders,