Chapter Two

Astrid still couldn’t move from where she stood. “Good evening, sir!” The bodyguards greeted, standing upright. The man dismissed them with a wave of his hand. They left without the slightest bit of hesitation.

Astrid finally snapped out of her daze, but not fully enough to take her eyes off him. Her breath caught in her throat as she was about to talk, making her cough dryly.

“Is anything the matter?” Darius asked, frowning. He never liked delay or awkwardness, and that was just what the lady in front of him was serving to him.

“N-no. Good evening.” Astrid stuttered, not knowing what to say. Her knees almost gave, but she managed to maintain her balance. Darius scanned her with a raised eyebrow and frowned even deeper, making Astrid’s heart beat faster. He did not approve of her demeanour, she could tell.

She started to suspect that her appearance had something to do with it too. He had never seen her in person, anyway. She had only sent about two pictures of herself, and those were from a year ago. He probably expected someone prettier.

“Just great.” Darius muttered, not hiding the sarcasm behind the statement. Astrid confirmed that he truly didn’t approve of her.

Darius walked away and two women hurried towards Astrid. “Let’s take you to your room, ma’am.” One of them said. Astrid nodded, shyly following them and looking at the shiny floor that clinked under their footsteps like glass.

The staircase was also transparent and had lights within it that were swaying with different colours inside of the steps. Astrid had no idea who designed and constructed the house, but she knew the person was a genius.

“Um, excuse me. What’s going on?” Astrid asked the two quiet women in front of her. She still wasn't clear on anything, so she felt the need to ask.

“What do you mean?” The other woman asked, unlocking a door.

As they entered the room, Astrid gasped and forgot what she was going to say to the woman. “This is where I’ll be staying?” The two women nodded with smiles on their faces. “I don’t understand.” She mused, looking around. The room was three times larger than her kitchen and her living room back at home, combined. She knew Darius was a billionaire, but she still thoughy it was over the top and too large for just one person. Remembering how and where she was brought up, she concluded that she only thought like that because of how minimalistic things had always been for her.

“What are your names?” She asked the women.

“I’m Mary, and this is Thelma. We’ll both attend to your needs throughout your stay in this house.” The older woman answered calmly.

“I have people who will attend to me? I thought I would be attending to Mr Titan.” Astrid said, confused. The two ladies shared a look and smiled.

“You’ll attend to him, and we’ll attend to you.” Thelma told her.

“Oh.” Astrid nodded, hiding the fact that she still didn't understand why she was being treated like royalty.

“This is the walk-in closet, and that is the bathroom. Should we prepare a bath for you now, ma’am?” Mary asked after the gestures she made at the introduced rooms.

Astrid laughed sweetly. “I can do that myself. My name is Astrid.”

The two ladies looked at each other again. This time, with similar looks of confusion. “Do you know how much authority you have in this house, ma’am?” Mary asked her.

“I’m just Mr Titan’s personal assistant. I don't think that comes with much authority.” Astrid shrugged.

“You are?” Mary asked, an amused smile on her face.

“Yes. He didn't tell you, did he?” Astrid asked.

They just smiled at her. “Looks like you don't want to tell us, after all.” Thelma said.

“We’ll go make dinner. You can push that button when you need us.” Mary gestured at a button on the wall. Astrid shrugged the confusion she felt off.

“Thank you.” The two women gasped as she said that. “Is something wrong?” Astrid frowned at their reactions.

“No, it’s just... we don’t get that a lot.” Mary shook her head.

“He doesn’t tell you...” Astrid trailed off, referring to Darius.

They both shook their heads. “Oh, he does. We were talking about the women." Thelma said.

"What women?" Astrid's brows drew together in confusion. What were the two women on about?

"Don't worry about it, ma'am. Just take a rest." Mary said, leading Thelma away. It was obvious something was going on.

Astrid shrugged it off as the awkwardness of meeting someone new. She stripped naked and walked into the bathroom. She took a long, cold bath and wrapped a towel around herself. As she opened the door, a gasp fell out of her when she saw Thelma.

“I’m sorry I scared you, ma’am. Mr Titan said to tell you that dinner is in five minutes.” She bowed.

“Just call me Astrid.” Astrid laughed, shaking her head.

“Please, don’t let me.” Thelma bowed and rushed out of the room. Weird, Astrid thought.

She stared at the dress that Thelma had picked out for her before she left. She had picked out a short, baby pink, satin dress. She also had a black wool sweater to keep the cold out. Astrid found white bunny slippers under the bed and put them on. She mentally thanked Thelma for being so considerate of the cold and picking out something warm and comfortable. It surprisingly fit like a glove too.

Her hair was still wet from the bath, but she left it and hurried out of the room.

Once she got to the empty living room, she sighed loudly. Nobody had told her where the dining room was, she was already late for dinner, there were too many doors, and she didn’t want to trespass by entering into somewhere she was not supposed to.

Luckily, one of the bodyguards who had escorted her to the house came out of one of the doors. “Excuse me,” she called out. The man turned to her. “I don’t know where the dining room is.” She admitted, blushing beet red. It was her first time in the house, but she was still embarrassed to be ignorant.

The man nodded in understanding and led her to a large hall, where Darius sat. There had to be at least twenty seats, yet only one was occupied. “Thanks.” She smiled at the bodyguard and walked gingerly towards Darius.

“Sit.” Darius ordered without looking up from his phone. She sat right opposite him and waited for him to eat first. Making a good impression after seeing him frown at her the first time she arrived was the only thing on her mind at that moment.

He finally looked up, catching and trapping her in his light brown eyes that looked even lighter—almost like gold—under the lights. Astrid noticed that he had a piercing on his left ear. His gaze was so intense, she had to look down to prevent herself from having a heart attack.

“Is the food not good?” He asked. She scrunched her brows and shook her head.

“I don’t know. I was waiting for you to eat first.” She admitted.

“Damn it, can you not act submissive right now?” He asked, looking frustrated.

She had only been in the room for about five minutes and he was already losing it. She caught on fast that he was a man of short temper.

“Submissive? I wasn’t trying to be submissive. I just thought that since you’re the owner of the house, you’re supposed to eat first and all that good stuff about courtesy. I’m sorry.” She apologised, digging into the plate of rice in front of her.

They were a terrible combination, she could tell; a short-tempered man and a woman who could barely control her tongue.

Darius sighed and shook his head. “I need you to do something for me, Astrid. I have to tell you right now. You’re not here to be a personal assistant. I want to use you for something.”

The spoon fell out of Astrid’s hand as she looked at Darius in shock. Was her mother right about what kind of a man he was?