Benang Merah

On a breezy summer morning, a young lady could be seen roaming in the lavish garden of the Morin mansion while watering the lovely flower plants. She slowly finished watering the magnolia plants and smiled in satisfaction after touching a soft petal of the magnolia flower. Her knee-length green summer dress was already wet with water drops making the part look a shade darker than the rest of the dress.

 She steadily picked up the water jar and moved her legs to the other side while humming a soft song. Her beautiful long chestnut hair was pulled in a messy bun on the top of her head while a few strands of hair were coming out of it and flying with the soft breeze. 

Her oval-shaped face was void of any makeup making her look fresh and youthful while her bright green eyes added more charm to her stunning beauty. She always wore a smile on the corner of her soft pink lips while the mole on the corner of her lips would add more fuel to her beautiful smile. 

She didn’t have any worry about the world as she kept watering the plants while humming her favourite songs and listened to the birds chirping early in the morning.

"Athena!" Someone shouted, making the girl turn around instantly. She looked at the middle-aged woman who was also the main maid in the mansion. Aunt Layla. 

"Yes, aunt Layla?" The girl asked with a smile while keeping the water jar aside and wiping her wet hands on her dress, making aunt Layla look at her with a frown.

"You have again drenched yourself while watering the plants? Tell me who you water? The plants or yourself? And how many times have I told you to leave the job to James? It's his job, not yours. Your job is inside the mansion, not in the garden." Layla scolded Athena who was trying to squeeze her dress and get rid of the excess water from her dress to dry it. Her face had the usual sheepish smile plastered on whenever she got scolded by Layla for working in the garden. It's nothing new.

 Every day Layla would find her watering the plants in the garden while getting herself drenched with the plants at the same time. Most importantly she would always get late for her actual work. But she couldn’t help it.

"Oh, aunt Layla! You know I can't help it. I just love working in the garden and taking care of the plants. Why don't you give me the gardener's job too? " She said and then asked the last part while smiling at Layla who heaved a defeated sigh after hearing her words. Again she wanted the gardener's job! That girl! 

" That's James' job. Alright, enough of this. Now go and change your clothes before coming to the kitchen. I need your help." Layla said in a strict tone making Athena nod at her words obediently.

"I will be back in a few seconds. You just count the time." Athena replied with a grin before running in the direction of her sleeping quarter. Layla looked at her running back and smiled before shaking her head in amusement. The girl never failed to entertain her.

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"Athena, take this to the dining table." Becky, one of the maids of the mansion ordered while handing Athena two trays of food. Athena quietly took the dishes from her hands with a nod and moved her body towards the direction of the dining room. After reaching the table she put the dishes down and placed them nicely on the table.

"Is the breakfast ready?" Someone asked from behind, making Athena turn around instantly.

"Good morning, Mrs Morin. Yes, the breakfast is ready. Please have a seat." Athena greeted respectfully the mistress of the Morin mansion, Helen Morin, wife of Gabriel  Morin who was the younger son of the patriarch of the house Henry Morin. Helen nodded with a smile and took a seat on her usual chair. Athena went to the kitchen and brought a few more dishes with Becky and placed them on the table nicely. 

"Good morning, Mom! Good morning, Athena." Emilia, the only daughter of Gabriel and Helen Morin, also Athena's best friend, greeted them with a cheerful voice while taking a seat beside her mother.

"Good morning, baby."

Good morning." Athena and Helen greeted her back at the same time with a smile. Athena gave her a small nod while serving her food.

"Where's Elijah?" Helen asked about her only son while gracefully cutting her pancakes into pieces and taking a bite.

"He's coming in a while," Emilia replied while digging into her food. Meanwhile, Gabriel and Henry Morin also came down and greeted everyone before taking their seats. Athena greeted them respectfully before exiting the dining room to go to the kitchen and wait for them to finish their breakfast. She was really hungry as she hadn’t eaten anything yet so she took an apple from the basket and started to eat it quietly. 

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After the Morin family ate their breakfast Athena and Becky quietly cleaned the dining table and put the dirty dishes in the sink to wash them. It was Lexi's job to wash the dishes while Athena was assigned to cleaning and helping in the kitchen. But Athena loved to do every kind of work. So after washing the dishes Athena was about to go upstairs to clean the rooms. She was walking through the corridor absentmindedly while carrying the cleaning stuff when she suddenly bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn’t see where I was going." She apologized and started to pick the scattered cleaning stuff without seeing the person's face.

"Next time keep your eyes clean and watch carefully where you are going." A deep booming voice reached her ears making her look up instantly. Her eyes collided with a pair of cold blue eyes which were looking into her green eyes angrily. Roman Morin. The devilishly handsome elder grandson of Henry Morin and heir of the Morin Corporation. He had a pair of deep ocean blue eyes, dark brown hair, high cheekbones, a sharp jaw, and a pair of pink plump kissable lips, and not forget to mention, the body of a male model. 

 But the way he was looking at her sent chills down to her bone while his presence made her heart race faster. She quickly averted her eyes and nodded while still bending down on the floor and collected her stuff while looking down. Roman didn’t say anything much and quickly left her there on the floor. When he was finally out of her sight, Athena heaved a sigh and put her hands over her heart to calm it down. 

"Stupid heart! Why do you have to beat so fast just by seeing him? Do you want me to die of a heart attack?" Athena scolded her heart for again being a fool and smiled sheepishly at herself before finally getting up from the floor and making her way towards the first room she had to clean.

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