Chapter 40: Stay

"You should sit down now so we can start eating," he said gently, then looked back at the food on the table.

Maryland, Maritess, and I were both suddenly panicked by Stefano's gentle voice. The two maids quickly came over to pull my chair as I started walking, but before they could do that, Stefano had already gotten ahead of them.

The three of us automatically looked at each other, and I knew that, like me, they were also surprised by what Stefano was doing right now.

"T-Thank you," I said nervously when I finally sat down.

"You're welcome," he answered and returned to his seat right next to me.

My heart beat even faster with nervousness when he started to put fried rice on my plate without even asking me if I wanted to eat rice or not. I was just speechless while he was doing that, not knowing how and what to react.

"Do you want this?" he asked while holding a plate of bacon.

I just nodded in response because I felt like if I spoke, I might stutter. I also just nodded in response to