CHAPTER TWO: Mr. Freniere

CASSIE’s POV

I stared up at the tall gate looming in front of me. Huge black iron with thick vines crawling up the stone walls on either side. Right in the center sat a heavy crest with a single letter F.

I paid the taxi driver and climbed out. The car backed away behind me until the sound of its engine faded. I was alone with the gate.

Then a low buzz sounded. The iron gates creaked open on their own.

Two men stood just inside. Same black suits. Same dark sunglasses. Both held long guns across their chests like soldiers ready for orders.

I swallowed and cleared my throat. “Uh… is this the Freniere residence? I was told to come here by…” The name slipped out of my head the second I saw the weapons. “I think his name was Sebastian.”

Neither man moved. Not even a shift of weight.

“Hello?” I tried again, lifting my hand a little.

“Hi.”

I jumped and spun around.

Sebastian stood a few feet behind me, hands in his pockets, looking amused.

“Did I scare you?”

“Where did you come from?”

“I was waiting for you.”

I pressed a hand to my chest and tried to steady my breathing. I was never this jumpy. Two hours of sleep after a full night at the hospital had left my nerves raw.

“Follow me,” he said. “Mr. Freniere is already waiting.”

He led me to a small open vehicle that looked like a golf cart built for someone who hated the idea of walking. I climbed in. He drove us down a long driveway lined on both sides by dense trees.

The deeper we went, the quieter it got. My mind started spinning worst-case scenarios. Either this man lived like a raccoon in the middle of a forest or I was about to get murdered and never to be seen again.

Then the trees opened.

A wide lake stretched out in front of us, still and dark. Behind it rose a mansion that looked more like a palace than a house. Stone walls. Tall windows. Lights glowing soft against the late afternoon.

My mouth must have fallen open because Sebastian glanced sideways and chuckled.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?”

I nodded, still staring at the view. Then I remembered. “How many of us will be cleaning that?”

He laughed. “Don’t worry. Mr. Freniere has plenty of housekeepers.” Then his eyes dropped to my empty hands. “You don’t have your things with you?”

“What things?”

“Your clothes. You’ll be staying here through the week. You only go home on the weekends.”

Panic flickered hard in my chest. “I thought this was just an interview.”

“Did I forget to tell you? Mr. Freniere wants you to start right away.”

The cart stopped in front of wide stone steps. Sebastian led me inside without another word. The foyer alone was bigger than my entire house. Marble floors. High ceilings. Everything quiet and cold.

He walked me down a long hallway and stopped at a dark wooden door. He knocked once, then opened it.

“She’s here, sir.”

The office was dim. Heavy curtains blocked most of the light. A large desk sat near the far wall. Behind it, a man in a black suit read through a stack of papers.

He looked up.

Early thirties. Dark hair. Sharp features. Eyes that felt like they cut straight through the low light. His expression stayed flat, almost bored, but something underneath it made my skin prickle.

Sebastian stepped back and closed the door behind him. The soft click sounded too loud.

I suddenly remembered the long drive and the way I had been gripping my bag. My clothes were wrinkled. I tried to smooth the front of my blouse with one hand while keeping the other tight on the strap of my purse.

Mr. Freniere set the papers down and leaned back in his chair. He did not speak. He just looked at me.

The silence stretched. His gaze moved slowly from my face down to my shoes and back up again. It felt deliberate. Heavy. Like he was cataloguing every detail and finding most of them lacking.

Heat crept up my neck. I had the sudden, stupid urge to cross my arms over my chest even though I was fully dressed.

“You’re my new maid?”

His voice was low. Calm. Controlled.

“Y-yes, sir.”

He stood. The chair scraped softly. He walked around the desk without hurry and began to circle me. Slow steps. No sound except the faint shift of his shoes on the carpet. I kept my eyes forward, but I could feel him behind me, then to the side, then in front again. Every pass made the air feel tighter.

He stopped close enough that I caught the clean scent of his cologne. Expensive. Cold.

My pulse hammered in my throat. I forced myself to stay still even though every instinct told me to step back.

He studied my face one last time.

“Okay. You’re hired.”

The breath I had been holding left me in a quiet rush. Relief hit first. Then a strange, uneasy flutter.

That was it? No questions about experience. No paperwork. Just those three words and the weight of his eyes still on me.

At least I had the job.

He turned back toward the desk and spoke without looking at me again.

“Start by cleaning my room. I want it spotless.”

The moment I stepped out of the office Sebastian was already waiting, smiling like nothing unusual had just happened.

“So, how was it?”

“Your boss is scary.”

He chuckled. “Our boss.” He started walking. “Come on. I’ll show you around the house first, introduce you to the people you’ll be working with, and then I’ll show you his room.”

I nodded and fell into step beside him. The hallway stretched forever, all polished floors and quiet expensive things. Halfway down I finally remembered the most important question.

“Wait. I never asked. How much is the salary again?”

He named a number that made my steps falter.

My mouth actually dropped open. I had never held that much money at once in my life. Every paycheck I earned barely covered rent, medicine, and whatever was left of the grocery list. This single job paid more than both of my current ones combined.

It felt unreal. The timing of everything felt unreal.

We turned a corner and I forced myself to focus again.

“This is Mrs. Lyle,” Sebastian said. “She’s the head housekeeper. She’ll give you your assignments and your schedule.”

The woman in front of me looked about sixty, white hair pulled into a neat bun, soft wrinkles around her mouth. She smiled when she saw me.

“Hi, dear. If you ever need help with anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

She seemed kind. Warm, even.

Then she turned to Sebastian. “Where is she assigned?”

“She’s Mr. Freniere’s personal.”

The light in her eyes dimmed at once.

“Oh,” she said quietly.

I blinked. That reaction felt wrong.

She looked back at me and smiled again, but this time it never reached her eyes. It looked careful. Almost pitying.

“Well then. Good luck, dear.”

She walked past me. Her shoulder brushed mine lightly on the way by.

What was that about?

Sebastian just kept smiling. “Let’s continue.”

He led me through the rest of the mansion. Room after room. Hallways that seemed to multiply. By the time we finished I was sitting on the bottom step of a massive staircase massaging my sore feet.

If Mrs. Lyle’s reaction had been strange, the other housekeepers were worse. One of them openly rolled her eyes when Sebastian introduced me. Another muttered something under her breath the second we walked away.

I didn’t care. They could hate me all they wanted. If this paycheck meant I never had to choose between medicine and rent again, their opinions meant nothing.

Sebastian waited until I stood up. “Ready to see your room before I take you to his?”

I nodded.

I expected him to lead me downstairs toward the staff quarters. Instead, he started climbing. We went all the way to the fourth floor and turned right. A set of tall double doors stood at the end of the hall. The master’s suite, I assumed. But before we reached them he stopped at a smaller door on the left, pulled a key from his pocket, and unlocked it.

The room inside was quiet and neat. Not large, but bigger than anything in the regular maid’s quarters. A medium bed. A dresser. A small television. A mini fridge. Wide windows that looked straight out over the lake.

“This is your room.”

I stared. “I’m not staying with the other staff?”

“No. You’ll stay here. If Mr. Freniere needs you, you can use this door.” He pointed to a second door right beside the bed.

I had thought it was the bathroom. It was a connecting door. Straight into his room.

“Okay,” I said carefully.

“Bathroom is the other one.” He pointed across the room as if he had read my mind. “You can change now.”

“I didn’t bring clothes.”

“There are clothes in the dresser. Uniform too.” He left without another word, closing the door behind him.

I walked to the dresser and pulled it open.

Everything inside was soft. Thin. Most of it looked closer to lingerie than anything I would clean in. I shrugged and grabbed the first thing that looked like a uniform. In the mirror it seemed like it might fit, so I put it on.

It didn’t.

The fabric clung too tight across my chest and waist. The skirt barely reached mid-thigh and rode up the second I moved. I glared at my reflection. I was only five-two. Whoever this belonged to must have been built like a teenager.

“That’s good enough.”

I jumped. Sebastian had come back without a sound and now stood in the bathroom doorway watching me.

“It’s too small.”

“No. That’s fine. Wear these with it.” He held out a pair of thigh-high socks and simple black shoes.

It felt more like a costume than a uniform. I put them on anyway.

“Hair up.”

I twisted it into a messy bun.

He looked me over from head to toe. His gaze lingered at the hem of the skirt.

“Are you wearing shorts underneath?”

My hands moved to the spot he was staring at before I could stop them. I nodded.

“Take them off.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

“They look tacky.”

“How am I supposed to clean in a skirt this short if—”

“Take them off. He wouldn’t like that.”

I swallowed hard and looked down at myself. Without the shorts even a small movement would flash everything underneath.

This felt like some kind of quiet humiliation.

I turned slightly, hooked my thumbs under the waistband, and slid the shorts down carefully so he wouldn’t see more than necessary. Once they were off he looked me over again, slower this time.

“Good enough. Let’s go.”

My face burned. I followed him out of the room with my arms pressed tight to my sides, trying to keep the skirt from riding higher.

He pushed open the tall double doors to the master bedroom and my mouth fell open.