That little mischief, she thought as she looked down at the young boy. But charming indeed.

Admittedly, she was slightly taken aback when her young master complimented her looks. For her, she looked average. Probably, beautiful among her kind, but not exactly good enough for these rich people.

But then, Caleb was young. He likely saw most women as gorgeous and attractive. She doubted if she had been any exception.

"Hey, my little Romeo. Slow down..." Out of the corner of her eyes, she found a familiar man walking toward them. Then, the man stopped at the table and joined them.

From the way he looked at the young boy with a wide smile and amusement reflecting in his eyes, she could only assume he had heard their little conversation.

"Uncle Benjie, join us," Caleb shouted as he ran toward the younger version of his father.

From what she could remember from her mother’s stories, Oliver was the older son, Marianne was the second child, and Benjie was the youngest.

All three kids of the Morton family inherited their mother’s gorgeous features and intelligence. In the meantime, they got their athletic attributes and their strong personality from their father.

"Stay away from Benjie." Her mother’s words suddenly rang in her brain, reminding her to keep her distance.

It was not as if she had met him just now. Actually, she had known Benjie for some time. She first met him when she was just eight, while Benjie must have been ten.

It was the first time her mother, Maria, brought her to the estate. She could still vividly remember how she had accidentally tripped on a rock and slipped on the grassy ground while playing alone in the garden.

Her knees sustained some scrapes that made her skin turn red. In pain, she cried, but no one was around to help her. Her mother was in the kitchen preparing a meal.

Until.

"Don’t cry." A voice came from behind her. "Let me help you." Then, a young boy knelt before her, saying soothing words to ease her pain. Then, when she finally stopped crying, he helped her back on her feet and guided her back to the kitchen, into her mother’s arms.

At that time, she thought of him as her guardian angel. He had this ethereal, handsome face that was both calming and pleasing to the eyes.

Of course, that was back then. She was a child. She still didn’t know better.

Now, she knew she had to stay away from him because he was bad news.

"I have to go back to my work." She excused herself before she embarrassed herself even more.

"So soon." Benjie slightly blocked her path, but she quickly skirted around him.

Caleb also pleaded for her to stay, but she declined, knowing she had a job to do. She could not slack around and cosy up with her boss’s son.

Besides, she felt uncomfortable at the way Benjie had been staring at her. Again, she believed he was trouble with a capital T.

A few minutes later, she walked into the upper hallways, ready to clean up one of the guest rooms. From the buzz downstairs, someone was coming to visit and would probably stay for a few days.

"Get yourself busy." She muttered as her hands grabbed the bucket of cleaning materials and walked straight into the bathroom.

First order of business was cleaning the trash.

"Damn!’ What was wrong with these people? Disgusted and mildly irritated with whoever had last used this room. But from what she heard, nobody was actually assigned to this room.

Meaning, somebody was secretly using this room without anyone’s knowledge. It figured since it was in the farthest side of the east wing. This side was usually reserved for guests.

"Eeewww!" Of course, she had seen some nasty shits before, but she still couldn’t get used to it. Slowly, with the use of gloves, she picked up several used condoms that were haphazardly thrown on the bathroom floor.

After what seemed to be forever, she emerged from the tiled room, feeling satisfied. Everything was sparkling clean, just like it should be.

Working for the Morton estate was not something she would be ashamed of. After all, it was a decent job that paid well. Even if it meant cleaning up after their trash.

She could use every penny she earned from this gig for her education. Someday, she planned to give her mother a bright future. One that would not require her mother to serve anyone else but herself.

"This is for Mom." It was just the two of them. Her father died when she was young, so her mother had to raise her by herself.

Although she had secured a full scholarship at one of the top universities in the state, she still needed an income for her daily expenses.

Her mother earned a good salary from the Morton family, but between the house mortgage, their daily expenses, and her father’s hospital debts, their family was still short on cash.

"What’s that?" As she moved in the room, ready to scrub the floors and change the bed sheets, she noticed something on the dresser table.

"Oh my..." She gasped when her eyes landed on large sparkling stones, just lying there on the wooden surface.

It was a thick gold necklace with a humongous diamond pendant that probably cost more than her life. She remembered hearing the other maids talking about million-dollar pieces of jewelry that the Madam owned.

"Was this one of them?" She silently asked, as her hands gradually lowered to the glistening piece before retracting her hands again, afraid that she might dirty it or scratch the delicate, priceless piece.

Eventually, curiosity got the better of her as she finally held it in her fingers. Intrigued by what it would feel like to touch such a rare treasure.

If not now, she might never get the chance. So, she held the beautiful necklace up close to her face until the stone glittered against the light.

"Who could have left this here?" She wondered, finding it hard that someone could forget such an expensive item.

For a few seconds, she was transfixed as her eyes stared at its beauty, elegance, and workmanship.

"I did." A man’s voice spoke by the door. "Why don’t you try it on?"