Chapter 41: Chapter 41

"It's because there's a valuable flower that I can't leave."

"A flower? What kind of flower?"

"Agatha.”

"Ugh! Ugh!" Agatha coughed when Vincent suddenly called her name. She grabbed the glass and emptied it in one go.

“You have sauce on the corner of your lips,” Vincent informed.

Lanceil, who was surprised when his brother called their maid suddenly, took a sharp breath.

'I thought the flower he's talking about was Agatha,' Lanceil thought.

“S-Sauce?” Agatha asked. She tried to wipe the sauce but failed.

Therefore, Lanceil leaned closer. He wiped the sauce from her mouth while saying, “ It’s here.”

After wiping the sauce, Lanceil licked his thumb.

Unable to speak for a moment, Agatha stared at Lanceil. Her face was all red.

‘I said that I will stop this feeling as soon as possible. How can I stop this when he’s being so sweet?!’ Agatha protested in her mind while looking at the man she likes.

Vincent watched them.

Jealousy is for a pathetic person, Vincent believed in this. Therefore, ever since he was compared with his brother, Vincent avoided things that would make his inferiority complex grow.

He can excel in his academics, but he chose to lie low.

He can work at his father's corporation and can compete against his brother for the Chairman’s position, but he chose a peaceful life and went far away.

Vincent doesn't want the feeling of coveting someone's property, especially when he knows that he has a chance to do it.

But now, his resolution kept on breaking down.

“Don’t ever do that again, brother,” Vincent murmured.

The maid and the boss looked at Vincent.

“It’s too much. Taking care of your maid was too much,” Vincent added. "And you, are you an idiot?" Vincent asked Agatha. He looked at her with contempt and added, "Can’t you wipe your own lips? Are you a kid?’

"W-What?" Agatha scoffed. She almost cursed Vincent in front of Lanceil but fortunately, she suppressed the foul words behind her lips.

'No. I must be overthinking. Vincent hates her so much so it's impossible,’ Lanceil concluded.

The dinner ended.

Agatha washed the plates before she went inside her room.

“Those brothers are crazy,” she said before she grabbed her phone.

Setting aside her role as a maid, Agatha has another thing to consider.

She sat on her bed and dialed Sebastian’s number. A few rings later, her best friend picked up the call.

“Sebastian, did you get home?”

[“Yes. I did. And you? Had dinner?”]

“You. My relatives and I had dinner together.”

[“With Britney? Your cousin?”]

“Y-Yeah. Anyway, we didn’t finish our conversation before. What was that again? My father was what?”

Sebastian breathed sharply before he answered Agatha.

[“My uncle believes that your father was murdered.”]

Shivers ran down her spine. It was hard for Agatha to accept her father’s sudden death. How about now that she learned someone purposely killed her father?

[“We have review class tomorrow night. I will tell you everything we found out.”]

“N-No. I think I can make time to meet in the morning. Do you have time tomorrow morning?”

[“Sure. I can make one. I’ll text you tomorrow.”]

“Okay. Thanks, Sebastian.”

[“Agatha.”]

“Hmmm?

[“Don’t worry too much. My Uncle and I will do our best to protect you. Good night.”]

Good night.

Agatha doesn’t think she will have a good night.

********* ************

The next morning, Agatha received a text from her boss.

["Vincnet and I will go out to jog. No need to prepare for our breakfast and lunch."]

Usually, Agatha would feel happy receiving a message from Lanceil. But ever since she heard from Sebastian the case about her father, she came to her senses.

This isn’t the time to love. She had to terminate the contract and live her own life.

Ding dong~

[“Milk and newspaper delivery!”]

Agatha walked towards the door. She opened it and grabbed the milk and newspaper which were delivered early in the morning.

As she lifted her head, she saw the woman next door, who was also the delivery in front of her house.

Agatha and Maxine looked at each other.

“Good morning,” Agatha greeted. “I heard from my boss that you helped me when I was sick.”

Standing up straight, Maxine crossed her arms. “You really don’t remember anything?”

“Yes. Sorry. But thank you so much for helping me.”

‘If she couldn’t remember anything, that means there’s no reason for me to kill her,’ Maxine thought.

Not saying anymore, Maxine went inside her condo and shut the door.

“She’s really rude,” Agatha whispered and then went back inside the condo unit.

Agatha arrived at the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and was about to put the milk inside of it. However, she read the label on the bottle that says: "Maxine Hubert."

"Maxine Hubert?" she said out loud. She stared at the wall that divided the two condominiums. "The delivery man made a mistake.”

Thus, Agatha walked out of the condominium. She stood in front of Maxine’s condo and pressed the doorbell.

Ding dong~

Ding dong~

She tapped her feet on the floor while waiting outside the quiet empty hallway.

The sounds echoed around, and the silence continued. Feeling frustrated, she pressed the doorbell again.

Ding dong~

"Excuse me! Ms. Neighbor! Can you open the door?!"

As her wish was granted, the door opened.

"What do you want?" Maxine asked in an irritated tone.

Since Maxine opened the door slightly, Agatha peeked at the tiny space between the door and the wall.

"The delivery man made a mistake. This milk bottle is yours; I think. Ms. Maxine Hubert?”

Maxine glanced at the bottle. "Keep it. I accidentally broke the other milk bottle. So, keep it," she added.

That's when Agatha looked down and saw her wounded right foot. From his foot's bridge to toe, there was weeping cut flesh in bloody red.

"Your foot," Agatha gasped, then continued speaking at a slow pace, "It is... bleeding."

"Yeah," Maxine said undertone and uninterested.

"The cut is so deep. Don't you think you should go to the hospital?" Agatha commented.

"I already told you that you shouldn't butt in other's business," Maxine coldly replied.

'The pride of this woman is really...' she said inwardly. Breathing sharply, Agatha responded, "I know. But still..."

"Just leave me alone," she retorted. "It's not even painful, so, go."

If there's a person who always goes by reverse psychology, it was Agatha. She would have just ignored her, but Agatha firmly believes in the law of equivalent exchange, so she wanted to show her gratitude by helping her.

"Wait a minute. I'll get something for you."

"Why would you? I declined your offer, didn't I?" Maxine said, quite annoyed.

"But when you helped me, you didn't ask for my permission too," she defended.

"Huh?" she uttered. Vertical lines appeared between her brows. 'What the hell is she saying?'

"You helped me without asking for my permission so I should do the same. So, stay here. Okay?"

Maxine was dumbfounded. She didn't have the chance to respond and shoo her away because she dashed inside Lanceil’s condominium.

Blinking swiftly, Maxine brushed her black soft hair. "Geez. She is so persistent, why can't she take a hint?" she heaved.

What was really her plan?

After a while, Agatha went back. She was thankful to see Maxine waiting for her.

"Here, take this."

Maxine slowly looked at the soft and white rolled thing on his hand. It is a clean bandage.

at

"I bought a lot of this, but I never had the chance to use it," Agatha said, "It's not like I want to have the chance to use it."

"..."

"Anyway..." She cleared her throat before continuing, "I hope your wound won’t get infected, Ms. Neighbor."

"..."

Agatha bid her goodbye and walked back inside the condo.

Looking back and forth at her wound and to the bandage on her hand, Maxine unexpectedly laughed.

"It's true though," she whispered, tightening his grip around the aid she received.

"That this little wound is not enough to hurt me at all. I don't have the right to feel the pain because I... I... I am..."

Unable to continue her words, she clenched the bandage on her hand – the hand that killed Agatha’s father.