Frank had proposed a crazy scheme to make money. Mr. Sinclair was in the house. Either his wife wasn’t aware of his arrival, or she was too done with their marriage to care.
“Who? What? Uh, Mr. Sinc_” I stammered.
“Yes, you heard me right,” Frank said, rubbing his hands together. His eyes had the eerie glow of a supervillain. “Imagine what a billionaire would be willing to pay to an ordinary servant who exposes his cheating spouse? We can take a break from our mentally exhausting jobs and travel the world with all the money he’ll throw our way as a reward.”
“We can’t betray Mrs. Sinclair. She is the one who hired us. Won’t it be unfair to ruin her life instead of helping her make the right decision?” I argued.
“What?” Frank looked at me, indicating that he thought of me as a fool. She is not your biological mother. I thought you were here for money. Isn’t everything you are doing now for yourself?”
“Still...” I tucked my hair behind my ear, doubting my goodness. “There needs to be a limit. We can’t sell our souls for material gain. She confided in me for a reason. I can’t break her...”
“She is not an angel!” Frank cut me off. “She confided in you for her selfish reasons. That crazy woman wants to give her infant of sin her legitimate grown son’s name without his knowledge. Don’t you see how creepy that sounds? Doesn’t it make your skin crawl?”
“So you heard our entire conversation?” I questioned.
“Yes. I saw you two having a private conversation in the hallway from afar. I didn’t think much of it until she grabbed your hand and took you to the nearest locked room. When you two got inside, I put my ear on the door to eavesdrop. She was so afraid and extremely nice to you. So, I deliberately caused noise to make my presence known. I hoped to get a generous bribe to keep my lips sealed.” Frank turned his eyes skyward. “Turns out, she is only nice to new employees who have more to offer to their son. She yelled at and grabbed the collar of the wrong man.”
I couldn’t believe his need for revenge over such a trivial thing. That man continued to surprise me every day. Initially, I thought he was morally grey, but now he seemed to lean more towards the dark side. “You want to punish her for yelling at you?”
“Well, of course not.” Frank’s body language became more chaotic. “I am disappointed in you for thinking I am so basic. My super brain thinks beyond such unimportant things.” He sarcastically waved his hand at me. “News flash, missy. Mary Sinclair doesn’t have much to her name. The word around the estate is that her filthy rich husband made her sign a prenup before getting married. Back then, she must have thought that money was all she wanted. Now, she craves fresher meat. Things don’t always work out like we plan them.” Frank lowered his head and sighed. For a moment, I thought he had started feeling bad for Mary. “Well, to sum it up. Mr. Sinclair is our guy. And the only one among the two who can make dollar bills rain on us.”
I chewed my finger in confusion. Something inside me wanted to stay loyal to Mary Sinclair no matter what she did. Frank didn’t know how bad of a situation I was in before I had arrived on their property. I would probably be dead if it weren't for Mary Sinclair and Rose Montgomery.
“The prenup is an unsupported rumor. What if it’s not true? That way, we would have no money and get kicked out of a well-paying job,” I pointed out, hoping he would drop the evil idea of going after Mary Sinclair.
Frank squinted his eyes. It seemed like he was trying to study my mind or bring another point to the argument. “Oh, I see now!” He began. “You have been opposing my idea for so long for one reason alone. You already have your hand on the golden chest, so why would you seek lower than that?”
“What?” I spoke, staring stupidly at him with an open mouth.
“Don’t act so innocent.” Frank folded his arms and circled me. “Nathan is your fiancée. If you succeed in marrying him without signing a prenup, you’ll have more than you can ever ask for. What you don’t want is anyone blowing the chances of that ever happening. His mother would break off your engagement to him if she learned about your betrayal. Am I wrong, Amelia?”
I didn’t expect him to connect my unwillingness to another selfish reason. However, after he had put it all together, it made sense for him to think that about me. How would I defend myself before him? How would I assure him I was only a regular person struggling with my undead conscience? It wasn’t easy to make your way to happiness and success by climbing on top of whatever and whoever came in the way.
“Look. It may seem like that, but....” I started.
“Relax, girl.” He excitedly touched my arm. “I wouldn’t call you a fool for considering that. If you succeed in marrying Nathan without a prenup, I will start worshipping you and become your slave.”
I turned around, glaring at him. “Then why are you giving me a hard time about this? Why do we need to do this?”
Frank grabbed my shoulders from behind, bringing his voice down to a murmur close to my ear. “You are new here, sweetheart. I hate to burst your bubble, but you only think you have secured a lifetime of wealth and happiness. Rich people’s bank accounts are full, but not their hearts. They discard and replace people like toilet paper. They guard their secrets with all they have. We must take from them why we have a chance to survive. Money is nothing for them. All they care about is their reputation and filthy desires. I am not an idiot to walk up to Mr. Sinclair and tell him the truth. We’ll do this anonymously and very carefully. You’ll have to meet him and trust me to know it’s the best option for us.”