You Are Not the Lady of the House

Dimitri glared at Laura with anger, but it wasn't directed at her in that moment. He was upset with himself for not being able to forget the love he felt for her.

"Today, I will have a guest for dinner, and you will be the one to serve us. You must wear a uniform, like all the maids in this house, but you will only do it when I order you to. The rest of the time, you can dress as you please."

Laura's stomach made a strange noise at that moment. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten. Instinctively, she brought her hands to her stomach.

"Come down to eat. This will be the only time you eat without having worked first. It's also the only time the staff of this house will prepare your food. From now on, you must prepare your own meals."

Dimitri turned to leave the room quickly. He didn't know how long he could keep up this act in front of her. It was pure performance, so she wouldn't realize how much he longed to kiss her lips, to caress her body.

Luke had been a ruthless man before meeting Laura, known as the fearsome Night Wolf by his business adversaries. He didn't hesitate to be ruthless if someone dared to contradict his orders. Only in front of her had he softened. Now he regretted it.

She had used his weaknesses to hurt him, and it had cost him his life and his family. He missed his parents a lot, but he couldn't just show up in front of them and say he had been reincarnated; they would think he was a madman trying to take his son's place.

Laura wanted to go down to eat; she was too hungry. But she was in her underwear, and she didn't know if her clothes were still there. Dimitri had left the main bedroom for her; he had adapted a room for himself at the end of the hallway.

The farther away he was from her at night, the less temptation he would feel to be with her.

She went to the bathroom. When she opened the wardrobe, she noticed her clothes were still there; when she had left, she had taken only a few.

She took a quick shower, put on comfortable pants and a T-shirt, wore flat shoes, and tied her long hair into a high ponytail.

She went down to the kitchen shortly after, surprised to see that the house staff was the same. The housekeeper approached her.

"Ma'am, I'm very sorry for what's happening. Mr. Petrov is our new boss and has given precise instructions. He allowed me to cook just this once for you. I prepared your favorite dish."

Laura thanked the housekeeper and tasted the food. It tasted glorious to her, partly due to the hunger she felt and because it was her favorite.

Then the housekeeper served her a slice of lemon pie, Luke's favorite.

"You still remember. It was his favorite," she said with deep sadness.

"I could never forget that it was Mr. Luke's favorite, but it's also Mr. Dimitri's favorite now. He even asks me to prepare the same dishes that were his favorites."

All of this bothered Laura. That man seemed to want to imitate Luke in everything. He dressed the same way, sometimes spoke similarly to him, Ares had become his pet, and now it turned out he had the same taste in food.

"He's mentally ill, no doubt."

"Ma'am, don't let him hear you say that. He'll be upset with you, and he might impose a punishment."

Dimitri entered the kitchen at that moment, raising an eyebrow as he observed the two women in a suspicious attitude.

"If you've finished eating, put her to do something useful, like washing the dishes. Remember that I've asked you to treat her like an employee. She is not the lady of the house and never will be."

After saying this, he immediately left. The housekeeper stayed silent; she didn't dare ask Laura to participate in the cleaning. After all, even if Petrov didn't accept it, she was truly the lady of the house.

"Don't worry; I'll wash the dishes. We have to please this man so he won't get upset."

Shortly after, Dimitri's car could be heard leaving. Laura left the dishes aside to approach the housekeeper. She spoke to her in whispers, not wanting the other employees to find out about her request.

"I need you to do me a big favor, but Dimitri mustn't find out. I'll give you an address; you have to go to that hospital and find out how my son is doing. Look for my grandmother in the pediatric area."

"Of course, ma'am."

"You must tell my grandmother that I'm fine, that I'll contact her at any moment, that she shouldn't worry and should take good care of my son. I don't know if I can give her your phone number so she can message me and let me know how my son is doing."

"If the boss finds out, it won't go well for me, but I'll take the risk for the sake of your son."

"Thank you very much. You don't know how important this is to me."

Laura continued with what she was doing, feeling relieved to know that the housekeeper would help her. She could find out about her son's condition after the surgery. She smiled at the thought of his sweet smile; for her, it was the most beautiful in the world.

At night, the housekeeper handed Laura the service uniform, just as her boss had requested.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. The boss has asked that you be the one to attend to him and his guest tonight. She has already arrived."

"It's okay; I'll go up to change. I'll be down to attend to them shortly."

Laura came down shortly after. Before entering the kitchen, she could hear laughter coming from the dining room. She thought she recognized the woman's voice. She sighed deeply, hoping she was wrong; otherwise, she was sure to have a hard time.

The housekeeper handed her the tray with the dishes. She headed straight to where Dimitri and his guest were. Upon entering the dining room, she realized she wasn't mistaken.

Next to Dimitri was Sarah, looking very beautiful. She had made an effort in her appearance, smiling while her hand was placed on the Russian's arm, and he seemed very pleased with it.

"It's about time you brought the dishes. Hurry up and serve them; my guest is waiting."

Laura pressed her lips, annoyed by the complicity between the two. It seemed they had teamed up to humiliate her all the time.

She approached Sarah to serve her dish, but before placing it on the table in front of her, it slipped from her hands, spilling its contents onto her fine dress.

"What's wrong with you? You're stupid, useless. Look what you've done to my dress. Now clean it."

Laura took a towel and began to spread the stain over the entire dress instead of cleaning it. Dimitri observed everything; Sarah's expression was about to make him burst into laughter.

He couldn't stand her. He sought her out only because she gave him information about how Laura's life had been during that time. It was easy for her to talk too much, especially when it came to her sister, whom she clearly hated.

"You're useless! Step away. You're not even good for this. I'll clean my dress myself," Sarah walked away to the bathroom, while Laura hurried to clean up the mess she had caused.

"You did it on purpose; I saw it. I should impose a punishment. I think you should work hard to be able to pay Sarah for that dress, which, as you know, is fine. I bought it especially for her at one of the best stores."

"I don't need you to give me that information, and of course, I won't pay for that dress. It was an accident."

"Then you'll have to apologize, and do it sincerely. Sarah is my guest, and the staff cannot make her feel bad while she's in my house."

Sarah returned at that moment, taking her place next to Dimitri.

"You can't allow this kind of behavior among your employees, dear."

"Of course not, so Laura, apologize," Sarah smiled broadly upon hearing that. Dimitri was placing her far above her sister.

"I apologize, Miss," Laura would have liked to tell her sister to go to hell, but she remembered that she had to behave for her son's sake.

"All right, but it shouldn't happen again. My visits to this house will be frequent, and I don't want to have a problem like this again. I hope you understand."

Laura wanted to cry out of frustration. Her sister had turned into a hyena, and with the biggest vulture, they made her life impossible. Sarah left a couple of hours later, and Laura had to endure her flirting and laughter with disgust.

That night, while she slept, Laura had the same nightmare again—the moment when those men shot Luke repeated. She woke up agitated, screaming his name.

Dimitri, passing through the hallway at that moment, stopped when he heard her scream. He could clearly hear what she was saying.

"It seems that the guilt for what you did doesn't let you sleep peacefully. As long as I have you here, you won't be able to see your lover. I know that will hurt you even more than not seeing your son. I swear I will separate you from him. I will find that man and bring him before you. I'll torture him until you admit your guilt in my death. Maybe then I can rest in peace and move on to wherever the dead go."

He smiled bitterly at the thought. It was clear to him that he had come back for revenge. He couldn't find another explanation for his return. After all, he didn't believe it was common to inhabit another person's body. He didn't know if he could call it reincarnation.

He continued on his way to his room. After taking a shower, he fell into a deep sleep.

Days later, the housekeeper returned from her day off, feeling surprised by what she had discovered. She was sure Laura wouldn't believe it.

"Ma'am, please, don't tell the boss what I'm about to say. You know I really need this job to support my family financially."

"I don't understand. What have you discovered?"

Laura didn't understand what the housekeeper was referring to, but she could see that she was very surprised by something she had found.

"I went to that clinic and looked for your grandmother, just as you told me."

"And? What happened? Laura feared that something had happened to her son."

"Well, I asked for the room number pretending to be a relative, they gave it to me right away. The door was slightly ajar, and I heard your little son laughing. I peeked discreetly, and I realized there was a man playing with your son, while his grandmother watched."

"A man?" Laura thought it might be Lucas, but he had never shown interest in being close to his son.

"Yes, and you won't believe who it was."

"I have no idea, please tell me."

"It was Mr. Dimitri, I'm sure of it."

Laura was startled to hear that. She feared that the madman would come to harm her son. The worst part was that she couldn't tell him to stay away from her family. She had to find a way to escape from that place as soon as possible.