ONE: AN UNUSUAL PROPOSAL.

“Would you like to get married to me?”

Several heads turned in the same direction as Frank Xavier uttered those strange words.

They probably wouldn’t have sounded as strange as it did if they weren’t coming from one of the biggest billionaire and largest business tycoons the city had to offer to a mere maid that worked in his mansion.

“Eh?” Elaine, one of the numerous maids that lived off the Xavier family stuttered as her master uttered those words to her. “Sir, I-”

Swallowing, she looked around her. Her day was definitely taking a way dramatic turn than she had expected. She had woken that morning with the intention to simply carry out her day’s duty as a maid in the Xavier mansion when she had accidentally fell from a ladder to fall right at the feet of her master, Frank Xavier.

It was embarrassing but luckily the master didn’t have too much to say. He only complimented her which though was weird, she read no meaning to and then instead of leaving quietly, uttered such words that seemed impossible to believe he even said.

“What’s your name?”

“I- It’s,” she was still stuttering as she replied him. “Elaine. It’s Elaine, master.”

"Elaine," he stared deeper at her. "A beautiful name for a beautiful girl."

"Thanks for the flattery, sir. I am honoured," Elaine seemed flushed.

“You don’t have to me,” he smiled lightly. “You are quite beautiful. How did it take this long for me to notice you?”

True to his words, Elaine was a beauty. With warm ivory skin with red lips and golden brown hair that highlighted her beautiful green eyes, she was indeed a beauty. Her cheeks now flushed either from the array of firsthand compliments from the Master himself or from the embarrassment of being the center of attraction, were a bright shade of red that reminded Frank of the fresh roses laying by his bedside. Dressed in her regular maid outfit with a cleaning brush in her hand, she looked rather dishevelled, her constant biting of her lips not helping matters.

“So back to my words,” he continued with an exhale. “You are beautiful and trust me, I don’t think I’ll be able to get you out of my head so easily after laying my eyes on you which brings me to my question. Would you like to get married to me, Elaine?”

“Eh?” Elaine couldn’t help but begin to feel nervous. It was unreal yet was beginning to sound real. The master interested in her? Truly, she was beautiful, she was aware of that but that didn’t seem like a good enough reason for him to take interest in her. She might have been a beauty but there were even more beautiful ladies scattered all around the city.

She knitted her eyebrows in even more confusion. The master? Frank Xavier? CEO and founder of the Xavier Group? How? It made no sense to her. Why would he be interested in her of all the ladies in the world? He was one of the top billionaires in the country and she was nothing more than an orphan maid.

“But sir,” she dared to utter her next words. “You are married, sir.”

It was crazy. Not only was he married to Mya Xavier, a billionairess who perfectly matched his social status, he also had a child, Alexander Xavier who was living up to his family’s name by quickly climbing up the ladder of the success. They were an extremely influential family and she was sure as hell, she would never fit in with them.

“Doesn’t matter,” he smiled weirdly at her. “It doesn’t matter if I already have a wife or a child. I’m interested in you at the moment and that’s all that should matter.”

“Master Sir,” Elaine was at a loss for words. It was all happening so fast. “I’m honor-“

“Look, Elaine,” he leaned closer. “Come closer. Do I like you and want to most likely marry you, yes. But do I intend on forcing you, definitely no. The choice is yours. Do you want to accept the Frank Xavier’s proposal and get married to him? Do you want to become my bride? Do you want to become part of this family? A Xavier?”

Elaine gulped. “I-“

Frank Xavier leaned backwards and laughed. “The choice is yours. No worries, I will give you time to think about it. However, bear in mind that Frank Xavier is not a very patient person and he always gets what he wants.”

Elaine raised her head to meet Frank smiling. She managed a smile in return, her head no longer bowed. “Okay, I’ll think about it then.”

---

“So you are asking me to accept the master’s proposal and get involved with him and I don’t know, get married to him?”

It had to be the first time in years since Elaine had been working at the Xavier she felt so lost and confused.

With a sigh escaping her lips, she adjusted her sitting position in the garden. At least a hundred thoughts had been running through her mind since she woke up and they only seemed to be increasing with every passing second.

“Yes!” Lacy, a fellow maid and her only friend in the mansion exclaimed at her. “You definitely should.”

After pouring her heart out over the crazy things that happened in such a brief period of time to her only friend, Lacy had quickly made a decision, advising she accept Frank Xavier’s proposal.

“I do not know, Lacy. You are literally all I have,” Elaine replied. “I don’t have parents to ask. Relatives to talk to. It’s just me and myself to make such a huge decision.”

Elaine sighed. Growing up wasn’t easy for her and she’d told herself she wasn’t going to be getting the luxuries of life- just the basics needed to go by each day was fine.

Her parents died while she was still growing up. Her father died when she was two, her mother said. She was so young she had no memories of him except for the ones her mother painted in her head through stories. Whenever she called her father the best father in the whole world, her heart ached. Not because it was a lie but because she couldn’t experience what it felt like to have the best father in the world first hand.

She was eleven when her mum bid her an eternal goodbye. She was ill and getting food to eat was hard enough not to talk of getting medicine. That faithful day, Elaine had gone out to seek for food. Luckily, she got bread and headed home excitedly to feed her ill mother.

The day’s event was still vivid in Elaine’s memory. No screaming or wailing could wake her sleeping mother.

She was left all alone and had lost all hope until Madame Betty found her roaming the market and took her in to work as a maid in the Xavier mansion.

“Elaine,” Lacy’s voice shook her out of her thoughts. “What are you thinking about?”

“Eh? Oh, nothing,” Elaine replied, without thinking. “You know just, all of these.”

Lacy smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You know what, forget everything I said. You said the master’s not forcing you, right? Then do not feel pressured. Just do whatever makes you happy because at the end, that’s all really going to matter. If you’re happy, I’ll be happy too.”

Elaine smiled back at Lacy and hugged her. “Thanks, Lacy.”

Before they could exchange more words, Madame Betty appeared out of nowhere. Dressed in her normal cream colored gown, her blonde hair tied up in a fancy hairstyle with hands sitting comfortably on her waist.

“I see that the mansion is now a place where you can lurk around and chit chat all you want.”

They both flew to their feet, hands flying to their backs. Their reply was in unison. “No, Madame Betty.”

“Hurry up and leave here then, will you,” she said in her usual tone. “There’s plenty of work to do!”

They both bowed and turned to leave.

“Elaine,” she called out, Elaine stopping. “You come back. I want to have a word with you.”

“Yes, Madame.”

After Lacy was out of sight, Madame Betty began.

“How are you, child?” she began with a smile. “Of course you wouldn’t be able to work right now. You’re still quite surprised by everything happening, right?”

“Eh? Elaine widened her eyes. It happened barely 48 hours ago so there was no way word had spread that fast, right? “Do you-”

“Of course, I do. You must have forgotten but word spreads rather quickly amongst the workers here,” Madame Betty said, chuckling lightly as she adjusted her sitting position. “So tell me, has the master really asked you to be his wife?”

Elaine nodded shyly. “Not really but- Yes.”

“Wow, that’s splendid!” Madame Betty said in a rather excited voice. “That beauty of yours. I was captivated the very first I set my eyes on you too.”

“I’m honoured. Thank you for your kindness.”

Madame Betty laughed. “So, tell me, what is it? What’s the matter now? You know you can talk to me, right? About absolutely anything.”

Elaine was silent for a while. “I do not know, Madame Betty. What do you think? Am I to accept the proposal?”

“Oh, child,” Madame Betty drew closer. “What are you exactly scared of?”

“Everything,” Elaine let out. “The master wants to get involved with me. A mere maid. Frank Xavier wants to get involved with me. I don’t know but he was saying marriage. He wants to get married to a mere maid. A servant. Me!”

“And that scares you?”

“Is it not supposed to?”

Madame Betty smiled. “I understand you but trust me you shouldn’t be scared. The master’s in love with you and wants to marry you.”

Love? Did she deserve something like that? For her love was a luxury. One of the luxuries she had concluded she could not have.

And Frank Xavier was in love with her? Was that really how love worked? He barely knew her and vice versa. He worked him and she respected him but love? Marriage?

“You might be thinking you’re young and unfamiliar with all these but it’s not much of a big deal,” Madame Betty continued. “Look at this from this angle. You are a maid and the master is interested in you. Think about it, does this happen frequently? It’s an extremely rare opportunity and I think more than anything you should grab it. Think about the things it will change. A regular no name girl and a Xavier. Do you really want to let go of this opportunity?”

Elaine was silent. Truthfully, it was a rare opportunity. An opportunity to change her life forever. Perhaps, life was finally about to give her her own share of happiness.

Accepting Frank Xavier’s proposal was going to mean and change a lot. She might not harbour any feelings for him at the moment but just maybe the way he fell in love with her at first sight, she would look at him one morning and do the same.

“And,” Madame Betty resumed. “You know very well he can decide to force you to get married to him but here he is giving you a choice. If you are smart enough, you’ll know well that the chance he is giving you is not a chance for you to reject him. Imagine the fuss it will create. Frank Xavier proposed to a maid and she rejected him! Do you really want to be the subject of such news?”

“But he already has a family…”

“And you think he wasn’t aware of that when he asked you to join? Do you think arranged marriages are even a big deal? His son, Alexander would most likely end up in an arranged marriage. Dominique too. That’s just how things are around here,” Madame Betty clapped her hands. “And isn’t working at the mansion all your life a bit boring? Do you not want a little drama? I’m pretty sure he doesn’t mean automatically getting married to you. Just becoming his. The possibilities are endless. Education? A lot of the girls I’ve met around here have all wanted to at least graduate high school or college. If that’s what you also want, you’ll be able to get it within a blink of an eye. Everything. Anything you could ever want.”

“Madame Betty,” Elaine called out, watching a mischievous grin make its way to Madame’s Betty’s face.

“Yes, honey,” she got up. “That’s all I have to say to you, Elaine. The choice is yours. Make it wisely.”

Elaine got up too. “Sure. Thank you, Madame Betty.”

“Of course,” Madame Betty smiled at her. “Elaine Xavier?”

“Madame Betty!”

She laughed at her. “I trust you will make a good decision.”