CHAPTER 2

"Why is my breakfast not ready?" Gemma demanded Sofia who was cleaning the floor the following morning. 

"I was busy cleaning the house." Sofia gritted her teeth as she wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead. Aside from making them go to sleep so late at night and making their sleep restless, they had to wake up at 4am to start working at their designated posts. They were even much earlier than the mansion's servants who were required to wake up at 5:30 am! To be exact, they were allowed to sleep as much as they wanted as long as they were done with their morning chores before Gemma woke up. 

The woman was unnecessarily gentle to the servants who didn't even deserve it. Why was it that when it came to them, she treated them so harshly? 

Gemma looked down at her. "Cleaning the house? That's no excuse for you to not do your work on time. Where the hell  is Olivia?" 

As soon as she spoke, Olivia exited the kitchen running, flour covering her hair and clothes.

Gemma's lips twitched in displeasure. "You will need to replace all the flour you have wasted by bathing in it. Get my breakfast ready right away." She ordered, and Olivia had no choice but to go and finish cooking. It was something she had done before so she was sure to get it ready before Gemma yelled at her for being late. 

As Gemma made her way past Sofia, she shoved the bucket with her heel slightly and it fell, making the water splash all over the floor that Sofia was almost done cleaning. 

The latter wanted to complain, but was cut off by Gemma. "I got you out of that kind of life, Sofia. But I will take you back bit by bit." She smirked her red lipsticked lips and sauntered to the dining room to await her breakfast. 

Olivia had a perfectly working brain, because she didn't try anything she shouldn't and brought Gemma a delicious spread of meals for breakfast. There was even a variety of the fruits that she liked. 

Gemma saw through her right away and smiled to herself. No wonder this woman had schemed against her so many times in the past. She knew when to pretend to be nice and when to seek shelter on the right side. She was doing everything she was told, hoping that Gemma would not send them packing. 

Not that she was planning to—at least not before making them pay. Besides, what she enjoyed most was giving them a ray of hope only to trample on their backs before they could crawl their way back up. 

"I expect my dinner to be ready by the time I'm home." She instructed as she prepared to leave for work. 

"Cora, call all the servants here." She called a maid who was making trouble for Sofia who was  cleaning the floor. 

"Yes, ma'am." The maid named Cora—who was also the Head maid—straightened up to go and call the others. 

"You do not have to call me madam. I'm not married to anyone. Just call me master." Gemma instructed. 

"Yes master." Cora bowed her head as she quickly adjusted to the new order, then rushed out of the room. 

She soon returned, leading all the servants who then bowed their heads. 

"You have all been working hard. Especially you, Cora." Gemma started, making them panic. They had heard these words before and it didn't end well. 

"Master, please don't fire us. I will work harder, I promise." Cora apologized vehemently, speaking on behalf of the rest as well. They were on the verge of falling on their knees when they heard her laugh. 

"Come on, why would I fire you? On the contrary, I'm giving you a salary increment. All of you." She shifted her gaze over all of them, seeing the disbelief in their eyes.

Her serious gaze signified that she was not joking, and they were baffled at how fast the situation had taken a turn. 

"Thank you, master." They thanked her one after another. 

"On top of that, you can all go home for a week to visit your families or friends. You can leave right away." She added. 

"Thank you master!" She had always been kind but she had never given them a whole week off, so they were excited.

Recalling that some of them did not have family, she added, "If you don't have anyone to visit, it's okay to stay and have fun with me. Cora, stay behind, the rest of you may leave." 

The servants cheered and tried to hold back their squeals as they rushed back to pack. 

"Cora, change into your casual clothes, let's go out together." She instructed as she stood up, ignoring Sofia who was looking at her hopefully to be given a week off too. 

How stupid, she thought. Why would she give the Black family time off when they were the reason why she was giving the servants a week off? 

"Master, I…" Cora couldn't comprehend why she was being told to change into casual clothes. 

"Don't worry. You can dress up as you like." Gemma rubbed her head and wondered when this act was going to end. 

She waited for the latter to change into a simple dress, then they went to a shopping mall. 

"Master, is there anything you need? I will get it for you." Cora offered, deliberately exaggerating it. 

"Let's go. Also, don't call me master. It's suffocating me." Gemma said as they stepped out of the car. 

Cora burst into laughter. "What do you expect me to do? Aren't you my boss now?" 

"Drop it as soon as we are alone. Please." Gemma chuckled along, picking her ears as though the word was making her ears hurt. 

"Speaking of which, Gemma, what are you trying to do?" Cora asked, her demeanor completely changed from that of a maid, back to her friend.

"If there is anything I learnt from that place we worked before, that would be how to torture." Gemma grinned. 

They had once worked as maids for an aristocratic family before, and that was where their friendship began. Even though they were friends, Cora had insisted on working for her at her house instead of taking up a job she was qualified for at her company, Gem Bliss. 

Trying not to think about their  dark past, Gemma led the other into the mall. 

"I thought we agreed on not becoming the people we hate," Cora tried to remind her. 

"They are a special case." Gemma bit the inside of her cheek. Some people were too evil to be ignored. 

As soon as Sofia made sure that Gemma was not returning, she threw the rag that she was using to clean the floor aside and slumped onto the nearest couch. 

"That woman is gone." She let out a tired sigh and wanted to sleep on the couch, since they could no longer access their former rooms. The damned woman had even had the servants throw their belongings into the servants quarters. 

"We should report her to the police." Noah suggested. He was so tired from trimming the hedges that he wanted nothing more than to fall asleep. That woman was not a witch. She was the devil. 

Before he could think up what to tell the police, Olivia left the kitchen to scold him." For what? Don't forget that this is her house. We don't have a place to go."

"Damn it. She kicked me out of the company. I would have stolen some funds to help us start out." Noah ran a hand through his hair. How could that woman suddenly turn so smart? They had made her bow her head for so many years that they were convinced of her being too dumb for her own good. When did she suddenly grow brains? 

"What will we do now?" Sofia was on the verge of crying. She didn't want to have to cook dinner. It wasn't because she had never done it before, but because she didn't want to go back to that kind of lifestyle. They had been enjoying the luxury for so long that they forgot it was all Gemma's. 

Thinking about it, she shot up. "Didn't Ethan steal anything from her? He should have accumulated a hefty sum by now, right?" 

Noah frowned at her. "If he did, we wouldn't be under that witch's control. Now that I think about it, she has had us under control for all these years. We just didn't realize it." 

"We have to obey her. That's our only choice." Olivia said resolutely, earning a laugh from her daughter. 

"You want us to be her slaves?!" She would rather die than be that woman's slave. 

"Of course not! We only have to fool her for a while." Olivia's lips curled into a sinister smile. How could she agree to permanently work for the woman who her son had fooled for ages? Besides, she still strongly believed that it was Gemma who had caused Ethan's death. 

"We will poison her food." Sofia added with a triumphant laugh, forgetting that it was easier said than done. 

They returned to their jobs, invigorated since they now knew what to do. They had much more work to do since they had the humongous mansion to clean on their own, as well as several other chores. The maids had left, and the few remaining ones didn't dare to help them out after learning that it was Gemma's intention for them to work on their own. 

By evening, they were so tired that they would fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows, but Sofia tried her best to remain steady and welcome Gemma. 

"Gemma, your dinner is ready. Would you like to eat first or take a shower first?" She asked the woman who had just walked in while trying to hide her nervousness.

"What did you just call me?" Gemma's eyes narrowed. 

"Master…" Sofia corrected herself immediately, while Cora tried to hold her laughter. 

"Good. What did you cook?" Gemma asked as she headed to the dining room, not listening to the list that Sofia was rumbling behind her. 

She sat down at the table while Cora insisted on continuing to pretend to be a maid, so she rushed to the servants' quarters to order takeout. 

Gemma glanced at the spread of food with her favorites included, and stared at the marinated roast chicken that Sofia had served her. "Why don't you have a taste? I want to know whether it's fast-working poison or slow poison that you added in it." She signalled at the bowl of soup. 

"I didn't…" 

"Then go ahead and drink it." She smirked, and because her gaze was intense, Sofia had no choice but to lift the bowl to her mouth with trembling hands.