Chapter 1: At First Sight

In a warm café, as the inviting aroma of freshly brewed coffee permeated the air, two beautiful ladies sat across from each other, dressed in quaint maid outfits.

The surface of the table between them was bare, as though their minds were preoccupied with something beyond the realm of pastries and lattes.

Sophia, looked like she had just woken up from a mid-day dream, while her friend Maya, stared at her with a scrutinizing gaze. The silence hung between them for a short moment before it was torn by Maya's direct query.

"Sophia, tell me right now. Why did you run out like that?" Her friend Maya asked in a calm voice.

Sophia's face reddened with a blush and she used her palms to furtively fan her hot face. She was flustered and blinked nervously.

"I'm telling you you, Maya, if I go back to that house, I might go crazy." Sophia shook her head without answering Maya's question directly.

"I'm not telling you to go back. I asked why you ran in the first place." Maya asked with a roll of her eyes.

Sophia's eyes shook slightly as she considered how to explain what happened...

She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly through her mouth before speaking.

"I saw the billionaire heir of the family." She finally said.

"What?" Maya blinked in surprise. "You saw him?"

A flicker of doubt crossed Maya's face. "How do you even know it was him?" She asked with skepticism.

"I just knew it, Maya. There's no way he's not the heir." Sophia's certainty shone through her eyes, as if an invisible connection had bound her to the elusive billionaire.

"If you saw him yourself, you'd know it within you that he's the one. That's just the kind of person that he is." Sophia placed her hands on her chest to calm her rapidly beating heart.

Maya's skepticism gradually subsided, replaced by a heavy sigh of understanding. "So how exactly did this happen?"

Sophia's mind traced back in time to that memorable moment that had just happened not long ago...

***

Two hours earlier...

The two ladies stood side by side looking at a massive building in front of them. Behind them was a black car which had a "TAXI" sign tagged to the top of the vehicle. A few bags were seated on the floor behind the two ladies.

"Um... Sophia, Isn't this too big for one family?" Maya tugged on Sophia's shoulder, asking dazedly.

"I heard that it was just a small family that was living inside, but I never expected something this magnificent."

Sophia's head wobbled as Maya kept tugging on her shoulders but she was also staring at the mansion in a daze.

The two ladies were transfixed to the spot while they gaped at the huge and magnificent mansion in front of them. It was truly worthy of being called a mansion, and they kept staring in awe and wonder for some moments.

Their taxi driver finally ran out of patience.

"Hey...! Where's my money?"

The two ladies almost jumped in fright at the sudden outburst and paid off the man Immediately after coming to their senses. They quickly collected their wits.

"Let's hurry or we'll be late!" Sophia picked up her bags and was almost running to enter the mansion while Maya chased after her in quick steps.

Sophia and Maya were coworkers at a cleaning company They had become friends since the first day they had been assigned jobs together.

Their boss found their friendship quite amusing and didn't hesitate to send the both of them out for jobs together, hence, their friendship only grew stronger.

On this particular day, a new job had arrived to the company and the request was for two maids. Thinking of no better options, their boss had decided to send both Sophia and Maya for the job.

Because of that decision that was made, the two lady friends found themselves walking towards the door of this awe-inspiring mansion. They approached the doors that were beautifully decorated with gold and spoke to the security guards. After their identity was verified, the massive doors were opened for them to go in.

Sophia and Maya found themselves stunned once more to the majesty of the house. It looked like a house that only the richest of royalties deserved.

Maya's eyes twinkled in excitement and she turned to Sophia. "This mansion is amazing!" She said with a subdued shriek as Sophia placed her hands over Maya's mouth in haste.

"Shush, Maya!" Sophia rebuked. "Let's just get straight to work."

Maya shrugged off Sophia's hands with a big and excited grin on her face. "It's not a crime to admire something beautiful. Especially something as beautiful as this." She said with sparkling eyes.

"Whatever..." Sophia sighed. She knew her friend wouldn't stop anytime soon.

At the same time, an elderly man that was dressed in a neat suit approached them and greeted with a light bow of his head.

"Thanks for coming, I've been expecting you for quite a while." He said with a faint smile.

Maya smiled awkwardly as Sophia briefly glared at her.

"Please follow me to a place you can both get prepared before you begin your work." And he led them to a changing room where the two ladies changed into their maid outfits and Sophia tied her dark brown locks into a loose braid.

"Now, please come with me so I can show you where to begin." The butler said to the both of them after they had come out of the changing room looking ready for work.

Once again, the butler led them through the tall halls of the mansion while both of the young women marveled at the wonderful art and lavish interior designs of the house.

The butler opened the door of a big room and led Sophia inside.

"You may begin your work from here." He said to her and led Maya to another part of the house.

Sophia took in some time to once again admire the opulent mansion. The room she had been led to was a room for entertainment, there were different equipment in the room that one would normally find at a casino, but they all looked dusty from not being used for a long while.

Except for the pool table, everything else in the room was dusty, which piqued Sophia's interest as she wondered why.

After a few seconds of not being able to think of a reason the room was like that. She saw a dog walking towards her from the corner of her eyes. It was a beautiful golden retriever who was attracted to Sophia for some reason.

"Hey there." Sophia bent her knees to get her face closer to the dog and she rubbed it on its head in a loving manner. The dog had a beautiful silver tag on its neck so Sophia checked it out of curiosity.

"Your name is Apollo? What a nice name." She muttered with a smile.

"But where did you suddenly come from?" She asked absentmindedly as she darted her eyes around the big room and saw a strange shadow reflecting on the wall from a corner.

Puzzled at the sight, Sophia stood up and curiously approached the shadow.

"Who is there?" She asked as she drew closer.

"Hah... You caught me. I never expected to meet anyone here..." A smooth baritone voice rang out softly from the direction Sophia was heading to and a tall man walked out of the shadow to reveal himself.

Sophia involuntarily paused in her steps and stood still. She watched as a tall figure walked out of the shadow, she saw an extremely handsome face with steel blue eyes peering at her.

Her breath was caught up in her lungs and her heart started beating furiously in her chest but she couldn't even feel it.

The man had also paused and kept staring at Sophia with his hypnotic blue eyes as though he was expecting Sophia to say something.

But Sophia's condition did not improve and she started becoming dizzy as she had forgotten to breathe.

"Are you alright?" The man asked after some awkward silence had passed between them. It was only then that Sophia regained her senses.

She turned around in a single step, and under the confused gaze of the man, she bolted out of the mansion.