CHAPTER 2
“Working for a rude, arrogant, and insufferable boss isn’t the hard part. What really hurts is missing him once you meet your new one…”
ISABELLE CAMPBELL
Right now, I’m standing in the living room of the mansion where I’ll be working.
A quick glance around told me everything I needed to know—the place was stunningly designed, every corner crafted with precision.
I wouldn’t expect anything less from a famous architect like Colin Adams. I was certain most of the mansion carried his personal signature.
While I was still taking in the space, a figure appeared at the end of the long hallway ahead of me. ..
A tall, imposing man with hair that brushed his shoulders and a thick, neatly trimmed beard strode toward me with brisk, commanding steps. He stopped about a yard away—no handshake, no smile, nothing.
He looked like one of those villains from the horror movies I’d gotten used to watching—completely unreadable, not a trace of warmth in his face. The kind of man you couldn’t decipher even if you stared for hours. I decided to break the ice.
“Good morning, my name is—”
“I know who you are,” he cut me off, his tone clipped and unfriendly. “The instructions are on the table. Read them.” His dark gaze flicked toward the table before returning to me. “I assume you know how to read, right?”
“I do, and—”
“Then do your job. Memorize my rules. If you manage that—something no other woman has ever done—you’ll survive your time here just fine.”
What a sweetheart. Not.
“If I have any questions…”
“There won’t be any questions!” he barked, cutting me off again, his irritation growing with every word. “You either know how to read and comprehend, or you don’t. Make up your mind!”
“I know how to read and comprehend,” I said through gritted teeth, forcing a smile. For the first time, he didn’t interrupt me—probably because I kept it short, giving him no chance to jump in.
“Excellent.” He turned on his heel and started walking back the way he came.
As I moved toward the table with the papers, his deep voice echoed again, though he didn’t bother turning around.
“One more thing—don’t talk to me.”
“What do you mean by that?” I blurted out, afraid he’d cut me off again.
“Exactly what I said. Only speak to me if I speak to you first. Was I clear?” His voice grew louder with each sentence, still without facing me.
“Yes, sir.”
“And don’t call me sir.”
God, grant me patience… because if you give me strength, I swear…
“All right, Colin.”
“You start tomorrow.”
With that, he disappeared down the hall, and seconds later I heard a door slam—loud enough to make me flinch.
“Well, good morning to you too,” I muttered under my breath.
I walked over to the table and glanced at the list. The first few items looked… normal enough.
1 “Don’t bother me! Yes, I’m repeating myself!”
2 “You’ll need to take Joshua to and from school—but only after you’ve completed fifteen days on the job. I don’t trust you yet… and honestly, I’m not sure I ever will.”
3 “Your hours are from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.—not 7:01 to 5:01, just so we’re clear. I expect something called punctuality, and if I catch you being late twice, you’re out!”
4 “It is strictly forbidden to enter the hallway that leads to my bedroom. I left a sign there that says, ‘Do not go beyond this point.’ Assuming you can read and comprehend, I’m pretty sure you’ll know exactly what to do when you see it.”
5 “There are days when I’m more stressed than usual. Yes, I can actually be even more unbearable—so do yourself a favor and stay away from me. Don’t even breathe next to me.”
6 “You’re here to manage, not to touch things. To put it simply, you delegate tasks—you don’t go around handling everything yourself. Your job is to make sure nothing’s ever missing, and if there’s a failure in that… we’re gonna have a problem. Count on it.”
7 “Don’t bring anyone to my house! Consider this a warning—I don’t need to tell you what happens if it happens a second time, do I? (Yes, it’s the same as being late for your shift.)”
8 “Never. Not ever. Under no circumstances ask about my past—neither to me nor to anyone who works here. Any comment about it and you’ll be fired. FIRED!”
9 “Any questions, talk to Helen. She’s been with our household for years and knows everything. You only got this job because of her—she refused to stay on as housekeeper herself since, apparently, I’m unbearable.”
10 “And last but not least—don’t bother me! Force of habit. I’ve learned people only remember important things when you repeat them.”
The man’s got a dark sense of humor—no doubt about that. But still, now I understand why no woman has managed to last more than a month working here.
“I’m telling you, he scared the hell out of me. I was too afraid to even finish a sentence.”
“Are you serious, girl?”
“Oh, and that’s not even the worst part. I didn’t mention the note—which looked more like a threat—that he pinned to the desk.” I took a sip of my orange juice, mentally going over the list of rules he’d written.
“You’re saying all that, and you haven’t even officially started yet.” Lauren laughed, and I forced a weak smile.
Lauren’s my best friend. She helped me through hell after Rudolph left me.
We’ve been neighbors for years, we tell each other everything, and somewhere along the way we became inseparable.
She’s short, redheaded, with light green eyes.
I think she’s beautiful, but like so many women I know, she’s got issues with her body—though I’m always trying to lift her up.
I’m a bit different. My hair is long and black, reaching down to my lower back. I’m about five foot three, with dark brown eyes. I don’t go to the gym—no time—but my body’s decent enough.
Honestly, we women are never fully satisfied with how we look, so…
“I’m gonna try to ignore Colin as much as possible.”
“Isn’t that a bad idea?” She crossed her arms, her face lit with amusement.
“It’s what he wants, Lauren. I’ll just do what I’m told at work.”
“If you say so…” She raised her hands in mock surrender.
“I need the money he’s paying me, and I’ll do everything I can not to let his rude little comments get to me. Simple as that.”
What I didn’t know back then was that it would be anything but simple.
The next day was pure hell at Colin’s house.
A truck had just pulled up and was unloading furniture and boxes right in front of the main gate.
I was running around like a headless chicken, completely clueless about what was going on.
No one had told me anything. I didn’t even know where the furniture was supposed to go—or if it was even meant for this house.
“Isabelle!”
A man called my name—one of the security guards, I think. He didn’t bother with pleasantries, just handed me a sheet of paper and said, “Check everything. If anything’s missing, you’ll have a problem.”
And with that, he turned on his heel and walked off toward the garden.
What the hell is wrong with the people in this house?
After spending the last hour checking items off the list and trying to figure out where everything belonged, the truck driver—who looked just as irritated as everyone else around here—came over to me.
Surprising, right? Because clearly no one connected to this house could possibly be pleasant.
“Sign here! I’m running late.”
“I haven’t finished checking, and—”
“It’s all there, miss. Help me help you, come on.” He shoved the pen toward me. Well, more like threw it at me.
My patience was already hanging by a thread, but I forced a polite smile, reminding myself of the paycheck waiting at the end of the month. I needed this job.
So, I signed.
The man climbed back into the truck and drove off, disappearing through the gates. I went back to the list, cross-checking each item against the copy he’d left me, and then…
I knew it.
I have this sixth sense about things, and even before signing, something had set off alarm bells in my head. And now I could see exactly what the mistake was. Yep—something was missing.
A refrigerator. I searched every corner of the house, inside and out, but the damn thing was nowhere to be found.
Now what?
I was going to have to face the beast himself and explain… assuming I could actually get a word out.
I was stuck in a dilemma: do I talk to Colin or not?
Even after two hours, I was still too nervous to go looking for him around the mansion. But I didn’t have to think about it much longer—because I spotted him walking near the garden, inspecting some of the furniture that had just been delivered.
“Good morning!” I said brightly… and immediately realized what a mistake that was. The man doesn’t smile—and from what I’ve seen, he’s probably incapable of saying good morning too.
“I hope everything’s here.”
“Well… I think something’s missing.” I gave a small, awkward smile.
“You think?” His tone was sharp, as usual.
“The fridge didn’t arrive,” I finally admitted, already bracing myself.
“And why didn’t you tell me the moment you noticed it was missing?”
“I… was still checking the items, but the driver was in a hurry, and I only realized afterward that it wasn’t here…”
“So you signed the papers confirming that everything was delivered, but somehow, the only thing missing is the refrigerator?” His mocking tone made it clear just how stupid he thought I was.
Yeah… I’d been dumb enough to fall for the driver’s pressure, I’ll admit it.
“Yes, I was very—”
“Incompetent!” he snapped, already turning away. “Instead of coming to me—”
“You told me only to talk to you if you spoke to me first,” I shot back, cutting him off this time. When Colin turned to face me again, I noticed a vein pulsing on his forehead.
He took a deep breath, studied me, lowered his head, and then closed his eyes. It looked like he was silently counting sheep—or maybe cursing under his breath. A moment later, he stepped closer, and the closer he got, the stronger his scent hit me.
God help me… the man’s built like a horse, but he smells good.
I thought he was about to yell at me—or at least say something—but instead, he walked over to the desk where he’d pinned that ridiculous “Ten Commandments” note addressed to me.
Yes, pinned. To the damn desk.
Kidding. I couldn’t resist.
Colin pulled a pen from his pocket and scribbled something on the paper. Moments later, he shot me a furious look before storming out of the room, his footsteps echoing through the floor.
I didn’t wait long before walking over to read the note, and there it was—a sweet, loving little message, just for me.
I see intelligence isn’t your strong suit, so I’m leaving another rule here: talk to me when there’s a problem. Was I clear, or should I draw you a picture?
Yeah… living with this man was going to be even harder than I thought.
The workday had been brutal, to say the least. After my little fridge fiasco, I did everything I could to make up for it—and by the end of the day, the driver finally decided to do me the favor of coming back.
The man was fuming. But honestly? I was even angrier. Oh, I definitely was.
“You made me late for my last delivery, and—”
“I don’t care!” I snapped, cutting him off. “Next time, have the decency to wait while I check everything instead of rushing me. If you’d done your job properly, you wouldn’t have had to drive all the way back here because of your own incompetence.”
He went pale, his eyes widening at me.
Yeah, I can lose my temper when I want to.
“F-fine, ma’am.” He backed away quickly, and guilt hit me right after. I’d clearly intimidated him.
When I turned around, Colin was standing barely a foot behind me. The shock made me jump back.
“Jesus, you scared me!” I blurted out. He just stood there—expressionless, unreadable.
“Funny time to suddenly grow a spine, don’t you think? If you’d done that earlier, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“I didn’t mean to talk to him like that… I could tell he went pale and uncomfortable.”
“Of course. He saw me standing behind you.”
Well, that explained it.
Apparently, the poor guy wasn’t scared of me—he was terrified of Colin lurking behind me like some silent executioner.
“I’m sorry again for—”
“Instead of apologizing every other minute, why don’t you focus on your work? I think you’ve noticed by now that I don’t enjoy talking to you—and I’m pretty sure the feeling’s mutual. So how about you just do your job and forget about everything else, huh?”
“I…”
“Good night, Isabelle.”
He turned and walked off again, but of course, the idiot in me couldn’t just let it go.
“Wait!”
My voice came out louder—and a bit more desperate—than I intended. He stopped and turned back, eyebrow slightly raised.
“You told me good night, so… good night to you too, Colin!”
For the first time, I caught a hint of a smile on his face. But don’t be fooled—it wasn’t a good one.
“You’re unbelievable. Helena really outdid herself this time.”
“What did I do?”
“Among other things, you’re not very bright.”
He walked away, and I just stood there, dumbfounded that the man was actually annoyed because I’d had the audacity to say good night.
Men…
Colin Adams—how much ruder can you possibly get?