Chapter 1
Leslie grit her teeth as she stepped out of her rundown car to face the men that guarded the Rothschild Villa complex. She had no idea where she dropped her key card and she knew these men would give her hell for it. She was sure they had been looking for a way to make her suffer and she had now presented it to them on a platter of gold.
"I'm Leslie Sterling, I live in Villa six", she said in exasperation, like they didn't see her dragging herself home every single day like a drowned rat.
She had been living in the Villa complex for two months already, and the night watch guards saw her more than the daytime guards. She knew they had their protocols but they could at least give her some face.
"Protocols must be observed Miss, please present your Villa keycard", the guard with the letter "E" on his vest said coldly, nothing in his voice betraying the fact that he was talking to the legally married wife of his boss.
Leslie cringed but refused to let her nervousness show. These men were very intimidating, way more intimidating than the bodyguards she saw at her jobs. At least those ones didn't look like they'd happily feed her body to the koi pond for sport.
"I misplaced my keycard", she grumbled, hating the way she lost things so easily. The biggest issue was that she didn't even know where she lost it exactly. If she lost it at one of her jobs they would have to block it, meaning more negative attention would be on her from the family of her husband that was way out of her league.
"You would have to call on a resident in the main Rothschild manor miss", one of the men at the back stepped forward, the letter "A" was on his vest. This meant he was the captain of the guards, both night and daytime watch. Great! Just wonderful! It just had to be one of the guards that hated her the most.
Leslie cleared her throat. She wasn't given her husband's phone number. The only people that lived in the main Rothschild's manor were the Rothschilds themselves, their housekeepers and their bodyguards. As of currently, her husband and his personal assistant were the only permanent residents with authority. She had the assistant's phone number but the man abhorred her more than anyone else associated with the Rothschilds so it would only be a lost cause.
She scrunched up her nose. "Never mind, I'll be on my merry way and find my missing keycard, toodles", she said with a sour grin.
The night sky was dark as it was already 11pm, but Leslie didn't care. She would find the keycard like her life depended on it. Because it did.
The Sterling family used to be at least upper middle class, for at least three generations they were somewhat a household name, but everything fell apart when her dad got turned to high-scale gambling. It started out slowly and before long, all they had in the Sterling name was debt.
Leslie, as the oldest child, worked her ass off to give the loan sharks their monthly payment. Her mother's salary was used to feed the family and take care of the needs of Leslie's three siblings. It was a terse arrangement but they managed to make it work.
The problem with the arrangement was the fact that the debt had been transferred to her name, seeing as her father was in no shape to repay it. All the debt, straight to her. Her. Who had always wanted to live the laidback rich bum life, sipping cocktails and scrolling on her phone like the Paris Hilton of their town. Now? She was one late payment away from starring in a murder mystery as the victim.
One of the sharks in particular did not completely deal in legal doings, so she always had to shake off any and all tails before going to her home, so they wouldn't sell her belongings while she was at work.
Living at the Rothschild Villa complex meant no one could ever tail her in, and she'd continue to be under the cover of safety. So yes, she would find her keycard as soon as possible.
"Miss! You are not allowed to leave the premises", Letter A said, appearing in front of her swiftly. Leslie furrowed her brows. Men were so obnoxious. They couldn't let her in and now she wasn't allowed to leave?
"Why the hell not?", she snarled in annoyance. It was late and she was hungry, dirty and irritated. Letter A seemed to be holding back a snarl of his own.
"We have strict orders to never let you go anywhere after you come back from work", he said, effectively blocking her path like a damn mountain. Leslie scrunched up her face in confusion, granted, this was the first time she was leaving before morning, but she hadn't been aware of any stupid rule like that.
"I need to find my keycard... to get in", she said slowly, like she was talking to a particularly stupid and distracted two year old.
Letter A exhaled as though he was asking God for strength. Leslie was tired of the whole pointless conversation and was about to tell him to shove it when a sleek red Mercedes drove smoothly and parked in front of Leslie's car, nearly hitting her in the process. Leslie groaned.
The men stood straighter and they all had hints of smiles on their faces.
Of course, they knew where their loyalties lay. The person in theowner's seat of the car stepped out, red bottom heels clacking smoothly against the paved floor. The driver was a man with a serious face and he stepped out of the car to guard his miss.
Jessica Princewell was a sight to behold, she always looked like she came straight out of a magazine cover with her lean body. Her short height complimented her physique and it always dragged out the protective streak of those around her. Her appearance was like a white lily, completely guileless and without sin.
Only Leslie knew just how deceitful appearances could be. Jessica was supposed to be the rightful wife, everyone in high society knew it. Leslie had seen Jessica plenty of times at her third job – she waited tables at a very high-end restaurant in the city. She was always with her friends that spent most of the time praising her for snagging a man like Maximilian Rothschild.
They had been together for at least two years, although they hadn't appeared in public together. By all reasoning, the woman Maximilian Rothschild should have married was most definitely Jessica. Leslie had seen her smiling and talking to the staff and guards on more than one occasion, meaning she had befriended them as the future matriarch.
It was probably why the staff hated her extra, they had been robbed of a seemingly kind and loving matriarch. Seemingly was the key word, because Jessica was a horribly annoying insect. She buzzed everywhere around her and was conveniently at everyone of her jobs, dropping evil commentary in casual conversation so people would slowly start hating her. She had never let it slip that Leslie was Maximilian's new wife, she knew it would cause people to disrespect her. That information was probably the only thing stopping Jessica from outrightly ruining Leslie's life.
"Oh Mister Mo Qi, I may have forgotten my keycard", she cried after perfunctorily tapping her purse. That was right, Jessica was also conveniently given a villa in the villa complex as the highly respected rightful madam.
She was given the villa number twelve. Sadly, Villa twelve was across from Villa six. The villas in the villa complex numbered up to twenty.
Only people specifically chosen by the Rothschilds could stay in the villa complex. Leslie herself got the chance because her luck game was too strong. If not that most of the residents in the nineteen villas hated her, she would have picked a weekend to introduce herself. There were megamillionaires and celebrities residing in the complex. All those sweet connections favored Jessica Princewell.
"It's no problem, madam, we can scan your mobile keycard", letter A replied. Interestingly, his name was Mo Qi. She always thought he looked Asian, now it was confirmed in her head. The feeling of her assumption being right gave her a tiny feeling of satisfaction that was soon wiped away as his words registered in her head. Mobile keycard? Why hadn't she ever heard of such? Why did the EX-girlfriend have it?
Leslie could do nothing except watch in annoyance as Jessica's dainty hands held up her slender phone and letter C scanned it, allowing her entry. She could not miss the blush on his face at being so close to such a beautiful woman.
Leslie sighed. Pretty privilege was a terrifying thing. Sadly she had none of that – seeing as she had been working nonstop for twelve straight hours – and to top it off, she was seen as the "usurper", so she was completely useless in their eyes.
"Thank you all, good night, my...regards to your boss", Jessica said, casting her eyes downwards as she mentioned their boss, seeming as though she wanted to cry but had to remain strong.
Leslie could feel murderous intent directed towards her from the men, likely angry at her for an arranged marriage that had been none of her business since she was born, she shuddered and took a small step back. These grown men knew nothing of chivalry! How dare they intimidate a sweet young woman like herself?!
Jessica finally drove in through the gate while Leslie continued to wither and waste.
"So how do I get in if I'm not allowed to go searching for the damn thing?", she said tiredly, she was not in the mood to feel indignant about the fact that she would also like to have the mobile keycard. Her brain tinged as she remembered exactly where the card was.
"Perhaps you would wait till morn-"
"-Aha! It was here all along", Leslie triumphantly interrupted letter A and opened her phone case, producing the keycard that had been sitting innocent and shiny and new. The tiredness of the day had gotten to her and she had forgotten that she always kept it in her phone case because of how clumsy she was.
The discovery meant that she would be diving into the expensive bathtub in her villa soon enough. The troubles of the day were wiped away by that single thought and she giggled her way into her car, impatiently holding out the card for him to scan.
"...You may go in, Miss", letter A begrudgingly said. Leslie huffed, she had escaped another day of embarrassment very narrowly, she should just keep moving without drawing attention to herself. But she wouldn't be Leslie Sterling if she laid low.
"Have a good night men, and it's Mrs to you, be more respectful to your boss' wife", she said in a way she hoped was cool before driving in. A chance view at her mirror showed that they were all incensed. Ha! Good! She achieved what she wanted.
