Chapter 10: Revenge Dress
The next day, Xavier and Anastasia sat down for breakfast. Their meals were immediately served by the other maids, who had already heard how their colleagues had been blacklisted due to their disrespect towards his wife.
The atmosphere was tense, each maid moving with careful precision, aware that any misstep could result in a similar fate.
They had also been shocked that Xavier would bring a wife home so suddenly, but since it was none of their business, they simply did their jobs while casting occasional glares at Anastasia. Despite their resentment, they couldn’t risk hurting her, knowing they didn’t want to end up blacklisted like the last two maids.
"Have you brought a woman home before?" Anastasia suddenly asked Xavier.
Immediately, she bit her tongue, regretting spewing those words out. "You don’t have to answer that, forget it," she said and buried her face in her plate. She could feel Xavier’s gaze burning on her head but she didn’t want to make eye contact with him.
"I don’t bring women home, Anastasia," he replied. "You are the first woman I’ve brought home and will be the last," he added.
All of a sudden, Anastasia choked on her meal. She coughed hard. Xavier left his seat to hand her a glass of water to drink while he patted her back softly. She quickly gulped it down.
"Take it easy, will you," he said softly, a tone he had been using on her since that morning. She felt uncomfortable with it since no one had spoken to her warmly before. All she could do was nod and mumble a simple thank you.
Xavier went back to his seat, grabbed his napkin, and wiped his mouth clean.