Peter brought the bags upstairs and deposited them in the unused room beside his. He looked at the woman standing beside him. "This is your room for tonight. Feel at home. I'm going to go back to the store because it's busy at this moment, my presence is very much needed there," he paused for a moment and breathed deeply. "Honestly, I do not agree to this arranged marriage. I don't like to get married yet because I'm facing lots of financial problems when it comes to my business. You can stay here only here for tonight but you have to leave this place and go home tomorrow, I can't allow you to stay here with me for long because I can't afford to feed you," he said a bit coldly. He wanted to be honest with her so that she won't get a false hope that she can stay in this house for good.
The moment he mentioned that he wanted her to go home, Helen's heart sank. No! She can't go back to the Miller Family Mansion! Her stepmother Donna already made sure that she can no longer go back there, she is determined to get rid of her.
Now... her husband blatantly refused her presence in his life! Wanting her out of his house! Her condition had just turned for the worst.
Fresh tears sprang from her eyes, she blinked twice and the tears rolled on her face.
"C-can I stay here a bit longer...pretty please...maybe a month? I know you don't like my presence here in your house but please have mercy on me, I have no one to turn to. I don't have any relatives, my stepmother Donna has been wanting to get rid of me and now that she succeeded she won't take me back. Please have mercy on me, husband..." she begged as fresh tears fell from her eyes.
Peter closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his nerves.
A few minutes later, he opened his eyes and stared at the tear-stained face of the pitiful weeping girl. "So...Donna is your stepmother? Not your real mother?" he asked.
"Yes, my father impregnated his housemaid inside the Miller mansion. That maid was my mother and she was banished from the mansion after giving birth to me. I was raised by my stepmother who loves torturing me mentally and emotionally daily because she was constantly being reminded of my mother and father's cheating inside her home. Now that I'm older, she's been wanting to get rid of me and finally, she succeeded by dumping me here in your place," she explained.
Peter felt a gentle tugging on his heart, after all, who can understand her sad flight better than him who suffered the same situation as her?
He can't be so cruel to her.
Now it finally dawned on Peter why Helen was discarded by her mother like a piece of shit. "How can a mother so cruelly dump her daughter in a stranger's home unceremoniously as if she was like a piece of trash? Now I finally understand..." he said. "I need to go back to the store because it will be closing time in a few minutes from now. I'll talk to you later...feel at home..." he said gently. He found himself sympathizing with Helen's pitiful flight, she has the same fate as him.
But he can't stay inside the room any longer just chatting to her. He got a store to manage outside. Without further ado, he turned around and left the room.
After Peter was gone, Helen breathed deeply, a long painful breath. Now she was faced with a dilemma bigger than the mountain - wide as the Pacific Ocean.
She was penniless...no pieces of jewelry to sell during moments of hardships... she only had a few hundred dollars in her wallet. Her stepmother doesn't give her any money. She always treated her like a housemaid and made her perform household chores daily. The only liberties she enjoyed inside the mansion is her pink room and the free food and lodging inside the mansion. She finished a secretarial course in a community school. That's the only course that her stepmother allowed her to take.
If her husband is determined to kick her out of his home then where else can she go?
Her best friend already got married and lives in another city.
Her relatives on her father's side don't acknowledge her as part of the family because she was just a daughter of a mere housemaid.
She has no one to ask for help other than her family.
She reached a dead end!
She began pacing the floor, racking her brain on a possible solution to her dilemma. If her husband is determined to kick her out then she will just beg him for a one-week stay at his place so that she can find a job somewhere and leave this place so that she no longer have to burden him.
Yes! That's the only immediate solution she had in mind.
With those positive thoughts in mind, she feels better!
She entered the toilet to relieve the call of nature. After she exited the bathroom, she opened the closet, wiped it clean with a piece of clothing, and arranged her clothes and stuff inside the closet. She will beg Peter for a one-week stay if possible if she can't find a job tomorrow.
Done!
She exited the room and explored the area outside which turns out to be dusty and there are trash and stuffs loitering around. It looks like the whole place was not cleaned for a long time. The floor is dirty - dust was gathering everywhere.
What can she expect?
Peter is poor, he's busy with his store, he can't even afford a housemaid to clean his space. He's not wealthy at all, she assumed that he's just a struggling store owner who got lots of debt from a loan shark.
She went downstairs... her feet landed on the floor...she walked towards the fridge in the corner and was sad to see nothing much in there just cold water and some sliced bread and a jar of peanut butter.
She went to the sink, as expected, she saw dirty dishes dumped in there - for how many days already?
She took a deep breath. This house needs a thorough cleaning! Since she has nothing else to do and to repay Peter's kindness for allowing her to stay at his place overnight, she will clean the entire house tonight and tomorrow, then leave the place in the afternoon...going somewhere.
Peter is poor as dirt just like her, she released a deep sigh.
Her stepmother told her that Peter is a 60 years old man, he turns out to be younger and she thinks that their age difference wasn't that huge. It was a welcome relief to her, she would rather marry someone like Peter than marry a 60 years old man that is already old enough to be her father.
Unfortunately, Peter made it clear that he doesn't want to get married yet. And she can't force herself on him...so... she better finds a job quick!
The first things she did is washed the dirty dishes in the kitchen, clean the sink and the neighboring areas.
After cleaning the tiny kitchenette, she picked up the broom and began taking out the cobwebs starts from the ceiling of the second floor and then the ground floor.
After getting rid of the cobwebs, she began sweeping the floor. She started on the second floor including the stairs and then the ground floor last.
Done sweeping the floor.
She tried to find a rag to wipe the dust on the appliances, she can't find anything. She went upstairs and took one of her old clothes and turned it into a rug, then she tied her long hair into a ponytail.
She went downstairs and start wiping the dust on every surface of the appliances in the living room.
There's not much to clean in the living room because it only contains a few appliances such as the 30 inches flat-screen TV, a sofa, a center table, and a portable sound system.
She went to the fridge and wiped the dust gathering on its surface. She looked at the bathroom located near the sink. It needs cleaning as well!
Now everything is sparkling clean... well not really...she needs to mop the floor!
If she's not yet tired...she will clean the windows later and the bathroom. The whole place has no air conditioner and she was sweating already due to continuous cleaning.
She went upstairs and wipe the sweats from her face and her body... then changed her blouse.
She went back downstairs, exited the door, and found a mop outside, she grabbed it and went back inside.
A few minutes later, she was already mopping the floor on the second floor next to the ground floor.
Done mopping... she returned the map outside where she found it and went back inside the house. She rested on the sofa. She glanced a the wall clock, she's been cleaning the house for two hours straight!
Tomorrow, she will clean the fridge, the bathrooms, and the windows, that's all the things left she needed to do before she will leave the place.
She feels tired all of a sudden and rested her head on the cushion on the sofa, she kept yawning.
A few minutes later she was already dozing off, lying on the comfy sofa.