It was already morning by the time Joshua arrived at the Chu residence. With keys dangling at his side, he walked over to the garage and reached for the door.
He was humming his favorite tune when he heard someone emerging from the back door.
"Joshua? Is that you?"
Joshua had to stoop low so that no one would see how much he had rolled his eyes towards the person and breathed in deeply, composing himself and smiling from ear to ear.
"My lady, good morning! I didn't realize that you were already awake."
Lilian stepped out of the back door, her eyes rolling towards Joshua while folding her arms and staring at him with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Of course, you didn't. Father mentioned that you weren't here last night."
Joshua maintained his cheerful demeanor and approached Lilian, his smile never faltering.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, lady. I just went out to meet my cousin who graduated. She wanted to celebrate as a way of saying thanks to me since I helped her with some of my salary."
A clear lie. Joshua had his finger's crossed behind him, quietly hoping that Lilian would believed him.
Lilian stared at him with suspicion in her eyes but dropped the matter, since she had better things to do and a favor to ask Joshua.
"Nevermind. I don't care where you went."
Joshua chuckled softly before walking past her, but just as he was about to reach the back door, he felt a tug on his sleeve.
He turned around and saw Lilian staring at the floor.
"Yes?"
Lilian heaved a deep sigh before looking back at the white-haired man, meeting his gaze.
"Remember when my father appointed you as my butler?"
Joshua stared at her and nodded. "Of course, how can I forget? You were so tiny at that time, yet already full of spite."
Lilian scoffed at him as she walked a few steps back, arms folded and raising one of her brows.
"Recite the Butler's Creed."
Joshua gasped silently, trying to hide a snicker of laughter before clearing his throat. He then glanced at Lilian before asking, "Sorry? The Butler's Creed, my lady?"
Lilian nodded, her face looked so serious that Joshua still thought the request was a joke.
"Why do I have to recite the creed, my lady?"
Lilian raised one of her eyebrows as she scoffed at the sudden question.
"Didn't you hear me, Joshua? Recite. The. Creed."
Lilian's patience was running thin, she emphasized each word as she stared angrily at Joshua.
Seeing this, the young man could only sigh and give up.
"As you wish, my lady."
He stood up straight and proud, arching his back a bit and looked Lilian straight in the eyes.
"The Butler's Creed: One…"
Every butler appointed by the Chu family had to memorize the Butler's Creed. It was one of the requirements to secure the position as a butler for the family.
Joshua could still remember his reaction when he first learned about it and even asked his uncle the purpose of it and why he needed to learn it by heart.
He continued reciting the long list of rules of the creed until Lilian interrupted him, making him stop at number six.
As a butler to the family, you cannot disobey the orders of your master. Violating your master's order would be subject to a whipping.
Lilian sighed and clasped both of her hands together before taking a deep breath and then smiled at the "unsuspecting" butler.
"I order you to stalk Lucas Wang."
Joshua had anticipated this.
He looked at her, trying not to get pissed by the amount of malice in her eyes.
"Stalk him, follow him, gather every bit of information about him and report it back to me. Understood?"
Joshua went silent and only gave a nod as an answer.
He wasn't too trusted with his voice for all of the appropriate things he needed to say at that time.
"Good. Now, shoo. I think my father was looking for you."
Joshua bowed before Lilian and disappeared into the house. Lilian watched him with a smirk on her face, chuckling to herself.
"Just you wait, Lucas. I will expose all your dirty secrets for the world to see."
_____
Rex was typing away on his computer while Ezekiel was organizing paperworks when Lucas entered the office, with Hunter trailing behind.
Ezekiel glanced up from the stack of papers and looked at the two with curiosity.
"You! Did you order him to follow me around like a lost puppy?"
Rex stopped and looked up from his computer, his eyebrows raising in confusion.
"Pardon? What do you mean, Lucas?"
Lucas pointed at Hunter, anger clearly plastered on his face. "This bitch has been talking nonsense to me non-stop until my ears bled."
Hunter raised both his hands in defense and shook his head at Rex, clearly maintaining his innocence against Lucas's sudden accusation.
"I didn't do anything. I was just giving you a heads-up about the plan. You know, to keep you updated."
Lucas's anger flared even more. "A head's up? Is bragging about your 'handsome' face and your 'charismatic' persona part of the plan?"
Hunter scoffed, his eyes accidentally meeting Rex's, who was clearly not pleased with what was happening.
"Maybe, especially if you were in dire need of repeling any gecko-looking suitors."
Lucas's face turned red with rage as he lunged at Hunter, his claws and fangs out.
Hunter screamed for his life as he ran towards Ezekiel, knocking over all the paperwork in the process.
Hunter stopped just as Lucas reached out towards his face, bitch-slapping him across the face.
"Ouch, dude. That hurt!"
Ezekiel stood there, mouth agape, staring at scattered papers he had spent so much time organizing.
Silence filled the whole room while Lucas continued glaring at Hunter, who was rubbing his now-swollen cheek.
As for Rex, he quietly excused himself to the comfort room, eager to escape what was about to happen next.
"HUNTER! LUCAS! FACE THE WALL!"