Panting, she said, “Miss Jennings, these bags are far too heavy for me to lift.”
“So hard to find good help these days, it seems,” Emily mocked with a cruel smirk.
Ignoring this, Sophia called out for the only man in the living room to aid her. “A little help please, Mr. Weiss?”
“How dare you ask Artie to carry out a servant’s duty, you little-” Before Emily could continue the rest of her scolding, Arthur brushed past her to the stairwell and grabbed the two bags, then easily carried them up the stairs in a display of incredible arm strength while asking Sophia to hurry along.
Emily’s eyes widened at this. She couldn’t believe that Arthur had actually lent the maid a helping hand by carrying the bags up the stairs. It was the most bizarre thing she had ever witnessed. We’re talking about the young master of a prestigious family, for heaven’s sake!
She headed up the stairs as well, and much to her surprise, he had brought the bags into the guest room instead of
leaving them on the second-floor landing.
Sophia did not expect Arthur to oh-so charitably bring the bags into Emily’s designated room either, and when she got to the top of the stairs, she quickly said, “Thank you, Young Master Weiss.”
“You shouldn’t have, Artie,” Emily interjected, then grabbed his hand to inspect his palm with a pained expression. “I would have asked the bodyguards to help, you know. Look at how red your palm is!”
Sophia came over to peer at his palm as well, and sure enough, the skin was chaffed red. The bags had a combined weight of more than a hundred pounds, after all.
“It’s fine,” Arthur said dismissively as he pulled away from Emily.
“How-How useless can you be? I cannot believe you had your master do your work for you. You’re fired! Go, get out of our sights!” Emily barked commandingly at Sophia, terminating her services right there and then.
Sophia blinked, then her eyes lit up as she asked. “Really? I can go now?” “Who said you could? In case you forgot,
I’ve given you a one-year advancement
on your wages,” Arthur piped up
suddenly, glowering at her.
She searched his face for an explanation. As if she would forget about receiving wages from him! But she quickly grasped the situation and realized that this man was determined to keep her here.
Going along with his act, she said, “I believe you’re the one forgetting things here, Young Master Weiss. Remember how you said you would pay me the last time and then something came up to conveniently distract you from it? Well, with all due respect, you’ll have to cough up the two hundred and forty grand you promised that’s twenty grand for each calendar month that you owe me.”
Arthur scoffed, rendered speechless by her audacity.
“You’re not actually going back on your word, are you, Young Master Weiss? I’ve gone without a month’s salary now!” she added, feigning panic.
