Chapter 3

[ARIETTA’S POV]

I quickly averted my gaze. The pounding of my heart was overwhelming. It felt like I was running across the entire farm due to how fast my heart was beating.

I could also feel my hands getting cold from the nervousness. Did he recognize me from last night? I wanted to think he didn’t, but I knew he might have remembered me since we made eye contact back then!

I kept praying for the man to just go away and stop staring at me. I even wished Iris would arrive already, but it seemed like today was just my unlucky day because she still hadn’t shown up.

I tightly shut my eyes, unable to settle in my spot. What if I just tell her I’ll come back for the documents later? But Ms. Bauer might scold me. I didn’t want to make a bad impression on her, especially since I was worried about the effect it might have on my internship.

I heard the sound of hooves approaching in my direction, but I didn’t look. He was probably just passing by and would leave soon, right? There’s no way he’d talk to me. We had nothing to say to each other.

I immediately felt a chill spread throughout my body when I heard his voice beside me. Maybe he was talking to someone else near me?

I jumped in surprise, so I blinked my eyes open. I faced him and forced a smile while he stared at me, his expression matching the cold, chilling look he had last night. It was as unsettling as before.

“Y-Yes?” Shit! Why the hell am I stuttering now? I shouldn’t let him know that I’m nervous. Calm down, Arietta.

He stared at me for a long while before a smirk formed on his lips. I swallowed hard, but I furrowed my brow as his expression suddenly shifted.

I noticed what he was wearing. His shirt was open near the chest, revealing his well-toned physique. He was a bit sweaty, and there were some stains on his clothes, likely from riding the horses. I couldn't tell if he was a guest or a worker here on the farm.

"Where can I find the horse grooming supplies? I'm new here, and I'm not familiar with the place," he said with a meaningful smile. His grin never faded.

I wanted to scrunch up my face, but that didn’t seem like a good idea. He might think I was rude.

New here? Could he be a new worker and not a guest?

"I’m not sure either. I’m just an intern and I wasn’t assigned here on the farm. I was just asked to come here to pick something up. I'm not familiar with the layout," I replied calmly. Slowly, the nervousness the man had caused in me began to fade.

He gave me a skeptical look, and I raised an eyebrow at him. If he really worked here, did that mean—oh, shit! He was the one with the guest last night!

"Intern?" His eyebrow shot up. I nodded in response.

There was something about this guy—just a simple grin or a question from him could get on your nerves if you didn’t have enough patience. It seemed like everything he said was filled with mockery or sarcasm.

I saw the corner of his lips curl up. It was as if he was amused by something, but I couldn’t quite figure out what. He nodded at me and seemed ready to leave. Before he had even taken three steps, he turned back to glance at me from head to toe before finally walking away.

What’s his problem? Is he checking me out? What a creep.

Iris came back holding a folder. I thanked her and immediately took the documents to Ms. Bauer.

That evening, I was assigned to the hotel’s restaurant. I was really trying to make the most of my day to finish my internship as soon as possible. If I had any free time, I wanted to look for a part-time job before the next semester started.

I had just given an order to the kitchen when my friend Blaire approached me, excitement written all over her face.

"What’s going on?" I asked, furrowing my brows.

"I heard a rumor! Isn’t the son of Mr. Marcello Grimaldi here?" she asked, her eyes practically sparkling with excitement.

I nodded. I think I’d been hearing about that all morning.

"I heard from some of our colleagues that he’s having dinner here tonight! He usually just sends dinner to the private house, but tonight!" She hit me playfully while squealing.

I grimaced and shook my head. I simply grabbed a guest’s order and brought it to their table.

When I returned to my post, Blaire was still there. I rolled my eyes in the air because she wouldn’t stop talking.

“We’re going to see him in person! Aren’t you excited? Gosh, they say his family is really handsome. I wonder if I’ll catch his attention—maybe I’ll get out of poverty—”

I pinched her side, and Blaire fell silent. She shot me a look, but I just forced a smile at her.

“Don’t you have work to do? If your supervisor sees you, you’re in trouble!” I threatened her, hoping she would stop talking about that Grimaldi guy.

Besides, dreaming of catching the attention of people at the top of the social pyramid is impossible. People like them, the wealthy, belong with other wealthy people, while people like us who aren’t as fortunate should stay within our own level. It’s not bad to dream, but it’s better to be realistic. It’s hard when you fly too high and fall back to the ground. That would be a painful lesson.

"Mr. Pierce is here!" announced one of the waiters, so we quickly straightened up because a very important guest was arriving.

We interns were immediately told to prepare for work. We were instructed to avoid serving Mr. Pierce if possible since the senior staff would handle him, but if he called for a waiter and no one else was available, we interns had to attend to him.

Just thinking about possibly messing up tonight made me wish I could just disappear. One wrong move could have a big impact on my internship grade.

Everything was ready for the arrival of Pierce Grimaldi. As far as I know, he would be staying here for about a month, though that was still tentative.

A customer called out to me. I got nervous because they were sitting right next to the table set for Sir Pierce. Since I was the closest, I approached to take their order.

As I was taking the customer’s order, I heard some noise from the next table. It seemed like Mr. Pierce had arrived!

“Is that all, ma’am?” I asked with a wide smile as I spoke to the customer. She nodded, and I told her how long it would take for her order to be served. I thanked her and walked away.

I glanced toward the VVIP table and saw that a man was already seated. I was about to ignore it, but then I realized who the man was.

My eyes widened when I recognized him. It was the same man I saw last night! How many times do I have to run into him? Is he Mr. Pierce? Holy crap!

He looked in my direction, and our eyes met. I could see the narrowing of his eyes as he seemed to study me. I gasped.

A waiter quickly stepped between us to serve his dinner, so I took that moment to look away and head to the kitchen to deliver my customer’s order.

My heart was still racing. Does this mean he’s not a new employee but the owner of the entire farm and resort? The man I saw having sex last night is from the family that owns this place?

I broke into a cold sweat as these thoughts ran through my mind. What if he reports me to my supervisor because he saw me witnessing his intimate moment with his woman? I could suddenly be kicked out of this internship or, worse, fail. I hope that doesn’t happen.

I wasn’t myself when I delivered my customer’s order. Thankfully, I didn’t make any mistakes.

I was about to leave when Pierce Grimaldi suddenly called for a waiter.

I looked over at him and saw that he was clearly looking at me, calling me. I swallowed hard, as I was once again overwhelmed with nervousness.

I approached him and forced a smile, even though I felt like I was about to melt from the anxiety I was feeling.

"Another glass of Macallan, please."

I caught a glimpse of a smirk on his lips, almost as if he were mocking me. At that moment, I knew things were not going to go well.

"Okay, sir," I replied politely. I took his glass, but he told me to leave it there. I left and headed to the bar to place Pierce Grimaldi's order.

As I waited for Sir Pierce's glass of Macallan, I tried to calm myself. I needed to maintain my composure. I couldn't afford to mess up now. I also couldn't let my personal emotions get in the way of my work.

I was on my way to Sir Pierce’s table. I put on a smile, even though my lips were sore from holding it. I was so close to him now, and I thought I could manage to do my job properly...when suddenly I stumbled, causing the drink I was carrying to spill and the glass to shatter, making a loud noise.

I looked at Pierce Grimaldi. His clothes were splashed with alcohol, but instead of criticizing it, a smirk curled on his lips. He had done that on purpose!

As other waiters and the restaurant manager hurried over, Sir Pierce's smirk disappeared, and he pretended to be shocked and annoyed by what happened.

"What happened—Oh, my!" The head waiter immediately attended to Pierce. Some of the staff panicked and rushed to get clean tissues to give to Sir Pierce for his wet clothes.

The head waiter turned to me, and I could see the anger in his eyes.

"What have you done?!" he almost whispered, but I could feel the fury in every word.

I was still in shock, and even though I wanted to explain, I chose to remain silent. Even if I told them that Pierce Grimaldi had caused me to stumble, no one would believe me. In the end, I would still be blamed.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” Pierce replied as people around the restaurant kept apologizing to him.

I had no choice but to lower my head. In the end, no matter what really happened, I would still be the one blamed. Everyone would think it was my fault.

The head waiter turned to me and moved me away from where Sir Pierce was sitting. He spoke to me, and I knew he was going to scold me, so I braced myself.

"Do you know what you’ve done? This could reach your supervisor, who will be grading your internship!" he insisted.

I kept my head down, absorbing every word he said. I felt so small because I couldn’t even defend myself.

"Do you know how much one glass of the wine you wasted costs? They’ll deduct that from the allowance the resort gave you!"

I blinked at what he said. My lips parted. Why would they deduct it from me? I wasn’t at fault—well, I was in everyone’s eyes.

The head waiter shook his head and returned to attend to Sir Pierce. I gasped because...what could I do? Nothing, right?

I quickly ran back over. I didn’t want them to get even more mad at me if I just stood there.

“Accommodate Mr. Grimaldi. You’ll take care of him as payback for what happened earlier. Take him to his private house and bring him everything he needs.” The head waiter came up to me. “And don’t mess this up.”

I nodded nervously. I looked at Sir Pierce and saw a ghost of a smile on his lips. He’s freaking enjoying this!

I followed the instructions from the seniors. I took Sir Pierce to his residence here at the villa.

He entered his room, and I was left standing in the living area. I took a deep breath to try to relieve the weight I was feeling.

I scanned the room and observed the interior of the house. The furniture was expensive, and there was a small chandelier. The house had two floors.

I stood up straight and glanced at him. I saw him leaning against the wall, arms crossed, staring directly at me. He had already changed into a different outfit.

He started walking toward me, and I instinctively took a step back. His gaze was sharp, but there was a smile on his lips.

"You were the one who was watching me while I was having sex with that girl last night." It wasn’t a question. It was a confirmation of what he thought.

I didn’t speak, continuing to back away from him. If he only wanted to talk to me, he could have done so earlier when we were still at the farm. Instead, he chose to humiliate me now.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t remember anything like that happening last night," I lied, hoping he would stop if I denied his accusation.

He chuckled, and when he noticed there was no space for me to back away anymore due to a table behind me, he quickly cornered me, trapping me between his arms. I was shocked by how forcefully he blocked me in. Shit, I’m trapped!

"You don’t remember?" I could sense a tone in his voice that sent a shiver down my spine.

I looked up at him, immediately regretting it. I avoided his gaze and shook my head, still denying what he claimed to have happened last night.

I felt his breath warm against my cheek. He was so close to my ear now!

I squeezed my eyes shut, terrified of what he might do next.

"If that’s the case, shall we re-enact what happened last night, hmm? So you can remember."

It felt like time stopped. I completely forgot how to breathe. My cheek was so hot it felt like I could fry an egg on it. How the hell do I get out of this?