The Accidental MAID

Chapter 1

Briar is exhausted.

She has been working like a dog for three straight days. The only time she gets to rest is during meals and, of course, when she sleeps. Every morning, she wakes up at six, takes a quick shower, eats breakfast, and immediately starts working again.

She chose to stay in the huge vacation house until the task she volunteered to do was completed. It saves her both travel time and gas money.

The two-story private vacation house sits on top of a hill overlooking the ocean. According to her Aunt Lenna, it belongs to a billionaire bachelor. Honestly, Briar is not interested in whether the owner is rich or not. She only wanted to help her aunt.

Today is her third and final day.

At last, she is close to finishing everything.

Stretching her tired body, she walks around the house one last time to make sure she hasn't forgotten anything. She carefully checks every corner, making sure not a single speck of dust remains.

After a thorough inspection, she smiles proudly at a job well done.

Even though she is exhausted, she feels happy. Briar is the type of person who gives her best in every task assigned to her. She doesn't want the people paying for her service to have any complaints. For her, doing her best is not only for the client, but also for the Lord. The satisfaction of the people she serves is already a reward in itself.

Satisfied with her hard work, she returns to the room she occupied and packs her things. She is finally getting ready to go home.

According to her aunt, the owner of the house will arrive tomorrow.

After packing, she heads to the living room to gather enough strength for the long drive back to the Shine Bright Housekeeping office.

She sits on the couch and leans her head against the backrest.

Because she had exhausted all her energy over the past three days, she quickly fell asleep.

And soon, she drifts into Wonderland.

"Catch me if you can!" Briar shouted as she ran, laughing happily at her best friend, Miguel.

Miguel laughed. "Run faster, Briar!"

"Haha! Faster, Migz!"

"Got you!" he said, catching her in his arms.

The two of them burst into laughter.

"I'll miss you," Miguel suddenly said softly.

"Me too," Briar replied sadly. "I'll miss you so much. You'll be so far away from here."

The thought of Miguel leaving broke her heart.

No more Miguel protecting her from bullies.

No more Miguel helping her with homework.

No more Miguel making her laugh like this.

As she stared into his eyes, the tears she had been holding back finally rolled down her cheeks. Miguel immediately hugged her.

"Hey, don't cry," he comforted gently. "We'll keep in touch. We can video call each other on Skype. We can send emails too."

Her sobs choked her awake.

Briar opened her eyes and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Sitting upright, she realized she had dreamed about her best friend again.

She missed him terribly.

Even though they talked and chatted almost every day, it was still different when he was physically beside her.

Miguel and Briar had been best friends since they were five years old. They were neighbors and eventually became the siblings they both never had.

Briar's mother could no longer have children after giving birth to her. Her parents had tried many times to give her a brother or sister, but it never happened.

Miguel's family experienced something similar. He once had a baby brother, but the child died from acute pneumonia when he was only one month old.

Whatever the reason was for his parents not having another child afterward, Briar never asked.

Because of that, the two of them treated each other like real siblings.

They attended the same school from preschool until Form Two. But when Miguel's family moved to the United States because of his father's work, they were forced apart.

Since then, they had stayed connected through emails, video calls, and every new messaging app they discovered together.

Her trip down memory lane abruptly stopped when the doorbell rang.

"Who could that be?" she murmured. "Maybe one of the golf course staff."

Curious, she stood up and walked toward the door, peeking through the security hole.

A tall man stood outside with his back facing the door. He had broad shoulders and wore a light blue long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, paired with faded blue jeans. Casual, yet intimidating.

He definitely wasn't one of the workers she had seen during her stay. The staff members wore uniforms and T-shirts.

So who was this man?

She noticed him searching through his satchel for something.

Just as she was about to step away from the door, it suddenly swung open.

"Ahh!"

Caught off guard, Briar fell hard onto the floor, landing painfully on her butt.

She wanted to cry from the pain, but she refused to embarrass herself any further.

How did she not hear him opening the door?

She hadn't even realized he had turned around.

She tried standing up, but the sharp pain stopped her. Her backside burned painfully against the hard floor.

Giving up for the moment, she stayed where she was.

Then she sensed him standing right in front of her.

Looking down at her.

Heat rushed to her face in embarrassment.

As soon as she could stand, she was definitely leaving this place immediately.