Chapter 34\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is for our daughter\u2019s future. What if she ends up as a housekeeper, too? They\u2019ll say that all three generations in our family are doomed to be housekeepers,\u201d James said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His words struck Jolene deeply. Being a housekeeper was still honest work. They weren\u2019t beneath anyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yet in other people\u2019s eyes, even being a sales clerk was more respectable than being a housekeeper.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In that glittering circle of wealth, Jolene and her mother were the lowest of the low.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just as Juliet had said, if she could learn even a fraction of Amanda\u2019s ways, she might at least escape the bottom rung.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jolene began plotting how to get Juliet into the Greene family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She persuaded her mother, who worked as a caretaker for Alicia, to drop hints about Juliet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy granddaughter\u2019s very bright,\u201d Clara would say. \u201cHer father\u2019s a deadbeat. No one looks after her back home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every few days, Jolene and Clara took half days off. They\u2019d emphasized how no one could care for Juliet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alicia was kindhearted. She noticed their plight and finally said, \u201cWhy not let her live here? She\u2019s ten now, so she\u2019s old enough to take care of herself. She can go to school with my grandson. He\u2019ll have someone to keep him company.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thus, Juliet joined the Greene family at ten years old.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Green residence was like a castle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Its living room alone was larger than the courtyard she had grown up in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first time Juliet saw Asher, he was dressed in a crisp white shirt. He was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He seemed like an angel straight from heaven. Tall and refined. Sunlight poured over him, making him glow as if he had stepped out of a painting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He turned his head and glanced at her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 34\u00a0<\/p>\n
His eyes were clear. They were filled with kindness and curiosity; nothing like the murky, lecherous stares of the men back in her village.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is how people are meant to live,\u201d Juliet thought.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She silently vowed that she would stay there no matter what.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
What followed came naturally.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Juliet was as pretty as a porcelain doll. She was sweet-tempered and well-behaved. She was the kind of child everyone liked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Asher, on the other hand, was aloof in front of everyone. He was always sparse with words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But with Juliet, his tone softened threefold.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He treated her like a sister. He tutored her in schoolwork and stood up for her when other children bullied her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only she could sway the cold, defiant boy. She was the only one whose advice he would listen\u00a0<\/p>\n
Amanda grew fonder of Juliet because of that. She showered her with clothes, food, and care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over time, Juliet forgot her plans. She forgot how she had deliberately gotten closer to him. All she remembered was how she had poured her whole heart into loving Asher.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Looking back, she wondered how much of that love was genuine, and how much of it was merely survival instinct disguised as devotion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Juliet stood in the middle of the mall, watching the endless stream of people.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t know the answer, and she no longer wanted to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whatever it had been, it was over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJules!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ariane came rushing toward her like a storm. Her face was still flushed with anger. \u201cWhere\u2019s Caleb?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She scanned the crowd, clearly ready to start a fight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Juliet put away her phone and grabbed Ariane\u2019s arm. \u201cLet\u2019s go,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ariane swung her fist. \u201cHe got off easy!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough,\u201d het wald \u201cStup thinking about that mess. Come on, let\u2019s get something to eat\u00a0<\/p>\n
They entered a restaurant and chose the winelere seat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ariane endered a mountain of dishes before finally telling fallet that she had quit her job\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cthat bad guy has always been handsy with the female employees. I\u2019ve hated him for ages.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Per voice rose as she continued. \u201cWhen I bent down to grab a file today, he pressed up behind\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ismashed the keyboard over his head!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
pallet frowned. \u201cDid he demand compensation?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 34\u00a0 \u201cThis is for our daughter\u2019s future. What if she ends up as a housekeeper, too? They\u2019ll say that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-save-your-pleas-im-with-your-best-friend-now-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":453,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions\/453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}