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!