My Second Marriage with the Mafia Kingpin-Chapter 41: The first in this empire-in-progress.

Betty paced back and forth in the hallway in distress, her entire body trembling. As far as she knew, she was about to refuse Ashley’s nonsense offer in the most polite way she could. But before she could even do that, Ashley had already run her mouth with wild add-ons Betty wouldn’t have even thought of doing—or thinking!

"I’m dead, am I? I’m dead—" her panicked murmuring stopped when she caught sight of a figure emerging from the end of the hallway.

Ashley!

Betty perked up and dashed toward her.

"Madam!" she intoned, fidgeting with her fingers as she walked alongside Ashley. "Madam, I think I caused a misunderstanding last night. About your offer—"

She stopped when Ashley halted in her tracks. Betty cleared her throat as the madam turned to her.

"What about my offer?" Ashley asked, tilting her head to the side. "Right... I haven’t discussed some other things. Come with me. I’ll show you what you’ll need to do. We’ll discuss the terms while we’re at it."

Betty opened and closed her mouth, rendered speechless as Ashley resumed her steps.

"That’s not— I’m not— Madam—"

"Hmm?" Ashley glanced back at her. "Anything else?"

"..." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"If there’s none, let’s go, Bet. Today is a long day — come on!"

With that, Ashley continued walking, leaving Betty almost hyperventilating. At that moment, Betty felt like the little control she had over her life was slowly slipping through her fingers.

All she could do was stare at Ashley’s back, stupefied.

But in the end, there was nothing she could do but follow Ashley to the garden.

Once they reached the garden, the workers were already starting. Betty hadn’t been around the day before to know what they were doing, but now that she was here, she could see the hard labor everyone was pouring into it... with a heavy heart.

They all look so reluctant, she thought.

"They’re changing the soil so the trees will be able to grow fast and healthy," Ashley explained as she stopped to the side, carefully watching everyone to make sure they weren’t making mistakes.

Thanks to the professional gardeners, following Liza’s plan for Ashley’s garden was made easy. All they had to do was teach and guide those members of Dominion, who, unfortunately, had to dig up soil to plant trees, not bury bodies.

"These trees are precious," she continued, not really focused on whether or not Betty was listening. "Also, come with me—hey!"

Betty flinched at Ashley’s shout, only to see the madam walking away and catching the attention of one of the gardeners.

"Hey, boss!" Ashley greeted, raising a hand.

The gardener offered her a smile, though his eyes soon shifted to Betty.

"Right. This is Betty, my first-ever secretary," Ashley introduced, making both Betty and the gardener raise their brows.

First-ever secretary? Why was she making it sound like she planned to hire more?

"She’s going to oversee everything from now on. Of course, I’ll still look after the garden and everything, but I can’t do everything. If there’s a problem and I’m not available, you can always reach out to Betty."

"I see." The gardener nodded, offering Betty a brief smile in greeting. "I’m Castor, the chief contractor for this work. We also handled the mansion’s landscape and several properties under Dominion."

Betty opened and closed her mouth, but no words came out. She could only nod, then glance down at the hand Castor was offering.

"Ah..." she reached out with both hands, shaking his with a meek smile.

"Anyway, Castor, can you brief Betty on the progress we’ve made and our plan?" Ashley chimed in as their hands parted, earning a nod from the man.

With that, Castor pulled out the plan handed by Liza, along with another prepared by his team based on it. He explained the situation to Betty in the simplest terms so as not to confuse Ashley’s secretary.

Meanwhile, even though Betty was listening, she wasn’t sure whether she understood anything or was just more confused. Still, she felt like she was beginning to grasp the plan.

"But... why do we need to change the soil?" she blurted out, watching Ashley and Castor exchange a glance before turning to her.

Castor smiled. "Because the soil in the garden isn’t compatible with the trees we’re planting."

"Oh..."

"I’m actually surprised the madam got these new ones in such a short period of time," Castor added with a chuckle, turning to Ashley. "Madam, by the way, I have some matters to discuss with you."

Ashley studied his face before turning to Betty. "I’ll talk to him first."

With that, Ashley walked off with Castor a short distance away to discuss what seemed to be an important matter. As for Betty, she could only watch them before turning her attention back to the workers.

"What in the world is happening to me?" she asked herself, standing frozen as if a spotlight were shining directly on her. "Just... why is this happening?"

Yesterday, she had blurted out her thoughts and ended up getting bullied by the other maids. Not to mention, she was punished for slacking when, in fact, the head maid rarely saw her because she had been covering for the others’ duties.

And while she was stuck washing a mountain of dishes, Ashley had sneaked off to eat snacks.

Now, here she was, standing in the garden as Ashley’s secretary...?

"Se... secretary?" Betty whispered in disbelief, gazing down at her maid uniform.

Her face twisted slightly at her own appearance. But out of instinct, she turned to where Ashley was standing, and somehow, the muddled thoughts running haywire in her mind slowly faded.

Soon, Ashley returned and showed her around.

The garden wasn’t the only thing she was working on. The soil they had removed was being weighed and tested by other gardeners from the same team to be shipped somewhere. And while showing her around, Ashley began discussing the working conditions with Betty.

But none of that mattered anymore the moment she mentioned how much Betty would be paid.

"Huh?" Betty stared at her in pure shock. "Madam, did you say— did you mistake—you’re going to pay me...?"

"Oh, no, I didn’t. As my secretary, I—" Ashley flinched when Betty suddenly clasped her hands.

After an entire day of drifting, Betty finally smiled—albeit a creepy one. Her broken, taped eyeglasses slid down her nose as her expression changed.

"I’ll do my best, madam!" Betty declared, finally finding clarity. "I’ll work for you—no, no, I’ll serve you until the end of time with all my heart, soul, and body!"

Ashley leaned back slightly, staring at the unsettling smile on Betty’s face. For the first time, she was rendered speechless.

"Ah..." she nodded awkwardly, trying to tug her hand free, but to no avail. Betty held onto her as if her life depended on it. "With your heart, sure, but body..." — I don’t think that’s necessary.

Ashley ran her tongue along the inside of her cheek before forcing a smile. "Then... we have a deal?"

"Yes, Madam!" Betty declared with renewed motivation. "Absolutely!"

Ashley studied the overly enthusiastic Betty, thinking she should’ve mentioned the salary immediately. Now, she couldn’t help but wonder how much Lucian had paid this woman in the past to make her this loyal.

If only Ashley knew, it was ten times more than her current offer.

But today marked the beginning of the first person Ashley could truly call her own ally.

The first in this empire-in-progress.