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Chapter 17: Serah & Emma

"What could possibly be wrong? Something\'s wrong because he\'s willing to pay enough for the job or what?," Emma asked.

"Think about it, Emma. Remember what we saw on the internet yesterday? It said that the average hourly wage is $13-16, and an average housekeeper earns approximately $29,000 a year, and $38,000 for some experienced ones.

Use that information and compare it to what he\'s paying us. $5000 a week? That means we earn what they will almost earn in a year in just a month.

Don\'t you think that there\'s something more to it?," Serah asked.

"Serah, you\'re being too paranoid. Remember that under that post, it said that the amount can vary due to different reasons, one of the reasons being the size of the house or number of people that are being taken care of.

Besides, we really need this job. Maybe you don\'t because you\'re working for your aunt, but I badly need this job. $5000 a week is a blessing if you ask me," Emma replied.

"Emma, the money seems to be clouding your sense of judgment," Serah said to her friend.

"Please, let it be clouded. I want the job."

Serah saw this and sighed. She knows that there\'s no changing Emma\'s mind once it\'s made up.

Since Emma said that she\'s going to accept the job, then she will accept it.

"Emma, what if we accept it and he decides to work us to death. You know, wanting to get what he paid for? He can also ask us to give him \'special services.\'," Serah asked. She decided to use Emma\'s weakness against her, her paranoia for men coming after her, but it failed.

"Serah, I know what you\'re trying to do there. Look, about him working us to death, it\'s impossible. We want to work as housekeepers, we have to take care of the villa and cook for him and he\'s going to pay us more than enough for the job.

About him asking for \'special services\'. Would you give him if he asks for it? If he does, we can just quit. I\'m sure that by then we would have gotten enough money," Emma said with a smile.

Serah saw this and shook her head as she said, "Ohh Emma, how naive you are with that doll face of yours. Since you have decided, we can accept the job, right?"

"Yes, let\'s accept it," Emma replied and nodded, and continued, "Honestly, the only thing that can stop me from accepting it is if he\'s into any illegal business.

"Wait... now that I think of it, what if he\'s into any illegal business?," Emma asked, and looked at Serah anxiously.

"Emma... call him and tell him that we\'re done. It\'s now you\'re becoming worried about him being into illegal business. You should have been worried about it before. Just like you said, we can quit anytime. So call him and let him come downstairs," Serah replied, and turned to look at the Koi pond outside.

Emma saw that Serah doesn\'t want to talk to her anymore and sighed, before bringing out her phone to call Silas.

Few seconds later after he was called, Silas came downstairs and sat on the sofa.

"So...?," He asked.

"We will take the job," Serah replied, and Emma also responded with a nod.

"Ok. Give your bank details so that I can forward this week\'s payment to your accounts," Silas said with a smile on his face.

He can finally let out a breath of relief as he has found people to help him take care of the villa.

Silas\' words seemed to have surprised the girls as they looked at each other. It was after a few moments before Serah finally spoke up.

"Do you really want to pay us immediately? You know that we haven\'t started work yet?," She asked.

Silas heard her question and chuckled, "Yes, I know. Or are you going to run away if I pay you now?," Silas asked.

"Of course not, it\'s just surprising that...–," Serah was cut short by Silas.

"It\'s fine even if you run away. I will just learn my lesson and it will save me a lot of trouble. Come on, your details," Silas said.

The girls brought out their phones and gave Silas their bank account, and a few minutes later, the both of them got a bank notification that $5000 was deposited into their respective accounts.

Seeing this, their faces bloomed with smiles. They were doubting it before but seeing the money sitting comfortably in their account made them believe it was real.

"Sir, can we start today?," Emma, who hasn\'t spoken since, finally asked.

"Please don\'t call me sir, it\'s Silas and you don\'t need to start today, you can take the day off and start tomorrow if you want," Silas said.

"Ok, Mr Silas, we would like to start today. You don\'t seem to have eaten breakfast. Why don\'t we start with that? And we can also start cleaning the house," Serah said.

"Sure, you can if you want to," Silas said, when he saw that they were insisting on starting work immediately.

After getting his approval, the girls made their way to the kitchen.

While the girls were preparing breakfast for him, Silas decided to check the system notification.

[Ding!]

[You spent $5000. You received a 10x rebate of expenses made. You earned $50,000. The money has been sent to your bank account]

[You spent $5000. You received a 10x rebate of expenses made. You earned $50,000. The money has been sent to your bank account]

"Nice. The rebate also applies to this too. I guess expenses are expenses," Silas said, when he saw the system notification.

He has this feeling that the rebate doesn\'t apply to every expense in its literal meaning, and that there\'s a catch to it. Though he has this thought, he doesn\'t have anything to prove it, neither can the system give him an answer.

Silas was still thinking about his system when he heard Serah calling him.

"The kitchen is empty and we also need to buy some household supplies for the house," She said.

"Ok. Make a list of what you\'re going to buy, anything and everything. I will go get my car key," Silas said and stood up.

Few minutes later, Silas drove off with Serah, making his way to the nearest grocery store, leaving Emma behind at the villa.

While they were shopping, Emma was looking around the villa, taking pictures and she took time to satiate her curiosity.

She would have never believed it if someone told her that she would be working at the famous Premiere Villa.

....

Three hour later, Silas and Serah were back. Silas parked the car in the garage and Serah brought some of the things they bought out of its trunk.

They were not able to bring everything back because they bought a lot of things and the trunk doesn\'t have enough space for them. So, they brought back the essentials while the rest will be delivered.

For the shopping, Silas spent $97,000 on everything. He made sure that Serah didn\'t cut cost and bought quality products.

After he got home, he went to his room to wait for the girls to finish the cooking so that he can eat.

It was after an a hour that Emma came to call him to come downstairs and eat.

When he got to the dining table, he saw that a sumptous meal of rice, chicken and salad has been prepared for him.

He nodded as he took his seat and picked up his spoon, started eating.

The first spoon went into his mouth and Silas nodded in satisfaction. The food was delicious and to his liking.

The girls saw this and were very happy. They were initially worried about Silas\' taste and his eating habits but it seems that their worries were unfounded.

Silas quickly finished up his food and went back to his room, while the girls cleared the table and started cleaning the house.

In his room, Silas opened his laptop and started searching for the contact information of Stanford University, but he seemed to be out of luck as he couldn\'t find the contact.

The day went by uneventfully and it was finally night. Silas ate dinner and decided to sleep, deciding that he would continue his search the next day.