Chapter 145
KATYA POV
The elevator humd softly as it descended, and for a few blessed seconds I let myself breathe.
Just the quiet whirring. Just the promise of work. Just... space.
But the second the doors slid open. Chaos swallowed whole. I froze on the threshold.
The entire third floor buzzed like a kicked anthill.
Maids rushed back and forth in every direction, arms full of trays, flowers, fabrics, polished glasses, tal stands, crates of champagne, baskets of whatever, boxes sealed with gold labels I didn’t recognize.
A rolling cart rattled past , stacked so high with decorations it looked like it might tip.
Soone was shouting orders. Soone else was yelling back. Shoes clicked, heels clacked, brooms swept, doors slamd, and voices overlapped in frantic waves.
I blinked rapidly.
What...?
A maid nearly collided with , skidding to a stop. "Watch it!" she snapped before bolting off again without waiting for a reaction.
I stepped fully out of the elevator, pressed flat against the wall so I wouldn’t get run over by the next stampede.
My heart thudded in confusion. What was happening? It wasn’t like the usual busy.
This was different. This was... urgent. Prepared. Coordinated to the point of panic.
Decorations? Drinks? Flowers? Why would they—?
I took a small step forward, still hugging myself, still trying to make sense of any of it. Was there... an event? A dinner? A gathering?
No one had told anything. Not that they ever did. But this—this was a level of frantic I’d never seen before.
Miss Stella appeared from the kitchen doors like a storm. All sharp movents and clipped commands, her tablet clutched to her chest.
"Move those vases! No, not there—if the guests arrive early I swear—Soone get the lighting crew down there now! And who put the wine crates in the wrong corridor—again?!"
I stiffened.
Guests?
My stomach dropped even before my brain pieced the rest together. This wasn’t just so random event. Whatever this was... it was big.
Important.
And clearly happening tonight.
Which ant—
No.
No, that didn’t make sense. Couldn’t make sense.
No one said anything about—
A loud clatter snapped from my thoughts. I looked to the right in ti to see two maids struggling with a towering arrangent of white roses—White. Gold. Crystal.
I swallowed, suddenly feeling even more out of place than before, as if the chaos around was a language I wasn’t ant to understand.
Before I could make sense of any of it, a sharp voice cut through the noise.
"Katya!"My head snapped up.
Miss Stella’s eyes locked onto from across the floor, wide, relieved, and a little irritated like she’d been searching for for hours.
She marched toward with the speed and precision of soone who had absolutely no ti left in her day.
"Where on earth have you been since afternoon?" she demanded, not unkindly, but with that strict edge she used when everything was falling apart.
I opened my mouth... but nothing ca out.
My brain was still stuck on what is happening, while my body was still trying not to get crushed by passing trays and floral arrangents.
Miss Stella didn’t wait for an answer. She grabbed two trays of sparkling drinks from a side table and thrust one into my hands.
"Co on, help take these to the fourth floor."
Fourth floor?
All that ca out of my mouth was a tiny, confused noise. "Huh—?"
But Miss Stella was already turning, expecting to follow.
Still disoriented, still trying to catch up, I clutched the tray and hurried after her before soone yelled at for blocking the walkway.
My feet moved automatically, though my mind lagged behind in a fog of why, what, when, who, because I had absolutely no idea what I’d just walked into.
We bypassed the elevator and headed for the stairs.
The fourth floor. I rembered that one. A ballroom. Huge, bright, echoing. And suddenly sothing cold slid down my spine.
Were we going there? To that room?
Last I heard the room was only used for big events. Important events. It had never been used before—well since I ca.
I swallowed as we walked quickly down the stairs, my grip tightening on the tray so it wouldn’t shake with my nerves.
Miss Stella didn’t slow down—not even a little—as we reached the landing. She pushed the heavy double doors open with her shoulder and swept inside like she’d been holding the entire house together with sheer force of will.
I stepped in behind her. And instantly stopped breathing.
Again, for the tenth ti.
The hall, no scratch that the ballroom—
Whatever this place was supposed to be... It was unrecognizable.
I’d never been inside before. It had always been locked, lights off, half-forgotten behind velvet ropes and polished brass handles.
ust a rumor of a room. A shape behind a door. Now it looked like sothing out of a dream.
Huge didn’t even begin to cover it. The ceiling arched like a cathedral, covered in soft golden lighting that humd against crystal chandeliers.
The walls were draped with cascading fabrics—white, deep gold, and soft black—layered in a way that made the whole room feel like it glowed.
But the real shock ca from the movent.
Dozens of maids, decorators, servers—everyone—were weaving through the space, transforming it piece by piece.
Chairs wrapped in satin bows. Tables dressed in black and white cloths, trimd with subtle gold edges.
Centerpieces tall enough to block faces, spilling with white roses, lilies, soft glitter dust that shimred under the lights. Everything sparkled. Everything had a place.
And everything was already halfway to perfect.
My feet rooted at the entrance. I’d never seen luxury like this. Not from the sidelines. Not from inside a room I wasn’t supposed to breathe in, let alone stand in.
Miss Stella turned back, noticed frozen, and clicked her tongue. "Katya, move. We don’t have ti."
Right. Ti. Tasks. Sothing I ca here for. I forced myself forward, gripping the tray tighter as I stepped fully into the chaos.
My eyes darted everywhere at once. Music was being tested through hidden speakers—soft, elegant violins that made the room feel even more surreal.
More carts rattled by, carrying pastries shaped like tiny sculptures. A man I’d never seen before stood by the stage adjusting so massive velvet curtains.
And every person here looked like they knew exactly what they were doing. Everyone except .
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