Riches in Disguise

As soon as I hung up the phone, Gabrielle's voice came from the door.

"Hey, guys. The faucet in my room doesn't seem to work well. Could you take a look at it for me?"

Just moments ago, the men in the office were fawning over her, but as soon as work was involved, they all started making excuses.

"Oh, the faucet's broken? You should call a repairman to check it."

She raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a repairman's number?"

"We don't have one. Today's our first day on the job."

"Alright. I'll figure it out myself."

She seemed disappointed and turned to leave, but I quickly called out, "Wait a minute. I know a little about fixing faucets. I can take a look for you."

"Okay. Thanks."

She smiled and led me upstairs.

I followed her not just to check the faucet but also because I wanted to talk to her.noveldrama

I wondered why she would still choose to stay here despite the staff being so untrustworthy.

I figured that her perspective was different from mine.

As the owner, I found some behaviors unacceptable. Still, I considered that perhaps she could understand them in a way that I couldn't.

I couldn't help but ask as the elevator ascended, "The people downstairs are so creepy. How can you still stay here? Aren't you worried about what they might do to you?"

Gabrielle smiled. "When someone is poor enough, they stop fearing anything. I'm not afraid of anything-not even death. Why would I fear them?"

I sized her up. She did seem to be dressed lightly. Still, she couldn't be so poor that she had nothing left to lose. Moreover, she wasn't handicapped. Why couldn't she find a job and make some money?

"You must be thinking, 'I'm not handicapped, so why don't I work and make money?""

She saw right through my thoughts, which embarrassed me a little.

I coughed awkwardly. "That's exactly what I was thinking."

She chuckled softly. "I don't blame you for thinking that way, but I have my challenges. I've fallen out with my family members, who constantly watch me.

"As soon as I head out to work, they'll find out where I'm working and cause trouble, making it

impossible for me to stay.

Eventually, they'll get me fired

Right

now, only have a few thousand dollars left. After paying the rent, I don't know how long the rest of the money will last."

"Is your family crazy? Why would they do that to you?"

"Because they want me to marry a man I don't like."

I understood now. I figured that her family was probably well-off.

For a woman from an average family, even if she was beautiful, she might marry someone from a

slightly better background. It

wouldn't drive her parents to

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extreme lengths to make sure she

married only that man.

However, women from wealthier families were often seen as tools for their family's interests, given away to wealthy heirs as wives.

These wealthy heirs who could force beautiful women to marry them were either incredibly ugly or had questionable morals. So, the women were not marrying up but actually marrying down.

Many beautiful women would run away and break ties with their families.

Over the years, I heard countless stories from my mother about this kind of situation. But few people would go so far as to sabotage their daughters from even getting a job.

Gabrielle's parents had gone too far.

I couldn't help but think of my own parents.