Dangerous Smiles

"What! Are you firing me, sir?" Stella asked in bewilderment.

She looked behind her to be certain that Alfred wasn't talking to someone else but her. When she realized that he was referring to her, her face scrunched into a frown.

"Stella, please, before you get all worked up, hear me out first." Alfred pleaded.

"Alright, I'm listening," Stella replied while maintaining her frigid expression.

"I never said that I was firing you. You're one of my loyal and most dedicated workers. So, reliving you off your duty at this time would be unthinkable." Alfred explained calmly while hoping Stella would understand and leave quietly. He had seen the way she captured Adrian's attention. Hence, he was very careful with his choice of words.

"If you're not firing me, then why did you want me to leave immediately and why would my presence get you into trouble?" Stella asked impatiently.

With Stella's hands folding across her chest and her current domineering aura, one would wrongly assume that she was the boss and Alfred was subordinate.

"I do not know what you have done to infuriate the Dawson but I have been given strict order not to let you into the vineyard for now until further notice."

Stella let out a bitter chuckle as two names popped into her mind.

"Fair enough, Alfred, I won't judge you because you also answer to someone higher. I will not disobey your instructions because you are a great boss and like a father to me. I do not have any beef with you and I will leave as you have requested. But before I do, I just have one last question that I need you to sincerely answer." The frown on Stella's face immediately vanished and was replaced with a dangerous smile.

"Hmm... alright!" Alfred slightly furrowed forehead and suspicious stares conveyed that he was troubled by Stella's new countenance.

"Which of the Dawson authorized you to banish me from the vineyard? Is it Miss Maria or Mr. Raphael?"

Stella's direct question left Alfred speechless. His mouth hung open but no words came out of it. He wondered what gave Stella the audacity to address the high and mighty Dawson grandchildren as though they were within the same class.

'Is Stella aware that compared to the Dawsons, she's a nobody? Or has her status been upgraded without my knowledge?' Alfred pondered.

"Mr. Alfred..." Stella pulled him out of his temporary shock. "...you said you might get into trouble if I hung around. Don't you think it will be better to answer my question so that I can be on my way?"

"Umm... Mr. Raphael," Alfred heard himself speak without meaning to.

"Hmm... Thank you, sir." Stella curtsied sweetly as though she had been given a salary bonus for a job well done. She stared beyond the beautiful and vast vineyard one more time as if she was saying her goodbye, before finally leaving.

As Stella walked away, Alfred gawked at her disappearing captivating figure while wondering what she could have done to Raphael to piss him off so much.

-

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The peaceful and captivating countryside of Rosaltan Ville lit up with boisterous celebration, as different wineries converge at the prestigious town square for the annual wine grape treading festival.

Being the home to the richest, most unique, and best wine ville in the entire country, Rosaltan ville had vast arrays of vineyards scattered around its plains.

Amongst the major large-scale vineyard owners and competitors were; Arnold Dawson Treasure wines, SK Premium wine, and the Dwellers Unique wine.

However, the Dawson's topped the chart due to their unique wine, while the SK Premium wine took second place.

Just like every other year, the bountiful grape harvest was welcomed with the Rosaltan traditional grape stomping festivity, followed by wine tasting of vintage and fresh wine, dance, carnival-like parties, and many other activities.

This festival usually lasted for a week, which fell at the end of the grape harvest season. Hence, if you missed out on the first day of the activities, there was always a second, third, and even fourth day to catch your fun.

Due to the abundance of the best and most prized wine, alongside numerous pretty female locals, the festival was attended by a lot of male foreigners.

Pretty young girls usually volunteered to partake in the grape stomping activity as a way of advertising themselves to prospective bachelors.

Young girls were seen flirtatiously dancing and squishing grapes with their bare feet while some young and mature men took beautiful pictures.

To some promiscuous men, this was the perfect opportunity to flirt with as many free ladies as possible. While a few others sought out genuine love amongst the reputable young ladies.

Amongst many of the spectators, who turned out last for the event were Raphael and Adrian.

Their lateness was a result of Raphael's slightly bruised state. Before they left the mansion, he had been massaging his balls with packs of ice.

Every time he envisioned the face of the pretty Stella that put him in his current state, an evil intent clouded his mind. He swore that he would make her pay for the humiliation and rejection.

Raphael's pain was so agonizing that most of the family members observed his weird movements and inquired about what was wrong with him.

Raphael was forced to cook up a story rather than admit that a girl he single-handedly brought to the mansion maimed him.

According to Raphael's sympathetic story that everyone aside from Mina bought, he claimed to have mistakingly tripped in his bathroom, during the shower and hurt his genitals.

However, this did not deter him from attending the festival. Even though his plans for sexual activities had been canceled for that day, he still came out to hunt down beautiful locals and preserve them for the next day.

Adrian on the other hand was happy to be out of the mansion with his cousin. He was angry at his mother for inviting his ex to dinner without his permission.

Unfortunately for Adrian, his pretty ex had been stalking him ever since she was reliably alerted that he had left the mansion for the festival.

Hence, when Raphael moved away from him to go talk to a pretty girl, Sonia quickly grabbed the opportunity to show her face.

"Hello, gorgeousness," Sonia came from behind and kissed Adrian softly on the back of his neck. She wrapped her hand around his waist firmly and asked, "Did you miss me?"