THE CEOS MISTRESS A MAID BOSS ROMANCE

Several men awaited my arrival via a chartered plane. I could say that my life has been extravagant thanks to my father's wealth. As the heiress to his vast fortune, he couldn't risk my safety. Sometimes, his style of overprotecting me was annoying. Still, I just had to recall our life situation before he became Richard Vera. Life was hard back then, and he did everything in his power to salvage our situation. As his only daughter, it was right to love him unconditionally!

"Darling, how was your trip?" He asked excitedly.

I waited for the grey-haired man to embrace me as he usually did whenever I arrived from a business conference. But instead, I smiled at the man who raised me alone with everything that he had. He had nothing when my mother left him for a richer man, and I hoped that I wouldn't get the chance to see her again. I hated that woman for leaving me and for leaving my father.

"Excellent, Papa," I responded with a promise that I would tell him anything about it.

As the write-ups said in their article, Richard Vera, a famous business tycoon, was the God in the construction industry. So if the Salcedo's were prominent in the tourism industry, the Vera's were also renowned in their field.

"You look more beautiful than the last time I saw you!" Richard Vera exclaimed his compliments as we walked side by side.

I knew that he's so proud of my achievements, but who wouldn't? I trained hard every day to meet his expectations, so I should also be proud of myself. "I think there's something you wanted to tell me ever since I got off from the plane." The proud man shook his head in denial, but I sensed that something bothered him. I could feel it!

"We will talk about it later, Juliana," he responded but the way he pronounced my name caused me to worry. Usually, he would refer me with my nickname even if I hate it. But Juliana?

"Alright, if you say so," I agreed. I was willing to wait for my father to speak until he's ready to spill the beans. He looked stressed already, so I didn't want to add his burden.

The convoy of black cars drove straight from the airport towards the private road leading to our estate, The Belleview. It's a castle with five round towers penetrating the sky, linked with chunky walls made of golden stone. Tall windows and asymmetric crenellations for archers and artillery were strewn liberally around the walls in an almost random fashion.

It was for aesthetic purposes because he loved imagining himself as a King. It was his money that he used to build it, so I had no right to complain. A standard gate guarded the only entrance into the castle built on a mountain top with thick wooden doors. Still, it's not the only way in if someone was familiar with the castle's hidden passages. Outside the castle gates, a line of king statues served as his inspiration that anyone could become great with hard work, perseverance, and determination.

Belleview had been my home since I was ten. Before that, we lived in a slum. I was young back then, but I witnessed how he struggled to provide me with something to eat. First, he worked as a laborer, a construction helper, and then he became a mason. With his experience working day and night, he learned that there's money in the construction business.

Out of desperation to become rich quickly, he tried his luck in a lottery, and he was lucky to get the jackpot.

Richard Vera used the money wisely, and the rest was history.

I looked at my father as we entered the castle gate and smiled at him. Then, sincerely, I promised that I would do everything to pay back for what he had done for me in the past years. "Papa, maybe you should get a wife," I suggested.

His hair might be grey, but it's because of the hair color he sported. The last time he dyed his hair, it was coffee brown, and he looked way much younger than his age. He's only forty-seven, so I assumed that several women would line up to become his wife.

"No, it's just a waste of time," he replied.

"Are you sure? Or until now, you are still waiting for my mother to return," I jested, but Richard Vera didn't like my sense of humor. He frowned at me and looked away. "I was only kidding," I explained.

"You are right," he answered after a minute.

I was shocked at his response because it was unexpected! "What? Are you serious? Oh my God! I can't believe you, Papa." I shook my head in disagreement. "I've never thought that you are like this!"

"It's true love," he reasoned out.

"True love, my foot! If that's true love, then I don't want it!"

"Juliana, you can't say that," he disagreed with my opinion, but I just huffed at his response.

I was about to lecture him, but we have arrived, and I didn't know any of the staff to hear us bantering over anything. There could be a spy in the house, and it would just cause a scandal! We didn't want any scandal to disrupt our business!

A uniformed woman followed me when I went towards the elevator to take me to my bedroom. "How are you doing, Marian?"

"Just fine, Miss Juliana," she replied timidly.