A Humbled Heart

Chapter 3

As soon as they arrived at the famous Valiant family house, Jade could not believe her eyes for she had always believed that the garden back at home was the best she had ever seen but nothing prepared her for the wild-flowers and light that cast a halo on the property, there was no other house to equal it beauty and elegance. The car came to a halt at the roundabout covered with greenery which was cut to perfection and a fountain stood proud in the middle, the expanse of the property from the front view alone was magnificent. The ancient building still looked new due to high-class maintenance, the colour of light brown on the body and white and red on the rooftop suited the house and gave it a modern appeal, the trees on the side of the roundabout were equally distanced reminding Jade of one of the valleys she had read of in the tales of Merlin.

Daniel came around and opened the door for his wife and David helped his sisters out. Elena came forward to greet them with Jacob in tow. "Welcome to our home", said Elena with a wide smile on her face, Margaret laughed and embraced her, while Jacob hung back to greet Daniel. When they all got into the house, three servants came and directed David, Laura, Jasmine and Jade to their respective room while the elders went straight to the living room. 

Jade had never seen a room more luxurious than hers, the colour of the walls were a light shade of green, the huge queen-sized bed with it wine coloured duvet and bed-head beckoned to Jade. The floor was made from oak wood and the wax made it glow, the couch opposite the wall was the same colour of her duvet which gave the room an elegant appeal.

"Thank you", said Jade to the young girl who nodded and left. Feeling restless she left her room and skipped downstairs, she had intended to find the garden but the smell of cake drew her to the kitchen, not wanting to intrude, she turned to leave but was stopped by the girl who had shown her to her room.

"Can we get you something Ma'am?" asked the girl politely.

"Oh nothing, please call me Jade, I just wondered in because I smelt cake", she replied ruefully but took a tentative step into the kitchen and her senses were temporarily assaulted by the heady mix of aromas, flavours and spices which made her forget her surrounding until someone said something.

"You bake Jade?" asked a woman who had a heavy and more plump body than the girl.

"Its my passion", replied Jade with a smile which the cook replied with a firm nod as if Jade had already received her approval. 'If you like, we could use your help', offered the girl to which Jade nodded eagerly and washed her hands with gusto.

"My name is Maria", said the girl as she handed Jade an extra apron.

She was enjoying herself so much she didn't know when time had passed until the cook shooed her away, she quickly popped her last batch in the oven before the woman clobbered her with her rolling pin, she thanked them for accommodating her then left for her room, she was so preoccupied with her thoughts she didn't see the figure in front of her and she collided head-on with the person. She shut her eyes and waited for the impact with the ground when two hands shot out and pulled her close. She gasped and tightened her hands on the sleeves of the person.

She looked up at her rescuer and her cheek blushed red when she saw it was Marcus, he stood looking at her like her with an air of impatience, stumbling backwards, she averted her gaze and pretended to be busy with the floor. "I'm sorry I wasn't watching where I was going", she said quietly.

"Please try to be more careful in the future Miss Jade", replied Marcus with irritation, Jade's head snapped up and she scowled at him. 

"Maybe you should do the same too", replied Jade and immediately regretted not holding her tongue. His eyes darkened with annoyance, the little minx! He thought. Never had anyone spoken back to him in any manner, he prided himself on being an autocrat but Jade made him feel less of himself. There was something in her personality that drew him the first time he saw her interact with Oliver and even now which increased his irritation because he was not a man of feelings, as far as he was concerned, feelings make a man vulnerable.