I can't do this!

Why was a single room taking me so long to just dust?

I still had to mop it and change the covers of the cushions. I didn't know housework would be so difficult. I wanted to just die.

My arms and back started aching after ten minutes I picked up the broom, and my legs had begun giving up too. And no matter how much I washed the windows, they still looked like they had smudges over them.

So, I gave up on it and started cleaning the tiles instead. I had no idea how I was supposed to do it. I should have listened to mom when she used to scold me for not helping her in the house. Well, I didn't know that I would have to do it even after marrying a billionaire.

Billionaire, my foot.

"You aren't done yet?"

Ignore, Reyna. He is just here to make fun of you.

"Reyna, I am talking to you. Did you already forget what I told you about not answering me?" Yuvaan said with an underlying threat.

I looked up at him and shook my head. I had been cleaning a tile with a brush for the last one hour and still couldn't get that black spot removed. It felt like it was mocking me too.

"You remember what I said yesterday, right? If you don't finish the work, you won't get to eat. And by the looks of it, I don't think you will be able to do that for another two months," he added and gave me a fake worried look.

"I am almost done. It is just that spot which is consuming my time," I reasoned and pointed towards the place I was cleaning.

"That's part of the design, Reyna," he said and pursed his lips.

What?!

"B-but... it is on that tile only..." I argued.

"So what? Nothing is perfect. You gonna blame everything on it just because it is not like the other tiles?" he asked.

"What the hell? I was wasting my time on nothing," I mumbled under my breath.

"I thought you were an architect. You should have known it better than anyone else. I am disappointed." Yuvaan looked at me like I had committed a crime and walked away.

I threw the brush away in frustration and continued with dusting off the sofa and bed. After that, I cleaned all the sceneries and mopped the place. I was so tired, and my empty stomach was not helping at all.

It kept growling while I tried to distract myself. After getting over with one guest room, I moved on to the next, but unfortunately, I couldn't complete my task as I fainted while taking out the trash.

I was woken up by Grace who was looking at me with concern filled eyes. I asked her what happened, and she told me that since I had starved for a whole day, I fell unconscious. She took me to my room with the help of her assistant, and informed me that I had been out for over 6 hours.

"I want food," I whined, and she pulled out a small tray from under the bed.

"Eat up before Yuvi comes. If he notices, God knows what he will do," she said and started feeding me.

"Thank you, Grace. I thought I would die if I didn't get anything to eat. I can't stay hungry for long." I smiled and tried to put more food in my mouth.

I was so busy complimenting Grace for her cooking skills that I didn't realise that my husband was standing in the doorway observing us. We noticed him when Grace got up to bring some water for me.

"Done eating?" he questioned in his signature ice tone.

I couldn't reply as my mouth was busy chewing the largest morsel. I glanced at Grace and she told me that she would handle him. But it was false hope. Yuvaan excused her and told her that if she tried to help me again, he wouldn't do anything to her, but I would suffer badly.

I nodded at Grace and she left the room after shaking her head at Yuvaan. I swallowed the food which got stuck in my throat as Yuvaan proceeded towards me. He stood in front of my bed and just stared at me with a blank face.

I glanced around me for water, but realised that I didn't have any. Yuvaan seemed to notice that too because he sat down on my bed, near my feet and told me to eat. I looked at him in bewilderment, but when he gave me a glare, I continued eating.

I seriously needed to drink water. The food was delicious, but it was spicy too. By the end of it, I had tears in my eyes. My throat felt dry, and I couldn't gobble down anymore.

"Had enough? Why don't you eat more?" Yuvaan pushed the plates towards me.

I shook my head. "I am done." I started getting up from the bed to get myself some water, but Yuvaan pushed me back.

He called Grace's assistant and told her to take all the dishes away. She did as ordered while looking at me in horror; even she was afraid for me. She left after cleaning the mess, and I scooted away from Yuvaan.

"I am thirsty," I said meekly, and he narrowed his eyes.

"What am I supposed to do about that?"

I looked at him like he had grown two heads.

"You broke the rules, so I am going to increase your punishment. You ate even when you didn't do your job. Now, you will not get to drink any fluids also. Let me see how you will disobey me," he threatened.

"B-but... it's hard..." I complained.

"Who said it was going to be easy?" He laughed. "Daddy's princess is tired?"

He went into a laughing fit after watching my reaction. I looked at him in shock as tears leaked from my eyes. He never lost a chance to make me cry.

How could he do that? He knew I fainted, but still he banned me from drinking water too. Why was he being so mean to me? I knew dad had done wrong to him, but why was he punishing me for what dad did?

"Don't cry, Reyna. You will get dehydrated." He faked concern.

He patted my head mockingly and reminded me that I still had a lot of work left. Moreover, if I didn't match upto his expectations, he had some other plans in his mind. I wondered what it could be.

"Relax all you want. I won't stop you," he said sarcastically and got up to leave.

But before he could walk out, I snapped up from the bed and ran out of the room. I started my work again. I spent the whole night trying to complete my day one's task. Fortunately, I was able to do it without passing out due to fatigue.

Just like that, I tried to do my job on a daily basis, but one or another way, some tasks would be left undone and they started piling up. But I managed to have proper food for two days within the last week. I knew I wouldn't survive that way, so I kept a hidden stack of chips and some drinks in my bathroom.

I was aware Yuvaan had eyes everywhere, but there was no way he had access to the washrooms. That too, in a lady's room. I took full advantage of that fact and managed to keep myself alive in this dungeon.

Still, there was a huge problem. I had to clean the swimming pools along with watering the garden. Going by the size of both the pools, I knew it would take me two whole days to get them cleaned, but I didn't have the luxury of time. My meal was on the line.

After wasting two hours on thinking about how to do it before the deadline, my mind lit up with an idea. I quickly went into the storeroom, and took out three huge pipes. I asked the garden taker to help me. He asked me what I was going to do with it as we carried the heavy pipes in the garden.

I told him to relax and that he would see it eventually. I went inside the house and collected some coal from the furnace in a bag. On my way, I noticed Yuvaan looking at me with a weird expression on his face from the stairs.

I ignored him-which was a surprise to myself-and took an old cotton bedsheet from one of the rooms. After that, I got an old metal container which was big enough to fit two persons. I was glad that Yuvaan had a lot of storerooms which had all kinds of stuff in them.

After searching for half an hour, I found two metal net frames with tiny pores. I took all the equipment to the lawn and began my work. Yuvaan knew that I was an architect, but he didn't know that I was a mechanic too. I wasn't going to tell him either.

I didn't had a degree, but I was pretty good at it. With the help of garden uncle, I managed to build a small machine which worked on the theory of osmosis/diffusion. I placed the heavy device between the two swimming pools and joined two pipes on either sides.

Then I added one more pipe to the third side and put that pipe's end into the lane of plants. I took a spade and made a big burrow around the bushes and removed the dead leaves.

I was fucking tired, but I wasn't planning on giving up. The sun was biting my skin and my whole body was covered with sweat. Still, I worked hard because I was sure that if I lacked off, I would suffer like that everyday.

After completing the whole setup, I added coal in the machine and installed the metal nets on all four walls of it. Basically, I had made a big water purifier consisting of coal, filter nets, and a thin cotton bedsheet.

The water could travel from the swimming pools through the pipes and get transported to the plants, getting removed of any impurities on the way. Work made easy. That way, the water wouldn't get wasted and me too.

Garden uncle told me that it would take a lot of time for the process, and I gave him a huge smile. I glanced at Yuvaan who was observing everything from his balcony. He was looking at me with a cold expression, and I controlled myself from making a teasing face at him.

"It is okay, Uncle. It isn't like I am going anywhere," I said, my eyes still on my husband who I was sure must be plotting murder plans for me.

After accomplishing the main part of the task, I supervised it while drinking my evening coffee-showing off to Yuvaan on purpose. I knew I was getting myself in trouble by acting like that, but I wanted to just enjoy.

I had learned that housework was not everyone's cup of tea-me included. And as it had been only a week since I started, I knew I would die before getting everything done on time. So, there was only way.

I had to use my brain where I couldn't rely on my strength alone. Other than that, I still had tons of chores left, but they could wait. If it meant that I could annoy Yuvaan, I wanted to do it. I loved watching his irritated expression whenever I managed to get my job done before his deadline.

He would sulk all day long and shoot daggers at me. By now, I had gotten used to it. Shaurya and Advait told him that he was being childish, but he waved them off. He didn't want to listen them say that he should focus on his work instead of trying to mess with me.

I understood what his friends were implying. Yuvaan spent a lot of time at home instead of his office and majority of it was wasted by him on trying to come up with new plans to hinder my progress.

Sometimes I wondered if he was actually the owner of YSR enterprises, or if he was just fooling everyone else.

Aren't you supposed to be working all day and night if you are a billionaire? How was he able to run his empire when all he was concerned about was if I did my work on time, or not?

Oh, whatever. I would not ask him that. I was a busy person unlike my husband.

I made my towards the kitchen and very proudly asked Grace to serve me dinner. Yuvaan had just completed his meal and was about to leave, but when he spotted me, he sat back on his chair.

"You done for today?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied, and Grace put my dinner plate on the table.

I started eating and glanced at Yuvaan. He was looking at me-just like any other time-and didn't say anything. He didn't move till I finished my dinner, and I wanted to know what was going on in his mind.

"Double her work, Nana," he announced.

"What?" Grace asked.

"She seems to be full of herself," Yuvaan said. "You think you can outsmart me? You thought I won't find out the secret stash of food you have kept hidden from me?" he interrogated.

I threw a panicked glance at Grace who shared the same expression as me. Yuvaan smirked and his eyes twinkled with mischief. He challenged me to oppose him, but I kept my mouth shut.

Grace also didn't feel the need to argue with him. If she had protested, he would have increased the workload by three times. So, to avoid that, we both didn't complain and maintained our composure. Yuvaan got up from his chair after getting the satisfactory response.

"You will never outdo me, Reyna. Don't forget who your husband is." He threw me a scornful glance and left while whistling.

"Are you okay, beta?" Grace asked as she put her small wrinkled hand on my shoulder.

"I am okay." I gave her a small smile.

Why was I lying to myself?

Seriously, housework is no joke 😐

Thank you for reading 💜

Next update might take some time as I am shifting places this weekend, but I will try my best to get another chapter up without much delaying.