The Billionaire Who Saved Me - Chapter 67: Chapter 67

Then Delilah announced, "Kate, spend the next few days with Helen. Learn the family's social connections and everyone's habits.
"Helen's pregnant. She shouldn't overdo it. You get familiar first, and after your honeymoon, you'll run the household for us."
As soon as Delilah said that, both Helen and I froze. I really didn't want to. I quickly waved my hands. "Delilah, I don't know anything about this. I can't do it."
That was when Helen's face lit up a bit.
But Delilah wouldn't hear it. "If you don't know something, ask Helen. You'll get the hang of it with practice. No one's born knowing everything. You can learn.
"How much work can there be with just a few people in the house? You're young, but instead of being responsible, you're trying to slack off."
Even though she sounded like she was scolding, Delilah wasn't really mad. While she said that, she'd already given half of Helen's household duties to me. And that was just for now. In a month, it would all be mine.
Delilah always meant what she said. Helen saw it was settled, so she put on a fake smile. "It's so kind of you, Delilah. You know I've been tired and want me to rest. Kate, I'll show you around starting today."
Since that was how it was, I'd look ungrateful if I kept refusing. So I agreed, "Helen, please be patient with me. I'm not good at this."
Delilah tapped my forehead, laughing as she chided me. "You're a sharp girl. Don't act dumb. Lazy, that's what you are."
With Delilah sticking up for me like that, Helen's smile got stiff. But with Delilah there, she had to keep up the friendly act.
I knew Helen probably wanted to get rid of me right then. I was already a big threat to her, and now I was taking over running the household. Anyone would be upset about that.
Once Delilah was done, it was time to go to work.
Even though it was their own company, the Knights still clocked in like regular employees. They rarely came late or left early.
Delilah was currently the chairman of Knight Group. Martin was the general manager, Richard the deputy manager. Since they worked in the same place, they left together this morning.
Mason left 20 minutes early this morning. He'd been sent to Gordon Group, and after he turned the company around from losses to profits with his smart way of running things, Delilah handed over all the hospitals she owned to him to manage.
So Mason spent two days a week at the hospitals. The drive was a bit longer, so he left early today.
Once everyone who went to work had gone, it was just us three women left in the house.
Joey went back to her room and didn't come out. I was already surprised she wasn't coming to hassle me. Even more surprising was how nice Helen was being. She spent the whole morning showing me the ropes of running the household—no trouble at all.
When something was this out of the ordinary, there was definitely something up.
Usually, with no one else home, this would be the perfect time to pick a fight. Even with everyone around yesterday, Helen still found little ways to bug me. Now she was properly teaching me to run the house? Something was not right here.
I listened and learned like I should, but I kept my eyes open for any tricks she might be planning.
But the whole morning went smoothly. Helen didn't pick on me or snap. She just kept going over the house details, patient and thorough.
It was like she was a different person. Anyone who didn't know better might actually think she was being kind.
I picked up a lot that morning—really opened my eyes.
It was all just daily life, right? Three meals a day. But life in a rich family was way more complicated than in a regular home.
The Knight family, including me, Mason's new wife, had seven main members. But the servants, drivers, bodyguards and all who worked for them? Over 20 people in total.
Managing so many people day to day—their food, clothes, expenses, wages, and bonuses—it was a workload like running a small company.
And that was not even counting every family member's daily requests and social stuff.
Cathy Walsh was the housekeeper here, but she was Helen's person. Whether she'd take orders from me? No idea. For now, I'd just have to play it by ear.
Lunch was just me and Helen. Joey didn't come down. We had the servants take her food to her room. She was being all secretive. I had no clue what she was up to.
After lunch, Helen said she needed to rest and went back to her room. But before she left, she handed me an account book and told me to look through it if I had time.
The book had all the household expenses written down, separate from the company's income and spending.
Delilah put aside 700 thousand dollars at the start of each month for household use. It seemed like a lot, but it actually got spent pretty quickly if you were not careful.
The family cooks had top nutritionist certificates. Good skills meant good pay, naturally. The drivers and bodyguards were all ex-military, each with real talent.
Just their salaries alone made my jaw drop. All together, that was over 150 thousand dollars.
And the family got pocket money based on their seniority, too.
I already knew the ones who worked got paid like regular employees at the company, and everyone in the family had shares with dividends.
But from the account book, I found out the family also gave out pocket money. Delilah got 70 thousand dollars a month. Martin and Helen each got 30 thousand dollars.
But since Helen ran the household, she shouldn't work for nothing, so she got an extra 30 thousand dollars a month.
Each of Delilah's three grandchildren got 15 thousand dollars. Now that I'd married Mason, I also got 15 thousand dollars.
Those expenses alone came to 300 thousand dollars. Then there was around 100 thousand dollars a month for social stuff. On top of that, maintaining the big house and all the little odds and ends cost roughly 50 thousand dollars.
Everyone's clothes and bags came out of their own pocket money. What was left went to daily food and drinks. The family took top-quality vitamin and mineral supplements, and the best ones were usually the priciest.
Those supplements alone cost 30 thousand dollars a month. Plus, all the seafood here was imported from Velesia. The meat was all grain-fed, no hormones at all.
The fruits and vegetables were all natural, organic with no chemical fertilizers or additives.
Even though it was all the best, 30 thousand dollars a month covered it. That left over 100 thousand dollars for unexpected needs. Whatever didn't get used rolled over to next month's budget.
I went through each item one by one, and by the time I finished, it was almost dinner. The day had gone by without me noticing. I rubbed my stiff neck. By the end, all those numbers had made my head spin.
So many women wanted to marry into rich families, but being the mistress of a wealthy household was no walk in the park.
Forget about the countless rules. Just dealing with everyday stuff like meals, laundry, and everything in between was a major headache, and that was without even thinking about social obligations.
My trainer, Ada, once said that socializing was an art. It was not just about saying the right thing to the right person. Even choosing who to be friendly with wasn't up to you.
When two wealthy men had business ties or were looking to work together, their wives would hang out a lot. They'd meet for coffee, go to the spa, shop together, and act all chummy while chatting.
If the business partnership was really close, their wives might even become "besties." Sometimes, they'd even push for their kids to marry each other, too.
It all boiled down to one thing—profit.