<b>“</b><b>Damn </b>mutt! I should’ve just poisoned it myself. And that maid–when <b>my </b><b>parents </b>get back, I’ll make sure she’s fired!”
“So, what happened in the end?” Lucy’s voice crackled through the phone. She lounged at her desk, twirling a pen between her fingers, the picture of boredom.
“It was all that butler Dawson’s fault. He butted in and saved them both–the dog and the girl.”
“A butler has that much power?” Lucy sounded genuinely surprised.
“My dad says he’s in charge of everything in the house. He won’t even let me call my parents! Just wait till they’re back–I’ll have every useless servant in this ce sacked. Everyst one!”
“Yeah, no point keeping staff who don’t listen to their employer,” Lucy replied, but
her tone was thick with sarcasm.
A real heiress, she thought, yet she doesn’t even have her parents‘ private numbers, can’t decide the fate of a maid or a dog, and still dares to talk big?
“And that brat–he’s got nothing on his mind but Alessia, Alessia. Ungrateful little snake. Stupid and mean–ah!”
The door mmed open with a thunderous crash. Ileana, who’d been sprawledzily on her bed venting to Lucy about her day, recoiled in fright.
She shrieked, but her bandaged leg kept her pinned down. All she could do was watch in terror as the two figures advanced.
On the other end, Lucy nearly dropped her phone at the sudden scream. She scowled, pulled the phone away, switched to speaker, and let it re while she listened in silence.
“Alessia! Ste! What do you think you’re doing?” Ileana’s voice trembled as she tried to muster authority. “This is the Tate estate, not some yground for the likes of you!”
She swallowed hard, eyes darting as the two drew closer.
“Where’s the butler? Where is everyone? Why isn’t anyoneing?” Ileana shouted, but the house remained eerily still, as if the three of them were the only souls left inside.
“Ileana, do you remember what I told you a while back?” Alessia didn’t bother, with
<b>14:44 </b>
small <b>talk</b>; she <b>grabbed </b>Ileana <b>by </b>the chin<b>, </b>forcing her to look <b>up</b>.
Ileana red, trying to break free, but Alessia’s grip only tightened. <b>The </b><b>harder </b><b>she </b><b>struggled</b>, the more painful it got, until her eyes brimmed with tears and she <b>dared </b>not fight anymore.
“I told you, if you want to keep your ce as the Tate family’s ‘princess, you’d <b>better </b>behave. If someone loses a single hair, I’ll take ten from <i>you</i>. Isn’t that right?<b>” </b>
Panic flickered in Ileana’s eyes. “I–I didn’t do anything to York!”
“Oh?” Alessia released her chin just as Ileana was starting to breathe again, but then Alessia’s hand slid down her arm, sending a wave of goosebumps across
Ileana’s skin.
A split secondter, a piercing scream ripped through the house, so shrill it set the dog, Rex, off barking in the next room.
Startled, York tried to get up, but butler Dawson had already appeared silently in the doorway, blocking his way.
“What’s that woman throwing a fit about now?”
“No need to worry, Mr. York. We’ll handle it,” Dawson replied calmly. York had no clue what Ileana had done that day, nor did he care much. With that, he simply closed his door and went back to whatever he was doing.
Back in the other room, Ileana’s face was twisted in agony, sweat pouring down her brow, lips pale and quivering. She stared at her limp arm, terror filling her eyes.
Ste was now standing by the busted door, one hand gripping the ruined handle, the other rubbing her ear with an expression of utter disgust.
“You… Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell my parents?” Ileana tried to rally her voice, but it shook with fear. “One word from me, and I’ll make sure your whole family is out on the street–you… you…”