At Hannah''s pointed question, Grandma''s brow furrowed, and she turned a scrutinizing gaze on Lionel.


    Feeling deeply ufortable under her stare, Lionel blinked and shot Hannah a look of pure exasperation, as if to me her for putting him in this position.


    Hannah ignored him, maintaining a cid smile for Grandma.


    After a long moment, Grandma huffed, her eyes filled with disdain as she looked from Lionel back to Hannah. "You''re always so thoughtful, my dear. If you think it''s best, then we''ll do as you say. But the day you find her to be a nuisance, you send her straight to me."


    "Of course, Grandma. Whatever you say."


    Cora, standing just outside the dining room, overheard the entire exchange. Her hands clenched into tight fists, tears of humiliation welling in her eyes. They were talking about her as if she were a piece of property to be traded back and forth. If Hannah hadn''t married into the Rosenberg family, she would never have the right to sit there and pass judgment. She came from a background no better than her own, yet she acted so high and mighty.


    Just a few more days, Cora told herself, wiping away a tear. Once she''s divorced, she''ll be a nobody, even lower than me. And when that dayes, I''ll make her pay for every bit of this arrogance.


    After dinner, Hannah walked with Grandma in the garden until her driver arrived. She stood at the door, watching the car disappear down the drive.


    When she turned to go back inside, she found Lionel standing right there, his face dark with suppressed anger.


    "Grandma wanted to take Cora with her," he said, his voice cold. "Why did you stop her?"


    If it hadn''t been for the tense atmosphere at dinner, he would have spoken up himself and let Grandma take her. He felt like he couldn''t understand Hannah at all anymore. She clearly despised Cora, so why would she pass up a perfect opportunity to get rid of her?


    Hannah''s gaze dropped. A cool, faint smile touched her lips before she looked back at him. "Cora has been sent away twice now, and both. times she''s managed toe back. Do you honestly f elieve that she


    had left with Grandma tonight, she wouldn''t be back on our doorstep tomorrow morning?"


    Time and again, she''d been


    dismissed for serious offenses, yet she always returned. Hannah knew that even if Grandma had taken her, Lily would have spent all night pleading with her mother-inw to


    bring Cora back Last time Corahad done somethingpletely


    outrageous and still returned


    unscathed. What was being sent to work for Grandma inparison?


    "If Grandma took her, Mom wouldn''t have been able to get her back, no matter how much she tried," Lionel insisted.


    Hannah couldn''t help butugh. "Have you forgotten why Cora was sent awayst time?" She sighed. "She picked you up from a bar and left her underwear in your car. I don''t know if something happened between you two in that car, or if she did it just to provoke me."


    She paused, crossing her arms and looking him up and down. "All I know is that in any normal household, a maid who pulls a stunt like that is fired ? the spot, not kept on and promoted. Besides she added, her vorce dripping with sarcasm, "for all I know, you might actually have a soft spot for her. What if I let her go, and you end up starting another fight with me over it? I really don''t have the time or energy for that."


    With a final, dismissive shrug, Hannah walked past him and went inside.