Chapter 5

Evertt stood just inside the massive front doors. He pulled off his heavy wool coat and handed it to the butler without looking at him. His dark eyes scanned the entrance hall. He saw Irena standing tall and relaxed. He saw Jada looking panicked. He saw the little girl hiding behind her mother's legs.

Jada saw Evertt. It was like someone flipped a switch. Tears instantly flooded her eyes. She grabbed Peggy's hand and practically ran across the marble floor toward him.

"Evertt!" Jada cried out. Her voice shook with fake emotion. "Thank God you are home. Irena is out of control. She broke Peggy's favorite doll yesterday, and just now, she was threatening the poor child right in front of me!"

Evertt looked down at Peggy. The little girl's eyes were red. She looked genuinely scared. The hard lines around Evertt's mouth softened for a fraction of a second.

He lifted his head. His gaze locked onto Irena. The softness vanished. His eyes turned into sharp blades. He always assumed the worst about her. It was his default setting.

"Is your frustration with this marriage so deep that you need to take it out on a six-year-old?" Evertt's voice was low, but it carried across the silent hall. It was an accusation, not a question.

The servants standing near the walls exchanged quick, nervous glances. They all thought the young madam was finished.

Irena did not flinch. Her heart rate stayed perfectly steady. She did not cross her arms defensively. She just stood there, looking back at him.

"Yesterday afternoon," Irena said. Her voice was completely flat. It sounded like she was reading a weather report. "From two o'clock until five o'clock, I was unconscious in my bed with an acute fever."

She paused for one second. She let the words hang in the air.

"Dr. Hudson was in my room the entire time. He administered an IV drip. His medical log will confirm this." Irena shifted her gaze to Jada. A cold smile touched the corners of her mouth. "So, Jada, please explain to me how my unconscious body floated out to the garden to break a toy."

The silence in the hall was absolute.

Jada's fake crying stopped instantly. Her face turned chalk white. She took a step back, her high heels scraping against the floor. "I... I must have mixed up the days," Jada stammered. Her hands shook violently. "Or... or one of the maids saw the wrong person."

Evertt was not stupid. He heard the panic in Jada's voice. He saw the physical signs of a liar caught in a trap. The realization hit him like a cold splash of water.

He slowly turned his head to look at Jada. The pressure radiating from his body was terrifying. Jada shrank back, pulling Peggy tighter against her legs.

"This estate is not a stage for your pathetic dramas, Jada," Evertt said. His voice was dangerously quiet. "If you cannot teach your daughter to tell the truth, I have no problem cutting off your monthly family allowance."

Jada gasped. She started shaking from head to toe. "Evertt, please, I am sorry. I was just upset. I lost my mind for a second."

Irena watched the scene for another moment. She felt completely bored. She had no interest in watching Evertt discipline his cousin.

"Take your time," Irena said lightly. She turned her back on both of them. Her heels clicked against the marble as she walked toward the stairs. She did not look back once.

Evertt watched her walk away. The muscles in his jaw tightened. A hot, uncomfortable feeling flared in his chest. He expected her to gloat. He expected her to look at him and demand an apology. Instead, she threw the mess at his feet and walked away like he did not matter at all.

Irena disappeared around the corner of the second floor. The only sound left in the hall was Jada's quiet, terrified sniffling.

Evertt reached up and grabbed the knot of his tie. He yanked it down roughly. He turned to the head butler. "Have security escort Jada and her daughter back to the side wing. They are banned from the main house until I say otherwise."

The servants quickly lowered their heads. They suddenly realized the young madam was not someone to mess with.

Evertt stood alone in the center of the hall. He thought about the look in Irena's eyes. It was cold. It was clear. It was entirely indifferent.

The woman who had drugged him, the woman who had cried and begged to stay in this house, had vanished. This new version of her made him feel something he hated: out of control.

He walked toward his study with heavy, angry steps. He needed to understand what had changed. The woman he thought he knew was suddenly a stranger. Something was wrong.