Evelyn frowned at the sharp sound and turned towards the door.
She saw the woman standing there and recognized her almost immediately.
She had seen her downstairs, standing beside Helena earlier.
Given how close she sounded earlier, she could easily assume she was someone who had spent years serving this family and house.
Matilda, on the other hand, stood at the door with two other maids behind her.
Evelyn glanced at her for a second longer before she asked, “Yes?” Her voice wasn’t warm, however it wasn’t disrespectful either.
Matilda glanced at her, but didn’t answer.
She merely gave Evelyn a quiet, arrogant look before turning toward the two maids behind her, snapping,
“What are you still standing there for?
Take the dinner in and serve the guest.
Quickly.
I still need to go check on Madam.”
The maids hurried inside.
They didn’t dare delay her orders.
Evelyn watched them for a moment, her gaze settling on Matilda.
She hadn’t missed the choice of her words.
Guest?
It was a rather clear way of reminding Evelyn that she was an outsider —a temporary fixture in this house.
One that would be out of sight soon.
But that wasn’t what amused her.
What amused Evelyn was the fact that a housekeeper had the courage to say it directly to her face.
Then again, perhaps she shouldn’t have been surprised.
Given the way Matilda had stood beside Helena earlier, Evelyn could already see where that confidence came from.
She couldn’t really fault her for being protective of her mistress.
Helena was Matilda’s mistress, and naturally, she would favor the people Madam Callahan favored and dislike those she disliked.
But there was a difference between loyalty and openly displaying personal hostility toward a newly married member of the household.
“Stop!” Evelyn’s voice suddenly cut through the room.
The maids halted immediately.
Evelyn was still looking at Matilda when she turned her attention to the two younger women.
“Were you both downstairs earlier when I was introduced?”
The two maids exchanged a glance before nodding.
Evelyn smiled.
But there was no warmth or humor in it.
“Then do you know who I am?”
The maids hesitated, clearly uncertain how to answer.
One of them glanced nervously at Matilda before saying, “Ma’am, you’re the guest and—”
Her tone carried a patience that clearly held its limit.
Her voice was soft, but there was an authority in it that made the maid immediately fall silent.
The second maid quickly corrected her.
“You’re the new lady of the house.
You married our sir.”
Evelyn turned toward her and smiled.
“Good.
So you do know.”
“Then you should also know that I’m not…” Her gaze swept briefly around the room before returning to Matilda.
“…a guest here.”
“I’m not some temporary fixture either,” she continued.
“So the next time you bring me a meal —or anything else —I hope you’ll remember that.”
Her voice remained calm.
“After all, a guest doesn’t come home with your sir after marrying him, does she?”
The two maids exchanged another glance before quickly shaking their heads.
Evelyn saw their reaction, but her eyes remained fixed on Matilda.
The housekeeper’s arrogant expression finally faltered.
“You think simply stepping into this house makes you the mistress of this family?” Matilda asked, her voice filled with displeasure.
“A family like the Callahans doesn’t simply accept a wife like you.”
She looked Evelyn up and down.
“So what if you came here after marrying Sir?
Until Madam Callahan accepts you, you have no position in this house.”
Evelyn could have told her that she had never wanted a position in this house in the first place.
But Matilda wasn’t important enough to warrant an explanation.
So she simply looked at her.
Not angrily.
Not defensively.
Just as though Matilda were someone whose opinion held no weight whatsoever.
That expression only made Matilda’s face darken.
She clenched her fingers tightly.
Yet, in the end, she said nothing more.
She turned around and walked out.
Only after Matilda had disappeared from the doorway did the two maids look toward Evelyn again.
“Mrs.
Callahan, should we serve you?”
Evelyn’s expression relaxed slightly as she looked at the food.
So, she shook her head.
“No, it’s fine.
You two can leave.”
The maids nodded politely, bowed, and quietly left the room.
Once she was alone, Evelyn turned around.
And the moment she did, her gaze caught her reflection in the mirror across the room.
For a few seconds, she simply stared at herself.
Her eyes met her own reflection first.
Then, slowly, her gaze drifted downward.
To the red wedding gown covering her body.
And suddenly, Helena’s words resurfaced in her mind.
The Callahan men design and weave their brides’ wedding gowns themselves…
And the shade of red they choose carries a meaning… a promise.
Evelyn’s fingers unconsciously tightened around the fabric.
Could that really be true?
The thought slipped into her mind before she could stop it.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt herself being dragged into a web of unanswered questions.
Damian’s deception.
Helena’s strange reaction.
The Callahan family’s hidden history.
And now this wedding gown.
Everything seemed to point toward something she didn’t understand.
“No…” Evelyn shook her head, forcing herself to look away from her reflection.
But she couldn’t.
“I won’t let any of this make me question what I know to be real.
Her fingers tightened over the gown.
And her gaze hardened as she stared at herself in the mirror.
Whatever meaning this dress carried, she refused to let it change what she believed about Damian.
The man she had loved had deceived her.
That was the only truth she was willing to hold on to.
With that thought, she turned away from the mirror.
She had been about to look for a pair of scissors when something else caught her attention.
Evelyn’s gaze hardened for a second before narrowing slightly.
Then, without another thought, she walked towards it.