“Ma’am, why are you sleeping here?” A gentle touch woke Thea.
She startled awake, her eyes landing on the maid standing over her.
Thea glanced around, only now realizing she’d fallen asleep on the staircase.
A few of the staff stood nearby, whispering among themselves.
They could easily guess why Thea had ended up sleeping there; they were certain she’d been thrown out of the bedroom.
“Why were you sleeping here, ma’am, what happened?” the maid who’d woken her asked, clearly concerned by the state Thea was in, pitying her.
“What time is it?” Thea rubbed her swollen eyes, still puffy from crying too much.
“It’s only six in the morning, ma’am. You must have been sleepwalking or something. You should head back to your room. The master might come looking for you and find you gone.”
“No need, I have to leave anyway!” Thea rose slowly.
There was no chance Dashiell would come looking for her; to him, she meant nothing at all.
Besides, she knew this was her own fault, for playing her part with too much drama when she could have simply accepted whatever he offered.
Unfortunately, something deep inside her refused to accept anything from him.
She reminded herself that everything belonged to Saphira, and she knew what she’d done had only made Saphira’s reputation worse.
Thea stared at the card still clutched in her hand.
She’d have to hand it over to Saphira once she returned; it was Saphira, after all, who deserved to spend Dashiell’s money.
“I’ll have breakfast prepared for you right away, ma’am,” the maid offered, reaching out to steady Thea, who nearly stumbled from losing her balance.
Thea pressed a hand to her aching lower back and tried to cover the marks left on her neck from the night before.
“Are you all right, ma’am?” The maid’s concern only grew watching her.
“I’m fine, no need to worry. Please don’t bother with breakfast, I need to head to campus.”
“But it’s still so early, ma’am. Please stay a little longer and eat something. The young master will surely come looking for you.”
“No need, he won’t come looking for me. I really don’t have any time left, I have to go now.” Thea hurried off, desperate to avoid running into Dashiell.
It was still far too early for campus, but she decided to head back to her rented room instead.
She’d sleep there, shower there.
All her belongings were still at her old place, and thankfully the lease hadn’t expired yet.
She had no idea where she’d have gone if she’d already given that place up.
Only now did she realize just how much that small, humble room meant to her.
From now on, she decided, she needed to go back there often, so as not to give Dashiell any more reason to despise her, since that could only make Saphira’s reputation worse. Read the latest chapters at novelping dot com.
Her departure was accompanied by unkind whispers from the staff, gossiping about her.
However one looked at it, she clearly wasn’t a beloved wife, and they all murmured about the poor treatment she’d received.
Strangely enough, the staff seemed to approve of how she was being treated.
As far as they were concerned, Saphira deserved every bit of it, since it wasn’t only Dashiell who’d heard the ugly rumors about her, they’d all heard them too.
Not long after Thea left, Dashiell emerged from his room.
He tried to ignore the situation, refusing to go looking for her, unwilling to let her think she could act stubborn and get away with it, but the moment he realized she was nowhere to be found, his curiosity got the better of him.
“Where is she?” Dashiell asked one of the staff once he’d settled at the dining table.
“Ma’am has already left for campus, sir.”
“Campus, this early?” Dashiell looked at the maid with open disbelief.
What kind of class schedule started this early in the morning?
“I’m not sure, sir, but ma’am said she had to leave for campus right away. She turned down breakfast too, even though I offered.”
Dashiell’s smile turned cold and mocking.
Campus was clearly just an excuse.
She was probably desperate to go spend the money he’d given her.
He’d bet anything she’d do exactly that.
He was curious now, just how much of that money Saphira would burn through, and he planned to show his grandfather eventually just how she used her sweet, innocent act purely to squeeze money out of him.
Let his grandfather see for himself that Saphira was nothing but a gold digger, willing to do absolutely anything to get what she wanted.
His contempt for her only deepened further.
Thea had made it back to her old rented room by then.
She showered first, then collapsed onto the far less comfortable bed.
She tried to close her eyes, determined not to cry, telling herself there was nothing left worth crying over anyway.
All she needed now was peace, and this small room felt like the only peaceful place left to her.
It turned out money hadn’t brought her any happiness at all; instead, it had trapped her in the middle of someone else’s mess entirely because of it.
She should have simply worked harder instead of taking this reckless shortcut for money.
Regret was pointless now, since she’d already sunk deep into a mess entirely of her own making.
Thea chose to sleep.
She’d call Saphira later, once her heart had settled a little.
She needed to apologize for stirring up trouble; there was a good chance everything had only gotten worse because of her.
Her phone rang, and she ignored it, assuming it was probably Dashiell, and she had no interest in arguing with him.
From now on, she decided, she’d avoid him as much as possible, to keep Saphira’s reputation from suffering any further damage.
Thea expected the ringing to eventually stop, but it kept going, over and over, until finally, irritated, she reached for the phone sitting on the nightstand.
“Can you please stop bothering me?” She snapped the words out before even checking who was calling.
“Thea, it’s me,” came Saphira’s voice.
“Saphira?” Thea sat up on the bed, a small spark of energy returning to her.
“What’s wrong with you, why do you sound so upset? Did something happen between you and Dashiell?”
“No, nothing happened. We’re both fine, but even so, I’m getting more and more afraid our secret is going to come out.”
“What do you mean, Thea?”
“Listen, last night he took me to meet his grandfather. I was terrified the old man would recognize me, since you two are pretty close. It could have been a disaster if he’d realized I wasn’t really you.”
“So what happened?” Saphira sounded worried now too.
“Thankfully nothing came of it, but you really need to come back soon. I really hope I don’t have to see that old man again.”
“Okay, I’ll try, but until I’m back, you need to be careful. Avoid seeing that old man as much as you possibly can.”
“Fine,” Thea said, remembering the card Dashiell had given her.
She desperately wanted to mention it to Saphira, but held herself back at the last second.
Better not to bring it up too soon, since she knew Saphira would immediately ask for the card number so she could start using it herself.
Better to hand it over once Saphira actually returned.
Either way, she needed to prove to Dashiell that what she’d done the night before hadn’t been about the money at all.
“I’m so relieved you’re still managing to play your part well, Thea. Trust me, I’ll pay you double what I originally promised, as long as you can keep this up until I’m back.”
“I’ll manage, don’t worry.” There was no turning back for her now; if she stopped halfway through, she’d lose far too much to make any of it worthwhile.
As long as she kept her distance from Dashiell, she told herself, everything would be fine.
She wouldn’t have to endure any more heartache, and she wouldn’t give him any reason to grow suspicious.
From now on, she needed to stay within careful limits, to avoid stirring up any more trouble, so Dashiell’s resentment toward Saphira wouldn’t deepen any further.
No matter what, she had to protect Saphira’s marriage, even if it meant she was the one left carrying all the pain.