Chapter 3
Chapter 3
The answer stayed in the room long after Marisol spoke it.
Not once.
Thomas looked at his sons.
Neither of them challenged her.
Neither of them even looked surprised.
That told him everything.
Diana's expression hardened.
"This is exactly the problem."
Thomas turned toward her.
"What problem?"
"The fact that an employee believes she has the right to comment on private family matters."
Marisol lowered her eyes.
"I wasn't trying to—"
"No," Diana interrupted. "You were."
The twins immediately stiffened.
"Leave her alone," Eli said.
Diana blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"I said leave her alone."
The silence that followed felt dangerous.
Thomas couldn't remember the last time either of his sons had openly challenged an adult.
Especially not Diana.
Callum wheeled forward slightly.
"She's done more for us than anyone else in this house."
Diana laughed once.
A short, humorless sound.
"That is an absurd statement."
"No," Callum replied quietly. "It isn't."
Thomas felt something shift beneath the surface.
There was history here.
Weeks of it.
Months, perhaps.
History he knew nothing about.
And that realization hurt more than he expected.
Because this was his house.
His family.
His sons.
Yet somehow he had become the least informed person in the room.
"Diana," he said calmly, "why exactly do you want her gone?"
His sister looked surprised.
Then annoyed.
"As I've already explained, boundaries matter."
"No."
Thomas shook his head.
"That's not the reason."
For the first time, Diana hesitated.
Only for a second.
But it was enough.
Thomas saw it.
The hesitation.
The discomfort.
The hidden thing beneath the official explanation.
Then Marisol spoke softly.
"You don't have to do this."
Diana's eyes snapped toward her.
"Do what?"
Marisol swallowed.
"Tell him."
The room froze.
Thomas looked from one woman to the other.
"What aren't you telling me?"
Nobody answered.
Then Eli did.
"She caught Aunt Diana."
The words landed like a stone dropped into water.
Diana went pale.
"Enough."
Callum ignored her.
"Three weeks ago."
"Callum."
"She was going through Mom's office."
Thomas frowned.
"What?"
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Diana's face had become expressionless.
Which somehow looked worse than anger.
Thomas stared at his sister.
"Why were you in Rachel's office?"
Still nothing.
Then Marisol answered.
Because apparently she was the only person left willing to tell the truth.
"She was looking for your wife's trust documents."
The room exploded into silence.
Thomas felt his pulse slow.
A strange thing happened when people received shocking information.
Sometimes everything accelerated.
Sometimes everything stopped.
For him, it stopped.
His wife had been dead for nearly three years.
And nobody touched Rachel's office.
Nobody.
Not without permission.
Especially not Diana.
"Is that true?"
His sister folded her arms.
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
Marisol didn't back down.
"I saw the papers."
"You saw nothing."
"I saw enough."
The twins exchanged nervous looks.
Thomas suddenly understood.
This wasn't about a housekeeper overstepping.
This wasn't about boundaries.
This wasn't even about class.
Diana wanted Marisol fired because Marisol knew something.
May you like
Something Diana desperately wanted hidden.
And for the first time in years, Thomas found himself wondering whether he truly knew his own sister.
