Chapter 20
Suddenly finding herself in the hot seat, Irene offered an awkward smile.
“If she were my younger sister… I’d probably just let her do as she pleased.”
A crease formed between Dominic’s elegant brows. Across from him, however, Chloe’s doll-like face lit up with a radiant smile.
It wasn’t simply because Irene wanted to take Chloe’s side.
She knew that forcing the issue was rarely the answer. Once children reached adolescence, they would often follow their parents’ wishes, even when those wishes were difficult or unpleasant, provided they understood and accepted the reasoning behind them.
Right now, Chloe simply wasn’t convinced by her brother’s argument.
“If Miss Chloe ever decides she wants a social life, I’m sure she’ll do perfectly well. She’s more than capable.”
“I don’t need one right now.”
Seizing the opportunity, Chloe chimed in. Dominic’s eyes narrowed, but his sharp gaze wasn’t directed at his sister. It was fixed on Irene.
There wasn’t a single thing about her that pleased him. Her pale complexion, as though she took pride in having been ill. Those eyes that concealed calculating thoughts. Even that brazen mouth of hers.
Lately, Dominic Whitmore had discovered that the number of headaches in his life had doubled. First there was his soft-hearted younger sister, Chloe. Now there was the governess whose words and inner thoughts never seemed to match.
He continued to cast sidelong glances at the second source of his troubles, the woman who somehow managed to make his already complicated life even more exhausting.
As expected of someone so thoroughly antisocial, Dominique thought. Irene Vanderberg is trying to ruin my sister’s life.
Just before entering the dining room, he came to a halt at the sound of quiet voices drifting through the door.
‘Oh, come now. That’s unlikely. All the men are trash.’
The casual voice belonged, unsurprisingly, to that deranged woman. Just as the head housemaid noticed her master had arrived late and bowed, reaching for the door, Dominic raised a finger to his lips, silently asking her to remain quiet.
Even after the housemaid slipped into the dining room, the conversation between his sister and the governess continued.
“But this one doesn’t have many arrogant men getting what they deserve, which is your favorite part.”
The moment he heard his sister say those words, Dominic felt his vision swim.
What on earth has that woman been putting into my sister’s head? I should have dismissed her back then and been done with it.
A headache surged behind his eyes. Pressing two fingers firmly against his temple, Dominique listened on.
“Miss Chloe, let’s keep conversations like this between the two of us. Don’t talk about them with anyone else, all right?”
The woman who sounded like a complete psychopath was even making sure Chloe kept her mouth shut, so apparently she cared about appearances and gossip after all.
And, true to form, kind-hearted, innocent Chloe had agreed without question. Of course. If she was this careful about keeping things quiet, no one would ever know what she was really like unless they overheard her.
Outwardly, she looked devoted enough to jump into a pond for a hat. Inside, she was something else entirely.
Without warning, Dominic remembered the sight of Irene in the summer garden, her thin dress soaked through and clinging pathetically to her body.
That slender waist he could have circled with one arm. That small frame. And despite it, the audacity with which she said exactly what she wanted.
The thought made him frown.
I need to look into the families she’s worked for. I should make sure the children are all right. There were simply too many suspicious things about her.
Having made up his mind, Dominic entered the dining room, and the sight of the woman pretending to be meek made his contempt flare up all over again.
He knew she was no help whatsoever. Still, he’d assumed she would behave differently when he was present.
Chloe had started having tea in the garden, even agreed to a picnic. He’d been thinking of suggesting the next step: a small social gathering. And then what did the governess say?
“If she were my younger sister… I’d probably just let her do as she pleased.”
It’s only because Chloe wasn’t her sister that you can spout such irresponsible nonsense. You rotten woman.
Swallowing the retort that had nearly leapt from his throat, Dominic fixed the woman who seemed determined to test the limits of his patience with a cold glare.
The sheer nerve of her, sitting there with her head held high as though she’d done nothing wrong. Worse still, innocent Chloe appeared to have accepted the woman defending her as someone genuinely on her side.
What a disaster, he thought. One bad hire, and it’s come to this.
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