Chapter 195
Approaching her room, I quietly knocked on the door, holding the tray in one hand. There was no answer, but I figured she was still sleeping, so I knocked again.
On the second knock, the door, which hadn’t been fully latched, creaked open.
I poked my head into the room.
“Ellie?” I whispered. “I made breakfast-”
My words cut off as I stepped into the room. The space was awash in morning sunlight, the sheets thrown back. The bed was
empty.
“Ellie?”
I looked around, wondering if she was showering, but the bathroom door was wide open and the space beyond empty. She was gone already.
Dammit. She must have left at the crack of dawn to be gone by this point.
Frustration mixed with disappointment washed over me. I looked down at the tray of food in my hands, at the single tulip, at the smiling bacon and berries, and sighed. Of course she would sneak out before I could see her. She was probably at the healer academy and wouldn’t be back until late tonight.
Again.
I didn’t let myself completely lose hope, though. Ellie couldn’t hide from me forever. We still shared a mate bond, and we were married, whether she liked it or not.
And she still loved me. I was sure of it.
Even if I had to corner her like a wild animal to remind her of it.
I turned, leaving her room, and took a bite of the bacon on my way down the hall, not wanting to waste the food. Halfway down the stairs, I saw the front door open and froze.
It wasn’t Ellie who entered. It was Vivian.
“Dominic!” She spotted me immediately, almost seeming to notice the look on my face right away. “How are you doing?”
I pressed my lips together and walked down the rest of the way, then past her, foward the kitchen. “I’m fine,” I said.
Vivian fell into step beside me and looked at the plate of uneaten food. Her eyes drifted to the flower. “Is that for Ellie?”
“It was. She left before I could give it to her.”
Vivian sighed. “I heard she’s being a little… difficult.” She looked at me. “You know she said something really cruel to our mother yesterday.”
“Did she?” That took me by surprise, but it also solidified my ideas about her trauma. Ellie loved her mother more than anything and had bent over backwards to save her. She wouldn’t be cruel to her for no reason. “She must be lashing out,” 1
muttered.
“Must be. I heard she’s not performing her usual duties.”
I set the tray down on the kitchen table and sat, cutting into the French toast. “Something like that.”
Vivian sat across from me and plucked a strawberry off the plate. She popped it into her mouth, chewing slowly, then swallowed and said, “I could stand in for her, you know.”
I hesitated, thinking about last night. How Ellie had been so hell bent on ignoring her duties that she’d flippantly assigned a
1/2
maid to stand in for her.
+30 Bonus
Vivian and Ellie certainly had a history. I knew it wouldn’t exactly fill her with joy to see her sister around here more than she already was. But Vivian was offering, and she was an experienced worker…
And a small, vindictive part of me almost hoped that seeing Vivian would trigger a response in her. That maybe, if she saw the sister she hated doing the duties she was supposed to be doing, then Ellie would step up to the plate and stop doing this.
Or at least, she might get jealous and stop avoiding me so much.
I hated that I was thinking these things, but I couldn’t help it. Without thinking, I turned to Vivian and nodded.
“That would be great, Vivian.”
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