Chapter 3

Flora forced herself to press the power button, blacking out the screen and shoving the pounding in her chest down as the town car rolled through the wrought-iron gates of the Jensen estate.

She stepped out of the car and walked into the grand foyer, immediately catching the high-pitched sound of Kizzie's laughter coming from the side parlor.

Walking down the marble hallway, Flora saw Kizzie leaning boneless against Eloy's shoulder on the sofa, her fingers playing with an antique porcelain teacup.

Eloy's eyes flicked toward her, and he caught her wrist under the guise of adjusting his cuff.

"When Grandma comes down, tell her it was your idea to take the yacht out," he murmured, low enough that Kizzie wouldn't hear.

Flora's lashes lowered. "And if she punishes me for it?"

"Then take it. You're her elder—you should carry more for her."

She gave a small, obedient nod.

At the sound of Flora's heels, Eloy looked up. Seeing her pale face, he frowned and opened his mouth to speak, but the heavy thud of a wooden cane striking the stairs cut him off.

Eleanor Jensen, the silver-haired matriarch of the family, descended the staircase slowly with a maid supporting her arm. She walked straight past her grandson and took Flora's ice-cold hands into her warm ones.

"My poor child. You've suffered so much."

Seeing the old woman's affection for Flora, Kizzie immediately wiped the smile off her face, biting her lower lip as she stepped forward with watery eyes.

"Grandma Eleanor, it's all my fault. If I hadn't insisted on taking the yacht out, Sister Flora wouldn't have fallen into the sea."

She squeezed out two tears and reached for Eleanor's sleeve.

"Eloy nearly got hurt trying to save me, too."

Flora lowered her gaze with a faint, cold smirk, taking half a step back and swaying slightly on her feet to avoid Kizzie's hand.

Eleanor's eyes turned razor-sharp. She slapped Kizzie's hand away and slammed her cane down onto the Persian rug.

"Who gave you permission to speak in this house? The daughter of a hired driver, stealing a few days of luxury, and you actually think blue blood runs in your veins?" Eleanor's voice echoed off the high ceilings, stripping Kizzie bare in front of the house staff.

Kizzie's face drained of all color, her honey-brown eyes widening in horror as her body trembled.

Eloy shot to his feet and pulled Kizzie behind his back, his jaw tight.

"Grandma, Kizzie is the sole orphan of the people who saved my life! How can you speak to her like that?"

"Saved your life?" Eleanor let out a harsh laugh. "She's a parasite! Flora is the wife you married before the law and church. You left your own wife to drown in the ocean to save an outsider—you have disgraced the entire Jensen name!"

Standing beside the old woman, Flora watched Kizzie shake with humiliation, her own chest remaining completely calm.

Eleanor turned her head toward the butler standing by the wall.

"Cancel all supplementary black cards under Kizzie Delaney's name immediately, and freeze her monthly trust dividends until she learns how to respect the mistress of the Jensen house."

Panic finally broke through Kizzie's mask. Tears poured down her cheeks as she clutched Eloy's sleeve with both hands.

"Eloy, I didn't... I really didn't mean to disrespect Sister Flora!"

Eloy knitted his brows, frustration rolling off him.

"Grandma, cutting off her cards is going too far. Kizzie has to attend the Wall Street Charity Gala next week."

Flora covered her mouth and coughed twice, her voice weak and raspy.

"Grandma, please let it go. After all, Kizzie doesn't have a job. If you cut off her allowance, how is she supposed to survive in Manhattan?"

Her gentle plea acted like gasoline on Eleanor's fury.

"If she doesn't have a job, she can go wash dishes in Manhattan! The Jensen family does not feed useless leeches! Freeze them right now!"

The butler bowed and tapped rapidly on his tablet. A second later, Kizzie's phone chimed with a string of bank alert notifications. Sobbing loudly, Kizzie covered her face and ran out the front doors.

Eloy stared after her, then whipped his head around to glare at Flora, his chest heaving.

"Are you satisfied now? Do you have to tear this house apart before you're happy?"

He looked back at Flora once, paused a half-second, then turned on his heel and sprinted out the door after Kizzie.

Eleanor patted the back of Flora's hand with a heavy sigh before walking back toward the stairs. The moment the matriarch turned her back, the soft warmth vanished from Flora's eyes.

She walked over to the sofa, picked up a diamond earring Kizzie had dropped in her panic, and tossed it into the wastebasket.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was an encrypted text from Chloe: "The divorce agreement and resignation letter are buried in Monday's compliance filing. Three hundred pages thick. He won't suspect a thing."

Flora typed back a quick "OK" and permanently deleted the chat thread, looking out the window as Eloy's sports car roared down the driveway with Kizzie in the passenger seat.