Chapter 68: Avoiding her cries
Chapter 68: Avoiding her cries
The kitchen was quiet that afternoon. Too quiet for a mansion that usually sounded like a small city. Most of the staff were avoiding the main hallway because Audrey’s cries from the morning still felt like they were echoing through the walls.
The air felt heavy, like everybody inside the house already knew something was wrong but nobody wanted to say it. Pots were lined on the stove, untouched. The big double-door fridge hummed the only steady sound in the room. The long marble counter was spotless, Yvonne had cleaned it three times already, not because it was dirty but because she needed to keep her hands busy.
The maid, Lorrine stood near the sink with her back turned to the door. Her hands gripped the countertop. She wasn’t washing anything. Water ran over her fingers and pooled in the sink, but she didn’t move. Her shoulders rose and fell like she couldn’t catch her breath.
Her face was wet, her cheeks red. She kept wiping her eyes, but the tears came back just as fast. She looked like someone standing on the edge of something she didn’t know how to come back from.
Every time she blinked, she saw Audrey eating the food. Every time she blinked again, she saw Audrey crying in pain this morning. And every time the memory hit her, her stomach twisted. She had been shaking since the day she did that. She felt like her bones were vibrating under her skin.
She kept hearing Gwen’s voice in her head, the threat, the warning, the cold steady tone that said Do it or I’ll kill you.
Lorrine had done a lot of things working in this mansion, but poisoning somebody, even if it wasn’t deadly, even if she didn’t know what exactly the substance was… that was a line she had never thought she’d cross. And now somebody couldn’t walk.
Her breath broke again. She pressed both her hands over her face, trying to smother the sob building in her throat.
“Hey.”
Yvonne’s voice came from the doorway.
Lorrine froze like someone had poured cold water on her back. She didn’t turn around. She didn’t even breathe.
Yvonne stepped into the kitchen slowly. She was tired, her eyes were swollen from crying with Audrey all morning, and her hair was tied up like she hadn’t even looked in a mirror. She wasn’t here to work. She wasn’t here for food. She was only here because something in her gut had been bothering her, and it led her right to this room.
She looked at the maid from behind. The trembling was impossible to miss.
“Lorrine… what’s going on with you?” Yvonne asked.
Lorrine shook her head quickly, still facing the sink. “N-nothing. I’m fine.”
Her voice cracked on the last word.
Yvonne frowned and walked closer. “No, you’re not. I’ve been watching you since morning. You’ve been damn near shaking out your shoes. What’s wrong?”
Lorrine wiped her face again, but her hands wouldn’t stop trembling. She grabbed the edge of the counter to steady herself.
“I said, I’m fine,” she whispered, but it came out shaky, not convincing even to herself.
Yvonne didn’t buy it. “You wanna try that again without your voice breaking like glass?”
Lorrine turned then, slow and stiff, like her neck wasn’t strong enough to hold her head. When Yvonne saw her face, her expression softened, then shifted to concern, then suspicion.
“Lorrine… talk to me. Why are you crying?” Yvonne asked, stepping closer.
Lorrine’s mouth opened, but nothing came out at first. Her lips shook. She looked like she was trying to speak through guilt that was choking her.
Yvonne grabbed her shoulders firmly. “Hey. Look at me. What happened?”
The moment their eyes met, Lorrine broke again. A breath left her chest in a shaky rush.
“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” Lorrine whispered.
Yvonne’s brows pulled together. “What do you mean?”
Lorrine dropped her head. “I—I didn’t know it was gonna be that bad. I swear, I didn’t know.”
“Know what was gonna be bad?” Yvonne asked, her voice lowering.
Lorrine covered her face with both hands, crying silently now. “I shouldn’t have done it.”
“Done what?” Yvonne demanded, tightening her grip on the girl’s arms now. “Lorrine, what did you do?”
Before Lorrine could answer, the kitchen door swung open. The sound was soft, but it hit both women like a gunshot. Gwen walked in.
She didn’t look surprised to see them. She didn’t look confused. She didn’t even pretend she came here for water or a snack. She walked in like she already knew a conversation was happening, and she wanted to hear exactly how much.
Gwen closed the door behind her. The click echoed.
Lorrine was already shaking. She prayed for the grounds to open and swallow her.