Chapter 43
“Don’t give her the money!” Rowan’s voice echoed as she rushed out of Amabel’s room. Her authoritative tone brooked no argument, making Amabel’s hand hover, frozen in mid-air, hesitated, unsure whether to hand the envelope to Anna.
Anna’s eyes widened as she stared at Rowan, her words tumbling out in a rush. “What are you talking about?” She demanded, her voice rising. “What do you mean, she shouldn’t give me the money? Why? Why shouldn’t she give me the money? Who are you to dictate?”
She reached out, her arm stretching toward Amabel, but Rowan swiftly snatched the envelope. “What are you doing?!” Her voice escalated, her face twisted in frustration.
Rowan raised an eyebrow, her arms crossing over her chest as she leaned slightly to one side. A discreet smile played on her lips as she gazed fiercely at Anna. “Taking the money because you don’t deserve it.”
Anna’s face contorted in indignation. “What do you mean, I don’t deserve it?” She scoffed, mirroring Rowan’s posture. “I deserve this money because I worked hard for it.”
Anna dropped her arms, her gaze still locked onto Rowan’s. “Moreover, if I don’t get the money, it’s not your decision to make. I didn’t work for you, did I?” She protested, her voice rising. It wasn't the first time Rowan had opposed her.
She wagged her finger, her eyes flashing with warning. “Be careful, Rowan. I’m not doing business with you, so don’t intervene. This isn’t between us.”
Rowan shrugged nonchalantly. “Okay. But what’ll you do if I refuse to back down?”
“I’ll make sure you-” Anna opened her mouth to respond, but Rowan cut her off.
“Look, girl. I know you despise me,” Rowan said, her voice tinged with mockery. With Amabel’s support, her confidence was always unwavering. “Unfortunately for you, you can’t do anything to me. You’ve tried countless times and failed.”
Anna’s eyes reddened with annoyance. Rowan had gotten under her skin again, and the urge to lash out was overwhelming. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as she clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, her mind seething with outrage. The desperation for the money warred with her desire for revenge, leaving her boiling with frustration.
Amabel watched the exchange. She was familiar with Rowan’s clashes with the other maids. She wanted the drama to unfold before intervening. However, Anna’s distress had caught her attention, so she directed a question to Rowan. “Why shouldn’t I give her the money?”
“Her job wasn’t successful—the device was discovered before it could complete the mission, so paying her is pointless,” Rowan’s response was straightforward. She shot Anna a disgusted glance and smirked. “It’d be more satisfying to see her donate the money or toss it on the roadside than give it to you.”
Anna’s eyes welled up with tears, and she quickly clasped her hands together, pleading. “Please, ma’am... don’t do this to me. I need this money. I have a lot to settle. Please, ma’am... give it to me.”
Amabel shrugged, her tone firm. “You heard what she said, didn’t you? Your assignment wasn’t successful, so I can’t pay you.”
Anna fell to her knees, and tears uncontrollably flooded out of her eyes with ease. Her sadness, desperation, and tears were something that’d give Rowan a satisfaction she would never want to give, but what was going on in her personal life at the moment couldn’t even make her give up being inferior to Rowan for a second thought.
“Please, ma,” she continued begging, rubbing her palms together nonstop. She sniffed, holding back the tears so her voice would be clearer. “Give me the money and I’ll do whatever you want me to do. Anything and everything. I need the money. Please, give me. I’ll dance to whatever tune you ring out,”
“I pray evil won’t befall you. If you don’t give me the money, a lot of things could happen. Bad things, ma,” she begged, her voice laced with urgency and desperation. “Please, ma. Pay me. I promise I’ll make it up to you. Once you give me the money, you can order me around starting from next week,”
She bent her back with some tears following her facial line to her mouth, while some fell to the ground. She grabbed Amabel’s leg, encircling her arms around it tightly. “Please. Pay me now and I’ll serve you for the rest of my life. I promise,”
“If I fail you, you can do whatever you want with me,” she vowed and was ready to continue until whenever Amabel would change her mind, but a thought passed through her mind, making her halt for a second.
She crawled to Rowan’s front and put her hands together again, rubbing her palms. “Please, Rowan. Help me beg her. Tell her to pay me. Please. A lot in my life depends on this money at this moment.”
Every word from her hinted at how desperate she was, and that gave Rowan the most satisfaction she hadn’t had in a very long time—or even maybe since she moved into the Palmer mansion. Anna was her most qualified opponent—the only who wasn’t afraid to speak ill about her right to her face.
They had argued countless times, and despite knowing Rowan was Amabel’s favorite, Anna never give a fuck. She was fearless and confronted Rowan countless times.
Anna put her hands down, thinking she hadn’t done enough to appease Rowan. She crawled closer, making her knees touch Rowan's toes. She bent and grabbed her leg. “Rowan, I’m sorry for all I’ve done for you,” she apologized, immediately re-strategizing to find a perfect way to reconstruct a perfect line that’d be enough to balm Rowan’s heart.
Rowan lifted her chin, her gaze rising slowly to avert her gaze at Anna as she folded her arms. “Leave my feet…” she said, but Anna held her tighter. “There’s nothing I can do. You do not reap where you didn’t sow. Okay? I might pity your condition, and consider giving you the pay, but you aren’t worth it. You’ve never been on our side…”
“You aren’t on our side when you’d be valued, and we’ve got no reason to believe you because there’s nothing a greedy, desperate human like you can’t do to get their hands on whatever they want,” Rowan taunted.
She bent and since Anna had loosened her hand from her feet, she gently pushed her back, making her fall back to the ground as she declared. “So, young lady, your help, loyalty, or whatever that makes you think you can be useless to our team isn’t needed.”
“Hum…” Anna groaned, but the pain she felt was nothing compared to the silent pain she was suffering from. She ignored it and immediately crawled back to Rowan’s front, her knees touching her toes again.
“Please, if you do this, I’ll make sure I help you get revenge on others. Including anyone else who had offended you. Whether under this roof or outside of this mansion.”
“Seems none of what I said gets into your head. You’re too dull to…” Rowan’s words trailed off. She jerked her leg hard, freeing it from Anna's grasp, and Anna fell to the ground.
“Oh!” Anna moaned, feeling a heavier pain than the previous fall. She rolled on the floor, struggling for almost a minute before she could lift her head from the ground, while Rowan watched with a faint smile and her face etched with satisfaction.
Rowan’s gaze lingered on Anna for a few seconds before their eyes met, and they stared intensely into each other’s faces for a few seconds, with Rowan beaming lightly while Anna’s eyes reddened, and tears still streaming down her cheek, reflecting the rage that filled her mind at the moment.
Anna’s expression spoke louder than whatever could even come out of her mouth at that moment, making it easiest for Rowan to read through it. However, knowing she couldn’t do anything, Rowan snickered.
“You can do nothing to me, or can you?”
Anna’s hand balled into a fist, grinding her teeth as her eyes gradually closed. She had a lot on her mind in a revengeful way, which, with Amabel’s absence, would have started with beating the hell out of Rowan.
Then drag her around the house—and probably out of the compound, and feed her sand before dumping her like the trash she was, and then think of more ways to get back every single day until she would regret her action, and apologize, which might even be too late to get a forgiveness.
Rowan discharged a deep breath. “Let’s go in, ma,” she said, slightly turning around as she gestured with her chin for Amabel to go first. “She isn't worth wasting our precious time on her. She’s useless, so we should go inside.”
Amabel nodded. “Yes.” She agreed, forcing an insincere smile onto her face as she veered around. A part of her mind yearned to help Anna, but she wouldn’t risk taking Rowan’s happiness at that moment. If she were to refund later, the order had to come from Rowan.
Amabel opened the door and as she took a step into the room with Rowan behind her, with an almost non-existent gap between them. As she wanted to take the other foot in, Rowan’s voice stopped her.
Rowan glanced over her shoulder, and without turning around to look at Anna, she let out, “don’t think of mentioning names, no matter what happens. It might be obvious, but admitting it will get you in trouble,”
Immediately as the door slammed shut, Anna lowered her gaze, slamming her palms on the floor. She stopped and, with her face cast downward, she tightened her lips, and hot tears fell onto the ground.
She raised her gaze and fixed her gaze on the door for a minute.
‘Rowan!’
Her gaze lingered at the door for the following minute, panting heavily before she could calm herself. She took her eyes off the door and struggled for a second before she could govern her body, managing to rise to her feet.
She gently lifted her right foot from the ground, gradually turning around to the entrance door. She took her left foot forward, and before she could take another one, the door banged open and Felix rushed in.
“Mom!” His voice echoed through the room with the excitement he couldn’t hide, dripping in his voice, and etched on his face as he stormed to his mother’s room, which he banged in without knocking.
Anna moved forward until she arrived at the door. She weakly lifted her hand, and as she laid it on the lever, a thought zoomed into her mind. “Wait…” she whispered, her hand still on the lever.
She wrinkled her forehead and glanced backward, giving her thought another second before she would act on it. She gave her thought a short yet deep thought, and immediately, as she concluded, she took her hand off the lever.