Perhaps there had been some business problems there. It was possible that an emergency had arisen in the company in London, and he had been called to urgently resolve it, which is why he hadn't informed me that he was leaving. But why did he need to take Arthur with him? What work problem did he need to solve by taking Arthur along? And furthermore, since he knew how close I was to that child, he should have felt obligated to at least wake me up and tell me he was taking Arthur, so I could say goodbye to him.
I didn't know what to think; I was confused. I had given myself to him the previous night, only to discover in the morning that he had left without me. It wouldn't have cost him anything to take me with him; after all, I was Arthur's nanny, and the baby must have needed me now. I was upset; I couldn't deny it. I didn't like knowing that he had left without me; my baby must have needed me now. Frustrated, I started organizing Arthur's room, folding the clothes they had left behind. Even Magdalena had gone with them, to my surprise. Maybe she was there to take care of the baby. I blamed her too for not letting me know they were leaving, so I wouldn't be so worried and wouldn't feel abandoned.
Two days passed, and there was no news from them. They hadn't called or anything, which made me even more nervous. I started thinking things I shouldn't. Seriously, had Garrett left long after our night together? Did he disappear without even caring about me, after how I had given myself to him body and soul that night, letting him be my first man and planning for him to be my only one, yet he left me behind without any consideration?
Since baby Arthur wasn't in the castle, I was spending my days in infinite boredom, unable to do anything. To prevent my negative thoughts about Garrett from overwhelming my mind, as he literally didn't even wait for the bed to cool before leaving. I was so frustrated that I started thinking bad things about him. So, to clear my head, I went to the castle's kitchen because there I would have the company of other maids in the house. As soon as they saw me entering the large and warm space, the four cooks gave me a strange look, and most of them didn't even smile at me. But I pretended not to notice and approached them. "Hello. Could you give me a task to do? It's because now that the baby is not here, I don't have much to do." I smiled kindly at them.
"Oh, yes, please." One of them, the youngest, who was also smiling kindly at me, said. "Indeed, when the bosses aren't here, we don't have much to do either. But come on, I'll give you some vegetables to chop."
"Thank you very much." I approached the girl, who couldn't be much older than me, and she led me to a nearby table, starting to separate vegetables for me.
"For someone who was always walking around with her nose in the air, hanging out with the bosses all the time, nobody would guess you'd end up in this kitchen one day." A woman, the oldest of them, spoke. I remembered that she was the same woman who had given me a dirty look on the day I arrived at this castle. I bit my lip slightly without looking at her, as Garrett Ward had ordered me not to do any other work in the house except taking care of Arthur.
"I don't want to see you in the kitchen or anywhere else in the castle doing any task other than taking care of my son. If you're hungry and thirsty, ask for as much food as you want, but stay away from my son because he is my most precious possession." He had said those words to me on the day I moved into this castle, and the fact that I hadn't come to this kitchen before didn't mean I never wanted to. It was simply because I was following orders.
"Don't be so rude to her, Searose." The girl who was helping me came to my defense. "Taking care of baby Arthur is her job in the house."
"It was, in the past. Or do you think Mr. Ward will come back from York again?" She insinuated rudely.
"What?" I asked, perplexed. What did she mean by saying Garrett was gone forever? He had left for good. He took baby Arthur away from me. What had I done wrong? Had I displeased him? Searose was cynical, laughing at my reaction now.
"That's right, you heard correctly, foolish girl. You thought he wanted you to be his woman? You naive imbecile. I saw you leaving his room that morning. Did you give yourself to him? Let him use you as a sperm bank. What did you think would happen next? Did you think he would propose to you, and you would live happily ever after? How foolish you are!"
"Searose, you've gone too far." Another woman there stood up for me, while the younger one seemed horrified by Searose's words. My heart was pounding, and I was trying to hold back my tears. It wasn't true, and it didn't happen exactly like that. I loved Garrett Ward, and he loved me too. He had said he loved me!
"You're mistaken; it wasn't exactly like that." I tried to defend myself because Searose was making me out to be a naive fool who had surrendered to her own boss without considering the consequences. Searose was laughing at me, along with another woman who was at the sink scrubbing the pots.
"What a stupid fool you are!" the woman at the sink mocked me. "Stupid bitch!"
"Your mistake is having that haughty nose and thinking you're superior to us just because you're the nanny, and you're directly taking care of the boss's child. You didn't want to come down from your pedestal; you didn't want to get to know us or ask who Garrett Ward really was. We've been here longer than you, miss. Clearly, we know our boss very well, and we also know his wicked nature towards young women like you who fall for his charms." Searose was speaking.
"Searose, you big idiot. You're accusing our boss of something serious; don't bite the hand that feeds you!" The woman who defended me before spoke up again.
"But can you explain why Evyy left here so devastated while she was working? It's clear that Mr. Ward wanted to take advantage of her, not even respecting his own pregnant wife waiting for his child!"
At that point, it was impossible for me to stay silent and listen any longer. I ran out of the kitchen and went to my room to grab my suitcase, starting to pack my things. I didn't want to stay there anymore; I couldn't believe Garrett was such a bad man. Not only that, but I believed in him, and it was all in vain; everything we had lived through all that time—was he just trying to take advantage of me? I didn't know what to think; I was very confused and distressed. After Searose's words, I just wanted to leave that place. I grabbed my suitcase, where I had thrown my few dresses, and hurriedly went downstairs, heading for the exit gate.
"Where are you going, Miss Stark? Do you have orders to leave?" he asked.
"I don't need orders; I just need to leave." I spoke hastily, wanting to be far away from this place.
"But Mr. Ward has given orders that no one can leave during working hours."
"Then tell your master that I am resigning!" I pushed him aside and immediately left the castle. I didn't care if there were no cars to take me from the Ward's property to the town; I would walk if necessary. Not only that, but I would push my suitcase as far as I could, but I would not stay there any longer. Even if it was raining, I would keep walking until I was far away from that cursed place, far from Garrett Ward and his heartless betrayal.