6. Ryder

Istorm down the corridor, footsteps echoing against the polished marble floors of the manor. My jaw clenches, anger coursing through my veins.

Fuck. She's pregnant?

Evangeline's trembling voice, her confession—it all seemed too much. She wanted to keep this a secret from us. Why? Did she think we would turn her out if we knew? Conflicting emotions churn inside, a tempest raging beneath my icy veneer of composure.

The irony of her rejection isn't lost on me as I throw open the door to Theo's study hard enough to make the hinges groan. She'd dismissed me as beneath her, yet let some random asshole into her bed.

Theo and Oliver look up, startled by my sudden entrance.

"Guys," I say, my voice tight with anger. "We need to talk about Evangeline."

"What's going on?" Theo asks, getting up to shut the door behind me as I sink into a plush leather armchair.

"She's got a dirty little secret," I say, lip curling in disgust. "She wanted to hide it from us, but I overheard her talking to Fitz. The little whore is knocked up."

Theo's eyes widen for a moment, taking in the news, and Oliver"s brow furrows as conflicting emotions dance behind his eyes, a subtle tension evident in his voice. "We ought to tread carefully, Ryder," he says, his tone measured. "There may be more to gain from keeping quiet about this knowledge for now."

Theo's expression darkens. "What do you think she gains from deceiving us?" he demands. "She was hired to be a servant, and now she thinks she can use this pregnancy to leverage something from us? We ought to fire her."

Oliver sighs. "I understand your frustration, but we don't want her to leverage this against us in any way. We give her the power if we straight up fire her." His eyes gleam with calculating intensity. "I have an idea. Perhaps she ought to be reminded of her place and let her be the one to quit."

My features harden, anger simmering beneath the surface as I struggle to make sense of her actions. "Agreed," I mutter, my voice cold with resentment. "Let her deal with this unfortunate situation on her own. We'll show her that we don't give a shit if she is pregnant. She still has to work just like the rest of us."

We agree to keep the information we uncovered to ourselves, sharing a silent understanding that our mission to drive her away is now more important than ever. If her plan was to go looking for gold to dig here at Shadowvale, she came to the wrong place.

The next day, Theo calls a meeting of the servants, putting our plan into motion. Oliver and I hang back as he walks carefully up and down the line of new staff members.

"We lost a great deal of staff after the fire here that took my father's life three years ago," Theo says, his voice echoing in the space. "The only person who would stay on was Fitz. But now that he's intent on bringing Shadowvale back to its former glory, you've all been retained to bring that dream to light."

Theo stares at Evangeline long enough to make everyone shift around uncomfortably. "Some of you have been more adept than others at proving yourselves. I hope that the rest of you get it together, or see yourselves out the door."

The staff"s eyes land on Evangeline. A faint smirk plays on my lips as he continues onward. "If any member of the team finds themselves falling short of expectations, your position here will be revoked immediately."

Evangeline's cheeks are red as our eyes linger on her for a long moment. "You are dismissed. Miss Parker, stay behind, please."

Fitz leaves immediately while the rest of the staff shoot each other curious looks. A few give her pitying glances, but the rest take their leave quickly, no doubt not wanting to be caught in the cross-fire.

"Let's get one thing straight, Miss Parker," Theo says as he faces her, a frown on his face. "You're here to work. No excuses. I've heard reports from the rest of the staff that you've been slacking off on the job. If you want to remain here at Shadowvale, you need to prove you can handle the workload."

"I'm doing my best," Evangeline says, arms wrapped around herself. "If I can improve, please tell me how." Her voice is even and steady, and she's unafraid to look us in the eye.

"You could start by organizing all the files in my office," Theo says, barely concealed glee in his tone as he glances at me.

"But you shouldn't neglect your other duties," I add, standing up from where I was lounging on the stairs. "I expect you to continue to have my breakfast brought to my room every day."

"The fireplace needs a thorough cleaning," Oliver adds, an odd excitement in his eyes. "It hasn't been cleaned properly in a few years."

"You seem to have too much free time, so you can clean up after dinner." Theo steps into her personal space, gaze lingering on her for a moment longer than necessary. "You're on dishes duty for the next month."

Evangeline's hands are shaking, fingers curling into her palms in fists as she listens to our list of chores.

"Don't forget to polish the floors today," I say, rubbing my dirty shoes across the marble. "There's so much dirt in here."

"Anything else?" she asks, her voice faint but her posture rigid. There's a subtle tremor in her hands, shoulders tensing beneath the weight of our demands. Her outward composure belies the vulnerability in her gaze, a crack in her armor that threatens to shatter her completely.

"Yes," Theo says, a smile blossoming on his face. "Here." He pushes something into her palm and she stares down at it. "It's a pager," he informs her. "You're on call for us now. Any time, day or night, that we need you, one of the three of us can summon you at any time. Got it?"

Evangeline's eyes harden and she pinches her lips shut. "Of course, sir," she says.

"You're dismissed."

Evangeline turns and walks away, leaving a feeling of victory in the air. She's our pawn now, ours to do with as we please.

"Miss Parker!" I call out, striding toward her where she's on her hands and knees in front of the fireplace, scrubbing the soot out of it. "You were expected to bring my lunch a half hour ago!"

She looks up, brushing a stray hair out of her face and leaving behind a smear of soot. "Natalia said that you asked her to take care of it," she says, voice breaking in her panic.

"I did no such thing. I paged you an hour ago!" I sneer.

The afternoon sunlight filters through the heavy drapes, casting shadows on her face, her voice barely above a whisper as she responds, "But then Natalia said you asked her to make your lunch." Her eyes are downcast, shoulders nearly to her ears.

Something about seeing her like this has me hesitating for a moment, but I brush it aside. "That's ridiculous," I scoff. "You probably misheard her. Now go make my lunch. And clean yourself up. You look disgusting."

Later that afternoon, I watch with delight from around the corner as Oliver berates Evangeline for abandoning the fireplace cleanup. She tries to explain that I requested lunch, but Oliver refuses to listen, waving her off with a dismissive hand.

As she starts to get back to it, I watch as Theo pages her, insisting that she's needed immediately. A twisted sense of pleasure grows as she stares between the fireplace and the pager, tears welling up in her eyes as she tries to figure out what to do.

She hastily leaves to answer Theo's page, walking as briskly as she can, sniffles echoing in the quiet hall.

The three of us have her running ragged all day and into the night, pushing tasks on her of various complexity, taking delight in the way she seems to become confused and frustrated as she tries her best to keep up with our demands.

"Has the fireplace been cleaned yet, Miss Parker?" Oliver demands.

"I need my laundry, Miss Parker," I say, tapping a foot expectantly.

"You said you could handle the file organization, Miss Parker," Theo snaps. "I didn't expect you to be so incompetent at it."

But despite our best efforts, Evangeline keeps her head held high, her shoulders back, and if she cries, she doesn't do it where any of us can see.

Frustration gnaws at me like a relentless itch under my skin. It's infuriating how she never seems to crack, her demeanor unwavering in the face of our torment.

Beneath the frustration, though, lurks a nagging sense of guilt. It was one thing for us to assert our dominance over her, reminding her of her place as our servant, but something nags inside me, unease filling me as I watch her struggle to carry out every task.

A memory surfaces, unbidden, of her stopping as she scrubbed my toilet, wincing as she rubbed a knot in her lower back to ease the pain.

Are we going too far in trying to break her down? Are we doing too much?

I push those feelings aside, drowning them in the sea of resentment that surges within me. She brought this upon herself. Thinking she could come here and snag herself a wealthy husband to secure her baby's future was so far beyond out of line that Evangeline deserves all of this and worse.

If she's not at the breaking point yet, she's got to be close. No one can take the full force of the Everhart brothers, not when we've put our minds to something.