Chapter 1

Chapter 1

There was a time when Diana didn't have to worry about things like where her money was going or how it was being spent because she had been the only person in control of such decisions.

The house awaited her, a warm white block that towered over her as she took the small pathway through the lawn. Before, the sight would bring her comfort. Now, she knew that a battle lingered for her inside.

She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the window as she approached the front of her home, a scowl on her face that did nothing to flatter her. Her strawberry blonde hair had loosened as she had marched all the way home. Her plump figure looked stiff and ready for a confrontation.

It didn't help that she was wearing her least comfortable stay. It had been washed incorrectly and sat just a little too tight, something she hadn't noticed in her morning rush. As a result, her chemise felt bunched up in all the wrong places.

She pulled the door open and marched inside, her steps on the wooden floors announcing her arrival.

"Diana!" her aunt called from the kitchen. "You're just in time to help me with this."

She followed the voice into the kitchen and stared her aunt down. She looked so little like Diana's mother, barely a resemblance. The only part of her mother that her aunt shared was how they kneaded bread.

She could smell the wood polish in the kitchen and shuddered to think of what a mess it would be once her aunt was done. The fire was burning, and flour was already everywhere.

Servants rushed around her aunt as they prepared bowls and stoked the fire. It was nothing short of chaos, which was normal where her aunt was involved. "What is all this for?" Diana asked. "I made bread yesterday; there should still be plenty left."

"I'm trying a new recipe," her aunt explained. "Something for the birthday dinner."

It was perfect. Her aunt had mentioned her cousin's birthday dinner, precisely why Diana felt so confrontational.

"I need to speak with you about the dinner," Diana opened the conversation. "Alone."

Her aunt brushed her away. "Not now," she said. "This is a tricky part of the recipe. I need to do some calculations."

It had been an act of kindness when she had invited her aunt and uncle to move into her home with her cousins. When Diana's parents died, they left her their home, property, and fortune. The entirety of it.

At first, she didn't want her home to be so filled with people, but her aunt had persuaded her that living alone was not the best option. That perhaps it wasn't safe for her to be there alone with all those valuable items.

Little had she known that it would make her the mother and carer of what family she had left.

Diana nodded to the servants, and they understood the signal to leave. Within moments, she and her aunt were alone. And her aunt had a frustrated frown on her face.

"You're delaying the process," she snapped.

"I've just been to the market to do some shopping," Diana pressed on, ignoring her aunt's request to discuss it at another time. "Every place I stopped at had an outstanding credit amount in my name."

"Yes, it's all for the dinner," her aunt said.

"Are we feeding the entire town?" Diana asked. "It's excessive Henriette. There is no need for so much just for a dinner."

Her aunt sighed and stopped her kneading. "It's Jane's twenty-first birthday. You know how important those are."

"For everyone else, yes," Diana said. "Because they all get to enjoy extravagance on somebody else's money. Her twenty-first birthday will come and pass, and she will have another birthday next year and the year after."

Her aunt gave her an unamused look. "You promised we could have this dinner," she said.

"I did," Diana said. "And you promised it wouldn't get out of hand. I also don't remember agreeing to pay for the entire event."

"Don't be silly; I've paid for plenty of it," her aunt said.

"Which parts?" Diana pressed, knowing that her aunt was telling a lie.

Her aunt had a telling sign when she was lying. She would scratch her eyebrow and shrug. And that's precisely what she did when she told Diana she'd paid some of the bill.

"Don't be like that, Diana," her aunt said with a forced chuckle. "You're behaving as if it is entirely unaffordable."

That was precisely what had Diana so upset. Her aunt had a history of plundering through money until there was none left, and she was starting to do the same thing to Diana's fortune.

There was a time when Henriette and her husband, Jack, had been more than well-off. He'd come into some money, and as a family, they had spent every last cent of it until there was little left to spare.

Diana had been worried about that when her aunt and family had moved in with her. It was why she had initially not wanted to go forward with it. But her aunt had convinced her by saying that family needed to stay together during difficult times.

They were going to be there just for a short while. A short while had come and gone, and they were still there and still using her name to make purchases.

"No more, Henriette," Diana said sternly. "I will not make any more payments for this dinner. You have bought more than enough for it."

Her aunt sighed. "Don't be like that, Diana," she said. "You're so much like your mother when you're angry. Why don't you have some tea? We can speak about this when you're a little calmer."

Diana understood then why her mother and sister fought so often. But there was something her aunt was wrong about.

"I am not like my mother when I'm angry," Diana said. "I am like my father. I will not stop until this is straightened out. Then I will have my tea."

Her aunt's shoulders dropped. There was nothing she could say to win that argument and she was starting to understand that. She sat down at the kitchen table, but Diana remained standing.

She listened for any sounds of her cousins nearby before they carried on with their conversation. It wasn't those two sweet girls spending all her money; it was their mother. And in the background, it was their father pulling the strings.

"This money is not yours to spend," Diana reprimanded her. "I've been more than accommodating with all of you. I agreed that we could have a dinner for Jane here, but this kind of spending is reckless."

"It's just one dinner," her aunt pressed. "It's not like we're out living a lavish life."

"No, you're not," Diana said. "Because there wouldn't be enough money for that. Surely you understand the trouble with spending all this money so freely?"

It looked for a moment as if her aunt was going to roll her eyes but stopped herself at the last moment.

"I have paid for everything since you and your family came to live here," Diana said. "And I have done so without a single complaint. You have all been fed and housed on my money, and I think I'm providing you a nice life here."

"O-of course," her aunt stammered. "And we're more than grateful for all of it."

Diana sighed. "Look," she said. "From now on, you spend no money without consulting me about it first. If you're not happy with that, then you are welcome to return to your own home where you can spend your own money as you wish."

She had never heard herself sound so harsh. Her words burned in her throat. Then she knew she really did sound a little like her mother.

"We're just worried about you," her aunt said. "You're here all alone, and we thought that a warm and pleasant birthday might fill the house with some cheer. That's all. I never meant to step on any toes."

Diana filled the kettle and put it on the stove. She was almost ready to calm down. All she needed was to ensure her aunt got the picture.

"And we're so grateful that you've let us live here with you on this beautiful property," her aunt continued. "Your mother would have been so proud of you for doing this. It's what she would have wanted."

When her aunt brought her mother up like that, it left a bitter taste in Diana's mouth. One that turned the corners of her lips downward and deepened her frown. Diana was too smart to be sweet-talked by her aunt.

The fact that her aunt had good intentions and was grateful did not change the fact that she was burning through money that wasn't hers to spend.

"I've had my say," Diana said. "That is the end of the conversation. There will be no more money spent without my consent, am I understood?"

"Of course, honey," her aunt said. "As I said, I never meant to cause trouble."

Diana poured a cup of tea for her and her aunt and placed one cup on the table.

"I'll be taking my tea in the garden," she said before leaving her aunt and the bread in the kitchen.

Outside the kitchen was a small table where the mail usually piled up for Diana to take a look at. There was plenty she hadn't opened. They were likely from peers who wished to send their condolences after her parents' accident. She wasn't quite ready to read through those yet.

That day, though, she would pick out a few from senders she wished to catch up with. She paged through the envelopes and paused when she heard her uncle's footsteps enter the kitchen.

"What was all that about?" her uncle mumbled.

Her aunt sighed. "She's complaining about the money for the party. Diana thinks we're spending too much of it."

"As if that money will ever run out," her uncle said with a huff.

He sat down in the chair, and Diana wondered if she should listen any longer. After all, it was not her conversation to be part of. Then again, they were speaking about her, and she'd often wondered if her family had other motives for moving in with her.

"It's not fair," her aunt complained. "How could they leave her everything? We didn't get one single cent. Not even a piece of furniture!"

Diana leaned in a little closer to the door. Fury bubbling just beneath the surface for her.

"Don't worry about that," her uncle said. "All she needs is a distraction. Right now, she has nothing to do but take control of every part of her daily life. It's too much."

"And how do you suppose that will change?" Henriette asked. "Nobody can pull her away from her focus."

"A husband," her uncle said. "That's what she needs. Then she can have a family. With a husband and children, she'll be too busy to keep an eye on everything. In fact, she'll be begging you to handle things here."

"Then we could enjoy this money that should have been all of ours," her aunt said quietly. "It's not a bad idea."

"Now we just have to find a man who can handle how stubborn she is," her uncle teased.

"That can be arranged," her aunt said in a sly voice. "Diana is nuts if she thinks I'm ever leaving here."

Her uncle laughed loudly then. "We're not going anywhere. She is family; this is our home as much as it is hers. Her cousins deserve a better life. It's not our fault that carriage tipped and took her parents out of this world. We should not be punished for it."

Diana didn't want to listen anymore. She took her tea and mail and headed out of the house and into the garden. For as long as she could remember, the garden had been her place of refuge.

Out at the far end was a pergola with roses and jasmine, and she could hear nothing from the house when she was there. That's where she liked to sit and escape.

That day, as she read through the letters from friends, she realized that one day she would be expected to have a family. After her parents died, that had been the last thing on her mind.

She missed them terribly. They had given her a good life. They had been truly good parents. Diana wasn't sure if she could be as kind as her mother was or as able as her father.

In the garden, at her one place of peace, her mind suddenly filled with an unsettling thought.

Diana had lived a simple life until her parents had passed away. Her parents had worked hard to buy some properties, so they had made their money through property rentals.

Their only daughter, Diana, had inherited everything. Their main stream of income included. Being their only child, her father had taught her everything about managing the finances and running the properties, and she did it with ease.

That made her the only person in the family eligible to take it all on when they died. Still, she would trade it all for the chance to go back and stop them from leaving in the storm.

Her entire life, she had believed that she had everything she needed to live a good life. Suddenly, at the age of twenty-four, she faced the prospect of marriage to make herself relevant.

It seemed somewhat inevitable. She would have to marry and be a mother, and she feared that she would never be ready for it. Or good enough.