Perhaps, the nightmare is just beginning...
She hoped she was just dreaming, waking up still in the distant United States, with the first snow falling and the fireplace crackling with pinewood that popped and cracked as it burned, warming her to the point of wanting to linger. When Ethan Baird came to see her, she would tell him she had a long dream, where she married the most capricious ruler, and Ethan would laugh, telling her it was time to wake up and stop dreaming.
She wished it were so, but her body told her this was no dream.
Yesterday, she understood more clearly what cruelty was like from a man.
He was taming, taming her will with his body.
Only Charlotte Miller knew what she had gone through.
Dressed appropriately, she went downstairs. Breakfast gatherings in the Hallow Family were the most important, and she never missed them. No matter how terrible she felt, she persisted.
At the dining table, only Amir and Ava Walker were left. The elders of the Hallow Family were known to leave for abroad come winter, as they couldn’t stand the weather here, and wouldn’t return until spring.
Because the elders were not present, she had to come down, or else she would become the subject of gossip.
"I think I heard someone crying yesterday. Amir, was it you bullying someone?" Ava said as she saw Charlotte walk into the dining room, holding a bird’s nest soup in her hands, as it was necessary to moisturize in this dry, cold season.
"Miss Miller, why don’t you have some as well? You screamed yourself hoarse last night, really worked hard..." After saying this, Ava turned around and signaled for the housekeeper to bring Ava Miller a bowl of bird’s nest soup as well.
Atlas Hallow didn’t even lift an eyelid, his thick lashes concealing all his thoughts, leaving no one aware of what he was thinking.
Previously, if Ava had ever provoked her, Atlas would always shield her from these unnecessary troubles, but today, he seemed unwilling to intervene, as if enjoying the show.
This morning, it seemed that everything was different.
He didn’t even arrange breakfast for her. Before, he would have the housekeeper prepare a breakfast just like his for her, or something slightly altered, but today the housekeeper just stood there, with no sign of movement.
The dining table was still set with some exquisite breakfasts. Lazily, she picked up a fragrant croissant and then turned to the housekeeper and asked, "Could I have a cup of red tea?"
She felt extremely drained, needing a strong and fragrant red tea to perk her up.
Housekeeper Kent glanced subtly at Atlas, familiar with the young master’s temperament, and thus counted that as consent.
He quickly went to have someone brew a pot of the finest top-grade Ceylon Red Tea. The crimson-hued tea carried a distinctive fragrance. Charlotte picked up the cup, took a deep breath with her eyes half-closed, and as she swallowed, the slightly scalding warmth slid into her stomach, warming her cold, stiff body.
Before this cup of tea, she felt almost as if dead. After drinking it, she slowly came back to life.
"Miss Miller, have you become so open-minded after staying abroad for so long? Enjoying an audience, are you? Is it more thrilling this way?" Ava jeered, noting that Atlas hadn’t spoken up to stop her, realizing Charlotte must have fallen out of favor, thus her tone grew more sardonic, making her jokes without any reservation in front of the few servants present in the dining room.
"Yes, how did you know I liked it? If you don’t want to hear it lately, then don’t stay here. I’m afraid it might overwhelm you." The croissant was baked to a crisp. After saying this with a hoarse voice, Charlotte began to slowly eat it.
After all, she had nearly exhausted all her strength yesterday, so she needed to replenish herself well.
"I never thought the Miller Family would produce such a daughter. I wonder how your mother, who is known as the last aristocrat, taught you. Just because you have the Miller surname, can’t you inherit the nobility of the Morgons?" Ava’s remark disparaged both the Miller and Morgon Families to an extreme degree.
"How my mother taught me is naturally different from your servant mother; you wouldn’t understand, and I don’t blame you for it." After finishing the croissant, Charlotte poured herself another cup of red tea, feeling as though all the fluids in her body were drained by this man yesterday; even after a cup, she still felt thirsty.
"You..." Ava was so infuriated she stood up entirely, seeming as if she wanted to tear Charlotte apart across the table, her gaze filled with intense malice.