"Get back to your own jobs. Don't bother me," Hulda said. The unspoken implication was clear: stay out of my way.
Cara looked as though she had just been granted a pardon and practically fled the kitchen.
The other nosy staff members didn't dare linger either, quickly scattering in different directions.
Herbert, however, remained. He walked up behind Hulda and watched as she methodically chopped vegetables.
"Did they always treat you like this?" he asked.
"Yeah, pretty much," she replied evenly, her voice devoid of any real emotion. She was simply stating a fact.
In reality, the staff had treated her far worse in the past.
Herbert's frown deepened. "Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Why would I?" she kept her eyes glued to her task. "They just follow the family's lead."
The Jewell family had never respected her or accepted her as a daughter-in-law, treating her like a glorified servant. The staff naturally followed suit; why would they respect someone the family treated like dirt?
And the root cause of all this misery was none other than Herbert himself.
If he had shown his wife even an ounce of care, his parents and sister would have at least tolerated her out of respect for him.
But since Herbert had always been entirely indifferent to her, why would his family treat her any better?
Herbert understood exactly what she meant. For the first time in their entire relationship, he actually had the patience to stand there and listen to her.
For some reason, as he stared at her profile, she felt completely different from the woman he thought he knew.
That subtle, unexplainable change drew him closer, so close that he could catch the faint, alluring scent of her perfume wafting from her neck.
"I'm already looking for an apartment for Sylvie. She'll be moving out of the house soon. Stop throwing a tantrum and just come home."
Hulda stiffened. She could feel his body heat and the warm breath brushing against the nape of her neck as he loomed over her.
Once, this sudden closeness might have made her heart skip a beat with joy. Now, it just made her skin crawl.

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