“Is this the ‘care’ you’ve been providing while I was away building this life for us?” he asked in a low, dangerous tone. Priscilla rolled her eyes and sighed, “You’re overreacting because you aren’t here to see how manipulative they can be.”
Just then, the longtime cook, Mrs. Gable, appeared in the doorway of the kitchen with tears in her eyes. She looked at Dominic and whispered, “I tried to help them, Mr. Thorne, but she threatened to fire me if I stepped in.”
Dominic spent the rest of the night in the nursery, refusing to leave his children’s side until they finally drifted into a fitful sleep. Audrey clung to his thumb even in her dreams, as if she feared he would vanish if she let go.
The next morning, he sat down with Mrs. Gable and listened to the harrowing reality of the last six months. She told him about the hours the children spent locked in their rooms and the cold words Priscilla used to belittle them.
“She told them they were a burden,” Mrs. Gable said through a tissue. “She told them that they were the reason their mother was gone and why you were never home.”