Chapter 36

Joffre

I clenched the newspaper in my hands, frowning. The headlines were a disaster; it made no sense that Master Cesar would be secretly meeting with Miss Belladona. They’ve created a ridiculous and pretentious story. Master Cesar must not find out about this, especially given how he’s been lately. I threw the newspaper in the trash, deciding to keep this information out of the mansion.

♡

“Have you seen today’s article in the newspaper?”

“Of course I’ve seen it, but what I still don’t understand is who Mr. Cesar is really with— the imposter he took to his room or the real Belladona.” The laughter of the maids didn’t take long, and I quickly approached them with heavy steps.

“And... who would have thought that Mr. Cesar’s taste would decline so much? I think he’s completely obsessed with losing Miss Belladona, kissing that dirty girl.”

“But why did he leave her... does anyone know?”

I snatched the newspaper from their hands, leaving them frozen in place. The girls quickly lowered their heads in respect.

“Forgive us, Mr. Joffre,” they said nervously.

“All you do all day is gossip in the hallways. What if it had been Mr. Cesar hearing your filthy conversation instead of me? You’d be out of this mansion! Begging for a decent job.”

“I don’t want to see or hear any of you talking about this again, and make sure to inform the others that if I see a newspaper or hear Master Cesar’s name in your mouths, I’ll fire every one of you and keep only half. Do you understand?!”

“Y-y-yes, sir.”

“Now get out of my sight!” The girls ran off, and in anger, I opened the newspaper, only to be shocked when I realized the photo wasn’t of Belladona and Cesar. It was of Belle and Cesar shopping in a clothing store.

“Since when were they so close... and why is Master Cesar making so many mistakes with a mere worker? I didn’t understand... It seemed like there were many things he was hiding from me.”

Recently, Mr. Cesar’s behavior had been far from consistent. That hard, cold-as-ice man seemed to crumble at any moment when he made a mistake... I had only seen him like this twice before—after the death of his parents and after breaking up with Belladona. It wasn’t my business, but I was concerned about what his nephew Donovan had said.

A few days earlier:

“Joffre, you’re always aware of my uncle, so I suppose you know all the details of his private life. And the strange resemblance of that woman to Belladona…”

“I know, I’m aware of it... but there’s no need to worry, she’s just another orphan in the world. There’s no information about her... it’s as if she were a ghost, and to be honest, she doesn’t even resemble Miss Belladona that much—she’s clumsy, foul-mouthed, and has deplorable manners.”

“I understand she’s not a threat, but that doesn’t rule out the possibility that she could be an illegitimate daughter of the Coachely family. Have you considered that? As a doctor, I can’t help but think that everything could be resolved with a paternity test.”

“It’s a very reputable family. A scandal like that would have been discovered a long time ago, and it’s not our place to meddle with such an important family.”

“But having her here, don’t you think it’s dangerous? When that family finds out, they won’t be happy.”

“Or it will be the definitive proof that that family is hiding something.”

“And why hasn’t Cesar gotten rid of her if she resembles Belladona so much? When I asked the girl, she seemed to react with embarrassment as if something had happened between them. Do you know if they have any intimate relationship?”

“Please, Mr. Donovan, respect Master Cesar. After Miss Belladona, there have been no other women, nor will there be, much less someone of such little value.”

“I hope so... or the family won’t be pleased with this scandal.”

Present

Now Mr. Donovan’s words made a bit more sense. And if... something really was happening between the two of them. I’ve always been the person to protect Mr. Cesar from the affairs he left behind, making sure everything was tied up so the media wouldn’t talk, but this... this was completely out of the ordinary and beyond my control.