Chapter 41: Retaliation
Alaina watched Maya leave the dining room with the taste of bile rising at the back of her throat. She was caught off guard. She didn’t expect that.
Maya had done everything she had asked without complaining, even going as far as to lie to Keenan that she had overslept—and now she had let it slip out.
But that wasn’t the only problem, She had also done it in a way that didn’t leave room for Alaina to question her, say more, or blatantly deny it. The timing blindsided Alaina the most; she was not prepared for it, so it was hard to decide on the right approach.
She bit the inside of her cheeks. She wasn’t worried that Maya had told Winnie and Theo; she was concerned this might give Maya more confidence to complain to Keenan.
She would be lying if she said she didn’t see his leniency. He claimed to hate her, yet everything he had done was contradictory.
As soon as she arrived, she should have been sent off to the mines. She should be treated no better than a slave. Yet, Keenan had ordered her to give Maya a room.
A room!
Alaina had chosen the worst room, of course. Unlike Keenan, she had no sympathy for the evil woman, regardless of the act she tried to put on.
Winnie looked like she might say something, but she shook her head and stood to her feet. Without saying another word, she exited the dining room.
Alaina closed her palms at the silent judgment. Winnie always needed to have the moral high ground. She wasn’t perfect, and no one knew that better than Alaina. Even though Winnie had her own mate, she was shamelessly trying to take hers.
Where did her sister get off acting like she was doing something wrong, when Maya had literally put their Alpha through nearly three years of torture? Just because she was docile now didn’t make her less vile.
Alaina swore internally. This was all Maya’s fault. If she wanted to go down this route, two could play the game. She would make her so miserable that she would have no choice but to leave. After all, no one wanted her here. And if Maya wouldn’t leave on her own... Alaina would help her find the door.
"Alaina."
"Alaina," Theo called multiple times before she heard him.
"What is it?" She turned to him, her tone harsher than it needed to be. She wanted Theo to concentrate more on making her mood better than on what Maya had said.
He stiffened slightly at her response. "I was wondering what you’re going to do today."
"I have to get a lot of things ready," she whispered. "The guests will arrive tomorrow. I have to make sure everything is ready by then." She let out a sigh at the end of her words to act exhausted.
Alaina wasn’t worried about Theo, and she knew she wouldn’t have to defend herself in front of him. He was eating out of her hand; he had no reason to believe Maya over her.
"You work so hard," he said with a soft nod.
She nodded and leaned into him so she could hide the smile that was threatening to slip out. He really did know the right thing to say. She knew he would always be on her side.
"Thank you," she whispered. "I just wish my little sister were appreciative of what I do."
"I am sure she is. You’ve been there for all of us since we were kids. We wouldn’t have gotten this far without you."
Alaina nodded with her head pressed against his shoulder. "You’re absolutely right," she replied, lifting her head to look at him.
Holding back her laughter made her eyes water, just like she wanted, and she looked up at Theo with tears threatening to spill.
"Is there anything you’d like me to do to help?" He quickly offered.
She could see his hesitation to put his hand on her shoulder, so she leaned in to encourage him. Theo’s face brightened briefly as he let his hand fall onto her shoulder.
She slowly shook her head. "Don’t worry, it’s nothing I can’t handle. Besides, you’ll be up all night, so you should get as much rest as you can afford."
"Yeah," he replied. "But if you need me to do anything, please ask."
"I know, Theo, thank you. I really don’t know what I’ll do without you by my side."
---
Maya could still hear the loud beating of her heart even though she had left the dining room long ago. She had expected Alaina to come after her for what she had said, but there was still no sign of her.
She knew there would be retaliation; Alaina wasn’t going to let this go easily. Maya had just expected the retaliation to have happened by now.
She regretted what she said. If she hadn’t been feeling frustrated from being told the marriage was fake and from Alaina’s constant remarks to Keenan, perhaps she wouldn’t have broken as she did.
It was pathetic, she couldn’t help but think. Keenan had gone through worse, and not once was his spirit broken. Whereas all it took for her was a few days, and she couldn’t stand it anymore.
Maya sighed and concentrated on her work. She didn’t have time for fear or worries. She had to clean these rooms before dinner time, or else she risked being late. She was only halfway through the first one, which meant she would be here for a while.
She also didn’t trust Alaina, and she was certain Alaina had something planned by making her clean the rooms—something that would make Keenan hate her more than he already did.
- -
The sun was setting when Maya finished cleaning the rooms. Luckily for her, the last two rooms had been a little smaller than the first one and had taken less time to clean.
Maya gathered up the old bedsheets. She was unsure what to do with them. Bess had brought clean sheets earlier, but Maya hadn’t seen her since. She couldn’t leave them in the room, so with no other option, she figured she could take them to the kitchen.
The bedsheets were thick, and she had to wrap her entire arms around them to be able to carry them as she exited the rooms. She made her way to the stairway with the sheets in front of her. She was a few feet away when Alaina appeared.
Her grip on the linens loosened, but she caught herself and moved as close to the wall as she could. Alaina didn’t even look at her; she just walked past her.
Maya was about to let out a sigh of relief when something struck her foot. She tumbled forward, her eyes widened in fear. Alaina had kicked her right foot.
She was falling and there was no way to break her fall while she was holding the sheets. She let them go and fell onto the sheets, landing face-first. Maya shivered in horror; if she had been a second later, she would have risked breaking her arms.
She carefully lifted herself and carried the sheets. There was a burning pain in her right foot, and Maya knew there was likely a bruise. She could hear Alaina chuckling to herself as she walked away without looking back.
Maya stood for a moment to recover from the shock and fear. Something told her this was only just the beginning. She couldn’t help the crushing feeling that was pulsing through her body.
Maya slowly walked down the stairs and soon appeared on the first floor. She walked briskly this time, not wanting to run into Keenan. How would she explain the sheets?
She let out a sigh of relief when she made it past the main entrance without running into Keenan—only a few servants. They all stared at her oddly, but none bothered her. Maya was halfway to the kitchen when a familiar voice reached her ears.
"What are you doing?" Palmer asked, standing in front of her.
"I wanted to—"
"Give that to me," Palmer yelled and snatched the bedsheets away from Maya. "You were going to take this to the kitchen?" There was an accusation in her tone.
Maya opened her mouth to speak, but Palmer was already walking away, mumbling about how the sheets were so light, yet Maya looked like she would fall any moment.
Maya stood in the middle of the hallway, unsure about what had just happened. She was grateful Palmer had taken the sheets from her, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel insulted.
With no reason to be here, Maya turned on her heels and walked back the way she had come. She was worried she would run into Alaina and walked as slowly as she possibly could, but by the time she reached the second floor, Alaina was gone.
There was instant relief, but it didn’t last as Maya realized Alaina had been inside the rooms. The doors were left a little open, but she could clearly recall closing them.
Maya felt her head drop to her stomach as she placed her hand on the door handle of the first room. If Alaina had been here, she should be worried.
She hadn’t thought about it before because she had been worried after falling, but there was a very high chance Alaina had ruined all her hard work to get back at her. Just like she had easily tripped her without caring if she was injured or not.
