章 73: Pitiful

                 ...…

[INSIDE THE MANOR

•The Dining Hall]

There was nothing outrightly bad about the oil-dripping grill that sat on a plate in front of her—she liked meat: flank-steak, and mildly ruddy. Samantha knew the food wasn't the problem, her mind was. 

There were a ton of regrets bruising her gut at that hour when she should have, otherwise been enjoying a fine breakfast much like her potential mother-in-law was doing. Except, she couldn't.

Samantha couldn't bring herself to even chug down a sip of her oolong tea, though it was her favourite tea blend. She could not help being grumpy. She wasn't in the mood for it. Though she could sense Eloise's eyes watching her every move like a coded detective, she could not afford to bend to her will this time. But for the woman's direct call, Samantha would have remained locked up in her bedroom, until she had figured out a plan to remove her rival out of the house to have Rochester all to herself.