Chapter 6

Stephen slammed his glass down, his manner suddenly cold.

"Rachel, Noelle's not yours to order around. Don't push it," he warned.

"But she's just the maid…" Rachel protested, her voice fading as she realized Stephen was genuinely angry.

She hurriedly took off her shoe and handed it to Noelle. "Here. Clean it."

The guests exchanged puzzled glances. A few seconds later, several guests who'd had too much to drink raised their glasses and cheered, and the party came back to life.

Noelle took the high heel to the bathroom to clean it. She hadn't expected Rachel to follow her in.

Rachel lifted her chin and sneered.

"Noelle, I almost feel sorry for you. You've been chasing Stephen for nine years, and to him, you're still just the help. And you still bend over backward to please him. Is groveling all you know how to do?"

Noelle ignored her and kept cleaning the shoe.

In the past, she would've brought up the few times Stephen had been kind to her, trying to prove she'd been right to love him.

Now she saw no point in arguing. Rachel wasn't wrong.

Once she'd wiped the shoe dry, Noelle held it out to Rachel. "Done."

Noelle's refusal to react only made Rachel angrier. She gave Noelle a nasty smile.

"Put my shoe on for me. Stephen came to your rescue out there, but let's see who saves you now. Oh, and I almost forgot. Don't bother coming back to tutor my sister. I talked to my family before I came. They agreed you wouldn't be coming back."

Noelle paused, the shoe still in her hand.

She glared at Rachel. "You can't do that! We had a deal!"

Rachel gave her a scornful look and scoffed. "I'm not breaking our deal. You could've kept that job if you'd kissed up to me. But you didn't, did you?"

The noise from the party outside drowned out their voices.

Noelle shook with anger, helpless to do anything about the job.

She used to be able to turn to her family or Stephen for help. Now her family couldn't help her, and Stephen was more likely to make things worse.

She let the high heel fall from her hand, and it clattered to the floor.

"I believe in making my own way. I hope you do, too. And yes, my mom was a housekeeper, but that doesn't give you the right to bully me. I earn my own money, and I'm not ashamed of it."

With the tutoring job gone, Noelle had no reason to put up with Rachel anymore.

Rachel chuckled. "Nice speech. But weren't you hoping Stephen would be your ticket into high society? Too bad your mom got his dad killed because she couldn't even take care of him properly.

"That's something you two will never get past. You'll never be together!"

"That's not what happened!" Noelle blurted out.

The bathroom door flew open.

Stephen stood in the doorway, radiating cold fury.

Noelle didn't know how long he'd been outside or how much of their conversation he'd heard. A chill ran through her.

Stephen had never gotten over Oscar's death.

He blamed Julia entirely, convinced she'd failed to take proper care of his father. He also believed the Andersons refused to admit it because they didn't want to be held responsible.

It was why he'd turned against Noelle. He wouldn't even let anyone mention his father's death.

And Rachel had just brought it up.

Rachel went pale and kept backing away, but Stephen didn't even glance at her. He grabbed Noelle by the throat, gritting his teeth as he glared at her.

"That's not what happened? Then tell me what did! Are you seriously still denying it? What's so hard about admitting your mom screwed up when she was supposed to be looking after my dad?

"If my mom hadn't let you stay for old times' sake, I'd snap your neck right now!"