Dixie shifted uncomfortably under Helena's intense glare.
Hatred was not something one could ever get used to.
Oh, this girl is definitely crazy. So Alexander starts showing Felicia a mild amount of consideration and it immediately sets her off!? Look at those eyes! She looks like she wants to cut me in half right now! What an insane level of jealousy!
And for what? She's in a one sided competition. Felicia doesn't care to do anything to sabotage her adoptive sister. She just wishes to live in peace. So why can't Helena do the same? Isn't that what she pretends do be doing all the time? Why not just do it for real? Where does this desire to live a double life come from?
Setting aside the problem for another day, Dixie steeled herself and decided to confront the Duke over his poor performance as Felicia's father.
"Your Grace, since this happens to be one of those rare occasions where we engage in conversation, I have some questions to ask you regarding some questionable decisions that you've made concerning my living conditions."
Duke Roelle's gaze is cold.
Dixie doesn't give him a chance to respond.
"Would it be possible for me to leave the annex and move back into the manor? I find my living conditions out there to be most...unpleasant."
Roelle bit his lip in annoyance. "As expected. The annex is not meant to be used as a bedchamber. I don't know why you insisted on going there to begin with. What does this have to do with me and my decisions?"
Dixie tilted her head like a baby bird, pretending to be ignorant and unaware. "Was it not you who ordered me to go live there?"
"Why would I order you to live inside the annex?" He retorted, irritated by her nonsensical claims.
"Oh?" Dixie pondered, turning her gaze upon Tyren. "But Duchess Tyren forced me to move out there stating that it was your demand!"
The Duke set down his quill and glanced in his wife's direction. She instantly grew pale.
Helena's eyes widened. Since when did Felicia complain about anything? She was nothing more than a dim-witted doormat!
Bonnie rubbed her chin, ready to add more fuel to the fire. "Helena, didn't you say the reason Felicia moved out there was because she did not wish to associate with any of her family members? Most especially me. You told me she finds me disgusting!"
A cold sweat broke out on Helena's forehead. "No, brother! You must have misunderstood me, I---"
"You told Alex I find him disgusting?!" Dixie spat out, genuinely angered. It was in the book. Helena would always tell Alexander that she heard Felica bad mouthing him behind his back. This, combined with their mother's death infuriated him so much to the point that he decided he would hate her as well.
"No! Of course not! Sister, I would never speak that way about you! You are so dear to me!" Tears were streaming down Helena's cheeks and her expression was that of a wounded puppy. Combined with her trembling voice, it looked so believable.
No wonder she gets away with her act all the time, Dixie thought.
Tyren grasped the deflection. She pulled her daughter into her arms and started wiping away her tears. "Have you no shame, Felicia!? How can you just accuse your sister? Look at how much she's crying because of your insensitivity!"
Dixie scoffed and leaned back into the settee. Oscar winning performance right here.
Bonnie clasped Dixie's wrist. "Felicia, do you mean to say that you've been forced to live in the annex all these years?! You wanted to leave, but you couldn't?! Then, who's the one locking you in?!"
Dixie nearly burst into laughter at Bonnie's display of mock horror. "Of course not, brother! Why would any sane person willingly leave the comforts of a proper bedchamber and choose to live in a filthy, rat infested annex?! I do not enjoy sleeping on a bed that's broken! Or wearing clothes that are falling apart at the seams! Or surviving on just bread and water! My maid is the one who locks the door each time she leaves. I've been forced to live like a prisoner! I go to bed hungry every single night and...I can't even have a hot bath during winter...nobody cares about me..." Her voice trailed off as she burst into tears. She covered her face with her hands, too ashamed to be seen like this.
Dixie wasn't pretending to cry. This pain was very real. Felicia's emotions became her own. Bonnie's eyes grew misty. She knelt down and pulled her sister into a tight embrace.
Helena and Tyren are flabbergasted at the display of affection. The Duke is utterly sickened by what he just heard. For the first time in years, he looked at Felicia with a trace of fatherly concern.