I arrived in front of the door, my eyes becoming bored. I want to sleep and these people annoy me. I should go and enjoy my new bed there.
I walked in without knocking, I had no time to waste on nonsense.
" Yeah???"
I cast a blasé gaze on the Von Hosten family and I can see that my entry without knocking had the expected result.
I grew up smiling defiantly as I sat down in a nearby chair watching the anger grow in Karl and my mother-in-law.
The quietest was my dad and Edward, with Gabrielle still pretending to be worried.
" You get up immediately otherwise…"
" Karl Von Hosten lowers your voice. I'm not deaf if you want to talk to me, do it with civility... moreover, I told you this morning... dare and I'll disfigure you forever."
Karl stopped trembling with rage while the father of the family raised his eyebrows slightly, visibly impressed by the charisma shown by Mylène...she had reminded him of his late wife.
" Well, what is the subject?"
" Mylene..."
My father's deep, cold voice made my heart tremble despite myself, but I recovered quickly.
" What's happening?"
He winced slightly...she hadn't used father...nothing and she didn't seem to be looking at him with the desperate love and awe she had the night before.
" I would like to know the meaning of all this."
" If you are not clear, forgive me for not understanding what you mean."
" Mylène... is this a way of talking to your father?"
" You madam, I am talking to my father, I will ask you not to interrupt us."
" Big sister... it's our mother..."
" Your mother Gabrielle, the marriage of my father with your mother as well as your adoption does not mean that I should consider her as my mother and you as my sister... I leave this task to both of them."
Karl and Edward seemed insulted but their father remained calm in front of the glances of all the others who were asking him to put this little intriguing girl in her place.
" Mylène, I want to talk about the huge purchases you made today."
His wife looked at him angrily and he ignored their wordless command to punish Mylene, it didn't please her.
" Well my furniture was old and my wardrobe left something to be desired. I would have made you ashamed so I chose not to continue to live like a bastard..."
" Do you know the expenses you incurred?"
" Father, are you so poor that vulgar trinkets would ruin you?"
Her father smiled, his daughter was different and he had to admit that she had been cute since morning, and it wasn't often that he found people cute.
" Well you're right ... you can dispose of it."
This surprised me so much that I remained silent for a moment before pulling myself together and smiling.
" Does this mean that I can continue to act as I please? Daddy. "
Dad? Gabrielle looked at their father in panic even though she had no right to do so...
Their cold and horrible father smiled surprisingly...he loved manipulative, mean, and shameless people just like his late wife was...Mylène's mother.
" Yes ... do what you want and as you wish"
I stood up advancing toward my father then staring at him intensely.
" Dad, thank you, I won't hesitate to get what I want from you...I'll use you as I see fit."
The man smiled at the lack of formality before responding to his intriguing daughter.
" That's exactly what I want to see... how far can you go to get what you want and how do you plan to put me to work."
I looked at him fiercely. I don't know what is happening to this man. The memories of him weren't very clear as he was always isolated, not caring about the business of the house. Even Mylène's marriage to the crazy old man had been managed by her mother-in-law. So, I don't know how to analyze this behavior. But be it, what he showed me pleased me especially since it pissed off the others perfectly ... if he was my ally then I was going to use him marvelously.
The words I just heard pleased me more than reason, I still don't know how I should take the duke's words, my father, but one thing is certain, he doesn't seem to be joking.
What he has in mind I cannot say, but one thing is right in this story, he is having fun with me and trying to test my limits, for what purpose? Nobody knows.
I leaned over and could see the crestfallen looks of the other people in the room, a quite appreciable spectacle. I turned around and before leaving, however, I took the trouble to bow to my father.
" Well, Dad, I'm going to leave you. I'm tired."
Without waiting for an answer, I left especially since Karl was about to swallow his tongue so much he seemed to be choking with rage.
Mylène left, he immediately turned to his father, the latter having returned to his office normally as if nothing had happened.
He began to put away his documents one after the other methodically with an almost mortal slowness under the disillusioned eyes of all those present in the room.
Only the sound of fountain pens and stamps on the paper resounded. No one dared to say a word or at least no one knew what to say, so unprecedented was the turnaround... What happened? Their father seemed angry because of Mylène's huge expenses but without him having punished her, he conceded this madness to her and worse had even encouraged her in this way.
Why wasn't he doing anything? That was Gabrielle's question: he had to punish her.
That's what she deserved.
She had to be reassured that she was still the lady of this house... she already had an inferiority complex towards her. Mylène is the duke's legitimate daughter, so if the two become close, what will become of her place in this house? Will the duke still look at her and would she continue to obtain his favors? She looked at her panicked mother but the latter looked just as overwhelmed as her.
" Father I would like to know what is going on... not only does she call you familiarly but she has spoken to you..."
" And so?"
The duke's answer stunned everyone, what was that answer? No, their father hadn't given in to this girl's nonsense...Gabrielle thought it was best to intervene, the duke had to stay away from Mylène, she was the lady of this house, not this slut.
" Father...father...I have something to tell you about Mylène."
The duke did not answer, continuing to scribble on the documents. Gabrielle swallowed but didn't give up.
" I don't know if I should hold it against her. I must certainly be worrying for nothing, but I have the impression that Mylène is trying to seduce my fiancé Frederik De Solsten."
She smiled waiting for the outburst of the duke's anger that of her mother not taking long, however.
" What a shameless child, how dare she do this to her younger sister… sir you have to do something."
" For what?"
Gabrielle felt herself wasting away from her father's cold tone and her brothers were also flabbergasted, her mother trying to come to her senses; the only one who was calm was, of course, the duke.
" But... but how is that why? It's extremely despicable on Mylène's part to do such a disgusting thing. I don't understand why you don't see it."
" It seems to me that Gabrielle said that she was probably worried for nothing, which implies that her doubts about Mylène are not at all founded... even if it's true, I don't see what I could do, this reveals her seduction skills, and if she succeeds, it is proof that Frederik De Solsten was not serious with you from the start."
With that, he showed them the door indicating his need to be left alone which the others followed with blank eyes as if they had just been stunned by some bad news.
Left alone, the duke allowed himself a moment to reflect...Since she had been so impertinent at breakfast that morning, he hadn't stopped wondering what had happened to his cowardly daughter, who was so annoying because of her weakness. But he saw her change and her audacity in front of him and her brothers in front of whom she had only laid down...and what about her stepdaughter who treated her so meanly but his daughter always found the opportunity to be a brainless idiot being manipulated by this girl with no real intelligence...
But seeing her crushing all these people today made him happy.
She was finally becoming like "her" and he was particularly happy about it.
He thought back to what Gabrielle had told him about Frederik De Solsten. That morning, he was at his office window watching his sons and daughter-in-law talking cheerfully with the young man but at some point, he had seen the look of the man changing and transforming into a gaze full of fascination. Following his gaze, he had fallen on his daughter and he had thought he saw an apparition.
His late wife loved black clothes and with her flamboyant hair, she was the most captivating woman in the whole estate.
His daughter at that moment was most bewitching and he understood from the reaction of this young man as he ran towards her like a little dog had seen his mistress...he had witnessed the scene and had seen Mylène's game of seduction on Frederik wondering if she was still in love with him what he had heard from the butler a few years ago...she clung to such a desperate love that gave him nausea but as he was about to leave, he saw that their exchange was over and that Mylène had left Frederik's side. The look he saw on her face was not that of a transiting love, no it was rather that of a vile plotter.
She had bad intentions in mind and it intrigued him.. now he wanted to know how far she would go.
How far she could go?