This Pain is Real
Dixie shifted uncomfortably under Helena's intense glare. Though it happened far too often in her own life, she was still not accustomed to it.
Hate 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 step-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 determination to live a double life come from?
Setting aside the problem for another day, Dixie steels herself and decides 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 normal conversation, I have some questions to ask you regarding some questionable decisions that you've made concerning my umm, living conditions."
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 tilts 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 sneered, irritated by her nonsensical claims.
"Oh?" Dixie pondered, turning her gaze onto Tyren. "But Lady Tyren forced me to move out there stating that it was your demand!"
The Duke sets down his quill and glances 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 into 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 breaks 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 it all the time.
Tyren grasped the deflection. She pulls her daughter into her arms and starts 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 clasps her sister'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 trails off as she bursts into tears. She covers 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 eyes grew misty. She kneels down and pulls her sister into a tight embrace.
Helena and Tyren are stunned. The Duke too. He is utterly sickened by what he just heard. For the first time in years, he looks at Felicia with a trace of fatherly concern.