You Need Me

Chapter 14

"Lady Sarah?" Viola asked.

"Yes, she is the daughter of some noble family and a good friend of young master." A maid named Aria explained.

"She is nasty." Her twin sister, Maria added.

"Ssshhh!! Maria! Mrs. Ellis is going to kill you if she heard that!" Aria threatened her sister with the knife on her hand. The twin sisters were preparing dinner with Viola in the kitchen.

"I'm just speaking the truth. I'm glad young master was rejected." Maria remarked while chopping her potatoes.

"Maria!!" Aria nearly screamed at her.

"Wow. Someone like Leon actually had his heart crushed before?" Viola gave a surprised laugh.

"Madam, please don't listen to her. Lady Sarah left because she wanted to study abroad, nothing to do with our young master."

"What do you think you are doing?" An angry, rumbling voice startled the three of them.

Nadia was standing by the door. Her eyes were intimidating.

"Mrs.... Mrs. Ellis. We... we are sorry!" The twins cried.

"Did I teach you to badmouth your employer? And why are you making the mistress of the house do your work?" Nadia yelled at the two young maids.

"We... we are sorry, Mrs. Ellis. We... won't do it again. Please... please forgive us..." Aria begged.

"It's my fault, Nadia. I... shouldn't have pried into Leon's private matter. I'm sorry." Viola felt uncomfortable to be caught gossiping about her husband. "And... I was bored. So, I thought about helping them peeling some potatoes..."

Nadia glanced at the potatoes in front of Viola. They were cleanly peeled. She is used to doing this, Nadia thought.

Nadia let out a long breath. "I'll let you two off this time. Prepare Madam's tea now."

"Right away, Mrs. Ellis!" The twins replied synchronously.

Viola was sitting in her room, looking out to the window. She took out her phone. After hesitating for a while, she pressed to call her father.

"Viola?" A familiar voice came from the other side of the phone.

"Hey, Dad."

"You sound tired, Viola. Are you okay?" Viola could hear George's anxious voice.

"I... I'm okay, Dad. Don't worry. Are you still... in Mr. Oliver's house?" She remembered Ian forcing her father to move into his house right after she was married to Leon.

"Yes, but I am thinking of going back to Mir soon."

"You are leaving me here alone?" Viola suddenly felt anxious. Although she had not seen her father after she got married, she felt safe to know he was living nearby.

"Silly girl, you are not alone. You have Leon now." George teased his daughter. Viola snorted.

"You know I can't keep living off the Oliver forever." George took a long pause. "Besides, I wanted to be near your mother."

"Dad..."

Both of them said nothing for a few seconds before George noticed Viola's silence.

"Is there something you want to ask me, Viola?"

"Dad... is there any news from Walter?" Viola braved herself to ask the question, knowing it would probably hurt her father.

His daughter still could not forget about Walter, George thought. "No... I haven't received any call from either Walter or Eugene. Did you?"

"No. I tried calling him a few times but..." There was a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Viola..." George called her lovingly. "Are you... still thinking about him?"

Viola did not answer. She did not know how to answer. "I... I..."

A sudden knock on her door cut their talk.

"Madam, your tea." Nadia came in with a tray of tea set.

"I'll call you again later, Dad." Viola hung up hurriedly.

Nadia brought the tea in and noticed Viola's pale face.

"Madam, are you okay? Do you feel sick somewhere?"

Viola smiled weakly. "I'm okay, Nadia. Don't worry."

"Did... the talk about Lady Sarah upset you?" Nadia asked.

Viola tilted her head to the side, not fully understood what Nadia meant. Nadia put down the empty tray on the table and guided Viola back to her bed.

"Young master and Lady Sarah grew up together." Nadia stood beside Viola and covered her mistress' bare legs with blanket as she spoke. "She is younger than young master but she is one of the few people who isn't afraid to yell at him." Viola listened while sipping her tea without saying anything.

"Besides some childish fights, both of them got along very well. They were once engaged. Oh, please don't tell him I told you this." She winked at Viola.

Viola was not sure why Nadia would tell her about this. She smiled at her and went along. "What kind of person is she?"

Nadia paused before continuing. "We'd like to think she is a smart and confident young lady although her upbringing as the only child in her family made her sometimes a little hard to handle." Nadia explained carefully. "Nobody can oppose her and she only listens to young master. Once, when he ignored her, she invited all her friends here and made a loud noise to attract his attention."

"What did Leon do?" Viola was surprised to hear anyone dare to do that to Leon.

"He threw her and her friends out and gave her a silent treatment until she came to apologize to all of us." Nadia chuckled. "At that time, we were quite certain she loved our young master but a few days after the two families announced the happy news, she came to tell him she was going to study abroad with a bunch of friends and called off their engagement."

Viola went silent. She did not know what to say.

"Young master may appear indifferent to others' feelings, but he is a good person." Nadia got up and smiled at Viola kindly. "I'm sure Madam will understand one day." Viola did not answer.

They chatted more while Nadia waited until Viola finished her tea and took the empty cup from her. She poured a glass of water and placed it on her bedside table and asked if Viola needed anything more.Viola told her she would like to take a nap before dinner and thanked her for the "bed time stories". Nadia gave out a cheerful laugh and left Viola alone in her room.