The Resilient Lady Collins

Chapter 214: Safe place (2)

Beth stopped in her tracks. She was counting on Jack not knowing anything about her plot to kill his mother but more importantly, the baby.

Having a baby was all that Jack wanted and he had shown his excitement by going around the town telling everyone he was going to be a father. Though he had kicked her out, Beth knew that he would not leave the child.

Now that he knew it was all a lie and was searching for her, would he kill her before she got the chance to fix all of this?

"I am not pleased with it but that boy has a temper I cannot control. I’ve done my best to steer him away from Scarlet and surprisingly, keeping you here is what has you still alive," said Dorothy.

"If you would not have spoken about it to him, we would not all have to be worried about his anger!" Beth yelled. Why would Dorothy bring that up to Jack now? Did she want to see her son become a murderer?

Dorothy smiled as Beth was still a foolish little thing. "I have no loyalty to the person who wanted me dead. He had to know the truth just as I did. Why aren’t you walking out the door? You asked to be freed and I did just that. I hope not to pick up tomorrow’s paper and find that you were discovered somewhere."

"You. You aren’t freeing me. You are scaring me into being silent," Beth realised.

"Well, I hate the noise you have been making so while you are here, how about you be silent? If you step out my doors, Jack will find you and he will kill you for making a fool out of him. Though he can’t give you all the credit," Dorothy said as Jack had made a fool of himself.

"I had to save Scarlet from dealing with my son by having him search for you. It seems to be working as he is trying hard to find you. I don’t want him to be called a murderer so I suggest that you think carefully about the next step you take. Will you stay here quietly or go out there to hide from him?" Dorothy asked.

Beth bit her lip. She didn’t have anywhere to go other than to the homes she shared with Jack. Even if she did have one of her old places, Jack would be quick to find her there. What friend could she go to? She couldn’t even go to Chester with promises to pay him since he had turned against her.

Beth glared at Dorothy, finding her the source of her problems. Dorothy wanted Jack back with Scarlet, and because of it, her wedding was going all wrong. It was why the Humphreys were not accepting her. "You are a cruel old woman. You married for wealth so I do not understand your judgments of me."

"I had wealth before my husband. The wealthy marry the wealthy. There are few cases when we marry someone without wealth because of love but that wasn’t your case. When will you understand that no one will have sympathy for you because of how you got Jack? You got him as you wanted now deal with him," said Dorothy.

Beth had to deal with the aftermath of the plans she made. She couldn’t blame anyone but herself. Beth thought the grass would be far greener on this side with Jack but she was wrong.

Beth slowly stepped back into the room. This was all too sudden for her to have a plan of what she would do once she got out of Dorothy’s home. If she ran to the guards to tell them about Dorothy holding her captive or Jack wanting her dead, she would be questioned about her part in wanting to kill Dorothy.

Beth did not want to have fallen so low that she had to be sneaking around the town like a rat in the dark to avoid being caught by Jack. She had no choice but to stay here and think about what to do.

"You’ve made a wonderful decision. Now that you have decided by yourself to stay here, I shouldn’t be bothered by you making any more noise. You wanted me dead so it is quite unfair that you are being so rude to be noisy when I have been so kind to keep you alive. Clean up this mess and get ready for dinner," said Dorothy.

Dorothy wouldn’t burden the maids by having them come to clean up a mess Beth made when she was throwing a tantrum.

Dorothy walked out the door followed closely by the butler. Now that she dealt with the noise, Dorothy looked forward to a moment of peace until Jack returned here after realising that Beth was here.

Unfortunately, her peace didn’t last long as her husband had returned home.

His eyes were wide with surprise seeing her standing around like she was expecting his arrival. He smiled, opening his arms wide to greet her. "My beautiful wife."

Dorothy did not smile as she knew where he was crawling in from. Was it from being out with the woman she had placed to keep him busy or another? "Do not touch me, Joseph. I can smell it from here that you reek of alcohol. Must you always be a thorn in my side?"

"Come now, Dorothy. It is too late in the day for us to bicker. I came to join you for dinner so let me get dressed and then sit with you. Have you heard from Jack as of late? I’ve heard he hasn’t been doing so well with the business. What are you doing?" Joseph asked as he found it odd how Dorothy came to him to fix his shirt. "I am going to take this off now."

Nevertheless, Dorothy straightened out his shirt. "I should do it at least once. When you’re gone, I can say that I fixed my husband’s shirt once."

Joseph laughed. "And where would I be going? Have you been drinking or is it just the stress from dealing with Jack?"

"Dealing with our son. I intend to get rid of all my headaches shortly so I am free to live my life thinking of only myself. We’ve had a wonderful run with our marriage," Dorothy said, taking her hands off him as she was satisfied with her work. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

"Dorothy, are you planning to divorce me? We’re too old for such a thing," Joseph said, wanting to avoid gossip.

"I’ve told you that I don’t want to be a divorced woman. I agreed till death do us part and I plan to keep my oath. Go on and get ready for dinner. It shall be a special one," said Dorothy.

"I should know you wouldn’t think of divorcing me. You wouldn’t want to lose all the money you think you are owed. I shall get dressed quickly. Open a good bottle," Joseph instructed the butler.

He was in a good mood so he should be able to enjoy the night with his wife.

The butler remained by Dorothy’s side as he only took orders from one person.

"Our son is ruining the business and all he can think about is sleeping around. Well, I know where Jack got his stupidity from. You haven’t moved to get the drink," Dorothy noticed.

"You didn’t tell me to move so how could I?"

Dorothy knew that he wouldn’t move but it still pleased her to see him standing still.

While Joseph spent his time away from home, it was Dorothy who stayed around the servants slowly removing the ones she found when she first came here to replace them with those who would listen to her.

When she decided to stay with Joseph, she set out to take everything that was owed to her.

The business she helped to build up had turned to belong to her. This house now belonged to her.

Dorothy was not going to sit and listen to what anyone believed she had to split with Joseph. She had put up with his nonsense for long enough to not leave with what she felt entitled to.

"Tell the cook to make dinner special. It will be the last I share with my husband. You know what to do. Send him off in the arms of his lover," said Dorothy.

Her home was not to be ruined by Joseph dying here.

"Understood."

"Before you go, are you keeping watch of where Jack is?" Dorothy asked as she could not have him doing something stupid now.

"He is still searching for Beth. He has employed someone to search for her."

"Prepare a room for him. It will soon be time for me to cut him off. Oh," Dorothy touched her head. "Bring something strong. My son and husband are giving me a headache."

It was unfortunate that she had to turn her back on the two men left in her life to love but it was time that Dorothy got to live her life without fixing their mistakes.