"All they’re asking in return is that you help them find the Young Master."

Betty lowered her head slightly, confusion plain on her face. Her body was trembling, but she caught every word.

She sounds like she’s already...

Betty bit her tongue and weighed her options. She could stay quiet and hold her cover. Or she could speak — and Nikki wouldn’t know the difference. Nikki and Ashley had never met.

She drew a slow breath, closed her eyes, and let Ashley’s spirit settle over her.

"Interesting!" Betty said, tilting her head just enough to keep her face out of Nikki’s sightline. "The High Chamber sends people to my home, drags me out like a criminal, and now they want to play Santa Claus."

She hummed and took another bite, though she was fairly certain she’d get indigestion now.

"They’ll let me leave. How generous." Her tone sharpened. "In the most critical moment — right when the leadership of Dominion might actually fall into my hands — that’s when they decide to let me go."

Nikki pressed her lips together, stifling a laugh.

"My apologies." She composed herself. "I didn’t mean to laugh. But it doesn’t quite work that way."

"Oh?" Betty nearly turned to look at her, then caught herself.

"Even if Lucian were to die, the leadership wouldn’t simply fall to you," Nikki explained. "It still requires the approval of the High Chamber and Dominion as a whole."

"Are you saying Dominion wouldn’t approve of me?"

Nikki smiled faintly. "What do you think?"

Up until that moment, Nikki’s tone had stayed neutral — not overly polite, not overly familiar. But those last words carried something else. Something cooler. More dismissive.

Betty couldn’t see her face, but she felt the disdain in it.

Her jaw tightened.

She might not be the Madam of Dominion, but Nikki believed she was speaking to her. And even if Betty had grown accustomed to this kind of treatment — the maids back at the mansion had never been particularly kind to Ashley either — she had made herself a quiet promise. If Ashley had learned to absorb this and let it go, Betty wouldn’t. Not today. Not on Ashley’s behalf.

So yes, she was taking this personally.

"Would you like to bet on that?" Betty said, the trembling in her body going still.

Nikki’s brows rose. "Excuse me?"

"I won’t even get into how you’ve clearly already chosen a side," Betty said, leaning back in her chair. "But it seems the High Chamber — and all their people — think very little of the Madam of Dominion."

"I don’t blame you," she went on. "The Madam has made mistakes. But unlike most, she owns them. She corrects them. She learns from them."

Lines deepened on Nikki’s face as she watched Betty rise slowly from her seat.

"More than anything, she has never once acted as though she were above the people around her. People aren’t drawn to her because she’s done something remarkable — they’re drawn to her because she sees people. She trusts people. She believes in people... even when she had every reason not to."

Betty turned and faced Nikki directly for the first time.

She had never imagined herself standing before someone like Nikki with her chin held high. But as Ashley’s assistant — as someone who believed in her, who represented her — she refused to be made small by anyone.

"She has a kind heart. But she can steel it when the people she loves need protecting. She is a mother." Betty’s eyes sharpened. "How dare you ask a mother to hand over her son to people who would use him as a puppet for their own greed?"

"And how dare you make it sound like a reward?"

Red stepped in from the doorway, expression matching hers.

Nikki, meanwhile, had gone quiet. She studied the woman standing before her. She had never met Ashley in person, but she had seen photographs. And no matter how Ashley styled herself, this face was not hers.

"Who are you?" Nikki’s expression darkened. She turned to Red.

Red leaned against the wall and shrugged. "Funny enough, we forgot to mention to Tinie — they got the wrong person."

"Red," Nikki’s voice dropped. "What is going on?"

"Exactly what you think." Betty let out a soft laugh. "The Madam isn’t here. Sorry about that."

Nikki’s eyes moved sharply between them — then Red added,

"The food was excellent, though."

Betty nodded. "Really good."

Nikki’s hand curled into a fist. She looked at Betty, then at Red, and whatever she was about to say, she swallowed it. She turned on her heel and walked out.

Red drifted over to Betty as she watched Nikki go. They both craned their necks after her until she disappeared.

"Wow," Red turned to Betty as she glanced up at him. "You should be an actress."

Betty smiled awkwardly and touched the back of her neck. "I wasn’t acting."

"Huh?"

"She insulted without ever saying anything outright. If the Madam were here, she would have let it go — she always does, because she’s used to it and finds it more trouble than it’s worth." Betty glanced toward the door. "But I promised myself I wouldn’t let that become normal. Not for her. An insult to me is an insult to the Madam, and an insult to the Madam is an insult to me."

Red slowly nodded, quietly more impressed by this woman the longer they spent time together. Betty mostly worked at the plantation and reported directly to Ashley — this was the first time he’d really seen her in action.

"Right." He cleared his throat. "Now that your cover is blown... how exactly do we get out of here?"

"Huh?"

"Of all people to reveal yourself to, it had to be her."

"Is that bad?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." Red shrugged. "But if there’s one thing she can’t stand, it’s being made a fool of. And she holds a grudge."

A beat of silence passed, then both of them snapped into motion at the same moment, turning the room inside out in search of any way out before their time ran out.