The Billionaire’s Daughter Drove Every Maid Away — Until One Woman Refused to Be Afraid of Her
Chapter 7
One afternoon, Isabella received a call from her father.
The conversation lasted only two minutes.
When she hung up, she looked furious.
“What happened?”
Clara asked.
“My father wants me to attend a charity gala.”
“That’s good.”
“I hate those things.”
“Why?”
“Everyone pretends to love each other.”
Clara smiled.
“Then pretend better.”
Isabella laughed.
“You’re impossible.”
At the gala, Isabella was surrounded by wealthy families.
Everyone wanted her attention.
One man approached.
“Miss Sterling.”
He was charming.
Wealthy.
Educated.
Perfect on paper.
He asked her to dinner.
Isabella politely refused.
Clara watched from across the room.
Later, Isabella returned.
“He wasn’t terrible.”
“Then why say no?”
She looked toward the man.
“He wasn’t you.”
Clara laughed.
“That’s not a very fair standard.”
“I wasn’t comparing him to you.”
“You absolutely were.”
Isabella smiled.
“Maybe.”
Clara shook her head.
“You need friends.”
“I have friends.”
“No.”
Clara looked at her.
“You have people who want access.”
Isabella became quiet.
That was painfully true.
Later that night, Isabella admitted:
“I think I’m afraid people only like me because of my father.”
Clara replied:
“Then stop testing everyone.”
Isabella looked at her.
“What if they leave?”
“Then you learn they weren’t meant to stay.”
That sentence stayed with Isabella.
It changed the way she treated people.
And it changed the way she looked at Clara.
The housekeeper she once wanted gone had become the person she trusted most.
