The House Where Nobody Could Tell Them No
Chapter 2
Elena Ward arrived at Bellweather House carrying one canvas bag.
No suitcase.
No résumé folder.
No nervous smile.
Adrian noticed immediately.
“You brought very little.”
“I don’t move into houses on the first interview.”
“This isn’t an interview.”
“Then why am I here?”
Adrian studied her.
“Because Mara said you were the best candidate.”
“I didn’t say I was a candidate.”
“You refused the position.”
“I did.”
“And yet you came.”
Elena looked past him toward the enormous staircase.
“I came because you offered me enough money to make me suspicious.”
Adrian almost smiled.
Almost.
“What would make you accept?”
“Answers.”
“To what?”
“Why do two children have a staff turnover rate worse than a restaurant?”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“They’re difficult.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“They’re spoiled.”
“That’s an excuse.”
He stared at her.
People rarely spoke to him that way.
Elena didn’t seem impressed by his wealth.
That irritated him.
It also interested him.
Before he could respond, a glass shattered upstairs.
Adrian looked up.
Elena didn’t move.
“Was that supposed to scare me?” she asked.
“No.”
“Good.”
Another crash.
Then footsteps.
Iris appeared on the staircase.
“You’re late.”
Elena checked her watch.
“I’m two minutes early.”
June appeared beside her sister.
“You don’t look scared.”
“I’m not.”
“Everyone gets scared eventually,” June said.
Elena looked directly at them.
“Maybe.”
The twins waited.
Elena set down her canvas bag.
“But being scared isn’t the same as obeying.”
Iris’s eyes narrowed.
June squeezed the porcelain rabbit.
Adrian watched the exchange carefully.
He had seen this pattern before.
The girls tested boundaries.
Adults tried to prove authority.
The twins escalated.
The adult surrendered.
Then came another resignation.
But Elena did something different.
She walked toward the broken glass.
“Did you do this?”
“No,” Iris said.
June nodded.
“No.”
Elena looked at the pieces.
“All right.”
She picked up a broom.
The twins stared.
“You believe us?” Iris asked.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Then why aren’t you angry?”
“Because broken glass isn’t a personality.”
June frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means we’ll deal with what happened after nobody can get hurt.”
Elena cleaned the floor.
Neither twin spoke.
When she finished, she looked at them.
“Breakfast at seven.”
“We don’t eat breakfast.”
“Then you’ll sit with me at seven.”
“We don’t have to.”
“No.”
Iris smiled.
“Exactly.”
Elena nodded.
“You’re right. You don’t have to.”
That answer seemed to confuse them.
Elena picked up her bag.
“But if you choose not to eat, you won’t get dessert later because you’re hungry.”
June’s mouth opened.
Iris grabbed her arm.
“We don’t care about dessert.”
“Wonderful.”
Elena walked away.
The twins stared at each other.
June whispered, “She didn’t argue.”
“I noticed.”
“Should we make her quit?”
Iris looked toward Elena’s disappearing figure.
“No.”
“Why?”
Iris’s expression changed.
“Because I want to know what she does next.”
That evening, Elena entered the kitchen at six.
The twins were already there.
Two untouched plates sat on the table.
Elena looked at them.
“You’re early.”
June shrugged.
“We’re not hungry.”
Elena sat down.
“That’s fine.”
Iris watched her.
“You aren’t going to make us eat?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because food isn’t a weapon.”
The twins became very still.
For the first time, Elena noticed something beneath their defiance.
Fear.
It lasted only a second.
Then Iris smiled again.
But Elena had already seen it.
And she began to wonder what kind of house made children afraid of something as ordinary as dinner.
