She spent much of the night thinking about this, her frustration growing with each passing minute. She did not care what the duke did or said to her, but where Olivia was concerned… she deserved better.
For that reason, on the following morning when Thalia was walking to Olivia’s room to wake her, she spied the duke turningdown the end of the hallway, and decided to do what she would ordinarily never dream of doing. She went after him.
“I hope you are happy with yourself!” she called after him.
He was halfway down the hallway, but he froze mid-step when he heard her voice chasing him. Pausing for a moment, it was as if he did not believe what he heard, and she thought he was about to continue forward.
But then he turned and saw her, his usual scowl taking his face. “Excuse me?”
“I said I hope you are happy with yourself.” Thalia ignored the trembling of her limbs and the thumping in her chest as she stormed down the hallway. She no longer feared Ronan as she once did, and it was time he understood that he couldn’t treat her and Olivia as he had been doing. “Are you?” She came within a few feet of him pulled up, hands curled into fists by her side, eyes wide and fixed upon him so he could see her anger.
“I…” He leaned back slightly. “I have no idea what you are?—”
“Do you want to know what Olivia asked me last night?” she spoke over him. “Do you?” Her eyes opened further. “She asked me why you hated her. She wanted to know what she had done for you to… to treat her as you did.”
Ronan’s brow tightened and she thought she saw what might have been regret. But he was quick to smother it, the scowl returning. “That has nothing to do with me.”
“Of course it does!”
“No,” he said firmly. Having overcome his initial surprise, he stood taller and leered over her as if to intimidate. “I told you clearly what I expected of this relationship. It is not my fault if you were not able to relay such a thing to your daughter.”
“She is three years old!”
“And she is not my problem.”
Thalia found that she was shaking. “So, that is how it is to be? For reasons I cannot understand…” A shake of the head. “Olivia has taken to you—shelikesyou. Why she does, I can only imagine.”
“She… she does?” Ronan’s scowl softened.
“Hard to believe, I know.” Thalia scoffed. “And it is not as if you have done anything to deserve it.”
“I never meant to… I did not try to make her like me. I would prefer it if she wanted nothing to do with me.”
“Oh, you have made that perfectly clear,” she scoffed again. “If you wish to ignore me and treat me as if I do not exist, that is fine. I am an adult. And I understand well enough that you…” She flicked her eyes over him, letting him see her disdain. “That you prefer to be left alone. But she is just a child, and she doesn’t understand why her father?—”
“I am not her father.”
“Which she does not understand!” Thalia cried. “I am not saying you must pretend to be that. Truly, I think it is best if you don’t.” Again, it was subtle, but she could have sworn she saw a hint of what almost looked like shame cross his face. “All I ask is that you do not spurn her entirely. That if she… if she speaks to you, that you at least try and be kind. Do you think that you can do that?”
Thalia didn’t know what she was expecting.
Now that the confrontation was done with, she supposed it had been more for her benefit than anything else. Days of being ignored and treated as if she did not exist, and she was at her limit. If Ronan wished to keep treating her like this, so be it. But Olivia… she deserved to live in a house that felt like a home.
Shockingly, Ronan softened under her glare. “I am sorry.”
“You—you are?” she stammered.
“You are right,” he continued. “I was not kind to your daughter, and she deserves better. The next time I see her, I will do my best not to be so…” He clicked his tongue as he considered.
“Cold?” she offered.
“I was going to stand-offish.”
She laughed softly. “That will do. And I did not mean to attack you like this either…” With her anger gone, Thalia realized suddenly that she and the duke were alone for the first time since the day of their wedding. Alone in the empty halls. Standing a little too close… “I am just protective where Olivia is concerned.”
“Understandable,” he said. Then he licked his lips, his eyes flicking over her. “And I admire that about you. What you are willing to do, to put yourself through, for her. A girl who is not your—” He caught his tongue, eyes widening. “I am sorry. I did not mean…”
“That is fine,” she said. “You are right, she is not my daughter. Not technically speaking. But that hardly makes a difference.” She found that she was trembling, nervous again, not quite knowing what to say or how to say it. Not knowing where to look. “As far as I am concerned, she is my daughter, and there is little I will not do for her.”
