Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

The atmosphere at the breakfast table suddenly turned as cold as the North Pole when Beverley snapped, "Zip it. I'm talking to my son, not you."

She turned to Murray, her voice softening as she explained, "I did go to your study yesterday. Your assistant was waiting outside, and I swear, I didn't step inside. All I did was open the drawer to get the documents you wanted. I didn't touch anything else." "Could it have been Sadie while she was cleaning?" she wondered aloud.

Quick to defend herself, Sadie interjected, "You had mentioned not to disturb anything in your study, sir. I remember it well and take great care."

Murray shook his head, "It wasn't Sadie. The study is cleaned once a week, and yesterday wasn't the day."

As she slowly ate her plain oatmeal, Millie spoke up, "Well, I don't have the keys to your study, so it wasn't me. That only leaves... Beverley."

Beverley felt her blood boil at Millie's insinuation and wanted to lash out, "What nonsense are you spouting?! Why would I sabotage my own son's documents? That makes no sense. What do I stand to gain from that?"

Millie just shrugged, "Who knows? But it wasn't me. Besides, hasn't someone been particularly moody these past few days?"

This was a trivial issue, but coming from Millie at this moment, it took on a new significance.

Murray had checked; the documents were still there, but as if someone had played a prank, pages from two sets of documents had been swapped.

a

with Murray avoiding the villa and not taking her calls, it was natural for her to feel frustrated and

Murray's voice was calm, yet firm, "please don't do this again. A mix-up like

She hadn't done anything, and now, her

Murray,

off to the office.

was clear he wasn't interested in

walk away, Beverley felt the bitter sting of injustice for the

to

disgust, "What is this oatmeal? It tastes awful! Sadie-make me a new

BUMS

you do is eat! And you dare complain? With your stingy ways, you're hardly

trembling with

how Millie had