Chapter 58

“So, what do I have to do to keep you from being angry?” There was a tenderness in his gaze—so subtle even he didn’t notice-his voice indulgent as he asked.
Anastasia glanced back at Aaron, who looked about ready to pass out from the heat in the water, and laughed. Her voice was soft and melodious. “On a scorching day like this, why not let them cool off in the pool, too?”
A faint smile flickered in Harrison’s eyes as he studied the girl before him. His tone was gentle. “Ana, you’re too kind.”
Kind?!
That word made Mrs. Lancaster and the others wonder if he even knew what it meant!
Just look at their drenched dresses and dripping hair, look at Aaron floundering in the pool, and then listen to the wicked little suggestion she’d just made. How on earth did *Anastasia* and the word “kind” even belong in the same sentence?!
“No—I won’t do it!” Ms. Lancaster stared at the steaming pool in horror, shrieking as she stumbled back.
Suddenly, her eyes reddened as she turned to the striking, dignified man at the center of it all. “Mr. Lancaster, we really didn’t say anything bad about you! Anastasia is just making things up-she’s twisting the truth and blaming innocent people!” Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on.net
Since Anastasia had no proof, she opened her mouth and lied without a blink. “She’s just out to get me, framing me for things I never did! Why should I be punished for something I didn’t do? Mr. Lancaster, please, I don’t want to get in that water
She even started sobbing, her delicate, pitiful act making several of the men in the room ache with sympathy.
Anastasia was about ready to explode.
A minute ago, Ms. Lancaster was calling her “Hubby” names, and now, faced with
her handsome “Hubby,” she was trying to flirt? Really?
Anastasia let out a cold snort, ready to retort, but Harrison spoke before she could.
“She doesn’t like you. That’s reason enough for punishment.”
His tone was powerful, cool, and utterly final.
Ms. Lancaster’s sobbing stopped in an instant.
“M-Mr. Lancaster?” She stared at him, wide-eyed, as if she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.
But Harrison ignored her and turned to Anastasia instead. “What do you want to do?”
His voice, compared to how he addressed Ms. Lancaster, was several shades
warmer.
Anastasia snapped back to herself. Her eyes sparkled with delight-his obvious indulgence made her feel absolutely giddy.
Suddenly, she didn’t care in the least that Ms. Lancaster had tried to flirt. So what? Didn’t you hear what her “Hubby” just said?
Hmph!
“I was going to toss them in myself, but there are too many of them. Oh well, let Logan handle it!”
She cast a glance at the pale-faced ladies trembling nearby, a flicker of regret in her expression—almost as if she was sorry not to do it herself.
“Mr. Lancaster Ms. Lancaster tried one last desperate plea.
Harrison didn’t even spare her a glance. “Logan.”
“Yes, sir!” Logan replied promptly.
Logan and his men moved into action without delay.
The first to be tossed into the pool was Elder Mrs. Lancaster.
She’d thought her status and age would spare her from Anastasia’s wrath, but Anastasia made a point of signaling Logan not to miss her.
“Mr. Lancaster! I never said a word against you! I swear I didn’t!” Elder Mrs. Lancaster shrieked as she was hauled toward the pool, her voice cracking with panic.
She was the Lady of the Lancaster family, for heaven’s sake! To be thrown into the pool in front of all these people-how would she ever live it down?
“Weren’t you the one badmouthing me earlier?” Anastasia drawled, using her own words against her. “Mr. Lancaster is my husband. If you look down on me, how is that any different from looking down on him?”
After her, it was the others’ turn.
“That one, and her, and her too!” Anastasia’s eyes were sharp and unerring as she picked out the guilty parties from the crowd, not missing a single one.
Hmph! Anyone who dared insult her husband-none of them would get away with
it!