Chapter 126: People change
A few of the women covered their mouths to hide their amusement, while others exchanged meaningful glances.
Fiona clenched her jaw.
"Every respectable family does background checks."
"Oh, certainly," Dorothy agreed. "Background checks are normal. Medical examinations without your daughter’s consent are another matter entirely."
Several women frowned.
"Without her consent?" one of them asked.
Dorothy nodded.
"That’s what I was told."
Fiona immediately shot back, "You were told wrong."
"Were I?" Dorothy tilted her head. "Then perhaps your family doctor fabricated the records."
The room grew deathly quiet.
Fiona’s fingers tightened around her teacup until her knuckles turned white.
"You should be careful with your accusations."
"And you should be careful with your insults," Dorothy replied evenly. "You brought my family into this conversation. Don’t complain when yours follows."
For the first time that afternoon, Fiona found herself at a loss for words.
The smug confidence she had worn when Dorothy arrived had completely vanished.
One of the older ladies finally broke the silence with an awkward chuckle.
"We’re all here to enjoy tea, not start a war."
"Exactly," another woman quickly added, eager to ease the growing tension.
Dorothy simply smiled and picked up her teacup once more.
"I agree."
She took another elegant sip before adding, almost as an afterthought,
"But if anyone wishes to discuss my family, they should be prepared for me to discuss theirs as well."
No one spoke after that.
The atmosphere around the table had shifted entirely.
Just moments ago, Dorothy had been the target of Fiona’s ridicule. Now, every pair of eyes rested on Fiona instead.
Realizing she had humiliated herself more than Dorothy, Fiona got up and stormed away from there.
Everyone seated around the table looked at Dorothy with newfound caution. Moments ago, they had been casually exchanging gossip, but now not a single one of them dared to speak carelessly.
They all understood one thing.
Dorothy was no longer a woman they could afford to offend.
If she could expose Fiona’s closely guarded secret so effortlessly, who knew what she knew about the rest of them? One wrong word, and their own skeletons might come tumbling out of the closet.
Dorothy, meanwhile, couldn’t have been more pleased with herself.
Fiona had finally been put in her place, and the silence around the table was proof that her message had been received. She was certain none of the women would dare provoke her again.
Or so she thought.
"Sorry we’re late."
The two voices rang out in unison.
Dorothy instinctively turned toward the entrance, and the moment she saw who had arrived, her eyes widened.
Noran and Martha.
The two women had just stepped toward the gathering when they noticed Dorothy sitting among the guests. Both of them froze in place.
The warmth on their faces disappeared instantly, replaced by unconcealed hostility.
Ever since the incident at the bakery, they had deliberately kept their distance from Dorothy. Grace Sterling’s warning had made one thing painfully clear—crossing the Sterling family was a mistake they could never afford to repeat.
Knowing how easily Mrs. Sterling could ruin their families with a single word, both women had chosen to sever all ties with Dorothy rather than risk being dragged into another disaster.
Without acknowledging her, Noran and Martha quietly averted their eyes and walked toward the two empty chairs.
Priscila looked at them with a smile.
"What took you two so long? You just missed Dorothy putting Fiona in her place."
Noran and Martha exchanged a brief glance before looking at Dorothy, who calmly sipped her tea as though nothing had happened.
The sight made Noran’s jaw tighten.
They might have escaped public humiliation at the bakery, but the consequences of that day had still followed them home.
Grace Sterling hadn’t needed to destroy them publicly.
A single warning had been enough.
Within hours, word had quietly spread through their social circles, leaving everyone wondering what mistake their families had made to earn the Sterlings’ displeasure.
The moment Jacob, Noran’s husband, learned about it, he had erupted in fury.
He had blamed Noran for foolishly maintaining a friendship with Dorothy, calling her reckless for allowing herself to be used as someone else’s shield.
Only after everything had settled did Noran and Martha realize the truth.
Dorothy had knowingly pulled them into the conflict. Even if Grace Sterling had eventually spared Dorothy because of her connection to Clara, there had never been any guarantee that the same mercy would extend to them.
They had become collateral damage in a battle that was never theirs to begin with, and that realization left a bitter taste neither woman was willing to forget.
Dorothy noticed the icy looks the two women were giving her, but instead of feeling uneasy, she merely smiled.
"Noran. Martha. It’s been a while."
Her greeting was met with silence.
Neither of them had any intention of pretending that nothing had happened.
The awkward atmosphere did not go unnoticed by the others.
Priscila frowned in confusion.
"I thought the three of you were close friends."
"We were," Martha answered before Dorothy could speak.
The emphasis she placed on the last word immediately caught everyone’s attention.
"Were?" Hana repeated, looking between the three women. "Did something happen?"
Martha picked up her teacup and took a slow sip before replying.
"People change."
Noran let out a quiet scoff.
"Some people more than others."
Dorothy’s smile stiffened ever so slightly.
"I don’t know what you two are implying."
"Oh, don’t you?" Noran asked, finally meeting Dorothy’s eyes.
The air around the table instantly grew heavy.
Martha gently placed her cup back onto its saucer.
"For years, we considered you a friend."
"And we trusted you," Noran added.
Dorothy frowned.
"I never betrayed either of you."
Noran laughed bitterly.
"No?"
She leaned forward, unable to suppress the resentment she had been carrying for weeks.
"Then why did you drag into a problem that was yours to handle. Why pull us into your family matters when you knew circumstances would stand against us?"