”How’s drinking too much supposedly comparable to a pregnant woman’s health issue!?” Mrs. Engel fumed. “And this is a matter between Mr. Brighthall and Mrs. Brighthall! It’s none of your business!”

“Mrs. Engel, you forgot yourself,” Brendan suddenly said, his voice dangerously low. “Don’t make me hear this again.”

Mrs. Engel froze. She was stunned.

Deirdre clenched her fingers so hard her nails turned white. She raised her head. “What do you think we forgot about, huh? The ‘fact’ that we’re supposed to be nothing more than a mute or a lowly servant in your eyes?”

Brendan’s eyebrows furrowed. Charlene snickered. ‘Deirdre, you insolent, stupid b*tch. She thinks Brendan will let her go after talking back at him like that?’

Charlene predicted Brendan’s reaction to a tee. A sheen of frost overcame Brendan’s face as he coldly said, “I want you to be obedient and deliver my child without accident.”

“Ah, so you want me to be a mute and a servant altogether. You really think you can do a