Chapter 10 Exploding Katherine

• "What are you doing?"
• She dashed forward and snatched Mimi from Joyce's grasp.
• Joyce rushed up to her and reached out to snatch the cat back. "There are so many parasites on this creature; it's filthy! How can you just hold it like that? Have you thought about the children in your tummy? Give me the cat and I'll throw it away!"
• The children! The children! The children!
• It's always the children!
• She felt like she was nothing more than a tool to give birth to children.
• She wasn't allowed her own emotions, and she couldn't even have her own preferences. She wasn't allowed to sleep with a blanket; she mustn't walk around carelessly; she couldn't eat the snacks she loved; and she had to eat and sleep and take walks at prescribed timings every day. Any servant could bully her as they liked…
• And now, even her cat wasn't allowed to live with her!
• "Don't touch me!"
• Katherine dodged Joyce's outreached hand and raised her voice. "Also, don't touch my cat either!"
• Joyce couldn't win against Katherine, so she gave up. Crossing her arms, she snorted at the side while saying, "Come on, you're Mrs. Fowler of the Fowler Family, so can't you be more mindful of your image at the very least? Other young ladies from rich families have luxurious breeds of cats, but what about you? You treat a stray cat like treasure; how embarrassing that is! If word of this gets out, even the Fowler Family will be made fun of!"
• "Yes, I'm not as reputable as you are! Thus, I only deserve to drink soup made from low-quality ingredients. Meanwhile, you use those top grade ingredients to make free-flow soup for yourself. You even have extras you could sell on second hand sites!"
• She had just finished speaking when the servants, who were eavesdropping around them, all paused their work to look at the two in shock.
• Joyce's expression changed. "W-What nonsense are you talking about?! Since when have I ever had any top quality soup?"
• "We just have to search your room to answer that question, right?" Katherine's wide eyes seemed to be spitting fire, and she looked like a snarling cat.
• At that moment, she had already forgotten all about enduring. Now, she just wanted to wave her claws around and scratch back at everyone who bullied her!
• Just then, David heard the commotion and hurried over to look. Katherine reached out and pointed at him. "Mr. Howard is here, so it's the perfect opportunity to ask him to get someone to search your room!"
• Panic flashed across the depths of Joyce's eyes. "No! I've never done anything wrong, so what right do you have to search my room?"
• David's expression was grave. "Joyce, did you really switch out the ingredients in secret and take for your own the ingredients the Fowler Residence prepared for Mrs. Fowler?"
• "I didn't. She's slandering me without proof!"
• Katherine's small face was cold. "If so, we'll just have a look at your room. We'll find out the truth soon enough!"
• "No, you cannot do that!" Joyce spread her arms in an attempt to block them.
• Her guilty response was enough for everyone to realize the truth.
• David's expression turned serious. "How dare you, Joyce!"
• Katherine glanced at the panicking Joyce, then decided to add fuel to the fire. "Actually, I could care less about the soup; it's not much different to me no matter the quality. After all, Joyce has a point. I come from a humble family and don't know much of the world, so I can't figure out if something is good or not. I'm more bothered by the fact that you're always smoking in secret on the balcony, and you always come near me with the secondhand smoke on your body. This is probably a bigger threat to the children compared to a cat, right?"
• As soon as she said those words innocently, everyone's expressions changed once again.
• He whipped around to glare at Joyce. "You're even smoking?"
• "I… I haven't done so!"
• Katherine smiled. "Mr. Howard, you just have to get closer to Joyce and take a whiff of her clothes. Perhaps because Joyce smokes frequently, she's used to the smell of smoke. She doesn't even know how intense the smell of smoke is on her body."
• Joyce's face turned pale as she stuttered, "I… I don't smoke too much; I just do it once in a while…"
• "Ridiculous! You're supposed to be taking care of Mrs. Fowler! How could you smoke at all?"
• David was reprimanding as his gaze suddenly fell on a spot behind Katherine. He immediately put on a respectful attitude as he said, "Mr. Daniel."
• Katherine whipped around to look.
• Daniel had been standing at the entrance, but Katherine wasn't sure since when or how long he had been watching this drama unfold. She lowered her gaze and bit her lip.
• "Mr. Daniel, how do you think this matter should be taken care of?"
• David was a little troubled. Logically speaking, Katherine was rightfully one of the masters in the Fowler Family, so Joyce's actions were inexcusably wrong.
• However, Joyce had been working for more than 30 years in the Fowler Family, and she had taken care of a few children in the family as well. With so many years of emotional attachment, they should feel at least a little…
• Daniel's gaze was cold and grave as he said, "Fire her."
• David's expression shifted slightly. Noticing that Daniel didn't seem to be joking, he could only nod and reply, "Understood."
• Joyce's eyes widened in disbelief. She hysterically grabbed at Daniel's hand and pleaded, "Mr. Daniel, when you were young, I took care of you for an entire two years, so even if I don't get recognized, I've put in enough effort regardless. How can you just fire me like that? You can't do that!"
• Daniel tilted his body to the side and avoided her hand.
• His ice-cold gaze swept across her hand as if he were looking at something unsightly.
• She felt like she was struck by lightning. She stiffly retracted her hand which hung mid-air.
• "First of all, you are just a servant the Fowler Family hired with money. We paid you handsomely, and you simply worked hard enough to justify that pay. It's not a question about getting recognized or putting in extra effort at all. Secondly, now that the Fowler Family sees you as an unhelpful hand, of course we have the right to fire you. Why can't we? Know your place and stop this moral coercion."
• With that, he went upstairs with a cold look on his face.
• Watching his slender figure disappear at the top of the stairs, Joyce turned around and begged David, "Mr. Howard, I've repented now. I… I won't do it anymore. Can you please be merciful and don't fire me this time?"
• The Fowler Family had always been generous, and the pay they gave out was multiple times that of other households. They also offered unusually generous bonuses, and the servants could earn quite a lot working for them.
• Moreover, she had worked for so long, and all the heavy work was shifted to the newcomers. Simply put, she only had to deal with easy tasks on a daily basis.
• After leaving the Fowler Family, where else could she find an equally good job?
• No, if news of her getting fired by the Fowler Family went out, no one would dare to hire her in the future!
• At that thought, Joyce felt her face turn pale as she clutched David's shirt. "Mr. Howard, I've really repented. Please give me another chance!"
• David tugged his shirt back from her grasp and smoothened it with a few pats. "I'm not the one who wants to fire you. Mr. Daniel specifically asked you to get lost, so do you think you have a choice here?"
• "Mr. Howard, I really can't lose this job…"
• As if thinking of something, Joyce immediately threw herself at Katherine, who was at the side. "Mrs. Fowler, I shouldn't have switched out the ingredients, and I shouldn't have smoked in secret despite knowing it was bad for the children. I shouldn't have treated you with such disrespect, and I've really repented! Please help me convince Mr. Daniel! Please ask him to take back his commands, please!"
• Katherine took two steps backward, coldly avoiding her hand.