Hearing that, the housemaid’s eyes welled with tears. She had thought that once she left, it would be over—there’d be no need to say anything to anyone. But now, seeing that someone actually understood her, it felt incredibly rare and precious. With that thought, she couldn’t hold back and ended up saying a few more words to Arnold.

“Mr. Arnold, I know you’re a good man, but I’m truly disappointed in this household.” She lowered her head, unsure what to do. “I don’t want to leave, but I really can’t stay here any longer. Please… don’t tell Miss Tessa anything about this.”

The moment she mentioned “Miss Tessa,” Arnold understood. It seemed Tessa wasn’t as simple as he had assumed. It was just as he had suspected all along.

Now that the housemaid had said this much, Arnold couldn’t possibly remain clueless. He instantly pieced everything together. Clearly, her resignation had something to do with Tessa. Otherwise, why would she give up such a decent job so suddenly? Aside from Tessa, the rest of the family was actually easy to serve. She was the only exception.

“Go home. Find yourself something easier,” Arnold offered, then gave a few words of warning. “Just remember, don’t talk about this to anyone. Otherwise, you might not come across someone like me again. You can’t go around trusting people so easily.”

Hearing that, the housemaid felt a chill of fear. In the end, she nodded seriously to show she understood. “Don’t worry, Mr. Arnold. I’ll head back now.”

After realizing she had nearly said too much, the housemaid stuck to the same story with everyone she met—that she had an urgent matter back home and had to leave. Originally, Tessa had people watching her closely, but seeing that she consistently used the same excuse with others, Tessa didn’t act further. She had actually stationed a group ready to silence the maid if anything seemed off, but seeing how tactful she was, Tessa said nothing more. She believed she had covered everything flawlessly, leaving no loose ends.

However, Arnold had seen it all. Everything she did, he had observed clearly.

Chapter 717

With everything piling up, Arnold’s opinion of Tessa had long since changed. He couldn’t speak about it to anyone–he could only bury it deep in his heart. After all, he had seen with his own eyes just how much Grace adored Tessa. Even someone as obedient as Aurora could be overlooked. Sometimes, he truly didn’t understand what went through Grace’s mind. But since they were both her daughters, it wasn’t his place as a butler to question her decisions. Because he understood that, Arnold focused solely on doing his job well.

Young Aurora kept her head down, walking quietly ahead. Arnold looked at the international award in his hands, feeling deeply moved. She was such a remarkable child—why couldn’t Grace bring herself to care for her? Not to mention, how many people could ever earn one of this kind of international prize? Even in this school, winners were incredibly rare. And yet, Grace still didn’t value her. Arnold sighed and carefully put the trophy and certificate away.