William’s mouth twitched in irritation. Do they want to make this worse? I wish I could trade places with them—let them deal with this kind of “luck.”

Hailey knew the misunderstanding had gone too far. She worried it might damage William’s reputation.

She was a widow, after all. If anyone in the mansion heard these rumors, they might get strange ideas. Worse, it could drag William into even more trouble.

“I’m not his girlfriend,” she said firmly. “You’ve misunderstood. ...