A Chance With You by Paula Camille Wong (the snowy day read aloud TXT) 📖

She knew that men who crave for someone will stop at nothing to claim what is theirs. It’s like you are mine and forever you shall be, territory.

“And how are you this morning Margaret?” She asked wiping her hands on the apron.

“Oh I’ve been better,” She answered with a bored sigh. “Have you prepared out breakfast Jane?”
She nodded and motioned for the table that was full of different varieties of food. Warm newly baked bread on one, the other plate apple pie, peach cobbler, jam, newly cooked bacon, ham, and a plate of cheese slices. Her father taught her well.

“Well it is about time. I thought I was going to starve to death,” Margaret complained dramatically.

Jane bit her lip to keep herself from replying with a rude comment and just smiled. “I am sorry. I am sick and feel unwell,”

"Well that is not our fault now is it? It is yours. You should have been more careful but instead you let yourself get sick. You can't blame mum for your little careless mistake,"
Natasha’s eyes widened immensely. “Margaret! You do not have to be so rude about it. You cannot possibly blame Jane for making herself get sick. Everyone gets sick,”

“Yes everyone who is careless. Jane is one of them,”

Lucy rolled her eyes in an unlady like manner. “You are one of them as well Margaret. Just a couple of weeks ago, you were ill. Jane is probably the reason why you are still standing in this room this very minute,”

Her eyes widened in embarrassment. “If I do recall, it was mother’s care that I am well. Jane did nothing,”

“That is not true, Jane-..,”

“Let’s just drop the matter now shall we. I am starved,”

Always dropping the subject whenever she feels uncomfortable. Jane is use to it by now. After all, Margaret and she were never close, even if they were just half-sisters. Even before William had showed up, they never gotten along. Jane had always tried tying the bridge between them together but every time she had tried, it always fell apart. She doesn’t think the both of them will ever get along.

“Did you call mother and father?” Jane asked looking over at Margaret who already began eating.
“That is not my duty. If I do recall Jane. That is your duty.”

Before she can say anything, Lucy sighed and rose from her chair. “I will do it,” Before Jane can protest, she disappeared off into the long massive hallway.

She sat herself down the chair and leaned against the wooden texture. “Maybe this is not the right time to talk about this but I need to know Margaret. What had I done for you to dislike me? I tried to recall in the past but I cannot think of a moment that I have ever did you wrong,”
Margaret paused just as she was about to take a bite from the golden colored freshly baked biscuit and met Jane’s green gaze with her own dark blue ones. “What has gotten into you all of a sudden big sister?”

She winced as she emphasized the word. It was true that Jane was the oldest of the bunch but they are all nothing but merely two years apart. She was three and twenty, Margaret one and twenty, Lucy nineteen, and Natasha seventeen. “I am just curious. I do not think I had done anything for you to treat me this way,”

“Treat you like what exactly?” She raised a brow and took a bite off of the biscuit, her expression clearly annoyed.

“Like I do not belong in this family,”

Jane can see Natasha winced but knew better and just remained silent. Margaret met her and smiled, though the smile was cruel and cold. “You do not belong in this family. You’re just merely a half breed. An offspring by that ungrateful man which Mother married for wealth and title. She had never loved him. You were a mistake,”

Natasha opened her mouth to retort but was interrupted by Temera, their housemaid. “Lady Jane. I do believe someone is here to see you. A young woman,” She looked from Jane’s ashen face to Margaret’s cold ones clearly knowing that she interrupted something. “She is asked to wait in the library,”

She nodded and raised for her own chair making her way out of the dining room and onto the massive hallway. The air around her seemed to crackle and shake. The world around her seemed to blur but still she continued walking, her heeled slipper echoing through the marbled floor, quieting as her feet met the red feathered carpets then becoming audible again as it hit the marble. Her words echoed around Jane’s mind. You were a mistake. How odd. She had warned herself about Margaret’s shrewd comments and yet she thought she would be prepared for what she was about to say. She WAS prepared. But that did not stop a stab of ice piercing throughout her whole body.

Jane stopped at the front of two enormous set of wooden doors, two sets of golden knob side by side. Beyond this door was her library. Other than her room, this was her safe haven. This is where she can escape the reality awhile other than in her dreams. In her free time, she would come here and pick out a book by famous authors and read. She opened a door and stepped inside, closing it behind her.

“Jane,” A voice from behind her greeted. It was a woman’s voice. A voice she had not heard for quite a long time. A voice that sounds like church bells in the spring. It has been years and she almost didn’t recognize it.

Quickly and almost immediately, Jane turned around and greeted this woman a soft smile on her face… at least hoping that the smile reached her eyes for once, trying to ignore the harsh words that was said to her just a few moments ago. Then her eyes widened. It was the woman who was heading inside William’s room, back at the Palace.

“Oh please tell me you remember me,” She smiled softly, her blonde hair pinned up into a high bun, loose curls masking her beautiful face.

She shook her head in response. Does she know that Jane attended the ball last night? That she was the woman inside the room with William. Is she here to tell Stephenie about her?
“I’m sure it will come to you. Look closer, try to remember.” The young woman grinned. By the looks of it, she was in her younger years. Probably in her teens. Her green eyes, eyes the looks so familiar, were under thick light brown lashes. Her eyes widened as the realization came over her. “Lillian?”

Lillian smiled, a soft smile on her face. “Finally, I was afraid you will no longer remember me Jane,” She laughed softly and made her way toward her with open arms.

“My goodness!” Jane whispered clearly shocked. “Is that you Lillian? The last time I had seen you, you were merely the age of eight,”

“And you were at the age of fourteen. But I remember you too clearly. Do you remember when we used to play by the summerhouse in the country?”

She laughed. “How can I forget? You used to pick up the earthworms and tease me with them,” She shivered. “I hate earthworms,”

“Well that is because you used to jump fifty feet in the air just to get away from them. If I didn’t know any better, you would have jumped in Will’s arms,”

Jane smiled softly. She would have, that is something she cannot deny. “My, how you grew. I did not recognize you,”

Lillian smiled softly and twirled around. “I did grow did I?”

“You definitely did,” Jane agreed.

“Did you attend the ball last night?” She asked pulling her along the sofa in the center of the library, sitting down with Jane following.

She laughed softly. “No. I did not. I was feeling unwell so I had asked to stay behind… why do you ask?”

“Well your family attended, your name was announced but you were not there. Your mother attended in your place instead. It has been a while. I apologize I could not attend the funeral of your husband. I was far too busy. I even have less time for myself,”

A knock was hurt through the door and Jane motioned for whoever it was to come in. Temera smiled softly and bowed in greeting. “My lady,”

“Ah Temera dear, good for you to arrive. Please fetch us a tray of tea and some freshly baked lemon cake,” She nodded and bowed farewell, making her way out of the door, closing it behind her. Jane’s gaze drifted back to Lillian’s. “No need to apologize. I completely understand,”

“You are out of mourning correct? If I heard correctly, it has been five years,”

She nodded. “That is correct. It has been five years since his death.”

“I am sorry to hear that,” Lillian mumbled looking down at her gloved hands.

Jane smiled. The atmosphere in the room seeming to lighten up by that simple gesture. “It is alright Lillian. I had been doing well since Marcus had passed. It was sad at the first year but it lightened up eventually. I was dreadfully angry that he had left me. I loved him dearly,”

Lillian met her gaze. Something about her blue eyes told Jane that she knew what she was feeling. All of the hardships she had went through in the two years of her marriage. It was like Lillian’s eyes told her that she understands. That she didn’t need to lie. “So what brings you here?” She asked clearing her throat, deciding to change the subject.
“Right, I am here to invite you to come to my place,”
Chapter 6

“To come to your place?” She asked clearly confused.

“Yes. Just for one day. I want to show you my new home. My family just arrived from Italy. We missed the city so we chose to move back here again,”

“How many days exactly?” Jane asked clearly worriedly.

“What do you mean?”

“How many days will I stay in your place?”

Lillian smiled. “As many days as you want. Though I only meant for two,”

“Two days? Well I suppose that will be okay,” She mumbled more to herself than to the both of them. It was not like she did not want to. She’ll do anything to get out of this place, even for just a couple of days. But… the thought of staying in the same roof as William, it brought shivers through her bones. “Who else