Robert’s expression hardened, his eyes turning to slits as he looked at his daughter. “Well, from now on you are. I agree with Evelyn, and you’re going to take your proper place in this house, and you are going to stop hiding. You’re going to prove to the world you’re not a thief. You’re not ugly, and you’re not stupid. And you’re going to prove to that woman you married she will not walk all over you! I didn’t raise my daughter to be a doormat for anyone, and right now I couldn’t be more ashamed of you if I tried. Not only do I have to live with the fact people think you’re perverted, but now I know they also think you’re a swindler!”

If it hadn’t been for the scarlet of Robert’s face, Joanna would have tried to continue the conversation, but two things stopped her. Her father’s health, and the fact he was right.

Finding it easier to appease than provoke, Joanna had done exactly what Addison Kane had wanted her to do. True, she had agreed to the marriage only to provide a better life for her father, but along the way she had forgotten something. She deserved one, too.

***

“I take the afternoon off, and I come back to find some changes have been made,” Evelyn said, smiling at Joanna as she walked down the stairs.

“Hi, Evelyn,” Joanna said as she reached the bottom step. “What did you hear?”

“I heard you’ll be eating dinner in the dining room from now on, but I was expecting your father to join you,” Evelyn said, looking toward the lift. “He’s not?”

“No, he basically told me I made my bed, so now I have to lie in it.”

“Oh, my.”

“It’s okay,” Joanna said, snickering. “He’s just a bit cantankerous at the moment. He saw some articles in the tabloids and now thinks the world believes I’m some unscrupulous woman. He told me to stop being a doormat and take my place in this house.”

“I can’t say I disagree.”

“Don’t remind me,” Joanna said, grinning.

Evelyn returned Joanna’s grin with one of her own. “Well, I’ve been told the table’s already set for two,” she said, motioning toward the dining room. “Would it help if I wished you luck?”

Joanna considered Evelyn’s question and then let out a laugh. “Just tell Noah I’d like red wine tonight, and lots of it.”

Chapter Seventeen