I Owe the Tyrant Four Little Heirs novel Chapter 200

In her entire life, aside from her father, Jareth was the first man to ever cook a meal for her. Before she left the Lynn family, she was the one who cooked for everyone, every day. If a single meal wasn’t perfect, Ffion would curse her out and humiliate her. After the quadruplets were born, her days were spent cooking for them.

Even Cormac had never once stepped into a kitchen to make anything for her.

“What’s wrong?” Jareth asked, noticing her head was bowed low and she seemed to be wiping her eyes.

“It’s nothing,” she said quickly, drying her tears and forcing a smile.

“Is it so bad it made you cry?” he teased.

Niamh couldn’t help but laugh through her tears. “No, Mr. Bragg,” she said gratefully. “It’s so good it made me cry.”

“It’s that good?”

“Yes, it’s really delicious.”

Jareth took a large portion of pasta from his own plate and added it to hers. “I ate too much at your place this morning, so I can’t finish all of this. Since you like it, you can have more.”

Niamh didn’t refuse, her heart still swelling with emotion. She couldn’t tell if his sudden kindness was a fleeting impulse or if he truly considered her a friend now. The moods of successful men were often unpredictable, so she told herself to remain calm.

As Niamh took a bite of the sunny-side-up egg, some of the yolk smeared around her lips. Jareth chuckled when he saw it. He took a napkin and reached toward her face.

She froze, her eyes wide with uncertainty as Jareth gently wiped the yolk from the corner of her mouth.

“You don’t understand, Mr. Bragg,” she said between bites. “When I was a kid, I was always the last one to the table and the first one to leave. I had to eat quickly so I could wash the dishes, mop the floors, and do the whole family’s laundry before I could even start my homework. After the quadruplets were born, I never got to eat a meal in peace. I’d just pick up my bowl, and either Jove would start crying, or Keir, or Phaedra and Aurelia. Sometimes I’d even have to go to the bathroom with a baby in each arm.”

She stopped, suddenly realizing they were eating. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Mr. Bragg!”

A neat freak like him probably couldn’t stand hearing the word “bathroom” at the dinner table. Why had she said that?

She expected a reprimand, but it never came. Instead, Jareth was just looking at her with an expression of profound sympathy.

Before she could say anything else, he spoke, his voice sincere. “You’ve been through so much, Ms. Lynn.”