"Man, Joe''s always been so loyal and all-in with his feelings," Annika muttered, feeling bad. "He must be totally wrecked right now."


    "Did I mess up?" Sadie mumbled, guilt gnawing at her thinking about Joe''s meltdown.


    "No way, this ain''t on you," Arya shot back. "If anyone''s to me, it''s Duchess Louis and Barbara. One''s a scheming know-it-all, and the other''s just reckless and nasty."


    "Yeah," Annika chimed in for once. "This was gonnae out eventually. You can''t carry all the me."


    Sadie let out a heavy sigh. "I just hope Joe can deal with it soon. Otherwise, I don''t know how I''ll face him."


    "Right now, neither of you knows how to face each other. Some space is the best bet," Arya said. "Let''s hope Duke Louis backs off soon."


    "They''ll probably keep us up all night, but they should let us go by tomorrow," Sadie said, ncing at her watch. "But I''m worried Joe might do something crazy tonight. Keep an eye on him and let me know if anything happens." "Got it," Annika said, then ordered, "You two, go check things out."


    "Okay," Jessica and Aurora quickly headed out to investigate.


    It was already past 1 AM. The servants and attendants were supposed to be asleep, and the castle was usually dead quiet at this hour. But thanks to the drama with Barbara and Joe, the ce was lit up like a Christmas tree. The servants were on edge, worried something might go wrong.


    Callie and some of the older servants were busy, but Jessica and Aurora had no clue what they were up to.


    The two wanted to check the master bedroom but got stopped and had to turn back.


    They overheard two maids whispering, "Duke Louis and Duchess Louis are fighting. We need to be careful and not stir the pot."


    "Mr. Louis has locked himself in his room and won''t open the door for anyone. It''s really worrying. What if something happens to him?" one maid whispered.


    "This has really blown up," another maid sighed.


    "Mr. Louis, Mr. Louis, please open the door and let us help you bathe and change," Callie called out, gently knocking on Joe''s door.


    No response from inside.


    Meanwhile, in the master bedroom, there was a loud crash.


    Craig was fuming and had thrown his wine ss, shouting, "You''re being ridiculous!"


    "What did I do?" Amanda snapped back, "I was thinking of Joe and the bigger picture, trying to speed up the marriage. Who knew that witch Barbara would..."


    Talking about Barbara made her grit her teeth in anger. "I can''t believe I had someone like Barbara around me."


    "Isn''t Barbara your rtive?" Craig''s face was red with anger. He scolded, "Your so-called scheming not only failed to secure the marriage but also hurt Joe. Do you get that?"


    "I regret it too," Amanda said, feeling heartbroken for Joe. "Joe is just too stubborn. He didn''t even suffer any loss in this."


    "Don''t you know how much Joe values his feelings?" Craig said angrily. "What do you n to do now?"


    "I''ll gofort him," Amanda said, getting up to leave.


    "I just checked on him. He''s locked himself in his room and doesn''t want to see anyone," Craig said, still furious. "You''re useless. I told you not to cause trouble, but you wouldn''t listen." "What''s the point of scolding me now?" Amanda shot back, feeling wronged. "We should be thinking about how to fix this mess."


    "You caused this mess, and now you want me to fix it?" Craig said angrily. "Tell me, how should we solve it?"