Chapter 222: You are not completely hopeless

Later that evening, Clara finally returned home, expecting at least a few warm hugs from her favorite people.

Instead, the moment she stepped into the mansion, she found herself standing in the middle of the lawn, watching an oddly serious training session.

Dominic was seated on a chair, his expression as stern as if he were conducting an important business meeting.

In front of him sat Toto.

The puppy stared back at him with absolutely no intention of cooperating.

"Sit."

Toto remained standing.

Dominic narrowed his eyes. "I said sit."

Toto wagged his tail.

"That’s not sitting."

The puppy tilted his head innocently.

Clara pressed her lips together to stop herself from laughing.

Dominic sighed and held up a treat.

"Sit, and you get this."

Toto immediately sat. Dominic’s expression softened with satisfaction.

"Good."

Toto’s tail began wagging furiously.

"See? You’re not completely hopeless."

Clara raised an eyebrow. She had expected Dominic to be busy with work, not training a puppy like a military recruit.

A few feet away, several staff members were pretending to work while secretly watching the scene.

"Do you think Master has finally lost it?" one of them whispered.

Another quickly shook his head. "No. I think the puppy has simply taken over his life."

"He used to scare us with one look," someone else whispered. "Now he’s negotiating with a puppy over treats."

"I heard him talking to Toto for almost twenty minutes earlier."

"Twenty minutes?"

"Yes. And Toto didn’t even understand a single word."

The others struggled not to laugh.

Clara stood behind them, listening to every word. Since she could hear Dominic’s thoughts, she was used to catching things people never said aloud. But apparently, the staff had forgotten that she was standing right there.

One of them glanced toward Dominic before whispering, "Look at him. He keeps pretending he doesn’t like Toto, but he’s completely obsessed."

Another nodded. "Earlier, I saw him carry the puppy upstairs himself."

"He even asked whether Toto had eaten."

"And he told everyone not to give Toto too many treats."

A pause followed.

"He gave him six treats himself," one suddenly spoke.

The group covered their mouths to suppress their laughter, when suddenly Clara finally cleared her throat.

"Interesting."

Every staff member froze. Slowly, they all turned around.

"How long have you all been discussing my husband?" Clara stood behind them with her arms folded and an amused smile on her face.

Their faces went pale. "Madam!"

"We weren’t discussing Master!"

"We were discussing Toto!"

Clara raised an eyebrow. "Of course."

One of them awkwardly smiled. "We were just... appreciating his training skills."

From across the lawn, Dominic glanced over.

"What are you all doing?"

The staff immediately straightened. "Nothing, Master!"

Clara laughed. "Don’t worry. I heard everything."

The staff exchanged horrified looks, and Clara laughed even more.

Toto suddenly barked at her appearance while Dominic looked down at him.

"Don’t encourage them."

Toto wagged his tail as if understanding his words clearly.

Clara couldn’t help smiling. Apparently, she had returned home just in time to witness the strangest family she had ever belonged to.

"Don’t worry. I’m not going to tell your master anything," Clara assured them with an amused smile before making her way toward Dominic and Toto.

The moment she was out of earshot, or at least, when the staff believed she was, everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew! That was close."

One of the maids placed a hand over her chest dramatically. "Thank goodness Madam is merciful."

"Merciful?" another whispered. "She’s just as intimidating as Master when she wants to be."

"Yes, but there’s a difference."

"What difference?"

"With Madam, I don’t mentally start writing my will every time she looks at me."

The others immediately nodded in agreement.

"At least Madam smiles before terrifying us."

"And Master?" They cautiously glanced toward Dominic.

Dominic happened to look in their direction at that exact moment. Everyone immediately turned away.

"Master doesn’t need to smile."

"Exactly."

"His eyebrows are enough." They quickly grabbed their things and pretended to be extremely busy.

"Alright, enough gossip. Come on, let’s finish our work before someone actually loses their job."

"Or their soul."

"Stop talking!"

The group hurried away, deliberately ignoring their master, Madam, and Toto.

Behind them, Clara’s lips twitched as she stood before Dominic with her hands on her hips.

"Dom, you’re scaring them."

Dominic looked up at her, completely unaware of what she meant.

"Whom?"

Clara pointed toward the staff. The moment they realized they had been noticed, every single one of them froze like statues.

"Whoa... Why is Madam pointing at us?" one of the men whispered, his heart practically jumping into his throat.

"And here we were praising Madam," another muttered, already breaking into a nervous sweat.

They exchanged terrified glances before quickly looking away.

"We’re done for today," one whispered. "Let’s leave before Master comes over and asks what we were saying about him."

"Good idea."

The staff began retreating from the lawn, moving so carefully that they looked like a group of spies sneaking away from a crime scene.

No one dared to make a sound.

Even their shoes seemed to understand the importance of silence.

However, Toto had already noticed them.

The puppy tilted his head in confusion as he watched the staff tiptoe across the lawn.

Dominic followed his gaze.

"What are they doing?"

Clara covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. "They’re escaping."

"From what?"

Clara looked at him. "You."

Dominic frowned. "I haven’t done anything."

Toto barked while Clara nodded solemnly.

"Apparently, Toto disagrees."

Toto suddenly barked and dashed toward the retreating staff, startling them. Before Clara could stop him, Dominic reached out, caught her around the waist, and pulled her onto his lap.

"You don’t get to run after him."

Clara paused, suddenly aware of how close Dominic’s face was to hers.

She swallowed, her cheeks warming.

"Now," Dominic murmured, his gaze fixed on her, "tell me. What have I done?"

Clara’s heart skipped a beat. She could hear the amusement hidden beneath his calm voice, making it even harder for her to come up with an answer.