Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
“Hans also said that Mirabella held no animosity towards you. Sometimes it was you who were unreasonable first, but Mirabella was always tolerant, happy to have such a sister. He also said something like, Mirabella accepted you for the sake of the parents and brothers, and it gave you an opportunity to be envious of her, to hurt her. If she had firmly refused to let you stay in this home from the beginning, have you ever thought about what your fate would be?”
Serena laughed heartbreakingly for a while before saying, “Martha, you told me then that Hans was indirectly warning me that if I didn’t get along well with Mirabella, I would have to leave home. At that time, I didn’t believe your words, I thought Hans was right. I must have been hit on the head!”
At that time, she doubted herself, feeling that this home indeed didn’t belong to her. The love of her parents and brothers, the luxurious lifestyle, the servants’ attention, all didn’t belong to her. She had enjoyed Mirabella’s life for eighteen years.
But now she realized that Martha was right. It was the fault of her parents for confusing the children.
How could she be blamed? She also lost eighteen years of life being loved by her biological parents, she also suffered losses!
“It’s all my fault. I didn’t listen to you. I thought if I treated Mirabella as my real sister, they would treat me as before.”
“Absolutely not!” Martha sympathized, “Have you forgotten? Last time, you were fooled by just a few words from Hans. You naively thought they would treat everyone equally. If Hans really saw you as his sister, he wouldn’t have warned you like that, let alone lock you up like he did today.”
Serena let out a sorrowful laugh. If anyone knew that she had been locked in her room by Hans for self-reflection.
The word would spread, and it would be so humiliating.
“Last time, I told you to take advantage of their affection for you. Either kick Mirabella out of the Collins family, or strive for the maximum benefits within the family, or marry Mr. McMillian and become the most glamorous woman in the world. But you chose none of these paths. Instead, you came up with the most useless one – to build a good relationship with Mirabella and please everyone in the Collins family.”
Only now did Serena realize how foolish she had been, thinking she could be real sisters with Mirabella.
“If I had listened to you earlier, things wouldn’t have escalated to this point. I was the one who couldn’t let go, always holding onto a shred of illusion, always feeling that Hans and the others could really be impartial.”
“Ah, if they were truly fair, before Hans asked you to talk on the terrace, they wouldn’t have planted her favorite flowers on Bella’s balcony”
That was not something Hans would do!
If he was really fair, why did Mirabella have flowers, and Serena didn’t?Everything that he had given Mirabella, like planting flowers, gifting a four-leaf clover necklace, were things that Serena had never owned.
Serena didn’t know how long she had been crying. For the first time, she realized that her tears seemed endless.
Her heart was truly broken, and she was in despair.
“You can tell she was raised in a small family, inexperienced in the world. Even after returning to the richest family, her poor taste has not changed! Every time I see the marigold flowers swaying in the wind on her balcony, I feel that she lacks refinement, is superficial, and cannot hold her own in society!
Her taste has brought down the standard of the Collins family’s prestigious garden!”
Serena thought the same. Out of all the flowers, why did she have to like marigold, such a common plant.
After Serena calmed down a bit, Martha gave her some advice.
“Serena, there are many online platforms that buy luxury goods at high prices. You have a whole closet full of clothes, shoes, and bags, many of them still with tags. I calculated it, and you could sell them for at least a million dollars.”
Some of the dresses worth tens of thousands of dollars, Serena wore only once.
Some of the limited edition handbags, worth eighty or so thousand dollars, Serena carried once and then let them gather dust in her closet.
“If you really marry Mr. Cooper in the future, and have a chauffeur to drive you around, there’s no point in keeping all those luxury cars. You might as well sell them all.”
If she sold all of them, she could get one or two million dollars. And that was just from the cars!“And all the jewelry you’ve received since you were young.”
That was worth a lot.
Just the pink sapphire necklace she received on her birth year was now worth over two hundred thousand dollars.
If she kept a few pieces of jewelry as her dowry and sold the rest, she could easily make a few million dollars.
“My initial estimate is that if you sell everything, you could make around six million dollars.”
Serena was surprised that Martha knew her assets better than she did. She had never paid attention to how much these things were worth.
“Serena, not to rain on your parade, but if Hans is capable of doing this, who knows if he might kick you out someday? Instead of leaving penniless, it might be better to start selling some stuff now.
She had at least sixty million dollars in the bank, plus her real estate like houses and stores. Her personal assets could easily surpass a hundred million dollars.
“Of course, this is the worst-case scenario. If Hans forgives you and you stay in this family, until the day you marry Mr. Cooper, you can earn more. Your parents once mentioned that your wedding gift would be more than Brooklyn’s sister. If it reaches around a hundred million, your net worth would jump to two hundred million!”
How many heiresses could boast of such fortune?
“And if Mr. Cooper gives you more money and shares as a wedding gift, imagine the wealth you’d amass.”
It was unimaginable!
Hearing Martha’s words, Serena’s tears welled up in her eyes, forgotten to fall.
She had never realized her assets could amount to so much.
“So the goal now is to find a way to stay in the Collins family, keeping your parents happy and willing to spend money on you. Later, we can sell these things, every penny counts.”
Serena used to think Martha’s idea was wrong, as these were heartfelt gifts from her family. But after Hans’ coldness, she finally nodded, “After this storm passes, you can help me handle this. But be cautious.”“Serena, don’t worry! Leave it all to me, act as if you don’t know anything. If we get caught, I’ll take the fall,”
Martha spoke, looking at her with a hint of pity, “But for now, you’ll have to swallow your pride. I know you’ve never had to do this.”
Serena’s eyes reddened, and her nose stung, “If they are heartless, they can’t blame me for being ruthless!”
Swallowing her pride was only temporary.
Even if she had to leave, she would take all the benefits and ruin Mirabella first!
Martha was overjoyed seeing Serena’s change of heart, but she kept her excitement concealed.
“They treasure Mirabella because she’s talented and their own daughter. In the end, it’s all Mirabella’s fault. If she had spoken up for you when Hans was blaming you, things could have been different.”
Serena chuckled coldly. Mirabella standing up for her? It would be a miracle if she didn’t add insult to injury!
Martha was right. It was all Mirabella’s fault. If Mirabella was more amicable, they could at least be sisters!
Even ordinary sisterhood would be better than being enemies!
“Hans will be traveling abroad soon. The Temple family lost a child, and your parents will be visiting there often.
The opportunity to deal with that brat is coming.”
Did the Collins family think Mirabella was so great?If they could find out that Mirabella also had flaws, or irreparable stains.
“But if something happens to Mirabella, Hans will suspect us first”
If those luxury goods hadn’t been sold yet, and Hans kicked her out.
“We’re not trying to kill her, just teach her a lesson. I’ll find someone to do it seamlessly. Without evidence, Hans can’t blame us, can he?”
“Listen, if Hans ever finds a way to pin this on us, I’ll take the fall. I’ll say it was all my idea, and that you had nothing to do with it”
Serena had never expected such loyalty from a servant. It was as if Martha was more of a family than her own kin, and the realization moved her.
“With me by your side, Serena, I’ll make sure Mirabella understands the consequences of crossing you!”
Martha’s eyes flashed with a hard edge at the mention of Mirabella.
“Oh, and another thing. If you ever run into Mirabella when there aren’t any others around, don’t feel the need to be polite.” Martha advised.
Mirabella had taken their kindness for granted in the past. Well, she wouldn’t blame them if they showed no mercy from now on!
“Don’t worry, Martha. I won’t be polite to her anymore.” Serena seemed to have made a decision, her eyes filled with a vengeful light.
Meanwhile, Louisa woke up with a start from a nightmare.
Sitting up in her bed, heart still pounding, she glanced at the clock to find it was already evening. She quickly changed and prepared to head out.
“Ma’am, where are you off to? Dinner’s almost ready.” a servant tried to persuade her in the living room.
“I’m not hungry. Louisa replied, wrapping a scarf around her neck. “By the way, did you invite Serena’s friends to stay for dinner?””They’ve left.”
“They left?” Louisa was surprised, wondering why they hadn’t stayed for a meal.
The servant hesitated, wanting to mention the argument that seemed to have taken place between Serena’s friends that afternoon.
Serena had returned to her room crying.
But before the servant could explain, Louisa’s phone rang.
“Hello, honey? I’m about to head out. What? Celeste fainted? I’ll be right there.”
Seeing Louisa rush out the door, the servant said nothing more.
Elsewhere, Hans was driving back to the office, his mind wandering back to a memory of a little girl falling in the garden years ago. She had scraped her knee badly and was clearly in pain, but she still managed to put on a brave face to keep everyone else from worrying.
Back then, Serena was so considerate and caring, like a warm little blanket that brought comfort and joy.
When did that change?
Was it when Mirabella returned home?
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.