Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
As soon as Mirabella had thrown her first punch, they knew they were outclassed.
Why had Rose thought their half-baked skills could make even a dent in Mirabella?
And the expectation to make Mirabella bow down to them?
Pure fantasy.
Strangely enough, Mirabella hadn’t been ruthless. She had simply knocked them down without the intent to seriously hurt them.
If she had wanted to inflict real damage, it would have taken her mere seconds.
But she refrained.
In their pain, Antonia, Polly, and Novia couldn’t help but feel a begrudging respect and a quiet gratitude.
But it was too late for Rose to make an escape. Mirabella tossed her into the flowerbed, leaving her with scratches on her hands and face, and a likely sprained back.
Just then, Mirabella noticed Arlen finishing his speech in the main hall and making his way upstairs. She quickly followed, bumping into Eunice.
“What’s up?” Eunice’s gaze fell on her.
“It looks like Arlen’s heading to his room.””So?” Eunice was puzzled.
“I knocked out two bodyguards. They’re in there,” Mirabella admitted, nodding. One was in the bathroom, whose uniform she had donned to blend in. The other was by the study door.
Eunice didn’t expect her niece to be so fierce and immediately stepped forward to intercept.
Arlen, accompanied by Calvin and Bess, was about to ascend the staircase when Eunice’s voice rang out.
“Arlen, I need a word with you.”
Arlen turned, his face the picture of benevolence. “Ah, Eunice, what is it? Can it wait? I need to change my clothes.”
But as Arlen confirmed his intention to head to his room, Eunice blurted out, “It’s about Alexander.”
Not just Arlen, but also Calvin and Bess’ eyes flickered with a shadow of something dark and indecipherable.
Eunice caught that fleeting expression and, with a mischievous gleam in her eye, she couldn’t resist teasing.
“Today’s your birthday, so consider this juicy bit my generous gift to you.”
Arlen chuckled, playing along with her game. “Whoever you’re talking about, I don’t know this guy, and whatever they’re up to, it’s no concern of mine”
Just as Arlen was about to head upstairs, Eunice’s laughter stopped him in his tracks. “Oh, but it is relevant.”
Arlen paused, curious despite himself.
“This matter involves someone from the Griffith clan. As the family elder, don’t you want to know what they’ve been up to?”
Arlen pondered for a moment before relenting. ‘Alright, lead the way upstairs.”
“No, I choose the place,’ Eunice countered with a sly smile, her red lips curving into a charming grin.
“Please, follow me, Arlen.”
Arlen cast a meaningful glance at his younger brother and sister-in-law before stepping out to follow Eunice.
As Eunice passed by Mirabella, she shot her a conspiratorial wink. Mirabella quickly took the hint, slipping upstairs to discreetly relocate the two bodyguards elsewhere.
In the garden.Eunice, now accompanied by Calvin and Bess, maintained her smile. “This is for Arlen’s ears only.”
“By seniority, we’re your elders. If Arlen is privy to this info, why aren’t we?” Bess asked, clearly annoyed.
“Yes, you’re not.’ Eunice’s smile never wavered as she emphasized each word. “Given your usual unreasonable behavior, I have no desire to share with you”
Bess was livid, insulted by Eunice’s lack of respect, and stormed off.
Calvin, with a scowl, followed suit.
“So, what’s the big secret?” Arlen asked, intrigued by what Eunice was up to. Eunice had a way of stirring trouble that could easily drive a wedge between him and the younger members of the family.
From a distance, Bess could see Eunice’s red lips moving animatedly, her eyes darting in their direction now and then, as if she were speaking ill of them.
“What’s that vixen on about? Why does she keep looking over here?” Bess muttered irritably.
Calvin, observing Eunice, let out a cold laugh. “If she really knew something substantial, why would she bother telling the runt?”
“That’s true.’ Bess had a moment of clarity, then considered another possibility. “What if she only knows part of the story and not the whole truth?”
“Possibly”
After Eunice finished speaking, she pulled out something that resembled a USB drive from her pocket and slipped it into Arlen’s jacket.
Her grace and poise in every gesture, every expression, left Bess seething with envy.It all seemed like an act of flirtation!
Arlen, having waded through a sea of nonsense, finally seized upon something worthwhile — the secret was on that drive.
As Arlen considered heading upstairs to uncover this so-called secret, Eunice called out, “Arlen.”
He turned, realizing she wasn’t done, and with a sigh, asked, “What now?”
“I forgot to give you the password,” Eunice said with a playful smile. “There’s an encrypted file. Come closer. I’ll tell only you.”
As Arlen leaned in, she whispered, “123456.” He nodded, “Got it.”
“You’ll remember?” she teased.
“Who could forget such a simple password? I’m not senile yet.” Arlen retorted with a grin, then made his way upstairs.
Bess shot Eunice a disgruntled look before trailing after Arlen.
Calvin followed, his curiosity piqued.
“Hmph, that clueless woman, all her scheming amounts to nothing. She has no idea that Arlen’s playing for our team!”
Eunice watched their retreating figures with a curious glint in her eye. Although she didn’t have any concrete evidence to reveal who the mole really was, the sight of the trio ascending the stairs together gave her a strong hunch that the traitor wasn’t acting alone.
“Arlen, what did that woman say to you earlier?” Calvin whispered urgently as they reached the top of the staircase. “How much does she really know?”
“She blabbed a whole lot of nonsense at first, nothing of value. But then she handed me this USB
drive, claimed all the secrets were on it”
Arlen pushed open the door to the study and booted up the computer, plugging in the USB drive.
There it was, an encrypted folder!
Arlen typed in ‘123456’, but the password was incorrect. He tried again, same result.
“Is that woman tricking me?” Arlen’s face darkened with suspicion, wondering what kind of game she was playing.
“Earlier, she asked if you remembered, and you said you did. You bragged about not being senile, so why can’t you remember now?”
Bess was suddenly skeptical. Could it be that Arlen was deliberately entering the wrong password, planning to keep the contents to himself once they left?Arlen frowned, irritated. “Bess, what are you insinuating? Are you suggesting that I’m faking the password error so you can’t see what’s inside?”
“You said that the secret Eunice gave you was simple, but you got it wrong. So, what’s the real password?”
“123456.
“Who sets such a simple password? If the contents were that important, she would never use something so basic!”
Arlen was getting annoyed. “That’s what she told me, the password!”
“You said earlier that she spouted a bunch of useless nonsense before mentioning the USB drive.
Based on what I know about her, she’s not one to beat around the bush. Could it be that she said something beforehand that you’re not comfortable sharing with us?” Bess pressed on with her suspicion.
“What could possibly be so uncomfortable? Did you or Calvin do something in the past that might come back to bite you if I found out?”
“That’s out of line!” Bess exploded like a cat with its tail stepped on.
Seeing Bess’ reaction, Arlen suddenly considered the possibility.
But Eunice’s business took precedence.
“Eunice only talked about her life with Alexander and how sincere his feelings were for her. She didn’t say anything else!”
That’s why he thought Eunice had been rambling on about irrelevant things.“Nothing else, are you sure about that, Arlen?”
When Arlen realized he was getting nowhere with Bess, he turned to Calvin. “Calvin, you don’t trust me either?”
“Let’s do this. Do you have anyone who could crack this password?”
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.