Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
“And another thing, stay the hell away from my sister! You think she needs to save people, and that Serena, that lowlife, is worthy?” With those final words, Sean hung up the call.
Everyone hadn’t expected Sean to be still so arrogant to others.
But as he handed the phone back to Louisa and turned to Mirabella with a smile, he said, “I was gentle, wasn’t I? Just gave him a verbal warning. I didn’t trash his car or cut the hospital’s power cut, after all.
That’s being pretty decent to him.”
Mirabella paused a while before she nodded in agreement, “An upstanding, law-abiding citizen indeed.”
“That’s who I am.” Sean cocked an eyebrow, looking around at everyone as if to say, ‘Did you hear that? My sister’s praising me!’
When Martin heard the dial tone on the other end of the line, his heart sank. He knew that Mirabella, in all likelihood, wouldn’t be coming to Serena’s rescue.
He couldn’t believe that even such an important phone couldn’t trade for Serena’s life.What to do.
What should he do.
Kenneth and Louisa beefed up their security, even Hans reassigned some reliable men to stand guard inside and outside the Reflections Villa. Overnight, the Collins family had become a fortress.
Mirabella sent a message to the two servants in the basement, instructing them to dispose of the two bags of bloodied gauze she left in the corner in the outside trash, and to casually strike up a conversation while doing so.
The script for the conversation had already been sent to them.
The two servants acted immediately.
Each carrying a bag of gauze along with some household trash, they chatted as they walked.
While throwing out the trash outside, they lingered on purpose.
“I can’t believe the master and his wife are really willing to get rid of everything related to Miss Serena.”
They noticed the two dumpsters were overflowing, and many items had to be discarded beside the bins —everything there had been tossed out that day; last night’s trash had already been hauled away by the garbage truck.
“Let’s not talk about her at home anymore, in case we upset the master or his wife. Oh wait, she’s not part of this family anymore, no need to call her Miss. From now on, this place belongs to Ms. Bella alone.”
“Speaking of which, Ms. Bella is really something else, saving someone from such a severe poisoning.
At first, I thought he was a goner.””Shh, keep it down, don’t let anyone hear you. At first, when I saw him motionless, I thought he was dead too. It nearly scared me half to death.”
“Thank goodness for Bella’s miraculous touch,” one of the servants said as they walked toward the mansion’s grand entrance, having just taken out the trash. “Her medical skills are second to none. It’s just a shame the poor fellow’s still unconscious. Who knows if he’ll reveal the secrets about the fire at the clinic back in the day when he comes to.”
“I can’t believe someone actually tried to off the master and mistress all those years ago. Who could it be? If the guy doesn’t talk when he regains consciousness, I bet the young masters will have ways to compel him to speak.”
“Of course, they will. The young masters are no ordinary bunch. If it wasn’t for the mastermind behind it all, Bella wouldn’t have been switched at birth, and the Collins family wouldn’t have ended up raising someone else’s child for eighteen years. And to think, after all that, the kid turns out to be an ingrate trying to harm Bella. The Collins family will definitely get to the bottom of this.”
“Right. Hans has got his people on it, and the master and mistress have brought in their most trusted aides just to guard the guy. They’re waiting for him to wake up and tell the truth about that fire.”
“Hey, what if he wakes up and realizes Bella saved him? Do you think he’ll feel grateful enough to spill the truth?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised. I mean, he has been part of this household for over a decade, there must be some attachment. Plus, the mistress has been like a mother to him.”
Their voices trailed off into whispers as they entered through the villa’s gates.
After lunch, Mirabella retreated to her room, leaving Sean feeling unusually listless without his sister’s company.Just then, he noticed the security monitor in the living room showing a black sedan pulling up to the driveway. He recognized the make and model; it had to be Chasel’s return.
Chasel got out of the car and immediately noticed the heavy security—nearly 20 times the usual number of personnel. Alongside the regular bodyguards were some of the elite security teams belonging to his parents and Hans.
The lead bodyguard at the entrance greeted him with due respect, “Chasel.”
“Any trouble at home?” Chasel asked, knowing the man was one of Hans’ crew.
“There’s someone Hans wants to keep safe inside. You can go in and ask about it.”
The details weren’t for him to disclose, cautious of eavesdroppers.
Chasel was worried, “Is it Bella? Is she in trouble?”
Only Bella could mobilize such a force from Hans and his parents.
“It’s not Bella,” the guard assured.
Relieved, Chasel clapped the guard’s shoulder. “Thanks for your hard work.”
As long as it wasn’t Bella.
If it was about Bella, he would’ve been furious with himself for not being there sooner!
“It is our honor to serve and protect the Collins family, Chasel. Your appreciation make it all worthwhile.”
Chasel nodded and headed inside, spotting what seemed to be Sean’s figure emerging from the main building.The brothers approached each other, and Chasel couldn’t help but notice Sean flaunting the loungewear Mirabella had gifted him—something Sean had bragged about just the day before with photos; Sean had received slippers and socks as gifts as well.
Despite the freezing temperatures outside, Sean stood there unbothered, without a jacket, just waiting to show this to his brother.
“How does it look, huh?” Sean smirked, eager to show off his outfit to Chasel.
“Lucky for you, sis is generous enough to have given you a few sets, or you’d probably never take that outfit off.” Chasel teased.
Sean’s laughter was a mix of contentment and pride, “I think you’re just envious you can’t get one like that, Chasel.”
Chasel couldn’t help but laugh when he thought about coaxing compliments from his brother Sean.
Sean was hoping for Chasel to name a hundred of his virtues and to praise him, so that in return, he might consider putting in a good word for Chasel in front of their sister. But in the next second, Chasel unexpectedly spoke up.
“Envious? Why would I be? Out of all the brothers, you’re always the last to get a gift from sis. And let’s not forget, we’ve got other goodies, too. All you got was a loungewear.”
“You’ve received other gifts?” Chasel’s words struck Sean like a bolt from the blue; he couldn’t believe his scheming had backfired so spectacularly. “What else did you get? Show me!”
Jealousy surged within Sean.
“Wanna know?” Chasel teased with a mischievous grin, “I’m not going to tell you.”
As Chasel sauntered off toward the main house, Sean quickly followed, eager for more information.
“Come on, Chasel, what did she give you? We’re brothers, man. You can’t keep secrets like that from me!”
Inside the main house, the staff greeted Chasel with warm smiles. “Chasel.”
“Where’s Bella?” Chasel scanned the living room, but his sister was nowhere in sight.
“Miss Bella had lunch and went up to her room to rest,” one of the servants informed him.
Chasel had hoped to catch up with his sister and present her with a small gift he’d picked up for her, but hearing she was resting, he settled onto the couch to settle some scores with Sean.”How did you bully sis before? Tell me about it. Look at your face, a bit run-down—have you been getting a good beating from Hans these past few days?”
“That’s nonsense. Hans has been treating me well. Not even a hint of reproach!”
“Is that so, Hans?” Chasel’s sudden question caught Sean off guard.
Sean flinched. No way, when did Hans stand behind him?
“No, I mean.” He whipped around, but there was no one there. Chasel had duped him!
“Out with it then, where did you get hurt?” Chasel’s tone was much friendlier than Hans’ usually stern demeanor, almost like a neighborly big brother.
Sean had barely sat down when Chasel playfully threw a punch his way. Sean grabbed his fist, “Chasel, I’m just healed up. If you crack it open again, you’ll have to explain that to Bella.”
There it was again, hiding behind their sister’s skirts.
“Hans gave you a beating that bad? To the extent that Bella had to step in? How badly were you hurt, your heart’s broken?”
“Cut it out! My injury’s got nothing to do with Hans. Just tell me what Bella got you.”
“Spill the beans about what you did to Bella first. Also, what’s with the big to-do at home?”
The brothers chatted away until Mirabella, with her earphones on and tablet in hand, came downstairs.
Their eyes lit up at the sight of her.
“Bella?”Wasn’t she supposed to be napping? It looked like she was enjoying some tunes.
Even with her earphones on, Mirabella heard them. She took them off and said, “Chasel, when did you get back?”
Sean’s heart shattered when Mirabella’s first glance and first words were entirely toward Chasel.
“Just got here. You listening to music?” Chasel suddenly saw new gift ideas for his sister: a tablet and earphones!
With no one else around, Mirabella confided, “I’ve been editing and extracting audio of Erik from when he was at home.”
That included the sounds of his illness, his coughing, his voice, and more.
“Hear this—does it sound OK?” Mirabella handed each of them a pair of earphones.
Chasel didn’t quite get why his sister was suddenly extracting Erik’s voice, but as he listened to some of the audio clips, he nodded in approval, “That’s his voice, exactly. You’ve even filtered out the background noise. It’s like he’s right here with us.”