Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
Kelly hurried to keep pace with her stride. “But it sounds like there’s more to it.”
“Upon arriving at the hospital and seeing the severity of the injuries, would Dr. Bell help?”
“Of course. With a doctor’s kind heart, if a patient lies before you, you’d definitely save them!”
“And what if I save them, but they die?”
“They just had car accidents; minor injuries that should be no problem for you.”
Kelly stopped mid-sentence, a realization dawning on her. “You’re saying the mastermind might use this opportunity to tarnish your name further? They might say you saved the victim, but then they secretly tamper with something, and if the victim dies, the online masses will say your medical skills are lacking, that you’re responsible for their death. They might question why someone so young can justenter a hospital and perform surgeries. No matter what you do, you’re in the wrong, and you may even end up being dragged to the police station.”
Mirabella nodded and made a call to Hans, briefing him on the situation.
After she hung up, Kelly couldn’t hold back her concern. “Who is this mastermind? With such an evil intent! Why would they want to hurt you like this?”
With the nation’s eyes on this matter, if Mirabella did perform surgery on the victim and they died, with so many onlookers, the police would be under pressure and would have to invite Mirabella for a ‘conversation’.
The person behind the scenes wants Mirabella disgraced, possibly even an eye for an eye.
Why would they go to such lengths?
“It’s because I’ve been poking around the truth about the fire, disrupting their peace. They want me to visit the hospital? I’ll make the trip.”
“But what if,” Kelly began to worry but then she realized, “You’re planning a counter-move? But can you trust those victims?”
“I’ll have my precautions.”
“Then I’ll go with you!”Kelly watched her walk away. How audacious and commanding she was! Forget Romeo; even she was enamored with this girl herself.
Oh, right, there was another trending search she hadn’t gotten around to telling Mirabella about.
Kelly thought about catching up but decided not to add to her troubles. Alongside the trending scandal, #AlmaAssault# was also there.
Throughout the entire incident, Serena didn’t fight back at all. Instead, it was Alma and her clique who were bullying her.
All the onlookers who saw Alma’s actions couldn’t help but lash out in condemnation.
[I can’t believe how nasty Alma could be. I thought she was just a spoilt rich girl, but her behavior is shockingly crass.]
[Everyone was bashing Serena before, but now I’m thinking, did we get it all wrong? Maybe Mirabella and Alma are the real culprits, and they’ve just used their wealth and power to twist public opinion.]
[It’s entirely possible. How else could a freshman have such impressive identities?]
[I’m also starting to believe that Serena might have been falsely accused.]
[And watching Mirabella fight with those hooligans in the video, she was pretty fierce. I’m sure she didn’t learn those skills at home – she must have had a rough past. I mean, you don’t get moves like that from nowhere!]
[Mirabella loves to fight, Alma loves to fight, maybe that’s the true colors of the Collins family? All the praises online are probably just bought with their fortune.]
In the surveillance footage, the online crowd watched as Alma’s friends held Serena’s arms, one opening the fire escape, while another pushed Serena’s wheelchair, rolling her into the stairwell.
What happened inside wasn’t caught on tape, but the timestamp showed that twenty minutes later, an ambulance took Serena out of the stairwell, covered in blood and barely hanging on.
[Have we been misled by the Collins family all along? Maybe Serena is the one who was really suffering.][Could it be that the Collins family found their biological daughter and now they want to ditch the adopted one? But to protect their reputation, they smear Serena’s name.]
[Serena has been thrown out and hasn’t spoken out publicly since. Could there be more to this story?]
At Reflections Villa.
Louisa was fuming upon seeing these comments.
“It’s certain someone has paid for a smear campaign; these comments are all fabricated.”
Kenneth, after watching the trending surveillance video, murmured, “It does look like Alma was in the wrong, she attacked first.”
“We didn’t want to reveal Bella’s identity at first because we were worried it would be too much for the grandparents, we wanted to spend more time with Bella, and we didn’t want these rumors disturbing her life.” Louisa was irate.
But now she was on the trending search again.
The #MirabellaSpotted# was all over the trending search.
The moment her car appeared outside the hospital, the media swarmed her. Bella had been considerate, yet she still got criticized.
“People just love to nitpick these days.” Kenneth set his smartphone down and turned to comfort his wife.
Meanwhile, at the other end of town.
“Son of a gun!” Beverly, seeing the trending news on her feed, was so furious she chucked her cell phone at her daughter.
Had Alma not quickly reached out to catch it, the phone would have likely smacked her right in the face.
“Mom.” Alma was a little frightened.
“Don’t you ‘Mom’ me!” Beverly couldn’t believe how naive her own daughter was, “In broad daylight, with cameras everywhere, what do you think?”
“It’s just I didn’t expect that little tramp Serena to actually release the security footage. How dare she?”
Alma fumed, shocked at how the once-simple girl had suddenly wisened up.
“Why wouldn’t she dare?” Beverly glared at her daughter, “Last time, Martin got into it to defend her, and mistakenly hit you. This time, even if you did beat her up like that, the worst Martin would do is give a verbal warning. He can’t really do anything to you. Serena must’ve guessed this, so she let the surveillance footage leak, to sway public opinion her way! She’s grown a brain, knows to call an ambulance first to keep evidence for herself. Look at you, getting dumber by the minute! Even this little slip-up got caught!”
“Mom.” Alma felt a bit wronged, “It was such a rare chance, finally running into her after I got beat up so badly last time, I was just so angry when I saw her.”
Beverly’s face remained stoic, silent.”Mom, I have an idea. What if I come out and say Serena used to always pick on Mirabella, and that day at the mall, she started throwing insults at Mirabella, and I couldn’t stand it so my friends and I stepped in.”
Alma didn’t get to finish before Beverly doused her with cold reality, “Haven’t you seen Mirabella’s reputation right now?”
Both she and Mirabella were getting dragged through the mud!
Still, anger aside, Beverly finally said, “Mirabella’s being slandered, but the Collins family will surely handle it. Once Mirabella’s name is cleared, that’s when you come forward. Public opinion will naturally shift in your favor then.”
A gleam of delight appeared in Alma’s eyes – old ginger is spicier indeed! Her mother was still the shrewdest of them all. This way, she could not only gain some notoriety for herself but also ride on Mirabella’s coattails to a redemption arc and grow her own fanbase!
She thought, “That damn Serena, daring to pull such a stunt behind my back. Did she think she can manipulate the public narrative with some surveillance footage?” Read at Elsewhere.
A woman of delicate sensibilities put away her smartphone with a dismissive huff, “So, Romeo’s got a thing for her? I mean, sure, she’s got a pretty face, but the rest is probably just smoke and mirrors courtesy of the Collins PR machine.”
A piano prodigy? A renowned doctor? And now, rumors are swirling that her perfect test scores might be as fake as a three-dollar bill!
“Ms. Monroe, you are right. How can a girl, abandoned and left to fend for herself, rise to the top of every field just because of her grandfathers’ nurturing? That’s not human; it’s almost divine!”
The butler, Moira, let out a derisive chuckle, “If it weren’t for the engagement deal between the Collins and the McMillians, there’s no way this stray kitten would be rubbing shoulders with the young McMillian heir. But the tide of public opinion is on our side now. Once Mirabella’s name is dragged through the mud, you will secure Romeo without even breaking a sweat.”
“That Serena, what a useless piece of work. I’ve been studying overseas, and she still hasn’t managed to get her claws into Romeo. And Alma, what a waste of space, mooning over Romeo while Serena isn’t even a true heiress, yet she can’t win his heart. Instead, she’s getting herself dirty fighting Serena.
Looks like it’s up to me to step in.”
Harriet Monroe stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows of her family’s palatial villa, arms crossed over her chest, gazing out at the sprawling garden with a smug curve of her lips.
“Ms. Monroe, you grew up alongside Mr. Romeo and even lived with the McMillians for a while. Back then, it was just you and him. That sort of bond is deeper than any of these flings. Ms. Monroe, you are on winter break now, the perfect opportunity to rekindle that flame.”
“I don’t care about whatever surprises or romances he’s cooked up for Mirabella in the past. Now that she’s been unmasked, all it’ll take is a little push from me, and Romeo will naturally be mine. Goprepare some snacks, I’ll take them over to him.”
Confidence flickered in Harriet’s eyes. With her in the picture, Mirabella didn’t stand a chance.
“Right away, I’ll make sure they suit Mr. Romeo’s tastes to a T.”
Harriet surveyed the garden once more and added, “Hold on—tell the kitchen to keep it simple.
Otherwise, Romeo will spot straight away they weren’t made by me.”
“You always think of everything, Ms. Monroe. This time, we’ll focus on simple and delicious.”
Moira smiled, admiring the young woman before her. “Ms. Monroe, you have the grace and the pedigree. Over the years, our family has built an empire abroad that rivals the Collins family, and if Mr.
Monroe weren’t so modest, shunning those rich lists. If he actually competed, what chance would the Collins have. Mr. Monroe’s getting on in years and wants to return to the domestic scene. That means you and Mr. Romeo will have plenty more chances to interact.”
Meanwhile, Mirabella was at the hospital, where the victims’ families grabbed her, demanding an explanation.”Though the car involved in the raffle wasn’t produced by our brand, it was acquired through official channels. The vehicle in question hasn’t been sent to an authoritative institution for evaluation yet. Rest assured, if this is the Collins family’s responsibility, we will not shirk it,” Mirabella assured the weeping relatives.
Mirabella’s heart ached as she watched the grieving families, their tears flowing freely. She made a solemn vow, “We will get to the bottom of this. Rest assured, if there’s any responsibility on our part, we won’t shy away from it. But mark my words, this smacks of a smear campaign against the Collins family. Whoever is behind this, we’ll hunt them down and bring them to justice.”
Just then, a familiar doctor rushed over, urgency in his voice, “Ms. Bella, you’ve arrived just in time.
One of the car accident victims is in critical condition, hanging by a thread. Could you take a look?”
The families clamored with concern, “Is it my daughter?”
“Dr. Benedict, please tell me, is it my son? I’m the father of the patient in bed 18.”
“My husband was brought in for emergency surgery this morning. Is it him you’re talking about?”
“It’s the patient in bed 19. Please, everyone, keep calm,” Dr. Benedict explained, then turned to Mirabella, “Ms. Bella, can you help?”