Chapter 167 – Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family

Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family

“Are you hungry?”

“Not hungry”

“Rare of you to call me” Romeo’s voice sounded pleased: “I was just thinking about you; what are you up to?”

Everyone was shocked!

Serena couldn’t believe how affectionate Romeo was towards Mirabella in private!

“Im on speakerphone right now.” In order to prevent him from saying anything more intimate, Mirabella went straight to the point: “Did you need something from Serena this afternoon?”

Speakerphone? Needed something from Serena?

Romeo quickly caught on “It wasn’t anything important.”

Serena was kind of bummed out. She thought Romeo was going to confess his feelings to her or maybe invite her out for a coffee or a chat.

“I just wanted to tell her that I only like you.”

Everyone was stumped.

“Last time I had breakfast at your place, your parents were still sleeping. She confessed her feelings to me, and I turned her down.”

Serena’s eyes widened; she didn’t expect Romeo to bring this up.

Martha couldn’t believe it either, Romeo actually said this!

And this was all on speakerphone!

Speakerphone!

Sure enough, Kenneth and Louisa couldn’t believe it either, and their faces turned super ugly.

“I don’t like her, I want her to get the hint; I don’t want her to hurt you guys; I’m warning her not to bully you.”

When he said “bully“, he put extra emphasis on it. Everyone was shocked. Was he implying that Serena was often bullying Mirabella behind the scenes? That’s too much information to handle

“You’re just too nice,” Romeo’s voice was full of affection and concern. “You always keep me out of it; you won’t let me talk to your parents; you think I don’t know how you’re being treated at home.”

Mirabella listened to him, amused. This guy sure knew how to talk.

Kenneth and Louisa, hearing that their beloved daughter was being mistreated at home, felt even more heartbroken and angry.

“You’re afraid they’ll be upset, but if you don’t tell them the truth, the only one who’ll end up hurt is you; you’re taking on too much. Not all kindness gets rewarded; I know you don’t expect anything in return; you’re just that kind of pure person.”

Romeo knew she was on speakerphone, deliberately saying it for certain people to hear: “No matter what she does, I only like you, and that won’t change in this lifetime.”

Serena felt like she’d been struck by lightning, completely dumbfounded.

I’m hanging up now.” Mirabella didn’t wait for him to finish, and she hung up the phone.

Everyone was quiet.

They couldn’t believe that Serena had such ambitions–seducing Romeo behind the scenes and bullying Mirabella!

“Dad, Mom, it’s not what you think.” Serena tried to get up to explain, but her body was in so much pain that she couldn’t move. She collapsed onto the couch, feeling like her bones were about to fall apart.

“You’re saying Romeo is lying?” Louisa didn’t believe that Romeo would lie. His status meant there was no need for him to frame others.

“We treated you like our own daughter, but behind our backs, you tried to seduce Bella’s fiancée and bully her!” Louisa angrily slapped the table..

Scared, Serena crawled to her feet and said, “Mom, mom, you’ve got it all wrong! That was in the past! I did have some inappropriate thoughts about my brother–in–law in the past! But I let it go! I really let it go!”

“Lady, don’t be misled! We should be focusing on Serena’s fall today!” Lily quickly changed the subject.

“You shut up!” Louisa knew this servant was no good either!

“Do you want to know the truth?” Mirabella’s voice was calm and composed: “If you want the truth, then let me show you! Edith, could you please fetch my laptop from my room?”

“Sure.” Edith quickly went to get the laptop.

Before long, Mirabella was typing line after line of code in front of everyone.

Everyone watched as the screen filled with lines of code. They had no idea what she was doing, but it looked super professional!.

Kenneth and Louisa were also confused by their daughter’s actions. What was she doing?

Not too long after, the surveillance footage from 5:30 to 6 p.m. was restored.

Martha couldn’t believe what she was seeing, so she quickly turned to Lily.

Lily was also shocked. How could this be? She had personally deleted the half–hour footage.

She even cleared the recycle bin.

“So, this is the real tea.” Mirabella hit the play button at triple speed.

The video showed a cargo truck pulling up at the front gate at half past five in the afternoon. The housekeeper, Martha, and several servants went out to unload the truck

Louisa, sitting on the sofa, suddenly recalled that in the middle of each month, the household groceries were delivered by a special driver.

From the angle of the security camera, the truck door opened, and the servants started hauling stuff–bags of rice, assorted seasonings, and barrels of cooking oil–into the house.

Martha, carrying two barrels of oil, tripped over the threshold and took a tumble, spilling oil everywhere.

The servants, hearing the commotion, tried to help, but Martha stopped them. Judging by her gestures, she was warning them about the oil spill and the risk of slipping.

One of the servant pointed at her clothes, probably suggesting she change out of her soiled clothes.

Taking a look at her own clothes, Martha then called the driver over, seemingly questioning why the lids of the oil barrels weren’t secured.

After a while, Martha finally went inside to change her clothes.

Perhaps due to the passage of time, she forgot to have someone clean up the oil spill.

At first glance, it seemed like a series of unfortunate accidents, but Mirabella smelled a rat….

Firstly, Martha was Serena’s personal nanny and had no business helping out with the groceries.

Secondly, she waited until all the servants were inside before she went to the truck to fetch the oil barrels.

While fetching the oil, she dallied, probably taking some time to unscrew the lids. The truck door conveniently blocked her actions from view, only showing her standing there for a while.

Having been in the household for many years, she would know where the security cameras were pointed. So she intentionally tripped at the entrance, making it seem like an accident.

“Sir, Ma’am, it’s all my fault! I was just trying to lend a hand and didn’t realize the oil barrels weren’t properly sealed. They asked me to change my clothes, and right after I did, Serena asked me to join her for snacks. I didn’t want to refuse Serena’s kindness, and I completely forgot about the spilled oil on the floor. It’s all my fault!” Martha feigned regret, attempting to get up to apologize but being forced to sit back down due to her injuries.

“Why weren’t the lids secured?” Louisa asked coldly. “And why wasn’t the spill cleaned up? Martha, when you and Serena fell, you should’ve remembered this incident. But when I asked you why you fell, you didn’t mention it! And you didn’t say a word when Holly was falsely accusing Bella!”

“I’m sorry, Ma’am! I’m in so much pain from the fall that all I could think about was the pain. Plus, my old age has made my mind quite sluggish; please punish me! “I’m truly sorry, Ma’am! I misspoke out of concern for Serena’s injury; please forgive me!” Holly apologized anxiously.

Another servant quickly explained; “After we moved all the stuff inside, Serena thanked us for our hard work and offered us some snacks. We were so caught up in, eating that we forgot about the spill.”

She finished, her head hanging low.

“The truck driver mentioned that they might not have checked the goods properly before the delivery. Something similar happened last year.”

“Ma’am, we are all to blame; please punish us!”

“Punishment?” Louisa looked down on them with a haughty gaze. “Of course you’re getting punished! If Bella hadn’t restored the surveillance, how badly would you have misunderstood her by now? She wouldn’t have been able to prove her innocence!”

“Sorry, Ms. Bella!” The servants were shaking in their boots and quickly kneeling down. “We’re sorry, madam; we’re sorry, Serena; it’s all our fault.”

It was all because they were so greedy for snacks, and Serena was always chatting with them and entertaining them, so they completely forgot about their duties. “Martha, your job is to take care of Serena. Although you meant well by helping out, you spilled oil. You should’ve called someone else to clean it up. You said you’re old and forgot; I can understand that, given you’ve been looking after Serena for eighteen years. But now look at the mess you’ve made. I’ll dock you a month’s pay. Don’t make the same mistake again.”

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