Filed to story: Mia Bowen and Timothy Barrett Novel
He leaned back. “Do you think she’s worth that price?”
“We’ve already gone through five designers, Mr. Barrett. All of them asked for more than 100 thousand dollars, so we’ve already spent more than 500 thousand dollars on them. It’d actually be worth it if we could spend a little more to hire a designer who can get the job done,” Heath said.
Timothy raised an eyebrow at him. “How are you so sure that I’ll be happy with her designs?”
Heath fell silent. Hadn’t Timothy switched designers so many times because he hadn’t been happy with any of their designs?
After a while, Timothy asked, “So, what do you think?”
Heath said tentatively, “It is a little expensive. Maybe we should forget it.”
Timothy frowned. “Have her accept the order. I won’t pay her the remainder of the fees if I’m not happy with her work.”
It wouldn’t be that easy to earn his money!
Heath nodded and left the office. He wiped the sweat from his brow. It was getting harder and harder to guess
Soon, Mia received a call from Heath. She smirked and happily accepted the deposit. Cha-ching-that was 200 thousand dollars in her pocket!
She got ready to head to the marital home to scope out the place. Before leaving, she realized she’d run out of folic acid. As she passed by a pharmacy, she dropped by to get a bottle each of folic acid and vitamins. Then, she switched the contents. She had to be careful before the divorce was finalized.
Mia took a cab to her marital home. One of the maids, Holly Stow, was pleasantly surprised to see her. “What are you doing here, Mrs. Barrett?”
“To work, of course.” Mia smiled and entered the hall. It was familiar to her, but many of the decorations had been changed. Somehow, they just didn’t go well together. She looked at the new curtains. “Who switched these?”
Holly said cautiously, “Kaleb did. I heard he did it on Ms. Lane’s orders.”
Mia wasn’t surprised to hear this. After all, on the day that she’d been kicked out of this place, Maya had mentioned that she would change everything in the villa.
A hint of mockery flashed past her eyes. “It’s good that things have been changed. Out with the old and in with the new, right?”
“Don’t be mad, Mrs. Barrett. Mr. Barrett was furious when he learned about Kaleb changing the furnishings. He even had Kaleb fired,” Holly said.
“Really?” Mia was surprised. Kaleb had been sent here by Sharon, yet Timothy hadn’t hesitated to have him fired. She supposed he’d genuinely been angry. It made sense, though. Timothy was a clean freak and had a compulsive streak. He was hard to deal with.
“Could you help me record the things that have been changed, Holly? I’ll deal with the renovations, but you’ll have to help me coordinate things a little,” Mia said.
“Of course, Mrs. Barrett. But aren’t you gonna see what things are like upstairs?”
Mia lowered her gaze. “No. That won’t be necessary.”
She didn’t want to head upstairs to see traces of Timothy and Maya’s life together-not even in the slightest.
Mia kept a mental record of all the changes that had been made to the living room so that she had an idea of what to change. She would work on the draft at home.
At this moment, someone rang the doorbell. Holly answered the door to see two women standing outside.” May I know who you’re looking for?”
“Out of the way, you. I want to see the lady of the household.”
“Yeah, get out of our way. I’m your boss’ mother-in-law!”
Holly was shoved aside. She didn’t have the chance to stop them from barging into the house. “What are you two doing? You can’t come in!”
Mia heard all of this from her seat on the couch. Her expression shifted as she turned to look at the women who’d barged into the villa. “What are you two doing here?”
Her adoptive grandmother, Mildred Hort, felt the leather couch. “I didn’t expect you to marry someone so well- off, Mia. If not for Jimmy’s slip of the tongue, I wouldn’t have any idea that your husband lived in such a huge villa!”
Mary chimed in, “Didn’t you tell us that your husband was a poor bastard? You said you needed the money to pay for your uncle’s hospital bills and that you’d dropped out of college to cook and clean for your husband. It turns out you have maids at home! You’ve been lying this whole time, Mia!”
Only then did Mia realize how Mary and Mildred had found their way here. Jimmy Lloyd was a cab driver, and they lived in the same village. Jimmy had once dropped her off in the neighborhood, but she hadn’t told him which villa she lived in. They shouldn’t have been able to find her here.
Mary was green with envy at the sight of the spacious, beautiful villa. “You’re a little bitch, Mia. Why didn’t you tell us that you’d married someone so well-off? We could’ve done with the money! Do you know how difficult it was for us to find you? We had to knock on every door here, you know!”
Mia’s blood boiled when she heard that. “How shameless can you two be? Get the hell out of here! No matter how well-off my husband is, it has nothing to do with you!”
Mildred slapped herself on the thigh and started wailing. “If you dare kick me out of here, you little bitch, I’ll make sure all your neighbors know about this so they can see who’s right and who’s wrong. Do you think it’s right for you to kick your mother and grandmother out now that you’ve hit the jackpot?”
This was the first time in Mia’s life that someone had infuriated her so much she was trembling. How could there be such shameless people on this earth?
If she were anywhere else, she would just turn and leave. But this was the Barrett residence. She didn’t want Timothy to see how shameless her adoptive family could be.
Mary said greedily, “If you think we’re embarrassing you, you’d better give us all the money you have. I heard you won a million dollars from that competition you were in. Since your husband’s so rich, I don’t think you’d need the money, right?
“Your brother needs the money so he can get married when he’s older, though. He won’t be able to find a wife if he’s broke!”
Mia snorted. “My money has nothing to do with you people.”
“Fine, then. If you refuse to give us money, have your husband buy your brother a nice house. That’ll be enough for your brother to get married,” Mildred said.
Mary was delighted by this. “Yes, that would be for the best. In fact, you’d better get us a villa that’s just like this one!”
They even had the nerve to demand a villa!
Mia picked up the fruit platter on the table and flung it at them. Her gaze was frosty as she snarled, “I told you to get the hell out of here. You’re dreaming if you think you can get a dime out of me.
“Also, if you dare cause a scene here, I’ll call the cops on you. This is an affluent neighborhood, not the countryside!”
“What’s going on here?” At this moment, a cold, sharp voice rang out. Mia turned to see Timothy walk into the villa. He wore a neatly pressed suit. He’d obviously rushed over from the office.
Mia’s heart sank. She wanted to resolve this before he found out. Why was he home in the day?
A wave of bitterness washed over her. Why did Timothy always have to catch her when she was at her lowest?
Timothy strode into the villa. He’d caught Mia throwing the fruit platter earlier; it was at odds with her usual obedient, demure act.
He swept a gaze over the shards of glass on the floor. He frowned. “What in the world is going on?”
Before Mia could say anything, Mildred piped up sycophantically. “You must be Timothy. Honestly, Mia didn’t even tell us about her marrying you. We didn’t expect you to be so outstanding! This must be a blessing from the heavens.
“If Mia ever acts up or throws a tantrum, you can let me know. I’ll teach her a lesson!”
Mary smiled and added, “Yes, exactly. We’re a family now, so we should help each other out whenever necessary.”
Timothy had long since looked into Mia’s background. He knew she was an orphan but that a couple had adopted her. Despite that, she’d grown up with her aunt. That alone was enough to tell him that Mia’s adoptive parents weren’t exactly great people.
He looked at Mary and Mildred coldly. “What do you guys want?”
Mary’s eyes lit up. “It’s simple, really. The little bitch won a million dollars in prize money from that competition she participated in, yet she didn’t bother asking whether we needed anything.
“Her brother’s going to start dating soon. Who knows when he’ll get married? All he needs now is a house so he can get married, yet she’s not even willing to pay for that.”
Mia couldn’t take it anymore. She shouted at Mary and Mildred, “Get the hell out of here right now!”
She should’ve been more forceful earlier and had the security guards kick them out. That way, Timothy wouldn’t be aware of this mess.
Mary stood up straight. “This house belongs to Timothy, not you. If he hasn’t said anything, what gives you the right to kick me out?”
Mia clenched her fists tightly. She felt ashamed. She didn’t even dare to look Timothy in the eye, afraid that she would see mockery and scorn there. Her dignity was already hanging by a thread; she didn’t want it to be destroyed right before the divorce.
Mildred and Mary’s sudden appearance here had ruined everything, though. Mia lowered her eyes self- deprecatingly. She didn’t look at Timothy or say anything.
She supposed this was a good opportunity for Timothy to tell Mary and Mildred about the divorce. Timothy could also let them know that she had no right to make any decisions in this household.
Once Mary and Mildred realized they couldn’t get anything out of her, they would probably leave. It would be for her good.
After a moment of silence, Timothy said, “She calls the shots in this household.”
Huh?
Mia stared at him in shock. He was poker-faced as usual, and his eyes were like vortexes. She couldn’t read him, but one thing was clear-there wasn’t any mockery or scorn in his eyes.
Had he just said that she called the shots in this household?
If not for her hearing every word he’d said, she would’ve thought she was dreaming. Was that something Timothy could even say?
Mia wasn’t the only one who was stunned. Mary and Mildred were equally taken aback. They exchanged looks of disbelief.
Then, Mildred said shamelessly, “Since you’ve married an outstanding man who treats you so well, Mia, I’m sure you’re not lacking anything. Why don’t you give your brother one of your smaller properties, then?”
Mary wasn’t as obnoxious as before. Her tone was gentler as she said, “Think about how we adopted you when you were younger, Mia. You grew up safe and sound because we took you in, and look at the man you’ve married now.
“We’re not asking for much-all we want is for you to cough up some money to buy a home for your brother so he can get married. He’s your brother, you know! You can’t stand by and watch him struggle to make it in life.”
Mia took a deep breath. “I’ll say this one last time-my money is going to go to Uncle James’ hospital fees. I have no right to give it to anyone else.”
Mildred turned to Timothy. “Our family isn’t too well-off, Timothy. Can you lend us some money since Mia’s brother needs to buy a home?”
“Grandma!” Mia cut Mildred off as soon as Mildred brought up borrowing money. She looked away, too embarrassed to meet Timothy’s eyes.
Despite being rejected many times, Mildred was still shameless enough to ask for money.
“Grandma? You never saw me as your grandmother. It’s your younger brother we’re talking about, and we shouldn’t leave him high and dry.” Mildred then turned to Timothy. “Will you help us, Timothy?”
Mary nodded enthusiastically on the side too. Timothy was rich, which meant that she could live comfortably in the future.