Chapter 657 – Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family

Filed to story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family

But she was the girl he had cherished for so many years. He couldn’t tolerate such things happening to her under his watch.

“Serena, are you hurting a lot?” the servant asked worriedly, seeing her alternate between anger and tears, “Shall I take you home?”

“When are Mom and Dad getting back?” she asked through sobs.

She was battered and bruised so terribly, and yet her parents were slower to arrive than Martin, who was a mere outsider!

They were so unreliable!

“They received the news and are rushing back as fast as they can, and they should be here in about half an hour.”Serena attempted to get out of the bed, but Martin quickly scooped her up, his tone full of tenderness, “I’ll take you home.”

Serena wanted to lash out at him, but then she thought better of it. This man could be her sharpest weapon against others in the future.

She couldn’t afford to drive him away.

So Serena began her game of tough love, with her eyes brimming with tears as she confronted Martin.

“What is so damn important that you’re always busy? If it wasn’t for you, those people wouldn’t have had the chance to do this to me. I wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“I’m sorry, it’s all my fault,” Martin admitted, feeling a pang of guilt inside. He had explained the troubles at work to Serena in a gentle drawl on their way home. After getting her back to her place, he had even carried her to bed and, with a sincere expression, handed her a card. “The deposit for this project, including the future revenue, it’s all yours.”

“I don’t want it.” Serena pretended to throw the card away, yet waiting for Martin to pick it up for her deep down.

Sure enough, Martin walked over, bent down, picked it up, and placed it back in her hand.

Serena couldn’t help feeling smug about it.

“There are a few million in there, and there’ll be more to come. I screwed up tonight.” Martin lamented for a while before continuing, “Get some rest, and I’ll come check on you tomorrow.”

Before leaving, he didn’t forget to add, “Send me that person’s name. I’ll take care of it without leaving a trace.”

Serena had been waiting for him to say just that, but she still played the victim. “You’re my boyfriend, if someone finds it out. Never mind, I don’t want this to drag on.”

“How can we let it go? Look at what they did to you?!” Martin was even more persistent than she was.

“I won’t let her get away with this, don’t worry, no one will find out.”

Serena said nothing.”Just send it to me later, get some rest, goodnight.” As Martin left, he pulled out his phone and ordered his people to start investigating it, eager to expose whoever was behind this.

When Kenneth and Louisa hurried back, they immediately noticed Serena sitting on the bed, looking utterly disheveled.

“Dad, Mom.” Serena cried, looking extremely wronged.

But Louisa didn’t comfort her right away; instead, she seemed somewhat indifferent.

Although Serena found it strange, she didn’t understand why.

“Serena, I heard you went to Mr. Eugene’s birthday bash tonight?” Louisa asked.

Serena had begged them for an invitation earlier, but they hadn’t received one. Instead, it was Serena’s grandfather who had received an invite, but he hadn’t gone due to some reason.

Serena hadn’t expected her mother to be more concerned about the party than her injuries.

Tears welling up in her eyes, she replied pitifully, “Martin insisted on taking me. What’s wrong, Mom?

Why are you suddenly asking about this?”

“I heard from people at the party that before Bella’s identity was blown, you bragged to your friends that you were her disciple. And, you told them that Bella ruined your engagement to Romeo. Later, when Bella confronted you, you and your friends got into a fight??”

If it was not for the friend she had known for ages who came back from the party and told her everything, Louisa would never have imagined her daughter, whom she had doted on for years, could be so vain and would tarnish Bella’s reputation, even harboring inappropriate thoughts for Romeo??

This was unacceptable!”Mom, who told you that.” Serena began to defend herself.

But Louisa cut her off, “When we heard you were beaten and bitten by a snake, your father and I were worried sick, ready to defend you. But to our dismay, we then learned about your behavior at the party.

Serena, are you still the daughter I know??”

“Mom! You’ve got it all wrong!!” Serena cried as she tried to explain, “It’s Lindsay, she’s the one who loves my brother-in-law and tries to usurp my sister’s place. You can check if you don’t believe me.

Tonight, Lindsay was shamelessly cozying up to Grandpa Phillip in front of everyone. It was so obvious as if she had written it on her forehead. And, these scratches on my face? They’re her doing.”

“Serena, we were shocked to hear about your actions at the party. It’s surprising and unbelievable.

We’d be more at ease if you hadn’t done those things, but we’re afraid you’ve changed into someone we don’t recognize.” Kenneth was also in disbelief when he heard about his daughter’s behavior that evening, “Louisa, she’s badly hurt, let her rest for now.”

It was well past midnight, and if they kept grilling her, outsiders might think they were mistreating their adopted daughter.

“I will get to the bottom of this, and I’ll talk to Bella tomorrow.”

Louisa was about to leave when Serena grabbed her in a tight embrace, her voice breaking through tears, “Mom, is that no matter what I say, you won’t believe me? Lindsay was a close friend of mine a long time ago, but then she went abroad, and we lost touch for years. It was only at tonight’s birthday party that we ran into each other again.”

Through her sobs, Serena explained, “The engagement between my brother-in-law and me was called off ages ago, but only our families knew about it. When Lindsay asked, I couldn’t say the marriage was still on, but I also couldn’t tell her it was over. What was I supposed to say?”

With tears streaming down her face, Serena continued, “All I could do was subtly hint to her that it’s my sister who is with Romeo now, and I dared not reveal anything else. But Lindsay misunderstood, thinking my sister stole my love and secretly told Madeline.”

Serena was utterly distraught, “It’s because they gossiped and twisted the story that it reached my sister. That’s why I turned so upset and came to confront Lindsay. And can you believe it? Lindsay slapped me right there in front of everyone. You can ask around; I’m not lying to you.”

Louisa paused, and her body tensed as she looked at her daughter, who was struggling to speak through her tears. Half skeptical, half sympathetic, she said, “But what I heard was that you were impersonating a student of Queena.”

“I was talking about Mr. Quentin, the man who used to teach me the violin. Somehow Lindsay and the others thought I meant Queena, and they blurted it out in front of everyone, which was so embarrassing for me. In the end, to not ruin the party, I had to apologize.”

Serena clung to Louisa, her voice filled with a hurt so raw, “Mom, do you think if I’m not your biological daughter, nothing I say matters? Was all the love you showed me over the past eighteen years just for show? Sometimes I’m so jealous of my sister. She’s got the Collins family blood. No matter what happens, everyone always takes her side.”Louisa looked at her and felt a pang of compassion.

“Are you really saying you never told your friends that Bella was the one who ruined your engagement to Romeo?” Kenneth, who had been listening in, couldn’t help but interject.

“I swear, I didn’t, I really didn’t..” Serena wept as if her heart was breaking, “Do you think I’m not aware of my position as an adopted daughter? If I slander my sister and do anything against her, you would throw me out in a heartbeat. Why would I do something so thankless?”

Kenneth found her argument compelling, but still, that friend from the party had indeed claimed that Serena was posing as Queena’s student and had told her friend Lindsay that Bella had destroyed her engagement with Romeo, which was why she was with Martin now.

“About what I told Lindsay, only she and I know the truth. Everyone else is just spreading hearsay. How credible can that be?”

Perhaps fearing that her parents would confront Lindsay for the truth, Serena added, “Like I said earlier, Lindsay knows I’m not with Romeo, so she’s been sucking up to Grandpa Phillip—that’s something everyone has seen. She’s just trying to become Grandpa Phillip’s granddaughter-in-law, right?”

Serena analyzed further, “If she really considered me a good friend and if I had really said my sister ruined my engagement with Romeo, then as my friend, Lindsay should have been the first to defend me. How could she turn around and try to get close to Romeo? Considering her character, how reliable can anything coming from her be?”

Kenneth started to see some logic in her words. If Lindsay truly valued her friendship with Serena, she wouldn’t rush to get close to Romeo after hearing Serena wasn’t with him.”You can ask my sister about what happened at the party; I have no objections. But my sister isn’t omniscient. How could she know what I said to Lindsay? She only knows what Lindsay told her, and Lindsay’s intentions are not pure. She wants to drive a wedge between my sister and me so she can benefit from the fallout.”

At this point, Serena sobbed softly, wiping away the tears from her cheeks, “So, it’s not that I’m being evasive. I’m just trying to lay out the facts for you.”

Kenneth noticed that Serena’s eyes were rimmed with red from crying, and gently patted her shoulder.

“Hey, why don’t you get some rest, kiddo? We can talk about this tomorrow. If you’re innocent, then it was your mom and I who jumped the gun tonight. You know we owe your sister a lot. We just want to make it up to her. We were worried she’d suffer where we can’t see.”

“It’s okay,” Serena sniffled, her voice showing a blend of resignation and understanding. “It’s my lot, isn’t it? I’ve been living the life that should’ve been hers. So a little misunderstanding and a little hardship on my part—it’s nothing compared to what she’s been through. I can handle it.”

“That’s not what we meant.” Kenneth’s guilt deepened. They had indeed rushed over to confront their injured daughter without getting the full picture, just taking someone else’s word for it.

“This isn’t the first time you’ve questioned me like this. It’s fine, really. The truth will get out, right?”

Serena attempted a brave smile, but tears betrayed her. “You could check, you know. It was Martin who carried me home tonight. If I still had any inappropriate feelings for my brother-in-law, I wouldn’t let any other man get close.”

Kenneth nodded, “We understand. Let’s give Serena some space to rest.”

Letting go of her mother’s embrace, Serena managed a restrained voice, “Goodnight, Mom and Dad.”

“Goodnight,” Kenneth said, reaching the doorway and pausing. A pang of remorse held him back. “Are your injuries okay?”

The question opened the floodgates of Serena, who fought back a fresh wave of tears.

“I’m fine.” she choked out, with a bittersweet tone. “At least someone cares about my injuries. A nurse said it’s just superficial, nothing broken.”

Kenneth, a kind-hearted man, felt even worse hearing this.He couldn’t help but ask, “Who did this to you? That friend of yours, Lindsay? Or someone else?”

“Martin said he’d take care of it. You and mom don’t have to trouble yourselves with this,” Serena offered a lonely smile. “You should get some sleep too.”

Her words seemed to denote that in the whole wide world, Martin was now her sole pillar of support.

Her parents felt a million miles away.

Filled with regret, Kenneth replied softly, “Alright.”

He closed her door with a heavy heart and went back to his room before saying to her wife, “Honey, did we wrong her tonight?”

“You heard her, besides her and Lindsay, no one really knows what they talked about,” Louisa mused, sitting at her vanity for a long moment before pulling out her phone and dialing. “Hey, Alice, I’ve got a question about Lindsay. Was she trying to cozy up to Phillip tonight? Okay, okay, got it.”

After hanging up the phone, Kenneth quickly asked, “What did she say?”

“She said when Romeo showed up last night, a bunch of girls swarmed him; some even confessed their feelings in public. Before that, Lindsay did make an appearance, cozying up to Phillip with rather obvious intentions.”

Hearing this, Kenneth thought of Serena’s tear-stained face and couldn’t help saying, “Looks like we might have wronged Serena after all.”

“That’s not necessarily the case. Let’s talk to Bella tomorrow,” Louisa felt torn inside. On one hand was the child she had doted on for eighteen years, and on the other was the biological daughter she had neglected for just as long. She sat at her vanity, removing her jewelry, her mind wandering through memories of the past.