Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
David quickly intervened, “That’s not a good spot; it’s too low. Let me do it! The decals should be placed higher to look better.”
“Bella decides what’s best. What do you know?”
Mirabella, feeling a bit sorry for David, handed him a decal. David was just about to celebrate when he heard their grandma say, “David, you go stick it over there. Bella, wherever you want to put it, I canhelp you too.”
Eventually, David took a single decal back to his brothers, gazing longingly at his sister in the crowd.
There was a distance between them, not of life and death, but the fact that despite Bella standing right before them, they couldn’t get close.
At that moment, a housemaid approached Louisa to report, “Ma’am, the photography team has arrived.”
“Perfect timing to capture this moment. Invite them in,” Louisa instructed, then turned to Mirabella.
“Bella, there will be a photography team taking pictures and recording all day. If you feel uncomfortable, just tell me.”
“Ms. Bella, we’ll try to keep our distance and stay as unobtrusive as possible.” the photographer assured.
“Bella’s no stranger to cameras. She’s received so much acclaim on stage, singing and playing piano.
These cameras are nothing out of the ordinary for her.”
Grandma’s words reminded Louisa, “Right, of course.”
Bella had seen it all.
The hustle and bustle of decorating was in full swing as the servants brought out a stack of decals.
Quick as a flash, David snatched up at least half of them.
“Come on, sis, let’s go!” Clark tugged at Mirabella’s sleeve, dragging her outside.
Hans and Chasel stepped forward, blocking the way.
“Let the elders take a break. We young folks can handle the decorations,” they declared.
“Since when did you guys start working together like this.” the elders murmured in surprise, not expecting such unity for their beloved sister.
Finally, David got to indulge in his joy of decorating with Mirabella, chattering away.
“David, could you pipe down for a sec? We wanna hear what Bella has to say,” the others intervened.
Mirabella was just about to speak when a servant’s cry of alarm broke through the noise, her anxiety so palpable you could almost see her stamping her feet in distress.
“Oh no, what to do? What to do?” The servant was on the verge of tears.
“What’s wrong?” Mirabella looked toward the sound to find the servant.
“Ms. Bella, I accidentally tore the banners outside the main gate.” She held in her hands two long banners, “It’s mainly because these banners can’t be folded, they are too long and big. With a gust of wind, I don’t know how they got torn. What should we do? The outside gate is huge, these banners are specifically customized, and we had a calligrapher write them.”At the mention of “calligrapher,” the brothers, who had been busy with the main door, all paused and looked towards Mirabella.
When it came to calligraphy, who could outshine Bella?
They had seen Bella’s calligraphy before – it was bold and magnificent, taking one’s breath away.
“Do we have any more banners at home? Cut it to size, and I’ll handle the writing.”
Hope flickered in the servant’s eyes at Mirabella’s offer. Indeed, Ms. Bella was a renowned calligrapher – her writing was worth much more than the original banners!
“Thank you, Ms. Bella, thank you.” Jenny bobbed with gratitude, hurrying off to prepare.
After Mirabella and her brothers finished adorning the main house with festive ornaments on the doorknobs, they moved on to decorate the mansion’s main gate.
Then, the servant had everything ready for Mirabella.
Mirabella mixed the gold powder just right, dipped her brush, and crafted a banner right there and then.
The family gathered around, murmuring praise.
“Bella’s writing is incredible, blows that calligrapher out of the water!”
“If someone saw these banners, they’d think we’d bought them for a fortune.”
“Such face we’ll have with these up! Bella, you’re amazing,” the servants applauded.
Grandpa looked on, endlessly praising the work.With the family’s help, Mirabella’s handcrafted banners were placed on the main gate. The entrance now spoke of elegance, all thanks to Ms. Bella’s touch.
“Let’s take a family photo right here, shall we?” Louisa suggested with a hopeful glint in her eyes.
“Absolutely.” The crowd bustled together, cheerfully shuffling Mirabella to center stage while they crowded around her.
The five tall and broad-shouldered brothers could only fit at the back.
“It’s supposed to be a family photo, but we’re missing someone this year.” Kenneth trailed off as a sleek black car approached from a distance. The man stepping out was none other than Sampson Griffith!
“Uncle Sam!”
Mirabella and her five brothers greeted him in unison.
Sampson’s smile was as refreshing as a spring breeze. “Sorry, I’m a bit late.”
He was laden with gifts, and the servants hurried to assist him.
After exchanging pleasantries with the elders and explaining his delayed arrival due to urgent business overseas, the family was finally complete. Louisa’s family had all gathered.
Only Kenneth’s side was missing a few.
“Bella, Lucas said they’d join us for the dinner. Your aunt’s family will come over for the welcome-back party on Jan. 1st,” Grandpa explained to Mirabella.
Mirabella nodded, unfazed. “That’s fine.”
“Alright, everyone, look at the camera and say ‘cheese’.”After a heartwarming photo session, the crowd dispersed, and Louisa couldn’t help but embrace Mirabella.
“Bella. I’m so grateful you came back to us. It’s my first time since I got married to have mom, dad, my brothers and sisters-in-law, and my little brother here with me for the holidays.”
In previous years, she would connect with her family, but never like this year, where they had all come to stay at Reflections Villa in advance.
This long-missed sense of joy brought tears to her eyes.
“It’s all thanks to you.” Louisa knew it was her beloved daughter’s presence that had brought the family closer.
Mirabella’s smile brightened, “It’s definitely more festive when we’re all together.”
At that moment, the head of security caught Mirabella’s eye and made his way over.
David noticed that the head of security wanted a word with Mirabella and promptly stepped forward to draw Louisa away.
“Ms. Bella,” the head of security began, seeing that the other adults were engrossed in their conversations and not paying attention to them. “The two that escaped from Reflections Villa have gone off the radar, just as you predicted. It seems whoever is behind this has been keeping tabs on us, and those two are likely to have been killed by now.”
“He’s getting restless.” Mirabella’s lips curled up slightly. “We’ll have a lot of guests arriving soon. Keep a close eye on everyone coming in and out of Reflections Villa, including their bodyguards and servants. The person we’re looking for is among them, and I’m intrigued to see who’s managed to hide for so long.””Understood!”
The security chief acknowledged the order, ready to slip away discreetly when Mirabella added, “What about the things I told you to discard?”
“Yes, the blood-stained bandages are deliberately thrown out every day.”
These were the blood samples Mirabella collected and used to convince the puppet master, with the toxicity purposefully reduced.
The sight of the bloodied bandages would make others believe Erik was injured, possibly from being tortured for information.
The puppet master had intended for Erik to die at the Collins family’s hands by poisoning, but now that the poison in his blood was reduced, it was clear proof that Mirabella had nearly healed him.
With the puppet master growing impatient, it was certain he would send someone to the door.
No matter who showed up, Mirabella was confident she could snag their tail and trace it back to the puppet master pulling the strings!
“Bella, we still keep the Christmas tree at home. You hadn’t have time to decorate the tree last time, so let’s go hang some ornaments on the Christmas tree, shall we?” Louisa called from a short distance away.
“Sure.”
Thought they all had celebrated the Christmas Day together, and had a happy time. Since they finally had Bella back, they wanted to celebrate every festival with her. To make each one a grand event.
Hence, all morning, they were busy with festive preparations. They stuck decals on the windows, arranged cheerful streamers, and hung ornaments. They crafted New Year’s decorations and placed them in every nook and cranny of the house, adorning the indoor plants with fairy lights and ornaments.
The family was engulfed in laughter and chatter, a lively scene indeed.
The staff wasn’t idle either; they strung up joyful banners across the ceiling and decorated the garden’s flora with strings of lights.
The whole house, inside and out, was brimming with the spirit of the New Year. A dozen photographers captured the moment, no staged shots necessary; every frame was filled with warmth and joy.
Seeing her home transformed, Mirabella felt something new stirring within her. Celebrating the New Year with so many people was truly happiness.
As noon approached.
Four chefs rolled out dough, prepared fillings, and gathered everyone to sit down and make cheese tarts together.”Bella, do you know how to make them? I’ve just learned it myself.” Louisa started to show her daughter how to make cheese tarts, but in the blink of an eye, Mirabella had already crafted one perfectly.