Chapter 2
I took a taxi to return to the Xander
mansion.
However, the moment I stepped through the door, an unexpected blast of icy water soaked me wet.
“Oh, I’m sorry Leslie,” Lucy said. She was holding a garden hose. “I was watering the flowers, so I didn’t realize you were there.”
Yet she still dozed with water until I was
thoroughly wet. Only then did she lower
the hose.
I tried to open my eyes. When I finally did, I found out that the lily of the valley that I had been meticulously taken care of for several years had been uprooted. On their place was a sprawling bed of vibrant roses. As the cold wind hit me, I felt a sharp discomfort in my recently operated–on body. As a result, I fell and almost fainted.
James and Bruce exchanged a look and
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sneered. It seemed they thought I was putting on an act again as soon as I returned.
“I thought you had become so tough and would never come back to this house,” Bruce mocked.
“Her own mother didn’t want her anymore,” he continued, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Where else would she go but here?”
His words pierced deeply into my heart.
At that moment, the memory of the first time I arrived at the Xander mansion came into my mind. At that time, Bruce had held my hand and done everything he could to cheer me up by saying, “Don’t worry, Leslie. From now on, this is your home.”
James, his older brother, had prepared the largest and the finest room for me to make sure I felt welcome. Later, when the three of us moved into this villa for work, he meticulously decorated the master
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bedroom to my liking. He even announced to everyone that, both now and in the future, I would be the indisputable lady of this house.
However, all of these changed on the day Lucy arrived, under the pretense of helping out her mother, who worked for the Xander Family. Since then, every single day, this girl clung to the brothers and I constantly found my belongings “accidentally‘ broken by her.
At first, I tried to be understanding. After all, she was just helping out and seemed inexperienced. However, when she
smashed a keepsake my father left me right in front of me, I could not stay silent and confronted her. That was when James
pushed me aside with a deep frown on his face.
“Lucy’s life has not been easy,” he said. “You are just a spoiled princess. Why do you have to make things difficult for a person who’s barely seen the world.”
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Bruce added, “She is younger than me, Leslie. Why can you, as an adult, show her a little more benevolence?”
As I held the pieces of my broken jade pendant, the feeling of loss and
helplessness entered my heart for the first time.
Ever since that time, everything went into a different tune. I was no longer the most important person in their lives. Slowly but surely, the maid‘ s daughter took my place. She established herself as the new lady of the house and pushed me out.
Since it had come to this, there was nothing left for me to hold onto. I just wanted to pack my things and leave.
When I stepped into the house, I saw that all my belongings had been tossed
haphazardly into the hallway.
James stood there, his hand holding
possessively around Lucy’s. His eyes looked down at me with cold disdain.
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Bruce added, “She is younger than me, Leslie. Why can you, as an adult, show her a little more benevolence?”
As I held the pieces of my broken jade pendant, the feeling of loss and
helplessness entered my heart for the first
time.
Ever since that time, everything went into a different tune. I was no longer the most important person in their lives. Slowly but surely, the maid‘ s daughter took my place. She established herself as the new lady of the house and pushed me out.
Since it had come to this, there was nothing left for me to hold onto. I just wanted to pack my things and leave.
When I stepped into the house, I saw that all my belongings had been tossed
haphazardly into the hallway.
James stood there, his hand holding
possessively around Lucy’s. His eyes looked
down at me with cold disdain.
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Chapter 2
Bruce added, “She is younger than me,
Leslie. Why can you, as an adult, show her a little more benevolence?”
As I held the pieces of my broken jade pendant, the feeling of loss and
helplessness entered my heart for the first time.
Ever since that time, everything went into a different tune. I was no longer the most important person in their lives. Slowly but surely, the maid’s daughter took my place. She established herself as the new lady of the house and pushed me out.
Since it had come to this, there was nothing left for me to hold onto. I just wanted to pack my things and leave.
When I stepped into the house, I saw that all my belongings had been tossed
haphazardly into the hallway.
James stood there, his hand holding
possessively around Lucy’s. His eyes looked down at me with cold disdain.
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“Leslie, you should know your place. You’re nothing more than a freeloader clinging to the Xander Family, so you have no right to look down on Lucy, let alone throw at tantrum at her,” he said.
“From now on, you’ll stay in the maid‘ s quarters,” he continued. “Lucy will handle all company matters, and I’m transferring you to do miscellaneous tasks in the back office. Once you learn some humility, maybe we can talk.”
Bruce even tore apart the little teddy bear my mother had left me, just to amuse Lucy.
“Miss Leslie, if you throw another fit and upset Lucy again, I won’t let you off so easily.”
Miss Leslie and Leslie. It was just one simple word but held a whole different meaning. If I had heard those words in the past, I would’ve been heartbroken, and could not sleep because of the heartache.
However now with a plan to leave, I had no
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time to bicker with them. I simply replied, “You‘ re absolutely right. I’ll move out as soon as possible. Oh! Don’t bother about transferring me to another department, I’m resigning.”
James sneered, “You’re still insisting to stay as a leech, huh? Fine. I’ll overlook this just this once for my mother’s sake. However, I expect you to remember your place from now on.”
I walked past him without another word while murmuring softly, “There won’t be a next time.”
Although this place had given me so many cherish memories, it was never truly my home in the end.
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