CHAPTER 3

As Lady Loretta was dismissing the maids to clear the used plates and empty bottles, and to also tidy up the living room. After all the guests had left her mansion, she noticed the lady wincing in pain and alighting the staircase with so much difficulty.

"Melody," Lady Loretta looked shocked upon seeing how Melody looked so disheveled, like she was beaten to a stupor.

"What happened to you?" Lady Loretta inquired in shock, while the four maids in the living room also paused to look at Melody. They gasped at the horror the arrogant lady now looked.

"Milady, it was one of the maids. The maid you assigned to show me to the top floor. She dealt with me," Melody managed to speak as her cheeks were visibly swollen.

"You mean Miranda did this to you? I don't believe it. Miranda is innocent and cannot hurt a fly. Ever since Miranda has been working here with us, she hasn't gotten into a fight with any of the maids that I am aware of. Are you sure you're referring to Miranda or another maid did this to you?"

While the older woman was busy questioning Melody after all the guests had left the mansion, Derrick walked back into the living room and looked stunned upon seeing there was still a guest left.

"She did this, ma'am. I cannot lie to you. Miranda lied about me to Master Derrick, and after he left us, she pounced upon me and dealt with me to this extent. She is evil, ma'am," Melody started sobbing upon seeing Derrick looking at her.

"What's happening here, Mom?" As Derrick asked the question, he strolled up to meet his mother.

"Mom, you know it's already late. You should get some rest," Derrick said, not casting a glance at Melody, who had thought and expected him to summon the maid.

After Melody had lost her job, she expected Miranda to also lose her job as a maid in the exquisite villa. 

Melody knew she didn't stand a chance of getting closer to Derrick again. He was mostly busy in the office and attending to business-class meetings.

Similarly, she didn't have an excuse to use to see him also. Alexa was there as his secretary, and many other top female staff that longed to be with Derrick.

"Mom," Derrick said, looking at his aged mother, whose hair was filled with gray.

Derrick frowned, and his mother said, "Derrick, I will return to my room. But where is Miranda if Melody accused Miranda of beating her up?"

"Do not worry yourself, Mother. I will have the guards investigate what happened. Melody, you may leave now," Derrick dismissed Melody, not caring to summon Miranda out.

He walked with his mother along to the stairs and assisted her in returning to her room on the top floor. It took the older lady hours to climb the flight of stairs, and Derrick considered relocating his mother's room to a room on the ground floor.

Arriving at Lady Loretta Luis' room door, Derrick paused and gently opened the door. The maids know it's best to avoid him, most especially when he is with his mother.

"Mom, you should get enough rest. I don't want anything to go wrong with you," Derrick spoke to his mother in a hushed tone, after accompanying her to climb onto the bed. 

Lady Loretta and Derrick were both dark in complexion. She smiled at her son's care and replied, "I am fine, but you know what will make me happy and to rest well is for you get married. Your father had worked so hard to acquire all this wealth for you. I am already above 70 years, and you don't expect me to remain youthful. You should consider marrying a wife. It's not until you get to thirty that you should do so, my son."

"Mom…" Derrick scowled, holding his mother's warm left hand.

As she laid on the bed, she said, "My wish for you is that you should find a good woman, who will love you very much, pamper you like her baby, and take good care of you. While I am away, and watching you both from heaven."

"Mom," Derrick interrupted his mother's words with a frown. "You ain't leaving me anytime soon." Tears gathered in the corners of Derrick's eyes. His mother mostly speaks to him about leaving, and he wished he could exchange all their wealth for a longer life so she wouldn't leave him.

"It's life, Derrick. We have to go for the world to become balanced and to allow our generations to continue from where we stop. But I am not leaving you anytime soon. I still want to see you get married first, and to see the next heir of Luis Firm."

"That's fine, Mom. I guess I should leave you to rest now. Have a sound sleep," Derrick leaned over and kissed his mother's forehead goodbye. She smiled and watched him exit her room.

---

Meanwhile, in the master's bedroom of the exquisite mansion, Miranda soaked herself inside a warm bath in one of the lush rooms.

"Oh my goodness! This feels so good," Miranda bathed, not caring for the consequences of her actions.

She had hurried into this room, and it was totally different from the other rooms that she was assigned to take care of downstairs.

"Mm," Miranda mumbled, enjoying herself in a cold night bath. 

After dealing with the silly lady that dared to slap her, Miranda thought to show the lady what it feels like to be dejected. 

She was not a lady to take shit from others, but after coming from the lower-class family and also becoming an orphan at a younger age, Miranda knew the world had no respect for the poor. 

So she wanted to become rich, even if it meant climbing on others to attain that. She admires the good life, wanted a good job, and to own a big supermarket or a shopping mall in her name.

Thinking about her life struggles, Miranda didn't care how much time she had spent soaking herself in this pristine bathtub. 

The bubbling waters filled with scented soaps soothed her body, and accompanied by the chilly weather of the night, Miranda didn't feel like coming out of the bath. 

She wanted to sleep there and forget all her worries. She had even let down her blonde hair to fall behind her back. 

Miranda was extremely beautiful, but remembering the hot slap that Melody had given her, Miranda felt like strangling the lady's neck, but she knew she would be jailed, and no one would come to her rescue.

"Mmmmm," Miranda enjoyed herself inside the hot bathtub until she heard the sound of the room door shut.

"Who's there?" Miranda asked, thinking she was in her maid's room on the lower floor of the mansion. However, reality dawned on her that she was in one of the master's rooms.

"I hope this isn't Master Derrick's room," Miranda muttered, until she heard the bathroom door slide open.