CHAPTER 3

Lady Loretta was dismissing the maids to clear the used plates and empty bottles and tidy up the living room after all the guests had left the mansion. She noticed Melody wincing in pain and alighting the staircase with great difficulty.

“Melody.” Lady Loretta looked shocked at how dishevelled Melody appeared—beaten to a stupor.

“What happened to you?” Lady Loretta inquired in shock. All the maids in the living room paused to look at Melody and gasped at the horror that had overtaken the once-arrogant lady.

“Madam, 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. 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 she has been working here with us, she has never gotten into a fight with any of the maids that I am aware of. Are you sure you are referring to Miranda, or did another maid do this to you?”

As the older woman questioned Melody after all the guests had left, Derrick walked back into the living room. He looked stunned to see a guest still remaining.

“She did this, Ma’am. I cannot lie to you. Miranda lied about me to Master Derrick, and after he left us she pounced on 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?” Derrick asked as he strolled up to his mother.

“Mom, you know it’s already late. You should get some rest,” he said, not casting a glance at Melody, who had expected him to summon the maid.

After losing her job, Melody had hoped Miranda would also lose hers as a maid in the exquisite villa. She knew she no longer stood a chance of getting closer to Derrick. He was mostly busy in the office attending business-class meetings. She had no excuse to see him. Alexa served as his personal secretary, and many other top female staff longed to be with him.

“Mom.” Derrick frowned, looking at his aged mother, whose hair was filled with grey.

His mother said, “Derrick, I will return to my room. But where is Miranda if Melody accuses her 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 without summoning Miranda.

Derrick walked with his mother to the stairs and assisted her back to her room on the top floor.

It took the older lady sometime to climb the flight of stairs, and Derrick considered relocating her room to the ground floor.

Arriving at Lady Loretta’s door, Derrick paused and gently opened it. The maids knew best to avoid him, especially when he was with his mother.

“Mom, you should get enough rest. I don’t want anything to go wrong with you,” Derrick spoke in a hushed tone after helping her onto the bed.

Lady Loretta and Derrick were both dark-complexioned. She smiled at her son’s care and replied, “I am fine, Derrick, but you know what will make me happy and help me rest well is for you to settle down.”

“Your father worked so hard to acquire all this wealth for you. I am already above seventy, and you cannot expect me to remain youthful. You should consider marrying a wife. It is not until you reach thirty that you should do so, my son.”

Derrick scowled, holding his mother’s warm left hand as she lay on the bed.

She continued, “My wish for you is that you 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, watching you both from heaven.”

“Mom,” Derrick interrupted with a frown. “You aren’t leaving me anytime soon.” Tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. His mother often spoke of leaving, and he wished he could exchange all their wealth for a longer life so she would not leave him.

“It’s life, Derrick. We have to go for the world to stay 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 and to see the next heir of the 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 in a warm bath inside one of the lush rooms.

“Oh my goodness! This feels so good,” she bathed, not caring about the consequences of her actions.

Miranda had hurried into this room, and it was totally different from the other rooms she was assigned to care for downstairs.

“Mm,” Miranda mumbled, enjoying herself in the cool night bath.

After dealing with Melody, who had dared to slap her, Miranda thought to show the woman what it felt like to be dejected. She was not a lady to take bullying from others.

Coming from a lower-class family and becoming an orphan at a young age, Miranda knew the world had no respect for the poor.

She wanted to become rich even if it meant climbing over others to attain that. She admired the good life, wanted a good job and longed to own a big supermarket in her name.

Thinking about her life struggles, Miranda did not care how much time she had spent soaking in the exquisite large pristine bathtub.

The bubbling water filled with scented soaps soothed her body. Accompanied by the chilly night weather, she felt no urge to leave the bath.

Miranda wanted to sleep there and forget all her worries. She had even let down her blonde hair to fall behind her back. She was extremely beautiful, but remembering the slap Melody had given her made Miranda feel like strangling the lady’s neck. She knew she would be jailed, and no one would come to her rescue.

“Mmm,” Miranda enjoyed herself inside the bathtub until she heard the sound of the room door shutting.

“Who’s there?” she asked, thinking she was still in her maid’s room on the lower floor. Reality dawned on her that she was in one of the children’s rooms.

“I hope this isn’t Master Derrick’s room,” Miranda muttered lowly—but she heard the bathroom door slide open.