Chapter 872: Chapter 871
Before, the girl had put on quite the show, acting as if she adored her sister, Rose, and she held Rose in the highest regard.
It was all a farce!!
Behind closed doors, she was actually bullying Rose.
Rose must have endured so much suffering, so many indignities at her hands.
"And there’s even more," Eunice’s gaze swept over them, "Back at our place, Serena would argue with Rose over simple breakfast items like fluffy omelets and cheesy egg wraps."
Kenneth and Louisa were speechless by the shock.
Could someone really be that petty?
Fluffy omelets and cheesy egg wraps cost next to nothing, and besides, since when did Serena even like fluffy omelets?
"At the time, the chef knew she didn’t like them, so he didn’t prepare Serena’s share. Clearly annoyed,she made some snide comments, leading anyone who didn’t know better to think Rose had taken her
favorite dish, leaving her with nothing to eat. But as an aunt, how could I arrange only for those two breakfast items?"
The table was laden with a variety of delicious foods, yet Serena still competed with Rose over something so trivial.
Her pettiness was excessive, malicious!!
"And there’s more. Serena once dragged Dad to go out for a walk in sub-zero temperatures, just to snap photos for Facebook to show off how beloved she was at home, and how close she was with the family."
Eunice’s gaze settled on them as she spoke calmly, "It was her pulling on Dad that caused him to fall.Afraid that others would find out, she warned the servants to keep quiet, and she took it upon herself to
apply medication, without even bothering to change his wet clothes promptly."
Eunice took a sip of her coffee, then continued, "Rose found out about this and was furious. I heard Serena once complaining that even though she hasn’t been deprived of anything in this home, she gets less than Rose, that the gifts you give to Rose are more and more expensive, and so she feels resentful."
Kenneth and Louisa were dumbfounded, unable to imagine Serena could be such an ungrateful person.
She was living a life of luxury as before, and yet, not only was she ungrateful, but she even had the audacity to speak such words about their precious daughter!
How could she say such things?
"In Serena’s eyes, if you buy Rose a purse, she expects an identical one," Eunice continued. "But you’ve actually had hundreds of dresses custom-made for Rose, and none for her."
Louisa had to defend their actions, "But we’ve bought her clothes over the past eighteen years! If we were to tally it up, she’s received more than Rose, never less."
"But in Serena’s view, you’re playing favorites, you’re not treating them equally. She resents Rose, feeling you’ve wronged her."
Louisa glanced at Kenneth, unable to fathom that after eighteen years of care, they had raised such an ingrate!!
Kenneth was also filled with anger and disappointment. Serena had truly changed, become unrecognizable.
"After that argument with Rose, I even talked to her. She promised me to my face that she would change, but then." Eunice pressed a button on the small remote.
The screen showed Martin and Romeo having a full-blown fistfight right outside her front door, leaving Kenneth and Louisa absolutely gobsmacked. What on earth was happening? Why were these two
throwing punches at each other?
"Over the past six months, Serena has kept Rose’s existence from Martin, so he had no clue about her,nor did he know Serena was the adopted daughter of the Collins family."
"What did you just say?" Both Kenneth and Louisa were staggered in shock.
"Serena lied to Martin, telling him Romeo was the kind who abandons the old for the new. She claimed he was flaunting his new flame in front of his ex just to rub it in her face, to deliberately hurt her. She also set up these ’coincidental’ run-ins. No matter where Serena and Martin were or what they were doing, Romeo would show up with his new love and outshine them. That’s why Martin lost it and threw
punches the moment he saw Romeo at my doorstep."
"Romeo can’t be that childish!" Kenneth was fuming. "How could Serena stoop to such a level."
Lying had become second nature to her!
"Before this, she fooled her good friend Brooklyn Reed, claiming that Rose sabotaged her engagement with Romeo. We had hoped she would change, but she has continued to play the same tricks, even lying to her own boyfriend." Louisa’s mind was a whirl of disbelief that wouldn’t settle.
"Romeo is indeed madly in love with Rose—that is not an act. They don’t need to put on a show of affection. What everyone sees is genuine," Kenneth defended.
"That’s true. Romeo has always been cared for Rose," Eunice chimed in with satisfaction. "He’s got her back. Once, Romeo also made it clear to Martin that, before Martin came into the picture, he had rarely seen Serena. He was actually considering calling off the engagement, but then he met Rose, took a liking to her, and that’s why the families’ engagement went on."
"You, what are you saying?" Louisa’s eyes bulged in disbelief. Could it be that the reason Romeo came over with all those gifts, was not to see his fiancée as he claimed, but to break off the engagement with Serena.
She and Kenneth had assumed he had heard the news that they had found their biological daughter, and came specifically to bring gifts for his real bride-to-be.
But it turned out.
"No wonder Romeo wasn’t around much before, but ever since Rose came back to us, he’s been visiting frequently."
It was all because of Rose that the families’ engagement has held.
If Rose hadn’t returned, if Serena were their biological daughter, he wouldn’t have chosen Serena,regardless of the families’ ties or even Phillip’s persuasion to the point of a heart attack.
He simply didn’t like Serena, that’s the whole of it!
"Martin must be disappointed with Serena’s actions, that’s why they broke up, right?" Kenneth asked,regretfully. He really thought Martin was a good guy.
But as good as Martin was, Serena truly didn’t deserve him.
Not just Martin, even Kenneth, who had been her father for eighteen years, felt chilled to the bone and utterly let down by Serena’s behavior.
How much more disheartening it would be for someone on the outside.
"That’s not the case," Eunice clarified. "Martin still cares for her, but she took it for granted. She even had someone tamper with Rose’s lemonade."
"What?" This time, Kenneth and Louisa were utterly astounded, both staring at Eunice as if petrified.
Eunice laid out everything she knew, "At that time, mom and dad were away in Dawnstar, and we all went out for dinner. Rose seemed to sense something off with the lemonade and insisted Serena drink
it. Serena was clearly reluctant, obviously scared to drink it. I suspected there was something wrong with it, and sure enough, Serena, out of sheer desperation, drank it and ended up rushing to the bathroom, hallucinating, and even making a move on Romeo in front of everyone. She mistook me for Rose several times and tried to come at me."