Filed to story: Second Chance Mafia Bride Drama Novel
Watching Alice’s expression, Serena nearly burst out laughing. She quickly bit it back when she noticed Nicholas glancing her way, and blinked at him innocently with her pretty eyes.
She didn’t notice the way his gaze darkened. Turning to Alice with a smile, she asked, “So, where do you plan to move? Do you have a place to stay? Need any help finding a new house?”
Alice’s face turned various shades of red and green.
Under the gaze of everyone in the room, she forced herself to mumble, “I’m… not moving.”
She could hardly care about her dignity now; if she really left, she’d lose everything. Rosewood Manor wasn’t a place just anyone could waltz into. Her mother had pleaded for ages to get her in, and if she moved out now, how would she ever get back in?
“Oh, in that case, go put my room back the way it was,” Serena ordered, her tone utterly matter-of-fact. “Find everything you threw out and return it. Take all your stuff out. That shouldn’t be hard, right?”
Alice’s eyes rimmed red with fury.
She felt like Serena was treating her like the help.
But in front of Mr. Salerno, she dared not protest. Swallowing her pride, she managed a humiliated, “…Fine. I understand.”
She turned and started up the stairs, but Serena’s gaze caught on the suitcase in Alice’s hand. With mock concern, she remarked, “That bag looks pretty heavy. Need a hand with it?”
Without waiting for a reply, she turned to a maid nearby. “Help her out, will you?”
A maid stepped forward.
Alice tried to stop her, but it was too late.
The next moment, the dutiful maid hefted the suitcase and blurted out in confusion, “Huh? Why’s it empty?”
Everyone froze.
Serena raised her brows in feigned surprise. “Weren’t you about to move out just now? Why bring an empty suitcase?”
Feeling every eye in the room on her, Alice burned with shame and rage, hating Serena with every fiber of her being.
“I’ll go… clean up the room!” she snapped, snatching the suitcase and nearly running up the stairs in her haste to escape.
As Serena turned around, she found Nicholas watching her with a look that was hard to read.
A flicker of guilt crossed her mind he must have realized she’d done that on purpose. But then again, it wasn’t as if she was in the wrong. Alice had started this, and payback was only fair.
She straightened up and asked cheerily, “What’s the matter, darling?”
A rare, barely-there smile flickered in Nicholas’s usually icy eyes.
“Nothing,” he said, pausing for a moment. “Who touched your room?”
Was he about to stand up for her?
Serena’s eyes lit up. She quickly scanned the room, spotted the culprits, and pointed without hesitation.
“Those two.”
The two maids who’d tried to curry favor with Alice turned pale as sheets.
“Mr. Salerno! We were just following Alice’s orders-she told us to help clean her room! We don’t know anything about this, I swear!”
The maids remembered how little the previous mistresses were respected, and how Alice held so much sway with Lady Salerno. Siding with Alice had seemed like a smart move, a shortcut to favor. Who could’ve guessed things would turn out this way?
Wasn’t Mr. Salerno the type to ignore all this, before?
Their excuses sounded pitiful and desperate.
Nicholas didn’t spare them so much as a glance. He simply turned his head slightly and said to Logan, “Tell Mary to deal with them later.”
Logan nodded at once.
The two maids were wracked with regret-they knew they were finished.
Serena, feeling a secret thrill, hurried over and took over for Logan, pushing Nicholas’s wheelchair herself. As she did, she asked brightly, “Where did you just go?”
Thomas, hovering nearby, cut in, “Mr. Salerno’s business is confidential. You shouldn’t ask, ma’am.”
His impression of her had soured thanks to the Alice incident.
Serena rolled her eyes inwardly, then shot back without hesitation, “Oh, so you do know I’m Mrs. Salerno? Then why are you butting in when I’m talking to my husband?”
“You-!”
“That’s enough,” Nicholas said coolly. The warning in his voice was unmistakable. Thomas fell silent at once.
Serena gave a triumphant little huff, holding her chin high as if she’d just won a battle.
Thomas’s expression soured, but Serena paid him no mind. She turned her attention back to Nicholas, trying to subtly find out where he’d been.
But Nicholas didn’t answer her, only saying, “Go do your own thing. Let Logan push me I need to take care of some work in the study.”
His tone was patient, even gentle, but there was no room for negotiation.
Logan stepped in to take the wheelchair from her. Serena felt a pang of disappointment-he still didn’t trust her with this much.
She didn’t dare press further; Nicholas was too perceptive. If he thought she had an ulterior motive, she’d be in real trouble.
Forget it. There was plenty of time. The one who would one day betray him-the one who’d cause him to lose his leg-wasn’t even in the picture yet. No need to worry herself to death.
Still…
As Nicholas was about to enter the elevator, she dashed after him.
“Sweetheart-!”
The wheelchair came to a halt. Nicholas turned. “What is it?”
“Will you have dinner with me tonight?” Serena looked up at him hopefully, her voice soft and cajoling.
She didn’t want to sit alone in that huge dining room. She wanted him there with her.
He looked at her in silence for a moment, then nodded slowly. “Alright.”
“No take-backs!” Serena grinned in delight.
Some of the severity in his features softened. “I won’t.”
She watched him disappear into the elevator, then practically skipped upstairs.
With Nicholas’s orders, her room was soon restored to the way it had been. As she reached the landing, she caught sight of Alice, clutching her own belongings and stalking off toward the guest room, her face thunderous.
Alice spotted her too. She stomped over, a sneer already curling on her lips.
But Serena beat her to the punch, drawling, “Before you say anything, you might want to think it over. After all, as Mrs. Salerno, if you really get on my nerves, I’m pretty sure I have the power to kick a servant’s daughter out of this house. Don’t you think?”
Alice’s words caught in her throat, her face turning red. “You-!”