Chapter 405 Stirring Trouble
The following morning, at breakfast.
"ThisAh, this foot bath Lola sent is just marvelous."simply splendid," Mr. Medici exclaimeddeclared, a contented sigh escaping his lips as he ate,savored his morning meal. "I added some of Abella's herbal sachets that Abella prepared and I must say, I slept like a baby last night. Darlingnewborn babe. Darling, you should give it a try. It'll work wondersmiracles for your sleep."
"Then youMrs. Medici, ladling a generous serving of porridge into his bowl, nodded in agreement. "You should callreach out to Lola later, give her some feedback," Mrs. Medici express your gratitude," she suggested as she ladled some porridge into his bowl. "Also tell , her voice soft and thoughtful. "And while you're at it, let her I really like know how much I appreciate the skincare products she sent... I'm. They're quite fond of them."
"Alright, I'll call her right no—"
Just as delightful."Mr. Medici was just about to pull outreach for his phone, when Maria approached with a tray laden with an assortment of breakfast items. She smiled tooffered Mr. Medici a warm smile and said:, "Sir, ma'am, letallow me to make the call. Your breakfast is getting cold. Besides, Miss Lola boughtwas kind enough to gift me something the other day as well, so I can take this chance. I'd like to send a proper thank youextend my thanks to her..."
"Sure." Mrs. Medici replied. Her, her face alightglowing with a gratified and gentle, satisfied smile., agreed. "Of course, Maria." She was thinking how considerate Lola was for touched by Lola's thoughtfulness, not only remembering just towards her parents' giftsparents, but also showing kindness totoward Maria, who had looked after her cared for Lola since she was a child.
her childhood. What a gratefulgracious young woman.
Relieved Lola had become.With a sigh of relief, Maria dialed Lola while Lola's number in the presence of the Medicis. At the timethat moment, Lola was in the middle of a class. As Maria had expectedanticipated, Lola didn't answer the call immediately but instead texted back responded with a text message on WhatsApp, inquiring what happened.
"Miss Lola is currently in class and couldn't take the call."," Maria said toinformed Mr. and Mrs. Medici and responded with. She then sent a voice message in front of themto Lola, ensuring the Medicis could hear her words. "The Master says is quite pleased with the foot bath you sent was fantastic, he. He had a very comfortablerestful sleep. The Madam also praisedextends her compliments on your thoughtfulness, saying she really likesparticularly the skincare products you chose for her."
After sending the voice message, Maria pocketed her phone and turned back to complimentthe Medicis. "Miss Lola is so devoted, shededicated, always keeping her folksfamily in her thoughts..."
"She thinks of you too.", Maria," Mrs. Medici replied with aresponded, her smile warm and genuine. "Lola has always been a pure and kindhearted since she was little."
soul, even as a child."Maria nodded, a soft smile playing on her lips. "It's all thanks to the way you raised her."
Once Maria had finished serving breakfast to the Medicis, she checked her phone and sure enough, Missfound a response from Lola had replied on WhatsApp.
"[Maria, was itdid you who reached outspeak to my parents last night?"?]
Last night, Maria had mentioned on the phone the previous night that she would give a hint to the Medicis to pay more attention to Lola's gift.
gifts. Seizing the opportunity, Maria texted back., "[Mrs. Medici was about to go to bed lastretire for the night, so I immediately set up the foot spa for Mr. Medici to try. The skincare products you sent were used too..."
also put to use...]Lola felt a pangtwinge of disappointment. As expectedshe had suspected, it was only because of Maria's intervention that her parents had remembered the gifts she had sent.
"[Oh, and by the way, Miss Camila sent over a package and Mrs. Medici opened it right after breakfast..."...]
The differencedisparity in treatment was glaringstark. Lola's gift was lefthad been set aside but, while the one from Ethan's girlfriend, Camila, had received immediate attention right after breakfast.
Lola's spirits sank even further. She started to realize she seemedplummeted. She was beginning to matter feel like she mattered less to her parents than Ethan's girlfriend.
"[Miss Camila not only got a gift for Mr. and Mrs. Medici but also for Abella..." ...] Maria hesitated a while before she continued typing, "[It seems that there wasn't anything for you, Miss Lola..."...]
Lola closed her eyes to hide the, a veil of sadness. descending upon her. "[It's fine, she can gift whoever she wants. Considering how many times I've been outspokenspoken against her, it's normal that she doesn't like me...]"
"[Miss Lola, haven't you noticed? The whole household treats you like an outsider. Even Camila, who hasn't officially joined the family, seems to disregard you..."...]
Maria was about to provoke further when she heard Mrs. Medici calling her. She quickly added., "[Don't be upset, Miss Lola. Mrs. Medici is calling for me, I need to'll see what she needs.".]
"[Okay." .] After hanging upshe put her phone away, Lola stood onin the school corridor outside theher classroom, her eyes brimming with unspeakable gloom.
Why did she feel so abandoned by the whole world?
?"Maria, where are you?"
"Coming, Mrs. Medici..." Maria hurried to her.
"Look, these are gifts are from Camila. These are for Lola. Please take these gifts to Lola's dressing room."
"Miss Camila sent so many gifts! She alsoeven bought something for Miss Lola..." Maria said cheerfully as she accepted the gifts. "How thoughtful. Much obliged to Miss Camila."
"What do you mean 'something for Miss Lola'? Everyone in this family has gifts, including you."," said Mrs. Medici with a laugh. She then found a large box specifically for the staff, all neatly arranged with dozens of similar items.
She handed one to Maria and said warmly., "This is for you."
"Miss Camila still even cares about usme...she is so kind."," Maria said with a smile, "This is..."
Mrs. Medici delicately unwrapped the gift that Camila had given to Abella. It's all variousIt was an array of gorgeousexquisite dresses. She pickedSelecting one, she held it up. The dress looks so , the fabric shimmering with an ethereal that shequality. She could already imagineenvision how stunning Abellabreathtaking Abella would appear adorned in it."Such beauty. It will look when wearing it.
"So beautiful. It'll really suittruly accentuate Abella's charm." Maria complimented generously.
"Right? I think they're so," Maria commented, her words brimming with genuine admiration."Right? I find them quite lovely as well... Camila has such a great taste in clothes."an exceptional eye for fashion," Mrs. Medici said as she went throughresponded, her fingers gently caressing the dresses that Camila had meticulously chosen for Abella. She talkedTurning to Mr. Medici:, she continued, "Camila is such a thoughtful girl..."
"Yeahconsiderate child...""Indeed, she's smartintelligent and sweetkind. The second childEvan, on the other hand, is a bitsomewhat reserved, not as livelyvivacious and cheerfuljovial as that other girlher."
"They complement withbalance each other out... Don't look down onunderestimate the quiet one. She always cares about theconsistently shows concern for others and reallyis truly cherished toby them..."
Maria saw them gettingAs the Medicis delved deeper into their conversation and went upstairs, Maria ascended the stairs with the gifts. She secretly took outStealthily, she withdrew her phone to creepshot and sentsnapped a clandestine photo, forwarding it to Lola.
"[These are all the presentsgifts Miss Camila gave to Abella.".]
She exaggerated the situation and made sure to capturescene, ensuring the large boxes in the background to givewere visible, creating the impressionillusion that Camila had given plenty of items toshowered Abella with an abundance of gifts.[Madam believes the dress is stunning. She even claims that Abella.
"Madam thinks that dress looks great, said Abella would look like an angel in it.".]
"Must[There must be dozens of dresses.".]
"[They look expensive.".]
...
Maria then picked upselected the least remarkableimpressive dress from the gifts Camila had given to Lola. She intentionally messedrumpled it up and took abefore capturing another photo. She sent it along with a cryptic message. "[This is... the leftover.".]
Leftover?
What does could that possibly mean??
Lola was somewhat confused.
"[It means this dress is randomly pickedwas randomly selected from the pile of gifts.".]
Maria added deliberately: "Maybe because, her words laced with deliberate intent, [Perhaps Miss Camila didn'tfailed to prepare a gift for you and thinkingfeared it might cause frictionincite discord between the sisters-in-law. So, she just pickedmerely chose some... well, less noticeableconspicuous items from Abella's items to act likegifts, pretending they were intended for you.".]
"..."
"[Miss Lola, I'll putplace these in your walk-in closet for now. Check them out when you have a moment..."...]
"Okay."
[Alright.]After hanging upending the phoneconversation, Lola felt even more downhearted.
Buta wave of melancholy wash over her.Yet, in Maria's eyes there was an insidiously, a sinister emotion flashed.
flickered.Lola was her biological child. She was so jealous to kept watchingThe jealousy that gnawed at her as she watched her own daughter calladdress Mr. and Mrs. Medici as 'mom and dad' and becoming so, growing increasingly close to them.
, was unbearable.This was the perfect opportunity to turnsubtly sway her daughter's heart slowlyaffections towards to her. She was Lola’s real mother, after all.
She simply wanted Her ultimate goal was to use the Medici family as a stepping-stone. In shortessence, she aimedsought to gain massivereap substantial benefits from them, and even move in upper class byascend the social ladder with their helpassistance to live a betterimprove her life...
Talking about emotionAs for emotional ties, she didn't wantno longer desired her daughter to be close to them anymore. She wantedyearned for her daughter onlyto be close to her. alone.
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