Chapter 12 Are You Out of Your Mind?
Catherine was fanning herself with her hand, the roses in the estate blooming like crazy, filling the air with this rich, heady scent.
Alexander pulled up under the building Catherine had mentioned, Serenity Heights. "This the spot? I ain't too familiar with this area."
Catherine nodded. "Yep. I'll shoot you the fare."
Alexander laughed and handed his phone to Catherine. "Add me on Facebook and then send it."
Catherine scanned his QR code, grabbed her backpack, and hopped out of the car.
Alexander watched her as she jogged into the office building, swiping an employee card at the entrance.
'Serenity Heights has a ton of companies. Is she working here?'
Feeling a bit weird, Catherine turned around and saw Alexander still standing by the car, watching her.
He stood there in the light, looking all refined and elegant, nothing like a top-tier assassin who danced with death.
Alexander waved at her, a gentle smile on his face, looking more like a noble gentleman than Charles.
Catherine's face went a bit red, and she quickly ran into the elevator.
Watching Catherine go in, Alexander pulled out his phone to call his secretary. "Serenity Heights is gonna be mine. Get me the info on all the companies and employees there."
"Yes, Mr. Howard. I'll start the acquisition of Serenity Heights right away."
Catherine made her way to an unmarked studio on the top floor.
Seeing her, Simon greeted her with delight. "Miss, you're here."
Catherine handed him the design drafts. "Use developer number three and five, in a ratio of three to seven, then use developer number eight for five minutes."
"Got it! Miss, our new store has moved into Evergreen Mall of Evergreen Industries. Wanna check it out?"
Evergreen Mall, packed with top-tier brands, was a famous luxury spot in Imperia City. You could find all those out-of-stock bags and shoes there.
Charles' face suddenly popped into Catherine's mind. 'Evergreen Mall is also Charles' property.'
"No need. From now on, give an extra ten percent profit share of the sales at Evergreen Mall to the Evergreen Group."
Simon was stunned. 'Ten percent is a lot!'
Quinn's designs were worth a fortune, even ten percent was a huge amount.
"Do as I say."
"Understood."
The Windsor Mansion.
Lila, wrapped in a faded blanket, sat in a rocking chair listening to Esme's complaints.
"Lila, they're just too much. The moment I saw that Catherine, I felt all uneasy. Something just felt off, but Brandon, Aurora, and my brothers are all under her spell, not listening to me. There's no place for us in this house anymore."
Lila opened her eyes, her wrinkled corners drooping slightly, looking pretty formidable.
"Are you serious? You feel uneasy around Catherine?"
'Esme is a gift from God to me. If Esme feels something is wrong with Catherine, I definitely won't let Catherine into the family,' Lila thought.
Esme nodded vigorously. "She even made the brothers scold me, kicking me out without food and claiming she was the only daughter of the Windsor family."
Lila snorted coldly, saying, "The only daughter? If I don't acknowledge her, she has no right to enter the Windsor family."
Esme's face lit up with glee.
As soon as Catherine walked through the Windsor family gates, she was stopped by several tall maids.
"Catherine, Ms. Lila Windsor wants to see you."
Catherine nodded, following the maids.
Lila usually lived in the old mansion instead of staying with the rest of the Windsor family. Except for holidays when the brothers would visit her, they usually didn't interact much because Lila didn't like Aurora. Every time she saw Aurora, she would show a sour face, so the brothers reduced their visits to her.
The maid led Catherine into The Windsor Mansion, pointed coldly at a bench in the garden, and said, "Sit here and wait."
After speaking, they turned to leave.
The garden was ancient, and the bench was clearly just for show, not for sitting.
It was rusty, covered in dirt, looking like it could fall apart any second.
Catherine knew this was Lila's way of humiliating her, probably to back up Esme.
She didn't care; the Smith family used to make her stand as punishment all the time, just to stick up for Clara.
Catherine stood in the garden, thinking about the stuff going down at Angel's Haven Orphanage.
'Who the heck took the director away?'
Esme pulled back the curtain, seeing Catherine standing in the courtyard, and smirked. "You really know how to handle her. If she keeps standing, her legs will definitely get sore."
Lila, without opening her eyes, said, "You said she doesn't know the rules, and she really doesn't. I told her to sit, not to stand. Making it look like I'm mistreating her, how disgraceful."
Esme obediently replied, "You're right."
An hour later, Catherine was still standing in the courtyard, like a statue, not moving an inch.
She kept replaying the details of her visit to Angel's Haven Orphanage, profiling from the perspective of the assassins, reconstructing the scene each time.
Catherine slowly opened her eyes. 'I figured it out!'
The Abyssal Blades had not only anticipated her but also Alexander. Those assassins were just a distraction.'
A maid stood behind Catherine and said, "Catherine, please come inside."
Catherine nodded, walking into the small building where Lila lived.
Her movements were smooth, showing no signs of fatigue or soreness from standing for an hour. Instead, she carried herself with an air of nobility.
Lila squinted at Catherine, her eyes filled with disdain and said, "No manners. Come back when you've learned some. My granddaughters are only Esme and Juniper. Not just anyone can be my granddaughter."
Catherine glanced at Lila and said, "Excuse me, do you have some mental issues?"
Lila's eyes snapped open, and she angrily threw the beads in her hand.
Catherine deftly dodged, and the beads shattered on the ground.
Lila roared, "Go learn some manners! Don't come back until you do! I want to see how you can enter the Windsor family!"
A maid blocked Catherine. "This way, Catherine."
Lila had invited some old nuns to teach manners, all of whom were stern and rigid. It was impossible to get any leniency from them.
Catherine wouldn't be able to return to the Windsor family for at least three to five days, and even if she did, she would be tormented.
An hour later.
Four brothers arrived from different directions, gathering in front of Lila's small building.
Philip said, "Charles, how long has Catherine been in there? I told you we should have warned her not to bother with Lila."
Charles said, "I forgot to tell Catherine. Let's go in and get her out. We can't let her suffer. I'll explain to Lila."
The next moment, a group of old nuns personally led Catherine out.
They even had rare smiles on their faces!
"You are truly remarkable. Your etiquette is at a royal level. Ms. Lila Windsor asked us to teach you, but it's not necessary. Lila said you could leave once you learned, but we unanimously believe you don't need to learn. Instead, we need to learn more."
Catherine nodded to them, her demeanor elegant and dignified, exuding nobility.
"Charles, why are you all here?"
The brothers all breathed a sigh of relief seeing her come out unscathed.
Charles said, "Let's go home. You don't need to bother with Lila anymore. She's old and mentally unstable."
Catherine nodded. From her initial diagnosis, Lila's mental state was indeed poor, likely due to long-term use of hallucinogenic drugs, with obvious side effects.
Esme watched anxiously as they took Catherine away and said,
"Lila, how could they just leave? They don't respect you at all!"
Lila listened to the old nuns' praises for Catherine, her blood boiling with anger, her head throbbing, and fainted on the spot.
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