Chapter 21 Madison Came to Drive Her out
Alexander sneered, his voice mocking, "Do I have to praise you for that?"
Leaning against a wall, Lillian crossed her arms and said softly, "I don't think I did anything wrong."
"Oh, is that so?" Alexander's eyes suddenly turned cold. "You dare leave without my permission. Are you sure you're not mistaken?"
Lillian replied with an aggrieved tone, "My meeting notes weren't good, so Mr. Martin helped me. Since I was of no help to you, I left."
Alexander asked in a low voice, "I'm your boss! Are you talking back to me?"
"I had an important appointment today, and I was in a hurry to leave; otherwise, I wouldn't have. I'm sorry, it's my fault." Lillian apologized sincerely.
However, her apology came, not because she believed she was wrong, but because she didn't want to anger Alexander. After all, she would be the one to suffer in the end.
"Lillian, even with your words, I won't let you off the hook. Tomorrow is Christmas, and tonight, you'll decorate the house and yard, and you're not to ask Kelly for help. Understood?" After delivering his command, Alexander headed upstairs.
Lillian was disheartened. She was already exhausted from playing all day, yet she had more to do upon returning! She had admitted her mistake. Why was he still punishing her?
"Mr. Sinclair, could you consider a different form of punishment?" Lillian implored wearily. "I'm too tired today; I'm afraid I won't be able to complete the task. Plus, I'm still not over my illness."
"You're sick, and yet you manage to play outside all day? I think you must be well enough if you had the energy for that."
Since he didn't believe her, Lillian no longer argued and asked, "Where are the decorations?"
"Ask Kelly for them," Alexander said with one last glance before ascending the stairs.
Lillian returned to her room, messaged her friends to let them know she was home, took a shower, changed her clothes, and then went to find Kelly.
Kelly was in the room, massaging Quentin when Lillian walked in. Seeing her, Kelly greeted her with a smile, "Hey Lillian, when did you get back?"
"Just now," Lillian responded, looking downcast. "I got punished as soon as I returned."
"What did you do to tick off Mr. Sinclair this time?" Quentin asked, turning his head from the bed.
Lillian shrugged, "I left today without telling him, and that made him upset. Now I’ve been tasked with decorating the house and yard for Christmas."
Kelly nodded in understanding, "The decorations are all in the storage room. I’ll show you where to get them."
Lillian nodded in agreement, then turned to Quentin and said, "Quentin, you really need to get your back issue looked at soon. A friend of mine's dad is an orthopedic doctor. I mentioned your condition to her today, and she suggested it would be best to see him in person." Lillian placed a business card on the table, "Here's the address for his clinic. I know you've already seen some good doctors, but you can discuss it with Kelly and then decide whether to go or not."
"Thank you so much, Lillian, for your concern," Quentin said, pleasantly surprised. "Okay, I’ll talk it over with Kelly. Anyway, thank you."
"No need to thank me. My friend’s dad is really good. He's cured many people's ailments," Lillian said, giving a thumbs-up.
Both Lillian and Kelly headed to the storage room, where there was a lot to collect. Lillian told Kelly, "You can go back and rest. I'll take my time with this."
"Mr. Sinclair would never allow me to help you, so you'll have to do it on your own," Kelly replied. "Don't rush, and if you get tired, take a break. If you get hungry, there's some salad I made tonight in the fridge, just heat it up."
"Got it, Kelly," Lillian said, placing her hands on Kelly's shoulders to guide her back to her room, smiling, "I can handle this myself!"
Lillian decided to start with the yard. She emerged from the storage room carrying a bunch of fairy lights, along with a Christmas tree and various small ornaments. Having never done this before, she thought it would simply be a matter of hanging decorations, which didn’t seem all that hard. However, the task was much more challenging than she imagined.
The Christmas tree was nearly 7 feet tall. She climbed the tree and the ladder repeatedly, and after much effort and breaking into a sweat, she finally finished decorating the tree.
She flicked on the switch for the lights. In the darkness, the vibrant lights twinkled, casting a dreamlike glow. The winter night's breeze rang the bells on the Christmas tree, emitting a jingling sound, as if Santa Claus was passing through the sky in his sleigh drawn by reindeer.
Lillian dusted off her hands and smiled.
After returning to her room and changing her clothes, she began to decorate the interior. The task indoors was considerable, as she had to adorn all three floors, which required significant effort.
Lillian had been bustling about; two hours had swiftly passed, and her stomach began to growl with hunger. She must have exerted herself with the labor of the day, having digested all her dinner.
After tending to the third floor, she descended to the kitchen to find the salad that Kelly had prepared earlier, and decided to whip up some spaghetti to accompany it.
As Lillian was pottering about, boiling water on the stove, a shrill female voice suddenly pierced the air from behind her. "Who are you? And what in the world are you doing here?"
Startled by the abrupt outcry, Lillian spun around. A tall, thin woman with heavy makeup and an haughty look was staring at her.
Lillian found her somewhat familiar and her voice rang a bell, but scrutinizing her closer, she couldn't immediately recall who she was.
Rolling her eyes, the woman shrugged off her coat and draped it over the back of a chair, demanding, "You're the new maid, aren't you? Perfect, boil some soup for me, I'll take it to Alexander later."
Lillian remained motionless at the cooking island, and then it hit her – she remembered who this woman was! At the same time, Madison recognized her too!
"Lillian?!" Madison strode forward briskly. "Why are you here? Surely Alexander isn't really with you now?"
Uninterested in small talk, Lillian reached for the spaghetti to drop it into the pot as the water had begun to boil.
"I'm speaking to you, answer me!" Madison snapped, tugging at Lillian's arm, causing the spaghetti to scatter.
"If you have any questions, you should ask Mr. Sinclair," Lillian said, turning off the heat. Puzzled, she added, "I’m curious, how did you get in here?"
"Hmph, what right do you have to question me?" Madison folded her arms, looking down at her scornfully. "Your no-good cousin pawned you off to Alexander, and here you are, still able to stay. Do you actually intend to live here indefinitely?"
"Ms. Blair, I would appreciate it if you spoke with some respect," retorted Lillian, her displeasure evident. “Showing up at someone's home in the middle of the night, should you not first meet with the host? Otherwise, it’s trespassing."
"That’s none of your business!" sneered Madison, glaring with venom. "You stole my Alexander and expect me to respect you?"
Catching a whiff of alcohol on Madison's breath, Lillian wanted to end the senseless confrontation and tried to walk away, only to have her wrist yanked by Madison. "You better get out tonight, or I'll teach you a lesson!"
