3| The suspicion

Lady Loretta was dismissing the maids to clear the used plates and empty bottles and to also tidy up the living room after all the guests had left her mansion. She noticed the lady wincing in pain and alighting the staircase with so much difficulty.

"Melody," Lady Loretta looked shocked upon seeing how Melody looked so disheveled, like she was beaten to a pulp.

"What happened to you?" Lady Loretta inquired in shock while all the maids in the living room also paused to look at Melody, and they gasped at the horror at which they previously saw the arrogant lady now look.

"Milady, it was one of the maids. The maid you assigned to show me to the top floor. She dealt with me." Melody managed to speak as her cheeks were visibly swollen.

"You mean Miranda did this to you? I don't believe it. Miranda is innocent and cannot hurt a fly. Ever since Miranda has been working here with us, she hasn't gotten into a fight with any of the maids that I am aware of. Are you sure you're referring to Miranda or another maid who did this to you?"

While the older woman was busy questioning Melody after all the guests had left the mansion, Derrick walked back into the living room and looked stunned upon seeing there was still a guest left.

"She did this, ma'am. I cannot lie to you. Miranda lied about me to Master Derrick, and after he left us, she pounced upon me and dealt with me to this extent. She is evil, ma'am." Melody started sobbing upon seeing Derrick looking at her.

"What's happening here, Mom?" As Derrick asked the question, he strolled up to meet his mother.

"Mom, you know it's already late. You should get some rest," Derrick said, not casting a glance at Melody, who had thought and expected him to summon the maid.

After Melody had lost her job, she expected Miranda to also lose her job as a maid in the exquisite villa. Melody knew she didn't stand a chance of getting closer to Derrick again. He was mostly busy in the office and attending business-class meetings. Similarly, she didn't have an excuse to use to see him either. Alexa was there as his secretary, and many other top female staff members long to be with Derrick.

"Mom," looking at his aged mother, whose hair was filled with gray hair, Derrick frowned, and his mother said, "Derrick, I will return to my room. But where is Miranda if Melody accuses Miranda of beating her up?"

"Do not worry yourself, Mother. I will have the guards investigate what happened. Melody, you may leave now," Derrick dismissed. He does not care to summon Miranda out.

He walked with his mother along the stairs and assisted her in returning to her room on the top floor. It took the older lady hours to climb the flight of stairs, and Derrick considered relocating his mother's room to a room on the ground floor.

Arriving at Lady Loretta Luis's room door, Derrick paused and gently opened the door. The maid knows it is best to avoid him, especially when he is with his mother.

"Mom, you should get enough rest. I don't want anything to go wrong with you," Derrick said to his mother in a hushed tone after accompanying her to climb on the bed.

Lady Loretta and Derrick were both dark in complexion. She smiled at her son's care and replied, "I am fine, but you know what will make me happy and rest well if you settle down. Your father had worked so hard to acquire all this wealth for you. I am already over 70 years old, and you don't expect me to remain youthful. You should consider marrying a wife. It's not until you get to thirty that you should do so, my son."

Holding his mother's warm left hand as she laid on the bed, he heard saying, "My wish for you is that you should find a good woman who will love you very much, pamper you like her baby, take good care of you while I am away, and watch you both from heaven."

"Mom," Derrick interrupted his mother's words with a frown. "You aren't leaving me anytime soon." Tears gathered in the corners of his eyes; as his mother mostly spoke to him about leaving, and he wished he could exchange all their wealth for a longer life so she wouldn't leave him.

"It's life, Derrick. We have to go for the world to become balanced and to allow our generations to continue from where we stopped. But I am not leaving you anytime soon. I still want to see you settle down first and to see the next heir of Luis firm."

"That's fine, Mom. I guess I should leave you to rest now. Have a sound sleep." Derrick leaned over and kissed his mother's forehead goodbye. She smiled and watched him exit her room.

Meanwhile, in the master's bedroom of the exquisite mansion, Miranda soaked herself in a warm bath inside one of the luxury bathrooms.

"Oh my goodness! This feels so good," she said, not caring for the consequences of her actions.

She had hurried into this room, and it was totally different from the other rooms that she was assigned to take care of downstairs.

"Mm," Miranda mumbled, enjoying herself in a warm night bath. After dealing with the silly lady who dared to slap her, Miranda thought to show the lady what it feels like to be dejected. She was not a lady to take sh*t from others, but after coming from a lower-class family and also becoming an orphan at a younger age, Miranda knew the world had no respect for the poor, so she wanted to become rich, even if it meant climbing on others to attain that. She admires the good life, wants a good job, and wants to own a big supermarket or shopping mall in her name.

Thinking about her life struggles, Miranda didn't care how much time she had spent soaking herself in this exquisite, large, pristine bathtub. The bubbling waters filled with scented soap soothe her body, and accompanied by the chilly weather of the night, Miranda doesn't feel like coming out of the bath. She wanted to sleep there and forget all her worries. She had even let her blonde hair fall behind her back. She was extremely beautiful, but she remembered the slap that Melody had given her. Miranda felt like strangling the lady's neck, but she knew she would be jailed and no one would come for her rescue.

"Mmmmm." Miranda enjoyed herself inside the bathtub until she heard the sound of the room door shut.

"Who's there?" Miranda asked, thinking she was in her maid room on the lower floor of the mansion; however, reality dawned on her that she was in one of the children's rooms.

"I hope this isn't Master Derrick's room," Miranda lowly muttered until she heard the bathroom door slide open.