The next morning, the entire family sent off Nina with a somber look. Nothing much was said, but everyone’s mood was enough to fill the house with silence. Despite this undeniable silence in the house, Slater insisted on studying with Penny and Atlas joining them in the library. Meanwhile, Hugo volunteered to take care of her pets and he took them out in the garden.
As for Nina...
When the car pulled over a small street in front of a tiny gate, Nina’s face crinkled in dismay. freёwebnovel.com
’This is the house I’m supposed to live?’ Bitterness filled her heart at the sight of the house before the door was opened from the outside.
"Miss Nina." the driver smiled as he offered his hand to her.
The dismay on her face quickly disappeared, and she smiled back. Like a princess, she clasped the driver’s hand and stepped out. Looking around the street, Nina’s heart sank. The houses stood close to each other and most of them were too shabby for her taste. When her eyes fell on the open trench gutter, she quickly stepped away upon seeing a small rat run out of it.
’No,’ she gasped inwardly. ’I can’t live here!’
Suddenly, the gate made a sharp sound before it opened. The second Nina looked up and saw this woman with big curlers stuck in her hair, her surroundings suddenly dimmed. Jessa was still wearing her favorite granny dress and, by the creases on her face, one could tell she woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
’She looks like an evil stepmother,’ was the first thing that came into Nina’s mind.
Jessa arched her thin brows and looked down at the beautiful girl looking up at her. She snorted the second they locked eyes with each other.
"You really look like that wench," she spat out in mockery. "How could they not see you’re not their child when you look nothing like them?"
"Mrs. Cortez, these are Miss Nina’s luggage. Should I take them in?"
Jessa moved her attention to the driver before her eyes fell on the five big luggages on his side. "Do you think all those things will fit into my house?"
"Uh."
"Hey." Jessa clicked her tongue to Nina. "Just pick one luggage."
Nina couldn’t speak for a moment. "One?"
"Did you not hear me?"
"But... all of these are important to me."
Jessa laughed in disbelief at the innocent and sorrowful look Nina was giving her. "The space in my house is also important to me. You can’t take all of those things in my house. This is not a mansion and there’s not enough space for all of that. Unless, of course, you want to compromise your bed and replace it with that luggage."
Nina clenched her teeth as a thin layer of tears coated her eyes. But alas, her pitiful look didn’t move Jessa one bit. Hence, she cast the driver a look before gazing at her luggage.
Everything in them was perfectly organized by her. All her dresses, shoes, and jewelry for all occasions were in there. Since she could only go to the Bennet Mansion on the weekends, she wanted to make sure she had plenty to keep up appearances.
’Please don’t leave...’ Nina wished as she stared at the car’s rear, but it didn’t stop.
’This is too small,’ she thought in dismay. ’I can see everything at once glance.’
Nina bitterly cast Jessa a look. ’What else is here to show me around?’ she could literally see everything!
"Ni — Nina."
"Tch." Jessa snorted but said nothing. "Take her to her room while I prepare lunch."
Having said that, Jessa showed no interest in Nina anymore and left her twins to take care of her.
"Hi, I’m Yuri." Yuri offered Nina a smile, only to get a glance from the latter in return.
"Yuri, there’s no need to be nice to her," Yugi took the more aggressive tone. He pointed at Nina and said, "You. If I were you, you better not do anything silly here. You didn’t come here to replace Penny. Do you understand?"
"I don’t... I don’t want to replace Penny."
"Good! Because even if you do, it’s futile!" Yugi intoned. "Now, get your luggage, and let’s go."
Nina furrowed her brows and gazed at her luggage. "Wait," she called as the twins already turned their backs on her.
When the twins looked back, Nina sported a conflicted smile. "My luggage is too big for me and I can’t carry it upstairs. Can you help me?"
"Hah?!" Yugi laughed. "If it’s too big for you, why did you bring so much!? In this household, we don’t burden others just because we took more than we can take. You don’t have servants here. Carry it on your own!"
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