- 5.
Grandma Smith pulled me forward and leaned
out, staring at Mike.
“This is the kind of help Robert Smith hires?”
“A lowly gate guard, talking down to the
people who own this place?”
Mike might look down on me, but that didn’t
mean he could look down on Grandma Smith.
The moment he saw her, he almost fell to his
knees in shock.
“M–Mrs. Smith, what are you doing here?”
Grandma Smith glared at Mike and ordered, “I
L
“M–Mrs. Smith, what are you doing here?”
Grandma Smith glared at Mike and ordered, “I only let you take care of Hailey at this house because your dad worked for the Smiths for so long.”
“You get paid thousands of dollars a month,
and you turn out to be this ungrateful.”
“Fire him and his dad.”
Hearing that, Mike immediately fell to the
ground and begged, “Mrs. Smith… you’ve got
the wrong idea.”
“My daughter just started college, and my
son’s still in school. You can’t fire me.”
Grandma Smith ignored him and had the
<
DVITO Juli ||1 JUL1VVI.
Grandma Smith ignored him and had the
bodyguard use the key to open the gate. She
drove inside with me.
This house was originally built by my grandparents for my mom, and all the decor
was done according to her tastes.
But the rose bushes that used to cover the
place had all been dug up and replaced with
Mia’s favorite lilies, and the carpets and
chandeliers in the living room had been
replaced.
Grandma Smith stared, red–eyed, at
everything that had been changed, and asked
hoarsely, “Who changed all of this in my
dream?”
A maid came over and said, puzzled, “Mr.
Smith changed it because Mia wanted it that way.”
“And who are you, anyway? Ms. Smith, please don’t bring random people in here.”
“If you have a virus or something, what if you infect Ms. Smith? Can you take responsibility
for that?”
Before the maid could finish, I slapped her
hard across the face.
“If you don’t know how to talk properly, I don’t
mind teaching you.”
Not expecting me to hit her, the maid shot me
a look of pure hatred.
<
“Hailey, who do you think you are?”
“I’m going to tell Mia, and she’ll have Mr.
Smith kick you out.”
I shook my hand and said softly, “You don’t know your place.”
Before I could finish, a bodyguard shoved a towel in her mouth to keep her from
speaking.
The housekeeper, Carol, had heard the
commotion and came running over, stunned
to see Grandma Smith.
“Mrs. Smith… y–you’re here?”
Grandma Smith glanced at the food on the
table, her eyes turning fierce.
<
“Carol, I remember you’ve been with the
Smiths for a long time, right?”
“Don’t you know Hailey’s allergic to seafood
and doesn’t like cilantro?”
“This is all seafood and cilantro. Who are you
planning to feed this to?”
“I hired you to take care of Hailey, and you’re bullying her instead.”
Seeing that Grandma Smith was getting
angry, I quickly patted her back.
“It’s okay, Grandma.”
“I’m going to go grab something. Then I’ll
leave with you.”
r
Grandma Smith insisted on going with me to
see my bedroom.
But when she realized that the room I called
mine was just a tiny storage closet, while
Mia’s room was the biggest and brightest in
the whole house, her eyes filled with tears.
“That room was the one your mother
prepared for you.”
“Now that monster Robert Smith has forced
you to live in this little room for so long.”
“My poor Hailey, how much have you
suffered?”
I grabbed the jade pendant my mom had
given me and hugged Grandma Smith.
<
“I’m okay, Grandma.”
All these years, because of Dad’s lies, I had
thought I was a criminal. I thought the maids‘
coldness, Dad’s bias, and everything else I
had suffered were my punishment.
But when Grandma Smith came, I realized
how wrong I had been.
I wasn’t a criminal. I was loved and cared for.
All of this was supposed to be mine from the
beginning.
With that thought, I turned to Grandma Smith.
“Grandma, can I burn everything in this
house?”
<
“And restore it to the way Mom liked it?”
Grandma Smith grabbed my hand and
nodded.
“Of course you can. This house is in your
name.”
“You have the right to do anything you want
with it.”
