The Princess and the Pauper

"Seriously? He's that impatient?" Serena scoffed as she uncapped her pen with a flourish and signed on the dotted line. She tossed the agreement to her bodyguard and strode towards the grand entrance of the estate.

"Sorry, Ms. Lott, the property now belongs to Mr. Cooper. You're not permitted inside," the bodyguard blocked her path, his tone firm.

That stopped Serena in her tracks, irritation flaring within her. "What, so | can't even live here anymore?" "That's correct.” “And my stuff?"

“Here's your ID card," the bodyguard handed over an ID card. "Other than this, everything inside was purchased by Mr. Cooper and has nothing to do with you."

Serena's heart sank. Was this their way of kicking her out with nothing? "| still have a cell phone in there," she said, trying to push past. Suddenly, a wall of bodyguards, at least a dozen strong, emerged and barred her way.

"I'm sorry, but except for your ID card, you can't take anything else," the lead bodyguard said, his face as expressionless as a statue.

"That phone inside was the only thing my dad left me! Are you really going to claim that too? Isn't that like stealing?" Serena was fuming now, but the line of impassive faces before her made it clear they didn't see her as the lady of the house anymore.

Just yesterday, she was the belle of the ball, and now she had hit rock bottom. The swift change of fortune was overwhelming.

"That phone means a lot to me." She pleaded at the doorstep, trying to reason with them, but the bodyguards might as well have been robots for all the responses she got, just standing there, emotionless, guarding the entrance.

Finally, realizing she was getting nowhere, Serena's last hope was to call Martin. What she never expected was to find that Martin had blocked her number!

In disbelief, she dialed again and again, the reality slowly dawning on her with each rejected call. She stood there, stunned, as the truth hit her like a cold slap in the face.

She was disgruntled, her determination not waning as she hassled one of the bodyguards to make a call to Martin.

With no way to shake her insistence, the bodyguard finally dialed Martin's number in front of her. To their surprise, he picked up promptly.

After the bodyguard relayed the situation and hung up, he turned to Serena with the message, "You can't take anything with you except your ID."

"Not even my cell phone?"

"We didn't find a cell phone,” the bodyguard stated plainly, "As for your other personal belongings, Mr. Cooper has already had them donated or burned."

Serena had noticed the thick smoke billowing from the estate grounds earlier, not realizing it was her possessions being reduced to ashes.Property © NôvelDrama.Org.

She knew that any further argument was pointless. Fortunately, she had hidden her phone so well that she doubted Martin and his people would ever find it.

As long as it remained undiscovered for a while, she had a plan!

With that thought, she turned and walked away. After Arabella had saved Diana, Martin intercepted her.

"Arabella, | really can't thank you enough. | know it soun s.clighé but tage AONE com of my heart. Thank you, really! | owe you big time!" Please read the original content at .

Arabella nodded and made to leave. "I've broken things off with Serena. Once my mother and sister wake up, they'll see the news of the annulment." Hearing Martin's words, Arabella lifted her gaze slightly and said, "Congratulations on escaping the abyss."

Martin gave a wry smile. "| was naive before. The Collins family, wi

n Styee casa Cwarm her heart ir-eighteen years, and | thought | could." Please read the original content at .

"You're no longer on my blacklist. If you ever need anything, just call me." With that, Arabella walked away, leaving Martin in her wake.

Martin hadn't expected such a response from her. He was touch and, at the sa edingenralized how bling fa hAG been. Arabella was so exceptional, and yet he had foolishly believed Serena to be the innocent and pitiable one. Please read the original content at .