The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella)

Chapter 2024

Florence tossed out those words with a huff, her hand gripping her daughter's as they turned to leave,

refusing to spare another glance at her foolish son.

Diana glanced back, her eyes blazing red with anger as she spat out a venomous warning, "You better

keep her locked up forever, because every time I see her, I'll put her in her place! I, Diana, will never

reconcile with her in this lifetime! As long as I draw breath, she'll never set foot in the Cooper family’s

house again!"

Upstairs, Serena's eyes glinted with a ruthless light upon hearing those words.

Ten minutes later, Dr. Leona finished setting Serena's cast, and the maids helped her into fresh clothes.

When Martin climbed the stairs, he saw two maids packing Serena's belongings. Serena was at the

vanity, attempting to remove her earring, but she accidentally touched a wound on her earlobe and

winced in pain.

"Serena." Martin rushed over, noticing her injured ear for the first time. Could it have been from when

their mother and sister had lashed out, tugging at her earring? Content © copyrighted by NôvelDrama.Org.

He glanced at Dr. Leona, who quickly bent down, apologizing, "Sir, I'm sorry. I didn't notice the wound

on Serena's ear. I'll take care of it right away."

"Forget it." Martin was visibly upset, "You may go. Leave the first aid kit."

He noticed that Serena had already removed all her jewelry, laying it piece by piece on the vanity,

seemingly with no intention of taking them with her.

"This earring is still on. Martin, I've made up my mind. I'm moving out today. Let's not upset Mrs.

Cooper anymore. She has a heart condition, and we don't want to trigger it. Don't worry about me; I can

take care of myself."

Tears swelled in Serena's eyes as she spoke, her voice tinged with self-reproach, "It's my fault. I've

done so many things wrong in the past; I never left a good impression on Mrs. Cooper and Ms.

Cooper."

At that moment, Martin, seeing the maids still packing in the closet, said with irritation, "Stop packing."

The maids quickly bowed and exited.

"It's my fault for not smoothing things over at home, for letting you be mistreated." Martin wrapped his

arms around the girl at the vanity, filled with a deep sense of guilt, "I just saw the video Dora and June

sent me minutes ago. You were kneeling and bowing to my mom and sister. Why would you do

something so foolish?"

He hugged Serena tightly, truly not expecting that this girl would love him so deeply. Seeing how his

family had bullied her, even to the point of violence, just to be with him, he was moved beyond words

and filled with heartache.

"You'd rather take a beating than be apart from me." Martin's voice was hoarse with emotion as he

gently kissed her lips, his eyes moist, "Serena, I love you so much."

"I love you too." Serena gently caressed his hand, gazing into the mirror at her reflection, trying to

appear more understanding and gentle, "I just didn't want to upset Mrs. Cooper and the others, so I

thought of a solution. We can live separately; I can move somewhere further away. If Mrs. Cooper still

can't accept me, I could even leave Summerfield and start a new life in the neighboring city."

Her eyes met his in the mirror, seemingly sincere and tender, "Don't worry; my love for you won't

diminish one bit with distance. Even if I have to live in the shadows, unseen like an alley cat, that's

okay. As long as I'm in your heart and you're in mine, that's all that matters."

Hearing her say this only deepened Martin's feelings, his love for her growing.

"You shouldn't have been so harsh with Mrs. Cooper and Ms. Cooper earlier. You're all family," Serena

said with a soothing wisdom.