Chapter 12 Are You Mentally Ill
Catherine fanned herself with her hand. The roses at home were in full bloom all along the path, their fragrance rich and sweet.
Alexander parked the car downstairs at Serenity Heights where Catherine had mentioned. "Is this it? I'm not too familiar with this area."
Catherine nodded. "Yes, this is it. I'll transfer you the fare."
Alexander chuckled and took out his phone, handing it to Catherine. "Add me on Facebook first, then you can transfer it."
Catherine scanned his QR code, grabbed her backpack, and got out of the car.
Alexander watched her back as she jogged into the office building and swiped through the security gate with her employee card.
There were many companies in Serenity Heights. Was she an employee here?
Catherine sensed something and turned around to see Alexander standing by his car, watching her.
He stood in the light, refined and elegant, completely unlike a top-tier assassin who walked the line between life and death.
Alexander waved at her with a warm smile on his face, looking even more like a rich man than Charles.
Catherine's face flushed a bit as she quickly ran into the elevator.
Only after watching Catherine go in did Alexander take out his phone and call his secretary. "Serenity Heights can be my property. Get me information on all the companies here and their employee records."
"Yes, Mr. Howard. I'll arrange to acquire Serenity Heights right away."
Catherine went straight to the top floor and found a studio without a sign.
Simon's face lit up when he saw her, rushing over. "Boss, you're here."
Catherine handed him the design drafts in her hand. "Use developer number three and number five, ratio of three to seven, then developer number eight for five minutes."
"Got it!"
"Boss, our new store has opened in Evergreen Mall under Evergreen Industries. Do you want to go check it out?"
Evergreen Mall was full of top-tier brands and was Imperia City's famous luxury shopping center. Many bags and shoes that were sold out elsewhere could be found at Evergreen Mall.
Charles's face suddenly flashed through Catherine's mind. Evergreen Mall was also Charles's property.
"I won't go. From now on, give the Evergreen Group ten percent of the revenue from Evergreen Mall."
Simon was stunned. That was ten percent!
For Quinn's designed products, even ten percent would be a fortune.
"Do as I say."
"Okay."
The Windsor Mansion
Lila sat in a rocking chair covered with a faded blanket, listening to Esme complain.
"Grandma, they're just too much. The moment I saw that Catherine, I felt uncomfortable all over. Something just felt off about her, but Mom and Dad are both under her spell and won't listen to me at all."
"Grandma, is there even any place for us in this family anymore?"
Lila opened her eyes. The corners of her wrinkled eyes drooped slightly, making her look difficult to deal with.
"Are you telling the truth? You feel uncomfortable just looking at Catherine?"
Esme was sent to her by God, so if she felt Catherine was no good, she definitely wouldn't let Catherine into the family.
Esme kept nodding. "She even made Charles, George, Richard, and Philip scold me, wouldn't let me eat, and kicked me out. She also said she's the only daughter of the Windsor family."
Lila snorted coldly.
"The only daughter? If I don't accept her, she has no right to enter the Windsor family."
Esme's face was full of secret delight.
As soon as Catherine walked into the Windsor Villa, she was blocked by several tall, burly servants.
"Catherine, Mrs. Windsor wants to see you."
Catherine nodded and followed behind the servants.
Lila usually lived at the old house and didn't live with the rest of the Windsor family. Except for holidays when Charles, George, Richard, and Philip would visit her, they usually didn't interact much.
This was because Lila didn't like Aurora and would always show her displeasure whenever she saw her, so Bethany, Charles, George, Richard, and Philip reduced their time meeting with her.
The servant led Catherine into The Windsor Mansion, pointing coldly at a bench in the garden. "Just wait here."
With that, they turned and left.
The garden was quite old, and the bench was clearly a decorative piece, not meant for sitting.
It was covered in rust and dirt, looking like it might fall apart any moment.
Catherine knew Lila was here to humiliate her, to stand up for Esme.
She didn't mind. The Smith family used to make her stand as punishment all the time, just to stand up for Clara.
Catherine stood in the garden, thinking about the Angel's Haven Orphanage situation.
Who exactly had taken the director away?
Esme pulled back the curtain, looking at Catherine standing in the courtyard, and smiled. "You really know what you're doing. If she keeps standing, her legs will definitely get sore."
Lila didn't even lift her eyelids. "You said she doesn't know proper manners, and sure enough, she doesn't. I told her to sit down, not to stand there. Who's she trying to impress? Making it look like I'm mistreating her. So uncultured."
Esme said obediently, "You're absolutely right."
An hour later.
Catherine still stood in the courtyard like a statue, not having moved at all.
In her mind, she kept replaying the details from Angel's Haven Orphanage today, profiling over and over, putting herself in those assassins' shoes, tracing back each visit to Angel's Haven Orphanage, recreating the scene.
Catherine slowly opened her eyes. She found it!
Phantom Crew had not only predicted her moves but also Alexander's. Those assassins were just a diversion.
A maid stood behind Catherine. "Catherine, please come in."
Catherine nodded and walked into the small building where Lila lived.
Her movements were smooth and flowing, showing no sign of fatigue or soreness from standing for an hour. Instead, her every gesture carried an air of nobility.
Lila squinted at Catherine and said with disgust, "No manners. Go learn some before coming to see me. My only granddaughters are Esme and Juniper. Don't think just anyone is worthy of being my granddaughter."
Catherine looked Lila over and said, "Excuse me, do you have some kind of mental problem?"
Lila's eyes flew open, and in her anger, she threw the prayer beads from her hand.
Catherine dodged nimbly as the beads shattered on the floor.
Lila roared, "Go learn manners! Don't come back until you've learned them! Opening your mouth just to say I'm sick—I want to see how someone like you could possibly enter the Windsor family's door!"
The servants blocked Catherine. "Please, Catherine."
The people Lila had brought in to teach manners were all old nuns, each one rigid and stern. Getting any mercy from them was impossible.
Catherine wouldn't be able to return to the Windsor family for at least three to five days, and even when she did, she'd be worn out.
An hour later.
Charles, George, Richard, and Philip came rushing from different directions, gathering in front of Lila's small building.
Philip: "Charles, how long has Catherine been in there? I told you we should have warned Catherine not to bother with Grandma."
Charles: "I forgot to tell Catherine. Let's break in and get Catherine out. Don't let her suffer. I'll explain to Grandma."
The next second, a group of old nuns personally escorted Catherine out.
They even had rare smiles on their faces!
"You're truly amazing. Your etiquette is completely at a royal level. Mrs. Windsor asked us to teach you, but that's really too much credit for us."
"Mrs. Windsor said you could leave once you'd learned properly. We unanimously agree that you don't need to learn anything—rather, we're the ones who need to learn more."
Catherine nodded to them, her posture elegant and dignified, radiating nobility.
"Charles, what are you all doing here?"
Charles, George, Richard, and Philip all breathed a sigh of relief seeing her come out unharmed.
Charles: "Let's go home. From now on, don't bother with Grandma. She's old and mentally unstable."
Catherine nodded. Based on her preliminary diagnosis, Lila's mental state was indeed poor. She was probably taking some kind of medication long-term that caused hallucinations, with obvious side effects.
Esme watched anxiously as Charles, George, Richard, and Philip took Catherine away.
"Grandma, how can they just leave? They have no respect for you at all!"
Listening to those old nuns praising Catherine, Lila was so angry that her blood pressure spiked and her head throbbed. She fainted on the spot.