Chapter 62 So That's How It Is
"Dad, you!"
Natasha stamped her foot and was about to speak when she heard Willow say, "Natasha, help me upstairs."
"Mom."
Natasha turned around to see Willow's face full of coldness. "Do as I say!"
Natasha glared at Serenity unwillingly, then turned to shield Willow as they went upstairs.
John looked at Serenity and saw the red handprint on her face. He said with concern, "Serenity, Natasha has been spoiled by her mother. Please don't hold it against her. I'll definitely teach her a good lesson when we get back!"
Serenity shook her head and said softly, "It's okay, Dad. It was my fault just now. I acted carelessly in my panic. Natasha had every right to slap me."
Seeing how understanding she was, John felt even more sorry for her. "Serenity, you're so sensible!"
"Dad, there are so many guests here. Let's go downstairs."
Hearing Serenity speak, John took her hand and walked down the stairs, saying to everyone, "Sorry, sorry, there was a small accident just now, but please don't let it spoil the mood. Everyone, please enjoy yourselves."
At his words, people pretended to casually disperse.
John brought Serenity straight to my side and said to me, "Helena, this is your cousin. Please look after her from now on."
Serenity wore a white dress with long hair cascading down to her waist like a waterfall.
With an obedient smile on her face, she looked like a harmless and innocent woman. Only I knew what a vicious heart lay hidden beneath that harmless appearance.
I nodded. "Serenity, hello. I'm Helena."
"Hello, Helena." Serenity's cheeks bore the red mark of a slap, and her delicate, timid appearance was pitiable.
"Serenity, you've already met Henry. This is your second aunt, Maria."
Serenity nodded obediently. "Aunt Maria, hello."
After the round of introductions, John saw Knox standing nearby and said, "This is Mr. Pemberton, Helena's fiancé."
The moment she saw Knox, Serenity's eyes lit up. With a shy smile, she said, "Mr. Pemberton, hello."
Knox kept a straight face and nodded coolly. "Serenity, hello."
Seeing Knox's cold manner, Serenity looked a bit disappointed and said to me, "Helena, I'll be counting on you today."
"No trouble at all. I attend these kinds of events often, so showing you around is easy."
In my past life, I suffered plenty at Serenity's hands.
Taking advantage of John's affection for her, she schemed to take my things and repeatedly tried to drive a wedge between Knox and me, even winning Arabella's trust.
Ever since she began appearing frequently at Pemberton Manor, my nightmares began.
Serenity gave Arabella ideas that made me suffer terribly.
When I discovered and exposed her, not only did she not back down, she acted as if it was perfectly justified, saying shamelessly, "We're both daughters of the Lockwood family. Why should I suffer for over twenty years while you and Natasha live happily? I just can't stand you so-called rich daughters and your high-and-mighty attitude."
"So what if you were born well and married well? I'm going to make you suffer!"
She appeared with crazy revenge, hostile toward everyone. After I sensed her hostility, I became much more guarded against her.
But unfortunately, Serenity had already established herself as weak and harmless, and after several rounds, I gained no advantage.
But in this life, the nightmare of my past life won't repeat itself.
Now I understood why she'd been deliberately picking on me—this woman had set her sights on Knox.
Wait, that didn't add up. In my past life, she'd shown up at the Pemberton family gatherings time and again, but I'd never heard anything about her and Knox having any sort of connection.
So what was her game?
With a woman's intuition, I immediately sensed something was off.
I carefully replayed every interaction between Serenity and Knox from my past life, and suddenly it all clicked.
Perhaps what Serenity wanted wasn't Knox himself, but Knox's attention.
Of course! What she craved was being the center of everyone's gaze, not just winning over one particular man!
I nearly laughed out loud at the revelation. I looked up and studied Knox properly—sharp features, keen eyes, hands casually tucked in his pockets with that natural air of aristocratic confidence. He really did cut quite the figure of a wealthy young heir.
Faced with a social climber like Serenity, I wondered what Knox made of it all.
Perhaps in this life, I should give Serenity a helping hand. Instead of just chasing status, why not go for the real prize?
After thinking that, I smiled. "Knox, you know a lot of people. Why don't you come with us to meet the guests later?"
As soon as I finished speaking, I saw Serenity's eyes brighten as she looked at Knox.
Knox frowned, somewhat puzzled. "Helena, isn't that inappropriate?"
"What's inappropriate about it? You're my fiancé, and Serenity is my cousin. We're all family."
As soon as I finished speaking, Serenity quickly added, "Then I'll trouble Mr. Pemberton."
Seeing this, Knox could only nod in agreement.
"I'll take Serenity to do her makeup first. See you later."
Knox nodded at me somewhat absent-mindedly. After saying goodbye to Maria, I took Serenity toward the hotel's dressing room.
Along the way, Serenity was as quiet as her name suggested. When we arrived at the makeup room, and she sat down, the handprint on her face was particularly obvious in the mirror.
"Natasha has a bad temper. Don't take today's incident too much to heart."
I took out some foundation from my bag and carefully applied it to her face.
Hearing me say this, Serenity shook her head. "It's okay. This little injury means nothing to me."
She gave a bitter smile. "When I was little, my mom was in poor health and couldn't find work. Without any income, my mom and I even picked through garbage on the street for food. Compared to that, this injury really is nothing."
Hearing her words, my hand paused. I didn't know Serenity had such a tragic past.
In my past life, I only remembered Serenity's viciousness and overlooked how her upbringing affected her.
Perhaps it was these unhappy childhood experiences that created her character of wanting to take revenge on everyone.
Seeing my silence, Serenity smiled. "Sorry, did I scare you?"
"It's my fault for bringing it up."
Then she changed the subject. "Why don't we talk about you instead?"
"Me?" I smiled. "What's there to talk about with me?"
"There's so much to talk about. The daughter of the Lockwood family, the future heir of the Lockwood Group—any one of these things makes me envious."
Serenity smiled and continued, "Not to mention having such a handsome, attractive, and wealthy fiancé."
"How did you and Mr. Pemberton meet?"
Finally, here it comes. Is Serenity already unable to hold back?
Now I was even more certain that all of Serenity's resentment toward me in my past life was related to Knox.
In that case, let's see in this life who's more skilled—you or Natasha.
With this thought, I smiled. "We met at one of Natasha's parties."