Chapter 3

The car stopped in front of the house at Aegean Heights. The moment Piper stepped through the door, she found the living room piled high with cardboard boxes of all shapes and sizes. Irene was busy stuffing a wooden box into one of them.

Piper recognized it at a glance. It was the handmade wooden case she had waited three months to receive, and inside were all her personal documents.

"What are you doing?" Piper asked coldly, snatching the box away. "I told you on your very first day here that you're not to touch the boxes in my closet without my permission."

Irene curled her lip. "A lot of Ms. Tanner's things were sent over from Ludlow Manor. Mrs. Ludlow told me to clear out the bedroom, so I had to pack your things away in boxes first."

Molly had scorned Piper from the very first day Harvey brought her home. No matter how much Piper tried to please Molly or how much she endured, she never received so much as a pleasant smile—not even when she devoted almost all of her spare time every fall and winter during the four months Molly spent at a convalescent hospital.

Molly claimed that Piper came from a humble background and the food she made wasn't fit to eat, so she arranged for Irene to be the housekeeper at Aegean Heights. In reality, Irene was simply there to be Molly's eyes on Piper.

All along, Piper had firmly believed in her devotion to Harvey, so she had never been afraid of being put under scrutiny like that.

In the past, Irene would openly criticize her in front of Harvey, and Piper had always tolerated it. But today, she shot Irene a sharp, icy look.

Feeling a little intimidated, Irene added, "If you don't believe me, ma'am, you can ask Mrs. Ludlow yourself."

"This is my house," Piper declared. "Right now, you're touching my things under someone else's orders. Does this mean if something valuable goes missing tomorrow, you're going to take responsibility for that, too?"

Irene had been hired through a proper domestic services employment agency, and she was immediately affronted by the insinuation.

"Mrs. Ludlow isn't just anyone else. She's your mother-in-law!" Irene ranted, certain that Piper wouldn't dare defy Molly. "If you're angry, take it up with Mrs. Ludlow. She criticizes you all the time, and I've never seen you dare to give her attitude."

Piper's brows twitched. Suppressing her anger, she shot back, "I'm the one who signed your employment contract, and I'm the one who pays your salary. You keep acting like she's the one you answer to instead. Anyone who didn't know better would think she was your employer."

Irene had never seen Piper look this cold before. Now that Piper hit the key point, she started feeling scared again. "Ma'am, I…"

Piper pulled out her phone and dismissed Irene without hesitation. "I've just transferred this month's salary to you. Pack your things and leave now. As for the things you moved without permission, you put someone else's belongings in this house without my consent. I'll pursue the matter according to the terms of your contract."

Irene panicked. She stepped forward and tried to grab Piper's arm as she made a desperate attempt to appease her.

"Ma'am, this is all a misunderstanding. Mrs. Ludlow has always been very strict with the staff. I'm just a housekeeper! I wouldn't dare say no to her."

Piper stepped aside, avoiding Irene. Her eyes, usually dark and gentle, were unusually cold and severe today. "Do I need to call security to come help you pack?"

Irene's face fell. "I… I wasn't thinking straight. I was wrong. Please forgive me just this once. I promise I'll be on your side from now on. Please don't tell the agency about this. If you do, I'll never be able to work this job again."

Piper remained unmoved. "If I later discover that you damaged any of my belongings, I will also be seeking the appropriate compensation according to procedure."

Irene's head started to spin. She had a son and grandchildren back in the countryside who depended on her for financial support. What would she do without a job?

She had only been following Molly's instructions. Piper didn't dare take her anger out on her mother-in-law, so she had chosen to bully a lowly housekeeper instead!

Piper was just a gold digger with no parents! She clawed her way into the Ludlow family by groveling and relying on her pretty face. What made Piper think she was any better than her? How dare she put on airs as the lady of the house?

When Irene saw Piper go upstairs, she pulled out her phone and messaged Molly.

Piper pushed open the bedroom door. Most of her belongings had already been removed, but the sight only gave her a sense of relief. She had originally been worried that seeing all the traces of the life she had shared with Harvey throughout the room would make her feel suffocated all over again.

Since she didn't want Harvey anymore, this house and the things in it no longer meant anything to her either.

She gathered her original data files, and there were quite a few. Some of the patents and important data were still stored on Harvey's computer at the company, protected by special permissions and encryption.

The irony was that she was the inventor and rights holder of those patents, yet she didn't even have permission to access Harvey's computer.

Her heart stung painfully again. She grieved for the version of herself who had once offered up all her sincerity without protecting herself.

The doorbell interrupted her thoughts. Molly had arrived with Cecilia.

Seeing her savior, Irene hurried forward with a deeply aggrieved expression.

"Mrs. Ludlow, I was only following your instructions and getting the room ready for Ms. Tanner. I didn't mean to touch Madam Piper's things. Please explain it to her for me. She's being so heartless. She's going to make sure I can never find another job."

Irene waited for Molly to explode in fury and lash out at Piper. Besides, now that Cecilia was back, who knew which one of them would actually be the one getting thrown out?

Molly had been on her way to Aegean Heights when she got a message from Irene saying that Piper was going to fire her. When she walked in and saw the living room in complete disarray, with barely enough space for herself and Cecilia to stand, her eyes immediately flashed angrily.

At that moment, Piper calmly walked down the stairs.

"Irene, I originally thought you had simply made a foolish mistake. I didn't expect you to have such a deceitful side. You're saying that Mrs. Ludlow allowed Ms. Tanner to move into this house, but instead of informing me in advance, she only informed you. You're the one who made a mistake, yet you're accusing Mrs. Ludlow of acting with such impropriety."

Irene was rendered speechless.

Molly cared a great deal about appearances and liked lecturing people about rules and propriety in front of others. She suppressed her anger and frowned. "Didn't Harvey call you at noon to tell you about it?"

Piper raised an eyebrow. "He mentioned it, but the other two rooms in the house aren't really suitable. He said he would discuss it with Ms. Tanner, and he still hasn't gotten back to me."

The other two rooms? That meant the guest room and the housekeeper's room.

A storm gathered in Molly's eyes.

"Irene moved my things without permission and said you instructed her to clear out the bedroom for Ms. Tanner. How am I supposed to believe that?"

Piper looked as though she had just heard the most ridiculous joke, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Ludlow Corporation's bids are still under government review. If people find out that Ms. Tanner has moved into the bedroom Harvey and I share, what if a rival company takes advantage of it? What if rumors spread that Harvey's marriage is in shambles, or that he maintains a sordid private life?"

Piper struck first, every word sharp. "You love Harvey more than anything. Why would you ever unilaterally decide to let Ms. Tanner stay in our bedroom?"

Molly was hit with another bucket of cold water. She fell silent, unable to vent her fury. It was as if Piper had effectively grabbed her by the throat. She hated Piper, but she cared even more about Harvey and the Ludlow family's business.

"What a load of nonsense!" Molly snapped, forced to go against her true feelings and seemingly agree with Piper.

Meanwhile, Cecilia's expression shifted when she heard the words "sordid private life".

It was her first time seeing Piper. Her eyes were dark and bright, her features delicate and beautiful, and her skin almost translucent. Her simple, unadorned appearance gave her a gentle, intellectual air.

Cecilia considered herself one of the rising stars of the latest generation of painters. Despite being decked out in luxury brands from head to toe, she didn't look sophisticated in the slightest.

Piper was clearly staking her claim with those words, and Cecilia was deeply upset about it. She was the true lady of the house!

When she had entered the compound earlier, she'd immediately noticed a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost parked outside. It was said to be worth over 200 million dollars—the kind of luxury car one might see only a handful of in Gemdale, the nation's capital and wealthiest city.

She never would've expected Harvey to let Piper stay in a neighborhood that housed such wealthy people.

To think that a stand-in was making a grand display of herself in front of the real deal, yet Cecilia couldn't rip apart the facade.

She deliberately put on an aggrieved expression. "Ms. Steele, Irene and Harvey were worried that it wouldn't be safe for me to live outside by myself, but you have every right to refuse. This was my fault. Please don't take it out on Irene."

Piper spotted the painfully obvious innocent act coming from a mile away and had to admit that Cecilia and Harvey made a good match. They were equally brilliant at acting.

"I never refused to let you move in, Ms. Tanner. The question is just which room to set you up in," Piper calmly remarked. "And secondly, Irene violated the terms of her employment contract while she was on the job. I'm simply protecting my rights as her employer."

Cecilia's fingernails dug into her palms. She had tried to play the nice-guy act, only to end up coming across as the unreasonable one herself.

When she said nothing, Piper looked at the uneasy Irene and pretended to call security. "Which is it going to be? Fired for making a mistake, or fired for trying to drive a wedge into your employer's relationship with her in-laws? I'll let you pick."

"Save me, Mrs. Ludlow!" Irene had no choice but to drop to her knees in front of Molly and cry.

Molly was wary of Piper calling security. If this became a public spectacle, the Ludlows would be the ones left embarrassed.

"Shut up! Just leave us first."

Irene didn't dare anger the last person she could rely on. Wiping her tears, she left unwillingly, not forgetting to shoot Piper a resentful glare.

Since Piper had angered Molly, she wasn't going to walk away unscathed either.

Piper looked at Cecilia. "Since Irene is leaving, her room is empty now. Go ahead and check it out, Ms. Tanner. The view from the window there is quite good."

Cecilia's expression became extremely awkward. "It's fine. I can paint in the garden."

Molly couldn't take it anymore. She snapped angrily, "Enough! Piper, this house belongs to the Ludlow family! Harvey may have let you stay here, but do you seriously think that makes you the lady of the house?

"Cecilia is no different from a daughter to me! If you think the guest bedroom is too small, then you can have the housekeeper's room instead!"

Molly was shaking with anger.

Piper lived off Harvey's money without showing any gratitude. Now she was even using Harvey's reputation to threaten her and force her to make Cecilia suffer instead.

Pointing a finger at Piper, she snarled viciously, "And if I find out that you've decided to run that filthy mouth of yours, I'll kick you out of the family at once!"