The Long-time Neighbours

However, Jake did not even look at Lila. He quickly turned his head away and said coldly, “You leave first.This is the wedding room after all.”

Although Jake was still cold, his attitude towards Lila was much better than towards Serena. Lila was thrilled. Is he trying to look out for her and clear her name? Feeling extremely sweet answered yes obediently before she turned away, and left slowly. Jake's curly short hair was still dripping. He glanced at Serena, his eyes dark and cold, without any emotions revealed. Quickly, he turned around and returned to the room. Serena stood in the front of the door, looking at the glass pieces on the floor, her nails digging into her arm. Lila, I will get back at you for ruining my life.

After cleaning everything up, Serena left the room after 10 o'clock. After the night of passion, Serena was sore all over. Even when she was walking, she could feel her legs shivering.

“Omg, you just got up now? Indeed, you're born to be a princess. My Lila did not have such good fortune.”

It was a shrill voice. Serena saw it was a lady in her 40s or 50s. The mother of Jake was just talking to a lady next to her. Hearing that comment, she looked at Serena with discontent and awkwardness. The woman who was a long-time neighbours of the Robinson family, Mrs. Cox, Lila’s mother. She initially thought that the Robinsons and Cox’s would become relatives for sure but she had no idea that Serena would come in between. It was simply natural for Mrs. Cox to be upset in her previous lifetime. This comment of Mrs. Cox had brought her a lot of trouble. She had thought of herself as the young mistress of the Robinson household and did not have the best temper. Hearing such a comment targeted at her, she immediately said “What's your business here?”

That was the effect because was looking for. She fed led all the ladies to point fingers at Serena making her less and less popular. From that point, all the ladies knew that the Robinsons had a crazy girl married into their family. It was such a scandal that the good name of the Robinsons had suffered and was also the beginning of the comparison between Serena and Lila, which was Serena's nightmare. However, in this lifetime, Serena would not make the same mistake. Hearing the comment, Serena looked down and whispered in a shy manner,

“ I… last night I went to bed a bit too late. I was so tired, so…”

Seeing the look on Serena's face, the lady sitting on the sofa waiting to meet the new girl had a knowing look on their faces. Today was not only the third day that she was married to Jake, but also the birthday of Jake's mother. Each year, Mrs. Nora Robinson would have a birthday celebration. It was only the morning, the guests from Mrs. Robinsons poker and her neighbourhood were interested in her new daughter in law.

“So this is your daughter? She's so pretty.”

“Exactly. When they said she was from the Clark family, I thought, Yes, I did not realize that she would be the granddaughter of Mr. Clark. She looks so much like her.”

Serena’s family name was Clark because she used her mother's family name. She had always been an orphan. Growing up, she had nothing except for her name. When she was eight years old, she was taken back by her uncle. Only then did she know it was a prominent family. Her mother, Melina Clark got pregnant outside of marriage and disappeared 18 years ago without any information to whether she was still alive.

Thinking of that, Mrs. Robinson did not look happy, and she glanced at Serena coldly. Serena knew that Mrs. Robinson did not like her, so she did not respond. Serena simply smiled at the ladies for talking about her. She quietly walked up and called Mrs. Robinson, mother. Mrs. Robinson did not want to be nice to the girl, but they were still in public. She held back her discontent and nodded without any expression.

“Auntie, happy birthday!” It was Lila’s voice.

Everyone saw Lila holding a big box walking over with a huge smile on her face. Lila was very good looking. Her eyebrows were delicate, and her eyes were huge. With a cute nose and a sharp little chin, she looked like a doll with pink lips and smiley eyes. Seeing Lila, Mrs Robinson who had no expression beforehand immediately wore a smile. She then said,

“Why are you here so early? You only came back from Australia really a few days ago. You should be sleeping.”

Lila said in a cute way, “I have been back for a couple of days already and it is auntie’s birthday, so how could I miss it just for sleep?”

Lila smiled and went up to Mrs. Robinson, placing the big box on the coffee table among the ladies.

“I admire that Lila gives you a gift each year? We are also neighbours but she never paid such attention to us.”

“But I thought Lila would become your daughter in law…”

However, before Mrs. Wright finished her sentence, she was hit on the hand by Mrs. Allen. Mrs. Wright’s smile suddenly disappeared. She looked to Lila awkwardly and the latter blushed, seeming to feel embarrassed. Very soon, everyone's eyes fell on Serena. As if she had heard nothing, Serena made eye contact with everyone smiled and said,

“Let me go prepare some snacks for you.”

“ Please sit. That's okay, the helper will do it,” Mrs Robinson gave back a smile and then said, “sit down. In case anyone says I'm abusing my daughter in law.”

Even an idiot could tell something was off, right? Serena was an illegitimate daughter whose father was unknown. How come she got to marry into the most prominent family? The Robinson family. If it were not for the insistence and even threats of Jake's grandfather, Captain Henrik, no one in the Robinson family would have agreed to the marriage. In the eyes of Mrs. Robinson, nothing about Serena matched her son. Neither her education nor her family. Serena quietly found a remote spot to sit down, deliberately far from Mrs. Robinson. In her previous lifetime, she taken it for granted and had sat next to Mrs Robinson. However, she had been told to go away harshly, embarrassing herself and getting ridiculed by Lila.

Seeing that Serena knew her place, Mrs. Robinson became less agitated. She quickly moved her eyesight away and saw the big box that was brought by Lila. Smiling, she said,

“I am happy. What did you prepare for me this time? Lila, you work so hard on your gift every time.”