The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella)

Chapter 1890

"Awake yet?" The voice on the other end of the phone, distorted by a voice changer, was emotionless.

Martin spoke the truth, "Yeah, she's up."

A few days earlier, he had called Arabella, begging her to save Serena. Arabella had flatly refused.

Just when he was at his wit's end in the hospital, an unknown number called him, saying there was a way to save Serena.

But there was a catch: Martin had to agree to do three things for the caller.

The caller didn't specify what these three tasks were, only insisting that Martin agree first.

In the end, with Serena's life hanging in the balance, Martin agreed.

"What's the first thing | need to do?" Martin asked.

"No rush," cthe calm, authoritative reply, even through the voice changer.

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"When the tcomes for you to act, I'll let you know. If | don't reach out, you don't need to contact me. Now that your lady's

awake, our deal is in full swing. Here's to a pleasant collaboration."

With that, the call ended.

Martin felt uneasy. He had a hunch that the caller was trouble, but given the situation, he had no other choice.

He couldn't just watch the woman he loved slip away.

Initially, the caller had sent him to a place to pick up a pill. After Serena took it, she didn't wake up.

He even suspected the medication was faulty and made threats.

It wasn't until two days later, when the hospital announced that Serena's condition was stable and she could go hto recover,

that he began to feel srelief.

Thanks to the high-end medical equipment he had splurged on for Serena, she could spend the holidays at hinstead of in the

sterile environment of the hospital.

To his surprise, a few days after taking the pill, Serena actually woke up.

While he was overjoyed, he also felt worried about whatever might cnext.

Back at Reflections Villa.

Arabella arrived hto find family portraits from last Christmas displayed everywhere.

"Bella, you're back? How do you like these photos?" Louisa, gripping her hand, beamed, "The biggest one goes on the wall, so

guests see it right as they cin. And these smaller ones, let's put one on each end table, so guests can see our happy family

while they're having coffee."

"Oh please, who cares about those?" Sean commented sourly. "Besides, is the family even complete? Anyone would think you've

lost a son."

He had missed the last Christmas photo, so he wasn't in the family portraits. Knowing now how adorable and beloved his sister

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was, he wished he had crawled to be in the photo with her, no matter how badly he had been hurt.

"You're just sour grapes because you missed out." Clark, picking up a photo of him and his sister, admired it contentedly, "I think

this one will look perfect on my desk. And this fris super cute."

"Look at you, it's hideous." Sean scoffed at Clark in the photo, "Look at Bella, she's practically grimacing with you."

"That's not true, she's clearly smiling."

"That's called a forced smile."

Seeing her brothers bicker again, Arabella couldn't help but laugh, "Alright, cut it out, you guys. We'll take more photos at the New

Year's celebration, won't we?"

"How did you know?" Everyone turned to look at her in unison, puzzled. They hadn't leaked a word. Who had told her?

"Don't we take them every holiday?" Arabella replied with a smile, already anticipating the next round of family photos and the

memories they would capture.