At that moment, Serena suddenly laughed.
She gracefully set down her utensils. Her every move was devoid of any hint of a country girl; she was so noble and composed, it was as if she was born for this kind of environment.
She leaned back lazily in her chair, raised a slender, porcelain-pale hand and began to clap slowly.
"Delusional, indeed," Serena scoffed. "You're finally realizing that you've spent twenty years living a life that wasn't yours."
Everything Isabella possessed now, wasn't that the result of wishful thinking?
What right did she have to play the victim?
Serena knew her mother was soft-hearted and sentimental.
After all, this was the girl she had raised as her own daughter, doting on her for twenty years.
Moreover, Isabella was a master of disguise, never showing any trace of jealousy in front of their mother.
Her mother probably still believed that the adopted daughter she raised was pure, kind, gentle, and genuinely happy to finally have a sister.
Isabella's earlier line "Mom has always doted on me, preparing everything for me so thoughtfully."
And that other one "It was my fault for being delusional."
She was playing the victim card perfectly.
Wasn't she just trying to stir up their mother's guilt?
Well, Serena decided, she would cut off Isabella's escape route of playing the
victim, leaving her nowhere to go.
Sure enough.
As Serena's words fell.
Catherine's heart ached. She grabbed Serena's hand and looked at Isabella with a cold expression. "Isabella, wrong is wrong. If Agnes doesn't know the rules, it's because you haven't managed her properly!"
Why should Serena have to forgive her just because she apologized? What about the twenty years of life that were stolen from Serena?
She had already given Isabella more than enough!
The one she truly owed was Serena, who had been lost and wandering for twenty years!
Thinking of the hardships Serena had endured in the Wynn family for the past two decades, Catherine's heart clenched with pain.
It was a debt she could never repay, no matter how hard she tried to make up for it
now.
Isabella never expected that with just one sentence, Serena had wiped away their mother's guilt. She didn't even care about Isabella's pride, didn't care that she had stood up to apologize, and was now beinging up, Agnes again.
Was her mother not even going to pretend anymore?
She stared at Catherine in stunned disbelief.
Catherine's face was cold. Without even looking at her, she addressed Agnes directly. "Agnes, out of consideration for your many years of service to Isabella, I won't fire you. However I am docking your salary for two years to make an example of you."
Hearing this, Agnes's expression relaxed slightly.
Just a salary dock. That wasn't a big deal.
As a maid in the home of the countealthiest family, and one who had reached her level, she had Miss Isabella the Lancaster beiress, as her backer.
Her annual income was at least a few hundred thousand dollars.
Over the years, she had saved a considerable amount of money thanks to Miss Isabella.
Besides, even without a salary for two years, she still had her money tree, Miss Isabella, to give her money.
This punishment was practically no punishment at all.
Agnes had just breathed a sigh of relief when Catherine spoke again.
"From now on, you are not to take a single step into the main house. You will be... weeding and doing odd jobs in the back garden."
Agnes froze, utterly stunned.
Isabella's face went white. She stared at her mother, her eyes blurry with tears. How was this any different from firing Agnes outright?!