Chapter 3 New Home

After quite a long drive, the trio finally arrived at a river-view villa.

As soon as Maria got out of the BMW, she saw a maid waiting for them at the gate.

"Mr. Jenkins, Miss Jenkins, welcome back! I have been waiting for you guys. Lunch is ready."

"Yes, please. I'm starving! Did you cook my favorite garlic shrimp, Lily?"

Vivian asked with an expectant look. At the same time, the maid called Lily hurriedly took her bag with a warm smile.

"Yes, of course! Everything's ready inside. Please go wash up and enjoy the lunch." Lily adored Vivian so much. She always looked at the young woman as if she was an avid fan looking up at her idol.

"You've just arrived, so you shouldn't be familiar with the surroundings. Anyway, Lily, the maid here, will show you around the house. For now, she will accompany you to the room I prepared for you," Bill said flatly.

Then, he turned to Lily and instructed her, "This is Maria. From now on, she'll be part of this family, as my daughter of course. Show her to her room so she can settle down first."

"Yes, Mr. Jenkins, right away."

Lily bowed respectfully before standing still again.

However, instead of a welcoming smile, she glanced coldly at Maria and didn't bother helping her carry her luggage as she did for Vivian just now.

"Come with me." Indifference resonated in Lily's voice as she turned around and walked toward the house.

On the other hand, Maria didn't say anything. She just quietly followed Lily while carrying her own suitcase.

In fact, her suitcase gave off a dull sound when its wheels ran over the floor, indicating just how heavy it really was.

Even so, no one really noticed that Maria casually carried it with one hand and had no trouble with it.

"This is going to be your bedroom," Lily uttered as she stopped in front of a door.

She took Maria to a room on the first floor. Inside its narrow interior, there was a single bed, a simple wardrobe, and a desk and chair set. There wasn't a lot of furniture in the room, but it already felt so clamped. There was basically no more space for any other stuff.

Before entering, Maria looked at the stairs leading to the second floor.

Noticing where her gaze was, Lily sneered and caught her attention. "This river-view villa district was developed by a real estate enterprise well-known internationally. The internal layout of this three-floor villa is incredibly unique and sophisticated. It can only be built with top-level design skills and artistic structure. Now, you are going to live on the first floor. Do not dare go to the upper floors if you have no business in there. Also, it might be your first time in a place this big, so be careful and try not to get lost. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Lily's tone was harsh enough to let Maria know that she wasn't trying to hide her contempt towards a bumpkin like her.

At the same time, the maid indeed wasn't exaggerating about the size of the place. When she first came to the Jenkins family, Lily had lost her way several times in the passageways around the villa. One time, she even entered the master's bathroom completely by mistake.

If it weren't for her excellent cooking skills that helped her win Vivian's favor, she would have been fired a long time ago.

"Yeah, I do know something about such villas." Maria replied calmly, shifting her gaze towards the room in front of her.

"You do? Ha!"

Lily snorted so hard as though she heard a distasteful joke.

Maria was nothing more than an ordinary girl from a small town near the countryside, a mere substitute for Vivian's engagement. Now, she was claiming that she understood how complicated and exquisite the structure of the villa was. Of course, Lily found it laughable.

In fact, it wasn't until recently that she heard from another maid in a neighboring villa about the history of the river-view villa district. Its design was created by a mysterious and low-key top-level designer, and it was obtained by a real estate enterprise at a remarkably steep price.

It was said that the top-level designer was unwilling to take the job at first. However, she happened to be in urgent need of money, so she eventually agreed to do this.

Unexpectedly, the designer finished all the intricate designs and layouts in just a day.

Considering that she finished the job so fast, the head of the real estate enterprise suspected that her work was perfunctory. He complained to many people and even claimed that the designer was a scammer who tried to ask for a huge amount of money for a lackluster output. In other words, he tried to discredit her abilities.

About three months later, however, a world-famous design competition bestowed a Gold Award on the designer's works. Apparently, her genius was undoubtedly genuine.

In order to save face, the head of the estate enterprise immediately issued a public apology. Unfortunately for him, when he tried to contact the designer personally for a new project, he learned that he and his company were already blacklisted.

In the age where this kind of news could quickly circulate around the Internet, the design circle soon learned that the designer embargoed the company. As a result, many other famous designers refused to cooperate with them from then on.

Eventually, the head and his company incurred extremely heavy losses that he had to leave the real estate industry and test his luck somewhere else.

"Anyway, please remember to stay in your room at all times. I will call you when it's time to eat. More importantly, don't make any noise in your room. I am staying in the room next to yours, and I have been having troubles sleeping properly recently. I don't want to be awakened from my rest just because you're making unnecessary ruckus in your room! Do you understand?" Lily raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Maria could only smile mirthlessly. It was clear that her new identity as the lady of the Jenkins family didn't have any authority at all.