Chapter 682 Cat Fight
Sofia’s smile froze, then slipped off her face entirely as a grim look flashed across her features. Then, in a tone that was layered through with unbridled hostility, she grounded out, “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand what you mean, Miss Dahlen.”
“Act dumb all you want, but you and I both know what I meant,” Maya snapped as she slammed the glass of water Sofia had given her earlier on the coffee table. She went on to say emphatically, “Alexander isn’t someone that the likes of you should pine after, so give up before any damage is done.”
“Well, isn’t your confidence so moving, Miss Dahlen?” Sofia smirked nonchalantly and turned to look at the other girl with no small amount of disdain. “I have a double degree in Ph.D., my father is a high-ranking official, and my mother is a renowned figure in the business world. I’ve received countless offers to become editor-in-chief in various bigshot publishers, and even Alexander’s mother has personally paved the way for my career in journalism. If the likes of me can’t pine after him, then who can? You?”
“What did you just say?” Maya clenched her fists and demanded with gritted teeth, “Godmother was the one who asked you to come here?”
Maya had been staying with Elise ever since the Dahlen Family went bankrupt, and she had cut off all contact with Madeline. However, she firmly believed that Madeline would always be on her side.
Alas, barely half a year had passed since Maya’s family’s bankruptcy, and Madeline had already decided to make another woman her daughter-in-law. Do I mean so little to her that she would move on from me so easily? Maya couldn’t help thinking.
She felt her nose prick as hot tears welled up in her eyes. She had treated Madeline as her own mother, but the woman had cast her aside in drastic times like she was nothing.
As it turned out, the Griffiths were materialists who put money and power above all other sentiments.
Sofia tipped her chin up haughtily as she cocked a brow and asked, “Why else do you think a young and beautiful woman such as myself would be doing here in Alexander’s new house?”
Maya gritted her teeth and made no reply. She didn’t think she could say anything right now to help her own case. Sofia had Madeline and a formidable family background to support her, and Maya had no one to rely on but herself now that her family was bankrupt.
While she, too, had studied abroad, her father was the one who had paid for it and made the arrangements. Upon her return to the country, her family coddled her, and there had been no need for her to join the workforce. So, at the end of the day, she had no accomplishments of her own to boast about, and she was nothing more than a pretty face.
Sofia, on the other hand, could sense the other girl’s distress, but she wasn’t going to let her off the hook so easily. She drawled in a sing-song voice, “It must take quite the extraordinary character to become Madam Madeline’s goddaughter. Maybe you have some sage advice you’d like to impart on me, Miss Dahlen?”
“Why would I do that?” Maya retorted incredulously. “If you’re so great, then why are you still a housekeeper for the Griffiths? Do you really think Alexander would ever fall for a lowly servant like you? You’re only good for picking up his dirty laundry!”
“Watch your tongue, Maya!” Sofia seethed, and she was like a human light show as her face turned red, white, and red again with fury.
Maya had no plans of backing down from the fight just as she regained the upper hand, and she went on to say, “Am I wrong? The family, academics, and pretty face that you’re so proud of can’t even begin to leave an impression on Alexander and make him fall for you. What makes you think that pouring him tea and cleaning up his house would make a difference? Maybe your skills lie not in journalism or being an heiress but in being a servant with no pride whatsoever!”
Sofia was enraged as she bolted to her feet. “Shut up!” She pointed at the door and roared, “Get out of the house!”
“Why should I? I’m practically a sister to the master of the house, and you are just a housekeeper. How dare you take that tone with me? If there’s anyone who should get out of the house, it’s you!” Maya shouted with equal belligerence, not at all intimidated by Sofia’s maniacal stance.
There was a saying that hell hath no fury as a woman scorned. It was akin to an endless and senseless war when two women clashed with one another. Not even Sofia and her impressive double-degree Ph.D. could accord her the words she needed to argue reasonably against Maya, not while the latter was on a roll.
Incensed, Sofia lunged forward without another word, grabbed Maya, and then began to haul her toward the door. “I might not be able to keep Elise under check, but I sure as hell won’t let you walk all over me! Get out! Scram!”
Maya felt rage boil in her when she was being abruptly manhandled to the entrance, and she immediately retaliated. She dug her nails into Sofia’s arms, and soon, a fight ensued as both women clawed at each other. There was a lot of clothes-tearing and hair-pulling involved, too, and neither woman showed signs of backing down.
“Oh, no! Please stop fighting!” The maid who saw this rushed over to try and pull the women apart. However, when she realized that the brawl was escalating, she abandoned her noble attempt to break up the fight and ran up the stairs, whereupon the maid knocked urgently on Elise’s door as she cried, “Mrs. Griffith! Mrs. Griffith, wake up! There’s a fight going on downstairs!”
In the bedroom, Elise frowned and sat up in bed, but she kept her eyes closed as she shuffled to the door. She felt for the knob and opened the door, then asked groggily, “What’s with all the noise?”
“Mrs. Griffith, a fight broke out between a female guest and Miss Hawkins! The guest even called herself Mr. Griffith’s sister!” the maid explained anxiously.
“Sister?” Elise yawned. “I didn’t know Alexander had a sister.”
“Something like a sister, I suppose,” the maid wagered. “I’m not sure, either, but I can’t break up the fight. Please go down and take a look, Mrs. Griffith!”
“Fine.” Elise headed back into the room and grabbed a robe, then pulled it on before she followed the maid down the stairs.
She had only just reached the landing when she heard Maya’s familiar voice crying out, “Let go of me, you skank!”
“No, you let go of me first!” Sofia shrieked, not at all sounding like she was going to release the other girl.
Elise stopped in her tracks and chuckled. A cat fight, I see. Well, that’s a fascinating development.
Sofia accidentally scratched Maya’s face in the living room and drew blood from her porcelain skin. Maya screamed on the spot, and her voice grew thick with resentment as she accused, “You scratched me! You actually laid your wretched hands on my face! Don’t you dare get away from me now!”
She really gave it her all this time as she reached out to try and claw Sofia’s face.
“You crazy woman! I didn’t even mean to scratch you! You were the one who started it!”
The scene was taking such an exciting turn that Elise nearly forgot why she was going downstairs in the first place.
On the other hand, the maid was terrified that there might be casualties if this continued, and she would have to bear the brunt of it when Alexander got home. “Mrs. Griffith,” she prompted. “Shouldn’t we stop the fight?”
“Hmm?” It was only then that Elise snapped out of her reverie, but what she said next had nothing to do with the fight. “Could you make oatmeal for me? I’m a little hungry.”
“Of course,” the maid replied out of habit. She was about to walk down the steps when she realized with a jolt that there was an emergency situation they had yet to resolve. “Wait, what about those two young ladies?”
“Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen while I’m here,” Elise reassured the maid with a placating look.
The maid didn’t know what she meant by that, but seeing as Elise was the household’s mistress, she didn’t want to question her. As such, she went to the kitchen and made oatmeal as Elise told her to.
After the maid had gone into the kitchen, Elise ran her hand along the banister as she walked down the stairs and made as if to stop the fight.
“Oh, do stop fighting at once! Stop it!” she said half-heartedly. “How will I explain myself to Mom if the both of you broke something? Come on, break it up, please. For my sake.”
She was saying all these as though she meant well, but instead of walking up to the two scorned women to pull them apart, Elise sauntered over to the living room couch and sat down insouciantly, then propped her head up in her hands as she watched the show.
“Like hell, I’ll stop!” Maya roared. “I won’t stop until this skank apologizes first!”
