"Come, let me have a good look at you."
Bertha Haines was still in a daze when she was pulled right in front of Mrs. Mitchell.
"I must say, this face looks a lot like Jerry Moore when he was young."
Reeking of alcohol, Bertha stayed with the guests for a few minutes and was planning to find an excuse to return to her room when Sebastian Page's phone suddenly rang.
"I'll step out to take this call."
Not only was he handsome, but he was also polite, and his voice was pleasant to hear.
Bertha was still in a daze when Mrs. Mitchell suddenly patted her arm and began pushing her to get up.
"He doesn't have a good sense of direction, go with him so he doesn't get lost."
Bertha didn't really want to go; she wanted to go upstairs and take a shower first.
"Mrs. Mitchell, I'll go instead."
While Bertha was unwilling, someone else was: she had already noticed Nancy Norris's gaze full of admiration for Sebastian.
"Bertha, you should go upstairs to wash up and change your clothes first; the smell of alcohol is too strong, and Sebastian doesn't touch a drop."
Bertha was taken aback, not expecting Nancy to pull such a move.
If you want to talk about a manipulative person, this would be it.
Luckily, she didn't want to get engaged to Sebastian either; she would never marry and have children until she was able to be independent.
*
After Nancy stepped out, Bertha returned to her room, and when she came downstairs again, it was already half an hour later.
By then, Nancy had already shown Sebastian around the villa.
It was uncertain if it was intentional or not, but as Bertha emerged, Nancy had missed a step on the stairs, and while she fell, she did so quite elegantly.
Out of politeness, Sebastian helped her up.
"Are you alright?"
Nancy shook her head bashfully and then sighed.
"Lately, for over a month now, I've been unlucky, even though I've been wearing the peace charm my mom got for me every day."
Sebastian didn't respond.
Nancy then pretended as if she had just noticed her.
"Bertha, I was just talking about you with Sebastian."
"Why don't you tell us how you dived to recover a body... Oh, I forgot, Sebastian probably doesn't understand sign language."
Sebastian followed Nancy's gaze and saw Bertha dressed in a white casual outfit.
He looked her up and down.
The young girl just reached his shoulder in height, and her features were rather delicate.
Just a pity she couldn't speak.
"Ring!"
Sebastian's phone rang again, and he nodded slightly towards Bertha and Nancy before walking off with his phone.
Nancy retracted her lovelorn gaze from Sebastian, then turned to Bertha and spoke in a 'heartfelt' manner.
"Bertha, I just asked Sebastian, and he said he won't marry you."
"For a marriage, compatibility between families is important, but it isn't necessary; you need to have shared values, and of course, a foundation of affection would be even better."
"But Sebastian doesn't like you, and it seems your values don't align either."
"Consider this, Sebastian is so outstanding; from primary school to university, his grades have always been top-notch, while you have never attended a single day of school."
"He knows six languages and sings beautifully, but you can't even speak; even basic communication between you two would be difficult."
"Bertha, it's not that you're not good, but it might take you a long time to become excellent, and Sebastian might not wait for you."
"The Page Family might be embarrassed to call off the engagement due to the connection between the two families, so the Norris Family will have to be the one to propose breaking it off."
"It's your mom you need to talk to."
"She wants the best for you in the world, and there's nothing wrong with that."
"But if a marriage lacks a foundation of love, how is it different from a grave?"
Sebastian soon returned, and Nancy's words didn't escape his ears.
"I have something urgent to attend to and need to leave. Please inform Auntie for me."
Nancy was startled: "You're not coming back for dinner?"
Sebastian: "No."
Nancy didn't want to miss any chance to be alone with him.
"Where are you going? I can drive you."
"No need."
Sebastian refused outright, but after taking a few steps, he suddenly remembered something and turned back to Bertha.
"She didn't get everything right, but one part wasn't wrong: my future wife has to be someone I love."
"So, I won't be getting engaged to you."
Bertha wasn't angry, as she didn't like him anyway.
She was focused on studying hard every day!
But the start of her school term hadn't arrived yet when something major happened in the Norris Family.
The Norris Corporation's food factory produced substandard food, leading to over a dozen poisoning cases.
Overnight, the Norris Corporation's stock plummeted.
Mr. Norris Senior ended up in the emergency room over this issue. Although he was saved, he was left partially paralyzed.
Bertha intended to visit Mr. Norris in the hospital, but when she went downstairs, she heard an argument between Cara Norris and her biological mother.
"When has the company ever had such an incident before?"
"Dad has always been in good health, so why did he suddenly end up like this!"
"I think it's because of your precious daughter! She's a Jinx, bringing bad luck to everyone around!"
"It's bad enough she came back, and she brought all this misfortune with her!"
Faced with Cara Norris's aggressive stance, Jerry Moore, usually gentle, couldn't hold back.
"You can't say that about Bertha!"
"The company's troubles resulted from a mix of various factors!"
"Dad is old now and has high blood pressure; the doctors always said he shouldn't be stressed, yet how can you blame all this on Bertha!"
Cara Norris mocked coldly: "Then who else to blame! It's not me who dubbed her a Jinx!"
With his poor argumentative skills, Jerry Moore could only stew in frustration.
Just then, Nancy returned home from the hospital, looking a bit weary.
After saying a few words to Jerry, she headed upstairs, and as she passed by Bertha, she accidentally misstepped and tumbled down the stairs.
"Nancy!"
Cara Norris and Jerry Moore both rushed to Nancy's side, and when they saw Bertha standing there, they were momentarily stunned.
Cara Norris couldn't help but sneer again.
"And you say she's not a Jinx!"
"If she continues living in the family, the Norris Family will never know peace."
Nancy had twisted her ankle.
Enduring the pain, she explained.
"I accidentally missed a step; it has nothing to do with Bertha."
Bertha suddenly had a foreboding sense that she could no longer continue living in this home.
And it proved to be true.
The Senior Mr. Norris soon expressed his decision, right in front of her.
"Isn't there an apartment on Haines Road? It's close to Bertha's school."
"Move there before the school term starts, and see which servant she likes, let them go with her to take care of her."
Jerry naturally objected, but seeing the Senior Mr. Norris clutching his chest, she immediately fell silent.