The Double or more Life of the Fake Heiress (Mirabella)

"I'm busy now, gotta go," James said and abruptly ended the call.

Mirabella, left hanging on the other end, raised an eyebrow. Was this James's quirky way of demanding attention? Running her fingers through her hair, she mused that confronting him wasn't a viable option—she likely wouldn't win that

battle anyway.

With a sigh, Mirabella opened her social media feed to kill some time. After browsing through a few posts, she stumbled upon Cassie's latest update. She frowned at the post. At this hour, shouldn't he be in class?

Pausing for a moment, she left a brief comment: "Skipping class?"

Minutes ticked by with no response, and when she refreshed her feed, Cassie's update had vanished. In fact, all his posts were gone, suggesting he'd switched his settings to hide them from certain people.

Mirabella's face clouded over. Was Cassie trying to test his limits?

Pondering her next move, she decided to call Atlas to get the lowdown on Cassie. Before heading to Merrywoods, she'd asked Atlas to keep a discreet eye on him, worried he might get into trouble.

"He's in the entertainment industry?" Mirabella was floored by what Atlas told her.

"Yeah, he joined a talent show. I haven't dug too deep, but since you left for Merrywoods, he hasn't shown up at school," Atlas explained plainly.

"I see, thanks so much, Uncle Atlas, for keeping tabs on him," Mirabella said, rubbing her temples. She had suspected school wouldn't be able to rein in Cassie's wild spirit.

"Happy to help, Miss Mira. It's no trouble at all," Atlas replied.

After thanking him again, Mirabella hung up. She twirled her phone

absentmindedly but decided against calling Cassie. After a while on the balcony, she stood to head inside but paused as her eyes caught a scene in the garden below.

Chester, now in casual attire, was

watering the garden plants with watering can. His practiced movements made the

look effortless and persole scene

natural.

Crossing her arms, Mirabella finally noticed the variety of plants in the garden. She thought for a second, then made her way back to her room.

Not long after, she was downstairs, heading toward the garden.

Even though her steps were quiet, Jim, who was bent over tending the plants, sensed her presence before she got close.

When he looked up and saw Mirabella, the brief chill in his expression melted away. "Not taking a break in your room?"

Jim stopped what he was doing and stood up straight.

"Yeah," Mirabella nodded slightly, her gaze sweeping over the patch of greenery. "These don't look like your everyday garden plants."

Jim was caught off guard by his niece's keen observation. He smiled, his thoughts wandering as he replied, "They're medicinal herbs."

He continued watering the herbs, his actions deliberate and gentle.

Mirabella watched him, her expression unreadable. "I can tell these plants are getting some top-notch care."

She toyed with the idea of snapping

a picture of the herbal garden to

venoveldrama

post online, thinking it might ruffle Nellie's feathers, given her stubbornness rivaled that of someone from the olden days.

"By the way," Jim said, glancing at his niece, "Grady mentioned you know a thing

or two about medicine and potion-making?"