Troublemaker

"Where is father?" Renessa asked as she descended the stairs. She walked gracefully and casually but in this situation, Rosalin wanted to just carry her instead of having to walk behind her.

Rosalin could only breathe a sigh of relief when Renessa finally stepped into the library which also functions as Master Rudi's study.

"What were you doing that made everyone wait this long?" Laura's curt voice greeted Renessa.

"Good morning, everyone," Renessa greeted with a smile on her face, ignoring Laura's words. The tense atmosphere in the room did nothing to dampen her smile.

"You just arrived less than a day ago but already causing a lot of trouble," Laura added again.

Rudi was currently sitting behind his desk and looking at Renessa angrily. Laura and Mary were sitting on the sofa in front of Rudi's desk. Mary sobbed and was seen wiping away the tears on her face and Laura looked at Renesa sarcastically while stroking her daughter's back. Beside the sofa where Mary was sitting, Vina was kneeling there with her head down.

Renessa stared at the maid in amazement, she had to admit this maid's acting skills. Maybe if she didn't become a helper here, she could become a soap opera actor.

Renessa calmly sat down in front of Mary and Laura, "What's with the dramatic atmosphere so early in the morning? I thought soap operas only appeared at noon and at night in this country? Isn't eight in the morning too early?"

Renessa's words immediately angered Rudi, "How dare you ask that kind of question! You are the cause of all this shity situation, dammit! You threatened her to quit her job, right?"

Mary's sobs started to get louder, making the room noisier.

"Why didn't you ask me first before yelling at me like that? and all of that just because of a maid? What would people say if they heard about this?" Renessa asked as she looked boldly at her father.

"You're such a troublemaker! I don't need to ask to know that you are the reason for all this messy situation!" Rudi retorted with a face reddened from yelling.

Renessa wanted to laugh sarcastically. The man was overreacting. They were the one that caused all of this chaotic situation.

"Since you trust that maid more than your own daughter, I'm going to call the police on suspicion of attempted murder! Let the police prove that I am the victim in this matter!" Renessa said calmly as she pulled out a cell phone from her pocket.

Everyone in the room was silent. Everyone looked at each other with confusion. They suddenly didn't understand what was happening anymore. From Mary and Vina's story an hour ago, Renessa was the one to cause to fire Vina just because she did not like to see the woman pampering her step-sister. 

Attempted murder? What kind of joke was this? Calling the police for something like this was too much. but no one tried to intercept Renessa because they also really wanted to know what was really happening.

Vina, who had been keeping her head down, began to realize that her lies would be exposed if Renessa kept talking. She then started shouting loudly while crying, "I didn't do it, sir, madam, she's lying! I would never do such a thing!"

Vina then began to stare pleadingly at Mary, making the girl cry even harder and turn towards her mother. She held her mother's arm and said between her cries, "Mom... Vina couldn't have... hic... done it.... Sister...hic...must be...lying.... She's just... hic.... jealous that Vina....hic.... cares about me so much...."

"What a liar! There's no way Vina would do such a cruel thing, she's the one who's been taking care of Mary! My daughter would've said something to me if something like that happened," Laura's voice boomed. She couldn't bear to see her only daughter crying like that. She was afraid Mary's condition would worsen if she continued to cry like that.

"Since we have different opinions, we should call the police. I have evidence that the woman here intended to harm me yesterday," Renessa remained calm in front of everyone in the chaotic situation.

"Evidence? Where's the evidence?" Rudi's roar filled the hall again. Renessa wondered why these people liked to shout so much, making the situation appear worse than the reality. She could still hear their nonsense even though they were talking quietly.

"I have the footage from the CCTV camera when Vina was performing her stunt and intending to hurt me yesterday," Renessa waved her cell phone in front of everyone.

"We should solve this problem through legal channels because the perpetrator does not want to admit her actions," Renessa looked calm and began pressing several numbers that were emergency police numbers.

Vina who saw this became even more panicked, she only added a spoonful of salt in the soup and water in the food she delivered to Renesa. She didn't expect Renessa to call the police for something so trivial.

Renessa's words about the CCTV made Vina realize that she didn't really care about her location when committing her crimes. No one had ever intended to check the CCTV footage because Rudi and Laura had always believed everything she said and defended her. So, the presence or absence of CCTV footage actually didn't affect her at all.

But this time she was too confident and dug her own grave. Laura and Rudi might defend her, but not the police. She would be forcibly dragged to jail if her actions were proven right. Even she couldn't do anything if Renessa paid the police to arrest her.

Vina's body sweated as she recalled yesterday's events. She hadn't done anything to jeopardize Miss Renessa's safety but she couldn't say she was entirely innocent either. She had spit on the girl's dinner, added salt on the girl's dinner, and spilled drinks on Renessa. If she held back and said something else, then she would be finished.

Right now, she was really out of luck.

"Miss, I swear I did nothing to harm Miss Renessa," soft beads began to fall down Vina's face again as she prostrated herself and began to hug Mary's legs. This time the tears were no longer an act as she was truly terrified.

If that damn woman called the police here and charged her with even a minor offense, her name would be tarnished. No one would hire her even if she was proven innocent later.

"Mom! Hic,,,, help Vina," Mary burst into tears.

"We don't need to prolong this. Vina will apologize to you and it will be over," Laura said with a final tone. She wanted to get this over with and go visit one of her social friends' boutiques.