From Forgotten Wife To Fierce Queen - Chapter 285: Chapter 285

Faced with Bella's sudden friendliness, Serena hesitated and looked at her uncertainly. "Are you sure you want to play with me? Don't you dislike me?"
Bella shook her head, still smiling, "I'm the older one. I'm more generous. Great-grandma told us to get along and play together."
Serena pouted. She was bored and lonely right now, but she didn't really want to play with Bella.
Bella had once framed her for stealing and even caused her to fall off the carousel.
Serena thought, 'But if I rejected Bella outright, would it look bad? Would I seem petty?'
Serena thought for a moment and spoke tactfully, "I don't feel like playing right now. I just want to rest here. I'm waiting for my mommy."
Bella hadn't expected Serena to reject her. She had already lowered herself to come over and invite her.
Bella thought, 'Ungrateful. Just like Mom said—her mother has no class, and neither does she.'
"I'll ask you one last time. Do you want to play with me or not? If you refuse, I won't bother with you ever again," Bella threatened.
Serena pouted again. She thought, 'Hah, like I care. I have Mommy, Grandpa, and Uncle—they all play with me. Even if they're busy, I can play by myself.'
Serena stubbornly thought to herself. No way was she playing with someone who had bullied her before.
Besides, there were plenty of other kids here. Even if they were all much older than her, it was still not good.
"I don't want to play. I'm waiting for my mommy." Serena refused Bella again.
Bella was furious. If there weren't so many people around, she would have exploded right then and there.
"Serena, you're such a bad kid! I'm going to tell Great-grandma that you won't play with me! I even came to you first, but you still refused. Great-grandma will be mad for sure!" Bella had no other choice but to bring up Anna.
Hearing that Anna might get angry, Serena hesitated.
She really liked Anna. Anna was always nice to her and even gave her a big gold jewelry. She didn't want Anna to be upset with her.
Serena thought about it and looked over at Anna. As if sensing Serena's gaze, Anna turned toward them. Seeing the two children together, she immediately smiled. She had always hoped they could happily play together.
"Did you see that? Great-Grandma wants us to play together. If you're a good girl, you shouldn't stay here any longer," Bella continued to persuade her.
Serena was starting to waver. She didn't like Bella, but if playing with her would make Anna happy, she would do it.
"I'll ask you one last time—do you want to play with me or not?" Bella asked again.
"Rena, go play with Bella. You're family, and you should love each other, understand?" Helena saw that Bella had invited Serena multiple times, yet Serena remained unresponsive. Helena felt it wasn't right.
Serena looked at Helena, and then at Bella. Even Helena was saying this. If she still refused to play with Bella, she'd really be a bad kid. She didn't want to be a bad kid.
"Alright. What are we playing?" Serena finally gave in.
Bella beamed, "It's so boring here—just a bunch of adults. Let's go somewhere else. Come on, follow me."
The moment she heard they were leaving, Serena hesitated again.
"But Mom told me to wait for her here," Serena remembered Paisley's words clearly.
"We're not going outside, just playing inside the house. This is our home—what's there to be afraid of?" As she spoke, Bella grabbed Serena's hand and pulled her away without giving her a choice.
Seeing this, Helena quickly followed. "Miss Bella, wait a moment!"
Bella frowned when she saw an adult trailing behind them. "Don't follow us. Stay here and wait for Ms. Sutton. We're just playing in the back."
Helena thought, 'The back?' She looked up and saw a beautiful sunroom through the window. It seemed like a great place for children to play.
"But—" Cole had instructed her to stay close and take care of Rena.
"No buts! You're not allowed to disturb us. If something happens, we'll call you." With that, Bella dragged Serena toward the sunroom.
As they ran, Bella turned to Serena and said, "You've never played in the sunroom before, have you?"
Serena shook her head. "No."
She had only been here for two or three days and hadn't explored many places yet.
"Let me tell you, it's so much fun in there," Bella said with a grin, her eyes brimming with excitement.
"Are there flowers inside?" Serena knew that pandas ate bamboo.
"Yes! Lots of beautiful flowers. I'll show you," Bella replied with a smile.
Bella's words filled Serena with anticipation. She was eager to see what the sunroom looked like.
Because of this excitement, her resistance toward Bella faded significantly.
"Alright, Cousin." It was the second time Serena had called her sister since they first met.
Since Anna wanted her to get along with Bella, she would do just that and play with her. She would forget the past and stop being upset.
Thinking about the days ahead—having an older cousin to play with—Serena felt overjoyed.
When the time came, she and Bella could play princess games in the castle. Bella would be the big princess, and she would be the little princess.
The more Serena thought about it, the happier she became. She gripped Bella's hand even tighter.
Soon, they arrived at the sunroom. Just as Bella had said, there were many flowers.
Unlike the fake flowers outside the fairy-tale castle, these were real—fragrant and fresh.
In that moment, Serena felt as if she were surrounded by a sea of flowers. And she was the fairy princess of this floral kingdom.
With that thought in mind, she lifted the hem of her dress with one hand and held Bella's hand with the other, twirling like a princess.
"Bella, do I look like a fairy princess?" Serena asked excitedly.
She felt so happy, so thrilled. She was especially grateful to Bella for bringing her to such a beautiful place.
But just then, Bella suddenly pulled her hand away and turned to look in another direction.
She muttered under her breath, "Why isn't Tommy here yet?"
Bella's sudden action didn't bother Serena.
She simply lifted her dress with both hands, humming a tune as she wandered through the sea of flowers. She truly loved this place.
"Bella, look! This flower is so pretty!"
Bella nodded absentmindedly without even looking. She had seen these flowers countless times before. She didn't understand what was so special about them.
Bella thought, 'She's never even seen flowers before? What a country bumpkin.'
Seeing Bella's lackluster response, Serena didn't mind. Right now, all her attention was drawn to these beautiful flowers.
Because Paisley loved flowers, their house was always decorated with them. In their home in Brightmoor, there was even a garden similar to this one. It was filled with all sorts of flowers, some of which could be used as medicinal herbs. Influenced by Paisley, Serena also loved flowers—every kind.
Bella glanced at Serena in disdain, and then turned her gaze in another direction. Finally, her eyes lit up.
Bella thought, 'Tommy is here! Huh?'
Bella noticed that there was another boy beside Tommy. He wasn't as tall as Tommy, but he was better-looking.
'Could he be the little master that Tommy mentioned? Hmm... Great! Now I have two helpers,' she thought again.
With that thought, Bella ran straight toward Tommy.
"Tommy! What took you so long? I've been waiting forever! I thought you weren't coming!" Bella immediately started complaining.
Hearing Bella's complaints, Tommy quickly explained, "Ah, it's all this guy's fault. He was dawdling. Otherwise, I would've been here ages ago."
The "guy" Tommy was talking about was none other than Grayson, who had just arrived.
Bella's bright eyes landed on Grayson, and for once, she put on a ladylike act. "Tommy, who is this handsome little brother?"
Tommy immediately noticed Bella's different attitude toward Grayson and became displeased. "His dad is a guest my aunt invited, so she told me to keep him company."
Seeing Bella's apparent interest in Grayson, Tommy felt a sense of crisis. "Bella, let me tell you, he's such a scaredy-cat. Even at his age, he still cries for his mom and dad all the time."