When the next meal was delivered, Anna wasted no time.
Through the cracked window, she slipped the servant a designer bracelet worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The servant, terrified by the gesture, tried to push the expensive jewelry back.
Anna grabbed the woman's hands tightly, her eyes wide and desperate. "Please, you have to help me get a message to my grandmother. Tell her I truly understand what I did wrong. Tell her that since Serena is so focused on preparing for Grandpa's surgery, I just want to be by their side. I want to take care of them, relieve Serena's stress, and make amends!"
The servant hesitated, glancing nervously down the hall. "But Mr. Douglas ordered..."
"Douglas's entire focus is on Serena and the surgery right now; he doesn't have a second to care about me," Anna pleaded urgently. "Just go talk to my grandmother. She has a soft heart. I know she'll agree."
Staring at the glittering bracelet in her hand, the servant bit her lip and gave a slow nod. "I'll try!"
Leaning against the adjoining wall, Isabella listened to the entire exchange, her lips curling into a wicked, triumphant smirk.
What an idiot. She was entirely too easy to manipulate.
Isabella had just casually dropped a few seeds of doubt, and Anna had sprinted with them.
And the best part? None of this could be traced back to her.
Even if the whole thing blew up in their faces, it would be Anna's hands holding the match.
She had tried her absolute best to be the voice of reason, hadn't she? But Anna was just too consumed by her own resentment to listen to a word of advice. It certainly wasn't Isabella's fault.
Anna, however, worked fast.
That very evening, the servant returned with dinner and whispered that Kiera Montrose was willing to see her for a few minutes, though she had no intention of officially lifting the lockdown.
Anna nodded frantically, eagerly slipping the servant another expensive piece of jewelry as a reward.
Seeing her in such a state, Kiera's heart inevitably softened. She let out a weary sigh. "I only agreed to see you because I wanted to ask you one thing... Serena is a brilliant, capable girl. If you could accept Isabella with open arms, why did you feel the need to relentlessly target your own flesh and blood?"
Anna scrambled forward, clutching at Kiera's skirt, her tear-filled eyes looking up. "I know... I know I was acting like a spoiled brat. I was just... I was so terrified. I didn't want to lose you... When I saw how much you loved her, I panicked..."
Choking on a sob, she reached up and grasped Kiera's hands. "Grandma, I heard Grandpa's surgery is coming up fast. I know Serena is completely consumed with the medical prep and can't be here to look after you both. Can I... can I please stay in this room and take care of you? Can my lockdown just be moved from the estate to here? Please?"
She raised three fingers, mimicking a desperate oath. "I swear I'll be good. I swear I will treat Serena with nothing but the utmost respect!"
Kiera narrowed her eyes, studying the girl with a sharp, discerning gaze.
She had raised Anna with her own two hands. How could she not know the girl's true nature?
This child... didn't exactly strike her as someone capable of genuine remorse in such a remarkably short amount of time.

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Messing With Her? Are You Crazy!