The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella) novel Chapter 1916

"Grandpa and Grandma, please don't be mad. It's all water under the bridge now. What we need to focus on is making it up to Bella for the hurt she's endured. I'm fine, really. What matters most right now is how Bella feels."

Arabella never expected that with Serena out of the picture, Alma would step into the spotlight. She had heard Alma had a sister who was sick and couldn't make it today.

She just hoped they weren't cut from the same cloth.

"Why would Serena have someone hit you?" David suddenly asked. "Did you two have a falling out?"

Bernard and Cornelia's gaze shifted back to Alma.

"Serena's been bullying me, and it wasn't just a one-off. At Mr. Eugene's birthday bash, she dumped champagne on my face when no one was looking—and she spat in it first."

Everyone cringed at the thought, appalled by Serena's behind-the-scenes behavior. It was just tasteless.

"There must be some bad blood between you two," David said, cutting to the heart of the matter. "Knowing her, if she didn't like you, she'd just dish out some snide remarks. It wouldn't come to blows unless you really pushed her over the edge."

Alma couldn't believe David was actually taking that little troublemaker's side. And from the looks of it, her mother didn't seem inclined to back her up either!

Her mother must be upset with her for being too brash.

But if she didn't speak up about Serena's bullying now, when would she?

"Alma, what's the real story? Tell us everything you know, so we can all make sense of this," Bernard said, sensing that the situation wasn't as straightforward as his granddaughter made it out to be.