The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella) novel Chapter 570

Actually, Serena’s staying with the Collins family seemed to have no real bearing on the whole plan. It was totally irrelevant.
The fact that Serena was taken by mistake was actually a misunderstanding.
And Martha just went with the flow!
Was it not as complicated as they had initially thought?
[If we want to get to the bottom of this, we need to start our investigation from scratch.]
One thing was for sure, Martha was the woman in the same ward as Louisa at the hospital back then. She didn't die in the fire; instead, she managed to keep her head down and survive.
"So, who's Serena's biological father?" asked Arabella calmly.
[We're looking into it. I checked Martha's contact records with outsiders over the years and everything seems kosher. There's no man of her age who she's been in frequent contact with.]
Arabella remembered what Kenneth and Louisa had said earlier. They had people investigate it, and they found out that Serena's biological father had disappeared in the fire, and her biological mother was dead.
"Over the years, has Martha visited the graveyard, or secretly asked someone to visit it?" Arabella continued to enquire.
[No, she's been working as a nanny at your house and rarely goes out. Is it possible that Serena's biological father changed his name, thinking that his wife and daughter died in the fire, and remarried?]
Finding him would be a tall order if he had indeed changed his name and moved to a far-off city.
"Not sure."
Without evidence, Arabella couldn't jump to conclusions. She just said, "If Serena's biological father knew that his wife and daughter didn't die, and his daughter was living a good life, and his wife came to share this benefit, wouldn't he, as a father, want to share this benefit as well? Given Martha's character, she should have told him about this benefit. Investigate all the male employees the Collins family hired eighteen years ago."
[You mean, Serena's biological father might also be in your house? Could he be a driver, or a bodyguard?] her subordinate asked in surprise.
"This is just a hunch, just check it out and see if anything's been overlooked."
[Roger that!]
Once the serious conversation was over, Arabella's subordinate joked, [Is school fun? How about letting me in to experience life a bit?]
"Your face is too old."
Her subordinate was instantly bummed out by her words, [I'm only in my early twenties. If I wasn't running around helping you out all day, I wouldn't look this old.]
The thing was, he didn't think he looked old at all, so why did he seem non-existent in Arabella's eyes?
Was it because she saw Romeo's face every day and it raised her aesthetic standards? That must be the reason why she's so hard on him.
"Enough said," Arabella didn't wait for him to say anything more. After hanging up, she picked up Romeo's call.
"Bella, who were you chatting with?" Romeo had called earlier, but she was busy. He tried again after a while, but still the line was busy. Now he finally got through.
"You've been talking for a long time, a male friend?"
"Yes, a guy, in his twenties," Arabella asked with a smile, "Do you need me to send you his details?"
So it really was a guy!
Romeo had a feeling that she might be on the phone with a guy since he couldn't get through.
"Okay, send it to me. I promise I won't cause him any trouble."
Arabella laughed and asked, "Did you need something?"
"I missed you; can't I call you only for that reason?" Romeo sounded a bit upset, "What did he want? Did he have something important to deal with? What could a twenty-something guy possibly have that's so important? Did you guys just meet today? Is he a classmate?"