Cat Fight
Sofia’s smile froze, then slipped off her face entirely as a grim look flashed across her features. Then, in
a tone that was layered through with unbridled hostility, she grounded out, “I’m afraid I don’t quite
understand what you mean, Miss Dahlen.”
“Act dumb all you want, but you and I both know what I meant,” Maya snapped as she slammed the
glass of water Sofia had given her earlier on the coffee table. She went on to say emphatically,
“Alexander isn’t someone that the likes of you should pine after, so give up before any damage is done.”
“Well, isn’t your confidence so moving, Miss Dahlen?” Sofia smirked nonchalantly and turned to look at
the other girl with no small amount of disdain. “I have a double degree in Ph.D., my father is a high-
ranking official, and my mother is a renowned figure in the business world. I’ve received countless offers
to become editor-in-chief in various bigshot publishers, and even Alexander’s mother has personally
paved the way for my career in journalism. If the likes of me can’t pine after him, then who can? You?”
“What did you just say?” Maya clenched her fists and demanded with gritted teeth, “Godmother was the
one who asked you to come here?”
Maya had been staying with Elise ever since the Dahlen Family went bankrupt, and she had cut off all
contact with Madeline. However, she firmly believed that Madeline would always be on her side.
Alas, barely half a year had passed since Maya’s family’s bankruptcy, and Madeline had already decided
to make another woman her daughter-in-law. Do I mean so little to her that she would move on from me
so easily? Maya couldn’t help thinking.
She felt her nose prick as hot tears welled up in her eyes. She had treated Madeline as her own mother,
but the woman had cast her aside in drastic times like she was nothing.
As it turned out, the Griffiths were materialists who put money and power above all other sentiments.
Sofia tipped her chin up haughtily as she cocked a brow and asked, “Why else do you think a young and
beautiful woman such as myself would be doing here in Alexander’s new house?”
Maya gritted her teeth and made no reply. She didn’t think she could say anything right now to help her
own case. Sofia had Madeline and a formidable family background to support her, and Maya had no one
to rely on but herself now that her family was bankrupt.
While she, too, had studied abroad, her father was the one who had paid for it and made the
arrangements. Upon her return to the country, her family coddled her, and there had been no need for
her to join the workforce. So, at the end of the day, she had no accomplishments of her own to boast
about, and she was nothing more than a pretty face.
Sofia, on the other hand, could sense the other girl’s distress, but she wasn’t going to let her off the hook
so easily. She drawled in a sing-song voice, “It must take quite the extraordinary character to become
Madam Madeline’s goddaughter. Maybe you have some sage advice you’d like to impart on me, Miss
Dahlen?”
“Why would I do that?” Maya retorted incredulously. “If you’re so great, then why are you still a
housekeeper for the Griffiths? Do you really think Alexander would ever fall for a lowly servant like you?
You’re only good for picking up his dirty laundry!”
“Watch your tongue, Maya!” Sofia seethed, and she was like a human light show as her face turned red,
white, and red again with fury.
Maya had no plans of backing down from the fight just as she regained the upper hand, and she went on
to say, “Am I wrong? The family, academics, and pretty face that you’re so proud of can’t even begin to
leave an impression on Alexander and make him fall for you. What makes you think that pouring him tea
and cleaning up his house would make a difference? Maybe your skills lie not in journalism or being an
heiress but in being a servant with no pride whatsoever!”
Sofia was enraged as she bolted to her feet. “Shut up!” She pointed at the door and roared, “Get out of
the house!”
“Why should I? I’m practically a sister to the master of the house, and you are just a housekeeper. How
dare you take that tone with me? If there’s anyone who should get out of the house, it’s you!” Maya
shouted with equal belligerence, not at all intimidated by Sofia’s maniacal stance.
There was a saying that hell hath no fury as a woman scorned. It was akin to an endless and senseless
war when two women clashed with one another. Not even Sofia and her impressive double-degree Ph.D.
could accord her the words she needed to argue reasonably against Maya, not while the latter was on a
roll.
Incensed, Sofia lunged forward without another word, grabbed Maya, and then began to haul her toward
the door. “I might not be able to keep Elise under check, but I sure as hell won’t let you walk all over me!
Get out! Scram!”
Maya felt rage boil in her when she was being abruptly manhandled to the entrance, and she
immediately retaliated. She dug her nails into Sofia’s arms, and soon, a fight ensued as both women
clawed at each other. There was a lot of clothes-tearing and hair-pulling involved, too, and neither
woman showed signs of backing down.
“Oh, no! Please stop fighting!” The maid who saw this rushed over to try and pull the women apart.
However, when she realized that the brawl was escalating, she abandoned her noble attempt to break up
the fight and ran up the stairs, whereupon the maid knocked urgently on Elise’s door as she cried, “Mrs.
Griffith! Mrs. Griffith, wake up! There’s a fight going on downstairs!”
In the bedroom, Elise frowned and sat up in bed, but she kept her eyes closed as she shuffled to the
door. She felt for the knob and opened the door, then asked groggily, “What’s with all the noise?”
“Mrs. Griffith, a fight broke out between a female guest and Miss Hawkins! The guest even called herself
Mr. Griffith’s sister!” the maid explained anxiously.
“Sister?” Elise yawned. “I didn’t know Alexander had a sister.”
“Something like a sister, I suppose,” the maid wagered. “I’m not sure, either, but I can’t break up the fight.
Please go down and take a look, Mrs. Griffith!”
“Fine.” Elise headed back into the room and grabbed a robe, then pulled it on before she followed the
maid down the stairs.
She had only just reached the landing when she heard Maya’s familiar voice crying out, “Let go of me,
you skank!”
“No, you let go of me first!” Sofia shrieked, not at all sounding like she was going to release the other girl.
Elise stopped in her tracks and chuckled. A cat fight, I see. Well, that’s a fascinating development.
Sofia accidentally scratched Maya’s face in the living room and drew blood from her porcelain skin. Maya
screamed on the spot, and her voice grew thick with resentment as she accused, “You scratched me!
You actually laid your wretched hands on my face! Don’t you dare get away from me now!”
She really gave it her all this time as she reached out to try and claw Sofia’s face.
“You crazy woman! I didn’t even mean to scratch you! You were the one who started it!”
The scene was taking such an exciting turn that Elise nearly forgot why she was going downstairs in the
first place.
On the other hand, the maid was terrified that there might be casualties if this continued, and she would
have to bear the brunt of it when Alexander got home. “Mrs. Griffith,” she prompted. “Shouldn’t we stop
the fight?”
“Hmm?” It was only then that Elise snapped out of her reverie, but what she said next had nothing to do
with the fight. “Could you make oatmeal for me? I’m a little hungry.”
“Of course,” the maid replied out of habit. She was about to walk down the steps when she realized with
a jolt that there was an emergency situation they had yet to resolve. “Wait, what about those two young
ladies?”
“Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen while I’m here,” Elise reassured the maid with a placating look.
The maid didn’t know what she meant by that, but seeing as Elise was the household’s mistress, she
didn’t want to question her. As such, she went to the kitchen and made oatmeal as Elise told her to.
After the maid had gone into the kitchen, Elise ran her hand along the banister as she walked down the
stairs and made as if to stop the fight.
“Oh, do stop fighting at once! Stop it!” she said half-heartedly. “How will I explain myself to Mom if the
both of you broke something? Come on, break it up, please. For my sake.”
She was saying all these as though she meant well, but instead of walking up to the two scorned women
to pull them apart, Elise sauntered over to the living room couch and sat down insouciantly, then propped
her head up in her hands as she watched the show.
“Like hell, I’ll stop!” Maya roared. “I won’t stop until this skank apologizes first!”
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda