Love My Friends with Benefits

I knew that Grandma had been in poor health in recent years and was staying at the Jones family's home. I parked the car outside the villa and rang the doorbell.

Mary, the maid, opened the door for me. She was surprised to see me and chattered on about how Grandma kept bringing me up recently.

I could feel myself starting to tear up as I listened to her chatter. I took the snacks I had bought for Grandma from the boot of my car and followed Mary into the villa.

It was both familiar and strange to me. After all, I had stayed here for a few years, but it had never provided me with a sliver of warmth.

I was just about to head upstairs when a shrill voice stopped me.

"You little b*tch, who allowed you to come here?"

I did not need to look back to know that it was coming from my stepmother, Gail Sampson, a caustic woman with a heart of malice.

To this day, I did not understand how my father, Bell Jones, had fallen for her. In fact, Gail used to be my mother's best friend, but that had not stopped her from stealing my mother's husband.

There was a lot of bad blood between Gail and me. She had been giving me a beating when she was pregnant with her second child and had accidentally fallen down the stairs. It had resulted in a miscarriage.

Therefore, she had always regarded me as the murderer of her son, as did my father. It was because of this that they both loathed me and thought of me as their nemesis.

It was also due to this that I was forced to move out of the Jones family and fend for myself when I was barely sixteen years old.

I had to go through much suffering and hardship to make ends meet while trying to complete my education.

...

I turned around and glanced at Gail disdainfully. "Do I need your permission to come back to my own home to visit my grandmother?"

"Mary, you're out of here if you ever let rubbish like that in again!"

Gail knew that I did not fear her and would not hold back if things got physical, so she turned to shriek at Mary instead.

Mary was so terrified that she immediately bowed her head obsequiously. It was obvious that Gail regularly mistreated the servants.

"Alright, that's enough! What's all the noise for? I asked Queena to come because Mum wants to see her!"

As we quarreled, the door to one of the rooms upstairs suddenly swung open. My aunt, Nancy Jones, stood there, looking down at us with dissatisfaction. Aunt Nancy was a domineering woman and Gail did not dare take things too far under her watch. She could only glare at me ferociously.

"You little b*tch, I'll let you off the hook for now since Phoebe's fiancé is coming. I'll make you pay for this!"

I ignored her and continued up the stairs, but I could not help pondering over her words.

My two-faced snake of the stepsister, Phoebe Jones, was getting married? What would her fiancé be like?

I walked into the room and saw Grandma lying on the bed. Her hair had gone completely white, and she looked pale and haggard.

However, when she saw me, she immediately perked up and looked at me lovingly.

Grandma came from an affluent family and was a well-educated, well-mannered, and independent woman.

"Queena, you're here. It's been ages since I last saw you. Oh, how I've missed you..."

"Grandma, I've been wanting to come to see you, but..."

"That's enough. I know..."