"It's okay. None of you beside Rosaline of course know about my existence let alone my arrival," Renessa waved her hand.
Liam blinked. He was surprised when he heard the words of sarcasm with the sweet tone, "ah, I'm Liam, the butler who has been working here for 5 years," the man quickly changed the intonation of his voice and slightly bowed down again.
Renessa observed the man in front of her carefully. It was understandable that she would find a new butler in her home. When she left this house, the head butler of the Santoso family was a 56 year old man, whose hair had even started to turn white. Even at that time she called the man grandpa Marco. The man used to serve her grandpa but after Claudia married, Marco became the butler under Claudia's house.
"I see." Renessa nodded her head as she observed the man. She was a bit suspicious of the man. He accepted everything calmly and even bowed down his head and apologized to her so easily. If another maid brought another girl here and said that she is Rudi's daughter, would the man also behave this way?
Renessa was curious. The man must have known something.
"ah, right, bring my luggage to my room," Renessa said as she turned and eyed the suitcase calmly. The butler froze for a moment before asking politely "I understand, miss, but please wait for a bit while I ask the maid to prepare a room for you."
"What about my old room?" Renessa frowned as she turned around and looked at Rosalin for an answer.
Rosalin lowered her head and replied politely, "Your room is already occupied by your sister, Mary, miss."
"My sister?" Renessa laughed softly with an amused expression. She had heard Rosalin and Jefri accidentally mention Rudi's daughter several times. But she never asked and they never explained it to her since they didn't want to upset her by telling her this information. She has to admit that she was in denial at that time. She clearly saw this little sister that appeared out of nowhere would be her opponent in getting her father's affection. She refused to hear anything about her.
"Yes, miss. You have a sister with the same age," Rosaline tried to sound optimistic but failed miserably as she showed her an awkward smile.
"She must be the daughter of father's new wife?" Renessa smiled calmly. Rosalin froze when she caught the bitterness passed Renessa's eyes. Her innocent young lady had changed a lot now.
"Master remarried not long after you move abroad, miss," Rosalin spoke carefully.
Renessa blinked. She smiled when she realized what Rosaline had just said. Laura, Rudi's wife and Renessa's step mother, could no longer be considered a new wife. The woman had been the mistress there for a decade.
Rosalin actually intended to tell Renessa about this when Renessa called her again, but she didn't expect Renessa to come back so suddenly.
Rosalin slightly regretted Rudi's cruel attitude towards Renessa. Their master never said anything to his own daughter. Even important news such as marriage was only known to Renessa when she came back. She didn't understand why the man was so cruel to Renessa who was his own biological daughter.
"What about all the stuff in my room?" Renessa asked quietly. Rosalin felt her body shudder when she listened to Renessa's cold voice.
"The servants moved it to the warehouse, miss," answered Rosalin with her head down. She did not dare to say that only some of the goods were moved to the warehouse. In addition, all of her young miss' belongings such as clothes, books, photo albums, dolls, and everything in the room had been thrown away by Laura. If she did not give them to orphans, she would just burn everything.
Hearing Rosalin's words, Renessa immediately walks into the warehouse. Rosalin, who was following behind, became even more panicked when she realized that Renessa wanted to check all her belongings. She then signaled Liam to wait there.
Renessa opened the warehouse door and looked around at the pile of things stored inside. She frowned when he couldn't find what she was looking for.
"Where are the other stuff?" Renessa asked after a while. Her tone raised an octave. She cannot believe that it was the only thing left from her room. There was only the old bed frame and cabinets.
"Laura ordered the maids to throw them all away, miss," Rosalin squeaked softly. Rosalin moved closer and said quietly, "but I managed to save a few albums of madam. Although some parts look a little scratched, the photo of madam is still good," Rosalin tried to calm Renessa.
"Where is it?" Renessa looked at Rosalin with a straight face, but a gleam of happiness radiated from her eyes.
"Follow me, miss," Rosalin took Renessa's hand and walked away.
Renessa looked at her mother's pictures in an album that was successfully rescued by Rosalin with sorrow in her eyes. She was glad that she could see her mother's face now, but sadly tons of her mother's pictures were gone.
A dozen albums of photos of her late mother already turned into ashes. Only two small albums in her hand were the last collection of her mother's picture. Rosaline secretly hid those in her pocket when everyone was busy moving the things in Renessa's room.
Renessa looked at the picture in an unreadable expression. She still remembered that she had a small cabinet in the corner of her bedroom that was filled with her mother's album collection. All of those photo collections were taken by her grandfather. All the photos were taken from when she was a baby until the last few days before the beautiful woman's death.
Renessa's late grandfather, Herman Pratama, was a man who adored his daughter. His wife died when Claudia was only 4 years old. After dealing with a great loss, Herman promised to never marry and will take care of his only daughter for the rest of his life. He treated her like the princess, making the girl the center of his life.
The man devoted everything he had to his beloved daughter. He was always there when she needed him. His hobby was taking pictures of her daughter. He tried to capture every little moment of her daughter's life from the trivial to the important moments. Her first day of school, her first piano recital, her first graduation, her first trip abroad, and all the little moments.
When her daughter died, the shine of light in the man's eyes dimmed even more. He seemed strong, but his will to live was half gone. He was buried in sadness for several weeks before waking up and giving renessa the entire collection album of Claudia. The old man felt that he had spent a beautiful and valuable time together with Claudia, unlike Renessa, who only spent 7 years together with her mother.
The man hoped that Renessa could keep all her mother's precious pictures. He hoped that Renessa could use the picture as a medicine to heal the yearning in her heart.
Sadly, all the photos are gone now. Renessa grips on the album tightened, trying to hold back the flood of emotions that began to make her nauseating. If she could turn back time and meet her grandpa again, she would tell the man to give her mother's photo collection to someone. Anyone who could take better care of it.