After having her clothes changed to a fresh ones, Syra came back on the first floor to check their kitchen and see if there was still something left for her.
Apparently, there were a few occasions when her family would purposely leave her out with nothing to eat, even a single morsel of anything.
"How dare you just waltz in here after a night out of the town???"
Her Aunt Caroline's voice sounded from behind her.
For some reason, the other party was using her heavily accented and sophisticated voice as though she was some sort of royalty.
The other party still held that same glass of wine in her right hand just like how Syra saw her when she arrived a couple of minutes ago.
"Err??? I've been working."
Syra replied flatly as she stated the obvious matter.
It was not like she was having a nightlife outside??!
Besides, it was not like it was a secret to them as well that she was taking numerous part-time jobs on a daily basis, so Syra could not help but wonder why her stepmom was deliberately trying to pick a bone on her that night.
Unlike them who knew nothing but to procrastinate and idle all day round while spending the fortune of her late dad, she, herself spent a lot of blood, sweat, and tears just to earn her own money.
Yet from how the way her Aunt Caroline made it sound, it was as though the other party was implying that she was having the time of her life every night, and that was the reason why she was always going home, late.
"WHATEVER!"
Aunt Caroline rolled her eyes before she took a seat at the sofa and continued,
"While you were off at your fantasy world of being Debbie Gibson---"
"I don't know who that is???"
"SHHHH!!!!"
Irene butted in to which her twin sister immediately hushed her to silence before focusing her attention back at their mom who was scolding Syra.
Meanwhile, the evil stepmother continued where she left off.
"The point is that these girls were here doing your work. My poor Irene here was already suffering from carpal tunnel--"
And as if hearing her cue, the moment she heard the mention of her name, Irene once again sported a face as though the world had wronged her.
"---and Aileen --"
Aunt Caroline went on as she pointed at Aileen who was busy licking the lid of the paper envelope.
"My tongue is so dry!"
The other party said with a stamp still stuck on the tip of her tongue.
"Err?? Okay, I'll just take them over."
Syra relented in the end as she knew very well that there was no point arguing with them anyway.
Besides, she reckoned that it was better off that way so as to avoid prolonging the drama and subjecting herself to another round of litany from her stepmom.
"Of course you will do. And don't forget that you also have to do the dishes, the floors, and the laundry. Be careful on my Spanx though, you have to handwash that one."
Aunt Caroline emphasized that last instruction.
"And get the hair clog out of my shower..."
Irene added while she was busy browsing through her Instagram.
"You need to Febreeze all of my shoes."
Of course, Aileen also had her own special request. They surely loved bossing Syra around.
"AND you have to address all those cards. We have to get them out first thing tomorrow"
Aunt Caroline added on top of her other instructions before she could even forget about telling Syra basically about everything that she had to do before she could finally retire for the night.
"What are those for????"
Syra asked them the thing she had been most curious about ever since she came home that night.
"Letters. Obviously."
Aileen replied sarcastically as though it was so foolish of Syra to asked that question.
"Yeah, I saw it. But what I mean is that, why do we need to send these letters to their physical addresses? There were too many of them. Why can't we just send them straight to their email addresses instead??? After all, that was what the internet is for"
Syra suggested but no one listened to her good advice.
"Oh! Don't try to get smart over me, sweetie. You knew nothing. Just do what I ask you to do. You don't need to know anything."
Aunt Caroline told her kindly before she headed back to the kitchen. Most likely to get another refill of her wine.
Likewise, Syra's two other step-siblings also went to their own separate ways. Probably heading back to their princess-like room that was originally owned by Syra, in the first place.