Jade's POV
"Does she have any business here, today?" I mumbled under my breath.
My face scrunched up in disgust immediately I laid eyes on the unpleasant surprise.
But that wasn't the case for my mom, though. She hurried to go meet the unexpected guest at the entrance of the house and pulled her in for a hug.
The unexpected guest was Sophia, standing in all her glory, with a sweet smile on her fully baked face.
"Wait, since when did my mom know Sophia?" I wondered, feeling upset already.
"Oh sweetheart, I am glad you arrived just on time." I heard my mom say to her, sweetly.
"Right. I can't afford to miss any bit of the preparation. I ran over as soon as I heard the news. I am very pleased you thought of me immediately." Sophia said to my mother with an overly smile that seemed so fake to me.
Maybe I was overreacting, but I shouldn't be blamed for that, though. Considering how she had treated me on our first encounter.
My mom called her to inform her of the party? Why?
Those questions lingered on my mind.
Sophia looked up and our eyes met, and she scrunched up her nose in disgust.
My mom looked between us and decided to introduce us to each other.
"Oh, Sophia, meet my daughter, Jade. Your boyfriend's stepsister." She told Sophia.
I made a tut tut sound in disapproval and looked away.
Whose stepsister? Didn't we officially and legally become family with Andrew's only when she tied the knot with Raymond? I scoffed at my mom's displeasing eagerness!
"Oh, I thought she was the maid the first time we met." Sophia said to my mom and the latter chuckled, afterwards she peered at me, remembering to check out my outfit at that moment.
She hissed in disapproval of what I had on. It was a comfy outfit comprising of a leggings and oversized hoodie which softness made me feel like I was wrapped in a cloud.
I knew she was comparing my outfit with Sophia's.
Sophia had on a floor length evening gown with high slits on both sides. The gown hugged her curves in the right places with delicate straps that showcased her shoulders and her legs were adorned with fancy high heels, unlike mine that were all covered up in my worn out sneakers.
Her makeup was impeccable, and the red lipstick on her lips added a pop of color to her overall look. While all I had as a makeup on my face was a moisturizing lip balm.
"Of course, my mom would find my overall look embarrassing!" I gritted inwardly but I didn't gave a hoot. As long as I was comfortable with my look and choice of clothing, I didn't care about her opinion of it.
"I have always told her to dress better, now look at how a guest is mistaking you for a maid!" My mom snapped at me.
I bit my lower lip to stop myself from losing my calm and composure, even though I was boiling inside. Nothing good was going to come out of losing my temper at that moment.
What sort of a mother was my mom, anyway? Shouldn't she be standing up for me in the presence of a bully?
"I am comfortable in what I put on, mom." I said to her, firmly but simply. She made the tut sound in disapproval and shook her head.
"I guess she didn't take after you, at all." Sophia said to my mom and they both laughed at that.
I swallowed hard but didn't say anything. I knew Sophia was deliberately getting on my nerves.
"Sophia, let's go inside." She invited the girl inside. Sophia looked at me with a sinister smirk before entering the house.
I wondered what she had in plan and I quickly moved closer to my mother before she could follow Sophia into the house.
"How did you know that girl, mom?" I asked her, curiously.
"You are asking a stepmother how she got to know of her step son's girlfriend?" She replied me with a rhetorical question.
I scoffed. Wasn't that a stretch at this point?
"Mom!" I whined. I wanted her to tell me how they met. She wasn't even around when Andrew brought her to the house, the first time.
"Well, in my effortful bid to be a good stepmother to Andrew, I got to know her, miraculously. Don't ask me why. A mother will always have a way to get whatever she wishes to know." She told me, firmly.
I couldn't believe her. She was going all the way out just to impress Andrew and her boyfriend. That confirmed my doubts that my mom was hiding something from me, something bad.
"I called her over to help me plan the party. We could use a helping hand. More so, I need to invite some of his friends for the party. Come inside, we have a lot to do." She stated and walked into the house.
I stood still for a minute, watching her retreating figure, lost in thoughts.
"That means, I was right that the phone call she received earlier sounded shady. Who could the caller be? I must find out." I reminded myself and immediately made a decision to dig out whatever my mom was hiding.
"Hey, maid lookalike!" I heard Sophia call out to me as I stepped into the house. She was waiting by the door.
I decided to ignore her since I had better things to take care and made to walk away but she stopped me.
"Are you ignoring me now?" She asked me rhetorically. Afterwards, she let out a chuckle.
"Weren't you so confident when talking back at me last time? Cat got your tongue now?" She asked me, a mocking smirk on her face.
I inhaled deeply and wanted to tell her to leave me alone but she spoke up before I could.
"Let me guess, you are afraid of what your mother would do to you, if she finds out that you are not treating me hospitably as you should do?" She asked, then burst into a short laughter.
"Good!" She jubilated at the realization.
I wondered if it was the way my eyes had twitched, that gave me away.
"I bet you are going to give me the glass of water you refused to get for me, last time, today." She stated.
"As I have told you last time, I am not a maid. If you need anything, go and get it by yourself, I can show you the way to the kitchen." I gritted out and made to walk away.
I was disturbed about my mother's shady doing so I didn't want to be bothered by Sophia.
I wanted to just go into my room but she wouldn't let me leave. She dragged me back, roughly.
I was getting annoyed, so I snapped at her.
"What the heck are you doing?" I yelled at her.
She smirked.
"Remember I am yet to pay you back for the humiliation you caused me last time? I have something for you." She informed me with an evil smirk.