Chapter 196 - Everything Is Good

The trio eats dinner in silence.

After eating dinner, Alexander went to his room while Caroline and Greg resumed talking in the pool area for two hours before Greg finally decided to sleep early that night because he feels tired.

Caroline was thankful that Greg cut their conversation early. She wants to go back to her bedroom and rest.

And rest she did, she was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. The night was still young, 8:00 in the evening. She looked at the television and rises from the bed, she picked up the remote control from the television stand.

She power on the remote control, browse on a different channel and settled watching a comedy show, after a few minutes of watching, the show failed to entertain her. She turns off the TV and went back to lie in the bed.

Tonight will be her first night in Alex's home. She evaluated her first hours with Greg. So far so good. Her 'ex' never attempt to touch her hand or made any lewd advances towards her.

If Greg continues to treat and respect her space, then her stay in this house would be bearable.

As for Alex, although he loves teasing her and sometimes she finds him annoying, he sincerely welcomes her and made her feel at ease in his house.

It's a good start already.

As long the two brothers treat her decently and with respect, then she will perform well her part of the deal and be done with it.

Her phone rings...

The only person who knows her new number is Allison!

She picked up her phone from the bedside table and answered the call.

"Allison..."

"Hello, Caroline. How are you doing on your first day at my brother's house?"

"I'm doing fine. Your brothers are treating me right," she answered.

"That's wonderful! You don't have to worry about Greg since you already know his behavior. Regarding my brother Alex, he might act out of the ordinary from time to time, given the fact that he doesn't know everything and always curious to know our secrets. As much as possible don't try to provoke his bad side, try to be friendly with him even a little bit."

Caroline was silent for a moment. What is Allison trying to tell her?

"Hello, Caroline...are you still there?"

"Yes, I'm still here!" she replied.

"Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"

"Yes! I do!" she responded without fully grasping what Allison is trying to tell her.

"Good! If you play your cards well and make my brothers happy with your attitude and performance, then you won't encounter any problems in that house."

"Okay..." she murmured.

"If you encounter any problem I'm just a phone call away, you got me?"

"Yes, I'll call you right away..." she replied.

"That's right...I am the only one who knows your secret. You can trust me. Let's help each other, okay?"

"OK," Caroline answered.

"I'm hanging up. Have a good sleep tonight," Allison said.

"Goodnight, Allison, bye," Caroline responded.

Their conversation ended.

Caroline put back the phone on the bedside table, sighing heavily.

With nothing else to do, she stared at the ceiling again.

She misses her husband so much! On top of that, she also missed her daughter baby Cathy. She missed her mother and her younger siblings. She missed them all!

Not able to see and talk to them is killing her inside.

She wanted to have a video chat with her daughter, but Clara might already know by now about her disappearance. If she contacts her, she might inform John about her. She was sure that her brother-in-law will tell Mike about the video call.

Her husband would feel so unloved and rejected if she tries to contact her daughter and avoided him altogether. She doesn't want him to feel that way, it might be too much for him to bear.

When the right time comes, she can only contact her sister Catherine or her mother. She believed that they will keep their conversation a secret between them.

Caroline closed her eyes, wanting to sleep early, she glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, the time is now 10:00.

Time to sleep.

She got up from the bed, went into the bathroom, and then changed into her pajama.

She exited the bathroom, turn off the light and went back to bed, hoping for a good sleep tonight.

~~~

Meanwhile, in Greg's bedroom, he just wakes up hearing some noise.

It was just his phone ringing. He checked the caller, it was no other but his sister Allison.

"Hello, sis..."

"Bro...how's your day?" Allison inquired.

"Fantastic!" he answered smiling broadly.

"Oh, why is that?"

"Because, Caroline is finally here by my side now," he answered.

"Nice to hear that, brother! Are you happy now?"

"Yesss! Absolutely! My wish was finally granted and my heart is filled with joy!" he continues pouring his happiness to his sister.

"I'm happy for you, brother!"

"Thank you so much, dear sister! You're the best!" he paused for a moment. "By the way, I would like to ask, how did you do it? How did you manage to bring my beloved woman back to my side? As far as I can remember, she has a boyfriend, then out of the blue, they broke up and Caroline was now living here with me? How did you do it?"

"It's called magic!" Allison was laughing in amus.e.m.e.nt at the other end of the line for a few seconds, then she resumed talking. "I have my ways, but you don't need to know everything. All I can say is that... just enjoy Caroline's presence in your life. Don't ask too many questions, okay? You just have to ask...and I will try my best to give you everything," she said.

"Alright, thank you very much, sister, for giving Caroline back to me. It means so much to my lonely heart."

"My pleasure, brother. Sleep well. Good night! I'm ending this conversation now so that you can sleep early," Allison said.

"Night night, sister!" Greg replied and ended the call at his end.

He went back to sleep with a smile tugging on his lips.

~~~

In Alex's room.

He just came out of the bathroom fresh from showering.

His phone starts ringing, he went to the bedside table and checked the caller. It was just his sister...

"Sis...?"

"Bro...I just call to ask how my ward is doing at your end?"

"Hmm...she's doing fine I guess. Greg has been smiling all day and walking on cloud 9, staring at Caroline's face most of the time. It's nice to see him feeling happy like this," he replied.

"That's good to hear. You and I will strive to make our dying brother happy, and we both know, the only person who can provide him long-lasting happiness is Caroline. I guess, I did the right thing this time," Allison said.

"Points for you...I can say that I'm impressed with your clever ways...but until now...I'm still bothered that you aren't telling me how did you manage to convince Caroline to stay inside my house? She practically abandoned his husband just to be with Greg! How can you explain that to me!?" he persisted.

He heard his sister sighing at the other end.

"Here we are again! Brother dear, stop poking into my business and how I handle things! Just leave everything to me, all I have done so far is for our brother's happiness. I'm hanging up now. Good night!" Allison bid goodbye to her brother.

"Hello...Ali!"

"Hellooooo!"

Damn, his sister hangs up on him! It's now clear that Allison isn't ready yet to admit anything to him.

He stared at his phone...well...the days are long.

He has all the time in the world to discover the women's secret, slowly.

He turned off the light in the bedroom and jumped into the bed wearing only his boxers short. He covered his body with the blanket.

In his mind, he was thinking and imagining a woman's pretty face.

One hour later, he was already snoring softly.

~~~

Inside Allison's minibar.

She and Owen were drinking wine while having a serious conversation.

"Madam, now that Caroline is already on Greg's side. Are you happy?" Owen asked.

Allison grinned. "Of course, after all the plannings I have conjured in my mind, that girl was handed to me in a silver platter. What can I say? I'm happy and satisfied. Seeing the happiness glowing in my brother's face, I can say that everything I did was worth it."

"I see. But how about Veralyn...did you feel guilty that you killed her?" he asked.

Allison's flinched. Her head snapped. She glared at her remaining minion. "I have no intention of killing that girl. It was an accidental mistake, if only she wasn't planning on killing Caroline and listened to me when I say stop! She would still be alive until now!"

A fleeting emotion of sadness crossed Allison's face for a few seconds but it disappeared instantly with just a shake of her head.

"B-but...Madam...aren't you planning on visiting Veralyn a few days from now?"

"What's the point?" Allison said indifferently.

"I considered that woman like my sister, although we don't always agree on many things. I just want to visit her. Can I...Madam? Please...?" Owen pleaded.

"Alright, let's visit her one of these days," Allison finally granted her minion's request.

Owen sipped the wine from the glass that he was holding in hand. "After Greg passed away, will you set Caroline free so that she can go back to her husband?"

Allison smiled cunningly. "Maybe yes and maybe not. It all depends on how the situation will unfold later on," she answered.

Owen shrugged his shoulder. "It looks like you are already planning for the future, Madam," he was hinting on something trying to guess the inner workings of her mind. He was always been fascinated with Madam's mind, she can be so kind and yet so ruthless. But when it comes to him, she was generous and treated him always as her confidant.

Allison throws him an icy glare. "I didn't give you any permission to know what I'm thinking ahead. Much better if you keep things to yourself. Do you understand, Owen?"

Owen smiled. "Of course, madam. I'm sorry if you feel that I already intruded on your privacy, my mistake. I won't do it again!" he apologizes.

Allison nods her head and dismissed her minion. "You may leave now!" she commanded.

"Alright, Madam. Good night!" Owen said and hurriedly left the minibar.

Allison was left alone in the room sipping her wine, a smile curled up in her lips.