"You didn’t save my number?" On the other end, a familiar voice ca through, laced with an air of arrogance—as if not saving her number was a great offense.
Alia Garcia’s expression darkened slightly. She hadn’t expected Wendy Hart to reach out to her again.
"What do you want?" she responded coolly, with neither warmth nor hostility.
"Let’s et soti if you’re free—and bring the kids along. After all, I’m their aunt. It’s only proper that we et formally," Wendy Hart’s tone remained lofty, but her words left Alia astonished.
She had assud that this call was aid at stirring trouble, sowing discord between her and Christopher, or delivering a harsh humiliation. Yet now Wendy was saying she wanted to et the kids?
Alia was baffled. What was this supposed to an?
Could Wendy have concocted so new malicious sche, this ti targeting the children?
"Didn’t your brother take them back to visit during New Year’s?"
"I was seriously ill those days, bedridden, and couldn’t see them."
Seriously?
Alia still didn’t trust her. She said dismissively, "No need. The kids don’t even know you’re their aunt, and there’s no need for you to make the effort to play the role of a loving family mber."
"Alia Garcia, I’ve reached out to you as a gesture of goodwill, and you’re so ungrateful?"
Her tone suddenly sharpened, a clear sign she was on the verge of losing her temper again.
Alia thought, Of course, it’s just an act. She’s likely trying to lure the kids out and pull so underhanded tricks again.
Seeing that Alia still wasn’t responding, Wendy’s voice unexpectedly turned lancholic and despondent: "The truth is... I don’t have much ti left. Thinking about all the years of fighting, sches, and rivalries between us, I realize in the end, I’ve lost to you. I won’t deny that it’s hard for to accept. But at this point, no matter how unwilling I am, it’s useless. I might as well let go of everything and allow all our grudges to dissipate once I’m gone."
Her words carried a tone of resignation and acceptance, as though she’d made peace with life and death.
Alia froze in shock.
Doesn’t have much ti left?
She hadn’t heard anything about this from Christopher.
Or was this woman acting again?
Wendy assud that by saying all this, Alia should at least give her a way out of the confrontation, yet Alia remained silent as though she were mute.
It was like performing in a one-woman show, which filled Wendy with an inexplicable sense of injustice. Her voice rose sharply: "You still don’t believe ? I’m dying—would I still lie to you? If you don’t believe , you can ask my brother."
"Fine, I’ll ask your brother first and get back to you," Alia replied, seizing the opportunity to disengage.
"You—"
"I’m busy here, and since you’re so seriously ill, you should focus on resting. Goodbye now." Not giving Wendy another chance to speak, Alia decisively ended the call.
However, holding the phone, her heart was far from settled.
Not much ti left for Wendy?
She thought back to Christopher’s unusual mood after he returned from visiting their family ho during New Year’s—could she have completely misunderstood, and this was the real reason for his despondency?
Then why didn’t he say anything plainly?
Turning the thought over, she quickly understood—it was because of their deep-seated animosity, as intense as fire and water. How could he bring up Wendy’s plight to her?
Perhaps he even feared that, upon hearing the news, she’d spitefully remark, "Well, isn’t it about ti she died."
Even if he already knew the truth about past misunderstandings and had co to terms with his sister’s manipulative and twisted nature, so what?
She was still his biological sister after all, a pitiful sister on the verge of death.
Thinking of this, Alia felt a surge of inexplicable gloom.
Could Christopher be hoping to reconcile all the grudges before his sister passed, so she could leave this world without regrets?
She wanted to call Christopher directly and ask him outright, but she didn’t know how to broach the topic.
After much deliberation, she set her phone down without making the call.
But just as she lay down, struggling to find sleep, her phone rang again.
Picking it up, she saw it was the very person she’d been hesitant to call.
So now the siblings were taking turns calling her—was Wendy trying to persuade him to make her bring the kids to et her?
If that really were the case, she wasn’t about to show any goodwill.
With that in mind and a flurry of inner musings, her voice ca off rather curt as she answered: "What do you need?"
Christopher imdiately picked up on her tone and asked with concern, "Who upset you?"
"Who else but you?"
"I haven’t been in touch with you all day. How could I have upset you?"
"I was this close to getting so sleep, only to have you wake up with your call. Don’t you think that counts as upsetting ?" she retorted, seemingly nitpicking for an argunt.
Christopher sighed helplessly, his tone tinged with indulgence: "I was just calling to check in on you, and this is what I get in return."
"Check in on about what? Haven’t you already decided who matters more to you?"
Rationally, she could understand where he was coming from as an older brother. But in truth, when he actually acted on it, she couldn’t quite let go of her frustrations, and her words carried an edge of bitterness.
But Christopher, hearing this, seed completely confused. "What do you an? Who or what have I decided on?"
Alia paused. "You..." She had intended to ask if Wendy had put him up to this.
But stopping herself, she realized he seed to know nothing of it and wasn’t acting under Wendy’s "instructions."
Reacting quickly, she switched tracks. "What were you calling to check in about?"
"About last night."
"Last night?" At the ntion of these two words, her mind imdiately filled with the steamy and inappropriate scenarios from the previous night, along with his outrageous bla-shifting antics this morning.
She was fuming!
"Christopher Hart, can you give it a rest already? Dragging up such nonsense in broad daylight—have you no sha? Do you actually find it amusing?"
Christopher burst out laughing, baffled by her sudden barrage. "I didn’t even finish my sentence. Why are you jumping to conclusions? I was referring to the employees from your father’s company who ca looking for severance paynts. Why didn’t you ntion it to ?"
Uh—
Alia froze in embarrassnt. So that’s what he’d wanted to talk about?
Hearing her silence, the man chuckled again. "So, who’s the one with their mind in the gutter all the ti? Just a few words from , and your imagination runs wild?"
Alia’s cheeks and ears burned bright red. Having no good excuse, she played deaf and swiftly changed the topic. "How did you know about that?"
"What do you think? Anything about you that I want to know is as easy as lifting a finger."
"It’s nothing much. I ca to an agreent with them. I’ll take partial responsibility, and they promised not to cause trouble again. We signed the agreent in front of a lawyer."
"You’re gullible. That kind of agreent isn’t legally binding."
"I know, but it all depends on how the lawyer drafts it. I’ve been in this industry for years. Do you take for a legal novice? The interpretation of laws often depends on how a lawyer pitches it."
Christopher chuckled. "You’ve really grown."
She scoffed coldly. "Thanks for the complint!"
"Don’t worry, the lawyer handling this for you is excellent. It should be fine. But while you handled this adeptly, don’t forget our promise—no more hiding things from each other. I want you to think of first the next ti sothing cos up."
From this, Alia recognized that he likely knew the lawyer personally.
That explained why the lawyer had treated her with such deference earlier in the morning.
She’d thought it was the lawyer’s exceptional professionalism. Turns out, it was due to Christopher’s influence.
It seed that as long as she stayed in River City, she could never escape the looming "shadow" of Christopher Hart. All her efforts to be independent and self-reliant seed like a joke in the end.
"No more hiding things..." she murmured, chewing on those words. Suddenly, she decided to drop her indecision and said directly, "Fine... there’s sothing I need to tell you. Your sister called earlier—she wants to bring the kids to et her officially. She said she doesn’t have much ti left and that she’s co to terms with things, hoping to make peace before she goes. What’s your take on this?"
"Wendy reached out to you?" Christopher was caught off guard and finally understood. "No wonder you ntioned earlier about priorities—you thought I was calling to convince you on her behalf."
"Yes." Since he had read her mind, she admitted it openly. "You told before not to et her, but now she’s putting on this act of transformation, invoking the kids’ nas..."
"You don’t need to engage," Christopher said bluntly.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes. Don’t involve yourself in this—I’ll deal with her."
"Alright then..." Alia gladly complied, as she had no desire to be dragged into these petty dramas and ruin her mood.
Ending the call, Christopher wasted no ti and imdiately dialed the family house.
However, he learned that his sister wasn’t ho today.
He was surprised. "Didn’t you say she was seriously ill? How could she be out and about?"
Emma Carter explained, "The doctor recently changed her dication. It seems to be working well. She’s been much more spirited these past few days. The doctor said that for this kind of illness, keeping her mood stable and relaxed is just as important. She ntioned the nice weather and wanted to go out for a stroll. A friend ca to pick her up."
Christopher found it hard to believe, his tone sharp. "She’s so gravely ill, and you’re letting her wander around unsupervised?!"
"Of course I’m worried, but since you brought the kids back last ti, I had... well, I reprimanded her a bit that day, and ever since then, she’s barely spoken to . What was I supposed to do?" Emma’s voice cracked with frustration.
"Understood. I’ll call her directly."
After hanging up, Christopher frowned deeply, his unease growing. He sent Alia a quick WhatsApp ssage:
[If she cos to you, don’t et her. Let know imdiately.]
Alia stared at the ssage, confused. Hadn’t they just said she was gravely ill with not long to live? How was she still able to seek her out?
Christopher, anwhile, called his sister.
She picked up quickly, her tone eerily calm. "Wow, brother, you’re quick. Did that woman complain about ? Did she accuse of plotting against the kids?"
"No," Christopher said bluntly. "Wendy, why do you want to et the kids? And where are you right now? I’ll send soone to pick you up."
"Why the rush? Worried I’ll go looking for her on my own?" Wendy chuckled faintly, as if reading everyone’s thoughts with precision.
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