Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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I barely moved a muscle. Holding up the message, I showed it to Dexter, deliberately fuming. “Who the hell is this? Is this one of your admirers, or are you really sneaking around behind my back with some other woman?”
Dexter froze when he saw the message, his body stiffening for a few seconds before he quickly tried to explain.
“I don’t want to hear your explanations,” I interrupted. “If you’re innocent, then call this person back right now. I want to know exactly who this shameless person is.”
Dexter hesitated. “Isn’t this a bit extreme?”
“Why should you just let someone insult me like this?” I snapped. “Dexter! I still haven’t figured out what happened at that hotel, so don’t test my patience! Call her right now!”
I didn’t give him a chance to back out. He took my phone from my hand and I immediately dialed the number. The call went through, but no one answered. I tried several more times, but the result was the same.
I took his phone. “Use yours.”
“Honey…” Dexter seemed reluctant. “I mean, I get it. This person is obviously messed up, but do we really want to get down to their level? I don’t want us to look like we’re the same kind of people.”
I scoffed. “Are you going to call or not?”
He pressed his lips together, then, after a long pause, sighed. “Fine, I’ll do it.”
He dialed the number from his phone and put it on speaker. We both listened closely, but once again… no one picked up.
I frowned in confusion, wondering, ‘Am I overthinking things? Could it be that this woman doesn’t even recognize Dexter’s number?‘
Suddenly, it hit me, and I cursed myself. ‘Sylvia, how can you be so dumb? Dexter has another phone–of course, that’s the one he uses to contact her.’
At this point, my little test had been pointless, like a dead end.
Dexter looked at me helplessly. “I called, but no one answered. Maybe I should try again later?”
I shook my head. “No need. I’m going to rest now. You can pick up Juno later.”
I trudged to my room, feeling utterly drained. I was exhausted, and though I couldn’t sleep, I knew I had to rest. I needed all the strength I could gather to handle what was coming next.
I forced myself to lie down for a while, but not long after, Dexter came in to ask if I needed to go to the hospital. I refused.
He noticed the fatigue on my face and gently kissed my forehead. “I’ll go pick up Juno. You try to sleep a bit.”
I closed my eyes and murmured, “Okay.”
After he left, the house fell into complete silence. My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. ‘Should I go for the phone hidden in the drawer now?‘ As I hesitated, I heard the door creak open again. Dexter had returned.
Before he could step inside, I quickly turned over, pretending to be asleep. He called my name softly, but I didn’t respond.
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Chapter 18
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Then I heard him softly rummaging through the drawers. After a moment, he let out a quiet sigh of relief and closed the drawer. I couldn’t help but feel a little lucky that I’d been just a second slower,
Clearly, Dexter didn’t believe that my getting up last night was an accident. He was still keeping an eye on me,
Once he confirmed that the phone was still in place, he finally left the room.
I opened my eyes and first checked on Martha. But then I realized, Kimberly was nowhere to be seen.
Martha said, “Kimberly had lunch and left after that. I didn’t ask her where she was going”
It seemed like Martha and Kimberly were still maintaining their usual, distant relationship–like “live and let live.” They kept to their own business, which worked fine for me.
I knew Martha’s temperament well. Unless Kimberly made a move first, she wouldn’t stir up any trouble.
I gently stroked Martha’s back and rested my head on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll make sure you get better.”
“You silly girl,” she sighed. “All I want is for you and Clara to be happy. That’s all I need to feel at peace.”
“Mom, what about the inheritance Dad left behind?” I asked.
She sighed again, a little heavier this time. “In the end, everything will be split evenly between you two sisters.”
“That’s not what I meant.” I raised my head and looked her straight in the eyes, speaking seriously. “From now on, no matter who asks you about the inheritance–unless it’s me–you need to say you don’t know. Even if it’s Dexter. Do you understand?”
Martha was silent for a few seconds. When she looked at me, I could see she finally understood. She nodded slowly.
After giving Martha that warning, I headed to the kitchen. Just as I was finishing up dinner, Dexter returned with Juno.
The moment I saw Juno, all my exhaustion and worries seemed to disappear.
Juno had learned how to draw in kindergarten today and proudly showed me a doodle he made. I couldn’t help but shower him with praise, which made his cheeks turn bright red.
“Mom, this is the picture Ms. Santos helped me with. Isn’t it pretty?” he said, beaming with pride. “Ms. Santos said I’m the best artist in the class!”
“Really? Ms. Santos must have great taste,” I said, squatting down to hug my little treasure.
Dexter chuckled from the side. “Teaching kindergarten isn’t easy these days. They have to keep coming up with ways to keep the kids happy.”
I shrugged. “Well, that’s her job.”
Dexter’s expression darkened slightly. “True. By the way… does Juno want to stay in Ms. Santos’s class next semester? If so, we’ll need to prepare some gifts for her in advance.”
“Well, I’ll take care of it,” I said.
I didn’t trust Dexter to pick out gifts for the teacher–not because I worried about anything between them, but because I didn’t think he’d choose the right things and might end up offending her.
Rhea Santos was one of the top educators at this prestigious kindergarten, and Juno had made a lot of progress since joining
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Chapter 18
her class.
I already had a plan for her gift this year: a set of skincare products, a nice makeup set, and a bottle of perfume. So women could resist gifts like those.
The first two would be easy to get, but I still hadn’t decided on the perfume… I put the thought aside for now. There was 50 rush–gift–giving could wait. I had more important things on my mind.
That night, everything was unusually calm. The only excitement came when Dexter caught Kimberly coming home late, and he gave her a good scolding.
The next morning, I acted like I was going to work, heading out the door as usual,
I quietly hid across the street in another building and watched Dexter leave for work. Afterward, I saw Kimberly head out to buy groceries. That was when I went back inside.
Martha was still asleep. Her body was still weak, and after breakfast, she liked to take a nap, so I didn’t disturb her.
I quietly entered the room and opened the bedside drawer. I searched through it carefully, and soon my hand brushed against a small hidden mechanism. I pressed it gently, and with a soft click, a secret compartment opened.
Inside, I found the familiar pink phone case… Just as I reached for it, I heard the sound of the front door opening, I wondered, ‘Who could it be?‘
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