Chapter 258 Rest Assured
Caroline put on her apron and started preparing the organic free-range chicken, with Leopold following her into the kitchen to help out.
Slow-cooked broth needed several hours, but time was tight, so they had to use a pressure cooker to speed things up.
After packing up dinner, the two of them left carrying an insulated bag.
In the elevator, Caroline suddenly remembered that Elysia was waiting for them to eat. "I haven't told my mom yet. Better call her quick, or she'll be waiting for us."
Leopold smiled slightly. "I already called her."
Caroline laughed. "You're so reliable. You didn't mention Erica being in the hospital, right?"
Leopold said, "No."
Caroline breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing you didn't. My mom has Mrs. Morris on WhatsApp, and Erica specifically said not to tell them. They're traveling abroad, and even if we told them, they're too far away to help. They can't come back and would just worry."
Leopold switched the insulated bag to his other hand and put his arm around Caroline's shoulder. "I know what I'm doing. When I handle things, you can rest assured."
Indeed, Leopold was thorough and very considerate in handling matters.
When the elevator stopped on the first floor and the doors opened, there was a figure standing outside. The build looked like Nash, and Caroline instinctively stepped back. When she saw clearly it wasn't Nash, she relaxed.
Leopold turned his face and smiled. "Look at you, getting scared so easily."
Caroline laughed awkwardly.
The two headed straight for Leopold's car. Her car was still parked in its spot.
As Leopold's car turned the corner, Caroline actually saw Nash.
For some reason, when she saw Nash's gaze, she felt a chill down her back. That sinister, cunning smile sent cold shivers through her entire body.
Leopold noticed him too, but his look was indifferent, just glancing over before continuing to look ahead.
Nash, however, wasn't shy about greeting them, smiling and waving.
Though Leopold couldn't be bothered with him, he still honked out of politeness.
Caroline sat in the passenger seat, and as the car passed Nash, it felt like an unfriendly gaze was piercing through the car window at her.
Even as the car was about to disappear around the corner, Caroline saw in the rearview mirror that Nash was still standing by the roadside, watching them leave.
Was something wrong with this guy's head?
Leopold noticed Caroline seemed distracted after seeing Nash, and thinking about how she suddenly moved back to her parents' house recently, something flashed in his eyes as he started considering certain possibilities.
He probed, "Living in the same neighborhood as someone like Nash, I wouldn't want to see him even once."
If she answered seriously, it would mean that during the days he wasn't home, Nash must have done something to make her uncomfortable.
Caroline frowned and thought before saying, "There's nothing we can do about it. Who would've thought he'd buy a place in this neighborhood too? I asked the designer a few days ago when they'd be finished."
Normally, Caroline would respond to such questions with "forget it" or "don't bother with him," but her answer just now had already told him what he needed to know.
Leopold said, "Alright, I'll talk to the designer again and see if we can speed up the renovation so we can move sooner."
Now with Leopold at home, she'd have fewer worries. She didn't believe Nash would dare block her at the elevator when she was going to and from work with Leopold every day.
The car stopped in the hospital's underground parking lot. Leopold got out, carrying the insulated bag. At the first-floor elevator, he handed the bag to Caroline. "You take this up first. There's something urgent at the company. I need to call Lily about it."
Caroline took it and said, "Okay."
As the elevator doors slowly closed, the warm smile on Leopold's face vanished completely.
He went to the small park downstairs from the hospital, where it was relatively quiet. It was dinnertime, so there were hardly any people taking walks.
Leopold walked a few more steps inside before taking out his phone to make a call. He called the property manager of their neighborhood. "Mr. King, it's me, Leopold. Yes, there's something I'd like to trouble you with. Can you help me check something?"
Under normal circumstances, neighborhood surveillance videos weren't allowed to be accessed by residents. This involved other residents' privacy, unless a police report was filed and officers supervised the evidence collection on site.
But Mr. King couldn't refuse Leopold's call.
Over the past few years, every time Mr. King took his family on trips, they almost always stayed at Celestial Waters Hotel. Leopold had given them considerable favors—either standalone villas or luxury suites. You could say Mr. King owed Leopold.
So Leopold's call, while framed as a request for help, was more accurately defined as repaying a favor.
Mr. King happened to be in the surveillance room and told him he could come over now.
Leopold thanked him. "Thank you, I'll head over right away."
He sent Caroline a WhatsApp message.
North: [Something urgent at the company, I'm heading out. Call me before you come back, and I'll pick you up from the hospital.]
Caroline: [Okay, you do what you need to do.]
Leopold drove out of the hospital. On the way, he called Elysia.
"Hello, Mom. No, I already ate. Caroline stayed at your place for a few days? No, no, I'm missing a shirt. Can you check if it got packed in her travel bag? Okay, Mom, take a look."
Elysia went to Caroline's bedroom, opened the closet, and saw several hanging clothes, but not the gray shirt Leopold mentioned.
"Leopold, there's no gray shirt. Caroline brought seven outfits, no shirts."
"Got it, Mom. I'll keep looking."
Leopold hung up, his gaze deepening. If she were just going back to stay for a few days out of boredom, she wouldn't have brought so many outfits. Clearly, she intended to stay longer.
Some things were fine when you didn't think about them, but the more he thought about it, the more wrong it seemed.
If Caroline were really someone who got bored easily, she wouldn't have chosen to live alone in the first place. When things were abnormal, there must be a reason.
Leopold's car entered the neighborhood. At the gate, he glanced at the security guard inside and clearly saw the guard's eyes darting away evasively. Leopold calmly looked away.
Arriving at the surveillance room, Leopold exchanged pleasantries with Mr. King, only saying he'd lost something, not mentioning anything else.
Mr. King had the security guard help pull up the footage, while Leopold sat aside using another computer to review it.
On both computer screens, four-panel videos played. Leopold's attention was highly focused, his eyes constantly scanning each frame, until he saw Caroline walking from the parking lot toward the residential elevator, with Nash's figure appearing right behind her.
"Wait." Leopold signaled the guard. "Here, let me see this."
The guard paused the video and handed the mouse to Leopold.
Understanding issues of resident privacy, the guard tactfully turned to look at other surveillance screens.
When he saw Nash blocking Caroline's path, the two seemed to be talking smoothly at first, but then Nash made some advances, and Caroline clearly felt violated and backed away.
Leopold's dark eyes grew deep as he clenched his jaw.
Switching to the elevator footage made him even more furious, actually blocking her in the elevator. He put on headphones to listen, and his expression suddenly darkened.
Right up until Nash got out of the elevator and continued harassing her, Caroline had shown very clear rejection and anger, but Nash kept pressing forward.
Leopold copied all the video footage of Nash harassing Caroline. He was definitely going to teach Nash a good lesson.