Chapter 11 : Anger And Resentment
Sherrie glanced at the silent crowd and quickly said, “That room was originally Allison’s. I was planning to switch rooms with her tonight.”
Nigel frowned. “You have asthma. You need a room with better ventilation.”
He then looked at Allison, and his tone became gentler. “You can take my room, but you have to promise not to use things like this just to get attention again.”
He thought Allison had taken the bracelet to show her frustration about her room being given away, like a neglected kitten causing trouble to be noticed.
When Sherrie heard Nigel was willing to take the smaller room, she quickly interrupted. “Nigel, you work late every night. The small room is too cramped and won’t let you rest well. I’ll switch with my sister instead.”
Nigel felt moved. In this family, only Sherrie seemed to understand how hard he worked. Not like someone who only kept a cold face and let her emotions spill over every day.
Sensing Nigel’s hostility, Allison finally said, “I never planned to switch rooms. I was only saying that I didn’t steal anything.”
She stared at them seriously, and every word she spoke was clear and straightforward, which only made Nigel and the others seem unreasonable.
Ronan stood off to the side, feeling a sudden and unexplainable frustration.
Allison lifted her eyes. A sharp glint flickered in them for a moment. “I don’t know how Ella lost her phone. But the jade bracelet is very important to me. Now that it’s missing, please call the police for me.”
Ella and Sherrie looked at each other. Was Allison actually this bold?
They both knew the phone and the bracelet really were missing, and they were sure Allison had taken them.
If she dared to call the police, what was she trying to do?
Family matters shouldn’t be made public. Whether Allison stole them or not, Nigel didn’t want to involve outsiders.
He stood up. “There’s no need to call the police.”
Nigel took out his laptop and opened the surveillance system.
Allison had only been home for a couple of days. The cameras recorded movement automatically, and since there weren’t many people in the house, it was easy to trace.
He sped through the footage. In those days, only Ella and Sherrie had gone upstairs to the second-floor rooms. Allison had barely left her small room at all.
Nigel’s expression darkened. He turned his eyes to Ella. “You were the only one who entered Sherrie’s room these past few days.”
Allison wasn’t invisible. There was no way she could have passed through the surveillance cameras without being seen.
Allison’s lips lifted slightly. No one here would ever think I could understand programming, right?
In their eyes, someone who had been in a psychiatric hospital was just a lunatic. They forgot that there is only a thin line between genius and madness.
Psychiatric hospitals housed both unstable patients and misunderstood geniuses.
I was sent there at eighteen, right after finishing my college entrance exams, at the age when my life was supposed to be starting.
They all thought I was useless, and completely ruined. No one would ever imagine that I learned anything in that place, and now I could control the house’s surveillance system.
Ella stared at the screen, speechless for a moment, then hurried to say, “The cameras must be broken! Yes, that’s it! I didn’t steal anything! I swear!”
Right after she finished, a loud ringtone suddenly echoed in the room.
Ella stared in shock as Nigel bent down and pulled a phone out from between the sofa cushions.
It was mine, the same phone I had said Allison stole and threw into the sewer.
Nigel’s expression darkened. His jaw tightened as he asked, “Didn’t you say Allison took your phone and threw it into the drain?”
So why was it perfectly fine here?
Ella was too shocked to say anything. Only then did she realize she had been set up.
Sherrie, who had been ready to speak up for Ella, fell silent the moment the phone was found.
Allison said coldly, “Next time you lose something, make sure you look for it properly before accusing someone.”
She then turned to Sherrie. “And please help me find my bracelet. It’s very important to me.”
Sherrie didn’t know what to say.
Allison didn’t speak further. She simply turned and went back to her small room.
The living room fell into an uncomfortable silence.
After a while, Nigel finally asked, “Sherrie, are you sure the bracelet is actually missing?”
“Huh?” Sherrie hadn’t expected him to ask her that so suddenly, and she couldn’t answer immediately.
Nigel didn’t wait for her response. He stood up. “Let’s search your room again. Maybe it just fell somewhere.”
Since they had wronged Allison today, they needed to find the bracelet and return it to her.
As Nigel and Ella headed upstairs to look for it, Ronan’s eyes drifted toward the small room.
He hesitated, then made his way to Allison’s room and knocked on the door.
She had been back for so long, yet she hadn’t said a single word to him.
After a moment of silence, the door finally opened.
Allison stood there. When she saw him, she asked, “Yes?”
Ronan suddenly felt awkward. His eyes drifted to the tiny room behind her.
It was so small.
Even the maids’ rooms in his own house were bigger than this.
Allison was still the eldest daughter of the Rogers family. How could they treat her like this? he thought silently.
A dull pain rose in his chest. After a long moment, he realized what it was.
Anger and Resentment.
I could bully Allison, but I would not let anyone else.
We grew up together. She had always been at my side. I even once bragged that anyone who wanted to bully my "little fiancée" would have to go through me first.
How had things changed so much in just three years?
Trying to act casual, Ronan walked closer. “Are you really going to make me stand here? Aren’t you going to let me in?”
Allison blocked the doorway. “It’s dirty inside. Mr. Ronan, you shouldn’t come here.”
Ronan halted his steps.
Mr. Ronan? It was the first time she had ever called me that.
His expression stiffened, and he tried to explain, “Are you mad? I wasn’t looking down on you the other day. You misunderstood.”
I had actually looked down on her. But later, I realized I was too harsh.
Allison is my best friend. I shouldn’t have treated her that way.
But she still didn’t let him in. “Mr. Ronan, we’re adults now. We should keep our distance. If someone sees you in my room, what will they think?”