Chapter 151 Caroline is Gone
He quickly grabbed her restless hands, his voice quickening without him realizing.
"I already called, but the project manager over there picked up. He said your sister is right in the middle of a critical closed experiment phase, completely cut off from the outside world—she can't even take phone calls. So we can't reach her right now. But the manager promised he'd pass along the good news to her. Once her project wraps up, we'll call again, okay? We don't want to interrupt her work."
He stared intently into Caroline's eyes, terrified he might see even a hint of doubt.
After hearing this, Caroline just pouted slightly in dissatisfaction and muttered quietly, "She's always like this, so busy all the time... she can't even find out about my pregnancy right away..."
Seeing that she was complaining but didn't seem suspicious, Alexander finally let out a long breath of relief.
He struggled to maintain the gentle smile that was about to crack on his face, reached up to pinch her cheek lightly, and changed the subject. "Alright, don't think about it too much. You slept for so long—you must be hungry, right? I had Kenna prepare some light porridge and side dishes. Have something to eat first, okay?"
"Yeah, sure! Now that you mention it, I actually am a bit hungry!"
Her attention shifted instantly to the food, and a smile returned to her face as she nodded obediently.
Watching the childlike innocent smile on her face, a knot tightened in Alexander's stomach.
He kept the curve of his lips, turned to press the call button, and ordered the meal.
But at an angle no one could see, his smile vanished instantly, leaving only an unfathomably deep confusion.
In a sense, Edith really had come back, hadn't she?
Not only had she returned, but she'd also helped Alexander achieve a dream he thought would be forever impossible after Edith's death.
So what reason was there not to be happy?
He should be happy.
But the more Alexander tried to comfort himself this way, the more the stinging tears welled up in his eyes.
He could fool others, but he couldn't fool himself.
He couldn't quite identify what these emotions he was developing toward Caroline actually were.
Guilt? Dependence? Compensation?
Or was he just trying to soothe a heart that couldn't find peace after doing something wrong?
He didn't know.
He only knew that one day, he suddenly realized that it was Caroline who was entangled with him in hatred, and in the darkness, it was also Caroline who was his only companion.
But now, her soul seemed to have fallen asleep.
This seemingly warm breakfast was harder for him to swallow than any torture.
After a few more days in the hospital, Caroline couldn't stand it anymore.
She started complaining about the pervasive smell of disinfectant, missing the soft bed at home, tugging pitifully at Alexander's sleeve and shaking it gently.
"Alex, can we go home? I want to go home... It's so stuffy here, not comfortable at all."
Alexander's heart clenched instantly.
Go home? Which home?
The spacious, cold, luxurious apartment he'd prepared for Edith, or Ravenwood Manor where he and Caroline had briefly lived, but which held the rare warm memories of his life?
His instinct was to refuse.
He didn't dare.
He was afraid that leaving the hospital—this place with no traces of pain—would upset her.
Afraid that those familiar objects, like silent curses, would awaken the Caroline personality sleeping deep in her consciousness.
But after careful evaluation, the attending physician gave the opposite recommendation.
"Mr. Hamilton, from the perspective of reinforcing the hypnotic effect, letting Mrs. Hamilton return to the environment she perceives as most familiar and safe would be beneficial to her recovery. Especially in the place with the most traces of Ms. Edith Neville—it would strengthen her identity recognition and reduce the risk of cognitive confusion."
Then it could only be the apartment.
That was the love nest he'd participated in designing and carefully decorating when he was younger, after deciding Edith was the love of his life, full of hope for their future.
Every table and chair, every window and curtain, even the style of the vases and the pattern of the wallpaper—he'd chosen them all based on what he imagined Edith would like, creating a home for their future.
It was full of Edith's traces, or at least the Edith he'd imagined.
But after Edith's death, that place became his prison of self-punishment, and also where he imprisoned and tormented Caroline.
He poured all his longing for Edith and his rage with nowhere to go into that place, locking Caroline inside.
Later, he moved with Caroline to Ravenwood Manor.
At first it was just because after being kidnapped, Caroline would have panic attacks living in the apartment, and he found it troublesome.
But unexpectedly, it was through Caroline's reminder that he first realized he had no clear concept of "home."
Even more unexpectedly, without realizing it, he'd grown accustomed to living there.
Though the time was short, it seemed... to really be like a home.
That feeling of inexplicable dependence—he couldn't quite explain it either.
Not because there was enough love there, but at least there was no hate.
And it seemed warm, with the feeling of life being lived.
Even if that feeling came from a woman with confused memories whom he'd deceived and hurt.
So during that time when Caroline depended on him most, he secretly allowed her to treat him based on her mistaken understanding, and even had Liam prepare medication to prevent her memory from returning.
Even though he knew this was just drinking poison to quench his thirst, a deeper form of self-deception.
But now, it seemed they couldn't go back to that home.
And he couldn't delay much longer.
He had to take her back, back to that apartment he'd created for Edith that now suffocated him.
"Okay."
He finally nodded, reached up to gently stroke Caroline's soft hair, and managed a tender, indulgent smile.
"We'll go home."
Standing once again at the door of that apartment, Alexander's hand holding the key trembled almost imperceptibly, and for a long time he couldn't muster the courage to insert the key into the lock.
Caroline turned her head, looking at him with confusion. "Alex, what's wrong? I see your hand shaking—is your blood sugar low?"
She'd noticed.
Alexander forced a smile. "It's nothing, I just haven't been back in a while and forgot which key it was."
He pretended to have just found the right key on the keyring, steeled himself, and turned the lock.
The door opened.