Chapter 170 The Haunted House Hides a Big Secret

Chapter 170 The Haunted House Hides a Big Secret

Alison hung up the phone and searched online for the "Haunted House" Chloe mentioned, surprised to find that the house had become quite popular recently.

She left her room and came downstairs to the first floor of the villa.

Oliver was out, and Taylor and the others were chatting.

Taylor said, "This house wasn't just recently hyped up as a Haunted House. The rumors about it go back more than twenty years! Anyone in this city who's a bit older has heard the stories about it."

Lillian nodded. "So it's an old house."

"Yeah, it's in the old district," Taylor agreed. "I heard that people living in this house would lose things from time to time."

Susan added, "What's so strange about losing things? I lose stuff all the time."

Taylor rolled her eyes. "That's because you're clumsy and careless."

"Jerk, who are you talking about!" Susan glared at Taylor, deciding that next time she did Taylor's makeup, she'd make Taylor look like a total mess!

Lillian was used to listening to them bicker. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Alison on the stairs and waved at her.

Alison walked over. "Are you guys talking about the Haunted House? I heard that besides things going missing, there are also crying sounds at midnight and pets barking at nothing for no reason."

Susan nodded. "Alison, do you think they're paranormal events too? But there are many similar cases in the world. For example, always hearing a woman crying at midnight—turns out some woman had a breakup. Or pets suddenly barking at an empty spot—actually there's a thief hiding nearby."

"Those are all just minor cases." Taylor waved dismissively. "More than one person has died in this house. Ten years ago, a girl died inside. The new owner heard the girl crying at midnight, telling about her wrongful death. She described the killer, the method, and the motive clearly. After the owner reported it to the police, they actually caught the killer! And after the killer was arrested, the owner never heard crying at midnight again."

Taylor got more excited as she spoke. "Also, this house can't keep pets—not just cats and dogs, but chickens, ducks, birds, fish. No matter what animal you keep, it dies."

Lillian thought for a moment. "I once saw a news story about a company that used toxic, low-quality paint during renovation, which poisoned many employees and killed their pet fish. Could the Haunted House be a similar situation?"

Susan said, "Very likely! Paranormal events are definitely fake. Everything strange can be explained by science!"

Alison didn't expect Susan to be such a firm materialist, but after observing for a few seconds, she realized Susan was simply afraid of ghosts.

Joey made a clicking sound with his tongue to draw everyone's attention. "What Taylor mentioned happened many years ago. Recently there are new things—like suddenly hearing water sounds while sleeping at midnight and finding a faceless black shadow standing under the shower, or the kitchen faucet turning on by itself when no one's using it, and appliances like microwaves, kettles, and lights turning on and off mysteriously."

Susan shivered. "M-maybe it's unstable voltage."

Taylor's eyes rolled, and suddenly she yelled in Susan's ear. Susan jumped up in fright, and Taylor fell back on the sofa laughing.

Susan's face turned red with anger. She grabbed a throw pillow and threw it at Taylor, who dodged nimbly and ran off.

The two went from bickering to roughhousing—everyone was used to it.

A pillow flew over Alison's head. She reached up and caught it, tossing it back to Susan, and asked. "Do you guys know who owns this Haunted House?"

Lillian thought for a moment. "There's very little information online about the owner. I saw one comment saying it's a wealthy businessman's vacant property, and he occasionally comes to vacation there."

Taylor called out. "No, the owner is a government official."

Susan shouted, "Stop! Don't run!"

Joey spoke, "What I heard was that the house was converted into a bed and breakfast."

Lillian asked Alison. "Are you interested in the Haunted House too?"

Alison shook her head. "Chloe said this house originally belonged to Dorian."

"Dorian?" Lillian and Joey looked at her in surprise.

Taylor and Susan, who had been chasing each other, both stopped in their tracks.

Alison said, "I think there's a high possibility that someone is deliberately creating paranormal events."

Lillian asked, "What's the purpose?"

Alison's eyes flashed with suspicion. "To prevent anyone from buying the house. If it really is Dorian's house, there might be some secrets hidden inside."

Joey rubbed his chin. "Looks like we really need to investigate this. Where's Oliver? When is he coming back?"

Alison didn't know where Oliver had gone either. "He should be back soon, I guess."

Joey thought to himself that a while ago, Alison was out every day because of the Red Apple Orphanage matter. Finally that was resolved, and now it was Oliver who was busy and nowhere to be found.

"Haven't you asked him what he's been doing lately?" Joey asked curiously. "Aren't you afraid Oliver might fall for someone else?"

"He won't." Alison smiled faintly.

Oliver returned to the villa before dinner.

Alison's birthday was coming up in a few days. Although Alison didn't care much about birthdays, this was the first birthday he would celebrate with her, so Oliver had been planning a surprise for her lately.

Alison didn't ask where he'd been or what he'd been doing. In just a few words, she told him about the house.

They'd already found out that the previous owners of the house had all been Dorian's lovers. When one lover died, Dorian would buy the house under another lover's name, using this method to hide the property.

This time, Dorian had planned to put the house under Chloe's name, but then he suddenly died. The house became ownerless. The real estate agency that had been handling the property paperwork for Dorian didn't know what to do and could only ask Dorian's family.

Compared to Dorian's other assets, one house didn't get much attention from Freya and Marshall.

That house was assigned to Marshall, who had his subordinates handle it directly. His secretary Isaac apparently discovered something and didn't want the house to be sold—he even wanted everyone to stay away from it.

Unexpectedly, the paranormal events rumors not only failed to keep people away from the house but actually attracted some bold social media bloggers, turning the house into a hot topic online.

Chloe almost got a free house, so she paid close attention to it. Plus, with Lowell working at the real estate agency, she knew more than ordinary people. She sensed something was wrong and figured that since she couldn't get the house anyway, she might as well give the clues to Alison—it would be an indirect way to get on Oliver's good side.

The next morning, shortly after Oliver's car entered the old district, the radio in the car suddenly crackled. "Robbery at GreenValley Bank! Three armed robbers escaped by car, requesting backup!"

Alison looked at Oliver in surprise. "We just passed GreenValley Bank. The robbers can't have gone far. Let's turn around and go back!"

Oliver frowned deeply and held her hand. "No rush."

The same message repeated twice more on the radio. Halfway through the third time, it turned into static and then cut off.

Alison fiddled with the radio, puzzled. A few seconds later, Oscar's voice came through. "Someone hacked into the communication channel! Impersonating the police for help—how bold! Mr. West, the prankster must be nearby, but it'll be a bit tricky to find them."

"Don't worry about whoever hacked the channel for now." Oliver said calmly. "Our operation has been exposed. They might be trying to lure us away. Target: Haunted House. Full speed ahead!"