Chapter 153 Who Is Bullying Her
Alexander listened to those words of love that sounded almost like sleep talk, and his eyes instantly stung and burned. Hot tears escaped before he could stop them, sliding quickly from the corners of his eyes.
He thought to himself, 'What if one day you discover that you're not Edith at all, but Caroline? And that the husband you claim to love so deeply never actually received Edith's love? At that moment, what would you do? Would you completely fall apart, or hate me to the bone? Or perhaps... prefer to never wake up?'
Just as he was sinking into endless painful fantasies, his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket.
Alexander jerked in alarm, afraid of waking the person in his arms.
Moving like a thief, he carefully pulled his arm out from under Caroline.
Once he was sure she was still asleep, he quietly got up, tucked the covers around her, and quickly walked to the balcony.
It was Liam.
"Mr. Hamilton, I have results on what you asked me to investigate. But... the situation is a bit complicated. I can't explain it clearly over the phone—I need to report to you in person."
Alexander's heart sank a bit.
"Come to the apartment," he instructed in a low voice.
He needed anything to take his mind off her, to temporarily escape this room that was torturing him so much.
He was afraid that if they stayed alone together any longer, he would break down before she did.
"Yes, Mr. Hamilton. I'll be there in half an hour."
After hanging up, Alexander leaned against the balcony railing, looking down at the traffic below, and lit a cigarette.
He didn't know how long he stood there before the cigarette burned out.
He stubbed out the butt in the ashtray in the corner of the balcony and prepared to go out to wait for Liam.
As he walked into the living room, he vaguely heard low voices coming from the kitchen, with Caroline's name occasionally surfacing, drifting into his ears in fragments.
He frowned and turned toward the kitchen.
Through the door, he clearly heard several servants inside gossiping.
"I'm telling you, Mr. Hamilton is just finding her fresh for the moment, feeling sorry for her because she's sick. Once this phase passes, let's see if she can still act so proud."
"Exactly! Wasn't it like this before too? When Mr. Hamilton was occasionally in a good mood and was a bit nicer to her, she'd forget who she was. And what happened? Didn't she still end up locked in the basement, screaming her head off with no one caring?"
"I think she deserves it! She's mentally weak herself—whose fault is that? We just reminded her of her place a little, and she couldn't handle it, always crying and screaming like we were going to kill her. And now she's gone completely mental! So dramatic!"
"Right, last time when Mr. Hamilton was on a business trip, didn't he just have her reflect in the basement for a couple extra days? We were just following orders to watch her, we only didn't give her food, and she fainted from hunger herself—how is that our fault? Mr. Hamilton didn't say anything when he came back either, did he?"
"Exactly! Now look at her, playing crazy to win sympathy, and it's actually making Mr. Hamilton feel sorry for her. As if she deserves it!"
"Keep your voice down! Don't let anyone hear..."
"What's there to be afraid of? Mr. Hamilton is upstairs with her right now—he doesn't have time to worry about us. Besides, didn't he used to let us... discipline her a little? As long as no one died and there weren't any obvious injuries left..."
Alexander stood outside the door, listening to those malicious comments, and suddenly felt cold all over.
When she had her episodes before, she cried and begged people not to hit her.
At the time, he thought Caroline was having hallucinations due to her mental illness, thinking there were other people in the room.
So in reality, Caroline had actually experienced those terrible things?
At that time, she had fallen into memories, right?
Countless details he had overlooked flooded his mind.
Only now did he remember that besides the marks he had left on Caroline's body, there were many other injuries of unknown origin.
That time when he rescued Caroline from kidnappers, because she had been drugged, he noticed it when they were intimate.
But he hadn't paid attention, just thought she had a lot of injuries on her body. As for their source, he hadn't looked into it.
Only now did he realize that those marks not left by him weren't new injuries at all.
So... those servants had been bullying Caroline without his authorization?
The thick wooden door was suddenly kicked open by Alexander.
The three maids who had just been chatting excitedly instantly fell silent like startled birds.
They turned their heads in shock, and when they saw Alexander standing in the doorway with an ashen face, the color drained from their faces instantly.
Alexander walked slowly into the kitchen, step by step.
"So when she had her episodes before, crying and begging people not to hit her."
"Those people—was it you?"
The maids were too scared to move, the three of them huddled together, none daring to answer.
"Speak!" Alexander roared.
The three flinched sharply, not daring to remain silent any longer. One of them, an older head maid, explained in a trembling voice.
"Mr. Hamilton, you've misunderstood. We really never bullied Mrs. Hamilton in private! Many things before were ordered by you. We... didn't."
"Nonsense!" Alexander shouted angrily.
He admitted he had done many things to hurt Caroline.
He had hit her, locked her in the basement, let those three vicious dogs intimidate her, and even refused to let the servants bring her food.
But he had never allowed others to lay hands on her privately, especially without his knowledge.
"Who ordered you to do this? Speak!"
The three retreated in fear, not daring to open their mouths.
Alexander sneered coldly. "Fine, you won't talk?"
He turned to look at the other servants who had gathered around, about to give an order, but suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
If these people had really been abusing Caroline without his knowledge all along, they were all in it together—how could they possibly tell the truth?
Just then, Liam arrived.
Seeing the tense atmosphere in the house, he immediately sensed something was wrong. The report he was about to give stuck in his throat.
He quickly stepped forward and asked respectfully, "Mr. Hamilton, what happened?"
"Go investigate," Alexander said, turning to sit at the dining table. "Pull up all the surveillance footage from the house. The apartment system here has a one-year video retention period, right? Send people over to check frame by frame—don't miss any details. As for these servants..."
Alexander raised his eyes and swept coldly over them.
"Have the security guards come over and seal off the apartment. No one leaves. Don't let them make phone calls or contact the outside world."