Chapter 3
As soon as Simeon had left, the doorbell rang.
Nataly opened the door and saw a woman standing there, holding a delicate pastry box in her hands
“Hello, I am Alice, the Alice who sent you the message.”
Alice smiled gently and provocatively, “Recently Simeon has been taking good care of me, so I made some snacks to thank him. I’m a guest who comes bearing gifts, you wouldn’t turn me away, would you?”
Without waiting for Nataly to answer, she walked in by herself and began to look around on her
own.
When passing through the garden, Alice stopped and said, “These roses are my favorite variety, I didn’t expect Simeon to still be growing them.”
Nataly’s fingertips trembled. She remembered how Simeon used to take care of these flowers himself every morning, never asking for help.
She used to think that was his hobby.
By the pond, several turtles lazily sunbathed.
“Ah, they are still alive!” Alice exclaimed with joy, “These are the ones I raised when I was a child. I neglected them after going abroad, and thought they had died long ago.”
Nataly remembered how Simeon fed the turtles diligently every day, and a feeling of tightness in
her chest.
In the living room, Alice’s gaze swept over the dolls on the display caumet, “These are all my favorite collections.”
She looked around again and said, “The furniture style is also the minimalist style that I like.”
Nataly followed behind her, every step feeling like walking on a razor’s edge.
The home where she had lived for two years suddenly became unfamiliar.
In the bedroom, Alice ran her hand over the suits and ties in the wardrobe, “These are all gifts I gave him, and he actually kept them so new.”
Nataly remembered the scene of ironing these clothes by hand every day, and her throat felt like it was blocked by something,
Chapter 3
He used to never let her touch these, not because of cleanliness, but because these were all traces of
Alice.
Finally, Alice stopped in front of their wedding photo.
“What a coincidence,” she said with a smile, tilting her head. “Simeon and I had talked before about shooting three themes – desert, ocean, forest. I didn’t expect you guys also chose these three
themes.”
Nataly’s face turned pale in an instant.
When taking wedding photos, Simeon insisted on these three themes, thinking that he liked the romance of nature.
“Why are you
here?”
Simeon’s voice suddenly came from the doorway, and he walked in quickly with a not–so–pleasant expression on his face.
Alice immediately put on a sweet smile and said, “I made some snacks, here’s a portion for you. Your lovely wife warmly invited me in as a guest and even said she wanted to keep me for dinner.”
Simeon relaxed his brows and turned to Nataly, “This is Alice, my neighbor’s sister. We have been like siblings since childhood. She went abroad before and just returned recently, so you haven’t met her before.”
Nataly quietly watched him.
Neighbor sister? Siblings?
“He kept their relationship a secret so well,”
And Alice also played along with him, saying, “Yes, Simeon has been taking care of me since I was a child. I was a picky eater when I was young, and he specifically learned cooking to make meals for me. His beef stew with red wine, salmon with prawns, steak… are all my favorites.”
Nataly pinched her palm with her fingers.
These were all dishes that Simeon most often made, she had naively thought it was because she enjoyed them.
She couldn’t force a smile, so she made an excuse of feeling unwell and went upstairs.
Not long after, Alice knocked on the door with the medicine in her hand.
“Simeon cooked the tonic for fetal safety and asked me to bring it over,” she smiled innocently,
Chapter 3
“Drink it while it’s hot.”
Nataly took it, the smell of medicine stinging her nose.
“By the way…” Alice suddenly asked, “Are your children’s names by any chance Elvis for a boy and Lola for a girl? Those are the names I had agreed on with Simeon before.”
Nataly’s hand shook, and the bowl of medicine almost spilled.
These two names were chosen by Simeon when she was just pregnant.
So, even their children had to be used by him to remember Alice?
Her heart suddenly experienced a sharp pain, before she could even react-
“Oh no!”
Alice suddenly “accidentally” knocked over the bowl of medicine, and the scalding liquid splashed onto Nataly’s arm, causing it to immediately swell and blister.
Nataly winced in pain, too preoccupied to pay attention to Alice’s apology, and went downstairs pale–faced to get the ointment.
Just as she passed by the staircase, her back was suddenly pushed hard by someone.
“Ah!”
Nataly rolled down heavily and fell hard on the first floor, blood spreading from under her, staining the beige carpet red.
And the next second, Alice unexpectedly rolled down as well.
In the kitchen, Simeon was about to open the refrigerator when he
rushed out.
Seeing this scene, the pupils suddenly contracted.
ard a noise and immediately
“Alice!” he ran over to catch the stumbling Alice, nervously checking her ankle, “How are you?”
“I… I’m fine,” Alice said weakly, “Quick, check on Nataly…”
Simeon then looked at Nataly lying in a pool of blood, but Alice suddenly “fainted” in his arms.
“Alice!”
His usually calm tone was full of urgency as he picked up Alice and walked out quickly, not even taking a second to glance at Nataly.
Chapter 3
Nataly watched their receding figures, her consciousness gradually blurring
At the last moment before falling into darkness, she seemed to see the refrigerator door slightly ajar, with a corner of the box containing the “gift” inside exposed.
When she woke up again, the glaring white light made Nataly squint uncomfortably.
The doctor was examining her, while Simeon stood by, his face grave.
“How is the child?” he asked the doctor.
The doctor looked up in surprise and said, “Child? Wasn’t Ms. Benson’s child already born prematurely?”
