Chapter 6

Brett nodded and happily ran out.

Moments later, he came back and shook his head at me.

"I couldn't find Mom's phone, there was only Shirley's phone."

I was taken aback, "Shirley's phone is in my nightstand?"

Brett nodded.

A wave of nausea surged in my heart. It seemed these two had already moved in together, and Shirley had even considered herself the mistress of this house.

I sneered inwardly, thinking, "Do you even deserve it?"

I kept my expression neutral and continued talking to Brett, "Then go to Dad's study and see if you can find it there. If anyone finds out, remember, this is our little secret, and you can't tell anyone, okay?"

Kids naturally have an interest in such tasks, and as soon as Brett heard this, he immediately hopped away.

Unfortunately, after a while, he came back empty-handed, "All the drawers in Dad's room are locked, I couldn't find it."

It seemed Brandon had hidden my phone to prevent me from contacting the outside world.

I patted Brett's head, "It's okay if you can't find it. Just remember, this is our secret, and you can't tell anyone."

Brett nodded solemnly and left my room.

But I was left staring into the dark room, feeling lost. Where could Brandon have hidden my phone? Could it be in the study? It seemed I needed to find an opportunity to check.

Soon, fate favored me again; the power went out that night.

Brett came over to tell me he was going out to dinner with Brandon and Shirley, and I nodded without saying a word.

But inside, I was thrilled; the opportunity had come.

After they left, the house fell into complete silence, and it was pitch dark everywhere.

I got up and went to the study upstairs, turning the doorknob.

The study was quiet, but my heart was pounding like a drum. Even though I knew no one was home, I was still terrified.

The glass cabinet in the study reflected the moonlight from outside, displaying some of the company's achievements over the years.

I glanced over them and focused on Brandon's desk.

I reached out to open the drawer, but as Brett had said, it was locked. Brandon was extremely cautious and would never leave the key in an easily found place.

Sure enough, I searched around and found nothing.

Standing in the study, I carefully thought about where Brandon might hide the key.

From what I knew of him, he trusted no one but himself, meaning he would carry the key with him.

But since he wasn't home, I was out of ideas.

Suddenly, I thought of something.

Brandon was very clear about separating work and life. For instance, when going out for dinner like tonight, he wouldn't bring his briefcase or answer work calls.

The key was likely in his briefcase.

Excited, I went downstairs to the entryway and found Brandon's briefcase.

Sure enough, a bunch of silver keys was inside.

I grabbed the keys and rushed upstairs, opening each drawer of the desk. In one of them, I found my phone.

I eagerly pressed the power button, but the phone didn't respond.

This wasn't surprising, as I hadn't used it for over a year, and it was likely out of battery.

But with the power out, I had no way to charge it.

The phone was just a useless piece of metal to me now.

As I was worrying, the lights in the study suddenly came on.

My heart skipped a beat, thinking Brandon had returned.

But when I heard no movement in the house, I realized the power was back.

Great, even God was helping me!

I excitedly found a charger and plugged in the phone. Soon, the screen lit up.

I entered the password from memory, but it didn't work.

I realized that Brandon, the bastard, had changed my password.

I tried several times, but none worked, and the phone was locked for thirty seconds.

If this continued, I would waste this rare opportunity. I took a deep breath and thought about what password Brandon might use.

After thirty seconds, I impulsively entered Shirley's birthday, and the phone unlocked.

I was filled with rage. It was bad enough that Brandon and Shirley were having an affair, but to set my phone's password to Shirley's birthday was a blatant disregard for me.

But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. I quickly called my best friend, Kathy Patel.

At this point, she was the only one I could trust.

The call connected quickly, and Kathy's voice was as lazy as ever.

"Hello? Brandon? How's our Caroline doing?"

It seemed Brandon had used my phone to call Kathy often, or she wouldn't have reacted this way.

I spoke, "Kathy, it's me!"

Kathy was stunned, "Caroline? How are you? I've been wanting to visit you this past year, but Brandon wouldn't let me. It made me so mad. You have to help me deal with him!"

Hearing Kathy's voice, tears welled up in my eyes.

"Kathy, we've all been deceived by Brandon."

I told her everything I had discovered.

Kathy was furious, "Unbelievable! Brandon and Shirley did this? And I was fooled for over a year!"

"Wait, I'm coming to get you right now."

I quickly calmed Kathy down, saying, "Kathy, not yet. The kids are still with them. I could escape easily, but I need to get my kids and the company back!"

I asked Kathy to find a way to get me a communication phone so we could stay in touch. I couldn't talk to her for too long on this phone, or Brandon might get suspicious.

After hanging up, I deleted the call record and felt a sense of relief. With Kathy's help, I felt more at ease.

I lay back in bed but suddenly realized I hadn't put the keys back in Brandon's bag.

I got up and quickly put the keys back. Just as I was about to go upstairs, the door opened.

I heard Brett's voice, "Oh, the power's back!"

I knew there was no way I could get back to my room in time, so I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

When I came out, I ran into Brandon and Shirley.

They were surprised to see me.

"Caroline? What are you doing here?"

I raised the glass, "Where did you guys go? I was so thirsty I had to come down for water."