Chapter 3 The Phone Call

Early next morning, the harsh alarm from his phone woke Charles up from his sleep.

When he opened his eyes, he realized that he had dozed off in Louie's room. Their bedroom...

A slight sneer appeared on his face, mixed with indifference.

Louie was nowhere to be seen. Needless to say, Charles knew that she must have slept in another room last night. She treated him like a plague that was just too late to get rid of completely!

Rubbing his aching temples, Charles got out of bed and walked to the wardrobe. His clothes had been neatly arranged-this was Louie, always clean and tidy. Sometimes, he felt the urge to fully overturn all of the clothes just to see her pissed off face.

When he went downstairs, the smell of fried eggs welcomed him, accompanied by the faint fragrance of chopped green onion.

"Your toiletries are in the bathroom." He heard Louie's voice from the kitchen. It was plain and calm, but made him go crazy.

Without pausing, she concentrated on frying the eggs. As she tossed it, the fragrance grew stronger.

Charles turned around and walked into the bathroom, instead of going into the kitchen.

It was a simple breakfast-a little too simple. Milk and fried eggs.

"Why won't you eat the eggs? Did you poison them?"

Charles asked sarcastically, picking up the eggs.

"Humph! I would give that a try if you are willing to write a final note beforehand."

Without lifting her eyes to look at Charles, Louie sipped on the milk elegantly.

"And what would this note say? That I leave all my inheritance to you? I didn't know that you were so keen on getting all my money."

Charles took a bite. It tasted good.

Raising her eyes and glaring at Charles with disdain, Louie said,

"Don't assume that everyone is a slave to money just like you. I was talking about a suicide note, to show that your death has nothing to do with me. I don't want to go to prison for killing you."

Saying so, Louie emptied the rest of the milk in one breath!

"Are you that eager to see me dead?"

Charles's tone was dry. He chewed on the eggs as if he were chewing on Louie's flesh.

She didn't reply.

After a while, Charles changed the topic.

"I have to go to the company first. I'll pick you up at ten o'clock. The plane will land only at eleven, so there's no need to hurry."

"You are busy on weekends too?" Louie asked casually, holding the empty glass with both hands.

Drinking the milk, Charles was slightly stunned by her question. He looked up at her with a flash of doubt in his eyes. She had never asked him about anything, let alone details regarding his work. Even when he had to stay overnight elsewhere, she never bothered him with questions.

This was rare. Charles put down the cup in his hand and said in a softer tone, "I've been a little busy lately, but I'll pick you up on time."

Louie looked away from him. Looking at her empty milk glass, she said calmly, "If you don't have time to pick me up, I can take a taxi to the airport." She could have easily driven there by herself, but she thought it would be inappropriate.

If she drove to the airport, his mother would be unhappy again. In order to save his face, she had to give up the idea of driving. And if she went by car, she would have to drive back alone, while his mother rode with him in his car.

Raising his eyebrows slightly, Charles refused her idea and said domineeringly, "I will come back to pick you up." Then, he picked up the glass on the table and drank the milk in one go.

"Don't hurry Auntie Zhang. We will have lunch at the hotel. Ask her to come back and prepare dinner," Charles added before leaving.

"Okay." Louie cleared the table. Although it was a simple breakfast, she still had to wash the dishes and clean the kitchen.

As soon as she finished washing the tableware, the phone rang in the living room. Wiping her hands, she walked to the telephone and without checking the caller ID, she answered, "Hello?"

A woman's angry voice came from the other side. "I'm looking for Charles!"

Louie frowned and asked coldly, "Who is this? Charles isn't home."

Perhaps it was because Louie's tone was strong and demanding that the woman was stunned. The anger in her voice faded and her tone softened a little, but there was still a questioning tone as she asked, "Who are you?"

Louie searched for the identity of the voice in her mind quickly, but she had never heard it before. After a short hesitation, she said indifferently, "It doesn't matter who I am. The person you are looking for is not here at the moment. You can call his cell phone."

"I called his cell phone, but his phone is turned off! I have called him more than twenty times since last night. You must be his lover, right? Tell Charles that I don't care how powerful he is. If anything happens to my sister, I won't spare him."

The woman hung up the phone without giving Louie a chance to speak.

Putting down the phone, Louie couldn't help but chuckle. Charles had broken another woman's heart, and even made her sister call with a warning.

But how did this woman know the landline number? Although Charles had fun with other women, no one called him at home. These women knew that he was a married man, and he was quite honest about this too. Perhaps he thought that he didn't need to hide his married identity because of how powerful he was.

No matter how affectionate and spoiled these women were, they wouldn't call home or try to talk to his wife. Louie admired the way he handled them. Maybe it was the allure of his riches, or Charles himself-women were willing to be his mistresses and live this insecure life with him.

Because of this, the call aroused her curiosity. Louie could not help but wonder who the woman was. What was the relationship between her sister and Charles? What was the relationship between her and Charles?

As she pondered over this, the telephone rang one more time.

She thought that it was the woman again, so she answered and said flatly, "Charles is really not home."

"Louie? This is Auntie Zhang." "Oh!" she exclaimed, feeling a little embarrassed. Auntie Zhang continued, "Charles called me just now. He said that his mother was coming. I'm in a taxi now and will be back by noon."

"I was about to call you! No need to hurry. Charles said we wouldn't be having lunch at home. You only need to prepare dinner," Louie said in a gentle voice.

"Okay, I'll do that," Auntie Zhang replied softly and hung up the phone.