Flash Marriage to a Stunning CEO (Alistair and Richard)

Chapter 150 The Past

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Alistair had never tried to pry into Caroline's family. Even though they were married, he believed that sometimes, even between spouses, there should be space for privacy.

Everyone had secrets they'd rather keep to themselves. He was no exception. He hadn't told Caroline about the system.

It wasn't because he didn't love her enough. It was just that the nature of it was too complex to explain, and sharing it would only bring unnecessary confusion. He would rather keep it to himself

and use its power to protect her quietly, without her ever having to

know.

Caroline rarely mentioned any relatives, which he'd assumed was her way of avoiding memories that brought her pain.

So when she suddenly brought up her mother, Alistair was caught

completely off guard.

She has no mother, just like me? What does that even mean?

As far as he knew, her mother had been living abroad this whole

time.

That was what Mabel told him. And Mabel wasn't the type to lie, especially not about something like this.

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Chapter 150 The Past

Caroline's voice remained calm, but there was a faint trace of

sorrow in it.

It was clear she'd spent a long time coming to terms with her mother's absence before she could speak about it with such

composure.

Alistair felt something twist in his chest. He understood her pain

all too well.

There was a kind of loneliness only motherless kids understood. He never imagined she'd lived with that too.

"My mom left for another country when I was really young. She never divorced my dad, but she stopped coming home. At first, she visited often, but over the years, it became less and less. Eventually, she just stopped coming back altogether. The last time I saw her, she came back to finalize the divorce."

Alistair held her close, wanting to stop her from going on, but he

had no idea what to say.

"Later, people told me she had found someone new overseas, started a new family, and had more kids. Others said she became a nun and cut ties with the world. But no one ever told me the truth-that my mom had gotten sick. Really sick. That last time she came back, she gave me a small box and told me not to open

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Chapter 150 The Past

until after

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a feeling there was more to that box than met the eye. "You opened

I always listened to my mom. She said after I turned eighteen, so I promised her!

quietly. "But the box still got

used to live with my grandmother. Around that time, she wasn't doing well and had to move into a care facility. I stayed at Ashbourne Manor, and most of the time, it was

care of

course she meant Julian. That was what she used to call him back when they

were painful, but being able to talk about them was a kind of healing

Paige came

He interrupted, "Who's Paige?"

"She's Leo's mother."

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Chapter 150 The Past

went

with her. While I

started going

She..."

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memory had taken the air from her

her

room apart. She found the box. By the time I realized what was happening,

box had meant everything to Caroline, something she'd guarded like a treasure. The fact that the girl found it meant she had turned

person to cry and wait for an adult to step in. She hit the girl on

and slapped her

she

point, Alistair pulled her into a

in his chest.

went through all

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Chapter 150 The Past

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been in the wrong, and

the day Caroline cut ties with

to Caroline's father, Gordon Ashbourne, and put on a show. Gordon told Caroline to apologize.

Caroline finally looked inside the box her mother

left.

from the time she was a baby all the way through childhood, and several notebooks filled

in one of the notebooks read: [My darling girl, you're all grown up now. Life is long, but you'll never be alone. I'll always

soaking through his shirt. He

understood

sick.

problems between her and Gordon, but she couldn't take Caroline with

the country.

Chapter 150 The Past

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