Flash Marriage to a Stunning CEO (Alistair and Richard)

***17 min left

Chapter 171 Her Goodbye?

Mabel was still burdened by guilt over not protecting Caroline.

To Alistair, that was simply unacceptable. She was a

grandmother, not a guardian by law, and she had already given Caroline everything she could.

Without her presence, Caroline's childhood might have been even more suffocating and bleak.

"Please don't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault," Alistair said softly and then hesitated before asking, "Do you remember when you first got sick?"

Mabel thought for a moment. "I believe it was when Caroline had just started eighth grade. Right at the beginning of the school year."

Alistair's heart gave a sudden jolt.

In Caroline's memories, after Mabel fell ill, Paige had taken over her care--though "care" was hardly the word. It was control, plain and simple. The real breaking point came when Giselle went through her room and opened the belongings her mother had left her. That act lit the fuse.

From that moment on, Caroline and Paige had been at odds. And during the year Mabel spent in the convalescent home, Caroline had been stuck under Paige's thumb, surviving under

17:37

Chapter 171 Her Goodbye?

her rule.

Okay, maybe "surviving" was a little dramatic.

That was just his own mental exaggeration.

17 min left

Caroline had never described exactly how she got through that year. She'd only mentioned what had happened between her and Paige, leaving out the rest.

But knowing her, she would never have bowed her head just to make life easier. And Paige was the type who thrived on dominance, with a need to control every little thing.

Two people like that under one roof? Someone was going to suffer. And it didn't take a genius to know who that someone was. Caroline, barely in her teens, hadn't even grown her wings

yet.

Then, without meaning to, Alistair found himself thinking about that house in Chicago, the one not far from his own. The one with the child who'd been locked upstairs.

At first, he'd ruled Caroline out because the child had been assumed to be a boy. But now he wasn't so sure. That assumption had been based solely on the short haircut. No one had ever confirmed the gender. The two women living there had kept to themselves, rarely speaking to anyone. Who was to say the child hadn't been a girl?

17:37

been a girl... why couldn't that

17 min left

the system had bound him to her, ever since they'd gotten married, Alistair

day they'd passed the house together, Caroline's reaction had been too extreme to explain with something as flimsy as low blood sugar. It hadn't added up. Which was why he'd gone back on his own

a younger version of her,

him now matched up exactly with what he

to keep his tone casual, Alistair asked, "Do you know what really happened between

answer echoed what Caroline

more complicated than his. Alistair was Caroline's husband. He hadn't even met Paige back then. All he knew came from/Caroline, and

17:37

Chapter 171 Her Goodbye?

Mabel, though, things

17 min left

she'd raised from infancy. When both sides were family,

Alistair was that Mabel had never

blind. Paige told him Caroline was unruly and dangerous, that she needed to

up.

match

in Chicago had been just that—a house, an ordinary residential unit. There was nothing official or clinical about it. Only three people lived there, and

again, if the Ashbourne family had wanted to commission a private correctional setup, they had the money to

17:37

Chapter 171 Her Goodbye?

(****) 17 min left

Mabel's tone shifted. Her fingers wrapped around his, and her

a way. Maybe she just couldn't face what happened, and her mind chose to forget it." Mabel paused. "Alistair, I need you to promise me-don't ever

wouldn't. Caroline had

she still chose silence proved she didn't want Mabel to bear the weight

her a solemn nod.

heavy stone had been lifted

when she changed the

swear, I really had nothing to do with that, not

look and then shook her head. "You already told me. I believe you. You don't need to keep saying

17:37

Chapter 171 Her Goodbye?

17 min left

much she meant that and how

started as a conversation about

foods, her newest

amusement. But the longer

mind, uninvited and unwelcome, but impossible to