Chapter 286: Did Whitney Escape?

Carter kissed me tenderly, his strong heartbeat quickening as we caught our breath. I pulled away, waiting for my emotions to settle before quietly asking, “What are you going to do about Silas?”

Initially, I had planned to keep Silas around to torture him slowly, but now that I knew he was Adam’s biological son, I couldn’t bring myself to make things difficult for Carter out of respect for their old bonds. After all, when I was reborn, if it hadn’t been for his help, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly. As husband and wife, he had given me enough support and understanding, and I, too, needed to respect his thoughts. When Carter mentioned Silas, he seemed as if he were holding a hot potato. Killing him was impossible, but keeping him around was even more dangerous.

“After all, he’s family. Silas has to be kept alive, but he’s too dangerous. Even if he can’t speak properly anymore, he absolutely can’t be allowed to leave! So for now, only I know where he is. This way, it won’t leak out. I’ll slowly tend to his wounds, and when the right moment comes, I’ll tell Adam the truth.”

At this point, Carter looked at me and asked, “Chloe, will you be upset if I do this?”

“If it were you, I wouldn’t be upset.” I nuzzled my face against his neck. “The painful lessons from the past should certainly be remembered, but I cherish my new life even more. Carter, I believe you can handle this.”

“Chloe, you don’t have to be so nice. If you’re not happy, you can argue with me, get mad at me. I want you to live freely and brightly, like a twenty-year-old girl, without worrying about anyone else. You don’t need to follow the duties of being Mrs. Bolton.” He cupped my face gently, his dark eyes filled with encouragement. “As you said, cherish the present. You must first be yourself, then Mrs. Bolton or anyone else.”

“Carter, are you trying to make me cry?”

He laughed lightly, his hand gently pinching my cheek. “Silly girl, I’ve told you before, nothing in this world is more important than you. Esther’s debt to me can’t compare to the future where you’ll be the one to bear my children and walk through life with me. I know well what’s important. How could I let a promise to someone who’s passed harm the woman I’ve loved for half my life, Mrs. Bolton?”

I was on the verge of tears, truly moved by his words. This man really did place me at the center of his world, pampering me to the core.

“Yeah, I hate Silas! I don’t want to let him off easy,” I admitted honestly.

“Good, then I won’t let him have it easy. I won’t treat his hand, and I’ll let him be a cripple. I’ll even sprinkle some itching powder on him, so when he itches, he won’t be able to scratch.”

I burst into a chuckle. “Carter, marrying you is the best thing that ever happened to me.”

He tapped my nose and said, “Laugh more. You look beautiful when you smile.”

“Alright, but Linda also gave us a reminder. Even if the servants didn’t have problems in the past, once they have family, they become a weakness. They might feel compelled to take action against us. They poison Silas today, and they might target us or Jeffrey tomorrow. We have to stay vigilant.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

And about Oliver—if Luke really is his son, then he’s probably still alive, even orchestrating all of this.

Carter furrowed his brows and said, “I’ve never met him, so I don’t know what kind of person he is. He’s been hiding for so many years, so finding him might not be easy.”

I assured him. “It’s fine. The truth will come out eventually. Right now, it’s about the Sanders. If we don’t intervene soon, Greg won’t survive either. Hopefully, we can find some clues through Jake’s death.”

Carter said, “The police are still investigating. Don’t worry; the Sanders are preparing for the funeral. We’ll need to make a trip there.”

He looked at me with concern. The Sanders, one by one, met their demise. Ethan’s death had left a psychological scar on me. He was concerned that going to another funeral might cause me more distress. But now, I was his wife, and not attending wouldn’t be appropriate.

“Alright, let’s go. I’m fine.”

I glanced at the gold bars in the room, feeling a surge of envy. “You’re filthy rich. I mean it!” These weren’t small gold bars of a few hundred or a thousand grams. I casually picked one up, and it was at least seventeen pounds. These had to be gold bricks! With the recent rise in international gold prices, I couldn’t even imagine how much cash he could get if he sold all these gold bricks.

“Why that look?”

“People’s wealth really doesn’t compare. I never imagined having so many gold bars—no, gold bricks, really.”

He laughed softly and said, “These were meant for you. Not just these, but all my assets, collections, everything—they’re yours. Are you happy?”

I nodded enthusiastically. “Happy!”

If it weren’t for Anna’s mess, I’d be taking Carter on a world tour right now. In my previous life, I worked myself to the bone for the Boltons, but looking back, it didn’t seem worth it. He could see what I was thinking and said, “Once this is all over, let’s go abroad for a trip. We can treat it as our honeymoon.”

“Sounds great. I want to see how much wealth the mysterious Mr. Bolton has hidden.”

Carter promised, “I’ll make sure to surprise you.”

Suddenly, I started to look forward to our honeymoon trip. But soon, reality hit. Sheila had just returned home and grabbed Adam, asking, “I saw a police car leaving our house. What happened?”

Adam snorted, “Don’t mention it. It’s bad luck!” With that, he shrugged off her hand and went upstairs. Sheila turned to Luke, but Luke clearly wasn’t interested in saying anything. She had no choice but to ask me, “Zoey, what’s going on?”

“Linda called the police and said there was a body in our house. Can you believe that?” I stared at Sheila, trying to gauge whether she knew anything. She and Adam had been together for years without children. Her private life was clean, and she didn’t associate with strangers. However, the fact that she had adopted Anna heightened my suspicions.

She looked shocked. “A body? Where did this body come from? Is the girl crazy for calling the police? Where is she? I’ll fire her immediately.”

I said, “She’s been taken away. Linda will probably be detained for a few days.”

“Good riddance!” Sheila muttered before storming off.

Carter and I exchanged a look, unsure if we were just overthinking things. Had we really been too suspicious? We changed clothes and headed for the funeral.

Honestly, I never thought in my past life that I’d be attending so many funerals for the Sanders. As soon as we walked in, we heard whispers. “Did the Sanders do something wicked? How could all their children be dead?” “It’s karma. I heard Mrs. Sander went crazy after all this. Maybe their family’s bad luck has cursed them. They should get a master to check things out.” “Yeah, maybe it’s karma for neglecting their daughter. She died mysteriously, and they didn’t pay enough attention.” “Keep your voice down. It’s disrespectful to the family.”

There were murmured whispers, every now and then, the range of careers surrounding the attendees. As I lit the candle and prepared to step outside for a walk, I overheard the comments, and they stung. After all, I had once been part of the Sanders family and had become a target for whispers.

Just as I stepped outside, someone suddenly emerged from the greenery beside me. I thought it was a cat, but when I turned around, a woman leaped right into my path. I recognized her immediately! It was Whitney—the woman who had been taken away by that man! She had escaped?