Secret Admiration: Finding True Love After …
Chapter 680 The Enclosed Space
Dalton’s probing hit right on target. He’d clearly caught wind of something.
But Meryl kept her poker face. “Of course, it’s for my sake. I’m due soon, and Chandler shouldn’t be traveling far. He’s staying in Kingsdom to be with me until the baby comes. He even dropped a project for this. Is there something wrong with that? What’s a billion-dollar deal compared to our child?”
Hearing this, a smile played at Dalton’s lips, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
He knew better than anyone that Meryl was just putting up a front.
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Dalton knew exactly why Chandler wasn’t by her side, but he chose not to expose it now.
After all they’d been through, he still wanted to let Meryl save face.
“Did you come alone? Let me drive you home.” Dalton took a couple of steps toward her, worried about her safety given her pregnant condition.
But Meryl’s eyes were distinctly cold as she avoided his touch, maintaining her distance.
“No need!”
With that, she turned to leave.
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“Meryl!” Dalton frowned. “You don’t have to be so cold with me. You know I’d never hurt you!”
“Never hurt me? Right. Well, I don’t love you anymore, so you won’t get another chance to break my heart.”
Meryl let out a mocking laugh, not bothering to turn around or spare Dalton another glance.
As far as she was concerned, everything between her and Dalton was ancient history.
Their relationship wasn’t just about casual chitchat or catching rides anymore.
Not far away, Lydia stood in the baby store, watching everything unfold through the transparent glass.
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Her expression was a mix of complicated emotions.
Dalton couldn’t stand being in the same space with her, his wife, for too long, yet here he was, having such a long conversation with Meryl.
How could she not hate this situation?
Everything she had fought tooth and nail to get, Meryl could obtain effortlessly.
Life was just too unfair!
Biting her lip, Lydia quietly pulled out her phone and made a call.
“Rocky, I need a favor.
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“Don’t worry, it won’t be traced back to you. Once it’s done, I’ll give you enough money to leave the country. This time, I promise the police won’t catch you.”
Rocky had just gotten out of prison not too long ago.
Like an idiot, the first thing he did was hit the casino.
Now, he’d lost everything down to his last penny, ducking and dodging debt collectors everywhere.
Rocky had no choice but to turn to Lydia for help.
After all, they’d been intimate before, so Lydia secretly gave him some money, keeping it from everyone else.
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But Lydia wasn’t about to make a bad investment.
She figured a lowlife like Rocky might come in handy someday.
After all, no matter what, Rocky was still Meryl’s adoptive brother.
Plus, a year ago, Rocky had nearly raped Meryl in the villa, which led to Chandler sending him to prison in a fit of rage.
Having done time for no good reason, Rocky must have absolutely despised his adoptive sister, Meryl.
Sure enough, he proved helpful sooner than expected.
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After leaving the baby store, Meryl headed down one floor and passed by a CD shop.
Soft, soothing music was playing inside. She walked in to browse and found the store filled with vinyl records.
The shop owner clearly had excellent taste.
Suddenly, Meryl knew what to get for Casey!
As a performer, her senior would definitely appreciate classical music.
She walked up to the rows of record shelves and picked out a vintage album from the last century.
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This composer’s work was iconic. Casey would love it.
“Hi, I’d like to buy this.”
She brought the record to the counter to pay. The cashier scanned it, and Meryl completed the purchase.
With her new record in hand, she left the store and headed for the elevator to the parking garage.
But when the doors opened, there was Lydia inside.
Talk about awkward timing.
After a moment’s hesitation, Meryl stepped in anyway. She didn’t want to waste time outside and needed to meet Gale soon.
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The doors closed with just the two of them inside.
The two pregnant women kept to opposite corners of the elevator, neither acknowledging the other.
What should have been a quick minute–long ride down suddenly turned into a nightmare when the elevator violently shuddered.
Meryl instinctively grabbed the handrail to steady herself.
That’s when she realized something was wrong with the elevator. The lights flickered twice before going out
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altogether, plunging the cramped space into total darkness.
Lydia let out a shriek and frantically jabbed at the numbered buttons.
Meryl remained relatively calm.
After all, this was a busy mall. Management would be more worried than they were about having passengers trapped in their elevator.
Lydia pressed the emergency call button, and someone responded.
“What the hell is going on? Your elevator’s broken! Get someone here to fix it now! I’m heavily pregnant! If anything happens to my baby, you’ll be responsible!”
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The person on the other end apologized profusely and promised help would arrive soon.
Lydia couldn’t believe her bad luck!
Everything seemed to go wrong whenever Meryl was around!
“Everything was fine until you got in,” Lydia snapped at Meryl. “You must be too heavy! The elevator broke down the moment you stepped in!”
Meryl couldn’t be bothered engaging with this idiot.
Scared by the darkness, Lydia turned on her phone’s flashlight.
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The bit of light helped her breathe a little easier.
Turning around, she saw Meryl standing there calmly, showing no signs of panic. Lydia frowned and asked, “It’s pitch black in here! You can’t even see your hand in front of your face. Aren’t you scared?”
Meryl replied matter–of–factly, “I’ve got nothing to hide, so what’s there to be afraid of?”
Lydia felt like that was a dig at her.
Finally, having something dramatic happen, Lydia wasn’t about to let the moment go to waste. She whipped out her phone and called Dalton.
“Hey babe, where are you? I’m trapped in
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the mall elevator.”
Dalton’s voice was cold and detached.
“Mmm.”
Lydia felt deflated by Dalton’s complete lack of concern for her.
It felt like punching a pillow. All her effort just bounced right back at her.
“It’s so dark in here, I’m terrified. Dalton, my legs are getting weak. Can’t you come and hold me?”
Lydia was an expert at playing the damsel in distress. It was a tactic that used to work like a charm on Dalton. But now, it seemed to have lost its magic.
Worried about losing face if Dalton
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refused, Lydia quickly added, “Meryl’s here with me, too. I can tell she’s just putting on a brave face! It’s so dark in here! She must be terrified!”
At the mention of Meryl being trapped in the elevator, Dalton finally showed some reaction.
“Hold on, I’m coming right over!”
Though Dalton was on his way, Lydia felt no joy.
She knew better than anyone that Dalton was coming because Meryl was there.
“You’re in such big trouble, and you didn’t even think to call Uncle?”
Lydia couldn’t resist throwing some
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“Oh, right, I forgot. He’s not in business anymore. Even if you called him, he couldn’t get here quickly anyway. The word is Rachel ran away from home. I bet he’s been busy looking for her, hasn’t he? Aren’t you jealous, Meryl?”
Meryl replied with cool indifference, “I’m not the jealous type.”