บท 31: At Odds With His Family

'After solving the mess, I can go back to live my happy life with my baby. This is great.'

Before she could celebrate it, she realized another mess she created by calling Alvin's name. Now he would like to know who she was. She wanted to slap her mouth.

Alvin's identity wasn't well known. When she was still studying, his name would come up as the second son of Matthews, not exactly his name. She wasn't sure if Alvin liked privacy or he had become a spoiled son of a rich family.

Anya again tried to get off his arms and unexpectedly, he let her down. She mulled over which lie to pick. Should she say Oliver told her? What if Alvin commanded them to be quiet. 'Did I see his name anywhere here?'

Anya recalled the previous night, she threw Alvin's wallet out of the balcony. She hadn't felt the necessity to check it in the night, anyway, she chose that lie.

She took steps away to create distance between them. She suddenly slipped before she could take a second step. She was falling on her back and a faint squeak left her lips, "Ahh…"

Alvin caught her right-hand wrist before she could fall on the floor. His trench coat that was on her shoulders, slipped off and fell on the floor when everything seemed to be frozen.

Sophie: "..."

The housekeeper clearly witnessed Alvin stepping on Anya's robe and tripping her purposefully. What could she do? She stayed quiet and pretended to be unaware.

Anya pursed her lips looking at Alvin. She tried to calm her sudden rise in heartbeats. He wasn't letting her fall or pulling her up. The big-sized slippers were slithering on the smooth floor without giving her a grip to stand.

Seeing him gravely silent, gazing at her as if he was reading her mind like an open book, Anya lied, "I saw your identification card in your wallet yesterday."

Isn't it common to have an identification card in the wallet or at least a driver's license?

Alvin's face turned to pitch dark hearing her lie, without looking him in the eyes. He had doubted she knew him hence she tolerated him the last night. His guess turned out to be accurate.

Anya slowly removed the slippers and stood up on her own. She tried to pull her hand away from his clutch but he suddenly started marching towards the rooms. Anya couldn't match his long legs.

Anya: "..."

He was treating her like a delicate doll just a few seconds back and now, he was walking without checking if she could catch up with him. 'Weird man.'

Even though she wasn't particularly short, she felt like a kid while jogging behind him without slippers. The cold marble floor was colder like his face whereas his palm was warmer on her tiny wrist.

Sophie hesitantly followed them to keep the food tray in the room. She was speechless when Alvin again took the lady to his bedroom, 'Master is behaving strangely due to this lady's arrival.' She was wary of Anya.

Alvin took Anya to his bedroom and then to the bathroom. He poured the laundry basket and grabbed the wallet that fell from it. He gave her the wallet and demanded, "Show me where it is." He asked for the identification card she mentioned.

Anya recognized the wallet. His fierce words only meant she was missing something. She hesitantly opened the wallet. Her eyes widened looking at fake credit cards and identification cards. 'Damn…' None of the cards had his real name.

'Anya Owen, you are truly dumb-headed.' She was berating herself, Alvin stepped towards her, looming over her overbearingly. "So Miss… did the cat catch your tongue?"

Anya swallowed nervously as she took steps back. Will he believe another lie? The faster she was trying to get away from him, the further she was entangling with him.

'Why is he accusing me of lying when he broke into my house?'

He was expecting her to lie more or blurt out the truth but her face turned grim and her eyes narrowed at him. She held the wallet up and walked towards him, "So Mr. Matthews, how do you explain your mind-blowing act of drugging and breaking into my house with a fake ID in your wallet?" She challenged him in the same tone.

Alvin: "..."

Did he just slap himself in the face for trying to dig her lies?

His leg lifted to take a step back but paused. 'This Little Kitten is trying to scare me, now.' He mused at how she could stand her ground forgetting her fear.

His hand almost lifted to reach her hair, then he paused, recalling her flinch for his touch. He didn't like that reaction of hers.

He have to talk with her about the situation regarding her life in danger due to Harper Johnsons and the risk her job brought on her. Anyway, he gave importance to her health so that they could speak after she rests a little.

"You need food and rest." His impassive tone sounded as he went towards the door of the bathroom.

He turned around when she didn't follow him out. He crossed his arms and snickered, "My dear princess, are you waiting for me to serve you?"

Anya's face deadpanned. She never asked him to serve her. It was him who served her the whole time. "You seriously need a psychiatrist."

Alvin: "..."

Anya pointed at the toilet and he left, closing the door behind him. She locked the door and ran towards the window. She peeked out of the window to check all the escape routes.

She concluded, she can't escape from the bathroom. The balcony was the best choice. When she went out, he beckoned her to the bed and she didn't move.

Alvin couldn't understand what's wrong with her head. Can't she understand his action? His threatening tone sounded, "As you wish." He pulled his sleeves and took steps towards her.

Anya saw the food on the bedside table and guessed he was going to carry her again. She slipped his hands, ran over to the bed, got herself to a comfortable position, and grabbed the tray. She had taken just a spoonful of soup, a throaty chuckle filled the silence, warming the silence. Her heart skipped a beat at the deep, pleasant sound.

The laughter died before she could look at him. He looked as surprised as her. He didn't meet her eyes. He strode out with a stern face while commanding her, "Don't run around. Take a nap." He vanished, closing the double door behind him.

In a daze, she ate her food without thinking about the hard disk or the fear of losing her darling son. She was confident to deal with everything.

----

In the study room,

By the time Alvin entered the study, he was indifferent with a hint of ire. He took his throne as he questioned, "What are the possibilities of cutting off cruise vacation?"

His uncle was worried about the many cabinet ministers' family members' lives that were in Harper's hands. If he saved those people, Bernard could release the information against Harper. Then the young Mommy's life won't be at risk and she wouldn't be titled as a criminal.

He opened his laptop and logged in. He opened a file and spun the laptop towards Ean who was in confusion.

Ean gave a quick check through the passengers' details and furrowed. "These are…" He spotted the common aspect of the passengers. He next checked the ship details. "The cruise ship of Johnsons." He understood Alvin wants the ship back to the country's port.

He asked himself, "Where are they right now?" He didn't bother to know Alvin's intention. He checked the itinerary of the cruise vacation in the same file. He straightened his back and shoved his right hand into his pocket.

"Mr. Stewart is a merchant from the country Deltora. He is our client. We could ask for a favor but it will cost us a little too much." The little too much cost meant hundreds of millions worth of rare artifacts from Alvin's collections.

As a curator of rare and unique artifacts, he treasures his priceless collection. Thus he was unwilling to sacrifice anyone in his massive collections. So he queried while thinking of different possibilities, "Won't Country Deltora sea officers help us?"

Ean thought for a few seconds. Since Alvin avoids his appearance to the world, Ean was always the one who maintained social connections so Alvin didn't have much of an idea about other countries' people and administration.

Ean contradicted Alvin's suggestion, "No, they will need solid proof and our act could alert Harper Johnson."

Both friends thought for a while in silence, Ean recalled another choice, "We can reach out to sea pirates but it's risky. They might take over the ship and kill people." They can't trust pirates.

Even after thinking for a while, they had no fruitful solution. Alvin instructed, "Look if there is a better solution. Keep Mr. Stewart as the last option."

Ean nodded while thinking if Matthews' team could be enough to take over the ship and bring it. Well, they could but Alvin was at odds with his family. Hence Ean hesitated to suggest.