Alexander subconsciously wanted to reach out to help Beryl, but in the end, he restrained himself. He looked at Beryl coldly, "Since being with me is so uncomfortable for you, from now on, I won't bother you anymore. I've got my things back, and we won't see each other again."
Alice, standing behind the door, heard this and immediately opened it, raising an eyebrow. "Second brother, come in quickly."
Alexander walked in without any lingering emotions. When he saw Beryl trying to reach out to pull him, he avoided her like avoiding a snake.
Beryl's hand froze in mid-air, her face instantly turning pale.
"Bang." Alice didn't even spare her a glance, just closed the door.
A trace of embarrassment flashed in Beryl's eyes. She bit her lip and knocked on the door, "Alexander, listen to my explanation. The video is fake."
Alexander, with a face ashen, sat on the sofa, pretending not to hear her voice.
Atticus and Blanche looked at him with mixed feelings. What kind of girlfriend had he found? Walking on multiple boats.
Alice didn't know how to comfort people. Looking at Alexander's low spirits, she could only give Arnold a nudge, telling him to handle it.
Arnold turned back, looking at Alice with a helpless expression. He hadn't experienced a breakup before, no experience at all!
Alice shrugged, letting him handle it as he saw fit.
Arnold could only step forward and pat his big-hearted younger brother's shoulder, "A breakup isn't entirely a bad thing. At least, you see through a person. Hopefully, you won't jump into the same pit twice."
Alexander looked up at his parents and sister sitting across from him, feeling somewhat embarrassed. "Did you guys know earlier? I've always treated her as a treasure, unwilling to let her suffer. But behind my back, she's so despicable, willing to betray herself for a little benefit."
Atticus and Blanche exchanged a glance and shook their heads. They only felt that Beryl was scheming, unaware of what she did behind the scenes.
Alice added, "I found out a few days ago."
Without video evidence, even if Beryl talked until she was blue in the face, Alexander wouldn't believe her. Fortunately, fate was on Alice's side.
Completely distancing himself from Beryl was a good thing for Alexander. Alice suddenly suggested, "To celebrate Second Brother's timely escape from the pit, how about a big meal for lunch today?"
Since they couldn't buy food from outside anymore, Blanche had started budgeting carefully, having only two meat dishes, one vegetarian, and one soup for each meal—no more than that.
Facing Alexander's hopeful eyes, Blanche reluctantly agreed, saying, "You've lost so much weight. Why didn't you come home earlier since there's nothing to eat outside?"
Alexander turned his guilty face away. If he said he didn't return earlier because he was worried Beryl didn't have enough to eat and had to go out every day to find supplies for her, would he be kicked out of the house?
Later on, no one paid attention to when Beryl left.
...
After Alexander came back, he realized that being at home was much better. He hadn't heard any praises from Alice.
"All the solar panels were bought by Little Sister? That's so visionary."
"All the supplies were brought back by Alice? Wow, my little sister is amazing."
"All this food is for me? I have the best sister in the world."
Arnold couldn't stand it anymore, with Alexander's voice echoing in his ears. just go cool off somewhere else."
Unable to resist a smile, Alice thought Alexander was not bad. At least he took advice!
Under Alice's stern gaze, Alexander deleted everything related to Beryl, blocked her number, and avoided any contact with her. Without Beryl's disturbance, Alexander's mood seemed to be better these days, though he would occasionally be secretly melancholic.
One night, Alice got up to use the bathroom and suddenly heard a noise outside the door. Thinking about the signs of the door lock being tampered with again, Alice's dark eyes narrowed. She gently opened the door.
Alice noticed two men standing in front of the large iron gate, focused on tampering with the lock. One of them whispered, "What's this lock made of? It won't break, and we can't open it."
"Keep your voice down, and it's lucky they sleep at night and are active during the day. Otherwise, it would be too hot to come over during the day," the other person reminded. Neither of them noticed that Alice had quietly walked up behind them, and with a subtle click, the iron lock unexpectedly opened.
"I did it!" the man who was messing with the lock exclaimed in joy.
"Congratulations, it wasn't easy," a cold and sardonic voice echoed.
"Well, it's not that difficult. If it weren't for my experience in this field..."
Before the man could finish his sentence, he suddenly realized that something was off with the voice. Instinctively, they looked up.
In the darkness, they could barely make out Alice standing on the steps, holding a tanto in her hand. She flicked the blade out of the sheath with her thumb, letting it fall and then flicking it out again, producing a faint 'click-click' sound.
"Who are you? Why are you trying to break in?" Alice decided to open the large iron gate, stepping down the stairs one by one. Her dangerous gaze narrowed.
The two men exchanged glances, and one of them bent over, repeatedly apologizing, "We're residents downstairs, sorry, we'll leave now."
While they spoke, Alice had already approached them. The apologetic man's eyes flashed with a hint of malice as he suddenly pulled out a knife and thrust it towards Alice with force.
Alice quickly dodged and maneuvered behind the man, her tanto unhesitatingly stabbing towards his neck.
The other man, witnessing his companion being killed, felt a shiver down his spine and turned to run.
Alice's dark eyes flashed with a murderous intent. She leaped into the air, lightly tapping her toe on the wall, and in an instant, she stood in front of the fleeing man.
The man's face filled with panic. "Don't come any closer."
"You're not residents downstairs. Who sent you?" Alice lightly tapped the blade with her slender and fair fingers, coldly staring at him.