Chapter 25 He Used to Be My Brother-In-Law
Being the heiress of Lambert International is far too tiring. All I ever wanted was to find someone who genuinely loved me for the rest of my life, and then we would build our happily ever after with our own two hands. Besides, even without the status as the heiress of Lambert International, my net worth is about the same as Brayden’s. Therefore, before our divorce gets finalized, I’m thinking of ending this marriage the same way I started it. I want to walk out of this marriage as Alison Lambert and not as the heiress of Lambert International.
At that thought, she figured she should tell Carl about Brayden demanding her to tag along. If I don’t inform *sshole Dad about this, he will surely blow my cover. I don’t trust him to control his facial expression if he sees me showing up at the dinner with Brayden tomorrow.
“W-What?” Carl was stupefied. It took him some time for his brain to reboot. “Why would he bring you along to meet me?”
“He’s prodding at my identity,” Alison told him her deductions.
In truth, this wasn’t Brayden’s purpose. His real purpose was to find out if Alison would call Carl after learning about this matter. Once she makes the call, that means what she said was true. But if she doesn’t, then those words were merely her jokes.
After Alison finished talking to Carl on the phone, she saw that she had received an email in her mailbox. The sender was still the same as before.
‘Yes. He wants you to help him check the phone records of the number, 184XXXX1314. He wants to check if this number has recently contacted the director of Lambert International.’
Alison was at a loss for words when she saw the number. She couldn’t tell what mood she was currently in. It was like the person who wanted to poison her came to her shop and asked her which concoction would be more effective in poisoning her.
She couldn’t help but feel amused at that thought, so she promptly replied, I’ve checked. No contact. Alison wasn’t afraid that Brayden would ask other hackers to look up her number either. After all, she had encrypted her phone number and other contact information. She was confident that no one else would be able to dig out any information via hacking.
As for Brayden, he made a phone call after reading the email. However, the party gave him the same answer as stated in the email received, which made his thoughts wander.
The next afternoon, Alison was still chatting with Hannah in the hospital. She was listening to Hannah regaling her about the interesting events that happened in the past two years.
They were deep in conversation when suddenly Brayden once again became the subject of their discussion.
“Aly, there is something I didn’t tell you.”
“What is it?”
“It’s about Brayden.”
About Brawdent Alison perked up when she heard Brayden’s name being name-dropped, and a bad premonition surged in her heart.
Hannah felt a little conscience-stricken under her piercing stare. Still, she bit her lip and decided to pull off the band-aid by explaining, “I chatted with Dad this morning. I knew that Brayden was going to take you to the meeting, so I begged Dad to propose that their meet-up would be here in the hospital”
Alison was dumbstruck. Her mind replayed Hannah’s words as she blurted absentmindedly, “Are
you serious?”
“I just want to see what he looks like in real life.” Of course, Hannah knew that she had made a mistake. Nonetheless, she couldn’t help it as she was overwhelmed by her curiosity. “After all, he used to be my brother-in-law.”
Alison went silent at that final sentence. This girl really does know how to mess things up for me.
“Aly?”
“Can you act?” Alas, Alison couldn’t blame her for this since she wasn’t doing this out of malicious. intent.
The question momentarily took Hannah aback. Then, she nodded and added casually, “Yes.”
“If Brayden really agrees to meet here, you have to pretend you don’t know me when you see me around. Honestly, this wasn’t within Alison’s calculations. She was really afraid that Hannah had no acting skills to speak of. The girl could barely lie, as it were! “And don’t make eye contact with me either.”
“Okay.”
“Also, don’t be too curious about him. He isn’t your brother-in-law but a partner of Lambert International.”
“Yes and yes!”
“The most crucial point is do not tell him you still have a sister. You have to collude with “sshole Dad in advance. Do not accidentally spill the beans during this meeting.”
Hannah agreed to all of Alison’s conditions. I have heard a lot of stories about Brayden. His company expanded rapidly under his reign, and he has never encountered any problems so far. Needless to say, he is a legendary figure in the business industry. Although I had seen him at business parties in the past, I never thought he would ever be my brother-in-law.
Not long after she finished giving Hannah instructions, Alison received a call from Conner. He asked her where she was so that he could pick her up, and he also said that the meeting place had changed to the hospital where Hannah was hospitalized.
Since Alison couldn’t possibly move to a location far away from the hospital just so Conner could go there and pick her up, she simply informed Conner that she would be waiting for him at Imperia General Hospital before she hung up the phone.
Then, she left the hospital and went to the mini grocery store to make some cash exchange.
At 5.30PM, Conner and Brayden showed up at Imperia General Hospital on time and met Alison.
Brayden had changed into an iron-gray suit. His shoulders were broad, and his waist was slender, making him look like a human mannequin. Unfortunately, that suit also set the aura on his body slightly cooler.
“Mrs. Cornell.” Conner smiled slightly and greeted Alison.
Alison didn’t waste time correcting him, “Just call me Alison.”
Conner didn’t continue.
“Is your family member hospitalized in this hospital?” Brayden’s unfathomable eyes scanned the place and asked a critical question.
“No.” Alison denied swiftly.
The darkness in Brayden’s eyes intensified slightly. “Do you think I will buy it?”
“That’s your business, not mine,” she snapped.
Ever since Julia got into an accident, Alison knew that Brayden had zero trust in her.
Meanwhile, Conner stood on one side and dared not say a word. Mr. and Mrs. Cornell are fighting
*again!
“Since your family member isn’t hospitalized here, do you mind explaining why the step tracker in your Google Fit shows you have only walked over 200 steps?” Brayden took out his phone and clicked on the Google Fit application, exposing her without the slightest care.
His aura became chillier. He remembered the glimpse of the silhouette he saw outside Hannah’s ward when he came to visit Kai yesterday. That figure looked exactly like the woman in front of me!
“Will your step count be this little if you walk here from other places?” Brayden’s eyes were filled. with scrutiny, and his entire being emitted a slightly more oppressing vibe.
“I didn’t believe it before when I heard they say that those in love have zero IQ,” Alison chastised without profanity. “But now, I have to say I’m now a believer.”
Brayden went silent while Conner was in shock.
“There is a means of transportation called a cab,” added Alison condescendingly.
Both Brayden and Conner knew that no steps would be counted if one commuted via a car.
Conner cast a discrete glance at Brayden and felt for the umpteenth time that Brayden wasn’t as witty as Alison.
Meanwhile, Brayden’s heart sank at her reply. Alison’s answer is flawless, yet it’s clear that she doesn’t look like she rushed here from somewhere else.
“Mr. Cornell, it’s time for us to go in.” Conner bit the bullet and reminded Brayden. At this moment, he simply felt that the air pressure surrounding him was extremely low, and he felt rather suffocated. “We still have a meeting with Mr. Lambert after visiting Miss Hannah.”
Even so, Brayden’s probing gaze still landed on Alison.
On the other hand, Alison made sure to relax her posture as he sized her up.
Finally, Brayden inhaled deeply, retracted his gaze, moved his feet, and walked toward the inpatient department.
She felt slightly relieved. She touched the money in her pocket and followed him. I have specially exchanged this cash in case Brayden asked me to show him proof of the cab fare. Since there’s no record on my phone’s e-hailing application indicating I have called a cab, I can only tell him I have paid the driver in cash. Fortunately, he didn’t ask about this, and I didn’t have to worry about making too many mistakes.
The journey from the hospital’s entrance to Hannah’s ward wasn’t very far, yet Brayden. intentionally slowed down his steps. He was testing Alison to check whether she genuinely had no clue or was merely feigning ignorance.
