Chapter 42

Seeing that I didn't say anything, Brandon hugged me and comforted me, "Caroline, I love you so much, how could I harm you? I'm just worried about you."

Shirley looked at Brandon holding me, a hint of jealousy flashing in her eyes.

I looked at Brandon, "Really?"

Brandon nodded, his eyes showing a bit of grievance, "Caroline, how could you doubt me? I'm really hurt."

I looked at him, "Then give me back my phone. I can't continue like this. I don't know anything about the outside world."

Brandon's eyes flickered, but his smile remained unchanged, "Alright, I'll buy you the latest phone tomorrow."

I nodded, just about to take the things Kathy bought for me back to my room, but Brandon followed me.

"Caroline, you were sick before, so we slept in separate rooms. Now that you're getting better, why don't we sleep together?"

With a crash, the cup in Shirley's hand fell to the ground and shattered.

Brandon glanced back at Shirley, his eyes dark, "Be careful."

Shirley nodded and went to clean up.

Brandon turned back to me, reaching out to hold my hand, "Can we, Caroline? We've been sleeping in separate rooms for a long time. Why don't we sleep together?"

I felt extremely disgusted, but I knew I couldn't refuse this reason.

So I nodded, "Alright, if you want to, but the two kids will sleep with me. They're very noisy, can you handle that?"

Brandon laughed, "If you can handle it, why can't I? Don't forget, I'm also their father."

With that, I couldn't say anything more.

"Then you can pack up and move over. I'm used to this room and don't want to move."

Most importantly, I didn't want to sleep in the bed Brandon had shared with other women.

Brandon agreed, and I returned to my room.

Time was limited, and I had to quickly install the hidden camera.

I opened the door and said, "I'm going to take a nap. Don't disturb me."

Then I locked the door and searched through the clothes Kathy had brought me.

I found the instructions Kathy had sewn into the lining of a dress.

Following the instructions, I assembled the miniature camera and hid it in a corner of the room.

Then I unlocked the door, fed the kids, and fell asleep.

When I woke up, Brandon was already lying next to me, breathing evenly.

I was startled for a moment, then remembered he had said he would move in.

I glanced at the miniature camera, suppressed my disgust, and went back to sleep.

The next night, Brandon brought me a new phone when he came back.

"Caroline, a gift for you."

It seemed Brandon hadn't broken his promise this time; he really brought me the phone.

I took it and thanked him, but I had a feeling it wasn't that simple.

Sure enough, upon close inspection, I noticed the phone's seal had been tampered with, something you wouldn't notice unless you looked carefully.

I was sure Brandon had done something to the phone.

After Brandon fell asleep, I got up and went to the bathroom, took out my old phone, and texted Simon and Kathy, telling them about Brandon suddenly moving into my room.

I also texted Simon about the phone and asked him to find an expert to check it.

Simon quickly replied, "Sure, see you at the usual place tomorrow."

I knew he meant the members-only restaurant.

The next day, after dropping Brett off at school, Brandon offered to drive me home. I quickly said, "Brandon, I haven't had a meal with Kathy in a long time. Can I go have lunch with her?"

Brandon smiled gently, "Sure, I'll go with you."

My heart sank. Brandon was determined to follow me.

As I was thinking of how to refuse him, Brandon's phone rang.

The caller's name was Kingsley, just a last name, but the only Kingsley around Brandon was Elora.

Brandon glanced at me, then answered the call impatiently, "What is it?"

"I told you I don't have time."

Brandon was also impatient with Elora. Had something happened between them?

I didn't know what was said on the other end, but Brandon frowned, "Wait for me, I'll be there soon."

He hung up and apologized, "Sorry, Caroline, I can't go with you this time. There's a problem with the supplier. Come home early, and I'll have the driver pick you up."

I was overjoyed, feeling like God was helping me, but I kept a calm face and nodded, "Alright, you go ahead."

After Brandon drove off, I took a cab to the place Kathy had mentioned and found the private room we used last time.

Opening the door, I saw Simon and Kathy waiting inside.

I couldn't help but complain, "Brandon has been acting like a lunatic these days, watching me constantly. Does he suspect something?"

Simon shook his head, "Hard to say, but we should reduce contact for now to avoid suspicion."

That was exactly what I wanted to say.

I handed the phone to Simon, who took out some tools from his bag and started disassembling it.

I was surprised and looked at Kathy, who shrugged, indicating she didn't know Simon had this skill either.

Simon seemed to know what we were thinking and looked up, "I took a mechanical engineering elective in college."

I almost applauded him. Simon was truly a versatile person.

Simon opened the phone's motherboard and, after a quick glance, confirmed, "There's a signal interceptor in the phone."

"In simple terms, Brandon has another phone connected to this one. Whatever you do on this phone, he can see."

I was stunned. As expected, Brandon wouldn't just let me have the phone.

"What should I do?" I looked at Simon, "It would be strange if I didn't use the phone Brandon gave me, but using it is like carrying a piece of iron."

Simon shook his head, took out another device from his bag, and attached it to the motherboard.

Then he produced a miniature soldering iron and started working.

Kathy and I couldn't understand his actions.

After a while, he reassembled the phone and handed it to me.

"There's a switch inside the phone. When you turn it on, Brandon can't see your phone's content. When it's off, everything is normal."

I couldn't help but admire him, "You're amazing!"

Kathy also clapped, "Thank goodness you're not on Brandon's side, or Caroline and I would never have solved this."