Chapter 3The Wife They Wanted to Erase

Soon after I returned to my room, there was a knock on the door.

As I hesitated whether to open it, Alex's voice drifted in from outside.

"You said she was crying earlier?"

"Yes, Mr. Alex. Evelyn was crying very hard, it even startled me."

"She didn't... remember anything, did she? Otherwise, why would a small burn make her cry like that?"

Mrs. Davis didn't have an answer for Alex.

"Mr. Alex, if I may be so bold, what you're doing is so unfair to Evelyn. How heartbroken would she be if she ever regained her memory!"

"I know, I'll think about it. You can go now."

Then I heard footsteps retreating.

To avoid giving anything away, I quickly composed myself.

I used makeup to conceal the puffiness around my eyes.

Putting on my uniform, I left the room and headed to the kitchen to work.

Passing through the living room, I saw Alex and Chloe were about to apply ointment.

I intended to pretend I hadn't seen them, but Alex called out to me.

"Wait a second."

I stopped, but he didn't say anything else.

He gently took off Chloe's slipper.

"Come here, baby, I'll put the medicine on for you."

Alex opened a bag, took out two tubes of ointment.

He dabbed a little on his fingertip and carefully applied it to Chloe's wound.

His voice was incredibly tender throughout.

"Does it hurt, baby?"

Chloe didn't answer him, but Alex gently blew on her wound.

Chloe immediately giggled.

"Haha, that tickles! Stop it, you know I'm ticklish and you're doing it on purpose!"

This scene stabbed at my heart.

Alex used to treat me like that.

Once, I tripped and scraped my knee during an 800-meter run.

When he saw it, his eyes turned red, and he looked so distressed, almost crying from how much it pained him.

He carefully applied medicine for me.

Seeing me wince, tears immediately fell from his eyes.

He said he never wanted me to suffer even the slightest injury again.

But now, he was mercilessly breaking my heart.

I turned my head away, unwilling to watch the scene unfold.

Finally, they were done.

Alex took two more tubes of the same ointment from the bag.

"I was going to bring these to your room just now, but I didn't want to disturb you. Here, this one is for the burn, and this one is to prevent scarring."

But I just took them woodenly, not a single word of his registering with me.

"Maybe you should take a few days off?"

"No need."

I refused him point-blank.

"It was my fault today, for causing Ms. Chloe's injury. I don't deserve to rest."

With that, I bowed to Chloe, who was sitting on the sofa, to express my apology.

"You don't need to apologize, it's just a small injury…"

I cut Alex off before he could finish.

"Mr. Alex, this is just my duty."

He looked at me with an expression I'd never seen before—one of surprise, and then a hint of troubled thought.

He seemed to notice the swelling around my eyes beneath the makeup.

"Just be more careful next time. I'm going back to my study."

As soon as Alex left, Chloe stopped me.

"Go get me a glass of hot water."

Even though I half-guessed what Chloe was up to, I had no choice but to comply.

As I carefully presented the glass of hot water to Chloe, I clearly saw the smirk on her lips.

"Here's your water, Ms. Chloe."

Chloe reached out to take it. Just as I was about to release my grip, she let go too.

This time, the entire glass of hot water spilled all over my arm.

"Hiss."

I sucked in a sharp breath.

The tears I had managed to hold back burst forth again, driven by the searing pain.

"Oh dear, how clumsy of me. You should go take care of that."

On the surface, she sounded concerned.

But the words she whispered into my ear were laced with malice.

"Does it hurt? Good. Now you'll use all that medicine!"

I stood there speechless.

In this house now, I was just a housekeeper.

What right did I have to yell at her?

"I'm sorry."

That apology felt like it drained every ounce of my strength.

Tears still in my eyes, I picked up the fallen glass.

Then I grabbed a mop and cleaned up the mess on the floor.

She watched me the entire time, a smile playing on her lips.