After His Sweetheart Moved In, He Came Home Every Night-Chapter 1: Into the Wrong Room

Alice York had been suffering from terrible nausea for the past two days, and her period was nearly eight days late.

She thought of what happened on the night two weeks ago, when the man returned from Washington. He had been so urgent and rough with her that they hadn’t used any protection in bed. It was very likely that she had got pregnant.

Worried about her gossipy colleagues at the hospital, Alice took a detour to buy a pregnancy test from a pharmacy after work.

She went straight to the bathroom after she arrived home.

During the few minutes she waited for the result, Alice was feeling extremely nervous. And just at that time, the phone she had left outside began to vibrate urgently— 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

’BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ...’

Alice’s heart tightened, and ignored the ringing. She looked down and picked up the pregnancy test to check the result.

The test was the most accurate after five minutes. Alice checked the time and realized that she had become a little too impatient. By this point she still had two minutes to go.

Meanwhile, the phone outside was still ringing constantly. The buzzing and ringing made Alice feel more agitated.

Worried that it might be something important, Alice decided to go out to get her phone.

When she saw the caller, Alice’s stomach dropped. She didn’t want to answer that, but whoever was calling on the other end didn’t seem to want to give up. In the end, she pressed the answer button and wearily said, "Mom."

Mindy Vaughn’s sobbing voice came through the phone. "Alice, your uncle is having another one of his episodes! He stabbed me with glass, and he tried to set me on fire! I’m covered in blood, it hurts so much... You have to come back to the Sterlings’ residence..."

Alice’s grip on her phone tightened. "Find a place to hide, now! Make sure you’re safe! I’ll be right..."

Before she could finish the sentence, the call was abruptly cut off.

At the final moment before the line went dead, Alice heard a bloodcurdling scream.

Alice’s heart sank. With no time to think about anything else, she rushed out the door without even changing out of her slippers.

Not long after she left, the pregnancy test on the bathroom counter gradually revealed its result.

...

The drive to the Sterlings’ residence was very long.

By the time Alice rushed to the Sterlings’ place, it was already the dusk time, while a drizzle began to fall down.

As she pushed open the car door, a blast of cold air shot down her collar. Her face was pale, as she ran toward the house through the falling drizzle.

She navigated the familiar halls to Mindy’s room. Seeing the door slightly ajar, she had a bad feeling washed over the body.

She reached out and threw the door open, but the sight that met her eyes made her blood run cold.

"Oh Alice, you are here."

Lying on a chaise lounge, Mindy was snacking on pumpkin seeds. She looked up to see a disheveled Alice standing in the doorway, then tossed the seeds aside and sat up. "Don’t just stand there. It’s cold outside. Hurry and come in."

The moment she opened the door and saw Mindy lying there perfectly fine, Alice knew she had been tricked.

Everything this woman had said to her on phone was a lie.

Alice forced down her rising anger and stepped inside with a grim expression on the face. She said, "Mom, why would you lie to me like that? Do you have any idea..."

"Oh, relax. I know you were worried. But look how well it worked—I call you once, and you come right back." Mindy poured a cup of hot tea and handed it to Alice. "Aren’t you happy to come home and see that your mother is perfectly fine?"

Mindy was all smiles, with her beauty lush and vibrant. She had borne a son and a daughter, but had kept her figure perfectly well. Her skin was smooth and tight. She didn’t look a day over forty.

Alice looked away and numbly accepted the tea.

When Mindy’s hand brushed against Alice’s, she immediately clasped it. "Why are your hands so cold?"

Only then did Mindy notice Alice’s damp hair. "You’re a grown woman. Do I really need to remind you to carry an umbrella when it rains?"

She said, as she picked up a handkerchief to wipe Alice’s face dry.

Alice pulled herself away, and said "I was worried about you, so I rushed here."

Mindy’s hand froze in mid-air, and an awkward expression crossed her face. "I didn’t mean to trick you. But think about it—how many times have I asked you to come home, and you never do? I had no other choice."

In truth, Alice was not as calm as she appeared. She was furious. But this was her mother, the woman who had given birth to and raised her. There was nothing else she could say about it.

Swallowing down the bitter feeling in her heart, Alice set the tea down. "Now you’re okay, I’ll be going."

She turned to leave.

Mindy’s sharp voice cut through the air behind her. "Where are you leaving for? Isn’t the Sterlings’ residence your home?"

Alice stopped in her tracks. "It’s your home. Not mine."

Her biological father’s surname was York, so she was one of the Yorks. She should have grown up with the York Family. It was only after Mindy Vaughn remarried into the Sterlings that she had followed her into their home.

Alice had been eight years old when that happened. Mindy had fought for custody, which had always made Alice believe that her mother truly loved her.

"Alice York, you stop right there!" Mindy shouted, chasing after her in a fluster.

Alice paid her no mind, but opened the door to leave. And then, Mindy’s urgent voice stopped her—

"Owen is back."

Alice froze in the doorway.

Mindy moved to stand in front of Alice, and pushed the door closed. Alice’s expressionless face made a flicker of annoyance cross Mindy’s. She said,"I don’t think you’ve truly forgotten what happened that night."

Bringing up the past could evoke either fond nostalgia or unbearable shame.

Clearly for Alice, the night Mindy mentioned was the latter.

Alice shut her eyes, and said, "Mom, that was a long time ago. I’m sure Owen has forgotten all about it."

"Forgotten? Owen Sterling slept with my innocent daughter, and ran off to another country without taking a shred of responsibility. He had been gone for three years before he came back. You think I can just let it go?"

She spoke with such vehemence that she was practically spitting.

To any onlooker, Mindy would have seemed like the most devoted mother in the world, who fought to get justice for her daughter.

But Alice asked in a calm voice, "Weren’t you the one who gave the tea to me on that night, Mom?"

Mindy’s tirade sputtered to a halt. "I..."

Alice said out every word clearly, "That night, I cried and begged you to take me away. But you sent me to Owen Sterling’s room. He’s supposed to be my cousin."

Mindy grew flustered, and said, "Alice, I didn’t know it was Owen’s room! I thought it was a lounge. I took you into the wrong room by mistake."

A sarcastic smile touched Alice’s lips. "The wrong room, indeed."

Mindy didn’t dwell on the lines.

In any case, her goal had been achieved. It had made an undeniable fact that her daughter had slept with Owen Sterling!

With such a powerful piece of leverage, Mindy had originally planned to publicly pressure Owen Sterling into marrying Alice York. But unexpectedly, Owen had left the country the very next day, and her plan had failed.

But Mindy hadn’t given up on the idea.

She had waited for three years.

And now, Owen Sterling was finally back!

As if suddenly injected with utter excitement, Mindy began to push Alice. "Alice, let’s put that aside for now. Go change your clothes. I prepared a fruit platter earlier. I want you to take it up to Owen personally."

Alice turned her head around, and stared at Mindy in utter disbelief, as she spoke in a very restrained voice, "Mom, he’s my cousin. And besides, that all happened so long ago."

But Mindy just reminded her, "Your last name is York. Don’t forget who you are. To the Sterlings, you’re an outsider. You don’t have a single drop of their blood in you."

Alice was lost in words to argue back,

Mindy saw nothing wrong with her words, and continued, "Besides, you two have already slept together. Are you really going to let these three years go by without getting anything out of it? Don’t you want to be his wife?"