After His Sweetheart Moved In, He Came Home Every Night-Chapter 53: Telling Wyatt Sterling the Secret
Alice York never expected to run into Holden Locke at a randomly chosen restaurant.
Ever since the day Wyatt Sterling had forcibly taken her cards, she had been completely cut off from the outside world.
Every day, she woke up to either the Churchills or strangers. She was growing numb to it all, so the sudden sight of a familiar face left her both surprised and stunned.
Holden Locke strode toward her. When he stood before her, he looked her over again to make sure before calling out, "Alice York?"
"It’s me," Alice York said, looking up with a smile. "Professor Locke, it’s been a while."
"Zoe told me you came to Washington. I happen to be here on business myself, so I never expected to run into you like this." He then looked behind Alice.
Kyle Churchill tilted his head, chewing on a spoon, quietly watching the two of them.
"And he is?" Holden Locke asked.
Alice turned slightly. "My cousin, Kyle Churchill."
’Technically, he’s my cousin, though we’re not related by blood.’
After introducing him, she asked, "Professor Locke, did you just arrive in Washington today?"
"I arrived last night," Holden said. "I made a reservation here to eat with a friend, who’s still on the way."
Just as he finished speaking, a loud SCRAPE echoed through the air.
It was Kyle Churchill, banging his spoon against his plate. He was clearly unhappy. He kept banging it as he urged, "Alice, eat. Alice, eat."
Holden Locke frowned. "He..."
Alice interrupted him. "Your friend should be arriving soon, shouldn’t they, Professor Locke?"
Holden’s gaze returned to Alice. "Yes, soon."
Alice smiled. Though she hadn’t said it outright, Holden understood the implication: she wasn’t free to talk.
"I’ll get to my table, then. You two go ahead and eat," Holden said with a nod before turning to leave.
Once Holden was gone, Alice finally sat back down.
She was a bit dazed when Kyle suddenly thrust his spoon toward her, banging it. "Eat, eat, eat!"
She looked up, her eyes meeting Kyle’s. Wyatt’s words from that day—words she had dismissed at the time—surfaced in her mind.
’William Churchill said his son is innocent and simple-minded. He’s never really been around women and doesn’t know how to interact with them.’
’The Churchills really do have a secret...’
Once the food arrived, Kyle’s behavior became even more pronounced.
He was bossy, demanding, "Alice, I want that!"
"Debone this for me."
"No cilantro! No cilantro!"
Occasionally, he would even try to feed her from his own drink, holding it to her lips. "You drink."
He’d do the same with food he’d already taken a bite of. "You eat."
Alice refused every time. He was on the verge of a tantrum, but then he seemed to remember something someone had told him and immediately settled down.
By the end of the meal, Alice was completely drained.
"I’m going to the restroom," she said, grabbing her phone as she got ready to leave.
"I’ll go with you!" Kyle shot up, ready to trot right after her.
Alice waved a waiter over. "An order of Häagen-Dazs and a slice of hazelnut cake, please."
When Kyle heard the names of the two desserts, his eyes lit up like stars. He quickly raised his hand. "I want some too!!"
Alice noticed that as Kyle raised one hand, his other twitched as if to follow, but it couldn’t lift properly because it was in a cast.
"It’s for you," she said.
"Alice, you’re the best," Kyle said with a silly grin.
Alice didn’t leave right away. She waited for the waiter to bring the cake and ice cream before heading to the restroom. That way, Kyle wouldn’t follow her.
Finding an empty corner, she dialed Wyatt Sterling’s number, intending to tell him the secret she’d just uncovered.
It rang for a long time, but no one picked up.
Alice tried again, but there was still no answer.
Wyatt Sterling was already back in Silvanus and had been swamped for the past two days. A mountain of issues requiring his personal attention had piled up. Stacks of documents for his approval kept coming, and he was even in a meeting at high noon.
「In a bright, clean conference room.」
A joint venture between the corporation and the government had reached a critical stage. The vice president was speaking, and everyone was watching him intently. The atmosphere was tense. But Wyatt Sterling, sitting at the head of the table, was leaning back lazily, toying with a pen.
His phone, lying on the table, began to vibrate.
He glanced at the caller ID, a smirk touching his lips, and ignored it.
The buzzing stopped for a few seconds before starting up again in intermittent bursts. He continued to ignore it.
Alice didn’t know Wyatt was in a meeting. When he didn’t answer after two calls, she gave up.
As she put her phone away and turned, she was startled by Holden Locke’s approach.
"I was about to call your name when I got a little closer, but I didn’t expect you to turn so suddenly," Holden said with an apologetic look. "Did I startle you?"
Alice shook her head. "I’m fine."
She glanced behind Holden, relaxing only when she confirmed Kyle wasn’t there. Holden noticed her reaction and lowered his voice. "Why haven’t you come back to Silvanus? Is something keeping you here?"
Alice was taken aback. She hadn’t expected him to be so concerned.
’But they weren’t particularly close. She only knew him as Zoe’s uncle, so it wasn’t appropriate to discuss her personal matters with him.’ 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
She shook her head. "No, nothing’s keeping me. I just think Washington is fun and wanted to stay a bit longer."
"Alice."
Holden’s tone was serious.
Alice felt a flicker of apprehension. "Professor Locke, is there something else?"
Holden said, "Did you really think our meeting today was a coincidence?"
Surprise flashed in her eyes as her mind raced to process his words. ’Could it be that meeting Professor Locke today wasn’t a coincidence after all?’
"The truth is, I’ve been in Washington for two days. I’ve been watching the Churchill residence for two days, waiting for you. Today was the first time I saw you leave."
Holden’s frank admission left Alice utterly stunned.
Her lips parted and closed. When she finally spoke, her voice was thick with emotion. "Was it... Zoe?"
"Yes." Holden nodded. "Zoe told me she’s been worried sick ever since you left for Washington. You kept telling her you were fine on the phone, but when you didn’t come back to Silvanus, she became convinced you were in trouble here. Then your phone suddenly became unreachable, so she came to me right away and asked me to bring her to Washington to find you."
Finding the Churchill residence was easy; getting to see Alice was another matter entirely.
Holden had said he’d been watching the house for two days, but that was actually at Zoe’s insistence. She was so worried that she hadn’t been eating or sleeping well since they arrived in Washington. Eventually, Zoe had fallen ill, and Holden had forced her to stay and rest at the hotel today.
To put Zoe at ease, Holden had come out again today anyway. He never expected to actually catch Alice and Kyle leaving the house.
"You and that... Mr. Churchill..." Holden began, his voice trailing off.
Alice sighed. "It involves the Churchills and the Sterlings, so I can’t say much. Professor Locke, please give me an address. I’ll come find you tonight."
Holden nodded. "All right. Get your phone out and take this down."
Alice quickly pulled out her phone. Just as she opened her notes app, a video call request suddenly popped up.
When she saw the caller’s name, her hand shook, and the phone slipped from her nervous grasp.
It was a video call from Wyatt Sterling.
