Uncovering My Wife's Secrets

Chapter 87

Chapter 87 A Brush With The Truth

Abigail Barton was very reluctant to go to the countryside where Annalise lived.

She went along when they picked up Annalise last year. The countryside environment was simply unimaginable.

There were mud pits everywhere, and the stench of cow dung was disgusting.

She had no intention of going there a second time for the rest of her life after her first visit.

However, she relented and agreed when she saw Alexander’s unyielding look.

“Take your car!” said Alexander.

Abigail was speechless.

She cursed in her heart. It would take more than three hours of driving to reach the destination. There would be rugged mountain roads and rural trails after leaving the suburbs. It demanded driving skills and patience. The thought of that annoyed her.

“Alexander, why don’t I arrange for a driver?” Abigail suggested.

It was not as if the Barton family did not have a driver to spare. Why should she suffer?

“I don’t want anyone to know what we’re going to do,” Alexander replied.

“Okay then,” Abigail said.

She had no choice but to agree.

Then she went to get the car.

Abigail had planned to chat with Alexander along the way. First of all, she wanted to improve their relationship. Secondly, she wanted to show off her talent.

Unexpectedly, Alexander closed his eyes the moment he got into the car. He did not open them throughout the trip.

Abigail was extremely frustrated.

She had never suffered like this in her life!

The roads in the city were relatively flat in the beginning. Then they had to take a winding mountain road after passing through the suburbs. It was amazingly frightening. Abigail did not dare to be distracted for a second, fearing they would fall into the ravine.

Alexander was displeased whenever Abigail took a wider turn on the road. “What’s with your driving?”

“I’ll be more careful.” When she met Alexander’s displeased gaze, Abigail did not dare to blame it on the road. Instead, she admitted it was her mistake.

After more than three hours of torture, they finally reached Pond Village.

Abigail felt that she could no longer command her limbs.

She had held onto the steering wheel tightly for more than three hours and did not even dare to breathe deeply. Her hands were so stiff that blood seemed to have stopped circulating.

She hoped that Alexander would give her a hand but stopped short of asking when she saw a distant look in his eye.

She knew she was vain to have treated the doctors to a meal today. Alexander was displeased.

“Let’s go to your distant relative’s house first,” he suggested.

“Okay.” Abigail immediately made a call.

Fortunately, she had called ahead, and her distant relatives were waiting at home.

They welcomed them warmly when they arrived and served tea and fruit platters.

Alexander took the initiative to chat with Abigail’s distant relatives and asked about Annalise’s childhood.

There was a distant relative named Lilian Zabel, who was the great-granddaughter of Kent Barton. It was beyond three generations, and she could not even be considered a cousin. Therefore, there was not much emotional link to Abigail’s generation.

If it were not for the fact that Annalise’s family sent her over to ask for Lilian’s support, the two families would not have interacted with each other at all.

When Lilian heard Alexander asking about Annalise Barton, she immediately turned her gaze to Abigail. *Just tell the truth,” said Abigail.

From then on, Lilian answered every one of Alexander’s inquiries,

After Alexander got a good idea about Annalise’s childhood, he continued. “Annalise didn’t go to school. Did someone in the village teach her to write couplets?”

“Uh… I don’t know.” Lilian thought for a moment and replied. She did not reveal that Annalise did not, in fact, live with her for long. The latter was sold as a child laborer after a year.

She did not even mention the matter to Kent Barton.

After all, Kent had given her a sum of money to raise Annalise back then.

Kent Barton’s instruction was not to send Annalise to school. Lilian could make her work, even torture her, but she could not let the little girl die.

Therefore, when Annalise was sent over at the tender age of six, Lilian did not treat her as a human. The little girl was left to starve without regular meals.

The following year, an older man came looking for Lilian and discussed buying Annalise to help him raise chickens and ducks. He also gave Lilian money.

She could not tell the Barton family that she had sold Annalise to the older man.

“Are there any older men here whom Annalise respects?” Alexander asked.

Lilian immediately thought of the older man who had bought Annalise back then. However, she shook her head and replied, “Uh, I don’t know about that. I don’t think so, though. Annalise lived in my house. In other words, she ate whatever we ate. She usually went to the fields with us to do farm work. When the farm was idle, she would play with the villagers.”

“Perhaps Annalise learned to write couplets from someone else when farming was idle,” Abigail said. “Yes, yes!” Lilian agreed without hesitation.

“The air in the village is good. I’ll walk around and take a look,” Alexander said.

Then he got up and left the two-story building to walk in the field.

Alexander saw a fish pond and someone fishing. He took a look around the pond and wondered if it was the pond that Annalise talked about.

Just then, two older men picked up their fishing rods and buckets. They teased each other, “Hey, old fool, it’s time to collect the rods and have a bite.”

“Anna isn’t here. The food doesn’t taste as good!”

When Alexander heard the name Anna mentioned, he immediately thought of Annalise Barton.

Could it be that Anna was Annalise Barton?

He instantly took a step forward and greeted the older men politely, “Gentlemen, may I ask if Anna is indeed Annalise Barton?”

Both men glanced at Alexander and then at Abigail.

One of them asked Alexander, “What did you mean? The Anna I’m talking about is my granddaughter, his maternal granddaughter.”

Alexander was rendered speechless by the remark.

So the two older men were in-laws.

Alexander must have been so obsessed with Annalise Barton that he thought about her on every occasion.

He promptly smiled and apologized. “I’m sorry, I made a mistake.”

Alexander took a closer look at the older men before him. Even though he only had a decade-old photo of Master Quigley with him, he was sure that Joseph Quigley was neither of them.

Both older men continued to chat and laugh as they left.

Alexander could still hear their tone of satisfaction.

“We have quite a catch today! This bream is at least two pounds. Unfortunately, Anna isn’t around. Otherwise, she would have made a lip-smacking meal out of it.”

“Exactly. I wonder when she’ll be back?”

“Young people are chasing their careers nowadays. Don’t even dream about them coming home until the new year.”

Both men fell silent.

Alexander listened in on their conversation and realized that their granddaughter had probably gone out of town to work and would only return during the new year.

“Let’s go back,” he said to Abigail in frustration.

Abigail did not reply.

She cursed silently. Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“Are you kidding me? After driving for more than three hours, my limbs are almost crippled. I initially wanted to eat at my distant relative’s house or even stay for a night before leaving tomorrow. In the end, I have to leave now. What a drag!” she thought grudgingly.

Alexander would not realize the hardship as he was not the one driving.

But could she refute him?

Obviously not.

“Okay,” she replied.

Over on the other side.

The two older men passed by a few houses before climbing a small hill and passing through a forest. They arrived at a park-like garden landscape dotted with standard rural villas. Several single-family homes. clustered together and a few thousand square feet fitness center.

The conversation between them went like this.