Maggie’s attention immediately shifted to Thomas, and she let go of Aldrich, heading outside. “What happened to Alisa?”
Sensing the warmth beside him receding, Aldrich crushed the remnants of his sadness. Such emotions were clearly not suited for him. He was powerful, and even though he had new vulnerabilities, he would force himself to overcome them entirely.
For Maggie, he was determined to be everything Alisa was and more. Aldrich stepped forward and joined Maggie and Thomas. As they took the elevator to the top floor, his expression grew increasingly cold. The atmosphere he radiated intensified. Even as werewolves, Thomas and Elizabeth could barely contain the pressing force of the top-tier Alpha’s presence.
In contrast, Alisa, as a human, seemed entirely unaffected. She used an innocent tone, saying, “I accidentally touched something, and then the giant curtain came down. Mr. Barrett, you’re not going to be upset over such a little thing, are you?”
Aldrich’s presence grew even more oppressive. This woman was a habitual liar! The button was intentionally hidden, and Alisa must have actively sought to trigger it to make it fall.
His inner silver wolf was howling, demanding that he tear her apart. He fought hard to maintain composure. In this moment, he officially regarded Alisa as his number one enemy. He couldn’t kill her directly, he couldn’t challenge her, and he couldn’t even lose his temper. He had to maintain a facade of politeness and friendliness.
He had never felt so frustrated in his life. He was dying to unleash a string of expletives like his inner wolf, but he couldn’t.
Maggie patted Aldrich’s arm. “Aldrich won’t be upset. He’s very friendly. But why is there such a large room here just for clothes?”
She quietly asked Aldrich, “If Alisa mistakenly entered Grace’s dressing room, I apologize. But please don’t blame her.”
Aldrich looked deeply at Maggie and managed to squeeze out a word. “No.”
He wished he could open Maggie’s head and see what she was thinking. How could he have prepared so many clothes for Grace? It was absurd!
“Is this place used to store everyone’s clothes?” Maggie asked.
Aldrich clenched his fist. “No!”
Elizabeth couldn’t bear it any longer and said, “Lady, everything here was prepared by Mr. Barrett just for you! The centermost wedding dress was personally designed by Mr. Barrett and carefully crafted by a world-renowned clothing team. He wanted to surprise you and propose to you officially!”
The central green wedding dress shimmered with starlight. Maggie couldn’t believe her eyes. It was the kind of dress every girl dreamed of.
“Aldrich…” Maggie’s voice trembled. “It’s beautiful, really beautiful.”
“But now everything’s ruined,” Aldrich lamented. This had been the first time he had prepared something so carefully, and it had all gone to waste.
“No, I really like it,” Maggie insisted.
“But you could have been a hundred times more surprised!”
Alisa listened to their conversation with envy, and as she approached the wedding dress, her foot caught on something and she almost fell. She grabbed the dress to prevent herself from falling:
Rip!
The light fabric of the gown tore open along a long seam. Thomas and Elizabeth felt like the sky was falling. This particular wedding dress material was incredibly rare, imported from the North Continent. It was a delicate and fluffy material that gave the feeling of walking on clouds while maintaining its durability. Each inch of fabric was exceptionally costly.
Aldrich’s expression turned cruel. “Now it’s completely ruined.”
Maggie helped Alisa up. Alisa was full of remorse. “I’m sorry, Maggie. I never thought something like this would happen.”
“Are you hurt?” Maggie asked.
Alisa shook her head, but her foot was visibly swollen and reddened. “Whenever I go to places that don’t suit my status, something always goes wrong. I really didn’t do it on purpose.”
The phrase “doesn’t suit my status” tugged at Maggie’s heart. She and Alisa had always been very careful when entering luxurious places, and now she felt sorry for Alisa, who was obviously overwhelmed.
Maggie comforted her. “It’s okay. You’ve changed into your clothes, and I’ll take you downstairs.”
As Alisa and Maggie exited, passing by Aldrich, Maggie said to him, “Aldrich, I really appreciate your thoughtfulness. Thank you.”
Elizabeth followed to look after the lady, and the three of them entered the elevator to go down. Thomas, concerned, wanted to examine the torn part of the wedding dress, but Aldrich stopped him. “Don’t touch it.”
“Master, this Alisa is proving quite challenging.”
Aldrich asked, “Why did she come here?”
“Elizabeth and I took her to the second floor to choose, but she wasn’t quite satisfied with the dresses. She wanted to wear a beautiful long gown. Since she’s the lady’s sister, we tried to make her as happy as possible and brought her here to pick out clothes.”
“She activated the button that opened the curtain for the wedding dress, didn’t she?”
“Yes… Alisa is very curious about everything, and we couldn’t stop her from looking around.”
Aldrich was deeply concerned about Alisa’s intentions. He feared that his patience would run out before he could discover her true intentions.
He quickly walked out. “Seal this area. Nobody is allowed on the top floor.”
Thomas responded, “Yes.”
“Also, ensure that Maggie and Alisa spend time together. Our people must be present at all times.”
Thomas was surprised by Aldrich’s words. He thought Alisa was just difficult to get along with, but now Aldrich was ordering precautions.
Could Alisa be a threat to Maggie?
Thomas didn’t hesitate. He immediately went to relay Aldrich’s orders.
Aldrich had been dealing with some urgent matters in his study, but Alisa’s presence had left his inner peace in turmoil. He repeatedly revisited the events surrounding Alisa’s encounter with the rogues and her strong insistence on entering Barrett Manor, which all felt awkward and suspicious.
However, the investigations related to Alisa, carried out while dealing with the rogue attack, revealed that she was just an ordinary orphan who had been living with Maggie, and she had never had any contact with werewolves. Yet her actions and intentions remained unclear.
Unable to figure out what Alisa was up to, Aldrich felt a growing sense of unease and frustration. Passive feelings were never something he was comfortable with. He attempted to establish a mind link with the wolf pups, “My babies, what is your mother doing?”
“Mommy seems a bit tired and is preparing to rest.”
“But there’s this lady who’s been saying strange things to Mommy.”
The two pups began arguing, “You dummy, those aren’t strange words. Can’t you tell she’s deliberately trying to make Mommy sad?”
“But Mommy trusts her! Don’t you trust Mommy’s judgment?”
Aldrich couldn’t bear listening to their argument any longer. He was worried about what Alisa might do to Maggie while she was sleeping. He quickly rushed out of the study.
When he arrived outside the lounge, he coincidentally ran into Alisa as she was leaving.
“Mr. Barrett, Maggie is resting, and I’m heading back to my room. Thank you for your hospitality,” Alisa said.
Aldrich blocked her way. “Alisa, I think we need to have a talk.”
Alisa turned around. The sunlight streaming into the corridor cast a shadow over her face. “Of course, I’m more than willing to talk with you, but I’m concerned that Maggie might get jealous.”