"Who is this?"
Seeing that it was an unfamiliar girl, Nicole asked.
Martha also looked at Samuel in puzzlement.
Samuel brought the girl in and motioned for her to speak.
The girl was a little shy, but seeing Nicole and Martha, she said in a low voice, "I am Amanda's
daughter. My mother is gone."
"Who is Amanda?"
Nicole subconsciously looked at Martha.
Martha quickly explained, "She is our nanny. She said that her daughter is sick, asked for some
advance of salary, and left. But what do you mean by saying your mother is gone?"
The girl bit her lower lip and pondered for a while before saying, "My name is Alina Evans. Amanda is
my stepmother. She has treated me badly since my childhood. Even when I got sick, she only gave me
ginger syrup and rarely sent me to the hospital. Yesterday, a man came looking for her. She went out
for a while and said nothing to me after coming back. But this morning she went out and never came
back. It wasn't until Mr. Green came to look for me that I realized that she had taken away our
passbook and household register."
"What?"
Martha was shocked.
"When I decided to employ Amanda as my nanny, the agency said that she was very considerate and
responsible."
Alina whispered, "My father left behind a sum of money after his car accident. She pretended to be
good to me in front of others for fear that they would accuse her of maltreating me. But I led a
miserable life when she was alone with me at home. My father left the money to me, but it's gone now.
She may have run away with the man who came to find her that day. I know him. He used to work as a
bar watch. "
Hearing this, Nicole and Martha were convinced that it wasn't an accidental fall this time.
"Who is so hostile to our family?"
Martha had been in the sanatorium for so many years without knowing how malevolent a person could
be. Now hearing this, she felt slightly sad and disappointed.
Nicole looked at Alina and asked, "Do you know that man?"
"Sort of. After my father died, he had come to my home a few times, but I didn't like him very much. My
mother told me that we might live together in the future, but I hate it. I think she should have run away
with this man this time.
"What's this man's name?"
"I don't know, but everyone calls him Zeddy."
Nicole frowned at Alina's reply.
Only then did Samuel speak.
"I checked. Zeddy's real name is Zedd Miller. Coincidentally, he is Mrs. Louis’ younger brother."
"Mrs. Louis? Which one?"
Nicole was confused for a moment.
Samuel threw a look at Martha. Nicole immediately understood, feeling a little embarrassed.
Martha also figured out what happened. She smiled bitterly and asked, "Is she calling herself Mrs.
Louis now?"
"Auntie, I'm sorry. You also know that Ballard..."
Knowing that Martha was her aunt, Nicole changed the way she addressed her, although she felt a little
awkward.
Martha was gratified, but said with depression, "I know that I've been in the sanatorium for so many
years without being able to let go my relationship with Ballard. I had no longer been his wife and it's
time for her to be addressed as Mrs. Louis."
"No, Martha. You may have misunderstood me. Zeddy is Mrs. Louis' younger brother and also knows
your nanny, Amanda. You fell because someone deliberately spilled food oil on the corridor. If I'm right,
they planned to have you fall down the stairs accidentally, causing fractures, injuries, or even
something more serious. Perhaps they also wanted to kill you without anyone noticing. So I think you
should tell Mr. Louis about this. I don't believe that Bella's brother would dare to do this without her
instructions."
Samuel was very straightforward.
Nicole knew that Samuel treated Tim as his brother and didn't want Martha to get hurt. She was very
sad about what had happened now.
"Samuel, I knew something just now."
"What is it?"
"Martha and my mother are sisters, but one takes the mother's surname and the other takes the
father's surname."
Nicole's words stunned Samuel for a moment, but soon he showed a happy look.
"Auntie."
He called her politely.
Martha could only give him a look and said, "I know what you're happy about. I'm Nicole's aunt, which
would make Tim her cousin and leaves him no chance with Nicole. And you can have Nicole to your
own, right?"
Samuel chuckled. Obviously, Martha was right about what was on his mind.
Nicole was at a loss for words.
It had been so many years and both of them had experienced so much. Why was Samuel still so
narrow-minded?
She had already made it clear that she had no feelings for Tim, but why couldn't he feel assured?
Samuel did not avoid Nicole's eyes, saying with a smile, "I've been completely reassured now."
"You are really..."
Nicole couldn't even find a word to describe him.
Samuel didn't care. He looked at Martha and said, "Auntie, what do you think about this? After all, it's
not appropriate for me to meddle in your family's affairs."
"Why? Aren't you the husband of my niece? So are you trying to cut the ties now?"
Hearing Martha's question, Samuel hurried to reply, "No, no, I just feel that Mr. Louis will probably have
a problem with me. After all, one of his sons is my special assistant and vice president."
Speaking of Jacob, Samuel was also in a difficult position.
After all, Bella Miller, namely Mrs. Louis, was Jacob's mother, and now Martha was Nicole's aunt. The
relationships were so complicated, so he didn't know how to deal with this.
Although Tim once told Martha that Ballard had another son, she still felt a little sad when hearing
Samuel say this again.
"I heard that Jacob and Tim are about the same age?"
"Yes, but Jacob is one year younger."
After Samuel finished speaking, Nicole shot a glare at him.
He felt he didn't do anything wrong but told the truth. Besides, this couldn't be concealed even if he
wanted to.
Seeing them talking about something unrelated to her, Alina was slightly embarrassed.
"Well, can I leave now?"
"Are you the only one at home now?"
Nicole felt pity for her and asked.
Alina nodded.
"I know where my mother and Zeddy see each other. I don't know if they are still there now. But if you
want to find them, I can take you there. I only hope that you can take back the money my father left me.
Can you help me?"
Alina wasn't a child who knew nothing and even made requests. This surprised Nicole, but she could
understand her.
Alina had lost her father and was treated badly by her stepmother. One could hardly imagine what her
life would be.
Samuel nodded.
"OK, I'll go with you."
"What about us?"
Nicole looked at Samuel.
Samuel smiled and said, "Didn't Auntie have a sprain and need to rest? Just stay here with Auntie and
leave everything to me."
"It's better to call Tim. I don't know where he went today without answering my phone. You might as
well go find him and let him take care of me here. I've heard that Nicole isn't in a very good condition.
Hurry up and go back to rest."
Hearing this, Nicole and Samuel fell silent. Nicole pondered for a moment and said, "Auntie, there's
something I need to tell you, but you can't blame Tim."
"What's wrong with Tim? Something happened to him?"
Martha immediately became nervous.
Tim had always been all Martha had. She could give up being Mrs. Louis and get over Ballard, but she
could not live without Tim.
Seeing that she was so nervous, Nicole hurried to calm her down, "No, no, nothing happened to Tim.
To be exact, it should be Maia."
"Maia? That woman who claimed to be Tim's girlfriend? Didn't she run away? What happened to her?
Where did Tim go?"
Martha turned pale.
She didn't know why she didn't like Maia. Even though Maia had tried her utmost to please her and was
also good to her, she just felt uncomfortable with the girl.
Seeing Martha's reaction, Nicole was hesitating whether to tell her what happened when Samuel had
answered.
"Auntie, it's like this, we found Maia at a landfill. She was put in a garbage bag and thrown there. If we
were half an hour late, she would have probably be thrown into the dump as garbage. In a landfill,
garbage is usually dumped after being compressed by machines directly. We found each and every of
her bones shattered when we arrived there. Even if she were rescued, she would still be badly crippled
for the rest of her life. After all, Tim has feelings for her. We took her to the hospital and he waited
there. We didn't dare to tell Tim about your fall, afraid that he wouldn't be able to cope with all this,
so..."
Hearing Samuel's words, Martha frowned.
"Who is so ruthless? This is too much even if Maia had done something unforgivable! It must be
extremely painful to have all her bones shattered. Does the person hate her that much? Although I
don't like the girl, I can tell that she is kind but just scheming. I'm a simple person and don't like
someone like this. Actually, I think she took me out of the sanatorium out of kindness."
Martha's words stunned Samuel and Nicole.
"Auntie, didn't she kidnap you out of the sanatorium?"
Martha shook her head.
"No, before Maia, there was another group of people coming looking for me. I don't know any of them.
The moment they entered, they asked where I was in a threatening tone. The nurse wanted to take me
away, but the back door was blocked. At this time, Maia came in and tried to take me away, telling me
that Tim had asked her to pick me up. I thought what she said was true at that time, but now I think
there should be something we don't know."
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda