"What on earth have I done wrong?" Ally thought in distress.
Suddenly, her phone rang. She already knew that it was a call from home before she looked.
She contemplated, "They must have verified the marriage certificate. Or they wouldn't have waited for so long to give me the call."
That thought made Ally sadder. She took out her phone, pressed "Decline" without looking at the screen, and then powered it off.
Seeing the phone screen turn black, Ally finally felt at ease. She got back to her feet from the beach, picked up her purse, and headed back.
In the Fowlers' house.
"Sorry, the subscriber you dialed is powered off. Please try again later."
A mechanical female voice sounded from the receiver. Zack's countenance altered a little.
"Darn. Her phone was on just a moment ago. But it's powered off. That means Ally is really mad!" he speculated.
He hung up the phone in annoyance.
Angie, who was holding the marriage certificate, was still in disbelief. "Dad, is this real?"
Zack scowled at her and said, "I've already checked with the city hall. What do you think?"
Angie was bereft of speech.
The moon was high in the sky. It was already late at night.
Ally strolled back to the road. At this time near the sea, there was little traffic and few pedestrians on the road. Thus, Ally waited for a long time before she hailed a taxi.
After getting into the car, she told the driver, "Central Garden, please."
She thought for a moment and switched her phone on, because she prepared to call Kaley Cavill.
Kaley was Ally's classmate in senior high. She was a fierce and vigorous girl from a rich family. She and Ally had been good friends since they were in school. These years when Ally had rough times, Kaley always took her side without hesitation. She supported and helped Ally. Therefore, other than her family, Ally only told Kaley about her return.
However, her phone rang just as she found Kaley's number.
The caller ID was a stranger.
Ally knitted her brows. She just bought this number when she arrived in this country. Other than her father, nobody knew this number was her number.
"He must have found that I declined his call, so he called again with a different phone," Ally mused.
She sneered. Her fingers paused with hesitation for less than a second before she pressed "Decline".
She didn't want to go home. Nor was she strong enough to endure their snarky comments.
Yet, that call came again just as she hung up.
She declined it again.
Then the caller called again.
Still, Ally hung up.
Three minutes later, her phone was still ringing, as though it would ring forever until she picked it up.
Ally didn't know what to say. "Can't they just leave me alone?" she complained inwardly.
She was miffed. She felt they'd really gone too far. They not only said those mean things to her at home but also tried to keep scolding her over the phone!
Ally gritted her teeth and pressed "Accept". She shouted, "Enough! Stop calling me! I'm telling you, I won't admit things that I didn't do! You can save your speech!"
After that, she forcefully hung up.
On the other end of the line-
Kevin, who was standing on a large balcony, stared at the dim screen in a daze.
His face darkened in an instance.
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