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Caraline was stunned as soon as she heard it. Her mouth was half open, but not a single word came out of it. She didn't know what to answer at the moment, especially since Deric was looking at her directly. Perhaps Deric had started to suspect something?

"I'd better hurry downstairs before the maids speculate on my presence here," Deric said as he opened the door. Shortly after, he walked out of the room.

Caraline's legs were suddenly so jelly-like that they could no longer support her weight. She fell to the floor with tears in her eyes. Her fears about Deric finding out about the man who had run her over came rushing back into her thoughts and feelings.

For the next few minutes, Caraline could only sit on the floor with various bad thoughts that seemed to kill her. After calming down a bit, the woman started to get up, sitting on the bed. Unexpectedly, time had already crawled quickly.

"Deric... was just asking about my sister," Caraline said, trying to compose herself, "and all I h