The Devil's Harem

Chapter - 78

Alex was resting upstairs while Martha was busy with house chores when her phone rang. It was George.

"Hello," Martha answered the call.

"Honey, I need you at the company as soon as possible," George said from the other side. Martha could feel the urgency in his voice.

"What happened?" Martha ask. She wanted to know if something was wrong with that thing from the morning.

"I will explain everything to you later, but I need here as soon as possible, it's urgent. Don't delay it anymore," George told her.

"Alright, I will be there in half an hour," Martha replied.

As soon as George heard her, he hung up the phone without even replying to her. Martha was left staring at her phone in thoughts. From his tone, it was evident that some serious shit had happened in the company.

Without losing any time, Martha hurried to her room to change.

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In no more than ten minutes, Martha was outside Alex's room. Instead of barging in thoughtlessly, Martha knocked once. Getting no response, she walked inside only to see Alex sleeping soundly, wrapped in the blanket.

Martha picked up a piece of paper from the side table and wrote something on it. She placed the note on his bedside and left his phone above the piece of paper. Giving her beloved son one last look, she tiptoed her way out of the room.

Though Martha was worried for Alex, she knew George wouldn't have called her if it wasn't something really urgent. She hoped to find someone to look after Alex in case he needed something.

Closing the door behind her as she walked out of the house, Martha saw Margaret resting under one of the trees in her garden, enjoying the cool breeze of the nice summer afternoon. Seeing Margaret, Martha thought of something as she walked towards her.

Coming to the wooden fence dividing the two houses, Martha called out to her beautiful neighbour, "Margaret."

Hearing someone calling out to her, Margaret lazily looked up from the book she was reading. But when she found that it was Martha calling her, she stood up and hurried towards Martha.

"Mrs Rutherford, you called me?" Margaret asked as she greeted Martha with a smile.

"Yeah, are you busy with something right now?" Martha asked.

"No, for now, I have nothing to do. Why?"
"I know it's sudden, but I had a favour to ask of you," Martha asked with a hesitant smile.

"There is no need to hesitate, Mrs Rutherford? We are neighbours, and neighbours are the closest family. We are supposed to help each other out in need. Feel free to tell me what it is," Margaret said, trying to rack up some points in front of Martha.

And it worked. Martha now had an even more favourable impression of Margaret, "You see... The thing is, I have to go to the hospital right now," Martha began to explain to her the situation.

"Yes," Margaret nodded. Well, it was obvious for her to go to the hospital since she is a doctor, but she is indeed somewhat late today.

"To be honest, I was on leave today, but suddenly an emergency case popped up, out of nowhere," Martha continued.

"So, you want me to look after your house or something?" Margaret guessed as to why Martha would ask her for a favour.

"No, that's not it, the thing is..." Martha shook her head and tried to explain the situation to her, but she was again interrupted by Margaret.

"Oh! I know. You must be expecting a package, and since no one will be home, you want me to receive it on your behalf, right?" Margaret interrupted Martha once again.

"No, that's not the case either," Martha shook her head in denial again. She was slowly getting irked by Margaret's behaviour. Not too long ago, they were only on greeting terms but now she is acting extra chummy with her. Not that she hated Margaret, but it was like she was trying extra hard to be overly friendly. And the points she racked up just now were starting to dwindle.

"Then?" Margaret also saw the annoyed look on Martha's face and knew that she was going overboard.

"Alex is feeling a bit under the weather today," Martha began to explain in hopes that she won't be interrupted once again. But the moment Margaret heard that Alex was not feeling well, she genuinely panicked.

"What happened to Alex? Is it something serious?" Margaret asked, freaking out. If not for the wooden fence, she might have barged into Alex's room by now.

"No! No! No! It's not that serious, just a bit of fever and cold. There is nothing to be anxious… about…" Martha replied with a declaring tone. Martha looked at Margaret with a questioning gaze, 'I am his mother, and I am not panicking. Why are you freaking out like there is a snake up your skirt?'

Sensing the piercing gaze from Martha, Margaret coughed in embarrassment, "I was just worried about him. Such a good boy he is," Margaret said.

Though not convinced, Martha didn't want to get sidetracked from why she was here, "I took leave today to take care of him, but there is an emergency at the hospital and I need to leave right now, “Martha explained her situation, “So can I ask you to just check on Alex every now and then? You don't need to do anything else, and I will be back in a couple of hours at the latest," Martha told her in a single breath, afraid of getting interrupted once more.

"Is that all?” Martha asked, “No worries. You are leaving him in good hands," Margaret assured Martha.

Martha looked at Margaret for a while before nodding her head, "I will be going now, please look after Alex while I am gone".

"Yes, Mrs Rutherford".

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(The discord link is also available in the synopsis of the story if you wish to join the small but budding family.)