Chapter 6: Arrangements in Advance

"Uncle, I spent all of yesterday with a friend, and I have no idea what happened between you and Jenny. Could you stop bothering me?" Alison paused as she said this, then turned to face Jenny, sitting beside Oliver. Her voice dripped with sarcasm as she continued, "I'm genuinely curious, Jenny. Aren't you and my uncle already engaged? Even if something did happen, it's not a big deal, right? Why deny it? Or have you fallen for someone else?" This was just another performance, Alison thought. It wasn’t as though she couldn’t play along. Jenny froze at the accusation, her face stunned. It took her a good ten seconds to recover, after which she quickly denied it. "Alison, you're lying! I would never like anyone else. I only told the truth because I didn't want to be part of your deception," Jenny retorted. Hearing Jenny’s defense, Alison laughed out loud. "Then tell me, what lie did I tell?" Alison then shifted her gaze to Oliver, her face sincere. "We’re all adults here. Is the White family now controlling my friendships too? What's wrong if I want a child?" There was no way Alison would ever let herself be tied to Oliver White. Oliver, however, found her words incredibly offensive. His face darkened as he coldly questioned her. "Alison, you have quite the nerve. You’re still a White, yet you dare speak like this?" But Alison wasn’t intimidated. She repeated what she had just said. "Did I say anything wrong? I'm an adult; I can take responsibility for my actions. I spent a pleasant evening with a male friend—what’s the issue?" Oliver was furious, his face turning an even deeper shade of black. Alison couldn’t care less about his reaction. The others were equally shocked by her blunt words. Some even began to think, *Yes, we’re all adults. What’s wrong with spending a night with a friend?* Alison didn’t bother with their reactions, or their shocked expressions. "So, is that all you wanted to talk about? Vitamins? If so, can I leave now?" She started walking toward the door, but before she could reach it, Oliver’s angry voice echoed behind her. "Who gave you permission to leave?" Alison stopped in her tracks, turning back to look at Oliver with an innocent expression. She blinked and asked, "What do you want now?" "Who was the man you were with last night?" Oliver demanded, his tone ice-cold. Alison was caught off guard by his question. Internally, she scoffed, *Don’t you already know?* Though she wouldn’t dare say that out loud, Alison quickly realized the implications of his question. She reached into her pocket and dialed a number on her phone. "Hey, Ariel, where are you? Aren't you here yet?" "I'm almost there, at the gates of the estate. Can you have the butler let me in?" Alison made sure the phone was on speaker, allowing everyone to hear the conversation. The smart ones quickly called for the butler to open the gate. About ten minutes later, the butler escorted a tall, beautiful blonde woman into the hall. It was Ariel. The moment Ariel stepped inside, she felt the hostile stares from all directions. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, but when she saw Alison, she hurried over with a bag in hand and embraced her tightly. "Alison, what’s going on here? The atmosphere is so tense! Anyway, here’s what you asked me to get," Ariel said quietly. Alison thanked her, took the bag, and said, "Just wait for me a bit, Ariel. I need to finish up here, then we’ll talk." With that, Alison walked over to the table, holding the bag in her hand. Everyone’s eyes were glued to her, wondering what she was about to do. Alison calmly took out the contents of the bag, placing them on the table for everyone to see. She even held the box up to show the pills to the group. Earlier, when Alison had asked Jane Lane to buy birth control pills, she had felt uneasy about it. So she had secretly texted Ariel to get a second box and deliver it as quickly as possible. Now, Alison was making sure everyone could see clearly. She opened the box, took out the pills, and handed them to Oliver so he could inspect them closely. After finishing the demonstration, she said, "There you go. You can all see for yourselves what this is now, right?" "Uncle, now you can rest easy. I, Alison, would never lie to any of you," she added with a smirk. Then, without waiting for their reactions, Alison swiftly took a strip of pills, popped them into her mouth, and swallowed them with a sip of water. When she finished, she looked back at everyone, her expression cold and indifferent. "Are you satisfied now? If you’re still going to doubt me, then I really don’t know what else to say." Ariel, who had been watching the entire scene, stood frozen, unable to believe what Alison had just done. The others in the room were equally stunned, as if they had just witnessed something extraordinary. Jane Lane was the first to break the silence, rushing over to Alison’s side and shouting, "Are you all trying to kill my daughter? You’re all heartless monsters!" Lucas White, equally furious, turned to Oliver and yelled, "Oliver, what do you think you’re doing? Alison may not be your favorite, but she’s still my daughter in name. You have no right to treat her this way!" As the pain in Alison’s stomach started to intensify from swallowing the pills, she could only wince in discomfort.