The Devil's Harem

Chapter - 183

"I need to take this," Alex told his mother and, leaving their conversation on hold for a while, made his way out of the kitchen, leaving a curious Martha behind.

'Who is it? More important than me."

Meanwhile, Alex made his way out of the kitchen to the living room. But the lord busybody had already occupied that territory and was chilling on the sofa, scrolling through his phone. With Damien there, it was a no-go zone. So with only his room left as an option, Alex hurried up the stairs to his room.

"Hello..." Alex answered the call just before it was going to end.

"Hi... It's me, Karen," Alex heard a nervous and hesitant soft voice that he could recognise anywhere. And there was this long pause that followed. Karen was waiting for Alex to give her some sort of acknowledgement.

"You know... Your name showed up on the screen when you called. It's a nice feature that helps you know the person calling from the other side." Alex chuckled.

"I know, but what if someone else called with my phone?" Karen was not very pleased with Alex's joke. She could not stop herself from pouting.

"I know your voice from thousands. You are special, after all." Alex was over-the-top cheezy.

"Your tongue is still so flowery, huh...?" Karen had no counter-attack to this blow. It may be cheezy, but it was just what a woman would want to hear.

"Always," Alex laughed, "And we are close enough to let go of the formalities between us. Right, Karen?" Alex asked.

"Karen..." Suddenly being called by her first name, Karen felt her heartbeat go up. The intern she used to treat like a kid was suddenly like an equal to her. But she was the one who wished for it. Karen even used one of the three wishes her Genie Alex granted her to have him call her by

first name.

She said so in the spur of the moment, but now that Alex brought it up in the conversation, Karen was the one who looked desperate to close the distance between them. But now Karen could do nothing about it.

"But how can we be considered close?" Karen relaxed and leaned back on her sofa, "You never even make an effort to call me?" Karen asked.

"You can't expect me to call a married woman whenever I want?" Alex said, "You aren't even my bos..." Alex went on with the flow but soon regretted his choice of words. Why the fuck would he even say something so mean?

"Married... huh...?" Hearing Alex, it suddenly struck Karen. Alex was right. She was indeed married and older than Alex.

With the self-realisation, Karen couldn't help but chuckle, "You know what? You are right, indeed." Karen said.

"Karen, I didn't mean it... I just spoke without think..." Alex tried to explain, but Karen interrupted him.

"You said nothing wrong. It is indeed the case. Nothing to fret over," Karen did not sound mad at all.

"So, how was your first time working on such a large project?" Instead, Karen changed the topic. If she were to end the call right away, she would have proved Alex right. Something which she can't have.

"It was nice... Look, I really..." Alex was the least bit concerned about his work right now. He wanted to explain himself, but Karen won't let him.

"I heard Rebecca was also there," Karen again interrupted him, "She is a good girl. Smart and intelligent, but a bit crude. I hope she did not cause you any trouble." What was supposed to be a friendly and casual conversation turned formal in a moment.

"No, it was fun overall," Alex sighed. He knew that the conversation won't get back to the earlier flow now, "You should have also joined us. We could have certainly used someone from the PR."

"Oh... We did send an intern. After our last intern left out of nowhere, we had to hire a new one. But thank god she was quick on her feet. She learned quickly and was a big help in this project," Karen said and did not miss the chance to taunt Alex. But she did not stop there and continued.

"And I even have a husband. How can I leave him behind and go on a trip?" Karen said helplessly. But Alex knew she was taunting him for his earlier remarks.

'Huh... Woman,' Alex's lips curled up and scorned.

"Oh... Yes... Yes... that hobo husband of yours," Alex said in a ridiculing tone as he remembered the day he met her husband, " So what is he up to these days? Still mooching off you?"

"Aren't you being too frank these days?" Karen frowned. She hated the most when someone made fun of her using her good-for-nothing husband, "Why do you care what's he doing?"

"Just... Trying to make fun of him, why else? Hahaha..." Alex laughed as he hit Karen right where he hurt. He was not the polite little Alex from before.

"You..." Karen almost fell to the ground when she heard him. That was brutal of Alex.

"... For your kind information, he is now working as a senior manager," Karen told Alex.

"And you didn't pull any strings for that to happen? I doubt it," Alex said, and it shut up Karen. She has indeed pulled a few strings and used up a couple of favours to get that rascal husband of hers this job. Karen wanted to deny it. But she couldn't bring herself to lie. And that led to her going silent.

But Alex could still hear her breath on the phone. So, to not make things awkward for her, Alex continued.

"Look, I don't want to talk about your husband. I don't like him, period..." Alex said, "I have heard enough about the love story between you two. And although I disapprove of him, it's your choice in the end."

"Who knows, if I say something about you or him, you might post that online with a hashtag, #SamashPatriarchy. How a man is telling a woman what's right and wrong for her. When All I am doing is being concerned about you."

"So before I go that route and end up crossing the line, let's stop talking about that hobo. For my sake, please," Alex said it all in one breath before he finally stopped and took a deep breath.

But there was no response from the other side. Alex looked at the phone and found that the call was still ongoing. Alex was about to call out to Karen when she spoke up.

"But why are you scolding me?" Alex heard the meek voice of Karen. It sounded like she felt wrong, "You were the one who brought him into the conversation."

"Auhh..."

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