The hidden billionaire heiress (Lyra Melvin)

Chapter 1076 Mrs. Callahan Faked Her Death

This weekend was painful for Alistair. He had a scheduled piano lesson in the morning and math tutoring in the afternoon, both with tutors watching him closely. He couldn't even doze off without getting caught. His small hands rested on the pure white keys of the piano, but he played absentmindedly, making many mistakes.

The tutor shook his head and sighed as he watched Alistair play, "Thank goodness Mr. Callahan isn't home today. If he saw you like this, he would be angry."

The tutor patiently sat next to Alistair and asked him, "Alistair, what's bothering you? Can you tell me? If it's a secret, I promise not to tell anyone."

Alistair hung his head low and said sadly, "I miss my mom."

Last night was another night alone where he couldn't sleep well. At Callahan Residence, his dad said that he was already a big boy who needed to learn how to sleep alone. So they didn't let him sleep next to Paloma who snored loudly.

But last time at his mom's small apartment, both his parents slept on either side of him and they had breakfast together too. It felt wonderful; he really enjoyed it.

However, those beautiful days were too short-lived; it only happened once.

The tutor didn't know what was going through Alistair's mind but knew that Mrs. Callahan passed away early on.

Thinking that maybe all this little guy needed was some love, the tutor tried comforting him by saying, "Since you miss your mother so much today, I will teach you a special song dedicated just for her. What do you say?"

A spark lit up in little guy's eyes. "Okay! What song is it?"

"This piano piece is called The Mother. It doesn't belong in any graded exam repertoire, but its melody is as gentle as a mother. Alistair, would you like to learn it?"

"Yes! I want to learn! When I've learned how to play it, I'll perform for my mommy. She'll definitely love it!"

Alistair practiced The Mother more seriously than ever before. Paloma peeked around the corner of the hallway observing their progress. As she was listening intently, the melancholic tune wafted through the villa hallways. Paloma wiped her tears quietly muttering, "My poor dear Alistair..."

...

On Sunday morning, Alistair went for Taekwondo lessons followed by math tutoring in afternoon. In evening time, Anthony would call Alistair into study room to check all homework done throughout week. That was when Alistair got most scared. He sat at a desk frantically writing, hoping Anthony wouldn't find any mistake before coming home soon...

He spent most of his time playing "The Mother" on the piano, and still had half of his math homework to do.

Anthony was going to be really angry tonight. He didn't want to get in trouble. Who can save him?!

...

At the desk, Alistair wrote until it was almost dark and Anthony still hadn't come back.

This was unusual but it gave him a chance to catch up on some last-minute work.

After fighting for what seemed like hours, Alistair's wrist was sore but he finally solved the big problem in front of him.

Although he didn't know how accurate it was, at least he finished it.

His stomach growled with hunger as he hopped off his small chair and went downstairs to the dining room.

Paloma was instructing her servants to set up the table while chefs were busy in the kitchen.

Alistair climbed onto a chair quietly and took a few cherries from a fruit plate before running out into the backyard to eat them.

But before he could reach there, he heard gardeners gossiping while sweeping leaves away.

"Have you heard? The news is reporting that Mrs. Callahan has risen from her grave!"

"Yeah! It's so strange! I remember when her ashes were placed by Mrs. Old Callahan herself into her coffin during an extremely sensational funeral where people found out they had been married."

"I saw pictures in news reports too. It was really hers! Now this incident is getting more supernatural every day. Someone even wrote about resurrection stories using this event!"

"That's ridiculous!"

"It's already past 8 pm now but Mr. Callahan hasn't returned yet. They're probably urging their PR department right now since this will have quite an impact."

Alistair stuffed cherries into his mouth with cheeks puffed up like a baby squirrel as he listened absentmindedly without chewing properly.

Had the news that his mother came back spread all over online?

Did that mean his mother will move back into Callahan Residence soon?

Wow!

Alistair jumped for joy and ran back towards dining room shouting, "Grandma! Grandma!"

"My little darling boy! What happened?"

Paloma squatted down gently with love-filled eyes as she wiped cherry juice off Alistair's lips.

"Is my Mommy moving back here soon so she can be with me every day?"

Paloma's face stiffened. She was unsure of how to explain the situation to him. She could only respond by saying, "Not just your mother, but also your father, grandmother, aunts and uncles - we will all be there for you if you need us."

The little one was completely immersed in his own joy and excitement as he jumped up and down.

"Great-grandma, since mommy is coming back, can we throw away her wooden plaque in the ancestral hall?" Alistair asked.

"Alistair, you're right. Since Mavis is still alive, it's great news that we need to remove that plaque as soon as possible. It's not auspicious," said Paloma immediately instructing the butler to take down Mavis' plaque from the ancestral hall.

"Yes!" exclaimed Alistair happily before running off to practice "The Mother" on the piano in hopes of surprising Mavis with his progress.

She watched Alistair disappear into another room with a sigh filled with worry and concern for him filling her brow furrowed deeply. The butler Saul stood beside her quietly asking, "Mr. Alistair must know about this eventually. Mrs. Callahan came too suddenly without any preparation at all for us. I wonder what Mr. Callahan will do? Do you have any plans?"

Shaking her head helplessly at Saul's question, she replied, "I'm getting old now. These are young people's affairs. Let them solve it themselves! I trust Anthony's abilities though. He'll stabilize the stock market soon enough... it just pains me seeing my dear boy suffer like this."

...

In Callahan Group building's CEO office

Anthony sat behind his desk looking sternly at a press conference video on his computer screen featuring Mavis' beautiful doll-like face. She was surrounded by dozens of microphones held by reporters firing questions one after another at her. She answered effortlessly, indicating prior preparation had been done beforehand.

A reporter said, "Mrs. Callahan, five years ago the Callahans held a very important funeral for you. Did you know about it?"

"I knew about it," said Mavis confidently without hesitation. "Before they announced my death publicly, I suffered from complications during childbirth almost dying myself so they kept me abroad under medical care fearing our competitors would use my condition against us among other reasons. I was prepared to die then."

On the screen, Anthony stared at the woman's face, his lips curling into a cold smirk. "She's quite skilled at lying, isn't she? I bet even she believes the stories she's made up."

Zack, his assistant standing respectfully beside him, didn't dare make a sound in the low-pressure room.

In the video feed, the reporters continued to ask...