?<strong>Chapter 400:</strong>


    Kristopher held the frog close, leaned in, and kissed her cheek. “Well, then, you’re a frog too.”


    Carrie pushed the frog away in mock disgust. “Me? I’m so gorgeous, even as a frog, I’d be the princess.”


    Kristopher, clearly having fun, squished the frog into various shapes. “Then I’d be the prince.”


    Carrie paused for a second, surprised by such a yful remark from the usually serious Kristopher. She gave him a light shove and burst outughing. “That’s such a cheesy joke. So cold.”


    He watched herugh, her eyes squinting with joy and her smile bright as sunlight. A warmth filled his chest. Sometimes, it was worth it to let go of small things just to see herugh.


    It suddenly hit him that he was starting to understand how marriage truly worked.


    At Bayview Vi, beyond the newlyndscaped green area, a stranger approached Willow, handing her several bags. “Be sure to discard the old ones. Don’t get them confused.”


    Inside the bags were items exactly like the supplements Carrie had been drinking.


    “Understood,” Willow responded, then hurried back to the vi after a quick farewell.


    In her room, she meticulously swapped the packaging of the new supplements with Carrie’s. Willow shoved the original supplements into a stic bag, preparing to throw them away, but then she hesitated. These were the supplements Billie had gone through so much to acquire—surely they must be important.


    She quickly grabbed her phone and typed a text to her son, Emilio: “Head over to Bayview Vi. I’ve got some supplements for you. Give them to your girlfriend, and hurry up and make me a strong, healthy grandson.”


    She sent the message but followed up with another for extra caution: “Call me when you arrive. Don’t enter. Wait by the road, and I’ll bring it to you.”


    Thirty minutester, Oliver drove into the neighborhood. Carrie looked out the window and, to her surprise, saw Willow sneaking out, holding a stic bag.


    “Stop the car,” Carrie ordered, tapping the back of Oliver’s seat.


    Confused, Oliver nced at her through the rearview mirror but followed hermand and hit the brakes.


    By now, Mrs. Norris’s authority was as powerful as Mr. Norris’s—if not more—so hermands were followed without question.


    Carrie rolled down the window, leaned out, and shouted, “Willow! Where are you headed?”


    Willow froze, her body stiffening as if she’d been caught in the act. “M-Mrs. Norris? You’re back?” she stammered.


    Carrie ignored Willow’s stammer and asked again, “Where are you going?”


    “Uh… nowhere, really. Just throwing out the trash,” Willow stammered, her eyes darting around as she awkwardly tried to hide the stic bag behind her back, hoping Carrie wouldn’t notice.


    Carrie raised an eyebrow. She knew the vi’s trash was always taken care of by the cleaning staff, so it didn’t make sense that Willow would be handling it herself. Something was off.


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