Husband you've abandoned me. Fine, I'll focus on raising my son-Chapter 253: Supervised phone

I could test her. Find out what her motives are. I would monitor her activity. Based on what she did once she received her phone that would tell me a lot about her intentions. If she did something that I found threatening, I could quickly pull it back. With the conservatorship in full swing, until we caught the culprit, there was nothing Jasmine could legally do or report to anyone. If she tries anything again, I can put a stop to it.

"Keith, do you really have to go this far? You’re treating me worse than a child," I recalled Jasmine’s words to me the other day after I caught her when she escaped.

Again, it’s not like I wanted to keep things tense between us forever. I do want her to open up eventually. This could also be a good opportunity to improve our relationship and further soften her. It’s actually a relief not to see her glare at me. Or in general, to see her hatred toward me.

I called one of my men to my room and gave him the phone. I then gave him instructions for what I wanted done in preparation before I gave it back to her the next day.

I then finished my routine for the night and left my room to continue working.

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JASMINE’S POV

The following morning, I was slumped on a couch in the seating area of my room, working away. I had been working throughout the night I couldn’t sleep at all. I was already having trouble sleeping, but after seeing those images of Tony, it was getting worse. Two days had already passed since receiving the ransom note. My stomach was in knots at the thought of the deadline nearing.

Nurse Anne soon came into my room to do her daily morning check-up on me. As she came to the seating area in my room, she placed something on the table before me.

"What’s this?" I asked as I curiously looked at the table and saw it was a phone...my phone and a laptop.

"Mr. Acland said he would like to give these to you," she told me.

My eyes widened in surprise.

Looks like Keith took the bait... My lips curved into a small smile. A lot sooner than I expected, though. I thought it would take at least a couple more days before he gave it back to me. Perhaps it was due to my breakdown after the ransom note 2 days ago? I recalled how strongly he’d reacted to my tears. Regardless, I was grateful for the opening. Now I had to figure out how I could use it.

Anne did her check-up on me, helped me get ready for the day, and then I left my room ready to go to the Acland HQ. I had put my phone and the laptop in my bag as well. My leg was feeling a lot better, and I could move around with more ease. So I didn’t need to be pushed around in the wheelchair.

I met Keith in the entrance foyer, waiting for me, and walked toward him. He was dressed in a fresh, crisp suit. His face and hair were well-kempt, but he looked tired. This whole situation had stressed me as well. He was on his phone and looked and looked my way as I approached him.

"You returned my phone?" I asked him, wondering what he would say about it.

His eyes met mine, and like I was to him, he seemed to be trying to figure me out. "I thought returning would make it easier for you as we go through all this," he told me.

He was obviously going to be monitoring my phone’s activity; that was a given. This was a test on his part. I was sure of it. He probably had tracked and had some software on the phone so he could see what I did.

"I see," I accepted his words, choosing not to make any further remarks. "Well, thank you," I said to him. I wasn’t going to yell at him about how he should have never kept it from me in the first place. The prick.

He seemed a little surprised by this reaction. In his blue eyes, I saw uncertainty, but I also saw...hope. Good.

After seeing the folder with all those pictures of me in his office, something struck me. I thought something was strange. This whole time, I thought he was keeping me against my will and got the conservatorship over me for his pride, reputation, and just to control the situation surrounding our divorce. I thought that he just wanted to hide his embarrassment over everything that had happened. Same with when he was fighting for joint custody over Tony.

However, seeing just how long he had been stalking me from the pictures surprised me. It put into perspective just how long and deep this obsession had been going on for. If it were just a control thing, he wouldn’t have done all that. So there had to be more to it. And he confirmed my suspicions over the course of the last few days.

I started doing small things like saying goodnight to him, reducing my hostility towards him, and allowing him to comfort me when I was upset to see his reaction.

I wasn’t sure what the results would be, but I thought softening up would be a good approach. He seemed to pay a lot of attention to me. He was always ready to help me walk, comfort me, and he would always hover around me. He always wanted to be close to me.

Screaming and yelling at him every day isn’t getting me anywhere, so why not change the strategy? If I wanted to escape, I had to make him lower his guard, and this was my best bet. As uncomfortable as it was acting like I didn’t fucking hate him, I was willing to put up with it if it worked. I may not have physical power against you, Keith, but this could work just fine...