ã€ŠLove Journal - As Told By An Emotionally Constipated Half-Geniusã€‹


 Chapter 1 - Hello World

    Ahoy World!

    This is my first post on this weblog page. It''s been difficult to do this without my teachers knowing. I''m supposed to be researching on a school project for the science fair next week but who needs researching about fruit batteries?

    Instead, this is what I will be doing every week when they have compulsory e-learning sessions. I''m going to pretend to research but in truth, I will be updating this newly created blog. Yes, you read it right.

    WEEKLY UPDATES!

    Unless I''m not in school and don''t have access to the computer but you know what I mean.

    First things first, I''m going to have to decide a theme for this blog. I know! Since I''m mostly bored to death from school and spend most of my time human watching, I shall update everyone about one interesting human I observed that week.

    For now, this is goodbye.

    Fair Winds!

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 2 - Janitor Jones

    Ahoy World!

    It''s me again, your captain of this blog ship.

    Remember when I said that I wanted to update weekly? I know I''m three days early on this post but let''s not sweat the small stuff, shall we? Rules are created by humans and so they shall be broken by humans too. Besides, the law is simply a guideline as many a.d.u.l.ts would agree with.

    Anyways, I digress. I''ve been trying to look out for interesting humans to report in my spy missions but none of the ten-year-olds in my class made the cut. Neither did the teachers because they were all giving the same vibes¡­ "Sit up straight!", "Be quiet!", "Listen to me when I''m talking!", "Where do you think you''re going, young man?" etc etc.

    Between napping in between lessons and reading, I found myself watching a certain background character in closer detail. For the sake of protecting his identity, we shall call him Janitor Jones.

    Janitor Jones is a very thin man with tanned skin, crooked yellow teeth and smells badly of smoke and body odor. I don''t think very highly of him but I don''t think anyone can blame me for that. You''d be surprised by what you can learn just by sitting in the toilet for an hour.

    It wasn''t intentional on my end but I definitely heard the lunch lady and the head janitor ''discussing'' about Sir Janitor Jones. Apparently the man is in his late fifties and has three children who are all grown up and have flown the coop. His wife is a fat lady with an unhealthy obsession over food and Jones doesn''t own a house yet. He still lives with his old mother in a rundown apartment with his wife.

    Of course, you captain isn''t one to judge a book by its cover as proven many times by a terrible design but a good read from my school''s library. *Ahem* I digress. So I went to do my homework and investigated Janitor Jones discreetly.

    By discreetly, I meant putting on my innocent face and asking around or following behind him when he thinks his boss isn''t looking. I wasn''t disappointed at the very least when Jones showed his true self.

    It happened yesterday when a poor kid lost his lunch money after getting knocked down by bullies. I don''t know how those bullies missed a two dollar bill but they did. The poor kid whose glasses got stepped on missed it too but I was there, watching everything from a vacant classroom during break time.

    Along came Jones with his broom and cigarette. It was clear that he was looking for an afternoon nap. No, don''t question it. I know his routine. It isn''t rocket science. *Ahem* I digress.

    So Jones took a look around and frowned when he saw litter on the grounds he just cleaned two hours ago. However once he bent down to pick it up, he realised that it was a two dollar bill. Now, here''s a question.

    What would you do if you found a two dollar bill on the ground at a school that work at?

    Remember, there isn''t a right and a wrong answer¡­ just a likeable and hateful one.

    a) Looked around to see that nobody was looking before keeping the bill in his pocket

    b) Pick it up and return that bill to the lost and found office

    c) Donate it away

    d) Buy something with it

    e) Others

    -inserts drum roll-

    If you chose the option b or c then you''re probably the kind of nice people the world needs more of. I can''t express my frustration of having to deal with not only stupid but also selfish people all the time. But if you''re the kind of person who would do b or c, I hereby give you the title of "Small Marshmallow".

    If you chose option d or e, there''s nothing wrong with that. It''s a fair game out there. Finders keepers, losers weepers. I can understand that perfectly well and it''s totally accepted. Not hateful at all.

    If you chose option a¡­ you should be ashamed of yourself and apologise to your parents for being human trash! Unfortunately, I''m not the God of Judgement. I couldn''t smite Janitor Jones for choosing option a and acting on it. In fact, I was rather impressed that he thought nobody was looking. I wasn''t even trying to hide!

    While I tried to give Jones as much benefit of doubt that I could, I simply don''t think Jones deserves a life any better than he is currently living. You do you, just stay out of my face and we''re good.

    So that''s it from me for now, I don''t know what kind of blog this is but it should''ve proved entertaining enough for you to be reading it up till this point.

    Last but not least, I would like to thank the two poor souls with nothing better to do who read my previous blog post and decided they would like to join my crew. Welcome to the nameless ship but I guess I now have a first and second mate.

    That''s all from me, folks! I''ll see you next week.

    Fair Winds!

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 3 - Tomy Chrome

    Ahoy Mates!

    It is I, Pirate S., your captain again. Welcome back to my Human Observation Journal. As it stands, I was considering if I should abide by the theme I decided on roughly two weeks back. To be honest, I was highly tempted to write an entry about a certain fluffy friend around the campus. Its name is Tomy Chrome and no, I did not name it.

    Anyways, after much deliberation, I have decided to include Tomy as a starring guest with the main focus on its foster owner - Ms Chrome. Now on to the introduction!

    To let you have a better idea of this dear lady, Ms Chrome is in her early forties. She isn''t married and nobody knows why because I think she''ll make a very good mother if she ever did change her mind of adopting stray cats and adopted orphans instead.

    Ms Chrome is our lunch lady and gives generous servings of desserts to good children. I always receive sugar-free sweets from her every Tuesday. She didn''t give any of the bullies any extra sweets. Instead, they always receive more vegetables. I guess she must have been people watching too. I know she does it on purpose whenever baked beans are on the menu. Jed (not his real name) who was known to hate baked beans was always given double servings. To make matters better, Ms Chrome was very good friends with the headmistress who is a crazy cat-loving lady too.

    Ms Chrome has a large waistline and wasn''t very tall. However, nobody can contest with her for the title of the fastest runner behind the lunch counters. She is always full of energy even when she has a cold. If she didn''t wear that sick mask, nobody would have noticed. I like Ms Chrome. The world is in dire need of her positive energy.

    Why would such a person catch my eye? Surely there are some more unique characters around that deserve an entry in my Journal. If you thought that Ms Chrome is simply your bubbly lunch lady who''s happy doing what she does day in and out then that''s where you''re sorely mistaken.

    Remember I mentioned something about Tomy Chrome? Yes. That feline friend is the reason why I thought Ms Chrome deserves an entry in my journal.

    Tomy Chrome is an ugly looking cat with a difficult personality. When I say ugly, I mean blind in one eye and having many bald fur patches kind of ugly. He looks like a tiny beast and would hiss at anyone who attempts to get close. Tomy is a feline thug and can often be found living on the edge. He beats up birds and steals lunches from carefree children, he''s the absolute worst!

    Or so one would think if they didn''t observe enough. I''ve known Tomy for a while now. It''s not on purpose but I stumbled upon his little secret a few months back actually. Tomy would often steal food and pick fights with those intruding in his territory not because he''s a grumpy fellow with too much time on his hands. On the contrary, he does it to hide the little ones he''s nursing. What a big heart!

    By little ones, I mean eggs. Yes, Tomy Chrome was hiding some bird eggs. Nobody really knows where that cat found those eggs but from my powerful deduction skills, they must have been blown off a weak branch. The nest was probably built by incompetent bird parents because it didn''t seem very well made. In fact, I''m impressed that such shoddy construction was able to withstand the initial fall from the tree. Tomy must have chanced across it and started to care for them. He''s a smart cat, I''ll give him that.

    The eggs were hidden away in a pile of old newspapers and cardboard boxes behind the generator. Children couldn''t possibly pass through the gaps but a cat could. I''ve seen some other cats do it a few times but before they could approach the secret spot, Tomy yowled and started clawing at them.

    Ms Chrome was the only lady that Tomy listens to. She''s also the only one allowed to pet and feed him. She would often bring leftover lunch with her and Tomy would rub against her leg affectionately. Somehow seeing that made me slightly envious. *Ahem* I digress.

    Yesterday I heard the news that Ms Chrome has fallen down a flight of stairs at home and broke her leg. She will be resting for about a month and that made me think about Tomy. Who was going to take care of the school cat and the unhatched baby birds?

    As of now, my observation continues. I speculate that of all the staff in school, the fierce headmistress that everyone hates would take care of Tomy. I certainly don''t think Janitor Jones would take on the responsibility but I''m not going to make any judgement just yet.

    My watch never ends, stay tuned for updates next week if they still catch my interest.

    Fair Winds!

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 4 - Mdm Cactus

    Ahoy Seadogs!

    It is I, Pirate S., your captain again. I noticed that my crew is increasing without my knowledge but could you really blame me? I was busy looking for treasure.

    As mentioned previously, I was busy digging for clues around a certain headmistress. We shall call her Mdm Cactus because nobody knows if she is married. One thing for sure, she is married to her job.

    The good news is that after much sneaking around, I finally found the treasure. If you were thinking if sparkly gold coins in a sturdy wooden chest buried beneath the sand, you''re severely lacking in imagination and should be ashamed at your stereotyping habits. This treasure is worth more than gold, it''s priceless information.

    Remember how Tomy Chrome''s mommy fell down the stairs and there wouldn''t be anyone to look after him or his little ones? My first guess was that Mdm Cactus would be the one to hear of it from Ms Chrome so I stalked Mdm Cactus around. The headmistress is a surprisingly predictable lady. By predictable I mean being able to guess her routine by the second day of observation.

    Mdm Cactus arrives at school every morning at seven and would eat an apple brought from home for breakfast before applying her lipstick. She would always wear her hair in a tight bun pulled back, a white blouse and a tight pencil skirt. The look isn''t perfect without some catty glasses so Mdm Cactus always has them on just so it makes her eyeliner sharper.

    Mdm Cactus would then make her rounds and patrol the school with her black kitten heels that makes this signature click-clack sound as she walks. Her aim is to catch students who are running late who attempt to climb over the gates and fences. Also, Mdm Cactus is a cleanliness freak. Her keen eyes could spot a sweet wrapper on the floor from a good distance away. Any students in the vicinity of it would be reluctantly be recruited as a one-time janitor and told to throw it away. Her regular sermon is to "love the school the way you love yourself" and that''s for the morning assembly speech that nobody actually pays any attention to.

    Once class starts, it becomes a little harder to know what Mdm Cactus would do. However, your brave captain risked it all on an excuse to the toilet on the pretext of a bad stomachache. With that hall pass of freedom, I dashed towards the secret hiding spot and spied on Mdm Cactus in her office through the window. That was when I discovered "it".

    Nobody has seen Mdm Cactus smiling before so it came as a huge shock to me when the headmistress had this wide grin on her face after staring at her phone screen. Her love for cats was no secret but nobody had seen her act on it directly. That was when I decided to test a theory and hastily tore a page from my notebook.

    To avoid any suspicion, I wrote the message with my non-dominant hand and even crushed it to look like trash. It took me three tries before the projectile hit the mark and Mdm Cactus read the tip-off as expected. Initially, she was furious about someone daring to throw litter at her. However, after discovering that it wasn''t a simple prank letter, she went to ascertain the truth for herself.

    I sat in my hiding spot and watched her from afar as she crossed the school''s courtyard in the blazing sun to where Tomy Chrome was. The cat was startled by a stranger approaching his safe spot and started hissing menacingly. Mdm Cactus wasn''t fazed. She simply used the borrowed key to unlock the gate and came around to the pile of rubbish that Tomy Chrome had amassed.

    Seeing that danger was getting closer to the little ones, the angry cat attacked with claws and teeth. Mdm Cactus didn''t even flinch when that beast drew blood. With her other hand, Mdm Cactus retrieved the broken nest gently and settled it in a thick towel before bringing back both eggs and cat to her office. Nobody questioned it when Mdm Cactus was seen carrying a thick towel in one hand and dripping blood from the other hand with a crazed cat hanging off it. The rumours about Mdm Cactus'' badassery spread like wildfire and for a few days, there were no naughty children.

    I watched as Mdm Cactus settled the eggs in the science lab''s incubator and then coaxed Tomy into letting go of her with premium cat food settled by the machine. Mdm Cactus then exchanged some words with the lab technician before leaving to grab some supplies from the nearest first-aid kit to tend to her wounds.

    Seeing how dedicated Mdm Cactus was to her job made me think that it might be difficult to approach her as a person with her stiff demeanour and unlikeable reputation. However, it was undeniable that deep down, she was a good person who only meant well for others just like a cactus. For those who weren''t dying in the desert, they wouldn''t want to be near a cactus and risk getting pricked. However, for those who were out of options like Tomy Chrome and his little ones, Mdm Cactus was a lifesaver. You might not like the taste of cactus juice but it will save your life if you took a little effort to prepare and drink it.

    Food for thought:

    What do you think about cacti? On the surface level, they might be pricks but on a deeper level, perhaps they might be the people you really needed in your life?

    Alrighty yati yati, we gotta get mooring next entry so don''t hold your breaths and man up, ya swabs!

    That''s all from lil'' ol'' me, I will catch you next week.

    Fair Winds!

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 5 - The Prince & The Ghost Boy

    Ahoy bucko!

    Today''s entry is going to stick closer to shore. We got a new mate on board the class roster and that scallywag has gotten tongues wagging around the class. Ladies giggled and whispered amongst their rose circles while gents took to two teams alternating between outrightly challenging him to maintain their social hierarchy or trying to coerce him to join under their flag.

    Why the commotion? I''m glad you asked. Normally, such a human would never catch my interest. However, I can''t help but observe a little more closely when both girls and boys started commenting about this new young rapscallion''s appearance. The reason for this entry is to report my observation of all kinds of interesting humans. If he were a normal prince from a fairy tale blessed with everything with seemingly no flaws, I wouldn''t have reported it. Thankfully, he wasn''t all they made him up to be and I''m here to shed some light on the truth.

    Firstly, according to conventional standards of beauty, the swab has baby soft skin unkissed by the sun, gold hair and ocean blue eyes. That''s enough to get the girls in class talking. On the other hand, it was introduced by the homeroom teacher that this swab was a chess prodigy and had a brown belt in karate on top of his dreamy appearance. If that introduction wasn''t overkilling with his aristocratic mannerisms, I don''t know what is.

    Being popular meant that the new swab is the centre of attention, giving me a better cover from the backdrop of all the action. Even the teacher''s eyes constantly drift over to goldilocks. It''s no surprise that with all the correct answers he''d been giving the teachers became smitten by him. The Teacher''s Pet didn''t even bother him because nothing fazed his popularity. That''s when things started becoming interesting.

    It took about four days of observing before I finally found a microscopic crack in his impeccable mask. Then again, for a ten-year-old to be this controlled in his act I would have to give him credit when it was due.

    Scallywag has a nickname and I dub him Prince Charming for easier identification.

    That crack happened when the girls were crowding around him and fighting amongst themselves in front of him on who has the right to sit beside him at lunch. Prince Charming merely smiled at the centre with the girls who started painting their faces with poor skills all in hopes of impressing the big fish. Then I saw the ghost of our class approach Prince Charming from behind. For reference in this entry, ghost boy is going to be called Casper because why not?

    Casper tugged shyly at Prince Charming''s shirt sleeve and peered through his thick bangs that always covered his eyes all the way to his nose. Boys left Casper alone and girls shunned him. Everybody thinks that he''s freaky and even the bullies decided that it would be wiser to stay out of his path. Casper was known for being untidy and clumsy. His laces often came undone and it isn''t uncommon to see him fall in the hallway, scattering his books all over. Nobody bothered helping him and everyone shunned the poor soul like the plague over a silly rumour that Casper could see spirits. That wasn''t true¡­ Casper just has a habit of daydreaming and talking to himself but we won''t discuss that right now for Prince Charming might get jealous that my attention is elsewhere.

    For someone so popular like Prince Charming, one couldn''t possibly imagine him hanging out in the company of the peasants and the misfits. Not even I knew what Casper was thinking when he grabbed onto Prince Charming''s sleeve. They locked gazes and then Prince Charming laughed and actual laugh for the first time in days. It was the kind that went all the way up to his eyes and wrinkled his nose. There was even a slight blush on his cheeks and for the first time since his arrival, Prince Charming looked charming.

    The girls who were pulling each other''s hair paused to drink in the sparkly sight. They didn''t even hear what he said as he left with Casper. I found it odd that Prince Charming escorted Casper away by clasping their hands together as if that was a normal thing to do. It would be a cute sight if they weren''t ten-year-old boys. There was something different about Prince Charming and Casper''s interaction. Prince Charming''s eyes would light up whenever he saw Casper around and I paid more attention to the new student. His voice would become higher in excitement whenever Casper was in sight and it made me think about the teen romance novel I chanced upon in the library. I had my suspicions but I couldn''t be sure about it until I saw something I shouldn''t be seeing yesterday.

    It''s normal for kids to go to the toilet during break times and sometimes in the middle of lessons. I''ve never seen Prince Charming do it before. It was completely by coincidence on one of my walks after snatching a hall pass from an inattentive teacher that I saw Prince Charming hurrying down an empty hallway with no classes ongoing for that day. He looked really pale so I followed him out of concern.

    Imagine my surprise when Prince Charming didn''t go to the gents but turned into the ladies. I didn''t have any trouble going to the ladies'' washroom but I''m almost certain that boys shouldn''t be going to the female washroom. For such a refined boy, this was certainly disappointing behaviour.

    Your captain might be a foul-mouthed and snarky brat but I couldn''t stand around watching female students fall prey to a peeping tom so I barged into the occupied stall by kicking the flimsy thing. The lock was already faulty so I wasn''t to blame when it opened. I heard the girliest shriek when I did that and awkwardness ensued when we locked eyes.

    Lo and behold, Prince Charming was actually Princess Charming in disguise. They made me swear secrecy and it turned out that Casper was a childhood friend that she had a crush on. With her intellect and capabilities, it wouldn''t be difficult for her to advance years in the curriculum but in order to pursue her sweetheart, she stayed and even begged her parents to let her attend school. As expected, Princess Charming was a rich young miss. That would explain her mannerisms and also how she was previously home-schooled and had certain privileges when she attended this school.

    Since Scallywag wasn''t such a bad person, I decided to pretend I didn''t see anything and walked away. However, as I am writing this journal, I can sense a disturbance in the force. Your captain is used to spying on others but never the other way around.

    I wonder how long it will be before ''Prince'' Charming starts to tire of me...

    Fair winds and don''t slack off!

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 6 - Library Lurkers

    Ahoy boatswains!

    If you know me well enough by now, you would have heard the L-word a few times. My secret cove is in the building with the most number of books - The Library. The school doesn''t give the most silent place a huge budget so it isn''t very big or grand. Besides, it is only silent when there are no computer classes going on concurrently with the group reading session programs. I don''t know who thought it would be a good idea to put computers in the sacred place of paperbacks but it wasn''t my decision to make.

    Of the many people I''ve introduced in this blog, I noticed that I haven''t introduced to you one of the most important figures in this school who actually knows my true identity. We have a secret club that consists of three members - Librarian Ninja 1, Librarian Ninja 2 and yours truly.

    In today''s journal entry I shall be introducing L-Nin 1 and L-Nin 2. L-Nin 1 is a grandmother who runs marathons when she isn''t glaring at noisy children in my secret cove. As a sixty-odd-year-old lady, she volunteers at the school to pass the time. Her third grandchild just graduated this school last year so she''s now taken to adopting me as her fourth grandchild.

    L-Nin 2 is a sweet young lady who recently graduated University and is working her while job hunting for something in counselling. She acts more like a big sister around the noisy rascals and is very likeable among the library campers. Sometimes, I think that her heart of gold and overly soft approach towards dealing with troublemaking kids might not be a good match for her ideal job.

    L-Nin 1 and L-Nin 2 often recommend me books at the check-out for borrowing books and unlike other kids, I never have a borrowing limit. The normal limit is four books but I usually walk out of the library with twelve. Nobody could pin it against me with my powerful guardians death-glaring them down. Besides, it''s not as if anyone will be missing these books. None of the kids was interested in archaeology or history or thick novels. Heck, I would even borrow 1001 fun facts when I had nothing else to read so that I could pop quiz my general knowledge.

    I''m not a very picky reader although I might be a little fussy over food. That''s the main reason why the Library Lurkers love me so much. I would give the unread books some love and it isn''t uncommon to find my name at the top row of almost every new book. I''ll be the first and probably the last student to check them out.

    So I noticed a little something strange about the behaviours of Nin 1 and 2 over the last week. L-Nin 1 was seen seated at the counter more frequently and L-Nin 2 was seen climbing the stools and sorting through the returned books more frequently. On a regular day, L-Nin 1 would be prowling about sorting through the shelves and sweeping over the territory with an eagle''s eye.

    Out of concern after the third day of this odd behaviour, I decided to ask L-Nin 2 what was wrong with L-Nin 1. She seemed surprised at first but then giggled and told me that L-Nin 1 was just undergoing some of the happiest and shocking phases of her life. After giving me that interesting bit of information, L-Nin 2 simply wouldn''t say any more.

    As a curious creature, I couldn''t resist the urge and pounced on L-Nin 1 when the opportunity presented itself. L-Nin was hesitant to spill the beans at first but with some emotional blackmail, she disclosed what was bothering her.

    "I''m pregnant."

    Shiver me timbers... a mother at sixty-odd? I''ve read several books explaining to me about how one gets pregnant from the medical perspective and I am very sure becoming a mother at sixty-odd isn''t a common thing. While it was slightly odd, I still congratulated her. Children were always a bundle of joy, weren''t they? Unless they aren''t yours...

    L-Nin 1 didn''t appreciate my snarkiness as much today and lightly flicked my forehead as a warning. Seeing that the old lady wasn''t feeling her best, I decided to hold it back a little and moderate my awesomeness. L-Nin 1 then shared with me a little of her concerns about becoming a mother when she had grandchildren older than her unborn child.

    I spent a whopping four hours listening to L-Nin 1 go through memory lane and learnt that sometimes, I could learn more by interacting with people compared to siphoning off books. There was something different about this method of information collection and I saw a whole new spectrum of what there was to this old lady. It went deeper than her odd love for books and children. I started seeing her as a regular human who struggled through with her insecurities despite her maturity.

    For the first time in my short ten years of life, I was beginning to see what made an a.d.u.l.t. Being an a.d.u.l.t was merely a wrapping paper to signify the number of years you''d lived. Even at the age of over sixty, L-Nin 1 was still gushing over similar concerns L-Nin 2 had. Both library lurkers were concerned about how other people would perceive them and that got me thinking...

    How do other people perceive me? Do I actually exist in their field of vision?

    Now, I would have to experiment a little to create the ideal personality and decoy. I shall return to my cabin and commence plotting at once!

    Till then, stay out of trouble!

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 7 - More Important Than The President

    Ahoy Landlubbers!

    You cannot imagine my delight when a story came rolling into my life this week while I was wondering what I should write for my newest entry. Of all the humans I''ve met, this man takes the title of "The Biggest Fool". Now let me tell you all about it with a cinematic view.

    Your captain had tripped over rolling stray soccer balls and hurt her knees badly enough to be carried over to the school''s infirmary on the third floor. Nobody knows why the infirmary was located on the third floor just beside the science lab but I suppose the school was more concerned about kids with broken glass shards than scr.a.p.ed knees.

    While the nurse was fumbling over bandages and antiseptic, there was a loud bang at the front. I thought Janitor Jones'' useless twin had appeared initially but was proven wrong. This delivery man came in red-faced with veins throbbing from his neck to his temple. In his hand was a piece of very crumpled paper that I assumed was the delivery note the doctor was meant to sign.

    "Where is the g*ddamned doctor who ordered this? Get him out right now!"

    The only nurse in the infirmary was stunned speechless. behind the man was a bulky package of something she didn''t recognise but it had a striking orange sticker that clearly indicated the delivery man had come to the right place.

    "Sir, if you don''t mind could you lower your voice? This is an infirmary. There are sick and injured students here."

    The foul-mouthed delivery man took a look at the nurse from toe to head before sneering.

    "This is the kind of fools they employ? No wonder the school doesn''t have standards. I called earlier to ask where the location was but the stupid girl just told me to take the lift. What lift? There were thousands of lifts I could take and your security guard stopped me when I was just delivering goods. The man had the nerve to tell me to take another that didn''t even reach the third floor, I had to walk with this stupid thing to another one to find this g*d forsaken place. What kind of service standard is this? Even the President wouldn''t treat me so poorly!"

    "Sir, please lower you-"

    "Oh? You don''t like it? Fine! Don''t need the delivery? It''s alright, I''ll just take it away then. Have a GREAT day! Idiots..."

    With that monologue, the delivery man turned around and pushed the trolley with the goods away from the stunned nurse. if that wasn''t the end of his fluid failure, he had to run into the doctor who was just returning from his toilet break.

    The poor doctor just blinked as the crazy delivery man stomped away with his machine.

    "Isn''t that...?"

    The nurse shrugged. "He didn''t seem to be in the right frame of mind. And yes, that was the oxygen chamber you ordered from Germany two weeks ago."

    The doctor paled and cursed in a different language I couldn''t identify but it should be Italian. To add fuel to the fire, the nurse retold what the delivery man said with the exact words. I was impressed with her memory.

    "More important than the President? Him? Oh, I''ll show him VVIP treatment then. Which company was he from?" the doctor fumed and readied his phone to dial.

    To protect the image of the courier company''s image I shall omit it here. Needless to say, the good doctor filed a legal complaint against the courier company for bad service and threatened to sue them. It became the talk of the school the entire week and I couldn''t help but feel incredibly amused that such humans existed. Truly, if there were people who deserved to be treated better than the President, they would have to be respectable people who have contributed greatly towards the progress of mankind. I hope that was a flashback cinematic enough for all you story-hungry sharks.

    Do you have any idea who should deserve genuine VVIP treatment more than the President? Let me know your thoughts in the newly opened comment section of my blog. I would most definitely love to hear your thoughts but be careful of what you say. Who knows if you''d catch my eye enough to be the subject of my next journal entry.

    For now, it''s adieu.

    Fair winds...

    Your captain, Pirate S.

 Chapter 8 - Not An Actual Observation Entry

    Ahoy...

    Firstly, your captain would like to apologise. This isn''t a regular weekly post. It''s an announcement about some changes in my life that would cause me to break my promise of regular updates. If you''re interested in finding out why then continue reading. If not, don''t waste your time. Life is too short to be spent doing the things you don''t like.

    In a way, this is a Human Observation Entry and in a way... it isn''t. Seeing that the subject of the entry is myself, I doubt many of you would be interested.

    Long story short, I didn''t think a sudden test that my parents signed me up for would turn my life upside down. Prince Charming and Ghost Boy are also currently being tasked to make one of the most difficult decisions in their lives. We went through the same series of pop quizzes and were the only ones from our class who ''qualified'' for an opportunity of a lifetime.

    For Prince Charming, this wasn''t completely unexpected. She knew she was smart after all. For Ghost Boy, it was a surprise not for him but more for the people around him. Not even his parents believed that their child was capable of such feats. Casper''s folks were simple and humble people so they struggled a little with reality.

    My parents didn''t say or react much when I passed the letter of invitation to them. It was rather anticlimactic because I was expecting extreme reactions like tears or rejection. My mother read the letter and told me to pass it to my dad. My father read the letter and told me to decide for myself. The letter was then shredded and the topic was never spoken about again.

    By now, you must be at the edge of your seat wondering about the contents of this seemingly harmless letter. Of course, most of you would know by now that there are many types of humans. However, for simplicity, we will only classify them into two categories - the common folks and the geniuses. I identify with the latter after taking the surprise pop quiz also known as the Mensa test and scored a whopping 156. Who knows what that number meant but according to the examiner who handed me the letter, that number will increase with time.

    That letter indicates that should my parents permit it, I will be removed from the normal curriculum and placed in a special program for the ''gifted'' generation. According to the lady who passed me the letter, I will attend school as per normal but not study the same things as the normal ten-year-olds. I will not study at all should I choose not to and the school will source for experts to teach me whatever I wish to learn.

    Sounds like a good deal, right? Unfortunately, things aren''t always as straightforward as they appear. I wish this was all it required from me - a consent. Sadly, there is something called the fine print that covers most of the details about how I should act, speak and appear. Apparently being the representation of gifted in my institution meant that I was required to appear more frequently in public to give talks.

    Now, you know the kind of trash I am. I hole myself in the library with Ninjas and talk to myself. I keep lame blogs in the form of online journals and don''t conform to the norms. Your captain is a rebel through and through. There''s no arguing about this so becoming something like a model student is going to be very difficult. If I accept this letter of invitation, Pirate S. would be no more!

    I come with a burdened mind to share this with the hundred or so people who''ve become a regular to this shitty pet project. What do you think? Should I accept the offer or reject it and continue to live as I do.

    If there is one thing I know for sure, it''s that there will be no returning to how everything was before. My classmates... they know that I''m not regular. They won''t ever see me with the same thoughts again. My low-profile cover has been blown and it''s obvious with how I was given special treatment even when I have not accepted the offer. Ninja 1 and 2 were considerably more polite and distant with me when they spoke. They no longer recommended books they found interesting and started pushing books they thought a person like me should be reading.

    Due to the stress of events lately, I''ve been feeling a strange pressure in my chest. I have not checked myself into the infirmary because it doesn''t hurt but Prince Charming advised me to do so with a concerned expression. I guess the bright side of how things unfolded was that I now can count Prince Charming and Ghost Boy as my very first friends. They were the only ones apart from my parents who didn''t treat me differently and the consistency is comforting in turbulent times.

    I''m not sure if I should and could continue with this journal of observing humans as my experiments and plans have been foiled by the unforeseen typhoon. It''s heart-wrenching to see all my hard work amount to nothing. Humans are such fickle creatures who change the beat that they march to at the drop of a hat depending on who''s blowing the tune. It''s upsetting to see that loyalty means nothing to a vast majority of the ones who exist on this planet. Still, what can I say?

    It''s only human to fear and protect themselves from perceived danger. I don''t blame them at all but I can understand how the class derivations came about.

    I''m disappointed, truly so. If only time could undo itself and give me a second chance to rewrite all my answers... sadly, not even the greatest scientist managed to discover a way to undo time.

    Until someone finds a way to reverse time, I guess I''ll just have to look for signs.

    This is your captain, let''s hope that this wouldn''t be fair winds forever. Que sera sera, I shall go where the winds shall take me.

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 9 - The Girl Who Refused to be a Genius

    In an ordinary house in an ordinary room there lived a doll-like girl who wasn''t known to have many expressions. Contrary to her calm and steady exterior, this little girl had many thoughts rolling about inside of her head.

    Scarlet Liu Xiu Wen was ten years old. She was born to a mother who worked in finance and a father who worked in IT. The little girl had no siblings and wasn''t allowed to keep pets because the family moved very frequently due to the nature of their jobs. The house was almost always empty and Scarlet used to have a babysitter over when she was younger but that changed after she turned five. The doll-like girl hated going home because it was always quiet and a little eery.

    Today, she chose to head straight back home instead of hanging out in the library. Neither of her parents would be home this early so it would be the perfect opportunity for Scarlet to have some alone time away from the judging stares of others.

    Little Scarlet refused to be picked up by chauffers and chose to take the bus instead. It was the compromise she made with her parents in return for refusing to move houses again. Ever since Scarlet entered the elementary school of her parents'' selection, she always felt as if something was off. Given their strict and unyielding nature, Scarlet was surprised that this was one battle she managed to win.

    The little girl had her hair pulled into two symmetrical twin tails using simple blue ribbons. Her straight long black hair bounced in the wind as she stared blankly out her room''s window. Mrs Liu hated having the windows open but she wasn''t around today to comment on it. Scarlet didn''t care about the neighbour''s son who was entranced by her beauty. Her obsidian eyes contrasted with her fair skin greatly and created a picturesque view of a living doll.

    Beside her was the letter of invitation she received a few days ago. If it wasn''t for the weird stares and special treatment she received after the names were revealed, Scarlet would have been more than content with hiding behind a computer writing for strangers after spending the week psychoanalysing her human subject. Humans are fascinating creatures and Scarlet didn''t feel any particular attachment to them. It was like watching a movie but better.

    Scarlet was many things but a genius was not one of them. She wasn''t ''gifted'' and certainly didn''t want to be ''special''. Accepting the offer meant that she would once again be separated from the class and society. If there was something Scarlet hated, it was being categorised into something that the masses agreed on.

    "It was definitely plotted by them..." she whispered. "Why else would they agree on letting me attend a school in a country that they hardly lived in?"

    Even though she was angry, there was not a single crease in her serene expression. Her anger was redirected to the letter that was not just another crumpled piece of paper in her hand. Releasing that the paper was innocent, Scarlet smoothened it out again. It was time that she got back at her parents. Who said that you had to be an a.d.u.l.t before you could take charge of your life?

    No, Scarlet was going to start now. If accepting the offer meant a chance away from those manipulative folks, she would do it. However, she would never conform to what society expected her to be. The world was not only made of only black and white but also a whole range of grey in between.

    "I''m not going to be a genius," she told the reflection in the mirror. "I''m not going to be ordinary."

    She undid the ribbons of her twin tails and grabbed a pair of scissors. "I''m going to be half a genius," she told herself and closed her eyes as a huge lock of straight black hair fell to the floor.

 Chapter 10 - Scarlets Grand Plan

    It was a normal Thursday in Keyman International School. The young rich masters and mistresses were chatting away in their various cliques when the door slid open. Nobody was prepared for the shocking change.

    While everyone in the class was familiar with the straight black hair and doll-like face, nobody was expecting the silent genius to appear with a wild look. Her hair was chopped messily off on one side and the other side that was usually tied into neat twin tails hung loosely over her shoulder.

    The first to run over to greet Scarlet was the class prince. None of the girls stopped ''him''. In fact, none of the other classmates approached the three ''famous'' students after the teacher''s announcement on Monday. It was as if there was an invisible line that separated the normal children from those who were ''gifted''. The children weren''t blind. They knew what special treatment was and these three chosen children were an entirely different category of their own ever since that surprise test.

    "Scarlet!" ''Alex'' gasped in horror and looked at the quiet girl as she put down her bag.

    Jasper the ''Ghost Boy'' was slightly slower in reaction and only got up when Alex was fussing over Scarlet''s destroyed hair. He took one look at the silent girl and tugged on Alex''s sleeve. Alex paused and gave him her attention and the boy with obscured eyes shook his head.

    Reluctantly, the class prince let go off Scarlet. The stares from their classmates didn''t help and Scarlet tried to get away from the attention by hiding behind a wall of books. It was at that moment the teacher chose to walk in.

    "Why has everyone gathered around? Class is about to start!"

    Nobody wanted to offend Ms Chloe the Math teacher. Although the students came from well-to-do families, Ms Chloe was the only teacher that didn''t care about her students'' prestigious backgrounds. She came from a poor family and worked her way up the social leaders. Even the school principal had to admit that Ms Chloe was the best when it came to doing what she did. Students often were afraid of her as she was rather strict but it was an irrefutable fact that everyone who attended her classes did well in the subject.

    Ms Chloe was about to hand out detention slips when she caught sight of Scarlet''s unusual appearance. She was slightly shocked. Her initial reaction was to put the books down and hand out a pop quiz before asking Scarlet to meet her outside the class where the girl would be away from curious eyes and ears while still keeping an eye out on the rest of the class.

    "Scarlet," Ms Chloe spoke to the girl who refused to meet her eyes in a very soft and gentle voice, unlike her usual self. "What happened?"

    "Nothing."

    Ms Chloe wasn''t new in the industry. She knew that still waters ran deep. Scarlet did a very good job of keeping a low profile and the sudden increase of attention must be causing her stress. Still, she had spoken to Scarlet''s parents on a few occasions. They didn''t seem like the kind to ill-treat their daughter. Although they were very busy and career-oriented, they made sure to bring their daughter up well even if their methods were a little stricter than others.

    "Are you sure? You don''t look so good. Would you like to go to the infirmary or go home?"

    Scarlet was silent as she contemplated her choices. Given Ms Chloe''s concern, it would be easy for her to get away from the class. The one place that she really wanted to be at was the library. She didn''t have a computer at home after all but would the strictest teacher in keyman International School allow her to ditch classes in favour of using the computer?

    "Can I go to the library? There isn''t anyone at home and I don''t want to be in the infirmary."

    Ms Chloe pursed her lips at the odd choice. It was no secret to the teachers who taught Scarlet''s class. The doll-like girl was a regular at the library and according to the head librarian who had announced Scarlet to be her unofficial grandchild, the girl actually enjoyed reading immensely. Thinking that being away from the rowdy class and under the care of someone she was more comfortable with would make Scarlet feel better, the Math teacher gave Scarlet permission along with a special hall pass.

    Although it didn''t show on her face, Scarlet''s heart was beating very quickly. She steadied her hands when she received the hall pass and tried not to let it show that she was giggly on the inside. The girl didn''t know if Ms Chloe would allow her to leave the class. When the principal said special treatment, he must have really meant it. If it were any other student during any other ordinary day, Ms Chloe wouldn''t have made the concession.

    Alex watched Scarlet come back to gather her belongings. The special hall pass was very eye-catching in her hands and the prince of the class gave Jasper a concerned look. Although she couldn''t see Jasper''s eyes, she knew that her childhood friend had a huge frown right now. Ms Chloe didn''t seem to be very concerned when Alex turned around. Normally, kids who did that would be accused of attempting to cheat and would be given a big fat zero on their uncompleted tests. Seeing that Scarlet was leaving, Alex turned to her paper and quickly filled in the answers without taking the time to show her workings or double-checking them. Something of this calibre was simply too easy for her. Jasper didn''t bother with filling in anything other than his name and chose to hand it up after he packed his stationery case.

    "Finished? how quick!" Ms Chloe was surprised when the ditziest student in her class walked up to her with his test.

    She was speechless when she turned it over. Jasper didn''t care. he simply walked back to his seat slowly and carried his bag before waiting for Alex who took the time to bow and apologise to the teacher while getting two hall passes in exchange. He observed the rest of his classmates who were watching them with envy and hatred. The girls who used to fawn over Alex were now giving her hostile stares. Jasper sighed inwardly. This is why he didn''t bother fitting in with the class and making friends. It was all too troublesome.

    They hurried down the hallway to catch up to Scarlet who was already near the library.

    "Wait up!" Alex shouted and Jasper winced. Did she forget that classes were still ongoing? They might have special privileges but that didn''t mean they were immune to punishments in the form of criticism.

    Scarlet paused and turned around without any change in her expression. however, her actions spoke volumes as she waited for Alex and Jasper to catch up to her.

    "Why are you here?"

    The words sounded harsh and unwelcoming but Alex took no notice. Jasper merely observed the two girls in the background as Alex grabbed onto Scarlet''s hands with teary eyes. His childhood friend was simply too transparent to understand.

    "I was worried about you. What happened to your hair? Why did this happen? Your beautiful hair... who did this to you?"

    Jasper raised a brow. Could anyone possibly do such a thing to Scarlet? Although he didn''t know her as well as he knew Alex, Jasper was certain that Scarlet did this to herself. However, he didn''t know her reasons.

    Scarlet sighed and brushed Alex''s hands away. The poor class beauty was left feeling lost and confused. Why wasn''t Scarlet feeling afraid or sad? She had lost her cute twin tails and acted as if that was nothing. It wasn''t done by a professional and was obviously a sign of bullying or ill-treatment.

    "Calm down. Nothing''s wrong, I decided to go for a new hairstyle myself but it didn''t turn out like what I had in mind."

    Hearing Scarlet''s explanation made Alex blink twice. "New hairstyle?"

    Scarlet blushed a little and looked away, unable to meet Alex''s ocean blue eyes full of innocence. Jasper caught that and smirked. That didn''t go unnoticed by Scarlet so he stopped immediately. Sometimes that girl was too sharp for her own good.

    "I wanted a new start. You know how some of the older girls say that to have a new start you need new hair? I didn''t have time to go to the hairdressers so I thought I''ll do the honours myself. It doesn''t look too great, does it?"

    Alex''s eyes shone when she heard that. "It''s ok! I can call my butler and you can come over to my house tonight. We can hire the best hair stylist to come and give you the makeover that you wanted. Jasper, you''ll be joining us too."

    It wasn''t even a question so Jasper couldn''t refuse. Besides, a sleepover at Alexandra''s wasn''t uncommon. His parents worked at Alex''s mansion after all as a cook and a gardener. They practically grew up together and Alex''s parents were very nice to him.

    Scarlet thought about it. Her parents wouldn''t be coming back till next month so it didn''t matter if they knew about it or not.

    "We can do that later. Are you both coming into the library? I have some things to do."

    Alex smiled and nodded before following. Jasper had questions. What kind of things? Ordinary students would read or play games using the computer but Scarlet wasn''t ordinary. What was she up to this time?

    "What are we going to do?" he asked.

    Scarlet flashed a small rare smile. "I''m going to be finalising by grand plans."

    "Grand plans?" Alex was confused but she didn''t ask further. Scarlet was a good friend of hers and she was more than happy to follow the eccentric girl''s lead.

 Chapter 11 - Kids Can Rule the World

    When Grandma Sadiya heard the bell ringing during class time, she frowned. Who were her visitors? Before she could start interrogating the turnip heads, she froze.

    "Scarlet!"

    "Hello, grandma... is Venessa not around?"

    The old lady clicked her tongue at her adopted granddaughter''s rudeness. "That''s Ms Lee to you, young lady. What happened to your hair?"

    Scarlet shrugged and showed the old librarian her hall pass. Jasper and Alex did the same and were asked to sign-in on the book. Grandma Sadiya observed the chopped hair and felt her heart aching. Scarlet had very beautiful straight black hair that cascaded like a waterfall. She always enjoyed watching the expressionless girl walk around with her twin-tails bouncing with every step. Now that it was so brutally destroyed, Sadiya mourned the loss. It was such a shame!

    "Oh, you''re early today..." a young lady with short black hair that curled at the end of the bob peeked from behind a row of books.

    "Hello Venessa, I''m here on a special mission today with my friends. Do you think I can have an extended use for the computer today?"

    Venessa blinked. Scarlet never mentioned having any friends before this. Also, wasn''t it class time? As much as Venessa was happy for Scarlet making progress socially, she was also worried about the girl''s class skipping behaviour. Still, she decided to close an eye for the matter seeing Scarlet''s unusual appearance.

    "What happened to your lovely hair?"

    Scarlet shrugged. "Fashion disaster."

    Both librarians exchanged complex looks but didn''t question further. It must be really tough for a little girl to open up about the difficulties she had. That hair was definitely a sign of bullying. Scarlet''s new friends didn''t look like the kind to bully others. From the news going around recently, they must be the other two who were ''gifted'' too. That would explain how all three of them were able to obtain special hall passes.

    "The third computer at the end of the row is reserved for you as usual. It''s going to be break time soon, will you and your friends be going out?"

    Scarlet looked over her shoulder to Jasper and Alex. She usually skipped breaks, choosing reading over eating, but the same couldn''t be said for Alex and Jasper.

    "Oh, don''t worry about us," Alex smiled. "We don''t usually eat during break time."

    "I guess we''ll be staying in the whole time until lunch then," Scarlet nodded and led the way.

    Alex hasn''t been inside the library before so she took in everything with great interest. There was a particular stuffed lion toy in the reading corner that caught her eye but she was too shy to go near it. Jasper saw that and asked Venessa if they could borrow it.

    While Scarlet was busy setting up the computer, Venessa and Jasper made themselves comfortable in the reading corner beside Scarlet. Alex chose a fairy tale book while Jasper was more than content with observing Scarlet.

    "What are you playing?" he finally asked. Scarlet''s fingers were flying all over the place and he highly doubted that she was playing anything.

    "I''m researching information for my grand plan."

    Alex looked up from her book. "Grand plan?"

    Scarlet nodded, her eyes not leaving the screen. "I''m going to make a lot of money on my own and lead the life I want without my parents interfering."

    Alex''s eyes widened. "Why would you want to do that? Are your parents mistreating you?"

    Scarlet paused. "No, they''re not. I''m just not happy with how things are currently. A.d.u.l.ts are a lot more sneaky than you think."

    Alex didn''t know what to say and Jasper remained silent. Seeing that his childhood friend was feeling awkward after Scarlet''s statement, he decided to help her out and posed another question. "Why do you think a.d.u.l.ts are sneaky?"

    Scarlet stopped typing entirely and turned to face them this time. "I don''t know the kind of life you''ve had but my parents aren''t exactly normal by any standards. Coming to this school isn''t a coincidence either. I think they knew about the surprise test because they weren''t surprised at the results at all. I was told to decide what course of action I wanted to take. What about both of you? How did your parents react to that letter?"

    Alex smiled shyly. "My parents were delighted and threw a party to celebrate both Jasper and my acceptance into the special course. Of course, Jasper''s parents were slightly confused... our parents have been friends for very long so they felt slightly worried about covering the tuition fees for such a unique program. My parents have that worked out already so I think both Jasper and I will be accepting the invitation. Are you going to join us?"

    Scarlet sighed. "I don''t want to."

    Alex''s face fell after hearing it. "But why?"

    Scarlet frowned slightly. "It''s complicated."

    Alex was about to push for answers but Jasper stopped her. "It''s alright," he told the doll-like girl. "Take all the time you need to think through it carefully. This is going to be one of the major turning points in your life."

    Venessa who was eavesdropping on the children''s conversation was slightly surprised. For ten-year-olds, they were having such a deep discussion. No wonder there was a huge difference between the gifted ones and the ordinary ones. as she listened to them talk, she was also reflecting on her life choices.

    "I don''t want to be classified as a genius. However, I will be accepting the invitation. I need more time and space to put together my grand plan."

    Jasper frowned. Alex beat him to it and asked what the Grand Plan Scarlet was referring to.

    "Oh, it''s a plan to be self-sufficient and break free from my parents. For that, I require money because that''s what the world runs on."

    Jasper nodded. "How will you do that?"

    Scarlet had a small smile. "By becoming famous. I''ve learned that fame gives rise to money and money gives rise to power. If you have money, fame, and power then the world is literally at your feet. Even kids can rule the world!"

    Alex was speechless but Jasper snorted. "That''s big talk coming from someone who can''t cut their own hair properly."

    "Jasper!" Alex gasped. "That was rude."

    Scarlet rolled her eyes. "It''s fine. We''re going to get it fixed later, aren''t we?"

    That successfully diverted Alex''s attention and the blonde beauty started gushing about what she thought would look good on Scarlet. Still, the last line caught his attention and got him thinking. As the son of a cook and a gardener working for his childhood friend''s parents, could he be a kid that ruled the world too?

 Chapter 12 - The Wilde Family

    The trio had a ball of a time at the library. It was somewhere during lunch in the cafeteria that Alex whipped out her phone to call her butler. Scarlet couldn''t help but listen in on the conversation. Jasper continued eating his sandwich unaffected, too used to the way rich people live.

    "Yes, I think we can call her again. No, it isn''t for me. It''s for a friend. Huh? Oh, I think she wouldn''t mind. The more the merrier. Mm, I''ll see you later. Thank you Jenna."

    "Jenna? Isn''t that a female name?" Scarlet asked.

    Alex hung up the phone and giggled. "Did you think that all butlers were male? She''s my mother''s butler and has been with the Wilde Family for about twenty years now."

    Scarlet was intrigued. "Does that mean your father married into the Wilde Family?"

    Alex smiled. People usually weren''t as direct with words but this new attitude was refreshing. The only other person who was ever this frank with her was Jasper but that didn''t count as they grew up together. Scarlet was someone whom Alex held with high regard and even before they received the letter of invitation, she thought that Scarlet was special.

    "I guess you can say that. The Wilde Family is very influential and although my father is a very capable man, as the sole heiress to the Wilde name, my mother kept her name to continue the lineage. I was also made aware of the fact that should I find someone to marry one day, I am to keep the Wilde name."

    Scarlet seemed amused by the explanation and snickered. "I think they would have no issues in letting you keep the Wilde name at all."

    Jasper choked on his food and coughed when he heard that. He shot Scarlet a warning glare from beneath his bangs that went ignored as Alex fused over him. The gardener''s son mentally marked Scarlet as a threat and swore to watch her closely. It was dangerous for Alex to be with such cunning witches. That remark wasn''t made with no intention. She must have caught onto Alex''s affection for him and perhaps his own developing feelings towards her. Alex might be dense but he wasn''t. he knew what Scarlet was hinting at and his dislike for the girl started growing. Although he didn''t know her too well, he wouldn''t put it past the devil in angel skin to cook up trouble for them.

    School ended early for those in the elementary classes. Usually, it ends somewhere during lunch and this is when most kids will stay back to play or do homework until their parents fetch them in the evening. Some, like Alex, would have guardians pick them up and the teacher must be informed. Today, Alex would be going back with not only Jasper but with Scarlet as well. That made the security guard pause. Unlike the teachers, he hasn''t heard about the special students in the school.

    "Sorry, if your friend goes back with you there has to be parental consent. As far as I am concerned, this young lady has instructions to head straight home via the bus."

    Alex wanted to argue but Scarlet was already used to this kind of treatment. She remained expressionless and allowed the security guard to ramble on while they waited for Jenna to arrive.

    The butler was stunned to see the young mistress of the house arguing with the security guard. Everyone in the Wilde Family knew of Alex''s mild nature. She wouldn''t usually start arguments with people unless they had gone too far.

    "Excuse me, I am the butler from the Wilde Household. Has my young mistress done anything to offend you?"

    The security was startled. He never expected to see a butler in this age and time or a female one at that.

    "Sorry, it''s just that I have strict instructions to ensure the safety of children heading home. This lady over here has strict instructions from her parents to see her board the bus at the bus stop when she leaves school."

    Jenna didn''t react externally even though Alex was fuming. How could Jasper and Scarlet remain so calm? The security guard was clearly in the wrong for assuming such things. Couldn''t friends visit each other without the consent of their parents? besides, Scarlet''s parents wouldn''t be back for a while as they were both busy on business trips. Couldn''t this man just mind his own business? She didn''t need him telling her what she could and could not do for a friend. Scarlet needs a haircut and Alex was going to bring her to her house to get it done befo0re seeing her back. There was no need for this security guard to pry into personal affairs.

    "I suppose you''re just doing your job and I understand that. However, I have already received word from the Lady of the household to escort my young mistress and her esteemed friends. I suppose you do not require verification in person for my lady for that to happen, do you?"

    It wasn''t obvious to Scarlet but Jasper and Alex knew that Jenna was baring her fangs at the man. the security guard paled and backed off the case, even going so far as to apologise. Scarlet got into the black sedan feeling amazed that the Wilde Family had such influence. Jenna could lie through her teeth smoothly and get away with it. That was a skill Scarlet wanted to learn.

    "My apologies that you had to see such an unsightly exchange earlier. My name is Jenna and I am the butler of the Wilde Family. It is a pleasure to meet you in person, Miss Scarlet. My young mistress has been telling everyone back home about you and we''re thrilled to have you over."

    "Jenna!" Alex blushed and tugged on the butler''s sleeve.

    Scarlet was amused. "Really? What did she say?"

    "Jenna, say no more!" Alex ordered with flaming cheeks and Jasper grinned.

    "Alex loved your beautiful hair and how doll-like you appeared. She''s also jealous of your ability to be calm and collected as well as your true-to-self behaviour."

    "Jasper!" Alex gasped at the traitor and Jenna chuckled. Scarlet was amused and decided to team up with Jasper poking fun at Alex who turned redder than a cooked lobster.

    Back in the Wilde mansion, Mrs Wilde received a report about her daughter''s new friend. She smiled gracefully and ordered the servants to ready a welcome tea party. As a rich heiress who didn''t have to work or worry about money, Mrs Wilde was often bored. With such an interesting friend, things were about to become lively again and the lady of the household simply couldn''t contain her excitement. She was going to enjoy herself thoroughly getting to know young Scarlet.

 Chapter 13 - La Grande Wilde Mansion Tour

    The Wilde Mansion was impressive. It screamed of old and rich history. The building was very well-maintained and Scarlet didn''t think there would be such buildings in Malaysia. The mansion looked straight out from a picture somewhere in Europe with the beautiful french windows and carved pillars. The girl almost forgot about being in the same country the moment the black sedan passed through the iron gates.

    The gardens were beautiful and the arrangement was completely out of this world. Scarlet wasn''t a fan of flowers but she knew the basics. Imagine seeing not just one tulip but a field of them growing in the garden as they drove to the porch. The half-genius could only guess the amount of labour and money poured into maintaining a garden as large as this. If she didn''t experience coming through the main gates herself or knew that this was Alex''s home, Scarlet would have thought that she was in Holland.

    "How do you maintain a garden this huge? Do you sell the flowers or something? Why do you have tulips or every colour available... and roses and peonies and is that a lotus?"

    Alex giggled at Scarlet''s monologue. Jasper got out as soon as the car stopped, already used to the grandiose sight. His father spent hours every day ensuring that the garden would impress people so Scarlet''s reaction was expected.

    Jenna who held the car door open was bemused by the new friend''s train of thought. As per tradition, the butler offered Scarlet a tour of the mansion while instructing some maids to prepare some snacks.

    Mrs Wilde watched Alex and her friends from the third floor, hiding behind a curtain. She was even more interested in the girl with lopsided hair now ever since her arrival. Jenna doesn''t usually smile with her heart but one comment from the new girl had the stiff butler grinning widely. If given the choice, Mrs Wilde would''ve run downstairs to greet them herself. Unfortunately, there was etiquette to be followed by people of a certain status. Jenna would have a heart attack if she saw Mrs Wilde acting on impulse so the lady of the house could only wait patiently.

    Inside the mansion, Scarlet enjoyed the blast of cold air, a vast contrast to the brief heat they experienced outside when they alighted from the car. From the outside, the building was huge. From the inside, the building was humongous!

    Although Scarlet wasn''t very tasteful in art, she could appreciate the strategically placed sculptures and potted plants as they walked passed them. The paintings, on the other hand, weren''t something Scarlet took interest in. If anything, she thought that it might be better to add some of Alex''s scribbles as a child. Then again, the small girl paused. Did Alex ever do such normal things as a child? Judging from the wealth of this house, Alex might have been sent for art lessons before even she knew how to spell ''purple''.

    Jenna introduced a little of the mansion''s history as they were shown the sitting room, the fireplace, the dining, washrooms and guest rooms. Just before they moved to the gardens outside, Scarlet asked if there was a library.

    Jenna blinked. "The Wilde Family owns a private library but it is back in America. We only have a small collection of books in the study that tutors will use when teaching the young mistress."

    Alex blushed under the intense stare of Scarlet.

    "You''re lucky," the girl commented, surprising the young heiress.

    Nobody commented on it but the butler was intrigued. Rich ten-year-olds would normally never willingly pick up books. They preferred running outdoors or hanging out with friends to play games. Alex would prefer a paintbrush or oil pastel over a book any good day while Jasper just loved to take naps under the sun in the garden. If Mrs Wilde knew that there was one kid in the world who adored books just as much as her, there would be no doubting her adoration for Scarlet.

    The garden was just as Scarlet imagined it to be even under the unbearable heat. Yet again she surprised the butler by asking if they ever thought about utilising the land space to farm vegetables instead of they weren''t going to sell the flowers.

    "Some vegetables have very pretty leaves and flowers. Imagine if the bushes were replaced with tea... you could impress the guests by brewing home-grown tea! You could even try having some trees grown here. I know it might ruin the European fantasy but palm trees will make it look very pretty over by that pond. It feels more tropical but in this sweltering heat, it might give an illusion of an oasis spot."

    Jenna nodded. Although Scarlet didn''t have conventional ideas, they were interesting and practical.

    "Thank you for the suggestion, Miss Scarlet. I shall inform the head gardener about them. It would indeed be interesting to see some of our guests reacting to drinking home-grown tea."

    The underlying amus.e.m.e.nt and malice were lost on Scarlet who was too busy fighting the praise she received. That intention was not lost on the other two children who knew of some guests that the Wilde Family had bad blood with. Jenny''s smile no longer reached her eyes for the rest of the house tour.

    As promised, there were three cups of hot cocoa and an assortment of cookies waiting for the children after the walk outside. Scarlet also noticed a beautiful lady sitting by the low table with the steaming mugs.

    "Hello, mother."

    After hearing Alex''s greeting, the lady frowned. Scarlet half-expected the lady to turn cold and become stern with Alex just like what her parents would have done. To her surprise, the lady rebuked Alex for being too ''stiff and formal'' in front of her mother. The girl became squirmish when Mrs Wilde demanded a hug, a kiss and being called ''mommy'' in that exact order. For a ten-year-old who was in that awkward stage of puberty, the open display of affection towards their parents in front of their friends became a little too much for poor Alex. Scarlet just watched them interact with envy gnawing at her heart. She felt ugly all of a sudden and it wasn''t because of her disastrous hairstyle.

    Mrs Wilde was quick to notice the odd expression in Scarlet''s eyes and decided to give Alex a break. She then told the children to wash their hands before tea and nobody defied her. Alex was the first to run, quick to escape her mother''s embarrassing antics in front of her friends.

    Mrs Wilde took the chance to ask Jenna a few questions about the odd girl when the children were out of earshot.

    "Have you done a background check on Scarlet?"

    Jenna nodded and passed the heiress a folder that was delivered by a footman earlier. the lady of the house took the chance to excuse herself.

    "Treat her with the utmost hospitality. I''m interested in her."

    Jenna bowed with a hand over her heart. "Yes, my lady."

 Chapter 14 - Haircut and Suspicious Free Lunches

    "Jenna, where is my mother?" Alex asked. They weren''t gone for long but Mrs Wilde was already gone.

    "She has gone to attend to an urgent phone call, young mistress. Please enjoy the tea with your friends. The maids are on standby should you require assistance. I shall go prepare the salon for the stylist''s arrival."

    After the butler left, Alex allowed herself to sag into the comfortable couch. Jasper snickered and decided to focus on grabbing the cookies with more chocolate ch.i.p.s before dipping it into hot cocoa and stuffing them in his mouth. While Scarlet continued to observe them, she didn''t realise that she was also being watched.

    "Does your family often interact with so much gusto?"

    Alex groaned and buried her face in her hands. "I''m sorry you had to witness such an embarrassing moment. I promise my mother isn''t always like this... she does it usually when there are guests just to get a response out of me. I know that I''m stupid for letting it get to me all the time but I just can''t help it..."

    Scarlet didn''t respond and Jasper took the opportunity to steal one more cookie. By the time Alex noticed the dwindling number of baked treats, she started bickering with Jasper. The contrast of their behaviour at home and in school was so different that Scarlet decided to keep her feelings and secrets close to her chest. Although she didn''t feel that Mrs Wilde or Jenna were unpleasant people with ill-intentions, it was in Scarlet''s nature to be cautious about everything. When things were progressing too smoothly, it was hard to believe it. After all, who would believe that there can be free lunches out there without a hidden price tag to it? Scarlet didn''t buy such a thing having experienced betrayal first hand from her parents.

    The guarded expression on Scarlet''s face made Mrs Wilde more interested as she observed the girl from a computer. The hidden camera was positioned perfectly to capture the girl''s actions and this was a secret that only Jenna knew about. Not even Mr Wilde knew of his wife''s peeping tendencies. It was through this method that the heiress managed to protect the estate from greedy maids and vile guests. People tended to show their true colours when they think nobody is watching after all.

    Scarlet''s emotional maturity was unsuiting of her age and Mrs Wilde frowned. There were no signs of physical abuse apart from the hair''s disastrous cut. Yet where there is smoke, there is fire. Those eyes wouldn''t lie no matter how proficient little Scarlet was at concealing her feelings. Her face might be frozen but not her heart. That small heart was just locked away in the deepest and darkest part of her mind in order to fight against unseen monsters so that she could live another day. While Mrs Wilde wasn''t a psychologist, she was a socialite who read people like open books.

    >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<<

    The hairstylist arrived and Jenna welcomed him. He was a gay French man who had a multi-coloured deathhawk. The gold earrings only made him look wilder and if not for his array of hair products, scissors and razors, the security would have thrown the flamboyant man out on sight. He was fashion roadkill if not for his talent and Jenna donned her butler mask, giving him a stern warning about appropriate treatment of his young customer.

    "Salut mademoiselle! How has been you this lovely afternoon?" Mr Leonce Le Beau, also known as Beyonce in his self-introduction, greeted with a fancy bow.

    Jenna gave him a business-like smile and returned the gesture. "Salut, monsieur. It has been delightful thus far. Would you like to settle down with a drink or get straight to business?"

    Beyonce smiled and gushed about wanting to start at once. His excitement died down as if someone had thrown ice water in his face when he saw the state Scarlet''s dark hair was in.

    "Quelle trag¨¦die! Merde! Dear child touched by angel... who is the cruel one who did this to you? Such beautiful hair... it''s a true shame."

    Scarlet didn''t react very much to Mr Beyonce''s dramatic behaviour at the sight of her hair. In fact, she didn''t speak at all and allowed the hairstylist to touch her hair, inspect it and m.o.a.n about the loss while praising the quality of it all in one breath for the next five minutes. She couldn''t understand the French slipped in occasionally but she could read in between the lines and infer from his reactions. If the man didn''t choose to be a hairstylist, Scarlet thought that he could become an actor with his huge range of expressions.

    "I see, it''s so sad. But no worries, I am the best in this industrie! There is no person I cannot make une beaut¨¦. Now tell me, what does you want to be? A tiger? A kitten? A marshmallow?"

    Scarlet blinked. What kind of question was that?

    Seeing her puzzled expression, Mr Beyonce simply smiled wider. "Don''t worry, we can take it slow. What kind of things you like eating? Ice-cream? Cake?"

    Scarlet didn''t know where this was leading to but she answered it truthfully hoping that the man could quickly get to the makeover part of it.

    "Good choice! Pancakes and maple syrup is fluffy! Bien! Tr¨¨s bon! I see now, light and fluffy. Ok, do you like dogs or cats?"

    Scarlet didn''t know where this was leading to but if she had to choose one, she would choose cats. Tomy Chrome was the reason why she adored cats. They were fierce, independent and loyal.

    "Les Chats? Good choice! I know now. Do you like the sun or moon more?"

    Needless to say, Scarlet loved the moon for that meant she would be able to sleep and spend some time not feeling alone with the stars in the sky.

    "La Lune it is then. I understand. Last question, very important. Do you like going on adventures or perfecting art?"

    Scarlet paused at this. It was a tough question and Mr Beyonce noticed that she was taking a little too long to answer it.

    "Not hard probl¨¨me, all answers are correct. Don''t use the head, use the voice inside the heart."

    Scarlet let her gaze drop to the floor as she answered in a small voice. "Both. I like both."

    Mr Beyonce smiled warmly and patted Scarlet''s head gently. In a soft an gentle manner, unlike his loud image, he spoke in a steady voice that reassured the young girl. "Tr¨¨s bon, you have done your part. Now, I will do my part. Leave your hair to my care, I will transform you. After this, you will not be the same person. Like a papillon, you will break free from old self and fly!"

    Scarlet didn''t know how to react to it and chose to remain silent while Mr Beyonce erased all the earlier signs of craziness the moment he held his scissors. There was a serious glint in the Frenchman''s eyes as he worked and Scarlet wondered what the stylist had in mind. The only mirror in the salon was faced away from Scarlet at Mr Beyonce''s request so the girl could only pray that nothing disastrous was going on.

    Although she did not react outwardly, hearing the electronic buzz of the razor made her jump a little.

    "Have faith in his skills and credentials even if he doesn''t seem very reassuring..." Scarlet shut her eyes and repeated the mantra in her head the whole time until Mr Beyonce was done.

    From the doorway, Alex held her breath in nervousness as she watched the hairstylist work his magic. Initially, the young heiress was worried but as time passed her eyes widened in amazement at the magic. A huge smile broke out on her face and suddenly, Alex couldn''t wait to see her new friend''s reaction to her new look.

    It was beginning to look like a very good start.

 Chapter 15 - Scarlets Sponsor

    "Voila! It is done. Come, take a look at the new you and feel reborn."

    Scarlet got up from the chair shakily and took a look at the mirror as Mr Beyonce brushed off some hair stuck to her shirt using a huge hairbrush. The image that greeted her wasn''t exactly a stranger but the reflection stirred a foreign emotion in her gut.

    The young blogger was prepared to be met with a wild hairstyle that would attract all the wrong kinds of attention and resigned to fate when the hairstylist set to work. As she wasn''t allowed to look at her reflection even once while work was in progress, Scarlet could only judge the changes made by the amount of hair that fell onto the ground. It was a horrifying amount and the other side of her hair that wasn''t ruin suffered almost the same fate. She thought that Mr Beyonce would level her hair and cut the whole thing short but the reflection gave her some form of hope. While this was a new beginning, there were traces of who she remembered herself to be even with a completely different image.

    "Do you like it?"

    Scarlet nodded, unable to find her voice or tear her eyes away from the mirror. The left side that she''d destroyed was now neatly trimmed into a mid-lengthed angled bob. The asymmetric style from the left to the right side was balanced out by a cleverly cut diagonal fringe that swept towards the right. Scarlet noticed that there was even more detail into the length of the right side. At first glance, it appeared as if nothing changed. However, on closer inspection, she noted how there were ''steps'' created to blend the short side to the long side. The ''steps'' covered the destruction to the even length at her nape and Mr Beyonce surprised her more by braiding her hair to the right side.

    "Until your hair grows out, the side braid will be one of your best hairstyles to go by. Of course, one-sided ponytails work fine but for a young girl like you with a pretty face, braids will work charmingly."

    Alex clapped in glee when Mr Beyonce pulled the braided hair, giving it the illusion of being loosely tied with more volume. Nobody would be able to mock Scarlet''s new image. It looked extremely fashionable on the doll-like girl and the class prince could only sigh at the beautiful image. Jasper studied Scarlet through his bangs and watched as Alex directed slightly envious glances Scarlet''s way.

    "There, all done!"

    Mrs Wilde walked in the very moment Mr Beyonce declared that Scalet''s hair was a masterpiece. The lady of the house took a brief look at Scarlet and nodded in satisfaction.

    "Thank you, Mr Le Beau. Jenna, kindly show our esteemed guest out."

    While the butler thanked the hairstylist for his services and discussed payment outside the children''s hearing range, Mrs Wilde took a good look at Scarlet. Although Alex inherited her beauty, Scarlet had a different kind of charm. This new hairstyle only highlighted them and the girl was looking more like a princess than a doll.

    The world wasn''t usually very fair. many who had the beauty didn''t have the smarts to back it up and those with the brains often didn''t have the face to complete the package. Scarlet, like Alex, was an exception to that rule. They often said that birds of the same feathers flocked together and Mrs Wilde believed it. Her daughter would have never associated with common folks with this much passion. As a shrewd businesswoman, she knew potential when she saw it. Scarlet was going to become a very successful individual with the right guidance and support. Mrs Wilde was interested in becoming her backer but first, she''d have to win the blogger''s heart.

    "How do you find the new hairstyle? Is this considered a successful new beginning for you?"

    Scarlet nodded. "Thank you, it feels wonderful."

    "Now then," the socialite smiled. "Let''s talk about the payment, shall we?"

    Alex snapped her head at her mother''s direction with wide eyes when she heard that. Scarlet froze. Payment? She knew this was too good to be true! Knowing that Mr Beyonce wasn''t your local barber either, the cost is something that went beyond what Scarlet could afford even after breaking into every saving container she owned.

    "Mother!"

    Jasper stopped Alex and dragged her away with one wave of Mrs Wilde''s hand. Scarlet was left sitting on the chair with the heiress alone in the room. Suddenly, the salon felt bigger than it really should be. Now that Scarlet wasn''t too caught up in admiring Mr Beyonce''s handiwork, she noticed the lack of servants around who were usually on standby. Her eyes narrowed. It was definitely a plot by Mrs Wilde who stood there with the grin of a cat who was facing a wounded bird.

    "I don''t have the money to pay you back. I could talk to my parents to get them to transfer the payment over if you wa-"

    "No no, nothing of that sort shall occur. I''m not interested in monetary repayments, I have way too much of that myself. As a matter of fact, I''m rather interested in something else that only you can offer. I heard that you have a grand plan about ruling the world as a kid. Care to share it with this old woman? It''s been a while since something interesting happened in my life after all."

    Scarlet didn''t comment on how wrong that sounded. Instead, she weighed the pros and cons silently. While ruling the world wasn''t her aim, she did require money and influence in order to succeed. Asking her parents for help was out of the question. She wanted out of the house and not become further indebted to them.

    "Are you sure you want to accept this as payment? It''s just trash talk from a ten-year-old in their rebellious phase."

    Mrs Wilde''s eyes sparkled when she heard that. "All the better! Children during their rebellious phase can come up with the most amusing ideas and things. Let me guess... you want to be liberated from your parent''s strict upbringing and forsake all the expectations piled onto you by the school."

    Scarlet didn''t comment and Mrs Wilde took that silence as affirmation. Her confidence grew and she started probing at Scarlet for more hints about the Grand Plan.

    Scarlet knew that there was no way for her to return home if she didn''t divulge anything. Conceding, the girl told Mrs Wilde about her intentions to become financially free doing what a kid could do.

    Mrs Wilde nodded and held her tongue while Scarlet elaborated on the options she had at the moment. The plan was flimsy but showed promise.

    "So you want to try earning money through the Fame path. That''s quite notable given your natural talents. Ambition has always been something that air-headed daughter of mine lacked. her dream was to become the best wife in the world and marry the man of her dreams. I''m sure you are aware of the financial burdens required before you can realise your plans too so I would like to make a deal with you."

    Scarlet swallowed when she heard that, not knowing what to expect.

    "I want you to involve Jasper and Alex into your plans. I will be funding your projects but as a businesswoman, I require you to give me a convincing pitch before I invest in you. Consider this makeover my deposit for our future endeavours. What do you say?"

    Scarlet took a look at the outstretched hand and shook it with confidence. "I''ll be in your care. Be prepared to be blown away."

    Mrs Wilde merely laughed at Scarlet''s confidence. "Pleasure doing business with you, I shall await good news."

 Chapter 16 - Wilde or Liu

    When Alex saw Scarlet again, she jumped off the couch and ran over much to Jenna''s displeasure. Running was unbecoming of a lady but the butler decided to overlook it for Scarlet''s sake.

    "What did my mother do to you?" she asked while circling the girl, inspecting her for signs of abuse.

    Scarlet found Alex''s behaviour highly amusing but was startled when the girl got a little too into her personal space until Jasper reeled her back. Jenna didn''t comment on Jasper''s actions as if it was a common occurrence.

    Scarlet smiled at Alex''s concern. All her life she never knew what it was like to have the company of others like this but for some reason, she didn''t dislike the rowdiness going on in the Wilde house. If anything, Scarlet secretly wished that she didn''t have to go home so soon. She would choose the constant buzz of petty squabbling between her friends over the pin-drop silence at home any day.

    "It would be nice if I could stay here forever," she whispered.

    "Hm? Did you say something?"

    Scarlet smiled at her blonde friend. "No, not really. Also, your mother is a nice lady. She offered to help with the Grand Plan but I can''t do it alone. Would the two of you be willing to help me out?"

    Alex froze and slowly turned pale. "Mother is helping?"

    Scarlet nodded. Jasper didn''t say anything and let Alex go. At that very moment, Mrs Wilde appeared. She took a look at the three children and raised a brow. Shouldn''t they be rejoicing a little more? Scarlet should have told them the good news by now. Alex looked as if she''d seen a ghost and Jasper was as unreadable as ever.

    "Scarlet my darling, dinner will be served in an hour. Would you like to stay over before leaving?"

    Alex froze. Dinner with Scarlet sounded like a dream come true. Her eyes sparkled and Scarlet hesitated. She didn''t want to be seen mooching off the richer and more powerful Wilde Family. Also, she was afraid that she would be inconveniencing them by staying. The kitchen was also probably not informed about her arrival as things happened rather suddenly. The hospitality she received was more than what Scarlet had signed up for and for the first time, the girl felt unsure of what to do.

    "Mommy, can Scarlet stay with us for the night? Please? I''ve never had a sleepover before!"

    Scarlet raised a brow at Alex''s different form of endearment for her mother. Hearing her precious daughter reverting to a less formal speech, Mrs Wilde had a huge smile on her face. "Yes, yes! Anything for you darling... Now, what was it that you wanted? A sleepover with Scarlet? Of course, mommy will arrange it right away!"

    Jasper facepalmed at the side and Jenna sighed. They shared a side glance and returned to the chaotic scene before them. Alex was struggling in Mrs Wilde''s arms trying to dodge the onslaught of kisses to no avail. Scarlet had chosen to wisely back away while mother and daughter battled it out.

    After three minutes too long watching them frolic around in a world of their own, Jenna cleared her throat in a deliberate attempt to remind Mrs Wilde of the reality that they still existed in.

    "My lady, should I ring up the Liu''s about Scarlet''s stay over?"

    Mrs Wilde let Alex go. "We should inform them, shouldn''t we? Jenna, make the call to the Liu''s and send them an official email about it. I want no questions asked and ready the lawyer just in case."

    Lawyer? Scarlet didn''t know what she was hearing. There wasn''t even an actual need to inform her parents about her sleepover, what they didn''t know couldn''t hurt them. They didn''t even care about what she did as long as she maintained her results in school and didn''t cause trouble that they would be called down. For Scarlet''s parents, their careers and public image was more important than anything else. Scarlet learnt from a young age that she wasn''t a child born from desire but from necessity. It didn''t bother her much but seeing how much Mrs Wilde cared for Alex created a cavity within her chest - one she didn''t know existed until now.

    Realising that Scarlet was unusually silent and distant, Alex reached out to grab her hand. "What''s wrong?"

    Scarlet shook her head, unable to meet the Wilde princess'' eyes. Seeing the hurt in those obsidian eyes made Mrs Wilde turn cold. The earlier traces of warmth vanished and the familiar ice queen in the business world turned to her butler. Jenna stiffened, not expecting such a reaction from her employer. It wasn''t very easy to gain the trust and protection of Orita Wilde. For Mrs Wilde to become serious about wanting to take the girl under her protection, Scarlet must possess something very special.

    Jenna excused herself at once while Alex declared that boys were not allowed to join and that she wanted to spend some sister time with Scarlet only. Little did she know that her words were just about to come true.

    The phone connected in a few rings and Jenna introduced herself brusquely with a clipped tone. The butler carried out her mission with a cold professionalism that made both Mr and Mrs Liu grow cold with worry. They tried asking questions that Jenna curtly declined answering before ending the call.

    Worried that their daughter had offended the great Wilde Family, Scarlet''s parents made emergency arrangements to fly back to Malaysia.

    Meanwhile, Mrs Wilde was casually chatting with the girls over tea just before dinner. "Would you prefer the Liu name or the Wilde name?"

    Scarlet froze and so did Alex. Jasper tried to blend into the wall as the temperature of the air suddenly dipped. the girl didn''t answer immediately and Mrs Wilde didn''t rush her.

    "I don''t dislike the Wilde name, however, I don''t think it belongs to me."

    Alex shot a pleading look to her mother. Why was she doing this to the very first friend she made?

    Mrs Wilde didn''t relent. "But what if I want you to join the Wilde''s? Alex has taken a liking to you and Jasper is practically adopted. You seem like a bright and delightful child."

    Scarlet didn''t let the kind words fool her. Mrs Wilde was testing her and Scarlet wasn''t going to let Mrs Wilde have it her way. Although they were ''business partners'', they weren''t allies. Right now, whatever they shared was built on mutual interest. Scarlet needed the backing of an a.d.u.l.t and Mrs Wilde wanted Alex to have a friend that she could control. Scarlet knew how this worked and smiled.

    "I would be delighted to. However, I must insist on declining the offer. The Wilde name will only serve to become my shackle in the future. I want to be a free bird, not one that lives in a luxurious cage. If it is your intention to bind me to the Wilde''s then I would like to call the deal off. I''m not greedy enough to bite off more than I can chew but my friendship with Alex is not something for you to decide."

    Mrs Wilde seemed satisfied with the response and Scarlet smiled. "So did I pass the test of loyalty in your eyes?"

    The socialite almost spit her tea out and narrowed her gaze. To think that a mere ten-year-old saw through that...

    Scarlet giggled and enjoyed another cookie. Mrs Wilde''s gaze burned as she observed the Chinese girl. Although young, Scarlet was not one to be underestimated. Jasper let out the breath he was holding slowly and placed a hand over his heart. That was way too close for comfort. As a bystander who knew the silent war that just blew past, he wondered how he survived the crossfire. On the other hand, Alex blinked cluelessly at the slightly awkward atmosphere after her graceful mother choked on tea.

    "Mother, are you alright?"

    Mrs Wilde wiped her mother gently with a handkerchief. "Yes, darling. I''m fine. Just a little mishap, nothing major to be concerned with."

 Chapter 17 - P.D.F. Debut

    That morning Jasper, Scarlet, and Alex turned up at school together and it became the hottest topic on campus. By noon, the trio became dubbed as the P.D.F. as a short for Prince, Doll, and Freak.

    The rumours reached Scarlet''s ears and she wondered why Jasper got the Freak title. She would have gladly claimed it for herself. It must be the new hairstyle that Mr Beyonce gave her that got her the Doll title.

    The attention they got everywhere disrupted classes so much that the teachers allowed the trio to go for a self-study session in the library. Scarlet did a little dance in her head to celebrate ditching boring lessons. The teacher said that as long as they kept their grades up, the school would not take their attendance into consideration. The power of fame and influence was truly amazing.

    This time, Venessa and Sadiya weren''t as surprised when the three little school superstars made their appearance while classes were still in session. apparently, the balding school principal passed down a chain of command to treat them like precious royalty.

    "Would you like to have a private room? I think we''re able to block the room permanently for your use if you''d like. Do you have any preference?" the young librarian asked.

    Alex blinked and Jasper shrugged, leaving the decision entirely in Scarlet''s hands. Scarlet thought for a while. The elementary section of the library was on the first level and had no privacy with so many people walking in and out. Fortunately, the higher floors of the library were restricted to the bigger kids who were in college. However, they couldn''t access it without a card. The atmosphere there was more silent and better for studying with many small private rooms but it didn''t come with computers.

    "Grandma... are we able to book any room in the library? Even those on the upper floors?"

    Grandma Sadiya smiled. "Of course. We''ve readied your passes to. Also, I thought that you might require a private room with a computer for research purposes. Can I recommend a room that I think you would like?"

    Grandma Sadiya''s eyes were shining and Scarlet raised a brow. Scarlet didn''t think that such a room existed in the library. Still, she wouldn''t turn it down if such a room existed.

    "We have a librarian office at the back but Venessa and I hardly use it. It''s where returned books are shelved and new books are kept for barcoding before being introduced to the system. It''s also the only place that has a side door exit to the toilet with a pantry that you can have snacks in."

    "Sounds like a good deal," Scarlet admitted. "Is that even allowed?"

    Sadiya rolled her eyes and snorted. "I''m the head librarian. If anyone has an issue they can take it up with me... I''ll shove my foot so far up thei-"

    "Don''t say such things! The baby can hear you!" Venessa chided and the head librarian piped down again while grumbling.

    Scarlet snickered while Alex looked scandalised by Grandma Sadiya''s foul language. The matter was quickly settled and all three children were given special access cards before they were shown to the office. Scarlet had some difficulty reaching the card scanner and had to jump to tap the card. Alex thought that it was adorable but kept the comment to herself. Jasper said something about Scarlet''s size and was given a merciless kick to the shin. She didn''t want to mess with the school Doll no matter how cute she thought Scarlet was.

    After getting cosy with milo and biscuits, the trio was finally given some privacy. Scarlet took five minutes to clean the plate off food while the ancient-looking bulky computer whirred to life. It was very slow, but it did the job. Scarlet tapped her fingers impatiently while the screen loaded and Alex wondered what the fuss was all about. Jasper didn''t care so much and started flipping through a new book he picked out from the neatly stacked cardboard boxes.

    A few minutes later after many rapid clicks and tapping on the keyboard, Scarlet let out a triumph cry.

    "Ok, now we can commence our secret meeting. In today''s meeting, we shall decide on a team name and the plan to become independent financially and socially. For starters, I will let you know who I truly am."

    Jasper put the book down, interested in what the odd girl had to say for herself. Alex was confused but went with the flow. Scarlet showed them a very dull looking weblog page and signed in. neither of them recognised what that was but from the background stats, Scarlet had a few hundred subscribers. That was a rather good pool of followers for someone so young. They were more surprised when Scarlet admitted that she hasn''t started the Human Observation Journal too long ago.

    "Yes, it is I - Pirate S. the captain of this blog. As you can see, I think I have a flair for writing so the first part of the Grand Plan towards freedom would be to publish a book because books make a lot of money right?"

    Jasper and Alex shared a look. Was Scarlet serious?

    "I don''t know how to write books, I can''t even do a proper essay..." Jasper admitted. While he excelled without effort for Math and Science, the same could not be said for language.

    Alex shook her head when Scarlet looked at her. "I don''t know anything about writing books. Ah! I could help you draw the cover if you''d like. I''ve been secretly watching videos about drawing using a software and I find it fascinating."

    "We only have one computer here and it isn''t going to work very well for drawing," Jasper pointed out.

    Alex smiled brightly. "Don''t worry about it, I''ll just ask for a laptop from my father. He should have many spares lying around in the company, it shouldn''t be difficult for him to get a hold of one for me."

    Jasper and Scarlet looked at Alex with raised brows although the boy''s eyebrows were hidden beneath his bangs. For all the shortcomings Alex had, being rich was probably a redeeming feature in a group like theirs.

    "That''s actually going to help us a lot... thank you Alex!" Scarlet smiled plastically but Alex thought it was the sincerest thing in the world and blurted out that they should feel free to request more things from her if she could be of any help.

    "How about packed meals?" Jasper suggested. "That way we won''t need to waste time queuing in the cafeteria for food. I don''t think the librarians will mind if we eat there as long as we don''t make too much of a mess..."

    Scarlet took out a foolscap pad and pencil case from her bag. She wrote in big letters at the top of the page things that they required. Jasper and Alex threw in ideas that seemed great at first but a little more ridiculous after ten minutes when Alex suggested bringing a spare luxurious Italian leather sofa from one of her guest rooms for sitting comfort.

    "Ok, let''s take it slow and stop for now... we''re only starting to make a plan so that I can convince your mother. Let''s start thinking about the Team name so that we can publish the book."

    "I''m not going to be of much help here," Jasper pointed out and Scarlet shook her head before pointing the pencil in his direction. "You''re going to help us with research and tutor us before the exams. Although we''re given special privileges, I don''t think Mrs Wilde will be pleased if it starts affecting our grades."

    The boy shrugged. "I guess I can do that then. How about using the name the school gave us? P.D.F.?"

    Scarlet thought about it and frowned. "Sounds too geeky. besides, Prince, Doll & Freak sounds like a very random author name. Nobody will take the story seriously..."

    "What is the story you''re going to write?" Alex asked.

    Scarlet grinned. "I''m going to write about a super-being who lost his memories and goes on an adventure to find out who he truly is. I haven''t decided on the title yet..."

    "I still think I like P.D.F. because it represents the three of us... how about keeping it but changing the initials to something like Pretty Dancing Fairy?"

    Scarlet cringed internally at Alex''s naming sense and Jasper coughed to disguise his laugh. That kind of name with the storyline didn''t match.

    "I think we need something more suited for the story''s genre... how about something like Permanent Discovery Fantasy?"

    Scarlet frowned. "Sounds too much of a mouthful. Permanent Fantasy?"

    Alex shook her head. "We don''t want this to just be a fantasy, do we? Permanent... Freedom?"

    While it sounded close to what they wanted, Permanent Freedom sounded odd. "Freedom always comes at a cost," Jasper reminded them.

    "Freedom and cost huh..." Scarlet sighed and reflected on the events that happened yesterday. While the other two children were thinking hard, an idea hit Alex hard and she clapped her hands with excitement.

    "Frost! It''s short for the phrase ''Freedom comes at a cost''! Permanent Frost, how does that sound now? It''s like our own secret code too..."

    Jasper patted Alex''s head. "That''s a good one, I like it. What about you?" he asked Scarlet who was nodding too.

    "It''s actually really good. Who knew that you had it in you?"

    Alex frowned. "What''s that supposed to mean?"

    "Nothing," came the innocent reply and Scarlet wrote down Permanent Frost on the paper.

    Finally, they were truly a team.

 Chapter 18 - Unrest and Boycott

    While the trio was happily discussing the prospect of the new novel that Scarlet wanted to work on, trouble was brewing within the classrooms. While there were many who were envious of the special treatment the ''geniuses'' received, there were a few students who thought that it was their duty to administer justice and knock them down a few pegs on behalf of the student population.

    Phones were whipped out during the break and texts were sent. It didn''t take long for the discontent to be known and not even the teachers could control the students. Hostile eyes followed the trio when they sat down in the cafeteria for lunch. Many students were watching silently from afar but the few who instigated the ripple took it a notch up and confronted them.

    It was deliberate, it had to be. One moment they were minding their own business enjoying the food they bought. The next moment the spoon had fallen to the ground, knocked out of Scarlet''s hand with a force that could not have been accidental. The girl who was ''passing by'' had a sneer as she apologised and Scarlet stared at her for a good two seconds before bending down to pick the spoon up when the unthinkable happened.

    Alex gasped in horror as the bully poured apple juice onto Scarlet. That was clearly no slip-up, she emptied the contents of the juice box right above Scarlet''s head just as she was reaching for the spoon. Jasper''s knuckles were white after witnessing such blatant bullying happen in front of him. He was about to jump in and defend Scarlet when the small girl lashed back with the spoon between her fingers. Nobody knew exactly what happened but there was a black blur before the other girl was howling in pain on the ground clutching her right side of the face. The metal spoon in Scarlet''s hand was dented at a thirty-degree angle and that was when the teachers decided to step in.

    "But sir, she started it!" Alex tried to defend Scarlet but the teacher on duty refused to listen. He sent all four children to the principal''s office, dragging Alex by her wrist in a bruising grip. Scarlet followed wordlessly but there was no mistaking the fury in her eyes. Jasper glared at the bully from beneath his bangs and followed them behind. Mrs Wilde entrusted Alex with him when she agreed to let her precious girl attend school with him. He had failed his duty...

    The principal didn''t look like his easy-going and jovial self. He sat stiffly in the chair and there was a man standing in the room. The bully who poured juice on Scarlet immediately started crying when they reached the principal''s office. The man quickly hugged his daughter and Scarlet''s expression darkened. Putting on a show in front of her dad to look like the victim? How shameless.

    "Who did this to my daughter? Who? Is it you?" the enraged father looked at Jasper and then turned to Alex who looked angry.

    "Or you?"

    Alex glared back and shouted, "She started it by pouring juice on Scarlet after bumping into her!"

    "Oh?" the bully''s father raised his voice. "And hitting her in retaliation is allowed? Just because you''re considered gifted doesn''t give you the right to throw your weight around. Does the school side with those who are considered talented and cast the rest away? If this how your school operates then I will withdraw my child immediately. I have connections with the local press, you can forget about keeping your job, Mr Principal."

    Scarlet couldn''t believe the nerves this man had. Outrightly threatening the principal in front of them? Surely the principal knew better than to believe his lies and give in to his threats...

    "My apologies, please let the school have another chance. We will investigate thoroughly and handle the matter accordingly. There is no need to resort to such a drastic measure, this is a fight between children. Also, the gifted children will be treated no differently from the other children, please rest assured."

    Hearing the words fly from the principal''s mouth made Alex stunned. Even Jasper was not expecting it. The bully''s father smirked and cast a condescending look at the three children while hugging his daughter."Very well, please see that it is done. I trust that as the principal you know who to prioritise. After all, we are talking about future generation here. Kids who cannot control their anger should be sent for anger management classes in my opinion. Nowadays the smarter they are the more arrogant they become... I say you should throw in detention too just to teach these geniuses some humility."

    "Yes, yes... of course, you are right..." the principal fumbled as the father barked orders at the principal who was now sweating terribly even though the air conditioning unit was working overtime and that it was freezing in the office.

    The moment the man left, the principal sank back into his chair and wiped his sweat away with a handkerchief before giving the three maligned children an apologetic look. The air of defeat was cloying and Scarlet closed her eyes, unable to take any more humiliation. The spectacular injustice served to them only served to solidify her feelings about a.d.u.l.ts and the world. They were not to be trusted. Her Grand Plans suddenly seemed more important than anything else.

    Beside her, Alex was crying angry tears and demanding answers from the now silent principal who had bowed his head in shame, unable to meet any of their eyes. Jasper took out his phone and sent a quick text. His other hand was in his pocket balled up into a tight fist. Fingernails cut into the palm of his hand and he tasted blood in his mouth as he bit the inside of his cheek, angry at himself for failing to protect them.

    Before Alex and Jasper could sort their feelings out, another tragedy struck. Scarlet didn''t know what to feel when she saw two familiar faces enter the principal''s office.

    "Sorry, we just heard the news that our daughter has caused trouble. We will be taking her away from school for a while to re-educate her properly. It looks like our extended leave due to work and neglect has caused the school some trouble, we are very sorry about it."

    Scarlet wanted to say something, anything at all but her tongue felt heavy in her mouth and her voice disappeared on her in the most critical period. She could only give Alex and Jasper a helpless look as her parents dragged her away, not caring about the juice in her hair or their daughter''s new hairstyle.

    Not having enough time to catch his breath or make heads or tails of the event, the principal was yet greeted by another guest. This time, it was Alex''s turn to run towards them.

    "Jenna!" she cried and the butler allowed her young mistress to bawl while Jasper did the explaining. Jenna''s frown didn''t bode well and she gave the principal a sharp stare, almost succeeding in making the man piss in his pants.

    "Don''t worry, young mistress. The lady will handle everything. Just hold on for a few more days, alright? I promise, everything will be alright. Jasper, could you go get your belongings? We''re heading home today."

    The boy nodded curtly and left swiftly. "We are severely disappointed at the way you handled the situation," Jenna let the principal know before she left the office. Boneless in his chair, the principal could only stare at the shut door. After today''s events, the simple man decided that it might be better to hand in his letter of resignation.

 Chapter 19 - Home Arrest

    The journey home was an unpleasant one. On normal days, Scarlet dreaded heading back. Today, she wished it was still yesterday when she could relax in the company of her new friends.

    The Liu''s were silent throughout ever since Scarlet was shoved into the continental car. They journeyed in silence until the front door clicked shut, signalling that they were no longer in public space. Neither parent questioned her or gave Scarlet a chance to explain. The girl wiped any traces of emotions away and buried them deep inside of herself ¡ª something she learnt would save her poor heart many years ago.

    "Xiu Wen," Mrs Liu''s silky voice made the girl stiffen a little but she continued to hold onto that expressionless mask. That sweet voice was only used when Mrs Liu was livid. The last time Scarlet heard her mother sound so nice, she ended up kneeling on the gravel outside for two hours while carrying a bucket of water on her head. As the strict looking lady in pencil skirt got nearer, the light in Scarlet''s eyes dimmed. She tried not to think about the hot cocoa, the girl talk she had last night with Alex or the hospitality of Mrs Wilde.

    Mrs Wilde wasn''t dumb. She noticed what her daughter was trying to do. Usually, she was content with the doll-like behaviour. Ever since she drilled into her daughter how to carry herself in public, she never had another problem like the previous time. Scarlet was a perfect child on a normal day¡ª smart, quiet and obedient. She thought that giving in to Scarlet when she requested to attend school by herself was a sign of her maturity. Clearly, she thought wrong. Scarlet only became bolder and more rebellious after that. This won''t do. She decided that things had to be taken a step up, her daughter was in need of severe re-education.

    Mr Liu didn''t even bother keeping up with the act of a doting father. He simply kicked his shoes off and headed straight for the showers with the only thing concerning him being the jet lag he was suffering from. His wife would deal with their daughter as always. It didn''t matter what that woman did as long as they didn''t trouble him with more than having to provide for them... he was busy as it is. If Scarlet had too much time on her hands to be causing trouble, it could easily be rectified by engaging tutors. The girl can be occupied for all the empty time slots in between eating and sleeping if that was what it took to keep her out of his hair.

    As it is, his daughter was far from perfect in his eyes. There was still so much she could be doing and learning. She hasn''t learned how to play the piano, neither has she participated in any chess competitions. For Mr Liu, even if Scarlet did well and had a high Mensa score, without actual accomplishments it didn''t amount to anything. Now that Scarlet offended the Wilde Family and created trouble at school, they no longer had a reason to let her do as she pleased.

    Scarlet did her best not to tremble when her mother''s hand landed on her shoulder gently. It was all an act and she knew it too well.

    "Xiu Wen, what weren''t you happy with? We agreed to let you attend school by yourself on your request. You''re already ten. It''s about time that you grew up and stopped fooling around. There are some things that you cannot have in this world no matter how hard you want it. After all, your parents aren''t as rich or powerful as some of the people out there... The Wilde''s aren''t people you should be bothering."

    Horrible memories came hurtling back with Mrs Liu''s forced smile. A hint of fear materialised in the young lady''s eyes and Scarlet knew it all too well... Mrs Liu''s smile became cruel when she saw the crack in her daughter''s defences. No matter how smart Scarlet was, she was still only a ten-year-old.

    The twisted sneer made Scarlet remember the reason why she hated home so much especially when her parents were around. She was forced to stay hidden away in her room whenever she wasn''t greeting guests. Her mother''s hobby of dolling her up in uncomfortable dresses and shoes just to show her off in front of friends at social gatherings made the girl sick to the stomach. After the showing off, Scarlet would be shooed away and told to make herself useful while her mother talked about business. The girl was then forced to mingle around the other children and play nice to help her mother get a more favourable opinion in the social circle.

    Back then there was a boy about two years younger than Scarlet who started insulting and getting all touchy with her when she ignored him. That made Scarlet highly uncomfortable so when he started pulling her hair, she shoved him as hard as she could.

    The fat boy lost his balance and tripped over a chair but not before pulling with him an entire tray of food and drinks. The incident brought great shame to Mrs Liu and the woman made her kneel on the gravel outside for two hours that afternoon as punishment.

    Now that she''s hit someone with a spoon, how will her mother punish her?

    "Scarlet Liu Xiu Wen..." the cold voice brought her back to reality. "From today onwards, you will not be leaving your room until further notice. Your father and I will discuss what to do about you."

    The young girl blinked without believing it. That''s all? They were only going to ground her?

    "I understand," she answered monotonously before heading to her room without another word. The juice was getting sticky and uncomfortable by now so Scarlet decided that she would start by taking a shower. Little did she know that a new kind of hell was only beginning.

 Chapter 20 - Sneaky Message

    For the first few days, Scarlet was happy living in her room. She could sleep late and sleep in with nobody bothering her. Her mother would always bring meals to her door and leave them there. There was minimal communication between mother and daughter too.

    Initially, Scarlet was worried that it might all be a ploy to make her let her guard down. The girl would always lock her windows and barricade her door before she slept, afraid of the punishments to come. However, after three days of similar treatment, Scarlet was convinced that her parents simply didn''t want to let her outside. Her suspicions were confirmed when she overheard them talking while in the toilet one day.

    For normal children who hated school, this would probably be the best thing that could happen to them. Scarlet even had a computer in her room and a short full of books. Living like a pet might do some damage to her pride and mental health but not her overall well-being. Thus, Scarlet decided that she will work on the Grand Plan alone while waiting for Alex and Jasper to find a way so that they could resume operations. Just because the circ.u.mstances have changed, it doesn''t mean that the goal has changed as well. For Scarlet who was more eager than ever to get out of the invisible cage, the captivity only served to fuel the fire in her.

    The computer she had in her room was slightly better than the one in the librarians'' office. Scarlet stretched before she pulled her chair in for a more comfortable posture. Now would probably be a good time to update the Human Observation Journal, but the girl suddenly didn''t know how to go about doing it. Apart from the useless neighbours who thought that the Liu''s were secretly robots in human skin sent by the government to spy on them, there weren''t any other interesting people to write about.

    After the screen appeared, Scarlet typed her usual greeting before staring at the blank page. It was a word doc.u.ment that Scarlet would always delete after each writing session. She didn''t trust the blog to not lose her draft and she didn''t trust anyone to not find her word doc.u.ment. Even if they hacked the Journal, they would probably never find out who wrote it. Scarlet learned a few tricks and The Onion Road* was one of the best things that existed on the internet.

    #screen starts#

    Ahoy Seaweed Heads!

    It is I, your captain, once again.

    While the week has been interesting, it was also equally dangerous. Many of you wouldn''t believe me if I told you that I was captured by both the Octopus Queen and the Marine Captain.

    I''m sure you''d want to know the reason for my sudden love for delusion and fantasy. Yes, this is still an Observation Journal, but I have been subjected to the unspeakable so somebody needs to be smart enough to piece the clues together. This is in no way an S.O.S message, just a cleverly put together riddle from my cell right now.

    Let''s start from the beginning, shall we?

    Lil'' old me was minding my own business hanging out with two scrubs of mine in the usual tavern one day. The tavern mama is an old girlfriend of mine and her husband is a wuss who bailed on everyone. If not for this strong-willed lady, the town would have been razed to the ground when I first got to it. Everybody sucked so it was nice finding this gem of a person. Later, I made this place my treasure cove for obvious reasons. End of side story.

    Back to the main story. I taught a drunken twerp, who thought spilling half his drink on me was funny, a lesson. He ran back home to tattle on me and his mommy, aka the shitty town''s owner, who then pressured the useless mama''s husband who then booted me out of my merriment.

    The Marine Captain who received a call from the tipper came running down and she put me in chains so I''m sitting here rotting in my cell of doom and gloom. I''m actually waiting for the Octopus Queen who kidnapped me earlier to come save me because we had a deal. I''ll take her daughter and son, aka the two twerps I was drinking with, to travel the seas and she''ll rescue me whenever I''m in a pinch.

    I''m sure half of you are hopping in your seats and chewing on your keyboards by now, wondering where I''d met the Octopus Queen while the other half are just wondering if they should unsubscribe to this nonsense. Truth is, everything happened by chance.

    I took in the two scrubs when they sneaked aboard my ship and treated them as I would with my crew. The Octopus Queen was intrigued so she sent her seamen to capture me for undersea tea. She gave me some booty for down payment so I''m now inclined to babysit them permanently.

    Here comes the regular section of the blog you lot are familiar with now that the story-telling is done.

    Question: Both ladies captured me. Why does it seem like only one is a villain?

    Hint: The villain is on the side of law that people normally respect.

    Now, I need to put a disclaimer. Other than that drunken twerp, I''ve never really hurt anyone. I might be a pirate but I don''t kill. Smack? Yes, but I don''t kill. Drunken twerp got away with only one black eye... it could have been two.

    Let''s do the Human Observing part of this Journal now, shall we?

    Madam Octopus is a mother of a friend who treated me like a human. Marine Captain is someone I''m biologically related to. Technically, I''m in the care of Marine Captain. However, emotionally, I feel more aligned with Madam Octopus. (God forbid that she finds out what I''m comparing her to!)

    I''ve seen a few internet stories about animals raising children that aren''t theirs. This could very well be my case but what do you think? I''m not going to make any judgement. I''m just here to pass biased or unbiased observations.

    That''s all for me. I have a lot of time in my cell now so you might see another update sooner than expected.

    Fair winds and don''t catch a cold!

    Pirate S.

    #screen ends#

    Scarlet checked the time after she entered the last word. It was a little after three and the girl wondered what she should do next.

    After the blog was updated swiftly, the girl yawned. That was odd. She remembered sleeping at least twelve hours so why did she still feel so sleepy? Must be the side effects of being shut in all day.

    The bed looked inviting so after losing a battle with herself, Scarlet gave in to temptations and crawled over. Within just five minutes, the girl was snoozing soundly, uncaring that she''d forgotten to barricade the door or lock the windows.

    *Due to the recent copyright issues going on in WN I changed it. Sorry, I know this isn''t the exact name but can you blame me?

 Chapter 21 - S.O.S Received, Save the Captain!

    It has been four days since that incident and neither Jasper nor Alex has seen Scarlet. Nobody knew anything about her whereabouts. According to Venessa, she overheard some teachers talking about how her parents have called the school, informing them about Scarlet''s extended leave with no certainty of her return.

    Nobody was allowed to contact the Liu''s and even the teachers were tight-lipped about giving any more information about Scarlet. Alex tried asking for Scarlet''s address to deliver her share of homework but was turned down. Jasper found it incredibly odd but decided to remain silent on the side. Mrs Wilde and Jenna were also trying to find out more about what happened to little Scarlet but they couldn''t move too openly. No matter how powerful the Wilde Family was, it wouldn''t reflect well for their general image if they were found sniffing around without concrete evidence about Mr and Mrs Liu''s private affairs.

    The duo didn''t bother to attend classes. Alex brought Mr Wilde''s spare laptop to school so that they could continue working on Scarlet''s plan. That didn''t prove very effective with the unofficial leader of their team missing and uncontactable. Fortunately, nobody would think about looking for them in the science lab''s storeroom. The kind lab assistant who chose to provide them refuge was an old lady who helped maintain and wash the apparatus every day. There wasn''t really anything much to do in between classes so she didn''t mind taking in two very intelligent students who had bigger ambitions in life. Her only condition was that they had to help her feed the lab pets which was something the class skippers readily agreed to. It was a good deal.

    Jasper was browsing through some of the materials Scarlet mentioned before when Alex tapped him urgently on the arm. "Look! She updated the Journal!"

    Almost at once, the boy dropped his reading materials and hovered over the laptop. True enough, there was a post updated yesterday afternoon. Jasper and Alex read the post twice to make sure they didn''t miss anything out.

    "Are you thinking what I''m thinking?" Alex finally broke the silence, her expression deeply troubled.

    Jasper shrugged. "Your mother wouldn''t appreciate being compared to an octopus, but I can see where she is coming from. Also, I feel like we should let the a.d.u.l.ts know. Being trapped in a cell doesn''t sound good. I don''t know what kind of cell has a computer but if Scarlet is trapped in it, then it is enough reason for us to rescue her."

    Alex agreed. "Let me call Jenna. You''re better at finding clues so I will let you see if you can pick out more clues from her post. I''ll be right back!"

    Jasper glanced back at the post and read it again, paying more attention to every detail. His lips twitched when he came across the word Scarlet chose to describe her new friends with. "Scrubs, huh? We must be the two most capable scrubs in the world if we get her out of prison..."

    >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<<

    Alex was surprised to receive a text from Jenna telling them to follow the driver home today as she has urgent matters to attend to. Jasper took a look at the text and quickly put two and two together. Jenna must be acting on Mrs Wilde''s orders to investigate Scarlet''s situation.

    "Do you think we can pay Scarlet a secret visit?" Alex asked.

    "Jenna is already on it..."

    Alex grinned. "No, Jenna''s going to see the Liu''s. We are going to see Scarlet. I bet Princess Rapunzel is locked up in a tower waiting for her Prince Charming to rescue her. Isn''t it great that I''m the school''s Prince?"

    Jasper rolled his eyes behind his thick bangs. "Well, the Prince can go rescue the Doll Princess. This Freak is not interested. I''m more interested in this thing called stock market Scarlet briefly mentioned the other day. It''s like gaming but better because it gives you real money. If I can understand the trend, I''ll be making millions."

    Alex rolled her eyes. Jasper was beginning to sound a little like her father, always talking about the money. The girl didn''t quite understand people and their strange obsession with it. True, she was taught that she was special and that money would never be something she had to worry about. It was something that was important for people and she was taught to respect it. However, Alex can''t help but wonder what kind of world would exist for those who didn''t need to worry about it at all. Scarlet''s Grand Plan included being financially independent and she''d never seen Jasper been more enthusiastic about anything. Usually, he had to be dragged along before things can start to move.

    "Fine. You''ll head home and I''ll just visit Scarlet."

    Jasper raised a brow. "You know where she lives?"

    Alex grinned. "We had a girls'' night, remember? Of course! We had a girl''s night, remember? I just need to hop on the bus and alight at the fourth stop."

    Jasper paled. Knowing the spoiled young mistress who''d never travelled anywhere by herself before, taking public transport can spell trouble. He weighed the pros and cons. It wasn''t very difficult for him to sacrifice his short-lived happiness. The gardener''s son would rather forgo his short-lived joy and spare the Wilde''s special force guards the country-wide search operation for their missing young lady than face the wrath of his parents for failing his mission to take care of the naive girl. For a cook and a gardener working in the Wilde Family, they were scarier than the real master and madam of the mansion.

    "Wait! I''ll come with you. We can tell the driver to pick us up later when we know the address..."

    Alex wasn''t quite expecting Jasper''s offer to help and grinned when he did. "I knew you would come to see it my way!"

    Jasper wanted to pull his hair out in frustration at how dense Alex was. "Of course, anything for you..." He replied dryly.

    On the other hand, those words made Alex react in a very different manner. The girl quickly looked away, trying to hide the blush and calm her heart.

 Chapter 22 - Romeo and Juliet Found Guilty

    Jasper looked at his wallet after they boarded the bus. The rumbling of the engine and chatter of excited children didn''t bother him as much as the emptiness in his wallet. All his savings... gone! The cause? Alex didn''t have money even though she was loaded.

    If looks could kill, Alex was probably going to die horribly. Jasper didn''t know if he should be crying over this or resigning it to his fate for being born into servitude for the Wilde household by ill luck. All the hard-earned savings that he managed to hide from his penny-pinching mother... gone! Jasper was looking forward to treating himself to a bar of slightly expensive dark chocolate at the end of the week with the money he managed to keep away from his mother. Mrs Hopper would always confiscate Jasper''s savings and put it away in a bank for him. Jasper wasn''t allowed to withdraw anything that goes into his bank account as he wasn''t of age and Mrs Hopper absolutely would not allow it. She was very strict about helping Jasper save up to afford his university tuition fees when he grew older.

    Why was it so hard for a ten-year-old boy to enjoy life?

    The bus driver didn''t seem to care for the passengers on board and appeared to have made it his goal to run over every pothole on the path. While Jasper was having a hard time maintaining his hairstyle, Alex was mentally struggling to cope with bumping her arm into Jasper''s repeatedly. For her, she now understood the appeal of travelling together in crowded public transportation. Ignoring the noise, smell, and uncomfortable ride, spending any kind of time with the person you fancy is bliss in itself.

    Jasper who was lamenting the loss of his savings noticed that Alex was pulling closer to him each time the bus jerked. Although he was irritated at the girl for clinging onto him, he kept his cool and relented. For a pampered young miss to travel on such boorish transportation, it must be making her highly uncomfortable. Being the understanding kid he was, Jasper allowed her to hold onto his arm at some point until the reached their destination.

    "Wait, hasn''t it already been the third stop?" Alex asked. "We should alight at the next stop."

    Jasper shook his head and suppressed a sigh. For the common folks, the bus is as good as a private car that follows a strict route. The driver decides where stops actually are and the regulars don''t usually alight at the designated stops unless they''ve informed the driver or ticket collector in advance. Jasper had already taken care of that when he paid the ticket collector more than the ordinary fare so that he will inform them when it is time to alight.

    "Don''t worry about it, the ticket collector knows that we aren''t from this area. He will let us know when it is time to alight."

    Relieved, Alex nodded happily and smiled charmingly. The school girls on the bus saw that and started whispering among themselves, trying to be discreet about stealing a few peeks at the handsome youth. Jasper grimaced. Mrs Wilde was right. If Alex was a girl, it would attract even more unwanted attention. Until Alex gained some common sense and self-preservation instincts, she would have to remain as a boy until she completes her education.

    The bus rumbled by and the ticket collector signaled for Jasper that the next stop was their destination. He picked up both their bags and ushered Alex down the narrow aisle, telling her to hand the handrails as they passed through. They slighted without fuss and Alex was once more thrown into a different world.

    "Who is going to be meeting us?" she asked.

    Jasper just shifted the bags on his shoulders and grabbed Alex''s hand before marching forward. Talking to this girl would only make him feel more tired. Taking action and asking for forgiveness later is faster.

    Alex was startled by Jasper''s forwardness and blushed terribly. Her heart was racing so fast that it might have announced to everyone around about her adoration for the boy in front of her. Scarlet followed without a word this time and kept her head down throughout, afraid that Jasper might turn around to see her flaming cheeks.

    Jasper rounded the corner and tried to look for a house with a white gate with yellow flower bushes on the driveway. It was in the area but bring near so many other houses made the search slightly more challenging. Alex had calmed down and was starting to look around for the house Scarlet talked about.

    "I think we should ask someone for directions..." Scarlet said after Jasper made the third round in the neighbourhood.

    Unwilling to admit that they were lost, Jasper''s grip on Alex''s hand tightened. He pulled the tired girl along again and was about to start their fourth round when a car came by and stopped right in front of them.

    Jasper was immediately on high alert and stood in front of Alex in a protective stance. The person who slighted from the car looked familiar and crossed at the same time. Jenna who was on an errand didn''t expect to see the two children who were supposed to be home by now. The driver had called her and informed her about their tardiness so the butler rushed ahead of schedule to pay the Liu''s a visit.

    "Jenna! Thank goodness you''re here... Jasper keeps walking in rounds and won''t ask anyone for directions. Are you here to pick us up to see Scarlet?"

    Jasper stiffened when Alex gave away their cover so easily. If he could, he would have wound his hands around her neck and strangle her. Didn''t she know that they weren''t supposed to ditch the driver? Besides, wasn''t this Alex''s idea to begin with? Why was he the one to get into trouble when Alex instigated the whole thing?

    "Indeed, I am on my way to see Scarlet''s parents. However, I do not recall the lady to have given the both of you her permission to visit Scarlet."

    Jasper and Alex paled. Jenna can be scary when she was angry, only second compared to Mrs Wilde. The butler whipped out her phone and called her employer to inform her about the children''s whereabouts.

    With a serene smile, Jenna ushered the two helpless children in. Although her legs were enjoying the reprieve from walking, Alex couldn''t help but worry about the punishment they would get into when they reach home later.

 Chapter 23 - Romeo and Juliet Trespass Rapunzeléˆ¥æªš Prison

    Jenna wasn''t pleased to find the kids ditching their driver, but she couldn''t blame them for worrying about a friend. In fact, she was secretly thrilled. Scarlet was a unique individual and there can only be benefits for the Wilde Family knowing that girl. Jasper and Alex needed just the right push in life to start spreading their wings and Scarlet was the right motivation.

    "Alright, listen up. I am going to talk to Scarlet''s parents and both of you should not be here at all. Jonathan will drop you further down the street, you can talk to Scarlet when I have settled down to discuss some very important a.d.u.l.t matters with Scarlet''s parents. I do not want any of you causing trouble or getting caught, do you understand me? Scarlet should be in her room."

    Alex nodded gratefully and Jasper wondered if it was possible to pull it off without screwing up somehow. "Where is Scarlet''s room?" he asked.

    Jenna shrugged. "I wasn''t told. However, the house is a one-level building, it shouldn''t be too hard to find it. Scarlet''s room has a window."

    After realigning their strategies a little, the car came to a halt. "This is it, do well and I will ask the madam to reduce your punishment."

    Alex saluted and Jasper nodded before they got out of the car. Without the weight of their bags hindering him, Jasper felt a lot more confident about the mission''s success until they were met with their first obstacle.

    Alex suggested edging along the tall hedges to look for a side gate but Jasper spotted some security cameras and didn''t think that it was a good idea. They would have to find another way around and probably in a more creative manner too seeing as Alex wasn''t very athletic. Climbing walls were out of the equation. The tall hedges did a good job deterring nosy people from peeping into the house. Jasper wondered if the Liu''s kept any guard dogs but knowing that Scarlet often returned to an empty house, he doubted it.

    "Let''s check the neighbour''s fence," Jasper suggested. It would be easier to climb onto the roof and jump down when they knew where Scarlet''s room was.

    Alex didn''t know what checking the neighbour''s yard would do to help them but followed Jasper anyway since she didn''t know where to begin. The boy walked around and found a good tree in the back. The neighbours were also out so that was convenient. Jasper tested a lower branch and backed a few steps before running to give him momentum.

    Alex watched with big eyes as the boy pulled himself up the lower branch. Once he was sitting comfortably in the branch, he bent down and offered Alex his hand. The young heiress blushed at the gentlemanly gesture and accepted it. Jasper pulled her up in an effortless manner. Being a lackey carrying those heavy bags trained his arm muscles well.

    Once they were high enough in the tree, Jasper sprinted a little and hopped onto the roof. The roof tiles were slightly slippery and Jasper fell, much to Alex''s horror. Thankfully, he had good reflexes. The gardener''s son righted himself and regained his footing, impressing the young heiress who was now unsure if she should try the same stunt.

    "Wait there," he told her and clambered over the top, disappearing over to the other side.

    Now stuck in the tree, Alex didn''t know if she was able to move. From this height, it was a long way down. The young heiress felt like a cat who''d climbed up a tree and was too scared to go down. Her knees buckled and she hung onto a branch for dear life as a particularly strong gust of wind caused the branch to sway.

    "Jasper!" her hushed whispers were lost to the wind and Alex prayed that he would return soon.

    As if it were magic, Jasper''s head popped back up with only a helmet of hair just past Alex''s line of sight from the branch. "I found it! Come quickly..."

    Alex shook her head, her eyes teary. "I can''t..."

    Her weak voice made Jasper sigh silently. This princess was really too useless... how hard was it to jump from the tree to the roof? Also, Scarlet''s room was very near the front porch so they''d have to take a different route. He scouted the insides of the house briefly. With Jenna keeping the a.d.u.l.ts busy, Jasper could easily sneak through the backdoor once they get past the cameras watching the front.

    "Hold on, I''ll get down first. We''ll head in from the backdoor after this. There are no cameras watching it, only the front that we need to avoid. Scarlet''s room is somewhere in the front, we need to sneak in from the back. Good thing Jenna has the a.d.u.l.ts occupied, their backs will be facing us."

    Alex was impressed that Jasper gathered so much information in such a short period of time. "You sound like a detective... it''s nice to know that we have a way in but I can''t get down."

    Jasper scurried over and dropped down the roof before rolling expertly on the grass, making very little noise. Once he was sure that the coast was clear, he held his arms open wide. Alex looked at it and blushed.

    "Hurry up, I''ll catch you!"

    Alex didn''t think much of it and let go of the branch, falling right into Jasper''s ready arms. The scene was romantic until the impact came. Jasper was unprepared for the angel of Alex''s fall so he had to lean backwards. However, he wasn''t able to steady himself on time when Alex made contact so the duo tumbled onto the dirt clumsily.

    Thankfully, nobody seemed to hear the commotion outside. Even if they did, they would have written it off as some silly squirrel knocking into some old dustpans. The trespassers took a minute to calm their racing hearts before Jasper resumed the operation. The backdoor wasn''t locked so it saved him some time trying to help the girl crawl through the open kitchen window.

    Once they were in, Jasper put a finger to his lips and signalled for Alex to follow his lead. They tip-toed gingerly down the hallway. As the distance between Jasper and Alex grew wider, the girl decided to rush and forgo the stealth, knocking into a chair. The wooden furniture screeched and in panic, Alex made a run for it. Jasper''s heart nearly stopped when he caught sight of Mrs Liu turning around at the noise.

    Luckily for them, Alex cleared the danger zone and Jasper pulled her towards the wall opposite to huddle together like sardines in a can. Once the a.d.u.l.ts resumed their conversation, Jasper relaxed a little. To their right was that one door separating them from Scarlet.

    With their faces only inches apart, Alex could now see the eyes hidden behind the bangs. There was no need for communication between the two childhood friends. Alex nodded at his silent question and Jasper turned the door handle very slowly while holding their breaths.

 Chapter 24 - A Hidden Ace

    Scarlet certainly wasn''t expecting visitors when her door cracked open almost creepily. She jammed the power button of the computer to destroy the evidence of what she was crafting.

    The girl stood up abruptly, making a lot of noise that panicked her intruders. Jasper quickly pulled Alex in and shut the door as silently as he could before locking it. Scarlet''s eyes were wide in disbelief. How did these two manage to bypass the security and her parents? She thought that after the blog post, they might have gotten the a.d.u.l.ts to help but to personally come over? What were they thinking?

    Sadly, due to the temporary brain malfunction, she could only gap like a fish. The first words out of her mouth were, "Are you guys for real?"

    Alex beamed. She rushed towards Scarlet with a hug while Jasper drew the curtains close, not wanting anyone else to find out. They had limited time to pass the message. Every second they spent here was increasing their risk of getting caught. He couldn''t allow Alex to spend too long catching up.

    "Alex! We are on a mission, tell her what she needs to go and then we need to leave. I''ll keep watch."

    Snapping out of her thoughts and emotions, Alex complied.

    "Scarlet, we saw your blog post. My mother is working on something right now. A lawyer will arrive at your home this weekend, your parents will be distracted so that you can answer his questions. We will try to negotiate with your parents to let you become the ward of the Wilde Family without going to court. However, mother said that she''ll push for a court case if your parents won''t yield."

    Jasper nodded. After seeing the confusion in Scarlet''s eyes, he elaborated a little more. "You''re going to be Alex''s unofficial sister if everything goes right. Mrs Wilde has taken a liking to you and as a sponsor, she couldn''t allow her investments to flop before she saw returns."

    With Jasper''s blunt explanation, the girl felt more at ease. The world runs on more logic than emotion, so it was more reasonable for Mrs Wilde to take action when personal interests were involved.

    "I didn''t think she''d take the flowery talks of a child so seriously..."

    Jasper shrugged. Scarlet may be right, there will always be more than met the eye when the Wilde''s were involved. Unfortunately, he was in the same boat as Scarlet. In this business deal, they were at the mercy of the huge consortium and before they were financially powerful enough to break from that hold, swallowing their pride to ask for help was all they could do.

    "We are geniuses after all... it would be strange for a shrewd businesswoman like mother to not want to secure talent like that," Alex said.

    Both Scarlet and Jasper blinked. For Alex to say something that has a lot of sense, this was a first.

    "What?"

    "Nothing," they replied in unison.

    After a few more clarifications about the lawyer, Alex passed Scarlet her phone. "This is so that you can contact us if things become bad. I''m sorry I didn''t bring a charger with me so you can''t play games on it."

    Scarlet smiled for the first time in days. "Thank you, I will be waiting."

    After the secret Romeo and Juliet left, Scarlet felt less like Rapunzel and more like a hidden ace. She felt like she was finally starting in her own life movie as the lead actress even if Mrs Wilde had more screen time in the beginning.

    "No more hiding," she told herself. "No more hiding."

    The computer was powered on again and Scarlet stretched before tucking the chair in.

    It''s showtime.

 Chapter 25 - Suit and Glasses

    Scarlet ate, slept and waited much like a princess in captivity. On the outside, it looked as if she was being obedient and repentant. On the inside, Scarlet was already starting the first step of her plan. She told Jasper and Alex to create a chatroom account so that they could communicate while she was still under house arrest.

    Mr and Mrs Liu were suspicious when Scarlet was acting very plaint. She didn''t act out of control or tried to run away. The Scarlet they knew would have broken down by now.

    "Do you think she''s been broken?" Mrs Liu asked her husband one night after checking in on their now sleeping daughter. Other than the unusually high amount of computer usage to read, watch videos and play games there was nothing out of the ordinary.

    Mr Liu shrugged. he wanted to be done and over with the fuss so he could return to work. Working from home and receiving calls every day wasn''t making his mood any better. A man like him should be out there accomplishing something great and not playing hide and seek with his disobedient daughter. His wife was overthinking again, Scarlet may be mischievous but she wasn''t very capable. The Mensa score was merely a measure of her potential, not her abilities.

    "Let''s just observe for now. If things become worse, we can employ a caretaker to watch over her and give you daily reports or install cameras in the house."

    Mrs Liu pursed her lips. Those were suggestions that her husband kept bringing up. She didn''t want to do such things as her friends would only see it as being controlling. Scarlet was only good when she was capable and independent. If she had to resort to such tricks in order to keep her daughter on a leash at this age, wouldn''t she become the world''s biggest laughing stock?

    "I''ll think about it," she told her husband and brushed the idea aside. She didn''t believe that it would be so easy to break Scarlet down this time. The girl was tenacious and it took a few weeks before Scarlet finally acknowledged her mistakes. While the girl wasn''t doing anything wrong, she wasn''t doing anything to make Mrs Liu convinced that she learnt her lesson. Could this be a form of silent rebellion?

    While Mr and Mrs Liu headed for bed, Scarlet laid on the bed under the sheets with her eyes closed. She was waiting for the right time to get cracking on her computer. According to her observation, her father would usually sleep by midnight after nursing a glass of red wine and her mother would sleep at one in the morning after her nightly beauty routine while reading some financial magazines. Two in the morning was the golden time that Scarlet chose to strike. She was flexible and adapted quickly according to the situation. Her parents were creatures of habit so it wasn''t difficult for her to adjust her body clock around it.

    Scarlet would often wake up after her parents had fallen asleep and work till about seven in the morning when the sun is just beginning to rise. She would wake up to brunch at around eleven when her mother woke her up for breakfast before and showering then working all the way till dinner at half-past five. The curtains were always drawn shut and Scarlet made a small trap to alert her if anyone entered her room while she slept. From the looks of it, her mother has yet to figure out her trick.

    In addition to these countermeasures, Scarlet was careful to always use VPNs and TOR to work on her actual plan with another browser open for games and reading. She always turned on videos or music to cover the sound of her rapid typing. This way, even Mr Liu, who was an expert in the IT field, became fooled. It was a blessing that her father looked down on her. She needed them to underestimate her abilities so that she had more room to manoeuvre.

    Two days had gone by since Jenna''s visit and Scarlet wondered how long it would take before the Wilde''s can send help. That morale boost she received did wonders and Scarlet worked with twice the efficiency without the distraction of school. If there was one thing the girl was worried about, that would be getting pudgy from the lack of exercise.

    Jasper and Alex attended school without change. The only exception was that they were now required to attend some classes instead of spending all their time in the science lab chatting with Scarlet. Jenna explained that it would create more suspicions and bad rumours if all three ''trouble'' children were suddenly ditching classes. It could pose some trouble for the lawyer who was trying to win the Wilde''s their ward.

    The lawyer Jenna contacted was a young man in his mid-twenties. He had his hair gelled back stylishly and wore frameless glasses that gave him an intelligent look. Alex caught a glimpse of the lawyer when he visited them formally. The lawyer''s name was Benjamin Chang but Jasper gave him the nickname Suit & Glasses.

    According to information sources, Suit & Glasses was gearing up. Scarlet could barely sleep with all the excitement bubbling inside of her. By next week, there will be an opportunity to finally be free from her parents even if just for a few hours. Scarlet just wanted to get out of the house even if it was just for a little.

    Two in the morning rolled by quickly and Scarlet hopped off the bed and tip goes to the door, locking it and stuffing her blanket at the bottom of the door so that light would not be seen from the crack below. She pulled the chair out gently and turned the computer on before logging into the chatroom.

    Red Willow: Are you there?

    Suit & Glasses: Yes I am. What are children doing up so late?

    Red Willow: Plotting, what else?

    Red Willow: Aren''t you going to tell me when you''re coming over? I''ve been waiting very patiently but I''m itching to get out for a nice stroll in the park under the trees and sky.

    Suit & Glasses: Somewhere within a week, preparations are going smoothly but I still need to pull a few more strings.

    Suit & Glasses: Octopus Queen says that you''re not allowed to stay up so late. She is setting your curfew at ten.

    Red Willow: How would she know that I''m not sleeping if you don''t tell her?

    Suit & Glasses: ... she is beside me right now.

    [Red Willow has left the chatroom.]

    Startled, Scarlet exited the room in a hurry. Why would Mrs Wilde be up so late and watching Benjamin chat with her? She shook her head and decided that it wasn''t important. Nobody would find out that she wasn''t sleeping if she didn''t get online. Scarlet grinned and rubbed her hands gleefully.

    Today she was finally going to attempt to write the first chapter of her book. How hard could it be? It''s just an expanded essay, right?

 Chapter 26 - Meeting Her Capeless Hero

    The opportunity finally presented itself on a busy Tuesday. Mr Liu left for work again, flying to somewhere in Africa this time and Mrs Liu had to go grocery shopping.

    Scarlet kept the act up as Mrs Liu locked the door. She had the security cameras ready to catch Scarlet in the act so she wasn''t too worried.

    Once the car has left the garage, Scarlet checked the streets from the window in the hall through the closed curtains. There were no pesky neighbours around to tattle on her so it was a good day to go out.

    Hopping onto the computer, Scarlet entered the chatroom again.

    - Red Willow has logged in.-

    Red Willow: The evil witch is out on an errand, don''t know when she will be back but I will attempt to escape my prison.

    - Hidden Eyes has logged in.-

    My Gender is Royalty: That''s good news! I shall inform Jenna immediately.

    Hidden Eyes: Didn''t we agree to use code names in the chat?

    Suit & Glasses: Why aren''t you kids studying? Isn''t it still class time?

    - Hidden Eyes left the chat.-

    - My Gender is Royalty left the chat.-

    Red Willow: ...

    Red Willow: Aren''t lawyers supposed to be busy?

    Suit & Glasses: So clever... technically I am a freelance lawyer with my very own law office. As the boss, nobody can tell me what to do. Besides, I promised to whisk you away from your prison, didn''t I? Wait there.

    - Suit & Glasses left the chat. -

    Scarlet leaned back and blinked at the screen. For some reason, that last line made her feel very warm. She wasn''t a princess, like Alex, who needed a Prince Charming. Benjamin wasn''t a Prince at all. The man was blunt with a terrible sense of humour on top of a problem with tardiness and social etiquette when he wasn''t in the courtroom. The lawyer was far from perfect but Scarlet didn''t mind. If anything, she thought he was very cool despite his flaws. Nobody has done so much for her before even if they were being paid. It made Scarlet think that sometimes heroes don''t need capes.

    It was a very subtle yet silent feeling that settled inside of the girl''s icy heart but the seed remained, undamaged by the frosty climate just waiting for the right person to come along before it could grow.

    Benjamin showed up in nothing like how Alex or Jasper described him to be. There were no suits to be seen although he wore his usual glasses. The image he gave off was more towards a classy young owner of a successful start-up. The girl felt her heart skip a beat and a blush covered her cheeks. Scarlet wasn''t sure what was causing this strange reaction. Perhaps she should be seeing the doctor in the infirmary when she was finally allowed back to school.

    Benjamin didn''t go by the front door and opted for Jasper''s preferred route. He casually walked past the neighbour''s house to check if anyone was in. As it was, they were in luck for nobody in the vicinity seemed to be home. It was a weekday after all, not something uncommon.

    Scarlet watched from the kitchen window how the lawyer strolled into the neighbour''s yard and climbed the tree in four cleverly placed steps. Once he was at the right level, he hopped onto and over the wall. The lawyer landed gracefully on the grass like a big jungle cat and lazily looked around. He spotted Scarlet through the window and waved to her with a grin.

    The young genius waved back and tried to calm her racing heart. She pointed to the right where the backdoor was located and went to unlock it for her hero.

    Once Benjamin was inside the house, he grinned at Scarlet. Mrs Wilde and Alex had spoken a lot about this girl and it made the lawyer curious as to what kind of character managed to catch their interest. It was very difficult for ordinary folks to catch the eye of Mrs Wilde. She was known for being very difficult to convince. Neither money nor good looks can sway Orita''s decision. She was firm in what she wanted and unstoppable when she moved.

    "Good afternoon, Scarlet. How does lunch sound like to you?"

    The girl nodded. She was feeling peckish even though it wasn''t lunchtime yet. She''d woken up early when she knew about Mrs Liu''s plans. While the young genius was making up her mind, her impatient stomach rolled its non-existent eyes and made that decision for her by announcing its demands loudly and proudly.

    Benjamin chuckled. "What would you like to have?"

    Scarlet thought back to the unappetising and poorly made tuna melt sandwiches her mother left at her door. Her stomach grumbled once more and Scarlet flushed beetroot. The lawyer didn''t rush her for an answer and waited patiently.

    Alas, even patience had an expiry date. When he received no reply from the girl after twenty long seconds, he offered to walk her to where he parked his car. Scarlet nodded and was rudely shocked when her feet suddenly got lifted off the ground. She didn''t think she would ever have the chance to be carried like a princess so it was both endearing and embarrassing. She was ten for crying out loud! If anyone at school saw it, they would never let her live it down.

    Benjamin carried the underweight girl in his arms and took off. Scarlet clung onto the lawyer''s shirt when the man sprinted up the wall and flipped over effortlessly into the neighbour''s yard. Once they were safely out of sight from the security cameras, Benjamin let Scarlet down and they walked to the lawyer''s car in silence with Scarlet wondering if the man was more like a hero than a prince.

 Chapter 27 - Binge Eating and Discussions

    Fried chicken. They were eating fried chicken.

    Scarlet looked at the array of chicken parts in front of her and wondered how they were going to finish thirty unique fried chicken cuts with only two people a the table of four. Her question was soon answered when a few familiar faces showed up.

    Scarlet was tackled from the back by Alex who hugged her tightly, squeezing the oxygen out of her lungs and Jasper gave a quick wave. Jenna stood stiffly even in her casual clothing. Although the fast-food restaurant wasn''t very crowded, there were still many people around. The trio who just arrived were attracting more attention than Scarlet and Benjamin did. It wasn''t a common sight to see anyone as good looking as Alex, as odd as Jasper, and as refined as Jenna in a local fast-food chain. Scarlet just wanted to hide underneath the table... why did they always attract so much attention wherever they went?

    "It''s great to see you here," Benjamin greeted Jenna and moved in to make space for the newcomers.

    Jenna smiled and grabbed a spare chair from another table nearby before joining them. Scarlet was doing the math mentally. With five people at the table, they''d each have to eat six pieces of chicken on average to finish everything... that was still a lot of eating to do. She didn''t feel confident about finishing three, much less six.

    "Will anyone else be joining?" Scarlet whispered to Alex who claimed the spot beside her. Jasper was awkwardly sandwiched between benjamin and Jenna.

    "I don''t think so, the whole team is here. Unless you''d like to invite my mother too?"

    The young genius shook her head rapidly. Who would dare to invite the Wilde heiress to a regular fast-food restaurant? She certainly didn''t have the gall to do something so outrageous. Also, of all the things they could be eating, why fried chicken? Scarlet didn''t want to question the choice of food because it was certainly better than tuna melt sandwiches.

    "Shall we start eating first? The discussions can happen after we''ve filled our stomachs," Jenna commented.

    Jasper happily dug in and Alex excused herself to wash her hands first. Scarlet thought that Jenna would chide Jasper for not washing his hands first, but the butler did no such thing. In fact, Jenna joined in and started eating without reservations. Seeing that washing hands before eating wasn''t mandatory, Scarlet relaxed and joined them. She bit down on a juicy wing joint and closed her eyes in bliss. This was what happiness should feel like.

    The children chattered as they ate, making a little mess on the table but Jenna didn''t comment on it. Benjamin also seemed more relaxed and even joined in teasing Alex about her mismatched socks. Apparently, the Wilde Princess was in such a rush to see Scarlet that she grabbed the wrong pair of socks. Scarlet looked down and giggled at the black sock on Alex''s left foot and orange sock on her right.

    "Isn''t it great that they''re ankle socks? Nobody would notice if you didn''t mention it," Scarlet consoled the girl who was pouting. To cheer her up, Scarlet placed another wing part on Alex''s paper tray.

    Jasper let out a loud belch and Alex looked scandalised by the uncouth behaviour. Jenna smiled slyly at the young lady''s mortification. Benjamin''s idea of bringing the discussion to somewhere less formal was a good call. She was initially sceptical but then there was just something about the commoner''s comfort food that brought the best out of everyone.

    "How are you coping?" she asked Scarlet. The light in Scarlet''s eyes dimmed significantly at the question as she fell silent.

    Benjamin noticed the shift in mood and decided to salvage what he could. He gave Jenna a warning glance before he turned his focus to the downcast girl who''d retracted back into her shell. The butler looked apologetic. She should have known that Scarlet was still in a fragile mental state.

    "Did you manage to get any sleep yesterday? I remember you saying that you''re still working on an outline of your very first book. Is that going to be a short story or a children''s book?"

    Scarlet looked up and blinked. "It''s not a children''s book. I... I''m still stuck at knowing how many characters to create or what to name the characters. The page is still blank... I''m sorry."

    Alex blinked. "Don''t worry about that, I have lots and lots of ideas, I can help! What kind of book are you going to write?"

    Jasper continued inhaling chicken as he listened attentively. Scarlet blushed under the intense stares. She didn''t feel comfortable being in the centre of attention.

    "It''s just a book about starting a new life... I just want to go on an adventure but I have not decided what kind of characters there should be... I did consider writing something about a powerful person losing their memories and going on a journey to find themselves but that''s too difficult for a first book... maybe later. I think I should start with something simpler but I don''t know how to do it..."

    Jenna nodded. "How about writing a story about your Grand Plan? You can add Alex and Jasper into it too. Something that you''ve experienced is usually a good inspiration for any stories."

    Alex bounced with excitement. "Since it''s going to be make-believe can I be a pretty princess? Jasper can be a strong knight!"

    Jasper raised a brow beneath his bangs. "I don''t want to be a knight... can I be the rich and lazy dragon who lives in a cave in the mountain guarding a pot of gold?"

    Scarlet blinked. "What that got to do with children ruling the world?"

    Benjamin laughed and promptly choked on a chicken bone much to the children''s panic. Jenna kept her calm and delivered the Heimlich Manoeuvre with enviable precision.

    The children debated heatedly about the story Scarlet should write and the plans that should happen. Benjamin waited for them to be engrossed in their make-believe before easing in sly probing questions about Scarlet''s personal life.

    Jenna took down notes about the girl''s answers. The Liu''s didn''t mistreat Scarlet as parents but they didn''t give her the right kind of treatment a child required. It wasn''t considered neglect but it wasn''t considered care either. This was going to be a tough case to push.

    "Scarlet, what do you think the parents of this brave child warrior would like in return for letting her go? What can they be convinced with so that the child warrior can go on the adventures she always wanted? Imagine a rich merchant really wants to engage this child warrior as a mercenary. How can they be convinced?"

    Scarlet thought about it for a while and everyone waited nervously. Then she shrugged. "Money I suppose. And also some story that will make them look good so that they won''t need to deal with people asking why they let such a young child fend for herself and blame them for being bad parents."

    Jenna and the lawyer exchanged glances when they heard her answer. Finally, they can make their move.

 Chapter 28 - An Offer They Cannot Refuse

    There it was again, a letter with that Family Crest. Mrs Liu hesitated to open the letter although the letter opener was already in her hand. The hand that held the envelope trembled slightly. The career woman called her husband who told her to take a picture of the letter''s contents. He didn''t want to have to arrange another flight back home if it wasn''t anything critical.

    Mrs Liu didn''t know what to expect from the Wilde''s. Scarlet hasn''t been going to school. She couldn''t possibly be interacting with anyone or bothering the Wilde''s. She didn''t know why such a powerful and influential family would bother with an average household like theirs. The group accountant wasn''t naive enough to think that this was a coincidence. There was no such thing as a coincidence in this world just like how free lunches didn''t exist.

    The letter opener felt heavy in her hands as Mrs Liu sliced open the envelope. She took out the folded letter and took a deep breath before straightening it out to read. There was nothing out of the ordinary and it didn''t seem like a formal letter. If anything, it was handwritten - something uncommon to see with emails becoming more popular.

    The group accountant blinked and read the contents twice. The neat calligraphy stared back at her. Mrs Liu didn''t know what to think. The Wilde''s wanted to invite her to tea with Scarlet and extended their invitation to her husband too. Her mind blanked.

    "What is it?" the irritated Chief Information Officer grumbled into the phone. His wife certainly had way too much time on her hands when she wasn''t busy pouring over numbers and counting money. If it wasn''t mutually beneficial, he would never have taken her as his wife. Their relationship was meant to be more business-like, she wasn''t supposed to bug him over every single little thing. Having Scarlet was her idea. He never wanted children in the first place. What more did she want out of him? At this point, Mr Liu was heavily considering settling for a divorce.

    "It''s the Wilde''s again. They sent a letter inviting us over and we must bring the girl. I know you don''t like being disturbed from your work but think about it, this could just be the break we need to succeed! It''s a chance that won''t come by again, the Wilde''s are extremely influential. If played right, the girl can give us what we need to solidify our social standings."

    Mr Liu paused. His heart surged at the thought of finally getting the recognition he deserved. For once, the woman was right. Scarlet could very well be the bargaining chip they needed for a breakthrough.

    "I understand. When does this happen?"

    Mrs Liu grinned, knowing that her husband wouldn''t pass up such a chance. Who knew that their daughter would one day prove to be useful? For all the trouble that Scarlet caused over the years, she was finally beginning to prove her worth. they say that some investments are bitter at the start and for her daughter, it was simply too true.

    Scarlet listened in to her mother''s end of the conversation from behind her door and swallowed. Suit & Glasses didn''t lie. The Wilde''s were able to coax her greedy mother and even make her uncaring father agree. What kind of magic did they use? Not even the sweetest of deals could make her mother dance with joy like this. Scarlet peeked from the crack beneath the door and saw the reflection from the floor. Her mother was humming a merry time while choosing out potential outfits, tossing them onto the bed.

    She wasn''t able to find out the content of the letter or the date of the meeting but it wasn''t as important as reporting the situation at home to the lawyer who was still waiting for the news. He had been asking about it for the last two days but the mailman didn''t deliver anything of importance till just now.

    -Red Willow has logged in.-

    Suit & Glasses: You''re here. Did they receive it yet?

    Red Willow: Affirmative. From the conversation, both of them will attend. My mother is already choosing her outfit as we speak, I can hear the humming.

    Suit & Glasses: I see. That''s good news. Let''s go through the plan in detail now that we''ve confirmed their response.

    Suit & Glasses: Jasper will not be present on that day, you will be visiting with your parents. Jenna will be receiving your family and Mrs Wilde will make an excuse for you to join Alex while we start the negotiations. I will be attending as a lawyer to ''finalise some business proposition'' with your parents. Don''t worry, it will be a legitimate deal.

    Red Willow: Will I really be moving in with the Wilde Family? I don''t really want to take on the Wilde name...

    Suit & Glasses: Don''t worry, Mrs Wilde would never make you do anything you dislike. You''re going to be her ward, not her adopted daughter. Nobody will question why the Wilde''s have a ward. It''s actually a very common practice to do so in the business world for those who don''t marry into the family.

    Scarlet read Benjamin''s explanation and blinked. This kind of thing is common?

    Red Willow: I''ve never heard about such things...

    Suit & Glasses: That''s because it isn''t publicised much. It''s a dirty trick that the old aristocrats did to protect the power in their Family. Talent isn''t always born in the family, you know?

    Scarlet had no comeback to it. Alex was also recognised as a genius but she wasn''t the brightest when it came to running a business.

    Suit & Glasses: Don''t worry, just leave everything to us. We will make them an offer they cannot refuse. There isn''t anything the Wilde Family cannot afford and your parents are the exact kind of flies that hover around the Wilde''s every day. It''s just going to be like pocket change to them, don''t think too much about it and focus on that book. Mrs Orita Wilde is an investor who will never invest in anything that doesn''t yield returns.

    Scarlet felt as if Benjamin poured cold water onto her. The book she proposed to write with Jasper and Alex was still only at the character development stage. The page was still blank and four days had gone by already.

    "Where did all the time go?" she screamed silently and left the chatroom. There was still much work to be done even though she has no school. Why did life have to do this to her?

    Sadly, it doesn''t look like there will ever be rest days for the self-proclaimed half-genius.

 Chapter 29 - From One Cage to Another

    Scarlet couldn''t believe the nightmare she experienced just yesterday. Almost as if possessed, Mrs Liu became a completely different person, full of smiles and springing with every step, as she dragged Scarlet to the most expensive mall in town. Scarlet had never seen this side of her mother before and truthfully, it scared her more than the sickly sweet smile Mrs Liu gave when she was angry.

    The girl walked till her feet were sore but Mrs Liu''s enthusiasm never wavered. She kept going shops with each shop having pricier tags than the last. The accountant was like a raving madwoman, determined to empty the shops for the ''perfect dress'' so that Scarlet could impress the Wilde''s.

    It took four hours before Mrs Liu found the right dress and before even Scarlet could relax, she was dragged off to find the right hit accessory, the right shoes, etc. The shopping did not end in a day, it lasted two days. After the nightmarish quest for material objects, Mrs Liu drove Scarlet to a high-end beauty salon. The mother and daughter spent the whole day there doing their face, hair, nails, and going to various spas just to be their best. Scarlet didn''t know how her mother hasn''t emptied their bank accounts yet with the mindless splurging.

    The day finally arrived. Scarlet as woken up and fed a breakfast more luxurious than the usual toast and jam spread with milk. Mrs Liu hardly cooked so eating her mother''s homemade pancakes felt surreal to the young blogger. She was made to shower and dress up in the clothing of Mrs Liu''s choice before being told to sit down.

    As Mrs Liu combed and styled Scarlet''s hair, she smiled into the mirror and spoke to her daughter as if she was speaking to a cat.

    "Scarlet, we''re going to see some very good friends of mama''s so please be on your best behaviour. Don''t take more than two cookies when offered, always remember your please and thank you, don''t run in our dress, always wait to be spoken to before speaking..."

    The blogger zoned out while Mrs Liu braided her hair and finished it off with a neat blue ribbon. Scarlet looked into the full-length mirror and couldn''t recognise herself. Sure, her hair colour remained midnight black as usual and her skin was a little on the paler side the way it has always been. However, in her hair were trinkets she''d never worn before. The dress she wore was brand new and didn''t chafe like the others that her mother sometimes bought for her. It felt like water and Scarlet felt like a queen wearing clothing as expensive as the devil itself.

    If there was something Scarlet thought didn''t look good, it would be the big bow at the back of her dress. Scarlet didn''t understand why her mother would choose to tie the satin sash around her waist on the pristine white dress. The colour was too strong and stood out too much against everything else that she wore. Royal blue wasn''t a colour for children, most children would wear pastel colours to represent their cheerful nature. Luckily, the dress-sandals were silver and not black for that would have made Scarlet look like she was trying too hard to look mature.

    The doorbell rang and Mrs Liu put the finishing touch to Scarlet''s look - a pink lipgloss. The young genius didn''t like the sticky lip product and secretly wiped it away when Mrs Liu went to get their bags. Jenna called yesterday to inform the group accountant about their ride. Mrs Liu was thrilled by the hospitality and greeted the driver who was scheduled to fetch them.

    Without another word, Mrs Liu gave her daughter one last look to ensure that Scarlet looked flawless before ushering her into the limousine. She followed behind and waited for the chauffeur to drive off before launching into her last-minute social etiquette lessons.

    Scarlet wanted to roll her eyes but she knew that it wouldn''t be a tolerated behaviour so she endured the nagging session. They''d been to enough events and Scarlet knew the rules by heart.

    Rule 1: Never engage in conversation unless being spoken to.

    Rule 2: Never be rude to anyone, always remember to be courteous.

    Rule 3: Never be seen taking more than two items from any plate at one time. Only accept up to two drinks during the party to prevent having to go to the bathroom.

    Rule 4: When in doubt, smile.

    Recently, there was also a rule added about not playing with other children. Mrs Liu took Scarlet to fewer parties after that shoving incident because she couldn''t trust her daughter to ''play'' normally. For Scarlet, that was a good thing. However, today, there will be no escaping it.

    "Rule 5, when playing with other children you must never win the games. Compliment them when they win and become good friends with them. Understood?"

    Scarlet could only bury the unhappiness within her when she looked into her mother''s expectant eyes.

    "Yes, mother."

    Satisfied, the group accountant relaxed and started thinking about what to say when she met Orita Wilde. The journey was silent from that point onwards until they reached the Wilde mansion, but Scarlet was too stressed out from sitting beside her mother. Normally, she would close her eyes and take a short nap but today, she didn''t even dare to breathe in fear of inciting her mother''s temper.

    "Please," she looked out of the window and prayed. "Please let this be over soon!"

    While Mrs Liu''s thoughts wandered over to the material gains she could possibly benefit from after this meeting, Scarlet was wondering if she''d be able to see a particular lawyer again. She had so many questions to ask him ever since he told her not to lose hope.

    The road became narrower and the traffic became sparse. Scarlet knew this road. She''d seen it once before and gathered all her courage. Her hands shook a little as the familiar metal gates came in sight.

    They were finally here at the battlefield. This would be the day fate decides if she''d be forever doomed in a cold iron cage or a warm gold-gilded cage.

 Chapter 30 - Orita Wilde

    Mrs Liu was warmly welcomed by Jenna who showed no traces of recognising the young blogger. Scarlet didn''t mind and played along. They were then shown to the sitting room to wait for Mrs Wilde''s arrival and Benjamin''s appearance.

    The accountant marvelled at the luxurious tapestries while sipping on an expensive blend of imported tea. Scarlet was offered hot cocoa and Jenna gave her a wink when Mrs Liu wasn''t watching. The petite student could see some ''shadows'' from the windows and raised a brow. Her team wasn''t doing a very good job of playing spies. My Royalty is Gender gave away her hiding spot when Scarlet caught sight of the edge of her dress. She knew that if she found one of them, she would have found the other as well. Alex didn''t seem to understand the concept of splitting up and accomplishing individual missions. Jasper also didn''t allow the young heiress out of his sight for very good reasons.

    They were made to wait for about fifteen minutes and during that time, the mother and daughter did not speak. Scarlet sat stiffly like a doll and gazed into what seemed like an empty space, much to Mrs Liu''s liking. The lady took her time to admire the interior design with a small smile on her face. The punishment must have been effective. Rarely would her daughter be so compliant, her husband was right. They didn''t have to worry all that much.

    In actuality, Scarlet was looking at a hidden camera. The only reason why Mrs Wilde was taking so long was because she was busy spying on them from somewhere in this mansion. Alex told her in the chatroom that there was a camera newly installed in the sitting room. Scarlet decided to have her own version of fun with Mrs Wilde who was watching them. Being alone in her room for nearly two weeks now would have driven her insane if not for the computer she was allowed to use.

    Orita Wilde raised a brow. Externally, Scarlet looked like a doll or a robot with that stiff posture. There wasn''t a single trace of expression on her face but the lady of the mansion knew that was just the surface. That mischief in her eyes told her something else. Also, she didn''t quite know if it was her imagination but there was some kind of rhythm to Scarlet''s blinking.

    "Benjamin, please tell me I''m not just going crazy... is Scarlet actually blinking in morse code?"

    The dashing lawyer leaned closer towards the screen. They were silent for five seconds before he swallowed audibly.

    "My apologies. I might have given her the inspiration for that..."

    Orita was amused. "Does she know Morse code before you mentioned it?"

    The lawyer shook his head. "I''m afraid not. In fact, she had very little idea about the concept of wars. She called it a battle when she explained her book''s concept but I think that was closer to a full-scale war. She found out all the references from the internet, including the Morse code."

    Orita was impressed. Scarlet showed as much enthusiasm as Jasper and Alex even if came to information. They were always hungry to learn and she couldn''t be more pleased. Imagine what kind of talent this girl could become with the right kind of support! Still, there was one thing bothering the heiress.

    "What did she say?"

    Benjamin studied it for a while seriously but his expression morphed after a minute.

    "What is it?" Mrs Wilde snapped when Benjamin''s lips curled up in amus.e.m.e.nt.

    "Would you like to guess first?" he asked.

    "Out with it!"

    "Very well," the lawyer nodded and tried to keep the laugh away from his voice. "She is singing the song Five Little Monkeys with a twist. She''s bringing Alex and Jasper into the song."

    Mrs Wilde was immediately entertained and she stared at the screen for a little longer. The socialite didn''t know Morse code but this made her very interested to learn. "Let''s go down to receive them, we''re kept them waiting for long enough now."

    Benjamin didn''t say anything and followed after the lady of the mansion. Jenna was silent as she continued to monitor the cameras on her lady''s orders. Although she knew that Jasper and Alex were both geniuses of their own class, Scarlet was a genius in an entirely different universe. She sighed internally, feeling tired at the thought of having to cope with the demands of three geniuses when Orita Wilde succeeded in bringing the Chinese girl into the family.

    When Mrs Liu saw the famed Ice Queen, she stood up at once and bowed in greeting. Scarlet didn''t stand up immediately and was roughly grabbed by her mother. She winced a little, that was going to bruise. That minute reaction wasn''t missed by either hosts.

    "Thank you for accepting the invitation, it''s most delightful to see you again, Scarlet."

    Mrs Liu''s smile faltered when Orita didn''t address her. Scarlet bowed and thanked Mrs Wilde in the quietest voice she could manage. The accountant recovered quickly and tried to start a small conversation with the heiress but was either blatantly brushed off or crudely ignored each time she opened her mouth. It was as if the main star of today''s show was Scarlet instead of her. This was a huge blow to Mrs Liu''s pride but she swallowed it bitterly for the sake of getting on Orita Wilde''s good side.

    Having enjoyed seeing the humiliated looks on Mrs Liu''s face, Orita called for Jenna and told the butler to take Scarlet to play with Alex. Once her daughter was out of the picture, Mrs Liu felt better. Even though it was humiliating to be so bluntly ignored, it was finally her turn to shine. The accountant took some pride in Mrs Wilde''s exceptional attention to Scarlet and consoled herself by thinking that it was due to her good sense of fashion that impressed the heiress so much.

    "My apologies Mrs Liu, time is of essence to business people like us so I shall cut to the chase."

    That was all Mrs Wilde mentioned before she left the talking to Benjamin.

    Mrs Liu could hardly believe her ears. Did the lady before her just say that she didn''t have time to entertain her in the most roundabout way? Even when she was showering Scarlet with all the attention in the world not too long ago... That felt like a slap to the group accountant''s face. She met her fair share of pricks over the years clawing her way up the corporate ladders. However, nobody had the guts to treat her so insignificantly even with her humble beginnings. It was infuriating when Mrs Liu could not find any comebacks for that. She couldn''t afford to offend the Wilde''s after all.

    "Of course," she smiled professionally. "As a businesswoman myself, I understand how precious time is."

    Mrs Wilde smirked and let her family lawyer take over. Benjamin didn''t miss the cue and introduced himself swiftly, exchanging name cards with Mrs Liu.

    "The Wilde Family is very interested in Ms Scarlet because of her astonishing results in the latest test. Scarlet is more than just gifted and the Wilde Family treasures talents greatly. Although Scarlet is young, we believe that with the right kind of support she can soar very high in life and stand above the masses. I''m representing the Wilde Family to negotiate the price for acquiring Miss Scarlet. Miss Scarlet isn''t old enough to make her own decisions so I hope that Mrs Liu and your husband, whom I understand has a delayed flight, can discuss it over."

    Mrs Liu paused. Internally, she was a little thrilled about being able to open negotiations with the powerful family and glad to finally be rid of her troublesome daughter without seeming like an irresponsible parent. However, she was cautious. There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. She couldn''t understand why the powerful Orita Wilde was so keen on her daughter. Both her husband and her had no special traits. They were born in slightly above average families and were given a good education to get to the kind of jobs they now had.

    "I''m sorry but as Scarlet''s mother I have to ask what you intend to do with her if I give my consent. I cannot simply give my daughter up for adoption."

    Benjamin was surprised. "Adoption? I think you misunderstood. We''re talking about recognising Scarlet as the legal ward of the Wilde Family."

    There was a long silence and the ringing of the doorbell saved Mrs Liu from further embarrassment. When Mr Liu entered, the first thing he did was to apologise to the hosts instead of greeting his wife. Mrs Liu didn''t know what to say when the lawyer explained the gist of the situation.

    Mrs Wilde''s expression darkened when Scarlet''s father said he didn''t think it would bother them too much either way if the two families could benefit mutually from such an arrangement.

    "I see how it is right now," Orita Wilde nodded. "In that case, please sign the adoption papers that Benjamin will prepare. With such parents, I think Scarlet will be happier with the Wilde''s. Jenna!"

    The butler came running when she heard her name. The mistress hardly raised her voice. For her to do so, it would mean that she was fuming mad. Exactly what did the Liu''s do to push her to this extent?

    "Yes, milady?"

    "Prepare a blank cheque for the Liu''s and escort Scarlet to pick out her most prized belongings. From today onward, Scarlet will become the second official child of the Wilde Family."

    The butler was stunned for a moment but complied. Mr and Mrs Liu tried to salvage the situation to no avail. Orita Wilde stormed away while Benjamin made a phone call. Before the couple could decide what to do, Jenna appeared with the blank cheque.

    Scarlet, Jasper, and Alex watched it all from the security camera room as the couple argued about the amount to be written on the blank cheque. The young Wilde heiress hugged her newly made friend and soon-to-be sister.

    "It''s ok, you don''t need to cry over them. From today onward, you will be my family. We will buy you many pretty things, feed you a lot of good food and play lots together! Just forget it all... they aren''t fit to be your parents. Mother and father will love you more than them, they''re going to be your new father and mother so don''t cry!"

    Jasper watched over the two girls and slowly made his way out. Mrs Wilde was standing outside the door very silently when Jasper bumped into her. the mistress of the mansion was slightly shocked when she caught a glimpse of the murderous intent in the eyes hidden beneath the bangs.

    Jasper apologised quickly and walked away quickly. The socialite was puzzled and walked into her room to see two crying girls hugging each other. The image tore out her heart and the flames of fury was put out by a wave of sorrow. For talent as rare as Scarlet, she deserved way better.

    The socialite walked over and put her arms around the two small girls, embracing them warmly. "Don''t worry, everything will be alright. Believe in mommy, I will protect you."

 Chapter 31 - Scarlet Wilde

    Overwhelmed. Everything about the Wilde family was overwhelming and Scarlet couldn''t keep up with how fast things progressed.

    Immediately after the blank cheque incident, Scarlet''s parents had a hundred-eighty degree change in attitude towards her. They were jovial, smiled at her and gave in to anything that Scarlet wanted. They offered her the entire house too if she wanted it but Scarlet refused. Scarlet took a look at her wardrobe and decided that there was nothing she wanted to take along. The only thing she wanted to take with her was the pair of blue ribbons that she grew fond of even though she could only use one now.

    The only other thing Scarlet wanted to bring along was the computer but Jenna promised her that they will get her a better one so the girl left it. With that, they didn''t even bother returning to the Liu residence. Jenna then ordered the maids to prepare a guest room for Scarlet''s stay while Mrs Wilde made a long phone call and spoke in a language Scarlet didn''t understand.

    The guest room was big and luxurious to the point of stressing Scarlet out. She''d been locked in her room for so long that she didn''t know how to behave with this much freedom. Being called "Miss Wilde" by the maids also confused her a lot initially. She thought that they were referring to Alex so it took her a while to understand that they were referring to the new young mistress of the Wilde House.

    "Miss Wilde?"

    Scarlet jumped. She was staring at the ceiling on her bed, exhausted by the flurry of activities over the last few days. Her personal maid was named Claire, a young and bright woman with auburn hair. Claire was in her twenties and acted very much like Scarlet''s older sister. Unfortunately, Scarlet couldn''t get her to be less formal. It was odd for the Chinese girl to be treated like a princess. It was difficult for her to even ask for a spare bath towel from anyone when she forgot to bring hers into the bathroom. To be fair, she didn''t really forget to do so, the maids in the mansion were just overly efficient. They changed the sheets and towels every day. Back when Scarlet lived alone, she only washed the towels once a week and changed the sheets once a month.

    "Yes, Claire?"

    The maid entered with an armful of books that made Scarlet perk up.

    "These are...?"

    Claire smiled. Her green eyes shone with glee at her mistress''s livened mood. Mrs Wilde was right. Scarlet was certainly different from Alex and Jasper.

    "These are books recommended by Mr Chang. He says that it might help with your research. The new laptop will arrive tomorrow, please let me know if you require anything else."

    Scarlet didn''t hear anything Claire said after the word laptop. The from on her face was everything the maid needed to know as her young charge started pouting over the pages.

    Knowing that once Scarlet got into this state, there was nothing that could distract her until she snapped out of it herself. Claire left her young lady to read in peace and reported to Jenna.

    "How is she adapting?"

    "She looks much better now and is completely engrossed in the new reading materials. Mr Chang was right about it. Scarlet has to be intellectually stimulated constantly to pull her thoughts away from the darker side Should we inform the lady of the household? For such a young child like her, it must have been quite a traumatic experience to witness her parents'' decision to give her up in exchange for materialistic gains."

    The butler nodded. Claire was the brightest maid in her cohort and was in line for a position as the head maid before Scarlet''s arrival. However, after witnessing the horrible event, the maid volunteered herself to become Scarlet''s personal aide. It was a huge surprise because Claire was known to show very little emotions and carried out her tasks with deadly efficiency. Claire didn''t feel any connection with anyone and that was why she wasn''t very well-liked amongst her co-workers even though she was good at what she did.

    "Please continue to keep an eye on her. I don''t want to invite the professionals unless we are very certain things are beyond our control. What she needs now more than anything else is a lot of love and acceptance. There isn''t anyone else more suited for the job than you. Truth be told, both the mistress and I are very pleased that you volunteered. There really isn''t anyone else capable of keeping up with that voracious girl''s appetite for knowledge."

    Claire bowed and was pleased with the compliment although she didn''t express it externally. "Thank you, I will do my best not to disappoint. May I suggest that we also engage a tutor to act as a writing mentor Miss Scarlet? I''m afraid Mr Chang is already reaching the limits of what he knows about the craft."

    Jenna sighed. Benjamin didn''t have it easy with Scarlet clinging onto him virtually now that she was given a personal phone. It had only a few contacts on it and there was only one person that Scarlet couldn''t freely speak to in the mansion so she texted him every few hours. The lawyer was much too polite to say it outright but even Mrs Wilde could see the exhaustion slowly creeping into the young lawyer''s eyes.

    "Does she sleep now?"

    Claire shook her head. "Not to my knowledge. Even if the lady does sleep, she will often wake up crying or in cold sweat. The other maids have mentioned seeing someone tip-toeing to the laundry to wash clothes or sheets. They are very certain that it is Miss Scarlet and the camera footage have confirmed it. Should we bring a doctor in to examine her?"

    Jenna frowned. "No need, I shall handle it from here. If this persists, please mix small doses of sleeping pills into her food. I will have a talk with the Mistress about Scarlet''s condition."

    "Understood," Claire bowed and excused herself to complete her other chores. Jenna sighed. They were reluctant to admit it but Scarlet was going to be needing a lot of resources to stay on the right path. As it is, the butler had a nagging suspicion that there was more to being a genius that was causing the girl to slip into another world out of their grasp most times.

    Jenna''s phone vibrated and the butler checked the long-awaited reply. Her lips only thinned when her fears were confirmed. Now, how to break the news to the lady of the mansion?

 Chapter 32 - The First Signs

    The children were going to school every day now. It took a while for Benjamin to successfully negotiate with the school''s board of directors to employ a new principal of their recommendation. The new principal was very clear and firm about the treatment he gives the ''gifted'' students. Apart from the tests that gifted students are required to take every month, they are free to claim empty rooms in the library for their self-study sessions. School staff will act as the self-study circle''s adviser and monitor them closely during such sessions.

    Or that was what it should have been. For Alex, Jasper, and Scarlet they continued their luxurious days in the library without any a.d.u.l.ts watching over them. Venessa and Grandma Sadiya left them to their own devices for most of the time except for bringing in new biscuits and getting new books up onto the shelves. Sometimes, the kids would help the librarians, everything fell into place peacefully.

    Scarlet put on a smile on the outside whenever she could but the haunted look would return to the obsidian irises and the life in them would dull whenever nobody was looking.

    The images of her nightmares kept on replaying on a never-ending loop in her mind whenever it wasn''t busy with other things. The demons would scream at her and mock her existence. Scarlet knew that they weren''t real but as she started to collect evidence about how the people around looked at her, the doubts blossomed into a huge sakura tree in spring. There just was no stopping it.

    "Scarlet, no, sister... are you alright?"

    The blogger forced a smile and brushed Alex''s concern off with a wave. The term ''sister'' felt very foreign to her and Scarlet felt uncomfortable. With the monsters in her head growing stronger than reality, the endearing tone was soon twisted into something falsely mocking in Scarlet''s vision.

    "No," Scarlet shook her head to get rid of the thoughts, clinging onto what she once remembered sanity was. "That''s a lie. Alex would never do this to me, the Wilde''s are truly nice people. It is my parents who are to blame... they are selfish and greedy people whose opinions don''t matter!"

    Still, the voices lingered like a ghost in her silent mind. The blogger decided that she would do what always worked for her and dove into books, learning more about how writers weaved such a magical world. She hasn''t informed her team about her research progress yet but Scarlet was determined to study some of the literature classics to understand the birth of the word-weaving art.

    Unknown to Scarlet, her new sister and friend were watching her carefully while maintaining their normal nonchalance. Jasper watched Scarlet more closely than Alex from beneath his thick bangs. He noticed some oddities just as Claire and Jenna had suspected. The gardener''s son didn''t know how he could aid the girl discreetly as she battled her demons. However, an idea struck him when Vanessa brought in a new box of books.

    "That looks heavy, need help?"

    Vanessa huffed as she put the box down. It was a rather large box about fifty percent larger than usual and it made the two girls curious too.

    "What is that?" Alex asked.

    Vanessa smiled. "These are book requests from some of the older students. We have them every year. Are there any books that the three of you want? I think we can try to squeeze that into the school budget."

    Scarlet blinked. "We can request for books?"

    The librarian nodded. "It is open to students in the elementary level every year. We just don''t really get that many requests because children of this age rarely read books."

    The three children mulled over Venessa''s words even after the librarian left. Every child had a different idea of what they wanted. For Scarlet, she was thinking about a book that taught her writing techniques. Alex just wanted some art books with lots of exercise and activities that taught her how to draw better. Jasper wasn''t thinking for himself when he thought about book requests. He looked at Scarlet and wondered if he could lead this horse to the watering hole and trick her into drinking it. For a writer, understanding basic human psychology might be a useful thing. Could Scarlet possibly be convinced to read up on psychology? Jasper hoped that by doing so, the girl might have a sense of awareness about her creeping depression.

    While the two girls were deep in their thoughts, the boy excused himself to the washroom. Once out of the office, he made a different turn in search for the busy librarian.

    "Oh! You scared me!" Venessa jumped when Jasper poked her on the shoulder. The lady was still sorting through the returned books when he found her. Grandma Sadiya was nowhere to be seen and Jasper thought that it was the perfect opportunity to broach the subject.

    "Is it possible to request for some more advanced books? I''m afraid they might be more expensive but I really want them."

    Venessa smiled and patted Jasper''s head, ruffling his hair but the bangs didn''t give way and the librarian pouted. She thought she might be able to steal a peek at the boy''s eyes this time but the bangs were simply too stubborn. Huffing, Venessa explained that the school has a budget constraint and while she was happy that Jasper is enthusiastic about the subject, they couldn''t do much about it if they didn''t have a higher budget.

    Jasper nodded and then excused himself to visit the washroom for real this time.

    The boy locked himself into a stall after confirming that the toilet was empty. He whipped out a phone and dialled a familiar number.

    "Did something happen?"

    "No, Jenna. I just want to know if there is any way the Wilde Family could influence the school or make a donation so that it is possible to request for special resources in the library?"

    The butler hummed. It was unusual for the boy to request for something. Usually, Jasper tended to solve something by himself even at his own expense. Although Jasper didn''t tell anyone, Jenna knew that the secret visit to Scarlet''s house when she caught them the first time was Alex''s idea and Jasper had just been strung along as usual. It must have pained him greatly to sacrifice his savings that the butler knew he was so desperate to keep out of his mother''s hands because of the young mistress. Still, the young boy did it and Jenna discreetly thanked him by asking the maids to place a bowl of treats by the boy''s bedside table and refill it once a week. If he wasn''t so set on making money and diving into business, Jenna would have wanted to take him in as her prot¨¦g¨¦ to serve the next head of the Wilde Family.

    "What kind of special resources do you require? We could prepare it in the private libra-"

    "No! It will only be worse. You were right, Claire had reasons to suspect that Scarlet would require more professional aid. She''s spiralling downwards but the depression hasn''t gotten its claws so deeply that Scarlet can''t fight it. Even as we speak, she struggles to stay afloat. I think at this point what we can do for her is to provide her the weapons she needs to fight it. She can''t fight the monsters in her without sufficient knowledge on how to."

    Jenna inhaled. "Not everyone can self-diagnose, that''s why professionals exist-"

    "I agree. However, I believe in her and I believe in the potential of a genius. We''ll be behind her to catch her if she falls but do you think Scarlet will accept our help when she''s had her life completely turned upside down? I can see how uncomfortable she feels when Alex calls her ''sister''. She cannot trust anyone other than herself at this point. Any kind of external help will simply be shut down, I can see it."

    There was a long pause and Jasper paled. Had he gone over the line? This was why he chose to be silent all the time... whenever he got heated up over something he just ran it mindlessly...

    "I understand. Send me a text about the things you require, I will have a talk with the new principal. When would you require them?"

    Jasper placed a hand over his racing heart. "The library is open for book requests. I will submit them to the librarian. If you could pull some strings for funding I think my application will go through smoothly. I will talk to Scarlet about reading up on psychology for research on how to write realistic characters..."

    The butler nodded and exchanged a few more words about some periodic updates before hanging up. She looked at her digital calendar and grimaced. There was no time to dally, a new storm was brewing.

 Chapter 33 - A Storm Called Papa

    #screen time#

    Ahoy Matey!

    Your captain is back with grander stories than before. Being in a new place warrants me a raving eye, your stories will be rarer than treasure maps and pearls if I didn''t stumble upon this oasis for the mind.

    Long story short, we had a change of wind and while I''m out of the cuffs, I''m not on my ship. True, me is a stowaway for now. Humble as a mouse and silent as a shadow. However, from my secret spot, me spies juicy tales from everywhere. Walls don''t always have ears but the one I''m hiding behind certainly does.

    I will start with the Madam of the ship. She injects fear into the blood of men the same as how we gut a fish - effortlessly. The Madam jokes around but nobody laughs at the shanty. They know to move their hands more than their mouths. The cats don''t have eyes and bloodied backs are normal sights. The ship doc is amazing, doesn''t even care unless the wound starts to fester. Hardy bunch they all are.

    Today we talk about this Madam. As harsh as she may seem, I know that old lass is still a lady at heart. The world of seafarers can be a cruel one. Not many can leave the storms behind even after they stopped adventuring.

    The Madam is good at swashbuckling and I can tell ya, she is even better at firing shots. While it may seem like she is violent, it is not her skill on the deck that impresses me. Rather, I am talking about the shooting and sparring unseen by the common eye. The Madam is an expert in parrying words and shutting down logic but it isn''t her beauty that does it. God forbid she knows what methinks, I''m just an honest thief making an observation.

    One good example of the Madam''s talent is when she told the scrubs to recruit a weapon repairman and they came back with a fool with the personality of an airbag. The Madam not only marooned the two scrubs, but she also talked the airbag into walking the plank herself. Of course, this is merely a more violent example. In reality, she simply got the poor chap to turn in his resignation letter with a mere look.

    If I hadn''t seen the double side to this lady, I would have never believed that such a warm person had such a frosty side either. The same lady who fed me hot cocoa and hugged me when I cried could also ruin someone else''s life within a minute. Perhaps this is what it means to be human. What do you think?

    Personally, I think that I like her very much. Maybe she''s a witch to the ones who were marooned and talked into walking the plank but for me, she''s my one and only heroine. There is nobody in this world who could replace her. With that, please look forward to my future posts. I will be including more entries about this lady''s crew. Every single one of them deserves a dedicated post.

    Till then and fair winds,

    Pirate S.

    #screen ends#

    >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<<

    Jenna was tense and it reflected. There were no maids or footmen with time to idle. The butler inspected every nook and cranny, dished out orders, and was constantly coordinating something on the phone.

    Scarlet didn''t understand what was happening. Alex and Mrs Wilde looked very excited and Jasper made his appearance scarce. The blogger wanted to know what was going on but she didn''t want to bother anyone. Even Claire was often hurrying to get something done.

    It was on a Tuesday evening that Scarlet understood why the mansion was suddenly bustling with activity. A storm by the name of Wilmer Wilde appeared and swept everyone away.

    The man showed up in the middle of dinner and literally lifted Alex from her seat. Scarlet was immediately alarmed and hid under the table when the loud gentleman started crushing her sister in a hug. Mrs Wilde joined in and it took the blogger a while to understand what was going on.

    "Is that..."

    Claire nodded, her expression never changed. "That''s the master of this house, Mr Wilmer Wilde - your father."

    Mr Wilde nuzzled his wife and biological daughter before pausing as he remembered something. "Darling, I heard that we have a lovely addition to our small family. Where is she?"

    Mrs Wilde blinked and looked around before smiling at Scarlet who was half-hidden behind Claire. Seeing that all the attention was now on her, Scarlet grabbed onto Claire''s dress tighter. The young genius wanted nothing more than to just disappear. Seeing them so close as a family only made her feel more alienated. One would think that compared to an average family, a rich family would feel colder with less affection. If only these people knew how wrong they were. Not only are the Wilde''s kind, but they were also very loving and Scarlet thought that they were the most perfect people in the world.

    Seeing that the newest addition to their family wasn''t acting normally, Mr Wilde gave his wife a questioning look. The socialite shook her head and cast a sad glance over to Scarlet''s direction. Alex too was worried and gave her father a begging look. They''ve tried everything in their book to bring the girl out of her shell to no avail. Mrs Wilde called her husband when she was out of ideas. She explained to him everything about Scarlet''s situation and Jenna''s reports. Mr Wilde took the opportunity to take a break from work to sort the family matters out. While he missed his wife and daughter dearly, he was also curious to know who Scarlet was. His wife wasn''t someone who opened up to others easily. For his wife to adopt a child without asking for his opinions first, that girl must be very special. Not even Jasper who had grown up with Alex was offered anything apart from an education sponsored by the Wilde''s so that he could keep an eye on Alex for them.

    "Scarlet," Mr Wilde spoke and the blogger trembled but stopped hiding behind her personal maid. The blogger stood stiffly and had her head bowed, avoiding any eye contact. The image she gave off was very small and vulnerable. Mr Wilde finally understood why his wife made such a decision. After hearing Scarlet''s capabilities and ambition, one couldn''t help but want to support and nurture such a treasure.

    Sadly, Scarlet was badly scarred by what happened and it wasn''t easy to help her recover. Mr Wilde understood that it would be difficult for the young girl to trust anyone easily after witnessing how uncaring her parents were. In this case, the president of the Wilde conglomerate decided to use a different approach. If he couldn''t approach a wounded animal easily, he would simply give it the weapons it needed to fend for itself.

    "I have a job for you."

    That sentence stunned everyone in the room. Mrs Wilde wanted to ask if her husband had lost his mind but to Scarlet, that got her attention. When the blogger looked up, she only saw the seriousness in the CEO''s eyes. Immediately, that made the gears in her head start turning.

    "How can I help you?"

    Mrs Wilde was startled at the change. Mr Wilde was internally relieved that his approach worked. "The Wilde Conglomerate is currently facing stagnant growth in our sales for a few years now. We lack the original ideas for new products and I heard that you are a very creative person. I would like to engage your services but will not be giving you a wage. In exchange, I will provide you with a shelter, a name, and an opportunity for you to pursue the path you choose to take in life after you''ve reached eighteen. Due to the shortage of time, this is going to be a verbal agreement. If you feel like you''re not up to the task, forget what I just said. We can continue playing the family game. I will love you like how I love Alex, nothing more and nothing less."

    Alex wanted to say something but a glare from Wimer Wilde made her quiet. Everyone waited for Scarlet''s response.

    "I accept your condition. How do you want me to help? I don''t have enough knowledge for any jobs in the company... I don''t know how I could assist..."

    Mr Wilde grinned. "I have just the thing for you..."

 Chapter 34 - Were What?

    "We''re what?" Alex couldn''t believe her ears. Even Mrs Wilde wasn''t ready for it.

    "The three of you are going to be studying in Singapore while I manage the Asia office. You will begin your internship at the office next month after school twice a week. Alex, you will be helping out too."

    The Wilde princess blanked out.

    "Darling! Sorry, kids. Mommy and daddy need to have a little talk. Enjoy the rest of your meal!"

    The socialite dragged her husband out of the dining room, leaving behind a speechless party. Scarlet didn''t know what to say and Alex didn''t know if her father was serious anymore. If Jasper was here, the boy would have calculated how it was possible to run away with the savings he had in secret.

    Outside the dining area, Mrs Wilde stormed all the way up to their bedroom. Mr Wilde whined about his poor reddening ear but his wife ignored it all until the door slammed shut behind them. Only when she was out of the children''s earshot did she smack her husband hardly on the arm.

    "What were you thinking? She''s only a child!"

    Mr Wilde kept his cool and nursed the throbbing parts. The ear was hot and his arm was going to bruise. His wife may look like a pretty little thing but he knew better. That woman spent hours in the gym with a personal trainer and was a monster with the shape of a sylph. The socialite could crack open walnuts with her bare hands faster than a squirrel could. Anyone who thought that women were weak has clearly never met his wife in person. That was one reason why Wilmer Wilde was mocked as a henpecked husband. His cold personality that the world knew when he was working was a huge contrast with his daughter-complex and wife-obeying personality with his family.

    "I''m sorry," Wilmer apologised. "However, you should know that trying to coax her out of her shell will only make things worse. Right now, the best we can do for her is to be by her side and watch her fight her demons alone while supplying her with the weapons she requires. We cannot fight the battles for her but we can assist her in whatever ways we can. It is unfortunate but we can''t save her now, the damage has been dealt."

    Orita Wilde looked at her husband in anguish. "You don''t do this to our daughter, why would you do this to Scarlet?"

    Wilmer Wilde''s eyes hardened at that. "I would do that for Alex too if required. I will rather cut my daughters'' hands and legs off to save their lives than keep them and see them die. Right now, Scarlet''s dying. Has anything anyone tried helped her so far?"

    Orita Wilde searched her husband''s eyes and cried. "What can we do?"

    Wilmer held her hands tenderly. "Don''t worry, I know you love this girl before you even knew her circ.u.mstances. I have faith in your judgement and her ability to overcome this. let''s just see if this change of environment can remove some of the nightmares she is facing. I won''t love her any less than Alex, she is our precious second daughter after all."

    The heiress nodded and accepted her husband''s embrace.

    Meanwhile, the news of the potential relocation of the mansion has caused a huge reaction among the servants. There were speculations flying all over the place from things like retrenchment to the selected few who will be chosen to serve the young mistresses. When Jasper heard about it the next day, he begged his parents to let him withdraw everything he had in his bank. There was no way he was going to accompany Alex and Scarlet all the way to Singapore, not for something that more responsibilities to his unofficial job.

    Scarlet thought over Mr Wilde''s proposal. It didn''t sound like a bad solution to either of them. In fact, she thought that Mr Wilde was honestly just making a profit out of it by engaging free labour that would become powerful assets in the future. If he could bind Scarlet''s loyalty to the company, the CEO would have no worries about handing the company reins over to Alex when she was older. The fact that Mr Wilde didn''t even give Alex or Jasper preferential treatment only convinced Scarlet more that the man was being truthful and impartial. Compared to Jenna''s tip-toeing around her and Mrs Wilde''s constant checking on her to the point of having no privacy, Mr Wilde''s business proposal was something Scarlet appreciated better.

    As Scarlet helped Claire to pack whatever little belongings she had, the young genius wondered if she would be missed at Keyman International School. the only people she could think would miss them were the Ninjas in the library. the blogger decided to do a little something for them. After all, these were the two people who''d taken good care of Scarlet while she was still studying there.

    Claire decided that it would be more efficient to make a list of things Scarlet would need to use in the new house in Singapore when they went through the belongings the young girl had. There was nothing of real importance that couldn''t be easily acquired with the wealth the Wilde''s had. Anything important was already in Scarlet''s hair.

    "I believe it would be more efficient to make a list of things we need to buy for the new room in Singapore. I''ve made a draft, would you like to look through it?"

    Scarlet padded over and checked through the list before requesting for the weirdest thing ever. "I want two bookshelves."

    "But Miss, there will be a small private library and a study."

    Scarlet shook her head. "I want them for the books Jasper recommended to me. It''s not suitable for them to be in the private library, this is for my research. In fact, my collection might grow an I don''t know if two bookshelves would be enough."

    Claire was surprised. Jenna did mention something about Jasper''s schemes so she didn''t quite expect someone as bright as Scarlet to take the bait so quickly. Still, for her, it was fantastic news.

    "Understood, is there anything else missing?"

    Scarlet looked through it and made a new list including the things she thought would be nice to have. "I want to be able to hold team meetings with Jasper and Alex too... Some extra chairs that can be placed aside when it isn''t required seem like a nice idea. Also, why do I need both a laptop and a desktop?> I think having just a laptop is good enough. For the writing plot can I also ask for a huge wall made from paper or a whiteboard framed somewhere that doesn''t obstruct? The creative space setup will be good if everything is put in the same room. I want to be able to see it in my dreams..."

    Claire didn''t quite understand what Scarlet was talking about but agreed to those she didn''t think was unreasonable. The list was finalised in fifteen minutes and the maid excused herself to report to Jenna.

    In another room, there was a very different fight going on.

    "But why?"

    "Because, young mistress... the new penthouse will not have enough space for a supreme king-sized four-poster bed! It will have furniture there already, you''d just have to get used to it."

    "But Jenna..." the Wilde princess whined. "I can''t sleep without my bed!"

    The butler could only sigh as the Wilde princess ranted to her mother about it. On some days, the butler just wished that her young mistress could learn a thing or two from her sister.

 Chapter 35 - The Big Shift

    #Screen Start#

    Ahoy Seadogs!

    I have discovered new land yet again and this time, it''s an island with a very different culture. It''s a rumoured paradise turned sour for the ones living in it. I now understand the meaning of hell in paradise because this is exactly how it feels like. Just when you think the grass is greener on the other side and make that hop, you just want to hop right back to where you were.

    The weather is crap! The people are crap! The place is crap! Only the food is good... but that''s debatable when I had good food where I previously was too so I guess that''s a tie.

    Long story short, I''m moving my base again to an unknown land, not of my choice. There was a huge unpredictable storm that swept us all away although I should mention that my crew and I are reunited once more. Hooray?

    You might be wondering why this Observation Journal is becoming more of a life drama diary so here is my justification:

    Drama begets inspiration.

    If not for the onslaught of dramatic episodes happening in my life, how could I ever feed you the juiciest of tales and the weirdest of weirdos?

    Today I bring to you the tale of a gender-defying butler. Usually, you would think butlers as middle-aged males with referring hairline and a British accent. a Well, the one I met is a female and she puts to shame most real-life butlers we know. Let''s call her Josephine.

    Josephine has been a butler perhaps all her life. She is the weirdest human I''ve ever encountered who has professionalism and perfection that far transcends the limits of gender. Nobody can get a scathing remark out of their mouth in her presence, she was probably crafted by the Gods to serve the holiest queens to walk this Earth.

    Josephine cleans well, plans schedules well, has quick wits to salvage any awkward situations, is motherly and kind, doesn''t appear to have any weaknesses, and is everything I wish I was. She was the first person to talk to me as if I wasn''t a simple ten-year-old and showed me respect that I never had before.

    However, if you think Josephine is a good person, you might want to reconsider. While I sipped on the hot cocoa she prepared, I noticed the tongue-lashing she gave to the new lazy maids. I have seen her merciless side when she sent them packing, telling them those who don''t work sincerely are not welcomed. Josephine is also a brilliant judge of character. It must have been the years of experience she has by meeting people from all walks of life because she has never been wrong about her judgement. I have never seen anyone haggle with such proficiency before, I am truly impressed.

    I don''t know what it means to be an a.d.u.l.t yet for I am only ten. However, I do know that becoming an a.d.u.l.t isn''t all that glamorous of a matter. It means responsibilities and fending for yourself. If there was an important lesson I learnt, it is that trust and respect should be earned and not given.

    I don''t know how many of you would agree with this but this is my observation journal. You can share your thoughts and debate intelligently but this is my logical inference at age ten. Perhaps we can review this in a cringe-fest ten years from now.

    With nothing else to add on, stay warm and fair winds for now!

    Pirate S.

    #screen ends#

    >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<<

    The party greeting the Wilde''s wasn''t as grand as Scarlet thought it would be. For a family as wealthy as the Wilde''s, Scarlet thought that they would be rolling out the red carpet at the airport and riding in limousines to the mansion. She was sorely mistaken.

    While they travelled in a private jet, that was about as luxurious as it got. Claire was the only servant who was travelling with Mr Wilde and the three children. Jenna had to stay behind in the mansion with Mrs Wilde to settle some matters with Benjamin.

    The maid was very capable and handled the logistics brilliantly. Everything progressed smoothly without a hitch with Claire handling everything from passports to living arrangements. Scarlet had nothing to complain about but the Wilde princess did.

    "Daddy, why do we not have a garden?"

    Wilmer didn''t know if he should have listened to his wife and not spoil his daughter as much when she was younger. After not being able to replicate Alex''s room, the princess had become crankier. Things spiralled downward when she saw how her parents approved of Scarlet''s request for bookshelves and a desk when they rejected her request for a four-poster bed. Jasper wisely chose not to get involved and feigned sleep as much as he could.

    "Alexandra," Mr Wilde looked at his daughter stoically. The coldness in his eyes shocked Alex so badly that the girl became immediately close to tears.

    "You are here on a mission to train as an intern so that you will inherit the family business. We are not here on a holiday nor here to play. You will be given what you need to produce the results expected of you and that is all you will be provided. If you want more, you will have to earn it by yourself from now on. I love you, my daughter, but as the CEO of the company I will not play favourites."

    Shocked, Alex fell silent. Nobody asked if she was alright and everyone minded their own business. For the first time in her life, Alex felt as if everyone she knew had become a stranger overnight. The father she knew would never treat her like this.

    The heiress looked at her new sister and dark thoughts began to fester. Now that she thought about it, didn''t everything start with Scarlet? If she hadn''t insisted on bringing Scarlet back, none of these would have happened.

    Jasper noticed the ugly expression on Alex''s face and was on high alert at once. He had never seen the Wilde princess'' react like this before. She was a ball of sunshine and positive energy who could soothe the pain and stress of anyone around her with her natural cheerfulness. Such deep jealousy was like a poison to that bubbly personality and the boy wondered if anyone else noticed it too.

    ''I should report it to Jenna,'' the gardener''s son thought.

    Just why couldn''t life give him a break?

 Chapter 36 - A Smaller House, A Bigger Heart

    Scarlet was impressed by the scene as they zoomed past traffic lights, cars, and people. The bushes by the road were neatly trimmed and the people looked very relaxed despite the sweltering heat and awful humidity.

    She wasn''t aware about anything happening in the back seat of the sedan. Claire was driving and Scarlet asked if she could sit in front, curious about everything in the new country. The Liu''s used to travel a fair bit and Scarlet enjoyed seeing new sights while they travelled. She was particularly interested in the buildings unique to every country and studied the traditional shophouses as they passed by.

    When they arrived at the new house, Scarlet thought that the Wilde''s owned the entire building and was immediately alarmed.

    "Claire, can I sleep with you? I don''t think I would be able to find my way around the building if we slept separately..."

    The maid blinked. "Milady, what are you talking about? My room will be right next to yours."

    Scarlet blinked and pointed to a random window. "How would I know which room I will be sleeping in? There have to be at least a hundred rooms in this building!"

    Hearing his adored daughter''s question made Wilmer laugh. It was an adorable misunderstanding and he explained the concept of a penthouse in an apartment complex.

    "We don''t own the entire building, at least not in Singapore."

    "You don''t?"

    "No, we don''t."

    Alex watched her father laugh and look at Scarlet with affection and lowered her eyes. Her father used to shower her with the same affections. Now that Scarlet was a Wilde, she was no longer everybody''s number one. This served to fuel her self doubt and hatred for her best friend turned sister.

    Jasper saw the strong hatred in Alex''s blue eyes and was momentarily startled. It was such an evil look that the boy started worrying for Scarlet. He knew that Alex was a kind person by nature. However, seeing the way Alex glared at the unsuspecting Scarlet made him doubt his belief. Girls were really scary when they become jealous. Now he understood why his mother repeatedly warned him to never offend females.

    They huddled in a small lift and travelled to the top floor. It was awkwardly silent with only the lift humming in the background. Jasper never felt happier hearing the ding of the lift indicating they have arrived. All he wanted to do was get out of that metal chamber, away from the hostile aura radiating from Alex.

    Scarlet was surprised to be introduced to two other maids upon arrival. Their names were Sue and Tina. Apparently, the Wilde''s had local contacts. There was even an arranged chef to take care of the meals.

    "We''ve been waiting for your arrival," Sue greeted. "The bath has been drawn and the rooms are ready. Dinner will be served at six. Please press the bell button on the bedside table if you require anything. We will do our best to make the necessary arrangements."

    Scarlet felt uncomfortable with the amount of hospitality she received. Jasper was treading very carefully around everyone, blending in effortlessly with the paintings on the wall. Nobody paid him any heed, not even Claire. Scarlet wondered how he managed to do that. It was a skill she wanted to acquire very badly.

    The blogger was shown her room and was blown away by how much it exceeded her expectations. The Wilde''s may have downsized their houses, but not their hearts. Claire let Scarlet explore her new room without rushing her. The young girl''s curiosity made her happy. Compared to the overworking habits and lifeless eyes from before, she much preferred the active participation. The move to Singapore might just be a good thing for Scarlet.

    Scarlet didn''t know what to think about the expensive-looking computer and new empty bookshelves against the wall. The blogger was wondering if she should try visiting the library first before requesting for books. The Wilde''s have done so much for her and it was a cost that she didn''t think she could repay, even while working for them as an intern.

    The expensive clothing on her felt nice on her skin. The clothes her parents often bought chafed it so badly that she would have rashes after wearing them for a few hours. If they didn''t chafe, they would be some really cheap thread worn second-hand clothes from her cousins. Her mother thought that it would help save them some money if Scarlet wore hand-me-downs. It never really bothered the blogger before because she wasn''t fussy. But seeing and living the difference made her wonder if she really was deserving of such treatment. Wouldn''t Alex be unhappy that she was taking up too much of the resources the Wilde''s had? Was her friend now regretting calling her ''sister''? Although nobody has realised it yet, Scarlet thought that Alex was getting a little harsher in her tone whenever she talked to her. However, the image of a kind girl begging for a friend was still fresh in her kind and Scarlet dismissed it as her imagination. The Wilde''s had big hearts despite their wealth. Surely, Alex would have inherited it too.

    As Scarlet stepped into the shower, she thought about how she could help Mr. Wilde. She wouldn''t want to disappoint him and be accused of a freeloader after all. Those who didn''t work didn''t deserve to eat.

    The girl sat in the tub for a long time, not realising that the water had already gone cold until someone knocked on the door.

    "Miss, I''m coming in!" Tina announced before barging in.

    The maid got a shock when she noticed how blue Scarlet''s lips were turning and immediately grabbed a fluffy towel to wrap the girl in.

    "How long have you been sitting in there? Your lips are blue and your fingers are pruning!"

    Scarlet didn''t know how to reply as she looked at her gnarly fingers. All she could think of was how much of a worrywart Tina was. The maid fussed over her hair and helped her get dressed for dinner. Apparently, an hour had gone by without Scarlet noticing. Tina came upstairs to check on her, afraid that she might have accidentally fallen asleep in the tub.

    "It has non-slip mats," Scarlet pointed out.

    "That doesn''t stop me from worrying about family," Tina huffed as she helped Scarlet dry her hair with a hairdryer.

    Family... the word felt heavy on Scarlet''s tongue but as Tina ran her fingers through her tangled hair, Scarlet found herself believing in them even if just a tiny bit more.

    This was now her new family and home. For the first time in her life, the blogger felt like she was finally being looked at for who she was. She no longer felt unwanted and smiled shyly.

    Perhaps... Perhaps this was where she belonged.

 Chapter 37 - Bitter Like Coffee

    They didn''t start school immediately for there were arrangements like the transfer test and uniforms to be seen to. Claire busied herself away while Mr Wilde headed straight back to work. The children were left to occupy themselves and Jasper wisely chose to nap his time away.

    Scarlet was busy researching more about the country and that left Alex all alone with nobody to entertain her. The Wilde princess spent the day sulking in her room. Not even the new set of colour pencils could cheer her up. Alex silently compared the treatment she received before and after Scarlet joined her family. Her mood got darker as time passed. Everything was beginning to make sense and Alex started to view Scarlet in a more hostile light. Friends? Sisters? Forget about it! The Wildes'' princess decided that Scarlet wasn''t a nice person anymore after stealing so much away from her. Her parents now favoured the Chinese girl and it was all because Scarlet was good at playing the pitiful person. Unlike then, Alex wasn''t buying it. With that, her afternoon was spent on the computer researching on ways to deal with mean people.

    >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<<

    Mr Wilde was back at work when he received the call.

    "Who did what?!"

    Claire didn''t know any better way of breaking the news. If possible, she didn''t want to bother the busy CEO. But given the circ.u.mstances, nobody knew what to do. Jenna was too far away to help.

    "Alex pushed Scarlet down the stairs. Sue saw it, Alex is denying it and throwing a fit with tears and all claiming it was an accident and it wasn''t her fault."

    Wilmer felt his heart stop. "Why would Alex do that? More importantly, how is Scarlet?"

    Claire gave the busy man a rundown explanation of the things that happened.

    "Tina is with her, we are currently waiting for news about what the hospital says. Scarlet might need an operation to put the broken bone back and she might have a concussion. Sue is watching Alex now and Jasper is with her. Your orders, sir?"

    Wilmer looked at the board of directors and steeped his resolve. "Report to me when you have news about Scarlet''s condition and ground Alex. She is not going anywhere until I come back. No dinner for her."

    Claire was surprised that Wilmer would go to such extents to punish his beloved biological daughter when he was always a father with serious daughter complex.

    "Understood," Claire obeyed and passed the word to both maids.

    As expected, Alex threw an even larger tantrum when she heard that she was being punished. The maids couldn''t do anything and Jasper coldly told Alex that she was in the wrong before leaving her all alone. The Wilde princess cried herself to sleep eventually, leaving the maids to wonder what the CEO will do once he returned.

    Wilmer came back at about eight. He had a dark cloud over his head and none of the maids had the courage to speak to him. The CEO immediately visited Scarlet''s room. The blogger was not there and he turned to ask Claire where she was.

    "The doctors are keeping her in the ward overnight for observation. If everything is fine, she will be discharged tomorrow morning. Sue brought a change of clothes over and Tina is staying with her now."

    Wilmer nodded grimly and closed the door. He then asked if Jasper has eaten but Sue shook her head. "He said that he would wait for you to return before he eats."

    The CEO felt his heart soften a little after hearing that. "Tell him that he can eat, I''m not eating tonight and neither is Alex. The rest of you should eat too. I am going to discipline this spoiled daughter of mine and right my wrongs."

    Without another word, the CEO entered Alex''s room and turned the light on before shutting the door. Claire didn''t stay long enough to hear what was going on but she knew that Alex was awake. Her pleas could be heard even from down the hallway and it was difficult to ignore how heartbreaking it sounded.

    In the room, Wilmer didn''t say anything. He allowed Alex to cry and plead and beg and yell. All throughout Alex''s tantrum, the man kept a poker face. As the only child, Alex was used to getting whatever she wanted. As a father, he failed to teach her the ways of the world.

    Instead of scolding his daughter, Mr Wilde only spoke two words that surprised her.

    "I''m sorry."

    Stunned, Alex stopped crying. "Daddy, why are you apologising?"

    "I''m sorry, Alex. I''m not a good enough father. I have failed my duty to have raised you right. Don''t cry," he wiped her tears. "Daddy won''t just punish you, I will join you as well. We''ll both go hungry tonight."

    Not expecting this kind of reaction, Alex didn''t know what to say. Mr Wilde could have simply forgiven her and they would have been happily on their way to dinner but instead, her plan backfired.

    "Why daddy? Why aren''t we eating? I apologised, didn''t I?"

    Mr Wilde smiled sadly. Never had he woken up to reality as bitter as this¡­ He never thought that Alex would be so rotten as to disregard the life of another human for her personal benefit. It was ugly, but he knew the reason why she became such a monster. It was like drinking a cup of coffee every morning, sobering up to the mountain of work that will never be completed. And yet, he never stopped working. And just like his work, he couldn''t stop himself from loving his rotten daughter. The only way to lessen the pain was to join her in her punishment.

    "I''m sorry, Alex. It is daddy''s fault, but we need to go hungry tonight and tomorrow and the day after that for however long it may take so that you will understand where you have gone wrong. You''ve apologised and I''m proud that you did. Now, let''s learn together what the value of life means."

    Alex was speechless as her father kissed and hugged her like usual before bidding her goodnight.

    When Wilmer came downstairs, he took a look at the liquor cabinet and passed it in favour of the strongest coffee they had.

    At his desk, The CEO texted his wife and updated her about the situation. Orita was shocked but agreed that punishing Alex was the right choice to make.

    The coffee tasted bitter that night, more so than usual as Wilmer drowned his thoughts out with the low drone of work.

 Chapter 38 - Even Parents Can Make Mistakes

    When Orita heard about her husband''s crazy punishment and self-punishment, the heiress flipped. Things were getting too way out of hand and she made Jenna arrange the earliest flight possible to Singapore. Someone had to put a foot down to this nonsense and the heiress thought that she should do it soon before their family completely comes apart.

    Incredulously, the loyal butler refused.

    "With all due respect, milady... I think it isn''t a good idea for you to interfere this time."

    Mrs Wilde blinked, not expecting for Jenna to voice out against her. Due to the number of years they''ve worked together, the heiress didn''t take offence. She trusted Jenna more than a mere employee. Jenna was her right-hand and best friend who would pull her back from the cliff if she got too close. Although her emotions were running high at the moment, she took a step back and allowed Jenna to say her piece.

    "I think it is a good opportunity for you to learn how to let go of your little girl and allow her to grow into a proper woman. Wilmer has the right idea this time. We''ve coddled the young miss a little too much. She''s taken towards harming others in order to get what she wants and doesn''t realise that it''s wrong."

    Orita couldn''t refute this. At the back of her head, she knew that she was the reason why Alex was so spoilt. However, as a mother, she couldn''t help but want to give her precious little daughter everything she possibly could to keep her happy. Was it so wrong to want to spoil her daughter a little? Besides, if her husband truly wanted to punish Alex, he could have chosen a different method. What if missing a meal caused some sort of malnutrition in her growing girl?

    Jenna who listened to Mrs Wilde''s rants felt her eyebrow twitch. The Icy Queen of the business world was usually very logical. However, her love for her family sometimes made her blind.

    "Have you listened to yourself? If missing a meal can cause malnutrition, what about the kids who can only afford to eat once a day? Besides, what is slight malnutrition compared to dealing with a broken leg that required operation with eight stitches? Have you forgotten that Scarlet is also your daughter?"

    Orita Wilde fell silent. "No, I haven''t forgotten. But I still find the punishment too harsh for a ten-year-old..."

    Jenna inhaled deeply. "Orita," she called. The heiress paused. Jenna rarely called her by her name, even when they were alone. She only ever did it when she was talking to her as a friend about something non-work related.

    "One of your daughters just pushed the other down a flight of stairs due to jealousy. The daughter who was just discharged from the hospital is still traumatised and dealing with the changes in her life after the sudden adoption. Your only concern now lies with Alex''s punishment that, in my opinion, should have been harsher in order to teach her the value of life. How does this even make sense? If it had been the wrong angle, Scarlet wouldn''t just be dealing with a leg in a cast and stitches. She would be cold and lifeless, six feet underground."

    Mrs Wilde was rendered speechless. Jenna bowed. "If there isn''t anything else, I will be taking my leave. Have a good night."

    The heiress didn''t stop Jenna or call her out on her rude behaviour. If anything, the mother felt ashamed. Her butler was right. She didn''t adopt Scarlet on a whim, she was fully prepared to become a real mother and provide the lonely girl with a home. However, when something like that happened, Orita failed to uphold that promise of treating them fairly.

    After thinking it through the whole night without a wink of sleep, the heiress sent a text to her husband.

    Mr Wilde was freshening up before work when he received a text from his wife. It was an odd hour to be texting because Mrs Wilde loved sleeping in till about nine. Receiving a text at five in the morning was more than just odd. Something must be really bothering her.

    | I''ll be leaving the kids to you. As much as it pains me, I think Jenna was right. We''ve coddled Alex a little too much. She has to learn the consequences of her actions. Please take good care of the other two of our children even if Jasper is still officially a Hopper. The poor boy has done a lot to sacrifice his happiness for Alex. It''s about time we free him from his role as her knight. |

    Wilmer read it twice and heard his stomach growl. With a toothbrush still in his mouth, he texted back.

    | I understand, darling. However, I won''t let Alex go hungry alone. Don''t worry, I will see that Scarlet and Jasper are well taken care of. Let''s do our best to become better parents. The children are smart, with the right kind of guidance, they will grow into splendid a.d.u.l.ts. These are just speed bumps. |

    Mrs Wilde checked her husband''s text and smiled. It was times like this that made her remember why she chose to marry Wilmer. He was simply such a wonderful man who would always shoulder her world even if it seemed like everything was falling apart. To the world outside, Orita was a strong woman with no flaws. However, when she wasn''t the Ice Queen, Orita was still that same girl who was thrown into the role of becoming a woman prematurely. It was Wilmer who saw the cracks in her mask and broke down her walls that made Orita decide to share her name with him.

    | Thank you, darling. I love you. Keep me updated? |

    Wilmer was knotting his tie when his phone buzzed again.

    Seeing his wife''s reply put a smile on his face. Already, the day was looking much brighter than yesterday. She just knew how to give him the encouragement he needed to be able to conquer the arduous road ahead of him.

 Chapter 39 - Pledge

    Wilmer was straightforward with his orders and none of the staff dared to defy it. His orders were very clear. Until Alex has repented and apologised to Scarlet, she isn''t allowed to eat anything. The CEO knew his daughter''s temperament best. She was stubborn and head-strong so anything less than pushing her into a corner her would be ineffective.

    Claire was slightly surprised that the master would go so far, but she didn''t dare speak against it. It might be too harsh for a ten-year-old to be starving for more than a meal but orders were orders. Ever since Claire was promoted to be the head maid after reaching Singapore, she reported everything directly to Jenna.

    "If she still doesn''t do anything by dinner, let me know. I will talk to her directly. Prepare something easy on the stomach for supper."

    That made Sue slightly relieved to know.

    The CEO left soon after and it was time to wake the children up for the day. Tina was still at the hospital with Scarlet and Claire waited for the news anxiously as she cleaned and kept an eye on Alex. Jasper chose to occupy himself by studying ahead of the curriculum after the books arrived. Sue had to leave halfway to pick up the new uniforms. The test results were out, Scarlet and Jasper were able to skip two grades while Alex was only able to skip one.

    Alex was seen pacing in her room and creeping around near the kitchen. Claire wasn''t able to always be in the kitchen as she had chores, so Jasper took it upon himself to be the watchdog and shifted his study materials to the dining area.

    "What do you think you''re doing?" the boy asked. Even though he had bangs covering his eyes, he wasn''t blind. Alex wasn''t very successful in being stealthy. Her attempt to get some biscuits was foiled by Jasper whom she thought wouldn''t rat her out.

    Annoyed, Alex hissed. "What''s your problem? I''m hungry. I haven''t eaten since last night."

    Jasper looked up from his book and dead into her eyes. "After what you did, I think that''s only fair."

    Feeling attacked, Alex lost control of her emotions and let them take over her mouth.

    "Why is everyone siding with Scarlet? She''s not even a Wilde by blood! I get it that''s she''s a pitiful person and all, but what did I do to deserve the treatment I got? Why does Scarlet get special treatment and I don''t? Am I not wanted anymore?"

    Jasper was stunned. How did Alex come to this kind of conclusion? From anybody''s perspective, she was still very much the pampered Wilde princess. Starving her for a day after she tried to kill Scarlet was way too lenient of a punishment. It was amazing how Alex thought she was in the wrong after what she did.

    "One, where did you get the idea that Scarlet is getting special treatment that you''re not getting? Two, are you aware that if Scarlet hit her head and died from that you would have been put behind bars for murder and not simply deprived of dinner for a night?"

    Alex paled. "M-murder? What are you talking about... I didn''t push her that hard..."

    Jasper felt anger boil within him. "Oh? How about let''s try it out again. This time, you''ll be Scarlet and I''ll try pushing you down the stairs gently. I guess it''s only fair that you get to experience the kind of pain she''s going through right now, isn''t that right? And in return, I can starve for one night without dinner. Sounds fair?"

    When Jasper put it into perspective for her, the Wilde princess couldn''t hold back the unfairness she felt.

    "If mom and dad treated me the same way they treated Scarlet, I wouldn''t have done it! Why is everyone trying to make me the villain here?"

    At this point, Scarlet had silently returned with the help of Tina. Claire was helping the girl in the wheelchair when they heard the outburst.

    "We''re not making you the villain¡­ You get jealous and that''s alright. You''re just not used to having a sibling and someone who will occupy half of your parents'' attention. They''re not treating you unfairly... when have they ever treated you unfairly?" Jasper was exasperated. Where was Alex getting all these ideas? He couldn''t understand it at all.

    Unable to hold back tears, Alex yelled. "Bookshelves! Why can Scarlet have bookshelves when I can''t have a four-poster bed? Why do mom and dad get her things that they won''t get me? Why do they smile at her when they won''t smile at me and look at me with eyes that tell me she''s better than me?"

    Jasper was speechless. True, they might have made silent comparisons between the two girls but they''ve never put Alex down or told her explicitly that they preferred one girl over the other. Scarlet simply excelled in areas that Alex didn''t and vice versa. The girl was simply overthinking it.

    "I''m sorry," came a quiet voice, startling the two children.

    The blogger had her head down and her fringe covered her eyes. Nobody could tell what Scarlet was thinking with a leg propped up in a cast in her wheelchair. The Chinese girl was petite but in that wheelchair, she looked tiny and weak. That fragility made Alex falter. She''d been so angry at Scarlet earlier, but seeing how pitiful of a state she was in made the girl hold back.

    "I didn''t mean to steal anything away from you," Scarlet started. Alex had to hold back a new flood of tears. "I was just happy to be part of the family so I thought I had to work harder to be accepted as someone who wouldn''t be a burden... Everyone has been so kind... So kind... I don''t deserve this."

    Claire who was usually emotionless had to look away to hide the tears collecting at her bottom lash. Tina and Sue were openly weeping and Jasper didn''t know what to say. He was cautious when Alex walked over to the blogger but he didn''t react as there weren''t any hostile intentions.

    Scarlet wasn''t expecting a warm and tender hug from the same girl who pushed her down the stairs. Something wet and warm spread on her shirt but Scarlet didn''t care. She simply wrapped her arms around the openly heaving girl and remained silent.

    Alex cried openly at the insecurities Scarlet admitted to. It was at this moment that she understood how wrong she had been. Guilt ate away at her and the hunger was suddenly forgotten. "I''m sorry... I''m so sorry! I was wrong... I don''t deserve to be your sister... I''m a horrible human being!"

    Scarlet shook her head and sobbed. "No, I''m very happy to have a sister like you... you''ve given me so much! I''ve always been alone... I don''t want to be alone anymore. It''s alright even if you don''t like me... Please just don''t ignore me."

    Alex shook her head. "No, I don''t hate you. You''re my best friend and my sister. I shouldn''t have been so selfish... I should have been happy for you because that''s what sisters do. From today onwards, I will promise you this. No matter what kind of fights we get into, I will always be your sister with our without blood ties, same or different names. We''re soul sisters!"

    Scarlet could only nod as she choked on her snot. Soul sister sounded like a very beautiful thing and that was a very beautiful pledge, one she would take to her grave.

 Chapter 40 - The Governess Solution

    The Wilde''s celebrated the reconciliation between the sisters with a feast the following day, followed by a huge announcement. The results for class placements were out and all three children would be attending the same class. After Mr Wilde discussed it with both Jasper and Scarlet, they decided to slow down on their progress so that they could enjoy school life with Alex. Naturally, such a thing was kept from the Wilde princess who was overjoyed when she found out they would be attending the same class.

    Claire gave them their uniforms and Alex was surprised when she received hers. "It''s a skirt? I don''t have to pretend to be a boy anymore?"

    The head maid nodded. "The mistress said that with Scarlet and Jasper with you, there shouldn''t be any problems. Besides, you have a very small class, and interaction with the other classes will be more of a common thing. You won''t be made to interact much with any fixed classmate you don''t wish to for extended periods of time. The special stream only takes in about ten students, but for us, they''ve made an exception and accepted a total of twelve students this year."

    Scarlet was surprised. "Only twelve? That''s a very small class..."

    Claire smiled stiffly. "For an ordinary class, it would be. However, this is a special class. The school has to cater for twelve very special students, and that is a lot of resources that no ordinary school would not have the budget for. Joyville International is a school with many strong patrons and that is the only reason why it is possible. Your father has made a sizeable donation to make it possible for all three of you to get accepted."

    Scarlet blushed when she heard the maid refer to Mr Wilde as her father. It was still difficult to get used to being the other Wilde daughter. Thankfully, Jasper''s question pulled everyone''s focus away from her.

    "What will we be learning?"

    Claire blinked. "There won''t be any teaching involved, at least not much. Here is the timetable. For you to continue enjoying the benefits of the special class, you must contribute to the school''s prestige. It can be through competitions, accreditations or accomplishments in the professional field. Apart from some structured classes required by the government and basic curriculums that you can opt for self-study, you can choose your area of specialisation."

    Scarlet looked through the timetable. The hours looked exactly the same as any regular school and there wasn''t a lot of differences. Classes started at eight in the morning, but it wasn''t a daily thing. Scarlet soon realised that the timetable had many shaded out slots.

    "Why are there huge periods of blanks?" she asked.

    Claire handed out another printout with a list this time. "That is what you will have to decide what to do. The list contains the number of vacant rooms you can apply for booking as well as a schedule of teachers you can request for. The school allows you to make the bookings from a week prior to one semester prior. Of course, the confirmation of a venue is subjected to changes from the principal."

    Scarlet looked through the list and thought about it. The computer lab looked mostly empty and so did the music room in the morning.

    "Can I bring my laptop to school?" she asked. Claire nodded.

    "We have permission from the principal. You will be given the school Wi-Fi''s password to bring it along to work on your novel and research."

    Jasper flipped the printout and saw a list of clubs. "What''s this?"

    Claire calmly explained the concept of clubs and Alex pointed out that they couldn''t join them after school because they had to help Mr Wilde out at the company as interns.

    "Don''t worry, Mr Wilde has made it possible so that you work around the timetable. As long as you can commit two afternoons, the rest can be rescheduled."

    Scarlet was pleased to know that and looked through the list of clubs, hoping to find one that would help her with writing. Sadly, there weren''t any clubs close to what Scarlet wanted. The mass media club was just about it but the blogger wasn''t interested in writing story scripts for plays and films. Meanwhile, Alex and Jasper had already shortlisted the clubs they were interested in. Claire was helping them fill in the club application forms while Scarlet frowned over the lack of choices.

    "Is there something wrong?" Tina asked. The blogger looked at the soft-spoken motherly maid and sighed.

    "The school has a hundred and seventeen clubs or extracurricular activities but there isn''t anything I find interesting..."

    Claire overheard it and blinked. "What is it that you''re looking for, Scarlet?"

    The blogger explained that she was looking for something that could help her with the novel she was working on.

    The head maid listened and nodded. It isn''t something the school could help Scarlet with. Unlike Jasper and Alex''s interest, Scarlet required more professional help.

    "Understood, I''ll see what can be done about it. In the meantime, you should plan the classes you would like to take and the subjects you want to study for the tests."

    The children looked through the curriculum and decided that they would choose some fixed lessons to take together while going to separate electives. Jasper chose to take extra math and business courses while Alex opted for art and design classes. Scarlet looked through the list and chose all three available electives - history, geography, and literature. The girls decided to take home economics for one term to try it out while Jasper decided to go for the ten-week programming class for beginners.

    Satisfied with their choices, they returned the filled up form to Claire who entered it into the computer for submission. At the same time, the head maid sent an update text to the group chat, reporting the results.

    Benjamin was the first to see the text. He suggested engaging a private tutor to teach Scarlet what she wanted to learn at home after school instead of going for extracurricular classes. Jenna saw the lawyer''s suggestion and agreed. However, Mrs Wilde had a different idea.

    Ice Queen: | What do you think about a governess? |

    Jenna was sceptical.

    Lady Butler: | Where would we find such a governess, milady? Not all governesses are apt novelists. |

    Married To Work: | Don''t worry, I think I know just the person for the job even if she''s a little weird. This is a colleague of mine who was recently married and left her day job as a lawyer... She''s working freelance as an editor and helping writers to self-publish. |

    I Love My Girls: | Can she be trusted? The Wilde household isn''t looking for just an editor or a novelist, we need a governess who will nurture our children as well. |

    Benjamin wanted to sigh at Wilmer''s choice of nickname. When the man wasn''t working, he was a hopeless romantic with a severe daughter-complex.

    Married to Work: | Don''t worry, you can contact her for an interview. She''s currently on a holiday, but I will send her a text if you are interested. |

    Mrs Wilde had no objections to it and Mr Wilde set a time so that he could interview the lady personally.

    Claire looked at the group chat and decided that it was better not to reply. She just wished that the person Benjamin spoke of could help heal Scarlet''s heart as well and not just tutor her.

 Chapter 41 - The Commoner Route

    When Mr Wilde gave out cards, only two of the three children understood what they were for.

    "What''s this?" Alex asked.

    Scarlet giggled in response. "It''s a travel card, silly."

    Alex blinked. "Why do we need travel cards?"

    Mr Wilde was patient. He had a long discussion with his wife the night before about how much freedom they should allow the children. Now that they were ten, it was about time to give them some responsibilities to ease their transition into young a.d.u.l.ts. Jasper and Scarlet had no difficulties stepping up to it, but they were slightly worried about Alex.

    "We don''t have that many servants in Singapore, so you will have to learn to act as Singaporeans while we are here. Of course, if you get lost, you have your phones. Claire will give you directions from the phone, but all three of you need to learn how to travel using the public transportation system. Daddy has checked, the public transportation system here is very reliable. This is special training for when you have to go to a different country in the future."

    Alex was stunned to hear such seriousness but when she saw that Alex and Scarlet didn''t think much of it, she kept quiet. After resolving herself to become better so she can become a sister that Scarlet could be proud of, the Wilde princess was less wilful and tried to become more independent. It was more difficult than she thought it would be to become less reliant on others. She never knew exactly how much Jasper was helping her until she did it herself. Having to pack and carry her school bag all by herself yesterday was a highly stressful event. Alex didn''t know where anything was and didn''t have a checklist to tick off the items she packed so she had to redo it multiple times to ensure she didn''t miss anything out. As if that wasn''t hard enough, Mr Wilde was even expected her to travel to school without a chauffeur. The Wilde princess could only resign to fate and accepted the card.

    Mr Wilde was proud of Alex when she took the card without complaints. Scarlet and Jasper wondered how they were going to maintain the balance of their cards, but neither of them dared to voice out the question. Claire noticed the troubled expressions and found it adorable.

    "Master, perhaps you would like to explain how the travel card works. I''m sure the children would love to know more about how the system in Singapore works. From my knowledge, only cash is accepted for buses back in Malaysia."

    Mr Wilde nodded and explained the concept of the card. Scarlet was fascinated by the level of technological difference between Singapore and Malaysia. The card was easier to use than expected. With this, as long as it has credits inside, they could go just about anywhere on any train or bus. Also, there isn''t a fuss about how much change they should bring because it is automatically deducted just by a tap on the scanner installed at the train gantry gates or on the bus upon boarding or exit.

    "I will maintain your card balances monthly so if it falls below twenty dollars for whatever reason before the month ends, please let Claire know. Don''t lose it."

    The CEO didn''t say much more and allowed the children to research how to travel from the penthouse to school. He was slightly worried about letting three children travel by themselves without any a.d.u.l.ts to supervise, so he had Sue secretly follow them when they left the next morning. Still, the patriarch couldn''t help but wonder if he should have engaged professional services and placed bodyguards to follow his children discreetly from a distance.

    That night, the three children turned in early, excited about starting the first day of school. Alex was very nervous about travelling by train as she had never been in anything other than a car, save for that one bus trip to Scarlet''s old house. Jasper knocked out like a light, tired from such a long day, and Scarlet tried to update her blog.

    #screen start#

    Ahoy Scurvy Sc.u.ms!

    How is it going for you? For me, it''s been quite the week. This entry is going to be dedicated to the best kind of sister in the world - the soul sister.

    Let''s call this soul sister - Sister Merry.

    Sister Merry didn''t start out as a soul sister. There was some really bitter rivalry going on that resulted in an all-out brawl. Now, don''t judge so quickly! Let''s listen to the full story.

    Sister Merry was initially friends with Sister Kelly (I made their names rhyme a little). The two were best friends and inseparable. One day, an unfortunate event occurred. Sister Kelly''s parents had to go to a faraway place and little Kelly was left to the care of Merry''s home.

    Merry''s parents treated Kelly really well. However, Kelly was afraid of becoming a burden and getting thrown out by Merry''s parents so she did her best to be the most well-behaved kid in the entire world.

    Kelly wasn''t originally well-behaved and Merry knew that. They were best friends after all. After Merry saw her parents praising Kelly for being such a nice child while she got scolded for pulling mischief that the best pals would normally do together, Merry felt betrayed.Her loving parents were turning hostile on her and favoured her new sister.

    Things escalated and the best friends turned sisters fought. In the heat of the moment, Merry accidentally hit Kelly in the head, causing her to bleed. Merry''s parents rushed Kelly to the hospital. That night, little Merry starved because everyone was too worried about little Kelly in the hospital. In all honesty, that wasn''t intentional. It was a children''s fight gone wrong but nobody listened to poor Merry. The a.d.u.l.ts thought that Merry was a horrible child whose jealousy had gone too far to be considered harmless.

    When Kelly found out that Merry was getting punished for hitting her, she immediately went to beg Merry''s parents for leniency. Initially, Merry hated her for continuing with that good girl act but when Kelly admitted that she only put on an act due to her insecurities as a child who wasn''t born into the family, everyone opened their hearts. To make Kelly feel belonged, Merry made a pledge and the two became soul sisters after burying the hatchet.

    So here''s a thought for everyone reading the post. Is blood truly thicker than water? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. Adventuring starts early tomorrow so your captain is going to turn in first. To the last person on watch, don''t forget to put out the light!

    Fair winds!

    Pirate S.

    #screen ends#

    It was nearing eleven at night when Scarlet typed the last word and finished editing the post. She yawned and scheduled the post before climbing into bed. So much has happened over the last few days, the blogger simply forgot about Claire''s heads-up about the new person she was about to meet.

 Chapter 42 - Hooky on the First Day

    "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!" Scarlet yelled at Alex who was huffing like a train with cheeks as red as an apple. Who knew that their first day of transfer would result in a bad start?

    None of the children knew that the traffic in Singapore would delay the bus by a good fifteen minutes. Even if they left ten minutes earlier because of Scarlet''s leg, they spent a lot of time at the train station trying to find the bus stop, so they were now two minutes away from being late on the big day.

    "I-I can''t..." Alex wheezed. "You go... go without me!"

    Jasper clicked his tongue and looked at Scarlet who was lost. As the unofficial leader of their team, she had to make a decision to abandon their weak link and complete the mission or walk as fast as the last man and let the team fail their mission. Despite the crutches, Scarlet still walked faster than Alex. The pampered young mistress wasn''t used to carrying anything heavier than a spoon. Walking with a five-kilogram backpack was tiring on her.

    The girl stopped and looked at them. "You go ahead," she told Jasper. "I''ll walk with her."

    The gardener''s son was surprised. He thought that Scarlet would have all three of them accompany Alex.

    "Are you sure?" he asked.

    Scarlet nodded. "One of us has to make it. I will come up with something later, don''t worry. Keep your phone on."

    With that, Jasper left and Scarlet and Alex rested at a nearby bench. She looked up at the sky while her sister rehydrated. The sky was blue, the clouds were fluffy, and the wind felt great. Since they were going to be late anyways, Scarlet decided they might as well enjoy the time they had outside the school.

    "What do you think about having a commoner''s breakfast?"

    Alex blinked. "What about school?"

    Scarlet shrugged. "Our first lesson officially starts at eleven, we still have a bit more time. Besides, it isn''t even a proper lesson. Physical education is just a gym class for exercising. We can use that to slip into the classroom before that and change into the sports attire. Nobody will know."

    Alex was fl.u.s.tered. "How can you be so confident?"

    Scarlet grinned and waved her phone. "Jasper''s inside right? He can be our lookout. Don''t worry too much. We''ll try again tomorrow to arrive punctually."

    The Wilde princess was speechless. Was this even in the rulebook?

    Unfortunately, she didn''t have much time to think. Scarlet was hobbling over to check out the convenience store. The children were given pocket money by the week just in case they had something they wanted to buy. If they didn''t, that money would go into the saving box at home. So far, Alex never needed to spend on anything. Jasper was determined not to spend a single cent and save up as much as he could now that his mother wasn''t here to control him. Scarlet decided that saving wasn''t as important since she was going to be earning money very soon. Besides, the money was given by Mr Wilde. Saving it just to repay him back doesn''t sound quite right.

    Alex was amazed by the variety of instant food on the shelves in a local convenience store. However, Scarlet skipped right past them and made a beeline to what she knew would be good. However, she couldn''t quite reach what she wanted, so Alex had to give her a hand.

    "These are known as puffs. It''s a local thing that you should try. Are you a fan of spicy food?"

    Alex shook her head. "I don''t think I''ve ever had spicy food in my life..."

    The blogger nodded and filled a huge cup with a slushie drink until it nearly overflowed. The girls headed over to the cashier who raised a brow at the two girls wearing uniforms. Weren''t they supposed to be in school already?

    "That''s six dollars and twenty cents," she told them. The cashier was slightly startled to see Scarlet confidently hand her a fifty dollar bill. Damned rich kids! Normal kids would have to think twice about spending that much money. They would have to save for at least a week to afford something like that.

    Ignoring the judgemental stares from the cashier, Scarlet retrieved their purchase and kept Jasper''s share in her bag before they strolled the neighbourhood. Alex oohed and ahhed over almost everything and pressed her nose to the glass at a pet shop much to Scarlet''s amus.e.m.e.nt. The blogger guessed that Alex hasn''t seen much of the local scene, so it was a good opportunity to do so while there weren''t too many people around. However, she kept a close eye on the time and informed Jasper of her plan.

    The gardener''s son sat alone in the empty classroom and was reading through his textbook when his phone vibrated. He checked the message and was surprised to see Scarlet texting him about the detour.

    Rich and Rotten: | Why do I have such an awful name?! |

    Secret Pen: | For fun, laughter, peace and joy. Now, enjoy your slushie. I''m talking to Jasper. |

    Money Face: | ... |

    Secret Pen: | How is it looking over there? Did you find out where the security posts are? Any gates we can slip past or fences we can crawl through? |

    Money Face: | I can''t believe you girls went out to buy good food without me! I''m not telling you unless you get me something good! |

    Secret Pen: | I knew you would say that so, I got you a chicken mushroom puff. Also, before you complain, I can''t sneak in a slushie. I did get you cola although it wouldn''t be chill by the time it reaches you. |

    Money Face: | You''re forgiven. I''ll say that you can enter by the side gate by climbing in. The security post is only at the main gate. However, you should watch out for the camera on the second stairwell, I think it faces that side gate.|

    Secret Pen: | Roger that! ETA is ten minutes from now... please stall the teacher for us and let us know where the class is held! |

    Money Face: | *thumbs up* |

    "Okay, we have to run soon..." Scarlet told Alex who was eating messily. They found a park not too far from the school, but it was going to be a twenty-minute walk back.

    "Ok, I think we should change first so that we can save time by dropping our bags in the classroom and joining Jasper right away."

    "Good thinking!" Scarlet approved and the girls packed up before heading to a public washroom to change to the sports attire.

    Besides, it was way easier to climb the fence in sports attire compared to the uniform with a skirt. Sadly, neither girls realise the problem they were about to encounter.

 Chapter 43 - Were Not Sneaking In

    After changing into the sports attire, both girls walked over to the fence Jasper was talking about and Scarlet paused.

    "Alex, how good are you at climbing fences?"

    The rich young lady shook her head. "Not very, why?"

    The blogger just wanted to slam her head against a brick wall. What was she thinking? Neither of them was in any condition to be sneaking in at all!

    "This isn''t going to work," she sighed. Alex blinked, not knowing what they were going to do next. The blogger texted Jasper for a while and decided that it wasn''t very useful trying to sneak in. Coming up with an excuse would be easier.

    Unknown to them, Sue was still in the vicinity, reporting their every move to the amused Mr Wilde. Who would have thought that Scarlet would teach Alex how to play hooky on the first day of school? Now, they were scheming of a way to get into the school after being more than an hour late? The CEO instructed Sue to keep him updated. He wanted to see how Scarlet would outsmart the system. This girl was beginning to show more and more potential. He couldn''t help but be curious about what she could accomplish given the right resources in a few years.

    The girls circled the school a little and decided that it was better to walk through the open gates.

    "How are we going to do that without getting caught?" Alex asked, bewildered. Wouldn''t it be obvious if they walked through the gates so late? Surely they would be marked.

    Scarlet rolled her eyes and put her bag down before rummaging for paper. The Wilde princess watched her sister write something. It was a letter saying that the girls were excused from being late due to the situation Scarlet was in. Alex was helping Scarlet out as an escort so they were permitted to arrive just before the first class starts instead of regular time. When Scarlet forged Mr Wilde''s signature, Alex''s eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.

    "Scarlet!" Alex gasped but the blogger ignored her and started packing. "That''s forgery!"

    The blogger raised a brow. "And?"

    Alex looked around before whispering. "You can get jailed if they find out!"

    Scarlet only laughed at that. "Kids won''t get jailed. Besides, the worst that can happen is getting grounded at home for doing this is found out. Of course, forging a legal doc.u.ment will be considered a crime punishable by imprisonment. Compared to forging a ''parent letter'' to the school... I would hardly call this a serious offence."

    Sue was too far away to understand what the girls were doing, but she reported what she saw. Mr Wilde was highly impressed with Scarlet''s creativity. Writing a letter could only mean one thing. Now that they discovered no other way to sneak in, they were disguising their grand entrance. He would have to pull some strings later to obtain that letter. He wondered if Jasper would be up to the task if he was paid enough.

    The girls slowly made their way to the front entrance. As expected, they were stopped by the security.

    "Do you know what time it is?" the guard barked.

    Alex apologised but Scarlet deadpanned and showed him the letter she drafted not too long ago. The guard was sceptical after reading it but had no choice but to let them go. He memorised their faces just in case. What kind of student started their first class at eleven? He''d never heard of it.

    Scarlet hobbled slowly and steadily away from the main gate and Alex had to suppress the urge to run. When the guard called out to them again, the Wilde princess stiffened and turned pale. She didn''t dare turn around in fear of being found out, but Scarlet did.

    "What class are the two of you from?" he yelled in question.

    Scarlet met his eyes calmly and told him, "We''re transfer students starting in the Special Stream today."

    At the mention of the special stream, the guard felt his legs grow cold. His earlier fierce demeanour mellowed down and he bowed humbly, wishing them a good day with a very forced smile. Alex didn''t understand why the guard made a complete change in personality, but she did understand that there was something special about being in the special stream. Scarlet didn''t care about the guard and continued walking to their class. All she could think of was heavy the bag was. She couldn''t wait to get some of the load off by storing the books under the table. Who needed them anyway? She didn''t need to study those when she already knew the curriculum. Besides, homework can be completed during lunch break if they were given any.

    As they neared the class, Scarlet felt her heart racing in her chest. This was it, her new beginning. She rehearsed her introduction last night and was about to pull the lines out after the door opened but was surprised to see only Jasper and the teacher present.

    "Is this the right class?" Alex asked. The seats were empty and their desks were arranged in a huge semi-circle. The classroom seemed ridiculously huge for only twelve students. Even Scarlet thought that they would be given a smaller room due to their class size but that was wrong.

    "Oh? You must be the other two new transfer students! Good morning, I''m glad you could make it, have a seat, any seat. I''ll just do the self-introductions and give you a brief rundown about how the classes in special stream work. Have a set, have a seat..."

    Alex helped her sister settle down and Scarlet pulled out her purchases and passed it to Jasper right before the homeroom teacher''s eyes. The teacher only smiled and didn''t say anything about it. In fact, he looked like he was used to being ignored. Alex pitied him.

    "How should we address you?" she asked and the homeroom teacher was delighted with the attention.

    "Oh why, how rude of me! I''m Mr Danny Wong, the school counsellor as well as the assigned homeroom teacher of the special class. You can call me Mr Wong or Danny, whichever makes you feel more comfortable. Welcome to the class, Alex! I''m so thrilled to have such enthusiastic students!"

    Scarlet did a head-to-toe scan of the chirpy teacher before her. Danny was wearing yellow and orange checkered pants, casual leather shoes, and a white button-up with folded sleeves held by dark blue suspenders. The round thick-framed glasses only added to the comical look. Scarlet thought that all he needed was a bowtie and a bowler hat to complete the hilarious look, but she kept her thoughts to herself.

    "Mr Wong," Scarlet raised her hand. "Where are the rest of the students?"

    Danny was delighted to be directed a question and beamed. "Why, they''re out accomplishing great things of course! The other children in the class usually won''t attend classes unless there is a term test coming up, but even then, the school would send the tests to their respective workspaces for them to take. There will be invigilators to ensure they do not cheat but that''s about it. Very rarely will you see the whole class but we can go through introductions after the Physical Education class. Shall we get changed and head outside? Today''s lesson will just be a simple height and weight measurement, nothing too difficult."

    Scarlet deadpanned. They had to change for height and weight measurement? All that fuss over the attire for something like this? If she knew this was going to be the case, she would have saved herself the hassle of changing with the cast.

    The blogger could only sigh and do as the cheerful homeroom teacher instructed. What a memorable first day it was...

 Chapter 44 - Hunting the Elusive Target

    Scarlet was dying of second-hand embarrassment on the inside. Danny walked past the other classes ongoing like a proud mother showing off his new hatchlings.

    The health station was devoid of people when they arrived and Danny even had to shoo away some stray sparrows chilling on the weighing machine.

    "Welcome to the health station! I''m Danny Wong, the school''s counsellor, your homeroom teacher, and also your Physical Education Trainer! Please remove your shoes, you can leave your socks on. Let''s start with attendance. Scarlet Wilde?"

    "Present."

    "Alexandra Wilde?"

    "Here!"

    "Jasper Hopper?"

    "..."

    "Brilliant! We have 25% attendance today, better than usual. Alright, boys and girls, we will be starting with the height measurements. Please step in this box and put your feet together. After that, look straight and let the machine do its job! Any questions?"

    The three children were speechless when Danny continued talking to himself with never-ending optimism. Alex wasn''t sure if their teacher was a qualified counsellor or simply a brilliant quack.

    Scarlet was the first to go up and Danny praised her after recording her measurement.

    "Oh! You''re 142 minus 21cm tall, slightly below average but nothing to be ashamed of, it''s a fun size and you''ll shoot right up once puberty hits."

    Jasper didn''t know if this teacher was serious. For the special class, they definitely didn''t cut corners. Even the teacher was an extra special case.

    "Oui! Elegantly five-foot, you have the potential to be a model in the future, Alex."

    Jasper was slightly reluctant when it came to his turn. He didn''t want to listen to any of the flowery commentaries this nutcase was spewing but complied to get over it quickly.

    "Jasper Hopp- oh my, you must be eager to know your height. Alright, let''s see... 136cm tall. Not bad."

    "..." Jasper didn''t know what to say about that disappointed tone. Clearly Danny was judging him silently.

    They moved on to the wright station and that was where things became slightly more serious. Scarlet didn''t hear the teacher announcing her weight but his lips thinned. In fact, Danny didn''t announce anyone''s weight. The BMI was quickly calculated and everyone except Scarlet received the passing mark.

    "Does this mean I have to do a retest?" Scarlet asked.

    Danny smiled less openly now and patted the girl on her head. "No, it isn''t necessary. However, I will need to have a talk with your parents to make some changes in your diet. As a growing girl, you are a little too thin to be healthy. I''m worried about you. I don''t think you''re a picky eater after all..."

    Scarlet blinked. "I am eating well... the Wilde''s are treating me very well..."

    Danny looked at the girl and blinked. Nobody could tell what he was thinking, but he didn''t remain serious for long and patted Scarlet again before concluding that they have finished the Physical Education lessons for the day and would be heading back to class.

    Scarlet needed some help with putting on her shoes but other than that, they returned as silently as they came.

    Back in the classroom, Alex asked if they needed to change out of the sports attire. Danny blinked. "You can choose if you want to do that. There isn''t a real dress code for the special class unlike the rest of the school."

    Scarlet blinked. "Who are the other students in the class?"

    Danny danced a little when he heard that question as if he''d been waiting for it. "Young Scarlet! I''m glad you asked!"

    Before the children could react, Danny dimmed the lights and turned the projector on. The blogger wasn''t sure when the teacher had the laptop ready, but there was a powerpoint presentation already on screen. Jasper whistled and Alex raised a brow. They were beginning to see why none of the other students bothered to attend class.

    "Meet Lin Lin! She is eight this year and a violin prodigy. Lin Lin has played the violin solely by listening and is a professional violinist. She travels around the world as a guest performer so it is rather difficult to see her in classes. Lin Lin occasionally comes back to take her tests. Her mother engages a tutor who travels with her so she wouldn''t fall behind on her studies."

    "Next up, we have Mr Farid Haik, a child Thomas Edison! He''s too busy talking with scientists and engineers alike and occasionally pays NASA a visit. Like Lin Lin, Farid is usually too busy for classes."

    This went on for fifteen minutes and in summary, Jasper knew that these kids were bigger geniuses than they were. Jun Le was a chess grandmaster. Rebecca Wee was a Youth Olympic athlete competing in horse riding. Nathan Chia is a math and physics mega nerd who is working on his PhD in Quantum Physics. Ria and Camila Lopez were twin sisters who sashayed the world stage as dance prodigies competing from ballroom to hip-hop. Jean Dawn was a girl who spoke sixteen languages and is still learning more. Elfie Yskandar is a techy person who works with the government to catch virtual criminals. He is a full-time white hat hacker.

    From what Scarlet understood, the youngest student in their class was Lin Lin who was eight, while the oldest was Nathan, who was fourteen. Nathan also happened to be the record holder for highest Mensa IQ of 178 in Joyville International. Everyone is usually preoccupied with something and the class is usually an empty room. School is merely a name and a cover for these kids to pursue their professional careers.

    Danny continued talking away explaining to them about every student''s accomplishments, but Scarlet was already spacing out, thinking of how she could spy on the students and write her observations into the blog.

    There were nine students, one teacher and that made ten entries. Her second goal within the ten weeks was to complete a novella by herself for evaluation. While Scarlet tossed ideas around in her head, Danny was entertaining queries about the school extracurricular activities that Alex and Jasper were interested in applying.

    The counsellor was thrilled to receive such enthusiastic students. It was a huge jump from being a placeholder due to the short-staffed school. Now that he had actual students, Danny decided not to disappoint them.

    "Would you like a tour of the school? I can show you the clubs and what they do!"

    Scarlet refused and pointed to her leg. She wished Jasper and Alex good luck when Danny dragged them away.

    When the blogger was finally alone, she decided to continue with her research. Psychology and philosophy were very interesting subjects.

 Chapter 45 - Meeting Debbie Connor

    Carol, Mr Wilde''s personal assistant and a proud member of the LGBTQ community, knocked on the door.

    "Your guest, Debbie Connor, has arrived. Would you like to receive her in your office or in the meeting room?"

    Wilmer looked up from his computer and glanced at his watch. It was already four in the afternoon? Time flew by way too quickly. The last thing he remembered eating was breakfast. Where had all that time gone?

    "No need, please let her in. I''m thinking of heading out to grab a late lunch myself. You can end early for today if there isn''t anything else."

    Carol smiled and ushered Debbie in. The ex-lawyer was a lady in her thirties with ginger hair. Although she wasn''t very tall, she carried herself confidently, making her appear taller in person.

    Wilmer remembered the portfolio Debbie submitted. The lady didn''t really have much experience dealing with children so it was a tough choice to leave his children in her hands. Luckily, Wilmer decided to interview the lady and put off making any hasty decisions. Seeing Debbie Connor in person made him rethink his initial opinion of her.

    "Good day, Mr Wilde. I heard that you haven''t had lunch yet. May I recommend a quaint cafe in the area I''m a personal fan of?"

    Wilmer checked his watch. According to Carol, his schedule was free for the rest of the day.

    "Sure," he smiled and told Carol that she could leave early for the day as he wouldn''t be returning to the office.

    Carol nodded and watched as her boss left with Ms Connor. The secretary wasn''t nosy in her boss'' private life. Besides, Debbie was a married lady. Surely she wouldn''t have to report it to Mrs Wilde... right?

    The cafe Debbie suggested wasn''t too far from the office. In fact, it was so secluded that Wilmer wouldn''t have found it himself. There was hardly anything about it on the maps.

    The cafe was run by an elderly couple who took pride in their home-brewed drinks and pastries. Wilmer ordered for both of them and took some time to enjoy the ambience. The peacefulness was like a spot of Shangri-La in the busy city.

    "I think I will be a regular here," he told the ex-lawyer.

    Debbie smiled. "It sure is peaceful, isn''t it? I used to come here all the time whenever I was working on a stressful case just before I fought it out in the courtroom."

    The CEO nodded. He could understand why. "Why are you interested in becoming a governess? Surely you would have other passions even after leaving your career behind."

    Debbie wasn''t fazed by how direct Wilmer was. Her smile never wavered.

    "I will be honest. If it wasn''t for Benjamin bragging about the talented girl called Scarlet, I would probably have never signed up for the job. Benjamin might not have told you, but I was a writer myself. I just lost touch with the pen after publishing my fifth paperback because I found more enjoyment in editing and mentoring aspiring writers. I''m not a very creative kind of person even though I love the beauty of a good book. I just find helping the creation of books more magical than actually writing it."

    Wilmer blinked. While it was true that he wanted to engage a governess for Scarlet, he wondered if it would be possible to have Debbie groom the two other children.

    "Will you have problems handling two other children as a governess? They don''t need much attention because their areas of interest are very different and it takes a more self-directed learning approach."

    Debbie tilted her head to a side. Two other children? Benjamin didn''t mention anything about it and the world knew that the Wilde''s only had one daughter. Could this be illegitimate children? Does Orita Wilde know?

    The ex-lawyer hesitated for a long time and Wilmer took the hint.

    "It''s alright, you don''t need to give me an answer now. School has only started for them, I will contact you again next week. If you have any questions, feel free to let my secretary know. Carol will assist you as much as she can, I do find you to be a rather suitable candidate."

    They charged a little more leisurely after that and enjoyed the home-brewed coffee. Wilmer was impressed with Debbie''s enthusiasm about writing and though that Scarlet might be happy if Debbie accepted his proposal. Still, he didn''t want to be too pretentious and make decisions on the girl''s behalf.

    "It might sound sudden, but I think you will get along really well with Scarlet. She is a naturally curious and creative individual. However, she had gone through some terrible things recently. It would be nice if you could take some time out of your busy schedule to visit Scarlet after school and just talk to her to know her better. As a father, I am a failure. I don''t know how else I can help my daughter, who is suffering alone."

    Debbie raised her brows. From the rumours, the Wilde''s were a very loving family and it was true. Still, what did Mr Wilde mean by a failure as a father?

    "Pardon my impertinence, but I would like to ask what happened. Why would you consider yourself a failure as a father?"

    Wilmer sighed heavily and started telling his long tale. Throughout the tale, Debbie remained silent. Her opinion about the Wilde''s changed a little when Wilmer disclosed that Scarlet was adopted. She wasn''t given the details about Scarlet''s circ.u.mstances, but she didn''t want to pry. Apparently, it was a decision made by the Ice Queen without consulting the CEO beforehand.

    "You don''t have any objections to what your wife did? We''re not talking about a dog or a cat, we are talking about a child..."

    Wilmer chuckled. "No. In fact, I am very happy to have Scarlet in our family. She brings colour into our lives and I can see the positive influence she brings to Alex and my wife. It only troubles me that she wouldn''t completely open up to us. I might have made a bad move back then, but it was the only way I thought could pull her out from that depression."

    Debbie paused. "Depression?"

    Wilmer looked around and shook his head. "Let''s take this conversation to a different location, shall we?"

 Chapter 46 - Hired

    She didn''t expect to be invited to the penthouse so soon. Claire was just as surprised as Debbie was when she received a call from Mr Wilde telling her to prepare the study for a guest. The head maid didn''t question anything and did as she was instructed. She was also curious as to why the CEO wanted to know Scarlet''s schedule. The kids were going to survey the various clubs and extracurricular activities today, so Claire was miffed when Mr Wilde told her to arrange for someone to pick Scarlet up after school in a car. Wasn''t she supposed to take public transportation?

    Jasper and Alex weren''t too bothered with the special treatment Scarlet got. In fact, they looked genuinely happy for her when they heard someone coming to get her in a car.

    "You should go home and rest, standing and walking too long isn''t good for your leg."

    Alex agreed and felt guilty seeing the cast on Scarlet''s leg even though they made up. She wanted to help Scarlet carry her bag and reduce the burden, but even her own backpack was too heavy for her to handle. The Wilde princess didn''t know what she could do for Scarlet except to walk beside her, but Scarlet was faster than she was. She''d never felt so useless before, so when she heard that someone was coming to get her sister, Alex was overjoyed. At least Scarlet didn''t need to put up with her pathetic speed now.

    Scarlet didn''t question it and followed the driver when he arrived. Claire didn''t provide her with any more details, so the blogger was left to speculate what could have happened all alone in the car that seemed too big all of a sudden.

    With nobody around, her thoughts drifted off to the darker side. Could it be that she''d done something wrong unknowingly and Mr Wilde called her back alone to scold her?

    While the blogger was bashing herself mentally, Debbie was admiring the tasteful tapestries and sipping on Darjeeling tea. Wilmer decided to take some time and dress down so he would be more comfortable for the long discussion that was about to take place. There was just something about Debbie that clicked, and he just had a feeling that the girl would come to like Ms Connor too.

    "Scarlet was once a Liu, but her parents were those in the middle class trying to make it rich. It was a marriage of partnership more than love and Scarlet was born from necessity. Before my wife met her, Scarlet was just like an expressionless doll and did things perfectly as expected from her. We wanted to raise her as our ward because she possesses an incredible talent that could become one of Alex''s strongest pillars within her inner circle of friends when she becomes the Wilde heiress. However, when we tried to negotiate with the Liu''s, they promptly sold their daughter to us for a blank cheque. It was at that point that my wife decided to adopt Scarlet legally instead of grooming her to become Alex''s pillar."

    "They sold her for money... Are they really her biological parents? How can such monsters exist!? The poor child..."

    Wilmer sighed and nodded. "My wife and daughter tried everything they could, but the trauma and damage were already done. We don''t want to resort to calling for a psychologist, but if the situation gets worse, we might have to. I do hope that we do not need to resort to such an option with your influence in Scarlet''s life as a governess. I''ll say I''m pleasantly surprised by how well I think you''d do well for the governess position. The focus should be more on Scarlet, but I hope you can help all three of my children grow, even if one of them isn''t my legal child."

    Debbie smiled. "I''m not very confident about playing the faux therapist here, but I will do my best. I am interested to meet all the children, but I want to know more about the dedication of this job... As you might have heard, I am recently married and am living with my husband in Singapore. I understand that governesses are usually required to live with their employers much like the maids and butlers under your employment. However, I would like to request a more formal position, like a tutor, who can travel over for classes and return after the lesson is over..."

    Wilmer thought about it. "I have no reason to object to such an arrangement. I also understand that you''re busy with your freelance career as an editor, so I wouldn''t want to take up too much of your time. Alex and Jasper will be having extracurricular activities after lessons and they will be interning at my company for two days a week. Once Claire has a better grasp on their schedules, we can discuss the arrangements again."

    Just as their discussion came to an end, there was a knock on the door. Claire bowed as she entered and announced that Scarlet was home and settling down in her room.

    Wilmer shared a look with Debbie and told the maid to bring Scarlet to the study when she was ready. The two then proceeded to chat about less important matters as Claire excused herself.

    When Scarlet heard that Mr Wilde wanted to see her, she quickly changed out of the uniform and combed through her messy hair. Once she was ready, Claire escorted her and knocked on the door before ushering the blogger in. She was clearly not expecting another person to be in the room, because the blogger froze up when she saw the unfamiliar lady.

    To ease the tension, Wilmer smiled and told Scarlet to have a seat before asking about her day. Debbie noticed how upright Scarlet was sitting. Her ramrod spine and professional answers made the ex-lawyer raise her brow. She could understand a little more about what the CEO meant by behaving perfectly. She must have gone through a very harsh education to be able to carry herself with such prim and proper conduct.

    Wilmer pouted. Scarlet wasn''t easing up, so he mustered his most pitiful voice and asked childishly. "When are you going to call me daddy?"

    The girl stiffened and Debbie giggled at the father and daughter interaction.

    Scarlet deadpanned. "Not even Alex calls you daddy."

    Wilmer mocked horror and pretended to weep. Debbie couldn''t contain her laughter and Scarlet seemed to ease up a little at that. With the ice broken, the ex-lawyer introduced herself as a friend of Benjamin''s.

    "You know Benjamin?"

    "Yes," Debbie nodded. "We studied in the same institute before. However, I left my law career behind and am now helping budding writers publish their books. I''m a freelance editor!"

    At the mention of ''editor'', Scarlet''s eyes lit up and she snapped back to Mr Wilde.

    "She''s an editor!"

    Mr Wilde nodded slowly. "I know."

    "But she''s an editor... She helps make books!"

    The Ceo was amused and nodded slowly again. "I''ve heard."

    "I write books!" Scarlet was almost bouncing in her seat, much to the amus.e.m.e.nt of the a.d.u.l.ts present.

    "And...?" Wilmer pretended not to get the inference.

    Exasperated and mentally debating if she should shamelessly request for Debbie to teach her how to write books or be polite and let the chance fly by, the better choice was obvious to her.

    "Daddy, can I please learn from Ms Connor? It doesn''t have to be very often, just once in a while over tea is good too... I... I''ve actually started writing one secretly from Alex and Jasper, but I don''t know if it is any good..."

    Wilmer couldn''t stop the smile from infecting his mood. It spread from his face to his entire personality, and the CEO pointed at Debbie.

    "You''re hired."

 Chapter 47 - Club Recruitment

    Back in Joyville International, a different storm was brewing. It was very easy to tell the special stream students apart from the rest of the classes. Jasper didn''t know how he had missed it earlier, but they were given a special pin badge which they had to wear, even if they didn''t wear uniforms. Scarlet and Alex''s badges were hidden underneath their collars, but Jasper''s was displayed on the sleeve of his shirt because the badge kept knocking against his collarbone in an annoying manner.

    From afar, nobody could tell what class or grade they were from, but when the duo walked around to check out the different clubs, they immediately garnered the attention of everyone in it. Alex made a list of clubs she shortlisted and Jasper only circled one. The gardener''s son decided to accompany his childhood friend as she checked out the various art clubs.

    The first club they went to was the digital arts club, and it wasn''t even two minutes before Alex fled the scene. She didn''t understand computers and the students in the club seemed more interested in playing computer games than designing something cool.

    Next, they arrived outside the Sketch Club. The teacher was a nice lady who offered them tryouts. Alex spent the next ten minutes with a piece of charcoal before deciding that she wanted something livelier in which she can move her hands to. Although the teacher was slightly disappointed that Alex didn''t want to join the sketch club, she recommended them to try the calligraphy or pottery-making club.

    Alex dropped by the calligraphy club first as it was just next door. The teacher was an old man who was partially deaf and didn''t speak a word of English so the Wilde princess gave up and moved on to the pottery making club.

    The pottery making club was low on budget and the teacher apologised that due to the lack of interested students they had a risk of closing down. Alex took a look at the pottery wheel and frowned. She then asked the teacher where she could try sculpting something and experience various visual art styles.

    The pottery club teacher thought for a long time before looking around suspiciously.

    "Don''t tell anyone I told you this. There will be an art competition coming up and it is actually a selection of artistically talented individuals. If your work gets selected, you will be invited to join the exclusive Art & Sculpture club. For the truly artistic people, you wouldn''t want to miss it."

    "Thank you," Alex nodded gratefully. With that, they left in search of the club that Jasper wanted to check out.

    Of all the clubs, this one stood out to Jasper the most because it was exactly what he needed at this point. With the pocket money he will be getting from Mr Wilde after interning at the company, Jasper intended to grow it. However, there wasn''t an investment club so the closest to it was an entrepreneur''s circle.

    A circle was slightly different from a club as it didn''t have regular activities. Instead, there was only a teacher advisor and the students ran the club. Jasper heard that the president of the club was an upperclassman who was also known to have a bad reputation. However, he ignored that completely and decided to look for classroom 3-F anyway. What could possibly go wrong?

    Alex wasn''t too sure that she wanted to enter the classroom when they found it. The place looked worse than the pottery club. The walls and door were full of vandalism, the class sign was broken and the desks were pretty much smashed. She didn''t know what kind of students would study in such a rundown classroom but her question was soon answered when someone opened the door.

    "What do you want?" the upperclassman with a wild crew cut and multiple ear piercings asked. Alex wasn''t sure if that was accepted as part of the school''s dress code. Jasper ignored the punk''s appearance and shoved the application form in the boy''s face.

    "I''m here to apply to join the entrepreneur circle."

    The punk raised a brow and flipped the paper. "Are you serious?"

    Jasper nodded.

    The punk sighed. "Did nobody tell you what we are?"

    Jasper shrugged and the punk rolled his eyes. "Listen up. I don''t know what kind of things you''re expecting but this circle is a place for losers like us to hang out. There is no real circle or discussion or any of that shit. Go home if you don''t want to get trashed."

    The gardener''s son didn''t move from his spot and Alex looked worried. "I want to apply for the entrepreneur''s circle!" he yelled.

    The punk got irritated and turned around to grab Jasper by the collar. When he did so, he noticed the badge on Jasper''s sleeve. "Special stream? Oh, you''re here to mock us, aren''t you? This is your last warning while I''m being nice. There isn''t a circle here... Go. Home."

    Jasper wouldn''t budge. "Why do you call it the Entrepreneur''s Circle if nobody is serious about it? Aren''t you guys here to make money?"

    The punk laughed. "Look at us, do you think we can make money? We can''t even study properly. All we do here is play poker, gamble, and fight. Even the teachers are too scared to even come near us, we''re beyond saving. If it wasn''t because our parents had a little more money than the average folks we would have been thrown out for being a disgrace to the school."

    Jasper fell when the punk released his collar. Alex rushed to help him up but the boy refused. The fire in his eyes was lit and Alex couldn''t understand why Jasper was so insistent on joining a circle that didn''t exist.

    "Wait for me in the classroom," he told the Wilde princess quietly. "If I''m not back by five, please call Claire and let her know."

    Alex didn''t want to leave Jasper but she was too afraid to follow him when he entered the classroom. Instead, she ran towards the counsellor''s room where she knew Danny was.

    In the classroom, the irritated punk cursed when Jasper entered.

    "I thought I told you to chase him away?" the leader of the punks growled and kicked the lackey who couldn''t get such a simple job done right.

    Jasper received a glare from the boy who just got kicked and watched the leader jump off the teacher''s table. That was definitely a fourteen-year-old upperclassman. The height difference was slightly unnerving, but Jasper stood his ground with a calm smile.

    "You''re the leader here?"

    The delinquent snorted. "And you? The hotshot from the special stream? Did you leave your girlfriend outside to call on the teachers?"

    Jasper shook his head. "I told her to leave because she would only get in the way of a man to man discussion. I want to make a deal with you. I want to borrow the Entrepreneur Circle''s name."

    The delinquent leader was surprised. "Oh? And why should we let you?"

    Jasper stuck his hand in his pocket and felt for his wallet. He threw the wallet to the leader who caught it with ease.

    "I can make money. I want to use the circle to make more. If you play along with me and help me out, everyone gets a share of the profit. What do you say? I''ll even help you with studies just enough for you to graduate."

    The boys in the classroom froze. Then one of them laughed and the others followed.

    "Do you really think we''re capable of studying or making money? Don''t be stupid... Even if you are smart, we''re not going to be able to help with anything. Nothing''s going to change even if we accept your application."

    Jasper smiled. "Two weeks. Give me two weeks to prove to you that we can work together. Do you have a Math textbook? There should be a topical test coming up soon."

    Someone found a ratty copy of the textbook and threw it at Jasper who didn''t flinch. He calmly picked the book up and flipped through it.

    "Algebra? I guess you''re up till factorising now. In two weeks, all of you are going to pass the topical test. No skipping my lessons. If there is even one failure, I will not pursue this any further. However, if everyone passes the topical test, I want to be accepted into the circle and made the unofficial chairperson."

    Nobody knew what to say. For as long as they remembered, their teachers and parents have given up on them. Right now, there was a boy younger than them claiming that he could do what the a.d.u.l.ts couldn''t manage for years?

    The leader of the delinquents couldn''t hold it back any longer and laughed aloud. The situation was just beyond ridiculous now.

    "Fine, I''ll agree to your terms. There isn''t anything for us to lose anyway, so just be prepared for disappointment."

    Jasper grinned wolfishly. "Lessons start tomorrow at ten. Also, does anyone have a mobile phone I can contact? Let''s make a chat group."

 Chapter 48 - Different Roads to Success

    Dinner in the Wilde house was slightly different from the other households. Mrs Wilde had a strict rule about eating together as a family. This was also another form of battle that usually went unseen by the servants. It was a time when Alex would bargain with her parents about the things she wanted to have and try. Jasper was normally the silent one who would read subtle cues and hints about what was expected of him.

    Today, Mr Wilde was chairing the dinner meeting. He announced two very important news and the children listened attentively.

    "We will be engaging a private tutor who will assist you as a mentor for your personal subject of interest. Apart from Scarlet, the two of you are required to see her and update Ms Connor on your progress towards your goal once a week. Scarlet, I heard from Claire that none of the clubs in school provided what you required. Ms Debbie is a freelance editor. She will act as your mentor and book consultant on the days you are not interning at Wilde Inc."

    He then looked at Alex and Jasper. "Both of you were at school surveying the clubs today. Have you made any applications yet?"

    Jasper shook his head. "I am required to prove my worth in the next two weeks so my application is still under consideration, sir."

    Mr Wilde wasn''t too worried about what Jasper was planning. In fact, of the three children under his care, the boy was the one he was least worried about.

    "What about you?" he asked Alex who then recounted her story. Wilmer didn''t know if he should talk to his daughter about the odds of winning an art competition, he didn''t want to crush her hopes but he didn''t want to give her false hopes either. Of course, it would be entirely possible to secure Alex a spot in the prestigious Art & Sculpture Club by pulling some strings but Alex was determined to do this on her own this time.

    "Very well, we will await the results of the art competition to discuss it again. Claire, please get their schedules and organise two days for the chauffeur to pick them up from school to the company. They will begin their internship next month after they''ve settled down a little more into their school life. Also, please contact Mrs Debbie Connor and schedule for Scarlet''s first lesson."

    Claire bowed and the Wilde''s continued their dinner in a more casual manner, talking about their day and the strange school system. Wilmer was surprised by how brilliant Joyville International was. They definitely invested a lot in nurturing talents, something Keyman International didn''t do a good job at.

    #screen start#

    Ahoy Sea Ruffians!

    This is your captain once more. It''s been a good while and I''ve been busy settling down in my new life on a new ship- aka I transferred schools.

    If you''re wondering who this entry is going to be featuring, you can stop holding your breath now. It''s not going to be about a new friend I made because there were no friends to be making today. Instead, I will be gossi- sharing a very unique individual who wears at least two hats. Meet Mr Wonka - our homeroom teacher and school counsellor.

    Mr Wonka wears very nerdy looking h.i.p.ster clothing. I don''t know how the school doesn''t comment about his choice of work attire. It''s an absolute fashion disaster! To ''make an impression'', Mr Wonka dressed up in a yellow and orange checkered pants with a white button-up shirt folded at the sleeves, held by navy blue suspenders. To top it off, he didn''t comb his hair properly with one of the cowlicks at the side sticking out. Those thick round-framed glasses of his was also a very stereotypical h.i.p.ster-nerd trend that clearly didn''t suit a man in his thirties. I think Mr Wonka was trying too hard.

    It became even more apparent how starved for attention he was when he proudly paraded with us following behind him the whole time when we were going to the health station. It doesn''t help that he cannot take hints as a counsellor and can talk to himself for a whole day. I don''t know why he was the school''s counsellor but I guess there won''t be a boring day with Mr Wonka as my teacher.

    Enough about describing Mr Wonka''s appalling external appearance and eccentric character. This journal isn''t about judgement, it''s more of an observation.

    Most people would probably miss this out but Mr Wonka is actually not left or right-handed. While Mr Wonka favours his left hand more when he is writing, he often uses his right hand to hold doors and zip things. I suspect that Mr Wonka is actually ambidextrous.

    Also, it should be obvious but Mr Wonka adores children. Not just children as in humans but also small animals. He is actually a very keen observer behind that eccentric bubbly mask of his. I have seen Mr Wonka serious at work when he is alone in the counsellor room pouring through his counsellor notes and calling parents up. I wonder why he feels the need to constantly wear the clown-like mask and comical behaviour when he is around us. What do you think?

    Personally, while I''m not a huge fan of Mr Wonka, I can''t help but be curious about the man behind the clown mask. Why did the school counsellor volunteer to be the homeroom teacher of a class like mine? More than half of us don''t attend his classes at all and it isn''t due to truant.

    If there is one thing I admire about Mr Wonka, it is his ability to reject rejection and continue smiling even in tough times. It takes a special kind of strength to continue having an endless supply of hope and optimism when things look like they''ll never get better.

    That''s all from me folks! I''ll see you again when I meet more interesting subjects to observe.

    Fair Winds!

    Pirate S.

    #screen ends#

 Chapter 49 - Another Day at Joyville International

    This time, Scarlet made sure to wake up an hour earlier so that they wouldn''t be late. Alex was feeling the ache in her legs from walking that much and standing on the bus, but she persevered. It was only the second day of school after all and all three children were excited to be going back to school to work on what they wanted.

    Scarlet got a seat on the bus while Alex and Jasper stood. They were earlier than usual so the bus wasn''t as crowded and the roads weren''t as congested. The blogger had dark circles underneath her eyes but Jasper didn''t comment about it. Alex didn''t really notice them but she thought Scarlet looked tired.

    "Can I help to carry your bag?" she asked. "You look tired today."

    Scarlet yawned and smiled at her sister in decline. She was seated anyway, there was not much use in carrying the bag that was already on the floor. Still, it was a nice gesture and that put a smile on Scarlet''s face.

    The trio made it to school this time on time. The security at the counter saw them and immediately stood up to bow as they passed. The girls paid no attention as they walked to their classroom with Scarlet hobbling along.

    Jasper helped the girl settle down in class with her laptop and promised to be back for lunch.

    "Where are you going?" the Wilde princess asked even though she had a guess.

    The gardener''s boy grinned and waved goodbye before running off. "I have a man-to-man promise to keep!"

    Alex decided to keep Scarlet company for the compulsory lessons today. Like Jasper and Scarlet, the Wilde princess had her private agenda too. Still, she was in no hurry and can attend to it after the two-hour lesson. Danny was a fun teacher and she was looking forward to some of his classes.

    "Good morning everyone! Are we ready to start our basic math lessons?"

    Scarlet felt her eye twitch at the obscenely bright colour Danny chose to wear today. He wore bright pink trousers with white polka dots that went surprisingly well with his white sneakers. This time, he got rid of the suspenders and opted for a lime green sports top instead. The thick-framed glasses was still perched heavily on his nose. Scarlet tried to give the outfit a rating but her common sense scale was broken. How did the school employ such a counsellor again? Also, did Danny mention basic Math?

    "I thought we were having a different teacher for each subject?" Alex took the words right out of Scarlet''s mouth.

    Danny blinked. "Is that so? Do you have a problem with me teaching?"

    Alex shook her head and Danny resumed his cheerful self, ignoring the question and continuing with class. Scarlet didn''t know what to expect from Danny with his quirky attitude. If anything, she didn''t know what the counsellor could accomplish. Physical Education class was fine because you didn''t really have to be trained in how to play a sport professionally to teach. Just a healthy dose of common sense is good enough. On the other hand, Math isn''t something that can be taught without going through some sort of formal education or training.

    To the girls'' surprise, Danny was not only an excellent teacher but one who knew just how to push them to be better versions of who they were. He didn''t just teach Math. He linked Math to Physics and Chemistry for a more practical application. It was also used to teach basic business and economics, something normal children wouldn''t have to deal with until they were in their late teens.

    Still, to Alex and Scarlet, they soaked in the new knowledge like good sponges. Scarlet listened to the stories Danny told with gusto. Her writer mind was spinning information in the back of her head into potential stories just waiting for the right moment to explode while Alex was beginning to feel depressed at her lack of knowledge. No wonder her father wanted them to be independent. She''d been too sheltered from the world and imprisoned behind luxurious walls.

    Their notebooks were full of scribbles as Dany talked. The whiteboard was completely free of marker ink and it was amazing how lessons were conducted. Time flew by quickly and they were only left with fifteen more minutes before the lesson ended. Still, Danny didn''t touch on the topic he had to teach that was meant to be ''pi'' for calculating circles.

    It was only to the last five minutes that Danny got back on track and uncapped a marker to scribble two lines on the board. On one line was the formula for calculating the circle''s diameter and on the other, was a line for the formula to calculate a circle''s area.

    Danny then drew a circle that looked more like an oval and drew a line out from the centre. "This," he pointed at the line and labelled it "r". "This is called the radius. The diameter is formed by two radii and "pi" is a greek thing for the value of 3.14 or 22/7 whichever is provided in your questions. Homework will be the entire chapter on circles due next week. You can skip all the questions in section A and B. I only want to see how you managed for the word problem questions in Section C. That''s all for today, class dismissed!"

    Danny didn''t even wait for the girls to pack up before walking out, leaving Scarlet and Alex rushing to finish taking down the questions they needed to do for homework. Alex thought that Jasper was in a lot of trouble for skipping class. After all, Danny did share a lot more than just Math in the class. What if all these came out for their test? Will he fail?

    Scarlet was already flipping through the questions and decided that she might as well get them done before lunch so that she can spend the entire afternoon with Ms Connor. She wanted to do some preparations before the tutor arrived because she wanted to make a good impression. It would be the first time someone was going to be looking at not just her work but also her heart.

    Alex watched Scarlet scribble down answers on a blank piece of paper and then back to the board. How can she understand what Danny was talking about in five minutes? The Wilde heiress looked at the thick textbook and sighed. Unlike Scarlet, she wasn''t as quick to understand the crash course lesson.

    Still, it didn''t deter the blonde from trying. She flipped open to the examples section in her textbook and tried it out with the easier questions before checking her answers with the book. This process repeated for a few times before Alex attempted the questions.

    From the security room, a flamboyantly dressed man observed with unblinking eyes. It was difficult to recognise the same jovial man from earlier if it wasn''t for his unique sense of fashion. His interest was more towards the girl with a cast and the boy who took over the teacher''s job in the delinquents'' classroom. The counsellor wrote his observations down in a diary to add to the special children''s'' portfolio later. The school just might find some really interesting talents this year.

 Chapter 50 - Homo Sapiens

    Jasper stopped in front of the door. It looked as hideous as he remembered and the boy decided to change up his usual style. he came prepared when he knew he would be facing a bunch of punks. Compared to his meek self, these boys wouldn''t think twice about giving him a wedgie 1 and hanging him by his underwear on the school fence if they thought they could.

    The gardener''s son tousled his neatly combed hair and unbuttoned the first two buttons on his shirt before untucking his shirt. The boy also slung his bag over one shoulder before raising his leg and kicking the door open.

    As expected, a dirty duster came from the top and fell where Jasper would''ve been if he walked in the normal way. Unfazed by the ''hospitality'' of his students, Jasper stepped over the fallen duster as if it wasn''t there in the first place. The classroom was dark and the boys were silent. All eyes were on him and Jasper stopped in the middle, taking time to observe the state of the room before deciding that they needed a change.

    With all eyes on him, the boy strolled towards the curtains and tore them down so that sunlight could filter into the room before opening the windows wide so that they could have some natural breeze. The chairs and tables were all pushed towards the side and back of the class by the delinquents and Jasper didn''t want to put them all back by himself. There were sixteen boys in the room and about forty tables. Most of the tables were rusted and broken but there should be more than enough for the boys to study.

    "Grab and functioning table and chair from the class and get ready. I''m giving a pop quiz. Whoever can get seven out of ten questions right can skip class for today."

    There was tension and nobody moved initially. Jasper was patient. He didn''t want to boss these boys around too much. This classroom wasn''t his territory after all. Eventually, the leader of the group moved and one by one, the boys followed his lead. They took about fifteen minutes to settle down and Jasper didn''t even bother with what these boys knew or didn''t know. Each test paper was randomised by him. He had a set of fifty questions that he mixed and matched. The questions were all from the upper primary levels and the trickiest of the lot.

    For the first five minutes after Jasper handed the test, nobody attempted any of the questions after writing their names and the date. Some tapped their feet while others tapped their pencils. At the back of his head, Jasper wanted to slap every single one of them. How did they manage to get this far without knowing basic math? Multiplication word problems aren''t difficult! Calculating the area of a circle is only a single line formula! These boys had better be kidding...

    Ten minutes passed and some of the boys had given up, choosing to nap instead. Initially, the test had a fifteen-minute time limit but seeing as none of these boys could answer a single question, Jasper decided to end it early and not waste any more precious time.

    Jasper took a quick look at the test scripts as he collected them and tried not to flip the table. It was difficult. Even when Alex was having her blonde moment, it never made him this frustrated. How could such dumb humans exist? As homo sapiens who survived the evolution and avoided extinction by adapting to the environment and ruling the strong with their wits, how can these fools be deserving of the title as the same species? It''s simply too ridiculous!

    "I''m disappointed," Jasper told the class.

    Nobody was impressed. In fact, some even rolled their eyes and yawned.

    "Told you it would be like this," the delinquent leader smirked. "We''re hopeless."

    Jasper grit his teeth and was about to tear the papers up when he saw someone still scribbling answers at the back of the class. The sound of a pen scratching on the table''s surface was pleasing and Jasper really hoped this boy wasn''t an aspiring artist.

    He peered over the shoulder of the busy student who was filling in the last blank. Jasper took note of his name. Apparently Jeremy Loh wasn''t too dumb. He got one question wrong as a result of carelessness but everything else was correct. Still, he couldn''t accurately gauge the boy''s potential as these are questions way below what these boys should be dealing with.

    "I''m done," Jeremy handed his paper in and Jasper nodded.

    "Question eight was wrong due to a sign operation error but everything else is correct."

    There was a wave of murmur after Jasper''s announcement and the stand-in teacher allowed them to talk about it for a minute before telling Jeremy that he could leave the class if he wanted to. "It''s going to be a crash course today for the rest of them. You don''t have to stay."

    Jeremy smirked. "No, I think I want to stay. Let''s see how good you are, I have a bet with Jinru after all."

    Jasper blinked. Who was Jinru again? he glanced down at the papers to look for the boy with the name. Wen Jinru attempted the first question but was stuck on the second step of the problem. Apart from addition and subtraction, it appears as if the boy couldn''t understand multiplication or division too well.

    "What? Got a problem?" Jinru scowled. Jasper immediately recognised him as the leader of the delinquents.

    "Not at all," he smiled. "Algebra is going to be a lot easier than what you guys are struggling with."

    Nobody believed Jasper who sighed and tossed his papers into the trash.

    "Listen up! From tomorrow onwards, you''re all going to bring your calculators to class. Who cares if you don''t know how to add or divide... all you have to do is pass the test. You just need to know how to use the calculator and get the answers."

    Nobody knew how to react to that declaration. Jasper clearly overestimated the power of a calculator. So what if it could help them add, subtract, multiply and divide? Algebra was a bunch of nonsense X and Y equations that make no sense!

    Seeing the sceptical looks on their faces, Jasper started writing from the top left of the whiteboard. It was what he understood about algebra all condensed into one very huge cheat sheet that he designed the night before.

    If these numbskulls were bad at understanding concepts then he would have to drill them into their brains.

    Nobody spoke as they watched the scribbles infect the entire board. In less than ten minutes, there was not a single spot on that huge whiteboard that wasn''t covered in some kind of formula or working.

    "Memorise this in two weeks and you''ll pass the topical test." I will come again tomorrow morning and you will be writing down as many formulas as you can on a blank piece of paper. Class dismissed, it''s lunchtime for me."

    The delinquents didn''t react in time as Jasper packed up before leaving. Utterly stunned, they looked at each other dumbly.

    Jeremy sighed. "Shall we start?"

    Begrudgingly, the delinquents started copying it on their foolscap pads. It was said in olden times that if you couldn''t remember something, you will definitely remember it after writing it a thousand times. That''s exactly what Jinru suggested and nobody questioned his logic as they started copying the first set of ten. I was listening to Hwa Sa of MAMAMOO - Pink panties (English ver) (Blurred Lines cover.) doing this. It had to be hilarious to inspire a wedgie.

 Chapter 51 - Caveman Mentality

    Lunch came quickly and Jasper slid into his class. he saw Alex struggling over her book while Scarlet was swimming through her pile of homework.

    "How was the class like with Danny?" he asked.

    Alex nodded. "It was fun. Danny had many stories to share but I wish he taught the actual lessons longer. I don''t understand this question at all, he didn''t teach us how to solve it."

    Jasper took a seat beside the Wilde princess and decided to help her while tackling the problems by himself. Alex shared with Jasper and gave a rather detailed recount about what happened in class while Scarlet quickly finished up the last few questions.

    Scarlet looked at the time. There were about forty more minutes before lunch. While Jasper helped Alex with her homework, Scarlet decided to do her homework in advance 1 . If Danny only gave them homework based on the book, she could easily try the questions by herself and study in advance so that she has more time at the later part to focus on her writing and research.

    Time flew by and the children decided to take a break. There were a lot of things to do after lunch so they hurried unpacked the lunch box that Claire packed for them. Jasper sighed inwardly at his portion. He was a growing boy and eating the same amount that the girls ate simply wasn''t enough for him. Still, he couldn''t impose too much on the Wilde''s. The boy decided that his next stop after lunch would be the school canteen. He might make a deal with the lunch lady to get leftover food for free so that he could save some money.

    Scarlet decided that the best place for her to be was in the classroom where she wouldn''t be disturbed. The only downside she could think of was that there was no air conditioning even if she had internet access. according to Claire, the laptop had been configured to be automatically connected to the school''s VIP connection.

    As her leg was still in a cast, it was inconvenient for Scarlet to be moving around. Jasper decided to help Scarlet connect her laptop to the main powerpoint while Scarlet set it up.

    It was when the laptop stalled after trying to open her doc.u.ment that the aspiring businessman witnessed something rare. Alex was startled by the loud noise but simply blinked when she realised where it was coming from. The blogger was usually the most emotionally stable child in the Wilde house. They never expected the blogger to completely lose it over a slow laptop and a crashed application.

    Scarlet smacked the laptop again and cursed colourfully in her mother tongue. Jasper and Alex didn''t know what she was saying but they had a rather good guess what Scarlet was referring to. The girl glared at the innocent machine and Jasper felt pity for it when Scarlet gave it another smack. The computer fan was whirring loudly and Jasper offered to take over. Scarlet pushed her laptop over to Jasper quickly, not wanting to deal with the offending piece of equipment for any longer.

    Jasper received the laptop and couldn''t help but wonder why people would resort to caveman logic when things didn''t work 1 . The computer hung, smack it a few times to see if it helps. The lift stopped, jam the buttons a few more time to see if it starts again. The door wouldn''t open, how about kicking it twice? Maybe something magical would happen after.

    After restarting the laptop, Jasper managed to get her file to work again, much to Scarlet''s delight. Alex made sure to make her sister comfortable before she packed her bag. The other two students excused themselves and Scarlet waved goodbye. She wasn''t worried. They promised to be back around three to go back together. The curfew was six in the evening so that gave them plenty of time. If it wasn''t for Scarlet''s lessons with Ms Connor at four, they would have stayed till about five before heading home.

    Once they were gone, the blogger pulled out her manuscript file and drafted plots. She was seeing Ms Connor his afternoon for a discussion and an informal interview. While Scarlet liked Debbie, she wasn''t sure if she trusted the lady with her work. In fact, Scarlet felt very unconfident about what she''d written. It wasn''t like an essay, it was actually a lot harder when the story becomes not just an essay but a whole book.

    Scalet''s book wasn''t long but she learnt several things writing her very first book. Firstly, naming anything was hard! It didn''t matter if it was the name of the character or the name of a place, they were equally tough to decide. Thankfully, Scarlet knew quite a good number of people so that helped her.

    Secondly, Scarlet often found herself going back to previous chapters to read what she wrote because she simply forgot all about it. After the fifth time doing it, the blogger decided that it was easier to just keep a separate sheet about all the details he might ever need when moving forward in future chapters.

    Thirdly, Scarlet was consulting the dictionary more frequently than she liked. It wasn''t that she didn''t know the spelling, The girl just wasn''t sure if it was the right word to use in such a context. Also, there was something called a thesaurus - no that isn''t a dinosaur. Scarlet often consulted it to find word replacements that she didn''t know existed. However, that led her to the fourth problem.

    She simply never had enough time.

    When trying to tell her story, Scarlet found herself taking more than giving in the knowledge exchange. She found out that birds flew because they had less dense bones and that also meant their bones were very fragile. Scarlet tried to find out more about making it possible to walk on a rainbow and somehow she ended up the legend of the rainbow with the pot of imaginary gold. More interestingly, the rainbow was actually a circle and not a semi-circle like what most picture books ill.u.s.trated.

    Being a writer was fun but Scarlet didn''t know if she was good enough to be one. Her story was more like a word vomit from ideas all over the place. Still, she wondered if Debbie was a fan of talking cats.

    "No, I must not digress," Scarlet told herself and shook her head to clear the distracting thoughts. she brought the heavy laptop to school for a sole purpose - to edit her story before her session with Debbie.

    The doc.u.ment loaded and Scarlet found herself staring at a good sixteen thousand words.

    Taking a deep breath, Scarlet nodded. "We can do this," she told herself. "Let''s start with chapter one..." It''s something I always did as a kid. I did homework for the entire year in the first two weeks of school start and slack the rest of the year xD Anyone else doing the same thing? Who else can relate?

 Chapter 52 - The Importance of a Good Writing Mentor

    Scarlet fidgeted in her chair as Debbie flipped through the printed manuscript. For a ten-year-old with no prior writing experience, the story was quite well written. It strangely reminded her of an old animated movie 1 that she personally found to be quite adorable.

    Scarlet had a rather pure imagination and it was a pleasure to read it despite the grammatical issues here and there. The girl must have read many books for she was using many phrases she picked up that seemed a little too cliched for a piece of original work. If it was a school assignment to be graded, Debbie would not have hesitated to give her an A+ and send her home with a lollipop. Unfortunately, the girl wanted to be a professional writer. That meant that being good simply isn''t enough.

    The tutor-governess looked up from the script and observed the puny creature before her and adjusted her glasses. Scarlet looked very nervous and even a little afraid. This took the ex-lawyer back to her teenage years when she was nothing more than a snotty brat who was only embarking on her journey to fame and freedom as an author. After many turns and tumbles, Debbie came to understand that the path of writing was more than fame and riches. It was difficult for one person to continuously seek out new experiences and inspiration to bring to the world authentic ideas without having everything sound almost exactly the same. As such, Debbie decided to leave her writing days behind as a memory that blazed with passion. The fire in her author heart was then channelled to become fertiliser for those who had grander ideas than hers. Debbie decided to become an editor for that very purpose.

    "Hello Scarlet, I''ve heard a little about you from Mr Wilde. Won''t you tell me more about yourself? I''m a little curious. Why would such a young girl like yourself be interested in such a boring hobby? Most kids your age would be more interested in sports or art or music... some would prefer making friends and having fun instead of being cooped up in a room in front of a computer with additional self-imposed assignments to do. I don''t know many children who would use the computer other than for assignment researches and gaming. You''re the first child I know who wants to be a writer..."

    The blogger blinked and looked at her hands. It was true. Most children would prefer doing other things. Even Alex preferred holding a paintbrush to a pen if she had a choice. Jasper was far more interested in the software applications on the computer than games but Scarlet was only interested in the word doc.u.ment whenever she touched a laptop. Perhaps in the eyes of an a.d.u.l.t, she was weird for having such a boring hobby.

    "I just like reading and writing helps me get some of the things I couldn''t say off my chest. I don''t know who I can tell or talk to but I just wish that someone in this big world can pick it up and read what I have to say. I''m not very good at communication..."

    The editor put the script down and looked at the girl with seriousness. No wonder Wilmer was so worried about her. "Is there something you''d like to talk about then? I can listen to what you have to say..." she offered.

    The feeling of having nobody to talk to about problems can really eat away at one''s happiness. For a girl as young and as intelligent as Scarlet, this must be a really heavy burden to bear alone. Debbie didn''t know what happened to Scarlet for her to be so guarded but she heard bits and pieces of Scarlet''s background from the CEO. The governess could only imagine what was going through this sweet child''s mind while it all happened.

    Scarlet made no attempt to say more and had her eyes downcast the whole time as if she was afraid of making any eye contact. Debbie took the cue and didn''t push any further. Instead, she changed her approach.

    Scarlet was tense when Debbie reached for her bag. She didn''t know what her tutor wanted when she took out a new notebook that had never been written in before. The governess didn''t say much as she pushed it across the table to Scarlet.

    "I need time to read through the story you''ve written but I don''t want you to be idle. This is going to be our secret communication diary, I hope you can take good care of it. I have approximately about another hour or so today so while I am reading through your manuscript, I would like you to decorate the journal and write the very first entry inside."

    Scarlet took the notebook and looked at it. The book was a very common and relatively cheap kind that can be bought at any bookstore. There were single lined pages on the inside and it wasn''t very thick so Scarlet could easily carry it around in her school bag. The blogger vaguely remembered using notebooks like this back when she was in Keyman International for penmanship classes. Her teacher used to call it a Jotter Book but the one Debbie passed her looked slightly nicer. It had a blank cover page made out of recycled pulp and had a lovely rough texture to the brown colour. It was clearly a product made form a company that believed in recycling. That gave Scarlet an inspiration and she asked permission to leave the room in search of decoration materials.

    While Debbie appeared neutral on the surface, she was internally ecstatic about Scarlet''s willingness to participate in the communication book. The tutor nodded and Scarlet hopped off her chair to find Claire. The penthouse might not have the materials she needed but that shouldn''t be a problem. Alex was quite the artist so she could borrow the glue and colouring supplies she needed later.

    "Claire," Scarlet knocked on the door to the kitchen. The maid was busy preparing ingredients for dinner tonight when she heard a soft voice from the doorway.

    "Hello Scarlet, how can I assist you?" the head maid quickly put away the carrots for the chef who was coming in ten minutes. It was rare for Scarlet to request anything from her so the head maid was slightly curious.

    "Can I go downstairs for a little? I''ll be back. This is for my classwork now with Ms Connor."

    Claire was a little surprised. What kind of classwork would require Scarlet to go downstairs?

    "Why do you need to go downstairs? What kind of classwork has Ms Connor given you?"

    Scarlet blushed a little and played with the end of her long side braid. "It''s something I wanted to do, it''s not really necessary. If it''s too troublesome then I''ll find another way to get it done. I''m sorry for disturbing you while you''re very busy..."

    Claire quickly denied it and held the girl by her hands before kneeling down to look at Scarlet who had her eyes to the floor.

    "Look at me, Scarlet. I''m not angry or annoyed. I can make time for it, don''t worry too much. I was just curious as to what kind of assignment it was. You don''t usually enjoy going outside after all..."

    Scarlet stole a peek at the serious maid''s expression and looked around a little before leaning in to whisper her plans.

    Claire smiled and ruffled the blogger''s hair when she heard that. "I see. In that case, I shall have Sue or Tina to accompany you. I will also inform Mr Wilde about it just in case if it''s alright with you."

    Scarlet brightened up at that and nodded before leaving to find her outdoor shoes. Claire watched the girl run off and reached for her phone. This new governess was making big waves and the head maid didn''t know if it was a good or bad thing.

    Still, if Scarlet was happy then that''s all that mattered to her.

    Claire waited for the phone to stop ringing and wondered how Mr Wilde would react to the good news. Debbie Connor might just be the lady who knew how to pull Scarlet out from that deep and dark hole she dug for herself. *Aristocats - it''s an old Disney movie, you can Google it up.

 Chapter 53 - Tipping Tina

    Scarlet couldn''t wait with all the excitement bubbling within her. Tina chose to accompany Scarlet down to gather her materials. The maid had never seen Scarlet really act her age before so it was a refreshing change from having to worry about the girl when she was in her pensive silence. Tina wasn''t a very complicated person. If Debbie was making this positive change in Scarlet, she must be a good tutor.

    The lift hit the ground floor with a ''ding'' and Scarlet tried not to run off the moment the doors opened. Tina didn''t know if she should silently follow the girl and watch over her as she did what she had to or hold her hand as they foraged for the materials the girl required.

    According to Scarlet, they were looking for natural materials to add to her book cover. She wanted to make it eco-themed because it would match the front cover. The girl even took three minutes to write down a small list of things she was looking for. They were really odd things like small flowers and petals to grass blades and twigs.

    Tina helped to search for the first item on Scarlet''s leaf and kept close to the girl just in case something happened. Scarlet was already putting several fallen petals into her ziplock bag that she got from Sue. The girl was also seriously inspecting between two different fallen leaves to select the better specimen. Tina couldn''t help but giggle and snap a photo of it. Claire would want to see this adorable creature in action.

    The head maid was busy coordinating dinner preparations and preparing the bath for the other two children when her phone buzzed. There was a text message from Tina downstairs with a picture attachment. Although Claire made it an effort to not check personal messages during work, she couldn''t help but be curious and gave in to temptation.

    The picture melted her cold heart and Claire gave in to impulse, forwarding the precious image to the 3G Fan Club chat group 1 .

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading this on Web Novel then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on Web Novel and check out their other works. > This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading this on Web Novel then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on Web Novel and check out their other works. <<

    Tina was no longer keeping her eyes peeled for yellow petals. While she always had Scarlet in her sight, her hands were preoccupied with the phone. It was the first time the maid received private messages from her employers. Also, we knew that her little proactive stunt would earn her a two hundred dollar commission for some short video clips. Scarlet was so popular, there was no doubt that the girl would become a star when she grew up. It was just too easy to love her.

    Scarlet checked her watch and decided that she had gathered more than enough decoration materials for both the front and the back of her book. She had some assortment of Ixora, some Frangipani petals, a few Bougainvillea flowers and two beautiful Angsana fruits. With Tina''s help, Scarlet also managed to secure some small ferns, several long Cogon grass blades more commonly known as ''Lalang grass'' and some mimosa leaves.

    The girl grabbed some common fallen leaves that looked straight enough for a press art and added them to her ziplock before heading back. Tina filmed the entire selection process from the side as Scarlet took everything out to clean and examine her spoils before packing them away with a satisfied smile.

    "I''m done," Scarlet announced and Tina stopped recording before sending it to her requestors quickly.

    "That''s quick. Shall we head back now?"

    The blogger grinned and skipped over to where the maid was. Tina held out her hand to Scarlet and the girl looked clueless. She looked at her collection and hesitated. Seeing that Scarlet had no clue what that meant, Tina slowly reached down and held her other hand that wasn''t preoccupied.

    Scarlet was slightly surprised by the action. She didn''t understand why Tina wanted to hold her hand but as she fell into step with the maid on the way back, the girl smiled. Being led by someone else was actually a rather nice feeling. No wonder smaller children always held onto their mother or father''s hands outside.

    Tina didn''t know if it was deliberate but Scarlet took smaller steps and walked slower as they neared the glass door. It was as if the girl didn''t quite want to go back just yet and Tina slowed her pace to match the girl''s speed.

    They enjoyed the last few steps to the lift in comfortable silence before Scarlet let Tina''s hand go in the lift. The maid didn''t say anything about it but made a mental note to report the little action to her employers. Surely this meant that little Scarlet was warming up to them. Right? *3G = 3 Geniuses

    You can guess who they are <3

 Chapter 54 - Scarlet Names Her Book

    Debbie didn''t comment much about Scarlet''s errand and she kept the poker face.

    "Welcome back."

    Scarlet nodded and tried to wipe the smile off her face. The governess noted that despite the calm mask on the blogger''s face, Scarlet''s eyes were livelier now. The lady was glad that her little assignment had done the trick.

    "I was able to look through most of the story," she informed Scarlet and the girl became more serious. "I''m impressed by your creative ideas. Can you tell me where you got the inspiration from?"

    Scarlet blushed at the praise and shuffled awkwardly. "I was researching when I came across something called Cats the musical from Broadway*... I thought that it would be easier to model some people after talking cats to better portray their struggles in a comical manner?"

    Debbie looked pleased with Scarlet''s response and had a huge smile on her face. "Great! While it isn''t ready to be turned into a book, I think we should commemorate your very first masterpiece. Does this story have a title?"

    Scarlet didn''t seem to think of it in a bad way so Debbie was secretly relieved. Rejection can be a very harsh thing for writers and she didn''t want to stamp out the burning flame in Scarlet. It might not be a huge bonfire yet but the passion was still there. Luckily for her, the girl was a fighter. She accepted it with grace and moved on, seeking further improvement.

    "I think we can call it ''A Catty Conversation''. Would you mind pointing out where exactly I''ve gone wrong?"

    Debbie blinked. "All in due time, Scarlet. For a first attempt, it was very good. I just needed something to be the gauge of your current abilities before we move on from there. From what I can see, you have a rather strong grasp of the English language. Grammar and structure are not worrying. You also have an intuitive sense of how to pace your stories with a very natural way of telling it. Your characters spring to life with how you describe your scenes although some transitions can be shaky but don''t'' worry, we will work on them."

    The blogger nodded as she heard her mentor''s feedback. "Actually, I have a question for a while now."

    "Yes?"

    Scarlet hesitated. Should she admit that she wasn''t a natural prodigy when it came to writing? Would Debbie no longer be impressed or will she express her disappointment? After a while, Scarlet eventually decided to go with the truth. After all, it was harder to conceal the truth with time. The blogger knew that if she was truthful right from the start, she wouldn''t disappoint the editor too much. Sure, Debbie might be disappointed for a while but maybe she would come to understand how to help Scarlet more?

    "Actually, I researched some writing tips for writers online before I attempted to write something. A Catty Conversation isn''t my first work. It''s probably my third or fourth? I''ve lost count. Also, It has been revised twice and edited once before I submitted it. I just want to know how does an author create their personal style? I''ve tried finding answers for there isn''t a definite answer."

    Debbie smiled. It''s a question that all young writers ask. Sadly, not even she could give them the answer. Instead, the editor gave Scarlet her very first homework.

    "It''s a very good question, Scarlet. I''ll be rather worried if you didn''t ask about it or research anything about writing beforehand. This shows that you have a levelled head and aren''t egotistical. There''s definitely room for improvements for everybody in the writing world. It doesn''t matter if you''re young or old, have published best-sellers or won the Nobel Peace Prize. Style is something that comes over time with experience, practice and wisdom. It''s not learnt or taught, it is discovered and created. Think of a writer''s style as their writing personality and DNA. It''s unique to every individual."

    She then picked up the blank exercise book and smiled. "This is going to be a very good starter. I''d like you to write all the questions you have about writing down in this book and I will answer them next week. Don''t forget to decorate the book and give it a name too!"

    The blogger was puzzled. "I have to give this book a name too?"

    Debbie looked at her as if that Scarlet was asking if the sky was blue today. "Of course! It''s only natural, right? You name the things that are precious to you. For writers, what can be more important than books?"

    Scarlet didn''t know what to say. One should never judge a book by their cover and at this moment, she thinks that it is especially true for Debbie who packed her things and bid the Wilde''s goodbye. On the surface, Debbie sounded sane and looked nothing out of the ordinary. However, after getting to know her tutor a little better, Scarlet decided that all writers have to be a little bit insane at the very least to produce such stories.

    Once Debbie left, Scarlet looked at the book in her hand. The press plants were currently still in the processing. Tina was helping her to dry them out by pressing them in between the pages of thick phone books. Alex had also agreed to lend Scarlet some of her art supplies when the plants were ready. Scarlet was excited about how the communication diary would turn out but for now, she had to come up with a name.

    Something that means secret... Scarlet didn''t really know the meaning of names so the best way to do it was by searching it up on the internet. It didn''t take her long to find a list of names that had ''secret'' in their meaning.

    As she scrolled down the names, one of them caught her eye. It was a name with a double meaning and Scarlet thought that it was actually perfect for her first communication diary.

    "From this day forth, you shall be known as Judah!" the blogger proudly announced to the blank exercise book.

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on Web Novel then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on Web Novel and check out their other works. <<

    *Disclaimer: Do not own this. It''s by T.S. Eliot and Andrew Lloyd Webber. I love some of their songs there and I would recommend you check it out. Good classic.

 Chapter 55 - Dannys Advice

    It was a long but eventful day in general. The children were worn out after so much excitement bustling around in the house and were soundly asleep upstairs. The maids had also retired for the night as they had to get up early the next morning to make preparations. Wilmer is the only one awake now and had just returned home from work with an unexpected guest. Nobody was quite expecting it but then again, nobody truly knew the man. He was always dressed so colourfully and stuck out like a sore thumb wherever he went so it was a real shock to see him acting so subtle and solemn for once.

    Also, it was probably not common knowledge that a certain school counsellor was acquaintance with Mr Wilde the CEO of the world-famous Wilde Inc. It might have been a coincidence and it might not be the case but Wilmer and Danny knew each other from long ago. One could call them old friends.

    "You''re looking rather settled down here and it hasn''t even been a week," the counsellor commented and Wilmer chuckled.

    "Home is where the heart is. I''ve just gotten more of a reason to settle down in one place for now although I must say, Orita isn''t too happy. She wants to come but someone has to look over matters going on in the headquarters. You know how it is, there are sharks everywhere. Can never be too careful."

    Danny didn''t say anything and accepted the glass of bourbon. The two men took a sip and enjoyed the burn of alcohol in silence. The day has been long and the night seemed rather heavy. While the children slept soundly, it was up to the men to work on protecting their peaceful world. Debbie and Benjamin only knew parts of the plan discussed by Orita and Wilmer but Danny was different. If it wasn''t because of Danny, Wilmer wouldn''t have the confidence to send both his daughters and Jasper to the school without any connections in the higher-ups. Sure, money did wonders sometimes but it couldn''t solve all the problems in the world.

    "What do you think of them?"

    Danny nodded without answering immediately. Wilmer wasn''t in a hurry either and waited patiently for his response while they enjoyed the drink. Danny didn''t want to admit it but there really was a genius within their midst. Most of the children who were proclaimed geniuses were only considered smart and exceptionally bright. It was the support of the society that allowed them to fully develop their capabilities which resulted in them gaining recognition of being a ''genius''. However, ever so often one true prodigy will pop by and wow the world with their originality. Those were the gems Danny was looking for.

    "Your adopted daughter is the same as me," he told the CEO who hummed. For anyone listening to their conversation, it wouldn''t make much sense. However, that spoke volumes for Wilmer who''d been friends with Danny since forever.

    Back during their university days, Danny and Wilmer worked together. That was before Wilmer came to know Orita. Danny was always the brain behind their crazy ideas while Wilmer spearheaded the projects to make those ideas a reality. However, they''d been very naive. It wasn''t the business that killed their friendship. The business failed but their friendship remained strong. Orita came into Wilmer''s life around that point when he was at his lowest and that was the start of their love story. For Danny, he saw how his friend had other commitments and like the good friend he was, decided to make his quiet exit from their lives.

    If there was something that was unique about Danny, it was how the quack of a man was an undetected genius himself. Wilmer always admired and slightly envied Danny for his ability to pull ideas out from thin air. The man was also known to be extremely eccentric. It didn''t matter if it was his habits, thinking or fashion sense... they were all weird. The man was a walking human encyclopaedia with the ability to do almost everything after seeing it done once. His keen sense of observation gives him an uncanny ability to read people and predict actions far into the future. Danny was able to think of things so far into the future that people couldn''t believe him. It didn''t matter if they were talking about market shares or technology, Danny was always spot on. Nobody could quite understand how he derived at those conclusions either.

    Another lesser-known fact about Danny - he worked closely with the grey side of the law. If one put it simply, Danny was an informant outside of his school counsellor guise. He was also Wilmer and Orita''s go-to person for information about anything. Benjamin knew Danny and would work with the man on a few tough cases. Right now, there was a far more critical project that Wilmer wanted to talk about.

    "Can you help her?" the CEO asked.

    Danny sighed. "Debbie is there for a reason. This is out of my scope, Will."

    Disagreeing, Wilmer looked Danny in the eye. "There is nobody else in this world who can understand the mind and feelings of a genius more than you. You teach a bunch of them in your day job..."

    There was only a burst of cold laughter. Danny put the drink he was nursing down and met Wilmer''s stare. "You really think so?"

    Wilmer didn''t reply.

    "All the other kids are bright. They''re brilliant but I wouldn''t call them geniuses. That''s a label that society gave them. Your biological princess and her knight are very bright children with promising future. Reminds me a lot about yourself and Orita. However a genius has a very dark mind, it''s a place that nobody else but themselves can reach and understand."

    Wilmer didn''t say anything and allowed Danny to elaborate. The counsellor didn''t do ''serious'' often because he hated it. Life was too short to be unhappy all the time. Thinking about his darker side of life only caused him pain that he''d rather be without. Many times, Danny asked why couldn''t his gift be passed on to someone else... someone like Wilmer perhaps.

    "Scarlet''s been through a lot too... she just doesn''t show it too much."

    Danny shook his head. "She''s fortunate that she has a family to guide her. If you really treat me like a friend you will take my advice to raise her normally. I''ll continue giving you reports about your three monkeys at school but don''t ask anything more from me. I don''t want to see another tragedy happen. She''d be better off not knowing what she''s capable of. Ignorance is bliss."

    Wilmer wanted to ask more but he knew Danny wouldn''t be willing to talk when he was in this kind of mood. It didn''t happen very often but Wilmer knew his old friend enough to tell when the counsellor simply withdrew into his shell. Tonight was one of those moments and he let it be.

    If there was one thing Wilmer knew, it was that Danny was reluctant to help groom any geniuses to reach their full potential. The CEO didn''t know much about Danny''s past but he could sometimes see the haunted shadows in his friend''s eyes. From research and understanding, many geniuses come with a package of mental disorders and conditions, some more severe than others. Danny was diagnosed with bipolar disorder but that didn''t change the fact that Wilmer thought he was brilliant.

    It didn''t take very long before Danny wanted out and Wilmer didn''t stop him. Just at the door when Danny was about to leave, he turned around and said this.

    "It is often lonely at the top. Sometimes I look back and ask myself if it was really all worth it. Look at me now and compare it to Scarlet. If you truly have in your heart what is good for her, you wouldn''t take this happiness away from her. Genius or not, talented or not, I feel like happiness should come everything."

    Without another word, the counsellor left as silently as he came, leaving Wilmer to think over his friend''s advice. Was not allowing Scarlet to develop her potential really the best for her? Both Wilmer and Orita strongly believed in supporting their children''s passion as long as it wasn''t harming anybody. How can that be a bad thing?

 Chapter 56 - Observation Buffet

    A few days passed with the children settling into an easy rhythm of attending classes, eating packed lunches together before they split off to do their respective things. Alex was always seen hanging around the art rooms. The girl was often seen bugging any art teachers available and it was working very well. Alex learnt a lot from the teacher in charge of the pottery club from before. In fact, she was probably Alex''s go-to teacher for any queries.

    Scarlet would be surprised if she didn''t spend all her time in one of the unoccupied art studios. Contrary to Wilmer''s initial opinion, Scarlet thought that her sister had a really good chance of winning that art competition. The Wilde princess had very good guidance and she was extremely hardworking. Scarlet would know it because she''d seen the draft sketches from before and after private lessons. Even when Alex went home, she would spend hours drawing after dinner right until they had to go to bed.

    The blogger hadn''t been idling either. Apart from trying to complete a year''s worth of homework in advanced, she was busy with the very first assignment that Debbie assigned her. Decorating Judah wasn''t a one-person project but Scarlet thought that it was only fair to get some assistance. She wanted nothing less than the best for her very first book even if it wasn''t a published manuscript. Although it didn''t quite appeal to Scarlet, she could understand why Debbie found the job of an editor to be fun.

    Just last night, Scarlet successfully completed Debbie''s assignment. Tina helped with the plant press and Alex was more than thrilled to land a hand spray painting the leaves silver and gold as required. Claire did the finishing touches and laminated the cover once they''d hot-glued the plant art and decorated the book with glitter and colours. Wilmer couldn''t be prouder of his daughters'' very first work and took a photo to commemorate it, much to his wife''s envy.

    The early completion of her assignment gave Scarlet plenty of time for other things apart from spacing out the completion of homework in advance. Although Debbie hasn''t told her anything about developing a writer''s style, the blogger took it upon herself to do some observation. If every writer had a unique style of story-telling, every individual must have a unique manner of speaking. As such, it was only natural that Scarlet turned her attention to the people around her.

    Strangely, while doing so, the blogger noticed something slightly strange about Jasper. While the boy was still easy-going like before, his manner of speech became more astute and his quips were slightly harsher. Alex even flinched at one of them because it hit a sore spot but Jasper apologised quickly enough so the Wilde princess didn''t think too much of it. If one had to put into perspective, Jasper was now like a mysterious ninja. He still spent time with them just enough to keep them busy but not enough for them to find out what he''s up to.

    That simply wouldn''t do. The young writer was curious by nature so she decided that she would uncover the reason for Jasper''s recent change. The boy was often tense and up to something. His hair wasn''t neat and Jasper''s bringing a lot of things to school lately. She didn''t detect any lies when Jasper told them he had things going on with the Entrepreneur Circle but the girl just couldn''t help but worry. What if the scary older boys were bullying Jasper and he couldn''t say a word about it because he wanted to stay in the club?

    Hence, Scarlet was determined to uncover the truth with her infamous sleuthing skills - with or without crutches.

    Lessons with Danny was always an interesting affair. Jasper didn''t skip this time because it was the first class they had in the morning. However, immediately after class ended, the boy excused himself and told the girls to have lunch without him. Alex wasn''t too affected. In fact, she took the opportunity to do the same and excused herself to work on her modelling practice. they''d started to use figurines and pictures for practice after doing nothing but drawing basic shapes and lines for so long. Scarlet understood her sister''s excitement and didn''t stop her.

    On the other hand, Scarlet kept an eye on Jasper. She might be disabled for a bit but she wasn''t incapable. Even without any information from Alex, the girl easily found out the location of that classroom used as the Entrepreneur''s Circle. When one thought about delinquents, it wasn''t anything too far from Scarlet''s expectations. She simply found the most avoided spot in the school that wasn''t the staff office and explored in that direction.

    The classroom walls were full of poorly done graffiti meant to serve as something more of a warning statement rather than a work of art. It''s meant to keep the regular students away and intimidate staff. Sadly, it just wasn''t enough to deter Scarlet who was determined to uncover Jasper''s secret.

    Scarlet could hear Jasper''s voice as she approached and it wasn''t her imagination either. From what she could make out, they were talking about... Math? Not wanting to give herself away so quickly or interrupt the ''lesson'' in session, Scarlet hobbled to the backdoor and listened in.

    There were sounds of paper smacking against something solid and the occasional protest from one of the ''students'' but none of the delinquents actually acted violently. If anything, Scarlet thought that they were awfully respectful and tolerant of Jasper. The girl wondered why her friend and live-in housemate was suddenly interested in becoming a teacher. However, she wasn''t quite expecting the door to be thrown open with a very tall boy with wild hair to be glaring at her. Scarlet wanted to get out of the way but she was quickly grabbed by her school bag.

    The blogger dropped her crutches as the boy hauled her inside the classroom. Jasper was surprised and slightly shocked to see the ''spy'' that one of the delinquents had caught. Someone claimed that there had been people snooping around their classroom for a while now and the whole class was on high alert trying to catch that skilful spy but nobody was successful. He highly doubted that Scarlet was the spy. After all, that spy left very quickly once he heard footsteps approaching the door no matter how quickly or quietly they were. Scarlet was on crutches, it was most certainly not her.

    "Wait!" the gardener''s son yelled. "Don''t hurt her! She''s a friend who''s like a sister. Let me talk to her, the rest of you focus on copying the formula on the board."

    With that, Jasper hurried over to pick up the walking aid that had fallen and helped Scarlet up. They decided to take the conversation elsewhere because there were simply too many ears in the classroom. Also, Jasper didn''t feel that it was safe for Scarlet to be in a boy''s territory when she was such a small and frail, not to mention injured, female. he might be able to fend for himself but Scarlet might be at the mercy of some of the meaner boys.

    "Why are you here? Didn''t you have things to do? Where''s Alex?"

    The blogger smiled. "She''s in the art room again practising for the art competition. Also, I was curious. You''ve been rather on the edge lately and since I finished the assignment Debbie gave me, I thought I might check on what you''re up to. You''ve been so secretive lately. Don''t tell me you''re embarrassed to let us find out that you want to be a teacher..."

    The boy rolled his eyes beneath his bangs. He knew what Scarlet was trying to do but he didn''t bother. It was true. he''d been so stressed lately because they boys didn''t show much progress with their studies. While they were willing to work hard, there was only so much Jasper could do for inflexible muscle heads.

    With a heavy sigh, Jasper told her about his plans to conquer the class and get these delinquents to reform and do his bidding. "I can''t build an empire on my own. Smart people often don''t want to work under others because they have their own visions. It''s the perfect opportunity for me to see what I can come up with. If I can win these guys over, I might be able to form a good foundation. Even though many of them don''t seem very intellectually promising, these guys have something most people don''t. They''re a loyal bunch."

    Scarlet nodded. "I see. Would you mind if I sat in? I do find it a little hard to write my blog now that I have fewer people to observe. As you can see, our class is mostly empty."

    Jasper laughed. "Sure. I''ll tell them not to disturb you. If your leg starts hurting or you need to get something, feel free to let me know. Also, thank you for worrying."

    The blogger smiled. "Don''t say that. It''s only natural. We''re family after all, right? Blood doesn''t matter here. There is no Permanent Scarlet without all three of us. We''re the perfect team here. a little crazy but if it works, I don''t think you have the right to object."

    Jasper grinned. "Ha! As if I could forget. Alright. Let me have a little talk with the boys to set some ground rules and then you can sit in. Oh, if you don''t have much to do could you help me guide some of them with the language aspect? I believe word problems are 50% language and 50% math. I can teach the math part but the language gets tricky."

    Scarlet beamed. "Yes, sire! Only in exchange for boy gossips."

    Jasper only laughed in response before he went in to inform his new gang of the changes while Scarlet waited outside patiently. Internally, the blogger was vibrating from excitement. Sixteen new individuals to analyse for free. Today must be her lucky day!

 Chapter 57 - Delinquent Diaries (1)

    Ahoy Scurvy Rats!

    I''ve snuck myself up on a huge scoop today and you simply wouldn''t believe it. Think of it as getting meself a lucky treasure map with a great windfall, Spanish Gold coins... I think they''re called doubloons?

    Well, I got something similar on my hand that I''m proud to announce. Tis'' the season for delinquents and I caught sixteen of them in one fell swoop. Lucky me aye? Well,  you can thank Casper aka Ghost Boy for it. So with this, you can expect sixteen delinquent diaries. I''ll do the first one today before school gets all busy on me.

    However, before I spill the juicy details, I must tell you the ordeal I underwent to obtain this top-secret information. You see, I spotted Ghost Boy acting a little stranger than usual so I decided to follow him. It was a dark alley that he turned to, nothing quite unusual with a shady character like him. However, Casper isn''t a bad kid. I was mightily surprised when I knew where I was but before I could turn tail, I was grabbed from behind and rendered unable to escape. Luckily for me, Ghost Boy was the leader of the little rugged company so we sorted things out. I am now the barmaid working on a part-time basis for the boys.

    The first one I got cosy with was the smartest of the group. He didn''t think that Casper was a true leader. Oh no, he was watching out for the previous leader of the gang. Let''s call him Jerry, shall we? So Jerry is the smartest of the group and I think the gang is basically a sixteen celled organisation that only shares a single nucleus called Jerry. Jerry doesn''t mind doing all the thinking for them but here we have the problem. we need not only one but sixteen people to pass the next Math topical test. No matter how good Jerry gets, it wouldn''t help any of his friends... would it?

    I don''t know what''s gotten into Casper but he''s suddenly motivated to become the teacher for this basket of hopeless cases. I admire his resolve but it really isn''t easy. You might ask how is it difficult to teach a dog a new trick? Well, apparently it can be very difficult depending on the breed. Right now, these kids are just like Pekingese - dumb as a rock, blindly loyal but also equally stubborn.

    In order to infiltrate deeper into their ranks of brotherhood, I decided to latch myself onto Jerry who also happened to be the right-hand man of the previous delinquent leader. I''ll call him Junior just to mock him.

    So according to what I was looking at, Jerry had above average memory capabilities which allowed him to excel in things like science and language. However, Math was a little harder because it required actual understanding. Casper was really good at teaching concepts but those inflexible minds couldn''t work well enough to absorb them so he started drilling hard numbers and formulas into them so that they can achieve sixteen passes on the next topical test. It''s a bet that Casper made with the Junior so I''m not going to question it.

    Long story short. After a somewhat intellectual conversation with Jerry, I found out that he was actually not super dumb. It was still somewhat salvageable so I taught him a few tips and tricks of my own. Jerry got it instantly and he started telling me about more things.

    What I found out was that the class was a batch of failures with fairly rich parents so the school just leave them in a corner because none of the teachers could help them. It''s funny actually because I believe I know a really good teacher who isn''t exactly a teacher who might just be the right man for the job. Sadly, I''m not the principal and I don''t call the shots here.

    I have not been observing Jerry for all that long but I can say, he''s not much of a typical delinquent. Sure, he has his hair cut in that typical scene kid asymmetrical style with multiple ear piercings but he looks nothing like the kid who would beat other people up for their lunch money or do drugs. Heck, I don''t think Jerry was the kind of kid who would bully others. He''s way too lazy for that.

    Jerry''s interest lies in making things. Throw him anything from assembling a lego build to painting the walls and he''ll gladly do it. He just doesn''t really like to be sitting around in class because he doesn''t understand anything the teacher talks about unless he tries it out for himself.

    While Jerry was doing well in passing the tests Casper made, he wasn''t great at understanding what he did. It''s more of a hit and miss kind of situation so I decided to employ a little trick I use to learn better. We drew pictures and guess what? When X and Y weren''t in the picture of algebra, Jerry understood the rationality behind it immediately. Seeing that I''d be here for a while, I decided that we might as well go slightly ahead of school and cover the rest of the algebra related topics.

    One more small thing I noticed about Jerry over the course of a few hours in knowing him: Jerry trusts people very easily. Once you get past that great firewall of suspicion, he treats you like a brother or a sister. I wasn''t quite expecting that to happen.

    Can you imagine my embarrassment when Jerry sang my praises in front of everyone? Casper didn''t quite know what to do either when the class started pushing each other to get in front of me to ask questions about what Casper had been trying to teach them for the past few days. Come on... if Jasper wasn''t able to get it through your thick skulls, what could I possibly do? I''m not Jesus, I can''t make miracles!

    Still, with Casper''s exasperated pleading look I decided to give it a try... tomorrow.

    The bunch of muscleheads looked hopeful but I wouldn''t count on it. I might be a good student but I know I''m a terrible teacher. once, I tried to teach the dog not to tattle on me while I stole the sleeping owner''s gold but the dumb dog wouldn''t listen even after I threw him treats.

    Oh well, who knows I might succeed this time. But for today, it''s fair winds to all of you. Don''t hold your breath!

    Pulling up the sails,

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 58 - Delinquent Diaries (2)

    Ahoy Matey!

    Remember I said that I would teach those kids tomorrow? Guess what... you can teach dumb dogs new tricks! You just have to be more creative. I swear I''ve never written more than one entry per week but I guess I''ll make this episode an exception. I''ll update all sixteen entries each entry for a new delinquent I targeted.

    Casper was actually surprised by how many approaches I could come up with within ten minutes while we were discussing it over lunch. The Female Prince had to leave early for last-minute preparations so we were given some time after classes to talk it over. So from his analysis, the most worrying vill- I mean delinquent is actually the leader, Junior. Why am I not surprised?

    Basically, Math is not a strong point for a lot of people who are slightly lacking in the logical department. Most people who don''t use the logic department to understand Math would use the memory department but what happens when you don''t have either? Long answer short, you become a Junior type of case.

    How does one overcome the tragedy of having neither a functioning logical department and a terrible memory? The answer is simple. We make a path that doesn''t exist to input artificial intelligence. My hypothesis (as a pirate) is to bury in the sand we call his brain something he didn''t have before that he can then dig up during the test and create a miracle. How does this work? Now, this is a social experiment story you would need to hear apart from the observation part of this journal.

    Firstly, I came into class ditching all the Math books and concepts. Casper was in it with me. We started drawing pictures on the board and telling stories. Basically, Math is all about patterns. If they could learn to identify easy patterns, we can dumb down the harder ones and cut the trick shorter. No need to understand the whole thing, just pick out what will make it work. Casper was actually impressed with the plan I came out with. He calls it legally cheating but what do I care? I''m a pirate. we don''t play fair, do we?

    Basically, there is a way around the education system. There is a Chinese saying "Know thy enemy, know yourself, never lose a single battle" or something along those lines. If I can get into the mind of those question setters then I''ll know what kind of questions they''ll ask. If students know what''s coming up in the test then all the need is a format to answer those questions and pluck the given numbers then punch the calculator to do the heavy lifting and give the examiners what they want. This way, everyone will be happy. Who cared if you knew why pi existed? It''s redundant! They would never ask you questions like that.

    Going back to the main point, I decided to use this approach to spoil the class into studying for a pass. Heck, like the scoundrel I was, I even picked out questions for them to perfectly nail so they would get the passing marks they required even if they didn''t understand anything. Casper was amazed by the significant improvements in everyone immediately after the twenty-minute crash course.

    The single-digit marks were now double digits for everyone except one person. Yes, you guessed it! It was no other than Junior. Of course, as the leader, he couldn''t just say how depressed he was feeling but he didn''t need to. The looks of pity from his underlings were enough to smash his pride to smithereens. Casper noticed it and offered to take over but the poor kid refused and walked out to the toilet but never returned even after fifteen minutes. I left the teaching to Casper, he has the lesson plans so he''ll be fine.

    It wasn''t easy searching for Junior because it wasn''t exactly polite for a lady to be knocking on the doors of male toilets to ask for someone and also, Junior didn''t exactly go to the gents. If I didn''t have a useful tip-off from Danny, I would probably have never figured it out. It was probably not the first time for Junior to hide out in the counsellor''s room when he was having a downtime because Danny even knows his favourite biscuits. (They''re ginger biscuits.)

    It took a long time for me to get Junior out of the shell but I found out that Junior was actually suffering from a condition called mild Dyscalculia. That means Junior is born with the inability to deal with numbers. It''s a medical condition that makes it hard for him to retain Math in his head no matter if it''s adding to simple numbers or telling the time from the analogue clock. Junior used to struggle with telling his left from his right too but he''s fixed that now because remembers left as the side where he has a small tattoo on.

    Now, I''m a pirate and not a psychologist so I don''t know what to do to cure him or if there is a cure for Dyscalculia. However, I wasn''t going to give up on my mission. Oh no... if he can''t do numbers very well, we''ll just have to find another way around this.

    Junior has no problem identifying numbers so that''s a good start. We worked on his English language and I taught him how to spot questions and get hints as to how the answer is derived from a little more into detail. That took about forty minutes and I must say I was happy with the results. Junior benefited the most from it all and was extremely happy when he managed to get eight out of the twelve questions Casper prepared for him correct using the deduction method. It wasn''t a fantastic result but it was a great start.

    What was more shocking was how relaxed Junior looked by the end of it. Who would have believed that such a big boy like him would break down into tears in front of a tiny girl with a leg in a cast? Nobody, except for Danny. But this is probably the side of Junior that none of the class has seen before. In fact, I''ll put my doubloons in to bet that they don''t know anything about his disability.

    This is where I think I should confess. If I didn''t reveal that Junior had a learning disability, you might have brushed it off as him being too dumb to teach. Guess what? You''d have been making that same mistake I did too. Physical disabilities were easy to spot but mental disabilities were slightly harder. I didn''t think Junior had any potential at first but when I understood his situation more, it made me wonder if things would have been different for him if the teachers knew better? If the school was equipped with better resources to help children like him who needed that extra help... would he have succeeded?

    On the flip side, perhaps Junior knew about all the teasing he would be getting from the other ''normal'' kids and the judgement of a.d.u.l.ts if they knew so he chose to keep quiet about it. I don''t know what the best course of action is for him. If it were you, what would you have chosen?

    As usual, fair winds for now and don''t let the sails get tangled.

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 59 - Delinquent Diaries (3)

    Ahoy Sea Robbers!

    Today I got added to the secret chat group for the Entrepreneur Circle Club. It''s called $3.14 for obvious reasons. Just read it. $ for the entrepreneurs and 3.14 is the value of pi for circles in case you guys don''t get the references.

    In any case, I think I might have found the boy that Alex was telling me about over lunch. She described him as a scary looking upperclassman with a wild crew cut and multiple ear piercings. I finally found the ''scary'' kid but really, he was the wimpiest and the skinniest. I bet she only thought he was scary because he was taller than her and had these mean-looking eyes. I mean he has these really typical Asian eyes that are narrow and sharp. They make him look like he''s always glaring at something or someone.

    I think it''s a common thing in the animal kingdom for the strong to bully the weakest. It''s to no surprise that Mr Scary here is the lowest in rank and the omega of this wolf pack. Often taken advantage of, slightly abused but never complaining. I do admire his attitude a little, he is always loyal despite not being treated the nicest.

    The other boys would often throw their wallets at him and tell him to buy them lunch. Of course, they didn''t make him do it for free so they pitch in and tell Mr Scary to get himself something using their money but Mr Scary''s too nice to do that and pays out of his own pocket anyway. Not that I think the delinquents were very nice since it was probably lunch money they had some poor sap to fess up earlier that week or something... but let''s not go into details, shall we?

    Of all the boys in the class, Mr Scary was the only one who bothered to open the door for me and pull out my chair so that I could settle in it when Jasper wasn''t around to help. He would also carry some of my materials or bag while I hobbled over and never lost his patience despite my slow speed. I think he''s a very good boy with a kind heart. He''ll make some girl really happy someday but I do worry if he''ll always be taken advantage of his entire life. He does seem like a little bit of a pushover... actually, maybe a little bit more than a little bit but who''s counting?

    Long story short, I didn''t think that there would be anything that could make Mr Scary flip out on anyone. Well, I thought wrong. It turns out, Mr Scary can actually be scary when someone pushes the correct buttons. If I wasn''t there witnessing the sequence of events first hand, I might have brushed it off.

    It starts off like this. Mr Scary was doing his homework and studying in the library. I was looking for a book I needed when I see three boys pass by Mr Scary. Apparently, they were classmates before Mr Scary decided to self-graduate and join the delinquent class. His official name is still on that class roster so I guess that makes them classmates.

    Now everybody in Joyville International knows that the kids in the Entrepreneur Circle don''t study. They''re a bunch of misfits who banded together and were too rich to be kicked out so the school let them hide in a crappy classroom to rot their brain cells away. The teachers don''t care and the students didn''t want to look for trouble.

    Here''s the catch. How do you think mountain lions hunt their prey? Do they go for the group? Not really. They usually go for the weak ones because they don''t really want to risk a kick in the face. Now, the delinquents are strong as a group but on their own... I''m not really sure. Especially for Mr Scary. However, I think that while the other delinquents look strong, Mr Scary here is our real mental MVP.

    Those classmates decided to mock him for attempting to study and even found the courage to steal his notes and throw them all over the library floor. Mr Scary didn''t react at first. Oh no he didn''t. He merely stood up and picked them back up before sitting back down and got back to his studying.

    The three classmates weren''t happy at being ignored and decided to take it up a notch. Like the immature brats they were, they started name-calling. I can''t say the names they came up with were creative but it was certainly targeted at Mr Scary. I was boiling with rage inside as I observed from behind the shelves. If I wasn''t in a cast and an observer, I would probably have stepped in but I couldn''t. I needed to know how Mr Scary would react. To my satisfaction, Mr Scary ignored them as he attempted another practice question.

    Offended, the bullies (because they''re no longer just innocent classmates) started to change their tactic. The name callings started becoming harsher and directed to the group he hangs out with. I saw with my very own eyes as Mr Scary tightened the grip on his pen and tensed up. I thought that this was the moment when he retaliated and yelled back at them but no. Nothing happened.

    Nothing happened until one of the bullies said, "Who cares? Even if he passes, the rest of them in there are dumb as rocks. They''re just gonna fail anyway. Let him try. He can feel smart for a while but it won''t change a thing, especially their leader. I would feel so embarrassed to follow someone who couldn''t even tell their left from their right."

    Now, remember, the leader they speak ill about has a learning disability. At this point, I have no clue if Mr Scary knew about that disability but there was a swift movement, a scratch of the pen and a hole in the wood table. I thought I was dreaming when I saw the pen stabbing the wood just millimetres from where one of the bullies had his hands.

    Of course, there was a big commotion. They screamed, yelled, cursed at him, and nearly peed in their pants before scurrying off like mice. I saw a true glare from Mr Scary for the very first time and it sent shivers down my spine. I couldn''t go near him for the next twenty minutes with that glare... it was simply too terrifying. If looks could kill, those three idiots would have died.

    So I was wrong. Mr Scary was no pushover. He might be a pushover when in the company of the gang but outside of it, he won''t tolerate someone tarnishing the pride of his soul brothers. It''s always the quiet ones who are dangerous.

    Something also tells me that there is more than meet the eye as to how all sixteen of them banded together. I would most certainly have to know that story someday but for now, we learnt something very important.

    Even the nicest people have limits and when they snap, you don''t want to be there.

    That''s it from me folks, let me know some of the scariest people you know in your life and wait for my next journal entry!

    Fair winds,

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 60 - Delinquent Diaries (4)

    Ahoy Deck Scrubbers!

    I heard something really interesting today. There''s someone in the classroom who is handy with their hands (no pun intended). I just couldn''t wait to interview them so I asked around and found out that Casper had an indirect encounter with them at the start.

    For easier identification, let''s call him Fast Fingers. He may not be the brightest bulb in this tool shed but he certainly can be the quickest in both wits and action. If someone needs something made or done, Fast Fingers would be the superhero they call. No ripped uniforms, broken tables or faulty lights cannot be fixed. As long as he is given the screwdriver, he''ll fix it.

    According to Casper, there was a duster incident during the early days. It was only later known that the duster dropper was a clever invention of Mr Fast Fingers. Looks like the delinquent class has their own Mr Fix-It too! In my class, we have the unofficial Thomas Edison whom I''ve yet to see but I think Mr Fast Fingers won''t lose out to him when it comes to designing a good duster dropper.

    Long story short, I met Mr Fast Fingers and he isn''t anything you''d expect him to look like. Like most of the delinquent class, Mr Fast Fingers has piercings but not on his ears. He has lip and eyebrow piercings and I personally find them to look more manly than multiple ear piercings. Also, that lip piercing might hurt a lot more than the regular ear piercings. After all, biting your lips accidentally and making it bleed can leave nasty ulcers for days and eating is always going to be a challenge after that. I simply can''t imagine having lips pierced.

    Fast Fingers doesn''t wear the school uniform properly either. He often wears a black tee underneath his school shirt and leaves the top unbuttoned so that the shirt acts more like a jacket which I think is cool. He also doesn''t wear regular school shoes because according to him, anything could happen anytime so he must be prepared. Safety boots are part of his combat gear and his choice of weapon? A tool belt on his waist with a trusty screwdriver, wrench and what not... He has names for them but I only know the name of his yellow screwdriver - Betty.

    Fast Fingers was the kind of person who would go around helping old ladies, petting stray cats, sharing his lunch with pigeons and helping people in general. It is a very stark contrast against his looks. The boy can be severely awkward at times and would refuse people''s refusals. I''ve heard stories from some of the other classmates that Fast Fingers once tried to force his help upon the librarian who had a squeaky book trolley wheel. The poor lady was utterly terrified by the ''stray beast'' from what the other boys described Fast Fingers as. He marched right up to her, looked the poor woman in the eye and said: "Leave the trolley behind". The woman was so frightened out of her wits at the growl from a scary looking student that she froze up. Fast Fingers didn''t say anything more and whipped out his tools, scaring the daylights out of the poor lady. In the end, all he did was tighten a few screws and spray some lubricating oil before checking the general alignments of the others wheels on that trolley before nodding in satisfaction at his work before leaving.

    Fast Fingers helped to put together some of the broken desk and chairs in the classroom. I must say, the modifications he made to my chair makes things a lot easier for me to get around. What modifications? Well, you know that I have a leg in a cast right now so Fast Fingers thought that it would be easier for me to get myself around the classroom if I had a ''wheelchair''. Yes, I now have rollers under my chair to zip around the class as required.

    Want to know one more strange thing I picked up about Fast Fingers? He was not very good at receiving thanks or praises from people. The poor sop turned bright red when I complimented him and yelled at me, calling me stupid before running away to the toilet with a very crude announcement that he was going to take a dump.

    I guess he puts girls and small animals in the same category because he would secretly admire them from afar. According to Casper, the boy liked stray cats and can often be found after school patting one with an ice loli in his mouth. Sadly, the stray cats don''t quite like him much because he pats them excessively, making them mad.

    I think this boy is just a great big sap with a very soft heart. He just puts up a tough exterior much like a tortoise to protect itself. If he wasn''t so socially awkward, perhaps Fast Fingers would be very popular. He''s helpful and kind, I don''t think there isn''t a girl who wants to be spoiled by him. I just can''t imagine the delinquent class without Fast Fingers though... many people rely on him for various things. It doesn''t matter if Jasper required the projector to be set up or if Junior wants Fast Fingers to fix the blinds. Fast Finger would always be the first they''d ask. I guess in a way the aspiring mechanic is the class'' mother hen?

    One lesser-known fact is that Fast Fingers doesn''t always fix things right. Try he would. However, some things are trial and errors. Nobody really blames Fast Fingers for getting it wrong either which was what I found strange. I only later found out that Fast Fingers would lose sleep over his failure and try to fix his mistakes and the problem. It could take anything from days to months but eventually, Fast Fingers will find a solution. If he can''t, the poor guys would look all over for a suitable replacement as an apology. Fast Fingers didn''t know how to sew initially because he had no sewing kit on him and didn''t know who to get it from so he fixed a ripped up uniform using the stapler. The boy who got the uniform fixed thanked him and went on with his day but it ate at Fast Finger''s conscience so much that he begged that boy to bring the torn uniform back after he bought the sewing kit so he could ''fix it for real''.

    I still have much to learn about Fast Fingers but for today I think this is enough. I''ll be featuring another delinquent tomorrow so let me know who your favourite delinquent is so far. I might have to start an unofficial poll for delinquent popularity ranking.

    What do you guys think?

    Fair winds!

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 61 - Delinquent Diaries (5)

    Ahoy Sea Criminals!

    Have you ever played make belief as a child? What about make-belief as a middle schooler with an obsession with Sherrif and gangster movies? Well, I''m introducing Mr Delusional with the eighth-grade syndrome.

    For those of you who are hearing this for the first time, Eighth-Grade Syndrome is a condition whereby an individual, usually around thirteen or fourteen years of age, who want to stand out very desperately and have convinced themselves that they have some hidden knowledge or secret powers become delusional. In other cultures, this is also known as Chinubyo.

    How did I know Mr Delusional had Eighth-Grade Syndrome? Easily enough, he was the only member who invited himself into the gang and pushed his way into acceptance. Most of the delinquents usually join in by recruitment or by challenging Junior into a fight. However, that wasn''t so for Mr Delusional. He knocked on the door one day very much like what Casper did and asked if he could join.

    Mr Delusional wasn''t actually very wild looking. He had natural dirty blond hair and brown eyes. It didn''t seem to give me any ''wild'' image even if he did try to make his hair spike up. According to Mr Delusional, the spikier the hair, the cooler you were. According to him, real men apparently had gravity-defying hair. That was something I couldn''t quite understand. Another thing I didn''t get was the tattoo sleeves he insists on wearing to school. There was just something about the boy that screamed coward to me. Tattoos were manly and piercings were not so cool according to Mr Delusional. However, I bet that Mr Delusional is just afraid of pain so he doesn''t get piercings and can just say that tattoo parlours don''t allow anyone underaged to get them so he can continue wearing his sleeves and get away with it.

    Mr Delusional could fool almost anyone into thinking that he''s the real deal as a delinquent but he won''t be fooling me. I recognised where he gets those classic and absolutely cool one-liners that he occasionally throws. The Godfather was a true classic but in context, Mr Delusional sounded like a third-rate actor imitating it. No offence but he can be a really cool guy when he stops trying to be one. All this does for me is convince me that he''s greasy and creepy when he pulls those one-liners out.

    Some small signs I noticed about Mr Delusional early on in my observation stage before I started interacting was that he could be rather fearful and socially awkward. Mr Delusional doesn''t have a lot of self-confidence and feels the need to do something to fit in with the gang. At this point, I''m slightly concerned. This group of delinquents aren''t truly part of the mafia, they were just a bunch of middle-school children who didn''t have any place to go to. I''d be more worried if they were actually up to more than just jumping on poor kids to threaten them for lunch money. If one of these kids were a son from the yakuza or something, I''m sure Mr Delusional would have thrown himself at their feet and begged to be accepted into the group.

    Mr Delusional isn''t born tough. He jumps at almost everything, or at least now he flinches to conceal the fact that he doesn''t have nerves made from steel. Just yesterday, he got startled by a fluttering curtain he was seated close to and fell out of his chair. Of course, falling out of a chair would warrant teasing from the class but Mr Delusional did well and played it off as him dozing off in Casper''s very boring lesson. Nobody else saw it because he was seated at the back of the class but I did. Mr Delusional was rocking his chair on its two hind legs and balancing a pencil on his nose when the wind blew the curtain into his face and startled the poor fool. His flailing against the ''ghost'' made him lose balance and sent him kissing the ground. It must have hurt a lot too seeing how his head made a solid cracking sound on the ground.

    That''s just an example of what he did that made me think he was actually quite a jumpy guy. Other than ghosts, Mr Delusional was also afraid of bugs and birds. Basically, anything that flutters around isn''t alright with him. I have evidence of it because all the other boys were trying to rescue a sparrow who flew into the class and got hit by the ceiling fan. The dumb bird was still alive but bleeding so someone had to carry it to the school doctor for fixing. Mr Delusional quickly stood the furthest away from the animal and declined when someone asked if he wanted to volunteer a trip down to the infirmary.

    As for being socially awkward, Mr Delusional wasn''t very good at joining in conversations. There could be a bunch of boys just playing a game of flipping erasers that they called Eraser Brawler and poor Mr Delusional just didn''t know when to join in. I could see his eyes darting to and fro as the kid opened his mouth several times to say something only to close it because someone else said something that might have covered him. Mr Delusional was always searching for the right timing often to insert his awesome one-liners. Some of the boys thought he was cool while others thought he was crazy because whenever he spoke, it sounded like a true overlord.

    Some of you might be wondering what Eraser Brawler is so I''ll briefly explain the game here. Two or more boys choose their eraser of choice to bring to battle and flick them with only their pointer finger each turn. Their aim is to flick it over their opponent''s eraser and if it is done successfully, they can keep their opponent''s erasers. For the record, the boy with the most erasers so far is Lanky whom I will introduce tomorrow.

    In a nutshell, Mr Delusional isn''t a qualified nutcase but if I doc.u.ment this, I''m sure he will feel the burn of shame when he becomes an a.d.u.l.t. I''m not sure how many people out there share this Eighth-Grade Syndrome but if you do, please drop me a message to let me know how you were cured.

    That''s all from me, ya sea dogs! Till next time!

    Fair winds.

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 62 - Delinquent Diaries (6)

    Ahoy Scrubs!

    Today, I bring to you the King of Eraser Brawler - Lanky!

    A small introduction to Lanky from my background investigations - Lanky is actually accepted into the school''s track and field team. He does High Jump and is actually really good at it seeing how he was the first runner-up for the national competition in the boy''s solo section. Basically, Lanky is a jock but a very tall and thin one. In fact, among all the delinquents in the class, Lanky is the most famous delinquent who is actually liked by the general school population.

    Some facts I gathered about this fine specimen:

    1. Lanky is completely oblivious to girls. He sees them but doesn''t register in his brain that they might be fond of him.

    2. Lanky is determined. He works really hard and never gives up if he doesn''t get what he wants. He hates losing and cannot be consoled over a loss.

    3. Lanky is the King of Eraser Brawler and also a really clever Eraser Warrior. The boys often gather around him when he gives them tips about battling with their Erasers from the shape and size to the ''upgrades'' they can use during battles from pencil leads to staples. His current record - 31 won, 4 loss.

    4. If you want to get Lanky, all you have to do is throw down the gauntlet. Lanky never walks away from a challenge.

    Seeing that Lanky is actually quite an easily manipulated person, Casper actually baited him into studying. The jock was initially uninterested in the books but Casper made a clever statement about jocks being unable to deliver anything apart from results outside the classroom and that did the trick. Before anybody knew it, Lanky was in the top five in the class for the mock test yesterday. Nobody knew how Lanky did it but the boy replied it wasn''t hard when he tried. None of the boys could understand how algebra could be mastered in one night when many of them have been trying for almost a week now.

    With Lanky, I feel like he could go a long way if someone guided him. He has passion, drive and even talent. Lanky isn''t unintelligent. He''s actually very good at observing for patterns and details when he has to. The only problem Lanky has is actually taking interest in things outside his field of vision. The jock simply didn''t care about things that didn''t interest him and is blind in most things that didn''t relate to sports. It''s a real shame to me because Lanky actually did have the memory and the cognitive ability to understand concepts.

    A good example of how he was good at understanding concepts: building good Eraser Brawlers after studying physics.

    It was interesting watching Lanky give his classroom explanation about why he built his eraser battlers the way he did. Most boys usually did things because they thought it would be cooler or ''deadlier'' by adding certain accessories. Some did it on all sides, some didn''t care and piled as many as they could, some invested in more expensive materials hoping it would make a difference but nobody could beat Lanky.

    The uses things like the central gravity force, the effects of weight and shape of the eraser to determine its optimum speed to win against his opponents. In fact, Lanky has made customised designs to overcome all sorts of designs that any of his classmates could make. Hence, Casper and I devised a plan to bait Lanky into studying.

    Casper first challenged Lanky into an Eraser Battle with a Brawler he built in less than ten minutes. That was Lanky''s first loss ever. It threw the entire class into shock and there was an uproar. To shake things up a little bit more, Casper claimed that even I could do such a thing easily. He also claimed that with good math and science knowledge, it was possible to fight a hundred times and never lose a battle. In all honesty, that was a partial lie. Casper and I did intensive research into Lanky''s battle designs and styles. There was also a finger flicking technique that led him to his victory.

    Lanky didn''t believe that it was true and challenged Casper and me to a true Brawl. Out of three rounds, the winner has to win at least two rounds. We were given an hour to prepare because we didn''t have any Eraser Brawlers. The class was in chaos when they heard that. Casper took the time to set the rules in place. If we won, Lanky will study and get an A score for the term-end Math test. If we lost, Lanky is free to do whatever he pleased and not attend class. Also, anybody who has the confidence to win us can challenge us as well using the same terms.

    Junior didn''t bother to challenge but the other boys did try. I don''t know if they were seriously trying to get out of studying or if they just wanted to confirm our skills for themselves. However, Casper and I didn''t bother changing Erasers. We simply used the one he built in less than ten minutes to battle everyone.

    The results were non-negotiable. A complete wipeout with team student-teachers as the winner. Not even Lanky survived. Three out of three rounds on his loss but we let everyone keep their erasers. After all, what should we do with over fifty erasers? It was ridiculous!

    In any case, the lesson was learnt and we gained respect from the class who hailed us as the leaders of their pack. Casper was given the honorary title of the Bancho even if everyone still saw Junior as their official leader. He was something like a warrior King who would lead them to victory and I was the trusty informant or something.

    It didn''t bother me because, after this display of dominance, it was really easy to have everyone co-operate. The class average is now about forty marks so in a few more days we should be able to have everyone passing with even a few showing promises of getting their As.

    It''s been an interesting class so far. I still have ten more delinquents to introduce to you and then we can resume with our random people watching days. Let me know who your favourite delinquent is so far and I''ll see you again tomorrow.

    Fair winds!

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 63 - Delinquent Diaries (7)

    Ahoy Ship Wreckers!

    Today I bring you Simba - the self-proclaimed King of Football. This delinquent earned his nickname not because of his ferocity but because of his wild mane. Why not hair? Believe me, if I could tame it I would call it hair but I can''t. It doesn''t matter, I can''t tame it with water and I certainly can''t put it down with hair mousse. It just has a stubborn personality of its own much like Simba.

    Simba is nothing like the cub in the movie. He is tall, athletic and dark-skinned much like Scar. However, his good points are more aligned with the young lion cub. For example, he can be quick to start a fight but also quick to forgive. Simba doesn''t waste time on the big picture, he chases birds he can see in front of him. If Math concepts go over his head, Simba doesn''t even pretend to try. He acknowledges defeat and moves on with life. While I quite admire his attitude, this certainly won''t do for the upcoming test.

    Long story short, Simba is quick to make friends and despite his flaws, is easily likeable. I find myself liking Simba as a person too... just not as a tutor. That boy simply cannot function without some sort of external pressure. Hence, Casper and I devised a plan to help him get motivated about Math.

    The first thing we tried is to convert algebra into footballers. While it initially worked with the simpler concepts, Simba gave up when he had to solve the quadratic formula. You''d be surprised by the influences of money if I told you we borrowed some from Prince Charming to prepare a few tricks and treats. Halloween might be over but the gifting season isn''t. We thought that it might be alright to have Christmas early in November if the passed the upcoming test.

    Simba loves watching his idol play. So we got him one of Fandi Ahmad''s oldest videos - his very first gameplay. It wasn''t costly but it wasn''t cheap either. In fact, ordinary school children couldn''t afford it. Unlike the rest of his classmates, Simba didn''t come from a very wealthy family. He was accepted into Joyville International because of his football talent. He kicks a ball well enough for the teachers to ignore the rot in his brain most of the time. Sadly, that''s not going to roll well with us.

    While Casper carried on with his lessons for the masses, I took one afternoon to sit down with Simba and a few of the slower ones who needed more one-on-one attention. It turns out, Simba has a terrible memory and have difficulties remembering the formulas. However, Casper and I believed that nobody is born with a terrible memory. Surely there can be a way to help him with it. And so the research began.

    The first memory technique we tried was the Chunking technique. That meant that we broke down the huge information into smaller parts at a time for Simba to get familiarised. It also helped that there were plenty of repetitions and an environment that promoted pop quizzes at any moment to keep Simba on his toes. In fact, after researching how to improve memory, Casper and I started encouraging power naps after memorising. You wouldn''t believe it. The before sleep test and after sleep test has significant results. Of course, we couldn''t confirm if the nap helped or if these kids are simply getting better. Also, the one thing that all students do - last-minute cramming, actually helps.

    Casper and I decided to use nap time to review the learning progress for the delinquents and we were pleasantly surprised that within two days of the new study technique, there were significant improvements. All but two students in the class were passing and we still had about a week more before the topical test. Casper and I agreed to start cranking up the difficulty of the questions and prepare them for greater challenges - the mid-term examinations.

    Designing word problems was a fun process because it was a little like storytelling. I even took the trouble of making it amusing by using some of the names of some students in the class. I hope they''ll be as amused as I am, especially Junior. He better not get that question with his name in it wrong!

    Simba almost cried when he finally saw double-digit marks on his papers for the very first time. It wasn''t easy to teach this aspiring footballer because I had to start teaching him from the basics of what fractions were. Simba''s teacher had given up on him a long time ago so there was a lot of catching up to do not that we minded. When broken down and put into the right context for him, the boy was very quick to understand new things.

    However, that''s only the side of him that I know in class. As an observer, it would be a shame not to find out what my targeted specimen is like outside of the caged environment. So I asked Simba to take me to a friendly match he was having one afternoon with a neighbouring school. Simba was what they called a mid-fielder but he can also play the role of a defender well. His collectedness in the heat of the game makes him extremely reliable and it made him appear extremely mature. Now, if he could apply this to the tests and stop freaking out whenever he saw a blank paper, that would be perfect.

    Needless to say, Simba and his team won that friendly match with the score 1-0. I studied the team and just found it a pity. If Simba hadn''t been such a great team player, the opponent would have many chances to score. The strikers in Simba''s team weren''t bloodthirsty enough and hungry enough to win. I don''t know the sport very well but I know darn well that if the ball is free, you chase it. Don''t let it go to the goalie! That''s just a giveaway...

    Well, enough complaining from me. What''s important is that Simba enjoys himself on the field.

    That''s all from me about Simba. I hope you can share with me if some of the memory techniques worked for you too.

    Until next time, fair winds.

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 64 - Delinquent Diaries (8)

    Ahoy Foul Crew!

    I see that there are about 600 of you crazy folks reading this. Well, it''s nice to see that the ship is expanding but I won''t be watching more people so that I can update my blog any more than once a week. I have a life outside of writing blogs and watching people, ok?

    Today''s star of the journal is Mr Kesha Fanboy. Yes, you''re not dreaming or misreading here. It''s Kesha the singer of Tick-Tock. The delinquent featuring in today''s journal is a major fan-boy of Kesha and just wouldn''t stop talking about it.

    The DJ wanna-be often wears a headphone into class and doesn''t really pay much attention to Casper''s lessons. He isn''t terrible at math but I think he could be better if he wanted to. Kesha Fanboy isn''t a music major like one of the classmates we have in our special class. He''s more of the radio and top charts kid who follows the trend. His taste in music? Modern pop culture like Shakira and Britney Spears.

    I don''t know what this kid thinks about his ''swag'' fashion sense but he''s following the trend of the 80s or 90s. He wears this big sunglasses and gaudy gold rings on his thumbs with the bulky gold chains around his neck. Kesha FB (Fanboy) also has two huge ear hoops made from platted gold. As he is quite a large boy, he swaggers into the room with this flat top cut and looks incredible out of proportion. I don''t know how many people can treat Kesha FB seriously with that getup. However, I know why he does that. It''s much like the thorns on roses, Kesha FB does it to deter people from getting close to him.

    How did I know that it was all a deterrence? Well, for one, Kesha FB hardly takes his sunglasses off. The one time he did was because a stray basketball hit him on the side and knocked the accessory off. I almost burst out laughing at how small his eyes were. If anyone saw those tiny eyes, they would have mocked him and never have treated Kesha FB seriously. Thankfully, the teasing done in class was good-natured jabs at the boy''s physical appearance. It wasn''t enough to completely deflate the self-confidence that Kesha FB was originally lacking.

    I also noticed briefly how Kesha FB makes a lot of noise more so than others. For example, if he was scared of getting hurt he would raise his voice and stand up to look bigger even though it really shouldn''t be necessary. He was big enough as it was and one good smack from his palm could send me flying into the wall. Still, he was actually slightly afraid of the spider that one of the other boys caught and was yelling at them to throw it out.

    The boys horsed around for a little more before they threw it into the garden but that was enough for me to know that Kesha FB was a little bit of a coward. Still, he fitted into the class quite nicely. The only time I see Kesha FB stand up for himself was when somebody disses his music taste. He literally picked up the scrawny classmate by their shirt and asked if they would like to repeat that again in the calmest voice I''ve ever known. Kesha FB may be a gentle giant but I would never want to try to push his limits here.

    Some of the other things I found out about Kesha FB from his classmates is that he has a very healthy (or unhealthy depending on how you see it) relationship with food. Jerry once said that they held a pizza party in class one day and Kesha FB finished up three whole large pizzas by himself. They didn''t have much to share after that because the boys only ordered eight large pizzas and most of them ate a lot as expected of growing teenagers. It''s also an inside joke that Kesha FB is the only one married in their class. Apparently, Kesha FB''s wife is food and I can''t blame them for thinking so.

    Other things I learnt about Kesha FB was how he usually dislikes conflict and try to play the peacemaker. Kesha FB has a naturally funny personality. Whenever he talks in that cool swag voice and say ''It''s all chill man'' the class breaks into peals of laughter no matter what. I don''t quite get why but it was an inside joke. Kesha FB can sometimes sound like an Indian telephone operator and does his odd head bob when he says it so the boys often die laughing when he does it.

    Outside of the class, Kesha FB may be huge and infamous with the company he hangs out with but he has never had enemies. I think it has something to do with his size and his easy-going attitude. The helpers at the canteen love Kesha FB so much because he is one of their biggest regular customers that they always give him leftovers. Kesha FB never complains about the food he gets and is always thankful. That joy on his face always makes the day better. It''s not very difficult to like Kesha FB.

    The pop music lover might be slower at acting on certain things but that might be because of his size. He usually completes what he has to do and meets to minimum requirement expected of him. Sometimes, it can be hard watching him do things because I''m a little impatient while Kesha FB is a very meticulous person who checks his spelling three times before attempting the next question. Often times, Kesha FB doesn''t complete his mock test not because he doesn''t know the answers, although that contributed to it, but because he was simply too slow and ran out of time for the last few questions. Truth be told, I never thought that the time given by examiners were too short. In fact, I feel like they''re sometimes too long. Two hours for a Math paper is just way too much time to attempt forty-eight questions.

    Casper worked on teaching Kesha FB how to manage his time and plan questions to attempt first in the mock test because we don''t think Kesha FB has a big problem with Math at all. He''s that kid that can score sixty if he puts his heart into it. He just doesn''t usually secure the sixty marks because he''d be too slow to get the last fifteen questions done. He''s usually gotten thirty or forty marks in his tests not because he doesn''t know a lot of answers but because he couldn''t get around to writing them down.

    I don''t know if anyone else faces the same problem of not being able to complete an examination paper or a test but I wrote this blog post in less than an hour. It certainly is more than anything they would require me to write in school... Maybe it''s slower for some folks but I won''t boast and claim to be fast.

    With that, I hope to introduce the rest of the delinquents in class as quickly as I can. I have the content ready but bedtime creeps up on me way too quickly!

    Anyhow, fair winds for now and don''t catch a cold.

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 65 - Delinquent Diaries (9)

    Ahoy Sea Dogs!

    Some of you might know it already but my favourite villain of all time is the Joker. Yes, I do like the Joker from Batman because he is extremely charismatic although he is a mass-murderer and a lunatic. The delinquent I am about to introduce to you today is also called the Joker but for a very very different reason.

    The Joker we have is a boy with a big dream to become a successful stand-up comedian. Although some of his jokes are lame and ill-timed, I give kudos to him. It takes a lot of courage to try over and over again after countless failures. Also, I''m rather proud that Joker did his research well. Some of them might have been bad puns and cheesy pick-up lines but others were quite intellectual and I do enjoy some of that. His morbid and dark humour were things that I found funny but the boys in class would disagree. They preferred dad jokes for some reason.

    Joker here isn''t as handsome or as charismatic as the madman from Arkham. In fact, he''s the complete opposite. The Joker we know is a short boy for his age and is actually only ten centimetres taller than me. He doesn''t wear glasses but he wears some really nasty looking braces. It''s obvious when he smiles because Joker''s favourite colour is green and having green braces can attract a lot of attention.

    Joker has a head full of messy curly hair and takes comedy up a notch. he''s the class clown and often jokes, sometimes inappropriately, to lessen the tension in a serious situation. Sometimes the boys like what he does and other times they don''t. I can''t help but feel sorry for Joker here when the boys take it out on him sometimes if he interferes. I can see that crestfallen expression for a second when that happens but Joker always bounces back quickly. I''m positive that laughing at everything that happens as if life was really funny is Joker''s way of coping with situations and things he doesn''t understand.

    Casper once asked him why he was always getting simultaneous equations wrong and Joker spun a funny tale about them not being equal because the numbers were being racist. Casper wasn''t impressed but the boys thought it was funny. I had to pull Joker to a side during one of the toilet breaks to try the ''soft approach''. You won''t believe how guarded this boy was against me.

    I don''t know what the kid had going through his mind while I was trying to communicate with him but he was extremely guarded but he looking extremely vulnerable when he wasn''t laughing. He tried to pull off a few jokes but after not receiving any response from me except for the patient silent stare, his confidence wavered and eventually, he went silent on me for a long while.

    It took several times of backing off to finally get Joker to open up to me. When he finally did, I couldn''t help but pull him into a hug.

    No matter how strong or brave a front Joker put up in front of the class, he was secretly afraid of getting left behind. Joker didn''t originally belong in the delinquent class. He wasn''t Mr Delusional who joined the class voluntarily. In fact, he was more like a stray kitten who got picked up by Simba one day. The footballer found Joker running away from the other bullies and hiding out in the boys'' changing room locker. Simba didn''t lock his locker so both boys were startled when it was opened.

    Before Joker was Joker, he was known to be the target for bullying. He was never the class clown but he realised soon enough that he wanted to become somebody like Kesha FB who was ok with being imperfect. From that day onwards, comedy was his weapon and his shield.

    Joker wasn''t very good at jokes. However, he realised that people liked him more when he was funny. The first time it happened, he didn''t even understand what he''d done. The boys in the class started laughing and praising him. That was when Joker decided that he''d do his best to get more laughs to feel part of the group. He researched hard and rehearsed by himself at home telling jokes in front of the mirror. English wasn''t Joker''s first language but to appeal to a wider audience, he did his best.

    Joker was skittish and clumsy by nature. He was often so fearful about being left behind or kicked out of the delinquent class because he wasn''t good enough for them. He didn''t really do very well in his studies not because he was bad at studying but because he didn''t want to stand out by having too good a score. I''ve taken a look at his previous study records and I can say that Joker may be as bright as Jerry if not more. He just wasn''t a very outgoing person and wanted to fit in somewhere.

    I didn''t know what to do with the boy spilling his heart out to me. I was no school counsellor, I was a mere student playing teacher for a day to gather information for my observation journal. However, when someone was emotionally hurting, I think hugs helped. Just like how I was comforted in the past, I decided to become that person to give Joker the support he needed.

    I didn''t know what sort of advice I should be giving but I didn''t think that his current classmates would abandon him. If anything, the bond between misfits should be stronger when compared to the ones of flimsy friendship made during the happy school days. Friends who fight together are friends for life. These boys have battled against the scorn from the school and I highly doubt it would be an easy thing to abandon one of their kind. Junior wasn''t that kind of leader either. He walks as fast as the slowest man and cares for the group as a whole even though he isn''t the best leader.

    Personally, I think that being who Joker truly was would be good enough. If they could accept someone like Mr Delusional in their ranks, having a nerd would only make things more interesting. People should feel free to be who they are if they aren''t doing anything that would harm themselves, others or the environment.

    This is how I feel about it but if anyone disagrees, feel free to let me know in the comments so that I can agree to disagree with you.

    Until next time, fair winds!

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 66 - Delinquent Diaries (10)

    Ahoy Ship Sinkers!

    In today''s journal entry, we will be observing the sc.u.m of the sc.u.ms. We call him the Casanova because he changes girlfriends every week without fail. He''s one of the few boys who''ve had any dating experience at all. Casanova comes from a fairly well to do family so spending money to get girls is something that doesn''t bother him. Personally, I think it''s a little sad that the boy has to spend money to get someone to like him. He isn''t bad looking but he has quite a terrible personality.

    I don''t often describe someone''s personality as horrible but you need to make the judge for yourself after I''ve told you the evidence I gathered from observation and interaction with this student. He''s on a whole new class of sc.u.m when compared to the rest of his class.

    Casanova is the same age as Junior but he''s definitely got the looks with his East meets West heritage. He has light brown hair and hazel eyes that can sweep any teenage girl off their feet as well as your typical Asian pretty boy looks. Casanova works out at a gym, don''t get me wrong. However, he works out to look good and likes to keep his slender build the way it is. His American genes made him taller than most boys his age so I guess that makes him a fairly good catch.

    However, that''s just the cover of the book. Wait till we delve deeper into the contents and you''ll see what I mean.

    You might be wondering how anyone his age can be popular so quickly especially if he is from the delinquent class that the school normally shuns. Girls wouldn''t usually want to hang out with a boy with a bad reputation, right? Well, I thought wrong. Girls actually like boys with a bad reputation if they''re dreamy like Casanova. He speaks sweet nothings to them and showers them with gifts to make them feel like they''re the only one in the world. Mind you, Casanova picks his chicks carefully too. He doesn''t just accept any type of girl as his girlfriend for the week. The Casanova hunts them and often, he gets them. His secret? None of what he says is the truth.

    Casanova lies a lot and it isn''t limited to just picking up chicks. He lies to the teachers and even to his classmates although slightly lesser than to other people. Initially, I believed him when he failed to turn in the assignment Casper had given as he told me that he had to take care of his sick mother. However, after closely observing the boy for a few more days, I decided that was a load of b*llsh*t. I''m not someone easily angered but realising how I''d been a fool to believe his blatant lies made me mad. Guess his mother wasn''t sick after all because she was busy partying in the Maldives.

    He fibs quickly and naturally so much that I can never believe any of his words. It doesn''t matter if he''s being relaxed or serious. Casanova lies in any situation. If he were to be cursed to have his nose grow longer with each lie, I bet Casanova would have a nose twice as long as the Earth''s diameter by now.

    Also, Casanova doesn''t just tell blatant lies. If I thought I was good at observing people, Casanova was a master. He knew what kind of lies he could tell and get away with. For example, he knew how to craft lies to get out of class cleaning duties every single time. Everyone in the delinquent class was made to take out the trash at least once in their time around, some more than others, but Casanova had never once done it. He was either missing in person or had some sort of reasons to not do it and his classmates would believe him without a doubt. Joker was often Casanova''s target if he couldn''t escape Junior''s order to do so. He spun lies like cotton candy and being the kind-hearted boy Joker was, the kid would always agree to help Casanova out ''just this once'' until it happened again.

    However, despite the lies he tells, Casanova is a very cautious person. I don''t know how he does it but his lies will be very convincing if he wants it to be that way. He plans the lies he tells in a series of stories. Not just the lies he tells... I noticed how Casanova never has his back to anyone in any kind of situation. It''s a subconscious move that proves that Casanova actually does a little more than just go to the gym. I only saw it once in my short stay with the boys. Someone tapped Casanova on the shoulders when he had his headphones on during class. The boy didn''t just jump in surprise. he actually caught his classmate''s wrist and twisted it.

    At this point, I didn''t recognise Casanova at all. He looked like a completely different person. In fact, I thought he was out to really gut the person who disturbed his short nap but after realising who it was, he let the poor classmate go with a smile and an apology. There was a serious side to Casqanova that not many knew about with his sc.u.mbag behaviour. I think Casanova secretly is a very cautious person who simply trusts nobody but himself. In my opinion, that might feel exceedingly lonely to have to be this way. Perhaps it is the reason why he constantly seeks the company of girls. From what I understood, his parents both are having external affairs despite their marriage. It''s not something I can imagine or claim to understand but I''m beginning to see a little more of Casanova as a person even if he is still King of the Sc.u.ms.

    Casanova eventually relented to my annoying persistence to get him complete his assignments and I''m not very surprised to see that he could manage a solid eighty percent of the questions correct when he tried. He was also half-hearted when he did it because he didn''t bother to show the full working like what Casper had taught. He was clearly not on the same level as the rest of his class with his brilliant mind. In fact, I''m beginning to wonder if Casanova did this deliberately as a form of rebellion of some kind. It was hard to understand him as a person.

    In any case, the confusing part was Casanova''s approach to interacting with me after he proved that he could pass the topical test without a hitch. Whenever he walks by me I will always get a pat on my head. This confuses me greatly but for some reason, I have a nagging feeling that I''m being treated like a cat.

    All jokes aside, I don''t think Casanova is someone you''d want to mess with. It''s a good thing my observation days are over because tomorrow I will introduce to you an amusing fellow.

    Fair winds and stay tuned!

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 67 - Delinquent Diaries (11)

    Ahoy Crew!

    I did say the last time that I was going to introduce to you an amusing fellow, didn''t I? Well, now you have it. Meet Popcorn Lover for the star of today''s party.

    Yes, you can probably already imagine the kind of things this boy likes. Popcorn Lover as a name isn''t exactly too subtle but that''s the whole idea here. The boy is as fun as his name here is. Of all the observation quests, I find observing this particular boy the most enjoyable to watch. He''s simply such a delight and is a rather open book to anybody.

    Popcorn lover is a Spaniard... somewhat. he has this dark hair and eyes and well as sun-kissed skin that screams cute. It doesn''t help that he has sharp features that make him incredibly good-looking. The only thing I can think of that girls might find a little scary is how much hair he has. Popcorn lover has hair on his chin and face, on his arms and his legs. They aren''t fine ones either, it''s a full-blown thick curly layer of hair that covers them. It''s not very common in Singapore to see boys or men with so much hair. Asian women and men tend to be less hairy in general.

    The delinquent is average in his studies who only needed a little guidance to be able to get his passing grades. It''s not hard to get along with the boy either because he''s always very optimistic. If someone told him that he was wrong and tried to put him down, nothing would catch them by surprise more than Popcorn Lover''s smile and his thanks. Popcorn Lover has this disarming smile and on top of that, his honest appreciation for criticism made him a force not to be trifled with.

    I once asked why he would thank the mean people for insulting him and Popcorn Lover said the wisest thing I''ve ever heard.

    "Criticism is information that will help you grow," he told me seriously and added with a smile that it was a quote by Hendrie Weisinger 1 . The boy took that quote and applied it to his life. It''s also the secret to his optimism. I couldn''t help but be impressed.

    Popcorn Lover has a dream. It isn''t a very big dream but it''s a very noteworthy one. When I talked to him more, I came to find out how simple-minded he was. The boy doesn''t like conflict and just wants to see everyone be happy. His love for popcorn come from going to the cinema when he was younger. His mother, when she was alive, used to always get him a bag of popcorn before they watched a movie and he was very happy. However, Popcorn Lover has his fair share of unhappiness too.

    His mother passed away from an accident when he was ten, so he had to cope with school and life with his father. Neither of them knew how to cook initially, the house was always a mess and both men didn''t know how to deal with the loss of their kin. His father took to going overseas for work to numb the pain while Popcorn Lover took to hanging out with more interesting company.

    Now that Casper came in to change his entire world of rot, Popcorn Lover saw some sort of hope. Perhaps, he told me, he could pick up the dream he left many years ago to open a popcorn store. He didn''t want to own a popcorn station at the cinema because he claims that the people who buy popcorn at the cinemas do not truly love popcorn. He would drive a popcorn truck around the world selling his snack to spread the joy.

    I kept an eye out on Popcorn Lover for a while and found that he enjoys the simpler things in life like cloud-watching and just doing nothing in particular. It''s rare to see how someone could simply enjoy the moment without doing anything. If it were me, I would not be able to handle that kind of idle lifestyle.

    Popcorn Lover is also a very good listener. His silent companionship makes you feel better naturally. Sometimes, silence can be golden and I think Popcorn Lover is the ''mother'' of the rowdy gang. Nobody would try to offend Popcorn Lover intentionally and he naturally takes care of their well-being. It doesn''t happen often but when Popcorn Lover thinks something has gone over the line, he would put his foot down and tell the boys in a very gentle tone that enough is enough. Surprisingly, nobody argues with him.

    Popcorn Lover is always happy all the time. Almost nothing can get him down and if it does, he picks himself back up quickly. The boy is always seen helping someone in the class. It doesn''t matter if he was helping them to study or just picking up somebody''s pencil from the ground, he does it without expecting thanks.

    Before this, I could never imagine seeing or knowing anyone as good-natured as him. It''s amazing each time I see him spread the joy and kindness as he goes along with his day. Casper and I could use some of his positivity in our lives right now. Although we think we''re doing a good job teaching this bunch of hooligans, we can''t help but worry that somehow the boys will turn the tables against us and pull a one-eighty during the test. It surely isn''t easy for Casper to be accepted in their ranks and their new leader. I''m doing what I can but the bond between these brothers are tight. I''m not sure if it''s even possible to wedge Casper in it. They might respect him as a leader for his capabilities but I don''t know if they will truly see him as a brother in arms.

    Side story, I asked Popcorn Lover to bring some of his homemade popcorn and the boy brought a big bag of it to class just yesterday. It was a unanimous vote that he was a good popcorn chef and Junior appointed him in charge for popcorn on movie afternoons. Yes, they have movie afternoons. It''s not something I knew about until yesterday. Casper even agreed that if everyone passed the test he will order some popcorn from Popcorn Lover and buy a movie that the class votes on so they could watch it together.

    I don''t know what Casper is getting himself into but all''s well, ends well.

    Rocking the waves, until next time!

    Pirate S. Dr. Hendrie Weisinger is a celebrated, influential, world renowned psychologist, and a New York Times Bestselling author. - Huffpost, 2019.

 Chapter 68 - Delinquent Diaries (12)

    Ahoy Seafood Devourers!

    Ok, that wasn''t directed to anyone in particular. I just thought I''d get creative with the greetings. To all you non-seafood eaters I apologise.

    In today''s journal entry, I will be introducing someone who shares very similar characteristics as some of the seafood we eat. Meet Octopus Head, the most blur student in the class. Although it is researched that Octopi are actually one of the most intelligent sea species, for the sake of the joke running in the class, we''ll keep his name as Octopus Head.

    Why do we call him Octopus Head? The reason is because of how he''s usually all over the place and constantly loses his things. It doesn''t matter what it was, Octopus Head has a talent for misplacing almost anything anywhere. If we had a list for every single time he misplaced something, that list would reach Santa in the North Pole by now.

    Of the things he''d misplaced, earpieces are on the top of that list. Octopus Head had long learnt not to buy expensive earpieces because it wouldn''t be two days after his purchase that he''d lose it. The class would often find some of his misplaced earpieces in somebody''s bag, on the teacher''s table, in a random classmate''s table or chair, in the lockers and most times in the nearest toilet. One of the most ridiculous locations anyone found Octopus Head''s earpiece was on a ceiling fan. Nobody knew how it got up there but nobody questioned it.

    One of the stranger things Octopus Head misplaced was a sanitary pad. Nobody knew why a boy would be carrying it but everybody silently judged him after that incident. Nobody talked to the poor boy for a few days until someone explained that Octopus Head had a sister in the same school who needed it and asked him to run an errand for her. Still, it was highly awkward having to ask around for a misplaced sanitary pad. The boys never talked about it ever again. Sixteen teenage boys hunting high and low for a mere sanitary pad that one of their brothers misplaced was funny when it happened but I do respect these kids. These are things only true friends would do for each other. I still think it would be easier for Casanova to ask for a spare pad from one of his ex-girlfriends than having everyone search ''discreetly'' for one that''s been misplaced.

    Other strange things that Octopus Head does is that he would fall off the chair he was sleeping on. I know that Octopus Head isn''t the most well-mannered sleeper but he would be snoring away with drool at the side of his mouth while the other boys played card games at the back and then there would be this loud sound of something falling. They would turn back to see the poor blockhead on the ground, still snoring away.

    Octopus Head is never punctual and that is why whenever there was a meeting time, they would give him a time two hours earlier. Somehow, Octopus Head would never be on time. He''d be anything from five minutes to forty minutes late. It''s not always a bad thing because he is the reinforcements the boys sometimes needed when they picked fights with college students outside of school. Octopus Head is a little like a Wild card. sometimes he remembers to bring the correct weapons and sometimes he doesn''t when he arrives so they all get pummeled. I''m surprised the boys don''t blame him.

    If there was one thing that the boys didn''t like about Octopus Head, it would be his inability to get jokes. The poor kid is extremely slow to get them. It could take him anything from seconds to days before he got it. For example, I witnessed Octopus Head laugh at a bad pun that Joker made two hours earlier. It took the entire lunch break for Octopus Head to finally get it. His reaction was to hoot in laughter in the middle of Casper''s lesson. Needless to say, Casper wasn''t pleased and Octopus Head was given extra practice questions. The poor boy didn''t even understand what he did wrong.

    Despite all his flaws, Octopus Head is a master escapist. He might be on the chubbier side of the scale but nobody moves faster than him. Octopus Head was good at blending in with the crowd and acting like an innocent passer-by. He was often sent on reconnaissance missions and watched the hallway for teachers passing by whenever they had their afternoon movie sessions. I saw how easily Octopus Head blended in with the other children first hand. He had a sloppy uniform, as usual, dirty socks and shoes, a fried chicken drumstick in his hand when I passed him by the first time. Nobody took any notice to this boy enjoying his chicken at first. I only noticed him when I was slowly making my way back to the class when he greeted me. Only then did I realise what he was doing. The boy had a phone on the table beside him while he ate and was looking in the direction of the delinquent classroom where the other boys were enjoying their ''party''. Casper and I were on lunch break with Prince Charming so we couldn''t exactly join them but it was still amazing to watch how easily Octopus Head fit in with the rest of the school.

    While I am aware that the boys regularly scuffle with neighbouring schools, I didn''t know if Octopus Head was actually capable of fighting. It wasn''t until earlier today that I realised how much stronger Octopus Head is when compared to his classmates.

    I was sitting at my desk at the back of the class when my chair gave way. No, don''t laugh. I''m not that heavy, the chair was just way too broken to handle any more stress. Fast Fingers was over right away but he needed help for someone to pull apart the other rusted screws so he could transfer it to a new pair of good chair legs seeing as all the other seats were too terribly defaced. Mr Scary tended to me and checked if I was alright while Casper had to get the class back to focus on the lessons while I was tended to.

    They got some of the stronger boys like Lanky, Simba and Kesha FB to help pull the chair apart but none of them succeeded. Octopus Head then decided to give it a try and in one mighty yell, he ripped it apart. I was very impressed but Jerry told me Octopus Head wasn''t the strongest in the class even if he was quite strong. There were two more boys in class who won Octopus Head hands down in the strength department but I didn''t know what to think. I thought that ripping chairs with bare hands was an impressive feat.

    Still, I got a brief introduction to the two other boys who were stronger than Octopus Head and I decided to keep an eye out on them for a little longer to ascertain the rumour before I wrote an observational entry in this journal.

    Let me know what you think about the boys so far. We have another four more boys to introduce and the Delinquent Diary series will be completed. Hold your votes until I''ve introduced everyone but I would still like to hear some of your thoughts about the boys.

    Fair winds until next time!

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 69 - Delinquent Diaries (13)

    Ahoy matey!

    Today I have someone with an interesting nickname. Meet Germaphobe - a German cleanliness freak with a side of OCD 1 . This classmate is simply hilarious. I know he has some sort of medical condition or personality issues but observing him is just too entertaining for me.

    Germaphobe is the only delinquent I know who has everything in place and a routine. Even before Casper''s interference, Germaphobe was one of a kind. He isn''t very much of a delinquent, he just simply finds it easier to coexist with the bunch of misfits as compared to a regular classroom. From what I''ve heard, the teachers kept on confiscating his hand sanitizers and that drove Germaphobe crazy. I actually don''t blame him at all.

    The German boy was fairly pleasant looking. He had blond hair and blue eyes combo working for him with fair skin but it''s a shame that most of the time nobody can see the lower half of his face. Germaphobe can be seen wearing a face mask half the time he is in the class. If you thought that was being paranoid, you should see what he packed to school. Some kids pack books, some pack games and other pack food but Germaphobe packs sterilizer, hand sanitizers, wet wipes and alcohol swabs. He often wears gloves as well and keeps the spares in his locker.

    I find it hilarious to see Germaphobe constantly nitpicking on the cleanliness of one of the worst classrooms in the school. He wipes and dusts and sweeps the class before anybody comes to class and does it at least three times throughout the day. It satisfies him greatly to see a clean room in general but when he can''t manage that, the boys leave him in his ''clean corner'' and it''s an unspoken rule that no man shall intrude upon the territory of the Germaphobe. Nobody wants to be roped into cleaning duties after all.

    Generally, some of the better-natured boys wouldn''t mind helping out with cleaning duties. Boys like Kesha FB and Octopus Head were boys you thought would even volunteer to help out with cleaning. However, I''ve learnt it the hard way. I once offered Germaphobe to help with the cleaning because it seemed like too much work for one person to do. However, Germaphobe takes cleaning to a whole new level. From the ceiling fans to the whiteboard and the corner of the room, there were no surfaces left undusted, unwiped and untouched. He was merciless even when it came to a girl on crutches. Germaphobe would yell and scold for any sloppy work. He even had a rule of not wiping more than three surfaces or more than a square foot using the same surface of the cloth. Each wiping cloth or wet wipe can only be reused four times at most.

    I was wiped by the time I was finished. It took Germaphobe only forty-five minutes to do a thorough clean up and I was almost late for my tuition after school! Never again will I offer help to Germaphobe for cleaning. It will never be appreciated.

    Other than easily freaking out over details, Germaphobe is also known for losing his cool. Little things that are out of their places like having the wind blow over his preciously arranged tissues can cause a meltdown. Also, eating in Germaphobe''s company can be a highly stressful event. One example of why nobody bothers to invite the German boy over for their pizza parties is because he is a killjoy. He needs to first sterilise every cutlery and then dish out the pizza slices in paper plates and not allow anyone to use their hands to eat. I mean, pizza is mostly finger food so I can understand why people can be annoyed with Germaphobe. Yet, we can''t exactly blame him. His fear of unhygienic things makes us feel bad when we watch him freak out.

    I was curious about how Germaphobe became so particular about hygiene and cleanliness because these are simply things you can''t observe. It took a long time for him to admit that he wasn''t particularly comfortable around the boys because he thought of them as slobs. When I heard that I couldn''t help but agree. Casper wasn''t a slob but most of the boys in the class were. They dropped food everywhere and didn''t bother to clean. Octopus Head was a very good example of a slob. His uniforms were always a little dirty and his footwear was never clean.

    He also revealed something shocking to me but I wasn''t a school counsellor so I didn''t know how to help him. Germaphobe mentioned that he used to have an older cousin he really loved playing with. However, that cousin would always subject him to unspeakable things and it made Germaphobe very uncomfortable. Ever since then, the feeling of physical contact and intrusion into his personal space would make Germaphobe feel nauseous. Wearing a face mask helped a little and cleaning made the unpleasant feeling go away.

    Also, Germaphobe mentioned that his grandmother was in the hospital and he had to keep things very clean for her otherwise her health would worsen. I guess every individual had their own circ.u.mstances and for Germaphobe, cleaning was a coping mechanism. I respect him for what he does but I would never be able to keep my room as clean or as orderly as what Germaphobe could manage.

    At the end of the day, as long as Germaphobe wasn''t drinking the bleach he uses to clean with, everything was good. Sometimes I wondered if there was a way to help the boy relaxed a little but he looked rather happy cleaning the same table over and over again so I left him alone. If anything, I think he would make a very good maid if he were female. Then again, maybe there are male maids that I just have not heard of. I hope that Germaphobe can find his happiness someday. For now, we have algebra tests to worry about.

    One last interesting fact about Germaphobe before I end my observational journal entry. Germaphobe never participates in the brawls the class. he was the one who usually waited till the fight was over before running over with a mop and a wash bucket. He is usually armed with a broom or something so his official battle nickname is "The Cleaner". Rumours are out that he is the person anyone contacts if they had bodies to dispose of but I highly doubt Germaphobe would take too well to dead bodies.

    Well then, that was a fun entry to write about. In the next entry, I will be introducing a boy capable of fighting with Prince Charming for her title.

    Fair winds and full speed ahead!

    Pirate S. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a personality disorder characterized by excessive orderliness, perfectionism, attention to details, and a need for control in relating to others.

 Chapter 70 - Delinquent Diaries (14)

    Ahoy Sailor Haters!

    I did say that I will be introducing someone who was able to fight with Prince Charming for the title today, didn''t I? I made a mistake.

    Well, Let''s call them Idol in today''s entry because I really do not think that this person qualifies to be anything charming. It''s not easy to like them for anything else apart from their looks. Even though I say this, there are many girls and boys alike who are smitten by his good looks. It''s amazing how beauty can get you to places. Teachers also ignore his attitude because of his incredible beauty.

    I didn''t know it before but Casper did some research on each of his students, so he told me some really interesting information. Idol is actually a very popular child actor who had been pulled out from his career. That means Idol is currently on hiatus because his manager, talent agency and parents decided that they had enough of his crappy attitude so they sent him to complete his education. Idol will resume his career in acting when he graduates in two years but knowing him, it wouldn''t be easy to get him to attend regular classes.

    In almost a similar way to Mr Delusional, Idol self-invited himself to the delinquent class. One day he just showed up early in the morning reading his book and Germaphobe was in his personal corner, not saying a thing. Junior didn''t mind and for some reason, Idol became part of their class.

    The first time the class accepted Idol as one of them was when the pretty boy threw his dictionary down the class window at someone who was harassing one of the weaker members of their class. Nobody really expected Idol to stand up for Joker but he did. What shocked the class more was the gap between Idol''s looks and personality. It was an unspoken decision to give Idol the crown for the foulest mouth. It didn''t help that Idol spoke at least four languages so he had quite the repertoire when it came to cussing at others.

    Idol felt comfortable enough to join the boys in some of their activities after that when nobody chided him for his language. In fact, the young teen was quite flattered to know that Mr Delusional was interested to learn some vocabulary from him.

    While it was common knowledge to everyone that Idol was a very pretty person, I don''t think many people know the extent of his dedication to his physical appearance. Firstly, I noticed that Idol has a very strict diet and exercises regularly. In addition to this, I couldn''t help but observe how he takes care of his face. Even during fights, Idol prefers to stay away from close combat. If he was caught up in one, he would automatically protect his face first. I guess that makes sense seeing how his face was his livelihood.

    Now here comes one of the slightly shocking parts. Idol wears makeup to enhance his beauty. Although it isn''t very obvious to most people, I noted how his lips were evenly coloured and even glossy on some days. Nobody has eyes without dark circles beneath them. Usually, as the day progresses, the dark circles become more prominent. In the morning you may not see them but when the late afternoon rolls by, most people have signs of them appearing. For Idol, it remains flawless throughout the day. That was how I suspected that Idol must have done something to ensure that he is always so good looking all the time.

    Don''t get me wrong, I think wearing makeup is fine. Although I am not a huge fan of putting things on my face, I can understand why people do it. Much like clothes, makeup is a weapon of some sort. Some people choose to polish their wits as their weapon while others feel more confident when they look good enough to intimidate. Clearly, Idol neglects neither. he''s always dressed good enough to kill and has a tongue as sharp as a whip. Once he speaks, it doesn''t take many words to land a K.O.

    I would never want to be on the opposite side of that sharp tongue. It took me many days of stalking and watching before I finally saw evidence of it.

    This happened when Mr Scary and Mr Delusional were having an argument about having a future after graduation. Mr Delusional claimed that it wasn''t necessary to graduate to earn a living but Mr Scary begged to differ. I don''t know why this broke out into a full-scale debate and it got to the point when boys were heated enough to yell at each other. I think Casper was in the toilet at this point when things escalated and I was trapped in the classroom, not knowing what to do. Nobody would listen to me and all I could do was pray that some teacher passing by would come in and stop them.

    I don''t know how Idol did it but he went up to the back of the class and kicked a table with one of his long legs, loud enough to momentarily stun the rowdy kids into silence. Then he turned and glared at them before speaking in a calm voice with nonchalance.

    "Those who have the beauty or the brains don''t need to graduate to make a living. Graduation only makes it prettier for them and easier for them to experience success faster. Those who have neither can only depend on graduation to provide them with a certificate so they can trick their future employers into employing them. You should know which camp you belong in by seeing the number of confessions you receive and the scores returned to you."

    After he dropped that bomb, Idol walked away. Nobody spoke and there was a silent wave of depression radiating from the class just as Casper entered. Lessons that day became very awkward with nobody daring to answer questions. The mood was just a downer because nobody could refute Idol''s logic. The truth hurts and idol didn''t attempt to cushion it at all.

    In a way, I think that it is a good thing to have someone tell you the truth that you are either blind to or refuse to see. However, I feel like things could have been done in a nicer way especially for the more sensitive boys like Joker and Mr Scary.

    If you were Idol, what would you have said? I don''t exactly know what the right answer is or what the better answer is. You know the boys in the class and their personalities. What would you suggest?

    Feeling troubled but finding a map,

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 71 - Delinquent Diaries (15)

    Ahoy Swashbucklers!

    Today I will be introducing one of the two boys stronger than Octopus Head. This one''s a little extreme in personality but nobody truly knows if he is stronger or if the other boy I''ve yet to introduce to y''all is stronger.

    His name has the word Dragon in it and so the boys started calling him the East Dragon. I''ll be honest now. The first time I saw his name on the class register, I thought Casper was pulling my leg but it turned out that East Dragon''s parents were either really drunk when they chose his name or really hippy. I don''t know why anyone would choose to name their children after insects but I can understand why East Dragon hated his name so much. I don''t blame him at all for introducing himself as a Dragon. In fact, I think it suits him well.

    Other than his ferocity as a martial art enthusiast, I can only point out his hairstyle as the things that make him wild. It looked likely something roughly chopped up instead of carefully cut and I was told that Dragon cut his hair himself. He does it with his katana because he didn''t want to simply buy it as a decorative item. Since he couldn''t be seen carrying a real sword around and sparring with it, he did the second best thing that came to his mind and used it to cut his hair. I can see the logic here but sometimes I question the decisions people make.

    East Dragon actually has very well defined muscles from his hardcore training regime. He is what we know as a true muscle head. It doesn''t matter what day it is, what kind of weather condition it is, or how tired he feels. Dragon never skips training day. he could be running a forty-degree 1 fever but he would still be doing one-handed pushups.

    Some people think that it is hard-boiled dedication but I just think it''s crazy. I won''t deny that Dragon is easily the fittest person in the school because he often runs around helping sports clubs to be a substitute player for any of their games. He might not be very good in the sport itself but his ridiculous power, stamina and reflexes make up for his inexperience. For example, I have never heard about anyone winning a basketball competition by doing a backflip slam dunk. Dragon isn''t tall enough to jump and dunk so he invented the backflip slam dunk by bouncing the ball and timing his catch to dunk it by springing backwards somewhere midcourt before slamming it down right where the basket was. I saw the video someone took and I could hardly believe my eyes. Nobody was clear about what happened afterwards. The referee might have disqualified that score but there was no doubting how cool that stunt was.

    Dragon adores Bruce Lee and like Jackie Chan, he wants to be a stuntman when he graduates. Who needs a degree in martial arts? Dragon was already on the national team preparing to represent Singapore in the Youth Olympics for martial arts. I don''t know why Dragon isn''t in the special stream but I guess he didn''t qualify because of his atrocious scores.

    Teaching Dragon Math wasn''t easy. the boy constantly fidgets and it was hard to get him to remember anything. Casper tried all the conventional methods and was almost on the verge of tears. Luckily for him, I''m not a very conventional person. we tried many things to get dragon focus on the subject but the only way to get his attention is to have him do something. In the end, it took circuit training Math to get Dragon to understand certain concepts.

    What is circuit training Math? well, simply put it. There is a series of activities at each corner of the class that Dragon has to run to within a time limit to read and attempt the questions while completing a fixed number of reps. It can be sit-ups, squats or jumping jacks but while reading the question, Dragon has to do them and for every wrong question that he got, Dragon has to do corrections and memorise them if he couldn''t understand the concept. We had him write his corrections five times each while doing leg lifts. As ridiculous as it sounded, this method worked for Dragon.

    Herein lies a small problem. Dragon couldn''t possibly be running around the class while he took his test. Thankfully, the East Dragon knew that as well and had a solution. He would wear light ankle weights covered by his long pants on that day and do leg lifts while attempting the test. Casper and I were unsure but if that was what worked for Dragon then we would leave it to him.

    Outside of martial arts, sports and Math, Dragon was a fairly blunt person and honest to a fault. Although I appreciate not being told lies on a daily basis like Casanova, I don''t really appreciate being told how short I was by Dragon.

    The kid also somehow doesn''t understand the concept of impossible. He explained that if he doesn''t get what he wants, he''d just have to work harder. I tried to explain to him that there were certain things that were not meant to be and Dragon snorts at me while giving me this reply.

    "If you can''t get it then you should try until you die. After you die, you should meet God and ask him why he didn''t allow you to succeed while you were alive. If God doesn''t answer, you fight him and make him answer your question."

    I don''t know what to feel about that answer but it really wasn''t a bad answer. East Dragon was also extremely loyal so when he accepted Casper and me into the pack, he told me to call him if I was ever in trouble. He might not be the brightest but he claimed that he would always be the fastest.

    Although I don''t think I''ll ever need his protection, it was an assuring thought.

    Tomorrow I will introduce the last student of the delinquent class and probably the strongest student we know in the school.

    Fair winds and sleep tight!

    Pirate S. roughly 104F

 Chapter 72 - Delinquent Diaries (16)

    Ahoy Sea Debris!

    I realise that it gets harder to insult you readers with every entry. You don''t make a single peep and I didn''t know if you''ve noticed my attempt at offending you. In any case, today is the final entry for the Delinquent Diary Series of my Observational Journal. Allow me to introduce you to Big Bear.

    Yes, that''s the nickname I decided I was going to give him. His real name sounds cuddly but do not be mistaken, this gentle giant can be deadly when provoked.

    Big Bear is normally friendly. He enjoys meeting new people and making friends. Actually, scratch that. It doesn''t have to be people. he loves meeting new animals as well. Big Bear is a massive softie when it comes to animals. His motto?

    "Humans are the only creatures who will betray their kind. Animals will not. You can trust animals but you can never trust a human like you trust an animal."

    That''s something really philosophical there but Big Bear broke it down for the simpletons like me. It means that animals are what they are but humans lie all the time. You can count on an animal to love you or hate you, to leave you or eat you but you can never be sure of a human''s intentions.

    Now that''s real food for thought.

    there are some quirks that I''d observed about Big Bear while tutoring Dragon. The boy is always complaining about his clothing being too small. however, I doubt that is the case. from the very first time I saw him, I think Big Bear has actually grown bigger. I don''t know how this is possible but I''m most certain that the boy has grown larger. His clothes didn''t shrink in the wash, they''re the wrong material for wash shrinking anyway. However, given the things that Big bear constantly puts in his mouth, I wouldn''t be surprised by the growth. It''s not a healthy growth upwards either so it worries me. By estimation, Big Bear should be twice as large as Octopus Head in two more months at the rate he is growing unless there is divine intervention. Mind you, Octopus Head is easily twice the size of Joker who is the scrawniest kid in class. that means that Big Bear is about three times as large as Joker. That''s a really big boy for you.

    When it came to the battle of strengths, I finally managed to satisfy everyone''s curiosity. We agreed that during a lunch break, Big Bear and East Dragon will meet at the school field to lift the heaviest object we can find in the school without destroying it.

    Casper and I worked hard to find anything that was nearly a hundred kilograms but the closest thing we found was an abandoned gas barrel that was empty and rusted. It had a capacity of 42 gallons when converted to the metric system is roughly 158kg but seeing as it was badly rusted, we could only manage to fill about half of it or slightly more. There was an old dingy machine that measured the weight of the barrel with water in it. It was 78.9kg so we rounded it off to 80kg before the start of the strength battle to know who the strongest delinquent in the class was.

    Cue to the moment of truth when East Dragon miserably failed to lift the barrel off the ground but Big Bear easily did so and lifted the thing over his head before dumping water all over himself for a refreshing cool down.

    Nobody argued with the results. Big Bear was definitely the champion in strength. East Dragon didn''t look too disappointed either. If anything he looked proud. I''m not even going to go into details of what the boys did after that because I don''t want to recall the enraged face of the gardener who used the barrel to keep his compost in. Also, I don''t think the principal was amused by the water wastage. I know that the boys were obsessed with finding out how much they could lift but repeatedly lifting the barrel and having a ''refreshing shower'' isn''t the wisest idea.

    Apart from strength, Big Bear is actually a social butterfly. He was the school''s animal whisperer and knows as many people as Casanova. In fact, it wasn''t until Big Bear told Casper about a friend he knew from the Special Class that we understood the extent of his social network.

    Casper and I talked a little bit about the dancing twins in our class that Big Bear was friends with and we discovered that Big Bear isn''t someone who should be taken lightly. The gentle giant shared that he became friends with the sisters after smacking some poor pervert who was harassing the twins after one of their performances. when Big Bear was angry, he was less like a bear and more like an angry rhinoceros.

    If it weren''t for the security pulling him back, Big Bear might have sat on the pervert and crushed him to death. It took eight big men from the security to stop him. The best part? Big Bear wasn''t completely aware of what he did when he snapped. That makes him a double danger to be around anyone when he snaps because Big Bear simply doesn''t remember anything.

    Although I am not a psychologist, I can say that this might be a rage blackout episode. Casper and I did some intensive research about this condition but turned up empty-handed. There are many conflicting studies to prove that rage blackouts are real but those that claimed it is a thing, matched with what Big Bear described to us when he had an episode. Big Bear usually have rage blackouts when there was a wave of extreme anger, usually from some kind of emotional trigger, and ends up suddenly realising that he was hurting all over and extremely tired. He wouldn''t be able to remember anything that happened at the scene or who he saw.

    Unfortunately, neither Casper nor I were doctors. Our best advice would be to not do silly things that would trigger Big Bear. Usually, things that cause him to go into one of the rage blackouts were scenes of injustice. Things like animal torture, bullying, s.e.x.u.a.l outrage and discrimination will make him angry. Extreme cases send him on a rampage.

    In any case, this is the end of my Delinquent Diaries series. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Don''t forget to leave in the comments below which delinquent you liked the best. The most popular delinquent will get an exclusive journal entry dedicated to the ways of a true misfit.

    Until next time, fair winds!

    Pirate S.

    Author Note: I''m participating in WPC #91. Please check out my story "My Wife is an E-Ghost" and vote so that I can be within top 3 <3

 Chapter 73 - A Good Bad Idea

    Scarlet didn''t know if Debbie''s frown was a frown of concentration or one of disapproval. She knew it would be a bad idea to write about something so wild and negative but the girl simply couldn''t help it! Jasper''s new classmates were simply too interesting and the things they did were simply too entertaining to not write about... She couldn''t really be blamed here.

    Unknown to the young writer, Danny had been keeping the a.d.u.l.ts updated about what the three children were up to. Nobody was truly surprised by Alex''s determination to win the art competition. In fact, Wilmer encouraged it. He secretly supported his biological daughter by telling Claire to buy more art supplies.

    However, they weren''t quite sure what Jasper was thinking when he joined the Entrepreneur Circle even after finding out that it was nothing more than a bunch of hooligans. Wilmer couldn''t believe his ears when Danny reported about Jasper''s offer to help the delinquents study. If anything, the CEO was most certain that Jasper would prefer to lord of them and use them as his extra hands and legs. While he trusted the boy to take care of his daughter, he wouldn''t put such things past the young man. He was a merciless businessman through and through. However, he didn''t stop the aspiring businessman. In fact, he was intrigued when Scarlet suddenly became involved. Nobody had been expecting that.

    The young writer even went so far as to observe everyone in the new class and updated her secret journal that Claire was following. Debbie''s feedback about Scarlet''s new plot made everything more amusing for the a.d.u.l.ts as they finally figured out Jasper''s intentions. Wilmer wasn''t very far of the dot about Jasper''s intention but with Scarlet''s interference, not even Danny knew what the outcome would be like. The fact that with the smart duo helping the boys out academically, there were large improvements to be seen although the teaching methods employed could be rather questionable. Any normal teacher under an employment contract who attempted what these kids attempted would have been fired for even thinking about it.

    Debbie flipped through the story draft for the second time to scrutinise on the details. For a ten-year-old, Scarlet was extremely good at planning and pacing. In fact, the process came naturally to her that the editor didn''t think it was necessary to introduce the concept of pacing to Scarlet. It''s almost as useless as teaching a fish how to swim.

    "I''m sorry... was it a bad idea after all?" Scarlet''s quiet question made Debbie look up from the script. the frown marring her features disappeared when she saw the tiny girl before her.

    "No! No, not at all. It''s a good bad idea. I like it," the editor told Scarlet genuinely.

    Scarlet blinked. What was a good bad idea?

    "Oh," Debbie rolled her eyes and smacked her head with the flimsy paper plot. "Phrasing... what I meant to say was that it''s a very unique idea that I think will be very suitable for general readers. If done right, this could be your very first ticket to writerhood."

    Scarlet didn''t know if she should immediately start crying in relief or jump in celebration. Deciding on a little of both, the girl got up from her chair and tackled her tutor with tears rolling down her cheeks. Debbie allowed the girl to be emotional and smiled. Her eyes landed on the six-paged draft sitting on her side of the table. For some reason, Debbie wanted "Sixteen is a Gang" to succeed. It would be a real shame to see something so original to not be released into the world for readers to enjoy. More people needed to know Scarlet.

    Claire walked in to see the editor and writer bonding over a successfully agreed on a story to work on. The head maid was secretly proud and snapped the photo silently before captioning it in the group chat.

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on Web Novel then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on Web Novel and check out their other works. > This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on Web Novel then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on Web Novel and check out their other works. > This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on Web Novel then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on Web Novel and check out their other works. <<

    3G Fan Club Names and Users:

    Tina (Bubble Tina)

    Sue (Sue Me)

    Claire (Super Maid)

    Mr Wilde (I Love My Girls)

    Mrs Wilde (Ice Queen)

    Jenna (Lady Butler)

    Benjamin (Married to Work)

    Debbie (Word Warrior)

    Danny (Fashion Roadkill)

    ***

    Author Note:

    Uploads from now: Tue, Thurs, Sat

    All line break ads will not affect future ss unlock fees by more than 1 ss. Some may not even affect ss fees. This is for true lovers of the story, you will sponsor my line advertis.e.m.e.nts to flip off readers from pirate sites. For people who cannot afford that extra 1 ss per chapter, please feel free to read anything that is free until Love Jurnal gets locked. No chapters shall be locked before chapter 100. No premium before May 2020 (That''s the earliest but I might delay).

    For new readers who would like to know me as an author, you are all welcomed to the fandom but I have rules. 1. No toxic. 2. No drama 3. Crazy encouraged. 4. Brainless comments will get smacked or ignored or both, you will not earn my respect because you are responsible for your opinions. Doesn''t matter is you are five or fifty, same difference to me. 5. I give no shit about people dropping it so feel free. I only want people who truly enjoy it to stay. Also, bad reviews that don''t add value will be deleted without warning. 6. I have a discord server where updates will be made, always check my author notes because I do not like spamming like this in actual chapters.

    Lastly, thank you for reading. I have Patreon and books on Amazon if you want to feed me. For those too broke to feed me, please vote. Rankings will feed me too.

 Chapter 74 - Moment of Truth

    Eighteen young hearts were beating in sync. Nobody really had any decent sleep. Jasper was probably the one most affected of the lot. Scarlet didn''t know if the hard work these boys put in would pay off. They''ve definitely improved by a huge margin but reality didn''t always reward hard work with the success a person often deserved. The young writer wished that for once the odds would work in their favour.

    "This is it. Whatever the results are is going to be a fact, nothing can change them even if we beat the teachers up or bribed the principal. However, before I announce the results, I just want to thank everyone for giving me the opportunity to try. The deal is still on and I won''t back out of it. If anyone fails, I won''t be returning to the classroom to bother anyone. If everyone passes, you''re mine to command. Anyone who doesn''t agree with the terms can still choose to back out now," Jasper announced and waited.

    Not a single student stood up to leave the class and the young entrepreneur felt touched by the resolve. Still, what must be done will be done.

    Jasper took a quick look at the red digits on the first paper. The papers were usually arranged with the highest marks on top and the lowest at the bottom. For the first time, the boy wished that wasn''t the case. The suspense of knowing the lowest score in the class would determine his immediate failure or success. In a bittersweet way, postponing the idea of his execution made Jasper feel slightly better. Even if he failed, at least for the next ten minutes or so he could still be a part of the class.

    Scarlet''s heart was beating as fast as Jasper''s. Even though she knew that they did their best, the small doubt in her heart grew with the devils whispering to her that she didn''t do good enough and that she should have done more. If somebody fails, Scarlet knew that she would never forgive herself even if it wasn''t anybody''s responsibility to bear. If Claire was around, she would have watched the demons try to pull Scarlet away from them again and would have done something to stop the depression from getting her. However, nobody was able to tear Scarlet away from the tendrils this time and the dark feelings used the opportunity in Scarlet''s weakened emotional state to dig their roots deeper in.

    Unbeknownst to the delinquents, Jasper and Scarlet stayed up late last night in the chat room to debate about who they thought would do well and who they thought were risky candidates. In Singapore, the passing grade is 50. Half marks were a thing for some schools but not in Joyville International. The school principal did not support indecisiveness and this could be a huge risk factor for them. As of the final mock test, three students were still failing. Although it was a borderline failure, it still didn''t count as a safe clear. They could only hoped that the setter was more lenient than them.

    Now came the moment of truth. As Jasper read out the names and their scores, Scarlet was pleasantly surprised by how well the class did. While Jasper had a few names in mind who would potentially be the hope of the class, they never expected the most flippant student to be the one to pull through the best.

    "Tom Makino, 90..." Jasper announced and the class applauded. Scarlet smiled brightly as the class Casanova went forward to collect his script before doing a short jig in celebration and fist-bumping a few boys back to his seat.

    "Jeff Kumar, 88. Good job," Jasper smiled. Contrary to Tom''s announcement reaction, the class was both stunned and happy that the runt of the class would do so well.

    "Hey Joker!" Dragon yelled. "Is this a joke?"

    Scarlet didn''t take kindly to that jab and threw Dragon a glare. Kesha FB stepped in and made Dragon apologise to Joker who felt rather awkward. Still, he received a few mutters of congratulations instead of mocking for being a closet nerd. That went better than he expected.

    "Next, Roy Lee, 87. Didn''t think you could do it."

    The school''s High Jump stud grinned haughtily. "Told you I would make it."

    Jasper rolled his eyes and the class jeered good-naturedly. Rowan Harris the class delusional got a whooping 82 and the school Idol - Jin Si-han got  a rounded 80. Those were where the good scores ended. Vivian Valentino was the only person in the seventies range scoring 75. The popcorn lover got a bag of popcorn from Scarlet who had bought it earlier as a congratulatory gift. She knew that the Spaniard would pull through.

    "We''re now down to the sixty range, I can see that many of you studied well. You should be proud of yourselves for coming this far. First up, Samuel becker at 68. Congratulations."

    The class applauded as the germaphobic boy almost burst into tears, looking like a nervous wreck. He accepted offers of tissue to blow his nose when the waterworks burst. Next up was Jeremy Loh (or Jerry in Scarlet''s books) who was just one mark lower than Samuel.

    "Congratulations," Jin ru the class leader nodded at his right-hand man. He was proud of their achievements. At this point, even if not all of them made it, he would be happy enough to make concessions. What happened was considered a miracle. In two weeks, they were getting more than half the class to pass despite some closet nerds who shall not be named.

    "Thank you. Don''t worry, you will definitely pass," he told Jin Ru. The leader might not be very intellectual but for the last two weeks, he worked harder than anyone else. Hard work will always pay off.

    Jin Ru wasn''t too sure about it but he tried to stay positive as Jasper continued reading the scores out. Khalid Deezer the DJ wannabe got a nice 65 and Teddy Brown the strongest boy in class got a 62. Issac the one with a scary face and benedict Lam the class fix-it guy tied at 60. That closed the people who got the sixty range and things were starting to look a little shaky for those who yet yet to receive their results.

    Jin Ru felt his heart pounding hard. What if he wasn''t in the fifty range? What if he was the only one? he would have let the class down horribly. That same thought was racing through Reggie, Dragon and Mustafa''s minds. it was a known fact that they were the less academically capable students. Scarlet put in a lot more effort trying to help them while Jasper concentrated on pulling the grades up on those who could learn at a faster pace. Each of them had a special one to one training and lessons. If they still couldn''t make it, they would give up after this.

    "Wen Jin Ru, your hard work paid off. Never give up, you can overcome any difficulties in life just like this if you work hard. 56, congratulations."

    The class applauded and Jeremy was especially proud of his best friend. Other than Scarlet and Jasper, he was the only person who knew about Jin Ru''s disability. To come so far... it was like a miracle. God was fair.

    "Reggie Patron... although you might forget a lot of things all the time, you managed to remember enough to get 55 marks. Congratulations, you passed."

    The chubby boy smiled and had to be smacked and told to go get his paper before he moved from the seat. "Thank you! Thank you teachers... this is like a good dream, thank you."

    Scarlet smiled. Octopus Head will always be the same carefree and forgetful person. It must have been hard on him for a while during the test where he had to pressure himself into remembering things he didn''t understand. She was proud of him.

    "Next up, Mustafa Shakur. Scarlet and I did everything we could and left the rest up to you. You are one of the two students we didn''t know if you understood anything we were teaching but you proved to us that you could do it. Congratulations, you passed with 52."

    The talented soccer player beamed and ran up to collect his script before yelling out in triumph. Jasper let him have his moment with the class but his eyes met Scarlet''s. The young writer was nervous. Dragon was the only student they were positive would fail. Until the last day before the test, the Bruce Lee fan was still remembering his six times table wrong.

    The excitement died down eventually and was replaced by a tense silence. Everybody wanted to know the score of that last student who was playing with his nunchucks to hide his nervousness.

    "Dragonfly Chan... I''m sorry to say that because of you... this class will have to officially accept me as your teacher and leader from now on. You scored 50, just on the passing line but congratulations, you passed!"

    The class roared in excitement and threw the test papers in the air. They were piling on top of each other on the floor in what they called a group hug. Teddy grabbed Jasper and threw him into the air as the boys cheered. Jin Ru shared a look with Jeremy that Scarlet caught on. It was a look of silent acceptance and resignation. The young writer felt that while Jasper was splendid, the heart of the class should and would always still be Jin Ru even if he didn''t know that.

    The girl joined the delinquents in partying and was actually surprised at how much they''d secretly prepared. Joker later then admitted that they spent quite a lot of time planning the party for both Jasper and Scarlet.

    "We wanted to thank the both of you for what you have done for us even if we didn''t all pass. Nobody has given us this much attention and concern liek the both of you so we want to always welcome you as friends even if you lost the bet. Thankfully that doesn''t happen so now we have little teachers to teach us older kids."

    Scarlet was touched to tears in which some boys panicked after seeing it. Thankfully, Tom had some sense and offered the girl tissue while Si-Han shooed the boys away to give the lady her space. Jasper was not as lucky. Every boy took turns to smack him in advnace for the future torture he would no doubt put them through.

    While the day ended on a joyous note, a new chapter was creeping up on them for those in the Wilde house.

 Chapter 75 - Dannyéˆ¥æªš Report and Wilmeréˆ¥æªš Plot

    Wilmer was in the middle of reading his management reports when his phone rang. If it were an ordinary ringtone, the CEO would have simply ignored it in favour of his work. After all, there was a meeting in two hours and he had to present to the shareholders the idea of expanding their business operations in Cambodia. Not many had a favourable opinion of a country run by communists and as the CEO, he had a job to convince them.

    "What is it? It''s unlike you to be calling while classes are still in session. Did they skip your boring lessons already?"

    Danny rolled his eyes on the other end of the line. "Your children are merely busy for the day. They asked politely if it was possible to reschedule and I said yes. Just thought you might like an update about what your three brats are up to just before another major war in the office."

    The CEO sighed and placed the file down. He really needed a break and Danny called at the right time. his friend really knew how to pick the timing no matter where he was in the world or what he was doing. It was as if the counsellor graduated with a gift in clairvoyance too. Orita always joked that they should always consult Danny about the big things in life. Right now, Wilmer wondered how appropriate it would be to ask the school counsellor if expanding the business into Cambodia was a good move. However, he refrained from doing so in fear that Danny might decide not to keep him updated about the children.

    "Alex entered the art competition and from the rumours in teachers'' office, she was one of the few students shortlisted for the Art and Sculpture club."

    Wilmer was excited. Alex''s hard work was paying off. As her father, he couldn''t be prouder. Still, he was curious about Jasper''s side of the deal. The boy chose a difficult path. Did he succeed or die trying? He was curious to know what the boy would do in the face of a setback. After all, Jasper was the kind of person to keep all his cards close to his heart.

    On the other hand, the CEO wasn''t too worried about Scarlet even though she was with him. Wilmer highly doubted that the girl was very invested in the Entrepreneur Circle. In fact, the father already knew what the young writer was up to. Her new work already had customers placing pre-orders even before it was written.

    "Did they succeed or fail in their bet?"

    The counsellor sighed. "I don''t know if this is a good or bad thing. For some reason, Jasper is giving me the vibes of a Mexican crime lord... they start selling drugs in back alleys and end up living in luxurious bungalows after a few years. Now that he has succeeded, I doubt that he will end his association with the delinquents. You better keep him in check because of the three brats you sent to my class, he has the potential to be the most troublesome one to deal with!"

    Hearing that Jasper managed what the teachers couldn''t do in years made the gears in Wilmer''s head turn. The internship training would be interesting with all three children having very different personalities and talents.

    "What are the areas you think the kids need to improve on? I''m thinking of announcing the official start of their internship tonight but I want to plan some roles that would help them work on the areas they are weaker at."

    Danny sighed. Wasn''t this the job for Human Resource? Why was Wilmer asking him this? Besides, as the father, he should know his children''s'' flaws better. Why did the school counsellor have to tell him this? Listening to his own train of thought, Danny paused. No, it would make perfect sense as to why Wilmer shouldn''t be allowed to decide because he was an overly doting parent who was blind to his children''s flaws. Alex ended up spoiled because of this and Danny made up his mind. he would seize the chance to right Wilmer''s past mistakes for the sake of these lovely children.

    "I won''t say what they need improvement in because they are lacking in everything. However, you need to remember that while you''re training them to be outstanding heirs to the Wilde Empire, they are only ten. Jasper has leadership qualities. He''s calm and rationale but he could use a little more understanding about the difficulties other people face. Alex has a strong sense of ambition but she''s a little too much of an air-head. You need to teach her not to discard things that don''t interest her or things that she doesn''t understand. Selective learning can be a dangerous thing in the long run. As for Scarlet... she''s the one I''d worry for the least but keep an eye out on the most. She overthinks things too much and suppresses her emotions with logic. That will work for now but when the emotions in her small cup overflow, she might find herself unable to pick herself up from the ground when she falls."

    Wilmer didn''t say anything because he trusted Danny to be very observant. When Danny mentioned the flaws of his beloved princess, he was ready to strike back but held his tongue. There wasn''t anything to be angry about since it was all true. Wilmer and his wife spoiled Alex too much and it would be difficult to bring her back to the right path without some help. The internship might be a good opportunity to teach Alex about the world while still in a somewhat safe environment. On the other hand, as much as Wilmer didn''t want to consider it, his wife might be right. If Jasper reciprocated the feelings Alex had for him, the boy would make a good son-in-law who could help Alex run the Wilde Empire.he loved his daughter to bits but the girl was simply not a good business person.

    The last observation by Danny just before he hung up bothered Wilmer. Depression was still clinging onto Scarlet like a stubborn mould that wouldn''t disappear. Sometimes Scarlet would light up like a Christmas tree and they would forget all about the horrible nightmares plaguing the girl but sometimes, they could see the darkness just waiting for the right moment to push that girl over the edge. The CEO sighed. He just wished he knew how he could help her. Scarlet''s current method of coping with depression was to be busy. She kept doing new things, striving to achieve new goals and constantly improve herself like a mad person just so that she wouldn''t need to look at that weak and broken person inside. Somehow, Wilmer could understand the logic behind it. In fact, he truly believed that by forging a stronger self, Scarlet might be able to overcome depression naturally. All she needed was weapons and armour to face it.

    Weapons and armour came in the form of knowledge and life experiences. Luckily, the Wilde''s were not short of resources to provide both.

    "Carol!" Wilmer called for his secretary, his mind made up.

    The brunette entered and reached for the folder that Wilmer held out.

    "Make arrangements for the interns and introduce them as you would introduce any other interns. Make sure they know the relevant people in the various departments they should be working with. Don''t bring them to meet the senior management, I want them to work their way up."

    Carol looked over the files prepared by the human resource and raised a brow. She recognised the kids. "Are you sure about that, Mr Wilde? These kids will get eaten. The office ladies we have are going to just pile their dirty work on them."

    Wilmer smiled with a glint in his eye. "Exactly. If they can''t handle mere office ladies from the admin department on the lowest level, how can they defeat the monsters within our board?"

    The secretary shuddered. Wilmer Wilde lived up to his name as the Wolf of the business world. He worked alone and was merciless to his enemies. Even to his children, Wilmer didn''t give any concessions. Strangely, she felt as if the CEO had high hopes for them despite throwing them to the sharks.

    "Understood," she nodded. "I shall make the arrangements for their first day next Tuesday. Is there anything else?"

    Wilmer shook his head and dismissed the loyal employee before groaning silently at the doc.u.ments he still had to go through before the meeting. If only Jasper could hurry up and fall in love with Alex... then he could plan for early retirement and enjoy life with his beloved wife and daughters.

 Chapter 76 - Strange Questions

    The Wilde household was extremely lively. Tina and Sue worked extremely hard to pull off the surprise feast while Claire was pulling all the strings they had for Wilmer''s last-minute request. Today was a Friday so the children had the weekend to celebrate their non-intern lives.

    The children came back with good news and so did the grown-ups. Dinner was a lively event with everybody''s favourites. Scarlet gave thanks to the chef and helpers for putting together such a wonderful party on short notice. The young writer only wished that Jenna and Mrs Wilde could be here too and it would have been perfect. She missed the two ladies a little and wanted to tell them all that has happened lately in person.

    Wilmer was in high-spirits and engaged in fatherly chatter with Alex who could stop gushing about her acceptance into the prestigious Art & Sculpture Club. The CEO was very proud of her and so was everyone else. It was probably the first time Alex actually accomplished something all through her own efforts. True, there was support in the form of materials and lessons but Alex managed to qualify for the club without any string-pulling. It was decided by the teachers fairly. Danny even mentioned that Alex wasn''t on the waiting list for acceptance, she was selected as one of the top ten choices even if there were really only fifteen students selected for the club.

    Claire prepared a frame for the pastel art that Alex drew. The family was simply so proud of the Wilde Princess'' accomplishments and Alex got to choose where she would like to hang her work. Wilmer was slightly dejected when Alex decided to have it framed up in her bedroom. It was obvious to anyone that he was hoping to have the drawing framed in his home office. Tina and Sue didn''t hide their amus.e.m.e.nt and Claire''s eyes twinkled even though she kept her neutral expression.

    "Don''t worry, Daddy! When I become a really great artist, I will give you a painting worth millions so that you can hang it in your office."

    Wilmer was ready to cry. Just how long does his daughter intend to make him wait? Million-dollar works are usually sold posthumously. He was a patient man but not patient enough for that day to come.

    Scarlet and Jasper were perfectly content for Alex to take the spotlight at dinner. The young entrepreneur was already making plans to make the delinquents work for him. Scarlet was just happy that she managed to witness some amazing things happen with the delinquents. Now that she was full of inspiration, the aspiring just wanted to pen down everything in her head and have Debbie read through it. It was extremely exciting to think about publishing her first book. If possible, she wanted to see the paperback version of it by the end of the year.

    It was in the middle of Alex and Jasper''s banter that Wilmer decided to make his announcement.

    "I''m very happy to see that all three of you are fitting in well with the new school. I guess since everyone has decided on a club activity, it should be about time to begin your internship with the company. Claire will be preparing your work attire and I want all three of you to change into them on Tuesday and Friday afternoons before you leave school. A driver will pick you up from school and drop you by the nearest bus stop to the company. There will be a short walking distance of about ten minutes where you will be reporting to work. If there is anything alarming, you should look for my secretary - Carol. I also expect all of you to carry yourself with workplace professionalism at all times. I will be the CEO of the Wilde Group before I am your father during working hours so if you see me, please greet me as such. Some green-eyed monsters will talk behind your backs but don''t pay them any heed. Riding on coattails is the privilege for my children so use this as a stepping stone to stand above the crowd. Any questions?"

    Scarlet blinked. "What are the working hours as an intern?"

    Wilmer wanted to laugh. Such a serious question about work when Scarlet should really be worrying about other things.

    "Carol will brief all of you more next Tuesday but if you have to know, You''ll work from three in the afternoon to six in the evening. I will not be returning home with you but Claire will be there to escort you back."

    Jasper raised his hand and Wilmer nodded at him.

    "Do we report directly to Carol?"

    The CEO shook his head. "For the first few weeks, you will all be assigned to the admin department to give a hand to the busy ladies. They''re very simple tasks like photocopying, filing and sorting through papers. Carol will let you know who you should be reporting to but if you have any matters that you think should be told directly to me instead like potential mistreatment of an employee or things you don''t think you should be doing, you can look for Carol for clarification."

    Alex nodded and asked if she needed to inform anyone of her toilet breaks with the most serious expression on her face that made the CEO crack up.

    "No, but if you want to let Scarlet or Jasper know, feel free."

    "Daddy, does this mean I cannot ask Scarlet to accompany me to the toilet if I want  to be professional?"

    Wilmer didn''t know how to answer her. Was it unprofessional to have someone accompany you to the toilet? Luckily for him, Claire stepped in to answer.

    "A professional conduct means carrying yourself with respect and being impartial with judgements for the situation. It also means carrying out your duties to the best of your abilities and not overstepping your boundaries for personal gains. Going to the toilet with someone accompanying you does not fall under any of the requirements so you can choose to do so or not do so."

    Alex considered it carefully and Wilmer wondered how this was more important than knowing what they were going to do. Why weren''t any of the children concerned about the task they were going to be assigned? Likewise, none of the grown-ups in the room could understand how the three geniuses were thinking.

    For Scarlet, she was more concerned about the time. If she was made to work for long, the young writer was considering sneaking her phone or laptop to work so that she could work on the homework Debbie would give her or her secret journal. As a writer, time was something she never had enough. Any pocket of time she could afford was precious.

    Jasper wasn''t too concerned about what he had to do. He was more worried about who he could trust in the company. For an organisation as large of the Wilde Group, surely there are people who would want to make use of them. Coattail-riding brats were not just the target for bullying but also for sharks who wanted to benefit more from insider information. Jasper wanted to know who he was able to seek help from and tip-off should there be an emergency. If Wilmer told them to report to Carol, Jasper would only trust only Carol to be the messenger.

    On the other hand, Alex was only concerned about getting lost in a huge building. The artist wasn''t very good with directions and without anyone to accompany her, the blonde thought that she might never see her family again. Thankfully, asking Scarlet to accompany her to toilets wasn''t considered unprofessional so Alex decided that she would have her sister hobble over with her to the toilet in crutches until the manager said no.

    While none of the children was particularly concerned about next Tuesday, the father couldn''t help but worry. He''d spoken to his wife on the phone for about an hour on his way back. They were concerned about some of the management preying on the innocent children who might divulge certain information that they could use to blackmail the Wilde''s. The couple didn''t think that any of their enemies had enough courage to go for a direct threat but blackmail and bribes were not beneath them.

    Wilmer frowned throughout the rest of dinner as he watched the kids interact amongst themselves. Maybe he should reconsider the internship idea. it still wasn''t too late after all.

 Chapter 77 - Coattail-Riding Brats

    Next Tuesday rolled by way too quickly for anyone''s liking. Danny could see that all three of his students were way too distracted and decided to cut his class short. He didn''t give them any homework either seeing that the children would probably ignore it in favour of readying themselves for their first day on the job.

    Alex was the first to put down her lunchbox at lunch. There was still half of a sandwich left but the Wilde princess was one eating. Anyone could tell that she was too nervous to eat anything. Scarlet wasn''t faring much better on the inside but she forced herself to not waste any food. Tina had packed their lunches this morning with a little note of encouragement for all three of them.

    Jasper was the only one with unaffected appetite. The growing boy eyed Alex''s unfinished sandwich and swooped in like a pigeon waiting for scraps when Alex claimed that she was done. Neither of the girls could understand how Jasper remained so nonchalant. They were about to go into the workforce against a.d.u.l.ts. Anything could happen to them, why was Jasper so calm?

    "Relax," Jasper kicked his legs back with a lazy smile. The girls were way too tense and clearly overthinking. In fact, Jasper had complete faith that Wilmer had their backs even if something went wrong. He wouldn''t tell them to stay proud as coattail-riding brats if he didn''t already have precautions and contingency plans for them. However, the aspiring entrepreneur just wasn''t able to find out Wilmer''s motive due to the lack of experience and information.

    The work clothing that Claire prepared was tailor-made for them. Jenna commented that it was adorable because it resembled school uniforms but better. The company logo was printed on the sleeves and while the clothing was easy enough to move in, suitable for office boys and girls, it didn''t give off a very cheap feeling. Alex liked it a lot because the long sleeve prevented her from feeling cold. Still, she brought a cardigan just in case.

    All three children had long sleeves with the company logo embroidered near the shoulder on the right side. Jasper had dressed down slacks while Alex and Scarlet had long skirts. The young writer was thankful for the skirt. Although she would have preferred wearing pants, the cast made it difficult for her to change into them.

    The driver was already waiting for them when they left the school gates. With the two girls feeling extremely nervous, they appeared very grim as if they were travelling to their execution ground.

    Jasper''s phone rang out loud in the car, causing Alex to jump. The gardener''s son reached for it and answered quickly when he saw that the caller was none other than Mr Wilde.

    "Are all of you sitting in the car now?"

    Jasper put the phone on loudspeaker so that the girls can listen and talk too.

    "Yes, daddy. We''re in the car on our way right now and changed into the intern uniforms."

    Mr Wilde smiled. Carol was out on an errand so there was a slight change of plans. "I''d need all of you to remain calm and listen to me. There has been a slight change of plans and Carol isn''t able to meet you today. I know it will be challenging but you will need to ask your way around to look for the manager in charge of your intern training in the admin department. Look for a lady called Larissa Lawrence. Almost everyone would know her, just describe her as the lady with a big pearl necklace and red cotton candy hair."

    Scarlet made a strange face at the description and Alex looked paler than before. Jasper didn''t know if he should inform the CEO of his daughters'' current conditions. he didn''t think that the internship was a big deal but the girls certainly did. Not having Carol there was probably worse. Knowing that they had to take some time to find where the admin department was, they would most definitely be late.

    "Is it possible to ask for a time extension for the first day? I''m afraid without a guide we might get lost and turn up late."

    Wilmer hummed. That was true. With Scarlet''s leg in a cast and needing time to find information, the children would be late. Larissa wasn''t going to let that slide by either but Carol wasn''t around to ring the admin department to inform them of the change.

    "My apologies, my dears. I''m afraid you''ll have to suffer a little. It''s not appropriate for the CEO to ring the mere manager of the admin department to inform them about changes in the schedule for some interns with unknown background coming in for their first day. Carol is currently out of the office on an errand but I will text her to see if she can make arrangements. In the worst case, Larissa will just assign you some really shitty jobs and give you an earful but don''t worry. If she does anything more than that Carol and I will step in. We have eyes and ears all over the place, don''t be worried."

    Hearing that just made Alex ill and Scarlet wasn''t faring any better. After everything that they did, was it just going to go down the drain? Why couldn''t they make a good first impression? Larissa Lawrence didn''t sound like a very kind lady either but the young writer honestly hoped that she would be understanding enough once she sees the cast on her leg. Perhaps that should buy them their ticket out of an earful for being late.

    Jasper frowned. As the CEO, Wilmer should have other people to contact. Surely Carol isn''t the only one he could ask to get things done, right? There was definitely something amiss here. Even if Carol was on leave, there should be a person who could temporarily cover Carol''s work in the office. In such a large organisation, there would surely be enough manpower for proxies.

    For Wilmer to not do anything could only mean that it was a choice. Why was Wilmer so willing to see them start off with a bad foot? Who is Larissa Lawrence and why did she sound like a bitch? From the tone of the conversation earlier, Jasper already concluded that Mr Wilde didn''t have a good impression of Larissa. Was that why they had to make enemies on the first day to establish political camps?

    That wasn''t right. If Larissa was an enemy, Wilmer would have kept them closer to him. Unless the CEO wanted them to do something that he couldn''t. As the leader, Mr Wilde''s hands were tied. Suddenly, Jasper understood the hidden intention. Although he wasn''t sure of their objective, he was almost certain that Wilmer sent them to the admin department to find information.

    After all, the admin department was where all the doc.u.mentation had to flow to. It was the best place to collect evidence of wrongdoings and mistakes. The real question should be who they were catching.

    Jasper kept an eye out on the girls while running through the possibilities in his head. Things weren''t as straightforward as it seemed and already, the battle has begun.

 Chapter 78 - War Conference

    The walk from the bus stop didn''t take very long. However, Jasper decided to take a detour. Neither Alex nor Scarlet looked ready to enter the battlefield.

    "Wait! The company is over there, where are you going?" Alex pulled Jasper back as the boy strayed away.

    The young entrepreneur gave her a flat look. "We are going to hold a strategy meeting."

    Scarlet and Alex gave him confused looks. Why were they having a strategy meeting now? They were going to be late and if they rushed, they might still make it. What was Jasper doing?

    Seeing their reluctant looks, Jasper sighed. "Look, that call we received earlier was cryptic. I can''t believe neither of you understood his secret message."

    "Cryptic?" Scarlet couldn''t understand. What could possibly be cryptic in that conversation? It was rather straightforward.

    Likewise, Alex didn''t understand. Why would her father need to go in circles to talk to them? They''d never needed to do so before. If Wilmer said that Carol was busy and there was no other way out then that was it. Although it sucked, they would have to be prepared to face the scolding they deserved for being late.

    Unlike Alex, the young writer was beginning to think back on the conversation. She also found it odd that Wilmer was unwilling to do something about the situation just because his personal secretary was out. As the CEO, surely he could find a solution easily enough. The only reason why Wilmer wasn''t doing so was because of limitations to his ability and image or that he simply doesn''t bother. Scarlet would place her money on Wilmer being helpless rather than unhelpful. Still waters run deep and although the Wilde Group was doing great on the surface and in the stock markets, there were clearly many huge internal problems.

    The three child geniuses settled in a nearby McDonald''s. People were giving them strange looks because there weren''t any schools nearby for students to be patronising the area on an afternoon. Most kids would be content going home to play games or hanging out with their friends in arcades. The unluckier ones would mostly be trapped in a miserable remedial class or groaning at an after school care centre. Nobody would expect students to visit the financial hub district voluntarily. Maybe these kids were waiting for their parents? Nobody knew for sure but they didn''t bother them. For all they knew, the serious discussion could be about puppy love and class gossips.

    For Alex, she was the only one unconvinced. Why would her father not tell her the truth? Was there really a hidden message? The artist couldn''t understand the gravity of the situation. Her father might be the CEO of a large corporation but that didn''t mean he was a superhero. The girl was convinced that there were many things he couldn''t do because of how she knew him to be that father with a serious case of daughter complex.

    Scarlet didn''t blame her sister. For someone who''d only known Wilmer to be a foolish man who loved his wife and daughter to bits and was a major man child in their presence, Alex had every right to not know what the CEO was truly capable of. However, that was going to change very soon. The corporate world was Wilmer''s battlefield that he was a commander of. The girl would soon learn that Wilmer''s words carried weight and he could easily arrange for a transfer of department of any senior manager or cancel a planned promotion someone worked for. He could easily make the decision to hire anyone he pleased and dismiss those he found unsuitable for the job. Arranging for a guide on their first day wasn''t a difficult task. Wilmer''s intentions behind denying them a good first impression must be a deliberate choice. While the young writer didn''t know if Wilmer sent Carol out deliberately to create the unfortunate circ.u.mstances, Scarlet was now convinced about Jasper''s suspicions.

    "What do you think Wilmer wants us to find out? Why do we have to start on bad terms with the manager?" she asked.

    Jasper frowned and munched on some chicken nuggets they ordered. Alex didn''t know how her childhood friend could still eat. Every second that ticked by was time they were wasting. Before this, they might have a chance to be punctual. Right now, they would be late without fail.

    Sensing Alex''s worry, Scarlet held her sister''s hand and fed her fries. "Don''t worry, I''m sure the manager will be understanding. We''re only kids and it''s our first day without a guide. I''m also with a cast on my leg. If she doesn''t seem understanding then you can be sure that she''s a nasty person. It''s easy to know who else we can trust and how much we can rely on them by seeing how they react. We can''t always depend on Carol, this internship is a test for us."

    Alex eased up a little after hearing that. If this was a test, she would have no fear. Besides, it was true that she didn''t want to rely on Carol or her father too much. The artist remembered her frustration when she wasn''t able to keep up with Scarlet and Jasper''s progress or conversations. She felt like of the three,she was always the slowest. It was also why she worked hard to accomplish something by herself. Even if getting accepted into the special Art & Sculpture Club was a small accomplishment, for Alex it was a huge milestone.

    "What should we do then?" the Wilde princess asked.

    Scarlet waited for Jasper to speak as well. Now that Alex had calmed down, she wasn''t as worried. The worst that could happen was Alex ruining everything for Jasper with her ignorance. While certain things were better kept away from the blonde artist, this wasn''t one of it. In order to succeed the team mission, they had to collaborate. In fact, Alex would be a very good lure.

    Alex didn''t like the look her sister and childhood friend were giving her. She suddenly felt that their smiles were scary and carried an edge.

    "Why are you both looking at me like that...?"

    Scarlet beamed and held Alex''s hand tightly so that she couldn''t escape. "Don''t worry, sister. It''s nothing difficult or dangerous. It might make you slightly embarrassed but think of the team when you do it, alright? We cannot succeed without you, you''re a very important member to execute the most crucial part of our plan."

    Alex wanted to run but Scarlet had the upper hand. Jasper smiled and started to reveal his intentions, confirming the artist''s fears.

    "I refuse!"

    Scarlet pouted cutely. "But we can''t weed out enemies and spies if you don''t... Please take one for the team?"

    Seeing that it wasn''t working, Jasper threw in something else that would sweeten the deal.

    "Can you imagine how proud your father would be if he knew that we were able to catch all the baddies because of you?"

    Alex paused. It was obvious that these traitors were just trying to bait her into accepting the short end of the stick but it was too good of a deal for someone with such low self-esteem to pass up.

    Squaring her shoulders, the artist groaned in defeat. Scarlet gave the young entrepreneur a wink as they toasted to fries and cola.

 Chapter 79 - Meeting Monsters Inc

    A.d.u.l.ts are monsters. Or at least most of them were. Scarlet had always believed it to be true until she entered the Wilde family. Her parents were examples of monsters as well and it didn''t come to much surprise that their assigned manager was one too. She hid her claws well and decorated her malice with ambition. Unfortunately, that wasn''t enough to fool the young writer. Larissa Lawrence might be a great actress but Scarlet was a better one. She''d spent her whole life observing people enough to know when people are not being honest.

    "Oh, you poor thing," the admin manager cooed with a falsely sympathetic voice that made the hair on Jasper''s arms stand. The creepy lady had red fluffy hair that reminded Alex of cotton candy but for some reason, the manager just wore too much red. Her tight pencil skirt was bright red. Her lacy blouse was thankfully white. However, her lipstick and glasses were also red, not to get started with her manicured nails which were also red. If Alex took notice of her shoes, she would hardly be surprised at Larissa''s choice of colour either. No wonder everyone knew who she was. It was a little hard to notice someone who wore this colour coordination on a daily basis.

    Scarlet didn''t know what to think when Larissa looked at her. For a moment she felt like a mouse being eyed by a playful cat. That cat decided that it wasn''t time to kill her just yet so they were pardoned for being a good half an hour late. Then again, it wasn''t the right time to relax.

    "I see. Normally the HR would have given you a tour of the company to introduce you to the various departments. However, seeing as nobody is available today, I will give you a simple tour of our admin department where you will find yourself being more familiar with." Jasper followed behind Larissa cautiously with Alex helping Scarlet along.

    The manager didn''t seem to notice the struggles Scarlet had keeping up with her pace. In fact, her sharp click-clacking of heels made all the curious workers duck their heads down when Larissa passed them by.

    The one thing that caught Scarlet''s attention was how the big pearl necklace didn''t fit with the manager''s sense of fashion. Larissa looked like the strictly no-nonsense kind of lady who wouldn''t hesitate to put anyone out of their job if she thinks they were slacking. In fact, the glances that other employees gave them made the young writer sure of her guess. Larissa was a total bitch.

    Alex was thankful that the plan Jasper and Scarlet cooked up worked. By introducing herself with her last name, the manager did a complete change in attitude. This was in no way lying low at all but it did well to iron out misunderstandings. Using the Wilde name, it would be a lot easier to gain access to information that they sorely required. Right now, they had to understand the company structure and the internal situation before figuring out what camps and factions there were.

    Jasper did his best to remain a supporting character in the background. With his bangs covering his eyes, many people wouldn''t hesitate to label him as a creepy or gloomy kid going through a phase of life. This way, Alex would easily become the centre of attention. Scarlet had a cast on her leg and that was sure to garner sympathy from the people who had good hearts.

    The logic for their plan was relatively simple. Scarlet''s role was to identify the people whom they could consider a good camp. Anyone who could offer a genuine hand to someone else who was in need despite their workload would be considered a good samaritans. Alex''s role was to distract people and make them reveal their true intentions. Those with greed and ulterior motive will be easily identified when they heard the Wilde name. Jasper''s role was to watch out for the girls while they placed themselves out there as bait while finding out more about the internal situation. Mr Wilde would surely have enemies from places that he couldn''t see and Jasper was determined to make use of this opportunity to make the CEO owe him one.

    "This is the filing archive where you will spend most of your time helping the girls to find doc.u.ments and sort them out. We''re currently in the process of migrating everything into the digital system so I expect you to be scanning them according to the year. As youngsters, you''d be better with technology so I won''t go into details of the backup process. If there are any queries please call the IT helpdesk, the phone list is provided for with a folder that comes with your timesheet. You can look for any of the girls in the admin department to help you sign off for the day. Anna!"

    The pitter-patter of someone running was heard. A young girl with round glasses came skidding to a halt and apologising. Scarlet didn''t think that the Chinese girl was any older than twenty from how she looked. It didn''t help that she was only half a head taller than Alex and Larissa gave her a cold stare before ignoring her.

    "This is Anna. She has been working here for a while now, if you have any questions please feel free to ask her. Anna, I will be leaving our interns to you. Please bear in mind that they''re very young and be patient with them. I will be checking on the progress periodically."

    Anna bowed as Larissa walked out and Alex let out a sigh of relief. Being in the admin manager''s presence was nerve-wracking. Jasper didn''t miss out on that look of fear on Anna''s face as Larissa passed by her. There were a lot of things going on in the undercurrent and he was curious. Anna didn''t seem to have been working in the company for very long but she was already part of the system. Surely there was something more to just the power of a mere admin manager that made everyone fearful.

    "Hello, I''m Anna and I will be working with the three of you very closely. You''re all a little young to be working as interns but I guess if the HR made special exceptions that means you must all be very capable. Don''t be afraid to ask if you don''t know anything, I''m not very familiar with the things around here but I will do my best to help!"

    Scarlet smiled and decided that she liked Anna. Alex grinned cheerfully and introduced them to the office girl. Jasper was silent throughout and left the talking to the girls while he looked around. The archive was a good place to start. There were doc.u.ments from finance to logistics. Just about everything they needed to find out about the company was here. The budding entrepreneur doubted that there will be classified information sitting around but this was a good enough start. many things were discovered hidden at the basic level. A messy operation system meant that there were loopholes. Jasper just needed time to discover what they were to dig into the root of the problem that Mr Wilde was having difficulties with.

    "Oh, I see that you''re in a cast. How about we take it easy today? This is our company''s general organisational chart as well as SOP''s for the administrative department. There''s a lot of reading to do but it will be easier for all of you to plan the sorting out of files and scanning. Currently, Dave, the IT guy is setting up the accounts for all three of you. Once you have your accounts, you can access the intranet and start working on transferring the data from hardcopy to the system."

    Alex and Scarlet gladly took Anna''s suggestion but Jasper decided to find out a little more. The girl was surprised when Jasper asked to know where some of the rooms were in the company like the restroom and the pantry. She took a look at the girls and hummed.

    "I guess reading can wait. I could give you a brief tour of the first level but a grand tour of the building might have to wait until your friend recovers. Normal offices only have one level of office or a rented unit but because the Wilde Group is massive, the entire building is an office and there are some floors staff like me are restricted from accessing."

    Alex was surprised. "We can''t access every floor? How will we know where we can and cannot go?"

    Anna then showed them her access pass. "Dave is also preparing this at the moment. You cannot access the lifts or the building without them so please do not forget them! For this week, I will be escorting you to where you need to be."

    Alex paled. "Does that mean we would need to trouble you if we need to go to the washroom?"

    Anna laughed at Alex''s genuine concern and smiled. "No, the washroom is available for anyone. However, the photocopier and printers are locked so you would need the card access to do any real work."

    Nodding in unison, the children begin to ask Anna more detailed questions ranging from how they would know if they could use the pantry or even meeting rooms they could borrow if they needed space to do file sorting. Anna answered every question to the best of her abilities, extremely pleased with the enthusiasm. Initially, she wasn''t sure about having very young children become interns even if it was a request by their parents who were working in the company. The company wasn''t a daycare centre after all.

    However, seeing their earnest attitude towards work put all the worries the office girl had to rest. If these kids were as promising as they appeared, the admin team would finally be able to get the help they required. The turnover rate of employees in the admin team was too high and not even Anna knew what she was meant to do. Every day was another day of fighting fires and figuring out how to do their job in the middle of all the office politics. Luckily for the children, they were not restricted by the corporate regulations and unspoken rules due to the high tension within the powerful individuals and factions.

    Scarlet was slightly unnerved by how Anna was looking at them. It was as if the office girl was worshipping them as her saviour for some odd reason and the young writer didn''t like it. Alex was completely oblivious to it and Jasper raised a brow behind his bangs. Things were worse than he thought and it was only the first hour.

    Just how many monsters were in the Wilde Group? At this rate, they would be renamed into Monsters Inc.

 Chapter 80 - Detective Diaries

    Ahoy Clam Heads!

    Hahaha see what I did there? Clams are mainly muscles and that indirect inference to your brains as only muscles is a direct insult to your intellect. How did I do there?

    Ahem! I digress once more. It''s you captain and yes, I noticed that there may or may not have been missing updates. Life at the seas have gotten a little more hectic these days, you simply won''t believe the kind of mess we''ve gotten mucked in this time.

    We''ve stumbled upon the devil''s lair and are given a choice to work or die. Your captain isn''t fond of working but to escape Davy Jones'' Locker, work I did.

    It wasn''t anything terribly difficult for I am smart. But you''d be sympathising with the things I had to put up with because as a human, I am physically limited. Unlike the captive Kraken, I only have two feeble arms and two scrawny feet with one that''s currently a wooden post. I say currently because the whale that ate it will return it back to me when I''m done with this.

    In the devil''s sea temple, the warden was an ugly red seahorse who loved wearing pearls on her head. We had clams, small fish, crabs and eels run when they saw her. I don''t know why such a puny seahorse could be so frightening but we did not question it. The red ugly seahorse gave us some really shitty chores of mopping up whale poop and left us alone after throwing the responsibility of watching over frightening captives to a weak-looking sea cuc.u.mber.

    Thankfully the sea cuc.u.mber was a nice creature and taught us how to look out for when the whales were coming. This way, the whole lot of us successfully dodged huge rains of whale poop on our first day on the job. When I think about it, the sea cuc.u.mber isn''t very smart but she was very hardworking and humble. I felt slightly bad for taking advantage of the naive thing but I had some of the information I needed.

    It''s not really a secret to everyone in the whale toilet that Ms Red Seahorse was the mistress of the big shot running the business in the sea temple. She was backed by no other than the Giant Catfish who was in charge of the temple security. With his authority, it was easy to dispose of anyone. The Tiger Shark Army was trained by Giant Catfish and even if Ms Red Seahorse was a tiny thing, she could easily get her lover to get rid of those she didn''t like. There was simply nobody more powerful than Mr Giant Catfish in the Whale Poop Field and that was why everyone became so fearful of the tiny vain seahorse.

    Despite that, the tiny seahorse was a little wary of the Kraken that tagged along with me. Nobody knew if the Tiger Shark Army would win against the Kraken. Although it wasn''t anything as terrifying as the full-grown Kraken that sunk sh.i.p.s in the legend, this baby Kraken still had enough power to break one of the gates before coming into the sea temple.

    Your captain worked hard and sneakily tried to find out more about this sea temple. It was a complicated structure but with the help of the Kraken acting as a distraction, I made friends with a tiny hermit crab who was able to sneak through the tiny cracks in the wall. The little critter helped to discover juicy gossip and it got me scheming an escape plan.

    Lately, the devil who rules the sea temple hasn''t been particularly happy with Mr Giant Catfish because somebody had been stealing his jewels. The overlord suspected that it was the security chief in charge but because he didn''t have evidence, he couldn''t stop him. That went against the employment contract and the devil was frustrated. It was a matter of code and aesthetics that made the devil miserable. If anything, I would take my hats off to Mr Giant Catfish for outsmarting the devil. Sadly, he wouldn''t be outsmarting the devil for long because I was determined to get out of the sea temple.

    Together with the Kraken and the Hermit Crab, we devised a strategy. It was a commonly known fact that the Tiger Shark Army often dumped stuff that Mr Giant Catfish didn''t want in the Whale Poop Pit. That was where we decided to start looking. The devil would never set foot in such a place but we''ve heard that he''s keeping an eye on Mr Giant Catfish very closely from his bedroom to his office. It''s really odd that Ms Red Seahorse always stops by the Whale Poop Pit whenever there was nobody on a shift. She also acted suspiciously sometimes which made me wonder if there was a possibility that the hidden gems were buried somewhere here.

    However, all three of us were stuck on progress because whenever we tried to go after the evidence, someone would conveniently be around. It didn''t matter if it was Ms Red Seahorse herself, one of the Tiger Shark Army or a suspicious-looking jellyfish... we couldn''t be sure who was going to spy and tattle on us to Mr Giant Catfish. Herein lies our biggest hurdle yet... knowing the enemy.

    After realising that I was a fool for not finding out more information about the inner operations of the sea temple, I revised my strategy. While cleaning whale poop, we still kept a lookout for the timing that anyone would show up. This went on for a while until we knew everything from when the Tiger Shark Army dropped by to dump stuff, when Mr Giant Catfish has his nap, how long it takes Ms Red Seahorse to finish polishing her pearls.

    We also learnt that Mr Giant Catfish wasn''t the only powerful person around. Mr Electric Eel was scary as well. Then there was also Ms Swordfish, Ms Anglerfish and many other scary wardens who worked for the sea temple devil. However, not all the powerful wardens had the same thinking as Mr Giant Catfish or even the sea devil himself. Everyone worked there for a different reason. If I could find someone whose interests aligned with mine then we could formulate a powerful plan to earn me a ticket out of here.

    The real question is: Who?

    While I scrub the whale poop from my hair, I still wonder what we could do to obtain that desired evidence of Mr Giant Catfish''s crimes and earn the favour of the sea devil to escape this place.

    Troubled and undercurrent

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 81 - Watching The Suspect

    "So? How did they fare?" Orita yawned.

    Wilmer grinned. "They played the game well. I have high hopes for Jasper. Carol was unsure at first but after seeing how they dealt with that shrew easily, she''s not as stressed out."

    The heiress smiled. It was one thing to hear it and another thing to see it for herself. How she wished she could just drop everything here and fly over to Singapore. She was missing out on so much of her children''s progress! It hasn''t been long but  Scarlet and Alex had already matured so much. What would happen in half a year?

    "You didn''t just throw them to the sharks, did you?" Mrs Wilde frowned.

    Mr Wilde scoffed. Why did his wife always have a horrible opinion about him? He might not be nice to his enemies but these were their children she was referring to. He loved them to bits and didn''t actually want them to know about this sordid world but it was Mrs Wilde''s idea to expose them to the world at an early age to guard against the evil eyeing them.

    "I knew who would be taking care of them and from my sources, they''re actually making themselves home. Jasper knew exactly who to look for and what to find. In fact, according to Scarlet''s blog, I think you should be able to figure out who the mastermind behind their plans was."

    Orita smiled. Of course. Jenna never once failed to update her on their favourite writer''s observational journal. It was interesting that they''d found out about Cody Collins and Larissa Lawrence''s relationship. While it was an open secret, nobody really dared say it aloud. How the kids found out about such things made Orita curious. For such young children to know how to listen to news from the gr.a.p.evine meant that the shady dealings in the company were getting from bad to worse.

    "Please assign more bodyguards around," she told her husband. "I wouldn''t put things behind those swines to employ underhand means. Alex has probably become a walking target and while I trust Jasper enough to keep her out of trouble, I don''t trust them to try and use her as a bargaining chip now that they know we''re making our move."

    Wilmer sighed. He had the same concerns but they couldn''t be too obvious about the security measures. The safest place for his children to be at was in school with Danny or at home with Claire. However, with the geniuses helping out in places that a.d.u.l.ts can''t reach, Wilmer had confidence that they would be able to nab the thorn in his flesh red-handed.

    "How is Benjamin holding up? We''ve been sending him a lot of doc.u.ments lately that the kids passed Carol. Anything useful?"

    Orita sighed. "Well, they found some strange things for sure but nothing that we can use against Collins and his backers. I don''t think they''ll be able to find anything by working as interns on the lowest level in the archives, darling. Perhaps we should change strategies?"

    Wilmer hummed. It had been only a week and the children have done so much in just two afternoons. The CEO thought that his wife was too impatient. They spent two years trying to get something on Collins but turned out empty-handed. They should give the children at least two months to try before deciding that it was a failure.

    After exchanging a few more words and sweet-nothings, the busy couple hung up the call. Wilmer looked at the notes Carol passed him. It was a copy of the original notes that their spy found in the kids'' locker.

    Wilmer was impressed. The organisational chart that was drawn was actually rather close to the official one that they had. Sure, they might be missing a few tiers but the general correlation of every department was clearly marked. However, there was something more to it that caught the CEO''s eye. Each child had circled one department and scribbled notes on them.

    Alex was keen in the design department while Jasper just wanted in on the financial things. Scarlet thought that the marketing department was interesting and as Wilmer studied their notes, he smiled. If the children didn''t succeed in two months, he wouldn''t risk it and will assign them to the various departments of their interest. He didn''t want Larissa getting involved because things would get messy.

    As it is, Wilmer''s spy was slowly feeding important clues to the evidence they required into the messy stack of doc.u.ments. It wasn''t easy to obtain them but it would be too obvious to take them out of the company after getting his hands on it. Collins was being backed by really powerful people from the underworld that neither Orita or Wilmer had influence with. If they knew that their cash cow was slaughtered by the Wilde''s, Wilmer didn''t know if he had enough power to protect his family. Using the interns as an excuse would resolve that issue easily even if one of them was a Wilde. Nobody would expect children to be the cause of such downfall and if played well, there was a chance that Danny could step in to catch a glimpse of the mastermind.

    Past year financial doc.u.ments with accounting discrepancies and stock movement reports were thrown into the archive room. The new management order to have everything scanned into the system and moving towards a paperless work environment would give the children ample opportunities to be acquainted with insider information. Alex may not understand it but Scarlet would question and Jasper would know that something is wrong when they saw it. Wilmer sighed and almost pat out the cold coffee he tried to drink.

    It was too bitter.

    Likewise, he never thought that the fate of the Wilde Group would have to rely on such small shoulders. With the major shareholders making up thirty-eight percent with only his wife and his close friends making up the good forty-five percent of shares, there was still uncertainty that the major shareholders could buy over the smaller shares to overrule them. If it wasn''t for Orita''s father trying to sell the company when he was trying to win a divorce case with Orita''s mother, none of these would have happened. Wilmer did his best over the last twenty years building back a paper company that was almost on the verge of bankruptcy to become the giant it was known as today. However, due to some mismanagement and inexperience, they were about to lose everything again.

    Wilmer swiped his phone and checked the lock screen. The picture of his beautiful family in the main Wilde mansion greeted him. Although Scarlet wasn''t in that picture, Wilmer knew that he should have Claire arrange for a photographer to retake and update their Wilde family picture.

    Little did he know that Scarlet would be the saviour they were desperately needing.

 Chapter 82 - The Big Break

    It was the fifth time that the children were going back to the company for their internship. By now, they didn''t need to consult Anna about anything. It was also common to see kids running around everywhere they were allowed access to. Larissa didn''t bother keeping an eye on them as long as they did a good job. In fact, she was pleased that they had capable hands on deck. Nobody was able to match up to the efficiency in which the children were processing doc.u.ments.

    The boy was always seen carrying boxes, ladders, files and sometimes crutches that Scarlet had forgotten. It had become such a common sight that nobody really paid any attention to the errand boy whenever he walked by. This was exactly what Jasper wanted.

    On the other hand, Alex was able to go around and meet people from almost every relevant department. There wasn''t anyone who didn''t know who she was. Alex''s cheerfulness and adorable helplessness made many people want to get close to her for various reasons. It also helped that the Wilde princess inherited her mother''s talent as a social butterfly. She knew exactly what to say to get the answers she needed. This helped the trio get a rough picture of the company''s organisational structure as well as the relationship between some key individuals.

    Scarlet was confined into the room because of her leg. It wasn''t easy for her to move around but that was perfect. It gave her all the time and privacy she required to look through the doc.u.ments Jasper and Alex scanned for her. The young writer also took this opportunity to read up on anything interesting and expand her knowledge. The girl loved reading email correspondence the most. It was highly entertaining to see how some people communicated. Humans had such a strange notion that people could read their minds to understand what they wanted without specifying it. On the other hand, there were humans who preferred to have everything down in writing. The printer''s side of the story was always the most interesting. Scarlet could identify who belonged to which camp from them with the carbon copy and blind carbon copy addresses. It was like one huge family drama at times and the young writer soaked it all up.

    However, today, the trio were nowhere to be seen even though they had reported for work. Larissa was currently out and the office was a livelier place without the mean lady boss around. However, when Anna tried to find the children, she didn''t know where they were.

    Upstairs in an empty meeting room, the three geniuses were reporting their findings to Claire who''d disguised herself as one of the secretaries working with Carol.

    "We found some really strange things," Alex started the meeting and presented her notes.

    "According to the people from the IT department, Ms Lawrence and Mr Collins would often disappear at a certain time every Tuesday after a phone call. They didn''t leave by the front entrance either and Mr Collins would drive them out. Many people assumed that they were going on a secret date but I wouldn''t think that is the case. They''re most likely meeting someone because Larissa would often bring a thumb drive with her."

    Scarlet nodded and passed them a file. "This is what was backed up from Larissa''s computer. I found it in the shared drive under the admin folder. We used the override password that Jasper stole. It''s purely by chance that she backed up the contents of that thumb drive into it that we were able to confirm it wasn''t a date."

    Claire and Carol took a look at the printed doc.u.ments in the file and the secretary smiled. They had what they needed. In just three weeks, these children managed to do what they couldn''t do before. Placing spies in various departments probably helped but none of these spies could move as freely as the interns. With a good understanding of how the company functioned, these children were able to put on a good show.

    In actual fact, whenever Jasper was running errands from place to place, he was actually giving things to the spies and requesting for items to help them with their quest. He was the deliveryman in their team and the thumb drive was successfully copied out and uploaded for Scarlet to review.

    Alex was able to distract the manager for long enough so that she wouldn''t notice what Jasper was doing. Also, the artist found out a few more things about Collins that nobody might have discovered. Larissa was often annoyed at the director and let it slip that Cody Collins had a gambling addiction. Most people only knew him as a sports enthusiast but the truth was out. Cody watched sports to gamble and recently, he''d made a huge loss that made Larissa grumpy. She wanted the latest Kate Spade bag but he wasn''t able to get it for her birthday.

    "It''s all coming together now," the secretary told them. While they now had the evidence piled up for a solid case against Cody and Larissa, they wanted to try for more.

    "Did you manage to see any hints about who they were collaborating with?" the lesbian asked Scarlet who sighed.

    "Everything that was a private dealing was dealt with on their private phones. We don''t have any outgoing traces from the emails. However, I would suggest you look into this company. I''ve been seeing a lot of small transactions going to them with high frequency but nobody has really verified that they were a legitimate company in the beginning. There is also close to no proper email communication between the vendor and our company. Larissa also handles this client very carefully, not many people are in the loop."

    Carol took a look at the vendor creation profile and audit requirements. How did they miss such a thing out? While the quantity of the orders was small, the frequency was enough to make them question the legitimacy. A thorough background check should have been done by the internal auditors. It should never have been allowed to be awarded a contract if it didn''t meet the passing requirements but all the doc.u.mentation for the company were done nicely.

    "We need to investigate which internal auditor signed the papers off. This is definitely a cause for concern. What did the finance department say?"

    Alex shrugged. "They were too busy to look into it carefully and processed it like any other order. It was endorsed by Larissa after all."

    Carol frowned. "I see... thank you for letting me know. It seems like we have to relook into our processes for purchasing. I will inform Mr Wilde about it. Good work, kids. Be careful. While spy missions seem fun, it can be equally dangerous. If you cannot find any information about who they are contacting within the company, leave the rest to us a.d.u.l.ts. I don''t want any of you sneaking into the car and following them like a stowaway, understood?"

    Alex looked slightly guilty as that had been her initial plan.

    "Yes, ma''am!"

    Satisfied, the secretary tucked the file under her arm and sent Claire away first to avoid anybody''s suspicions. It wouldn''t be odd for the CEO''s personal secretary to spend some alone time with the CEO''s daughter. In fact, Carol always came prepared.

    Today, the children got to enjoy peppermint chocolate biscuits as they left the meeting room. Carol waited for them to be received by the ''spies'' before she went to see Wilmer. Now that they had enough evidence, it was time to prepare for battle.

 Chapter 83 - Run, Scarlet, Run!

    Wilmer heard a knock on his door and snapped back into his serious work mode. While Carol was with the children, the CEO decided to take a short nap. Recently there had been too many things requiring his attention both at home and at work. The man barely had any time to rest, much less time for himself.

    "Good afternoon, Mr Wilde. The meeting with the interns has just ended. This is their progress report. If there isn''t anything else, I shall return to my desk."

    Wilmer nodded and thanked Carol for her hard work before flipping through the contents. He was slightly shocked but incredibly impressed by what the kids managed to dig up. Most of the more damning evidence weren''t things that Claire fed into the system for them to sieve out. They definitely exceeded expectations and Wilmer was thinking of moving them out from the admin department to avoid suspicions as well as unwanted attention.

    However, before the CEO could plan for anything, the head maid barged into the office with a panicked look on her face.

    "What''s wrong?" Wilmer asked.

    Claire frowned. "The guards reported suspicious activities. Scarlet is currently missing. Jasper is currently with Alex in a meeting with Ms Lawrence. The last person who saw Scarlet said that the girl was seen trying to run away with a briefcase. Her crutches were found in a toilet on the second floor."

    Wilmer felt his body turn cold at the news. Claire glared at the CEO with determination burning in her eyes. "Permission to lead the search party and fire when necessary, Sir?"

    Wilmer Wilde looked at the ex-commando officer from the special force and remembered the day Claire applied for a position as a personal bodyguard. Jenna wasn''t sure if the young lady would be able to cope with her cover job as a maid while watching over Alex and Orita. Initially, the female butler didn''t think that Claire could make it but she was proven wrong. The head maid was a fast learner and although she was raised in a military school, she was quick to adapt.

    The CEO didn''t need to think twice. "Please find her," he pleaded with a hoarse voice.

    Without another word, Claire left. Wilmer could only wonder what Scarlet was thinking. They''d already gathered enough evidence to get rid of the mole. He''d also made it very clear to the children that they were not to dig deeper. The mastermind was someone powerful enough to cripple an empire like the Wilde Group. Kidnapping a few children and causing a few convenient accidents to close friends wouldn''t be difficult for them. Wilmer and Orita were wary. They didn''t want to make enemies with the underworld but with the children diving too deeply into it, he wondered if he''d made a mistake by agreeing to bring them in as interns. Was evidence obtained at the cost of a family member worth it?

    Wilmer inhaled deeply and prayed. If he could unwind time, he would have never agreed to his wife''s suggestion. If the Wilde Empire fell, with his skills and connections they could rebuild another company. However, if he lost his family... the man would be broken without salvation even with an empire.

    Scarlet that foolish kid had better be safe!

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on Web Novel then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on Web Novel and check out their other works. Please ," she prayed. " Please let Alex or Jasper find the clues I left behind before anyone gets to it !"

 Chapter 84 - Scarlets Favourite Story

    Claire checked her gun safety and led the small team of bodyguards. Every single one of them had radios and an earpiece. They were dressed like normal office workers and walked around discreetly. Claire too walked around carrying a file to hide the gun she was holding. Scarlet was in more danger than she thought she was.

    The ex-commando first invaded the security room to review footage when Alex sneakily sent her a text about not seeing Scarlet after twenty minutes when she excused herself to the bathroom. Scarlet had also left her phone in her bag in the locker so nobody was able to find out where the young writer was.

    Larissa had no choice but to let Alex search for her sister when the young heiress insisted. Jasper accompanied her and they found abandoned crutches on their very first try. Immediately, Alex called Carol who then relayed the message to Claire who had already seen images of Scarlet running away with a briefcase. The secretary then went to tell Alex and Jasper to follow Larissa as she arranged for someone to make a company-wide announcement. This was to create some sort of chaos while hiding Claire''s secret operation.

    Larissa wasn''t too happy to be stuck with babysitting duties but the lady was still sane enough to understand that Mr Wilde still had the final say in everything. By now, about forty minutes had passed since Scarlet had excused herself to the washroom. The admin manager also knew that the briefcase was gone. It was most likely stolen by Scarlet and to prevent herself from being caught under suspicion, the manager decided to go along with the flow of the events. Trying to retrieve the briefcase and looking for the missing girl would only blow her cover immediately. If things started going south, the admin manager wouldn''t hesitate to cast away her lover to save herself.

    The ex-commando saw the last footage of Scarlet hopping down a hallway with the briefcase but the cameras didn''t catch her anywhere else. Cody''s face was also clearly captured but they seem to still have not fond Scarlet even though they''d discovered the abandoned crutches. That gave Claire a peace of mind. As long as Scarlet remained hidden, they still had a chance.

    The head maid spent a good amount of time with the young writer and tried to think of how Scarlet would react in such a situation. Although the tiny girl was usually very logical, her writer''s heart could be easily swayed with strong emotions. Claire knew that Scarlet had done reckless things in situations that spiralled far out of her control. From the history that Jenna had told her about the young adopted mistress, Scarlet had frequent outbursts of rebellion against her biological parents and was often punished because of them. The logical side of Scarlet''s mind was a defence mechanism that prevented Scarlet from suffering too much emotionally.

    In a situation where Scarlet knew she couldn''t run far, Claire knew that the writer would choose to hide. The question was knowing where she would hide. Cody knew that a kid who had a broken leg was running around with his evidence. It shouldn''t have taken them long to think about searching hiding spots.

    "Guard the hallways in section C and keep the targets out of it. Search for small and narrow spaces that can easily be accessed by someone who doesn''t have a reach of over a hundred and fifty centimetres."

    "Roger!"

    Claire herself made her way down the stairs to the second floor. Scarlet was smart. Like the siblings in Hansel and Gretel, she left them clues. The best place to start searching for those clues would be in the toilet where her crutches were abandoned.

    The head maid made it to the toilet but someone had already cleaned the mess. She clicked her tongue in annoyance. Sometimes the cleaners were too needlessly efficient and the head maid wished that for once, they didn''t do that.

    Carefully, the ex-commando scanned the scene for clues. It wasn''t difficult to notice the white powder patches on the floor for someone with a trained eye like her. Instantly, the head maid knew what to follow. This powder came from Scarlet''s school shoes. The girl would often use a shoe whitener to colour her school shoes because she didn''t wash them as often as she liked to keep them in pristine condition. Being the perfectionist she was, Scarlet often coated the shoe in whitewash thoroughly. When that paint dried up, it would produce clouds of white powder on high impact. If Scarlet was hopping down the hall, that white powder would last for a bit.

    Following the trail, Claire took a right turn towards the cargo lift area where the last specks of shoe white paint were found. The head maid paused to think. The pursuers must be close by the time Scarlet reached the cargo lift. The girl certainly didn''t have the strength to climb stairs in a cast. She also didn''t have enough time to wait for the cargo lift to arrive so she would have to find a place to hide it out.

    Claire circled the area a few times and didn''t know if Scarlet was still in the area. Then her sensitive ears picked up on sounds coming from the broom closet. Claire readied her gun and removed the safety on it. The door was usually locked from the outside but from what Claire could see, it was unlocked.

    The time elapsed since Scarlet had gone to the washroom was almost an hour now. If the girl had been hiding her all by herself the past hour without making any noise, she would have been very safe. Nobody could really imagine searching a cabinet of about forty centimetres wide for a person at all. However, forty centimetres was all Scarlet needed to squeeze into.

    As the door opened slowly, Claire readied her firearm while preparing for a sudden attack.

    Attacked, she was.

    From inside the broom closet, Scarlet held her breath as much as she could. The newcomer wasn''t as dumb as the rest and was searching for her. Those sharp click of heels could only mean that the person searching for her was a female. It could very well be Larissa and thinking about it made Scarlet''s heart race. She''d been in here for a long time and her muscles were cramping badly. There was almost no ventilation either and the young writer found herself soaked in sweat. Still, the fear made her persevere.

    Just as the door cracked open, Scarlet braved herself and attacked the woman with the briefcase in her hand, hoping to throw them off balance before making a break for it. The nearest exit was the staircase just behind the cargo lift. She was mentally prepared to run with her broken leg in the cast if the need arose but she wouldn''t allow the evidence to fall into the wrong hands.

    Claire dodged the heavy swing of the briefcase as the door opened. Scarlet was stunned that she missed but didn''t allow herself to lose momentum as she spun around on her good leg hoping to get the lady with the next turn.

    Claire dropped the file, hide the gun and caught Scarlet''s wrist with her other hand. the poor girl was terrified when she looked up at the person who caught her but after realising that it was an ally, all the adrenaline left her.

    Scarlet allowed her legs to fold underneath her as she cried tears of relief. Claire didn''t waste any time and contacted the team.

    "Target secured. Have someone pull a ride over, we''re taking Exit B. The evidence is in my hands, call the mission off."

    Scarlet didn''t question anything and sobbed into Claire''s shoulders while firmly clutching onto the briefcase like a lifeline. She''d been utterly terrified when she learnt that a lot of people were looking for her. The broadcast didn''t help and she knew Cody had revisited the toilet a few times. He even had someone clean the toilet up in hopes to get rid of the traces of evidence Larissa planted.

    The man Cody had been talking to was also patrolling the area searching for things from fire hose boxes to large bins. Scarlet knew that he''d passed her by a few times but the man never thought to check a broom closet of all things. When Claire appeared, Scarlet thought that her luck had finally run out. The whole time she was hiding, Scarlet asked herself what she should do if she was found. Against an a.d.u.l.t, she would not hope to win. She might stand a chance against Cody who was overweight and lacked exercise. However, against the man Cody was working with, there was no hope. Scarlet could only surrender the evidence and beg to be let off. If it was up against Larissa, Scarlet''s only chance was to use the element of surprise to escape.

    Who knew that her heroine would come to rescue her instead?

    As Scarlet hiccuped, she thought about the evidence she had and the trouble she caused. Whatever was in the briefcase had better be worth the chaos that followed.

    Wilmer sat in the safety of his office with two guards at the door. He was waiting for a call and nearly jumped when his phone rang.

    "Did you find her?" he asked urgently.

    Claire held onto Scarlet tightly as they entered the car. Nobody was around to see them so they made a hasty getaway. The tinted glass gave them all the privacy they required as they made their way back home.

    "Yes, we''re on our way back to the penthouse. The evidence is with Scarlet and she is asleep now. All that tension must have worn her out."

    "Where was she?"

    Claire smiled and looked at the young but brave girl with pride in her eyes. "In a broom closet near the cargo lift. She tried to knock me out and catch me off guard too when I opened the door. If I may, I think that Scarlet would benefit from some martial art classes. The girl has a good head on her shoulders and reacts well on an instinctive level."

    Wilmer sagged in major relief at the news. "Let''s push this off to a discussion at a later date, shall we? Scarlet''s well-being comes first, evidence second. I will have Carol to pick up Alex and Jasper now. Please keep Scarlet at home for the next few days until things are sorted out with the management about Cody."

    Claire nodded and ended the call. Thanks to Scarlet, they now had leverage and a hint about who was pulling the strings. A certain part-time school counsellor and informant was keeping a close eye on the man Scarlet saw interacting with Cody earlier from the comfort of the school''s consultation room. He heard from Wilmer about what happened and swore that Scarlet''s bravery would be rewarded.

    Danny scrolled through his contacts and dialled a number he rarely called. It wasn''t professional to disturb his students while they were out on a job. However, hacking wasn''t his expertise and he required that right now.

    "Hello, Elfie? Are you gaming now? I need you to keep tabs on a certain car pronto..."

 Chapter 85 - Claire Stein

    Scarlet was homeschooled for the next two weeks after the horrible scare. Jasper and Alex were attending school as per normal but all three children had temporarily stopped going for their internship.

    With so much time to spare, Scarlet found it hard to amuse herself. The helpers had things to do. There was always something to clean when it came to a penthouse as large as the one the Wilde''s owned. Debbie came over more now and while Scarlet enjoyed lessons with her teacher, she was slightly depressed at being unable to go out.

    Claire was always around to accompany Scarlet whenever she was feeling the blues. The young writer had many questions for the head maid but she simply didn''t know how to broach the subject. Claire acted as per normal and Scarlet wondered if it had been her imagination.

    Through the cracks of the broom closet, it was hard to see clearly but Scarlet definitely heard Claire talk to some people on her communication radio. The terms she used was also very military-like. The more Scarlet thought about it, the more she was convinced that Claire was from some sort of military background. The head maid seemed to be the real deal too by how fast her reflexes were. Claire might not know it but Scarlet had been observing her closely and even secretly testing her.

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on Web Novel then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on Web Novel and check out their other works. > This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on Web Novel then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on Web Novel and check out their other works. <<

    Jenna was slightly stunned when she saw the newest update of the Observational Journal blog. The butler could only text the person whom she suspected was the inspiration of the post to confirm the details of what happened. All Jenna knew was that Scarlet had gotten into some trouble and was currently a potential target for their enemies. Wilmer and Benjamin were working hard to put together the evidence the children collected while Danny was tracing down the mastermind.

    "Why does she think that you''re from the military or a secret agent employed by the Wilde''s? What could have given it away?"

    Claire frowned. She had a few clues as to why Scarlet would have such thoughts. While it is true that she was an ex-commander and a secret bodyguard employed in the guise of a maid for the children, Scarlet was really quick to pick up on this fact while Alex and Jasper were blissfully unaware about it.

    "There was an emergency and we were short-handed. I led the search team for Scarlet and had a gun with me although I never used it. I hid it quickly before Scarlet could see it but I might not have been careful enough. She must have caught a glimpse of it from her hiding place, I apologise."

    Jenna sighed. "Understood, please don''t give her any more reasons to suspect you. We will think of something to tell Scarlet and alleviate her suspicions. I heard that you proposed teaching Scarlet martial arts?"

    The head maid agreed. "After this incident, it is proven that Scarlet would be faced with many more situations similar to this in the future due to her curious nature. I think that it is in her best interest to learn some basic self-defence techniques."

    The butler hummed. "I will let the Lady know. Please take good care of Scarlet, she must have been traumatised by it."

    Claire smiled. It was needless to say, she''d taken a liking to Scarlet from the very beginning. The ex-commando would put her pride on the line to protect the young writer and the people Scarlet held dear at all costs. She''d never been particularly attached to her job but now, she was thankful to the Wilde''s for employing her. Without this job, she would have never met someone like Scarlet who could bring so much hope and joy into everybody''s life.

    The way Scarlet tried to protect the evidence reminded Claire of her younger days. Unfortunately for her, the people she tried hard to protect didn''t treasure her as much as how the Wilde''s treasured Scarlet. Claire thought about how the girl had this wild look in her eyes that shone brightly. Even though she''d gone through a harsh past with her biological parents, the light and fight in her never left. The ex-commando wondered what kind of thoughts were fuelling Scarlet on when things become rough. Sure, there were times she caught sight of that light dimming as Scarlet fought against depression. However, the girl never stopped struggling against fate.

    Claire envied her young charge. Unlike Jasper and Alex, the head maid thought that even among geniuses, Scarlet was one of a kind. If Scarlet hadn''t joined the Wilde family, would things be as interesting as it is?

    The head maid doubted it. As she ended the call, she could feel someone burning a hole through her back with their stare. Claire didn''t need to turn around to know who it was. Scarlet had been watching her very closely recently whenever she wasn''t busy working on her first book.

    Now then, how should she play this game of cat and mouse?

 Chapter 86 - Cat vs Mouse

    As it turned out, the game of cat and mouse between a certain young writer and a certain head maid proved to be very interesting. Everyone in the penthouse knew of their game and had even taken sides. Tina and Sue were neutral parties, sandwiched between Claire their direct superior and Scarlet, their superior''s charge. Tina didn''t waste the opportunity and took as many pictures as she could.

    Debbie sided with Claire and Wilmer took Scarlet''s side for fun. The other two children didn''t know what the game was about but Jasper decided not to join claiming that it was too troublesome. Alex only gave her sister an apologetic smile and told her that she had an art project due soon before holing herself up in her room.

    Scarlet''s aim was to target Claire and ambush her with surprise tests to confirm her hypothesis. Right now, Scarlet was convinced that if Claire wasn''t part of the army, special forces or police then the maid must be trained in some form of combat. Perhaps Claire was really a master in defensive arts and became a maid after retiring from the glamorous lifestyle of a bodyguard. That would explain her knowledge about firearms and those great reflexes.

    Now, the young writer needed some conclusive evidence that her head maid wasn''t simply a lady who took care of their clothes, food and remind them of their curfew. Her keen observation didn''t fail her and Scarlet didn''t know how she missed out so many obvious signs from before.

    "How did you get this scar?" Scarlet asked in a way too innocent voice for Claire to believe that the girl wasn''t up to something.

    She looked at the scar Scarlet was pointing to and sighed. With such a huge scar on her left shoulder, Claire couldn''t say that it was from a fall. It had been an incident when Claire was putting up the laundry and the sleeve of her dress slipped from her shoulder, revealing the scar. It had only been a fraction of a second but Scarlet caught it. The dollish girl smirked with unbridled excitement of finally getting a real answer.

    Claire sighed. It wasn''t appropriate to tell Scarlet about the knife she took to the shoulder during a mission to protect one of her previous employers. The man was too slow to react and Claire could only throw herself in the attacker''s way to stop the weapon from stabbing her ex-employer in the ribcage. The dumb politician was fat, slow and a coward. Claire didn''t want to remember how magnificently she threw down her resignation letter. It was how she ended up looking for the Wilde''s when none of the agencies wanted to employ her with her troublesome history. A bodyguard who refused to ''lay down their lives for employers who couldn''t listen to orders in an emergency'' wasn''t one that was highly sought after in the market. Thankfully, Wilmer only needed a bodyguard to ''dispose of threats'' while she played babysitter. That''s how Claire ended up working for the Wilde''s for three years now.

    "A cat scratched me," the maid deadpanned and for a moment, Scarlet didn''t know how to respond at the blatant lie.

    "Cats don''t make marks like that," she told Claire after a while. Behind her, Tina and Sue listened in on them, also curious about the German maid''s background. The previous maid wasn''t even half as efficient as Claire and sometimes, they wondered if Claire was really a graduate from the hospitality industry as they were told. For one, the girl was only twenty-six. She would have only graduated two years back or so but according to Jenna, Claire has been working with them since three years ago.

    "I know," Claire told Scarlet who pouted.

    The head maid gathered the dirty dishes and placed them in the dishwasher. Scarlet sulked. Claire was deliberately avoiding her questions. That lie was too obvious! Even Scarlet knew how to tell more believable lies.

    "You''re not telling me the truth..."

    Claire put down her cleaning cloth and sighed. "What do you want me to say?"

    Scarlet walked over and hugged Claire. The head maid quickly put away the dishrag, not wanting it to make contact with Scarlet. "I saw it back then, you know?"

    Claire pretended not to know what the girl was implying. In fact, it would be best to continue this conversation away from the presence of two very nosy helpers.

    "I know," is all Claire told Scarlet and their eyes met.

    "Are you really not going to tell me?" Scarlet asked. Claire might have been carrying a gun but Scarlet wasn''t afraid of her, merely curious but mostly grateful.

    Claire smiled without answering the young writer''s questions and Scarlet sighed. Relenting, the girl released the maid from her hug and told her that she needed some help with the final touches of her first manuscript.

    "I''ll go up to your room once I''m done here," Claire told Scarlet gently and the young writer left with a heavy mood.

    Although Scarlet wasn''t very happy at being kept in the dark just like the case benjamin, Wilmer and Danny were working on, she understood that they did this for a reason. Their temporary suspension from the internship was no coincidence either. Whatever they found back there must be very damning against Cody and his mistress.

    As Scarlet hobbled up the stairs, she wondered what Jasper and Alex were doing. It had been a while since she talked to them too. While they attended classes and ate lunch together, the young writer felt as if the business of everyone''s life was making them drift further apart. She was happy that Jasper and the delinquents were making smooth progress in studying even after the test. Scarlet no longer joined them for lessons because she was working on her story. Alex was also often seen practising sketches in her free time. Scarlet knew that her sister''s hard work was paying off because she could see huge improvements in Alex''s drawings in just a week.

    The young writer turned on her laptop and pulled up the latest file. It was a little tricky learning how to type a story instead of just writing it on paper like an essay. The plots could be written on paper but the manuscript had to be written online before Debbie could help her with the publication.

    Initially, Scarlet struggled with the formatting that Debbie briefly taught her. In the end, it was Jasper who sat down with the petite student about the software basics before Scarlet made any decent progress.

    Scarlet was having a blast keeping up with her weekly Observational Journal and the communication diary - Judah. Debbie gave very useful advice about some of the difficulties Scarlet was facing as a new writer. However, the tutor also gave really interesting life perspectives that made Scarlet think. Sometimes Scarlet felt that some stories had deeper meanings behind it and according to Debbie, she might be correct.

    "Stories can be written for many reasons. To fulfil the writer''s unfulfilled fantasy, for self-satisfaction, for money and fame or simply to bring a message across to someone. You have to find your reason for writing, not even I can advise you about it."

    As Scarlet waited for her file to load, she thought about Debbie''s words carefully. There was a reason why she was writing. Initially, it was to be heard. With the Liu''s treating her like a puppet, Scarlet had to find some way to remind herself that she was still human. The only way she could express it and be acknowledged as a human was through writing online while remaining unknown in fear that her parents would find out.

    Now, things were different. Scarlet had a home, a family and friends. She didn''t have to pretend to be perfect and be who she wasn''t. If anything, Scarlet thought that she was starting to act very spoiled but nobody has said anything about it or reprimanded her for it yet. Sometimes, the dollish girl would be embarrassed by how childish she acted. However, the acceptance and warmth that the Wilde''s provided made her shrug the insecurities off.

    Right now, Scarlet just wanted to write about all the amazing things that were happening in her life and to spread it with many more unfortunate children who might be going through the same things that she went through and weren''t as lucky as her to get a better family.

    Scarlet was editing a chapter when she heard two knocks on her door. She smiled.

    "Come in, Claire!"

    The head maid entered with a small bow. "Am I disturbing?"

    Scarlet shook her head and patted grinned. "Just in time! There''s a fight scene I need help with. This is to portray the strong feelings of strangers finding camaraderie with each other. how does a fight with brother-in-arms feel like? Is this too clich¨¦d?"

    Claire grabbed a chair and pulled it over before sitting down beside Scarlet to go through the scene.

    Wilmer passed by and saw that the hunter and the prey were working together. He smiled and continued onward to his bedroom. Sue and Tina were going to lose the bet. The results should have been obvious from the start that there would be no winner by the end of the chase. Scarlet and Claire cared for each other a lot and winning would only hurt someone.

    In his room, the CEO shrugged his coat off and felt his phone vibrate. With a frown on his face, he checked the message.

    "It is done. - Dan."

    Wilmer smiled coldly. Unlike that adorable game of cat and mouse, Wilmer''s game of cat and mouse with Collins wouldn''t be as friendly.

    Time to start the show.

 Chapter 87 - The Badder Bad

    Ever since he received the evidence the children collected, Benjamin was feeling troubled. Danny, who was working closely with Elfie, only had disturbing news to tell him, feeding his fears. These fears plagued him at night and insomnia was taking its toll on the young lawyer''s body. Jenna was getting worried with the prominent dark circles constantly under his eyes. Even Mrs Wilde called in to check if he was still alive. The lawyer tried his best to keep his cool when the more damning evidence rolled in, pointing towards the culprit Wilmer feared the most.

    "Hello?" he answered the call while sipping on coffee when the news made him sit upright all of a sudden.

    "I''ll call you back," Benjamin told the informant and hung up.

    Phone lines were hackable nowadays and Benjamin didn''t want to take any chances. Elfie was a great kid, and without him, they might never be able to put together the pieces of this huge puzzle. However, their latest discovery was making Benjamin wonder if there was too much of a good thing. They were now treading dangerous waters and the lawyer hesitated to make any decisions. There were many involved parties and the consequences wouldn''t be pretty. One misstep and the Wilde''s will be on the verge of annihilation again.

    "I''m on secured lines now," he told Danny after reconnecting with a different phone.

    Danny sighed. It wasn''t easy for the informant either, and for the past few days, his cheerful demeanour dimmed a little. His students could tell because Scarlet and Alex kept asking him questions while Jasper kept an eye on him at all times, though not that anybody could see it through those bangs. His lessons lacked his usual vigour and Danny felt apologetic towards the three kids who tried to stay awake during his lessons. They might be better off self-studying instead of humouring him. The counsellor felt bad and tried to keep the lessons as short as possible, reminding them about the upcoming mid-year examination.

    "I''m going to pull Elfie out from this point forth. It''s becoming more dangerous than we expected. Anastasia is watching very closely and they will use anything they can get their hands on. For now, the situation is being taken care of, but Scarlet might still be in danger. Collins can still blab, and the director meeting isn''t until next week."

    Benjamin frowned. They had all the required doc.u.ments and evidence to remove Collins from the Board of Directors as well as put him behind bars for life. The man was going to be ruined completely, but that wasn''t the end of the case. In fact, it was only beginning. They had taken so much time and resources to weed out a small pawn used against them. The Wilde''s were still a far cry from their former glory. The lawyer listened to Danny as he related Elfie''s findings.

    "Although it isn''t conclusive, I believe we have a very clear direction of where to start digging. It won''t be easy to take down someone like Anastasia, but that''s not our decision to make. I''ve already informed Wilmer about it, and it''s up to him to make the decision. Mind you, keep Orita out of it. The woman has done enough for the family. It''s time for her to live like the mother she aspires to be."

    The lawyer found it amusing. "Isn''t it ironic? The children are not with her."

    Danny chuckled. "Not for long. Maybe for now, while things are still rocky, but once it settles, there will be a family reunion. Don''t tell the kids yet. It''s a surprise."

    Benjamin smiled. Scarlet would definitely cry when she saw them again. However, before that could happen, they had work to settle. Anastasia wasn''t an easy person to take down. Ever since he had his eyes on the Wilde Empire, he''d resorted to using underhand means to get his way. It was no secret that Lucian Anastasia was a man who dabbled very much into the criminal world with his powerful company as a useful legal front. Everyone knew that Anastasia was hungry for well-established corporations to take over due to his lack of management skills and capable staff. The mafia-lord-turned-businessman was in dire need of capable employees to run his expanding empire. The business was growing faster than he could manage and the police were on his tail.

    Anastasia had tried once to coerce Orita''s foolish father into giving him all his shares in return for his ''services'' to get rid of his eyesore of a wife. By the time Orita found out about the deal, the damage had been done. The Wilde Family lost their control of sixty percent of the shares when Orita''s father sold his share of thirty percent. It took very long for Wilmer and his close friends like Danny and Benjamin to buy back fifteen percent of it. However, the damage was already done. It was very difficult for them to gain the majority shares of a company so huge once they lost it.

    "I will do what I can to put Collins behind bars for good. However, it''s going to be trickier for Anastasia. If we use it now, it will only attract more unwanted attention towards us. As it is, we don''t have enough evidence against his involvement and given his backing, the man could buy over the jury easily."

    Danny sighed. "I know. Elfie told me something disturbing too. He''s been working on a side project on the deep web and discovered a huge underground trade that the police are trying to crack. The scale of this business is currently unknown, but we have reasons to suspect Anastasia''s involvement. In fact, it might not just be Anastasia. More big sharks might be pooling funds into it, we don''t know for certain."

    Benjamin felt tired. Even though he was one of the most talented lawyers in his field, there was no comparing against the true evil. Danny was also a very skilful informant who was forced to go into hiding after aiding Wilmer with the incident twenty years ago. Back then, they were young and foolish. If it weren''t for Orita and Jenna staking everything they had, all three men would have ended up six feet underground.

    "Wilmer said that we will settle it in our generation. The children should not need to bear such a burden."

    Benjamin sighed. "It''s not that simple, but we will damn well try. Catching ants like Collins is a child''s game to me, but catching the Big Bad and making him stay away for good is beyond me."

    Danny laughed dryly. "How ironic. The girl has recently written something interesting that you might take inspiration from. It''s based off a bunch of dunces and misfits in the school. Jasper is also up to something by befriending those delinquents. I cannot keep them from getting to know the other students of their class for too long. Mid-term examinations are coming up, and the usually missing students will return for at least a week. That''s enough time for the three meddlesome children to learn things they''re better off not knowing."

    The lawyer felt unwell. "I''d like to call in sick for the day please."

    Danny rolled his eyes."Sorry, wrong kind of doctor. I only prescribe words of wisdom to the troubled minds lost in life."

    Benjamin sulked. "But I am lost in life..."

    Danny smiled sweetly over the other side of the phone. "No, you need a wife. Now get back to work, I have better fish to fry."

    The call ended and the lawyer raised a brow. For a friend who acted very much like his insufferable wife sometimes, why would he ever want another person in his life to nag his other ear off? Benjamin shook his head. He simply didn''t understand the appeal of settling down with another person. Sometimes, he thought that married people were masochistic. The lawyer was still rather sane and the thought of marriage with someone frightened him badly. He''d rather think of a way to pin the badder bad down than worry about a wife.

    Yes, that was right. Work comes first, the rest comes after. He''ll have plenty of time to figure it out in his grave.

 Chapter 88 - Stalker

    Things were starting to become strange back in the Wilde''s penthouse. While Scarlet and Claire had started acting more normally around each other, a certain CEO was becoming more on the edge. The children noticed it but nobody commented about it. Alex brushed it off as age catching up with her handsome father but neither Scarlet not Jasper chose to comment.

    The businessman was sometimes caught talking to himself in front of a mirror and smiling in a creepy manner. He also had a lot of random outburst of anger at flowers and paintings around the house. Tina and Sue often distracted the children whenever Wilmer slipped into one of his ''moods'' however none of the children was fooled. There was clearly something big going on.

    "Do you think we''re going to be able to resume our internship soon?" Alex asked one day at lunch after class.

    Not just Wilmer, but Danny also seemed out of it too. They''d noticed it a few days after Danny got that strange notification with a special tune. The homeroom teacher had excused himself to check the message, something he rarely ever did. Lessons with Danny became more monotonous as the teacher would often enter a monologue about nothing that was relevant to the lessons instead of adding value to it. Scarlet couldn''t help but worry. Her book was progressing smoothly and was currently in the final stages of editing. Alex was also doing very well, showing huge improvements in her sketching techniques.

    Jasper was gloomy. Why was he the only one not making any progress? Ever since the miraculous result of the topical test, the gardener''s son tried very hard to keep up with the momentum to no avail. The ones who could study did well on their own. The ones who usually skipped lessons disappeared one by one. The ones who didn''t do well before went back to their original scores of single digits. Was it because Jasper wasn''t a good enough teacher? The boy blamed himself for it and stopped chewing, too deep in his thoughts.

    "A penny for your thoughts?" Alex asked when her childhood friend didn''t answer.

    Jasper sighed and even Scarlet looked up. Of the three of them, Jasper was usually the easy-going one. For him to sigh this heavily, something must be bothering him greatly. Alex had been observing her childhood friend for quite a while but the boy didn''t seem to take notice about anything around him anymore. It worried the artist and she wished that she could help. Now that they didn''t have their internship, she had some free time in the afternoons. Perhaps there was something she could do to ease Jasper''s worries.

    "No, sorry. Just something on my mind. I''ll find a way, don''t worry."

    Alex was sceptical but a look from Scarlet made her hold back her words. Her mother used to tell her that when men were troubled, the best way to help them is not to talk to them or try and understand them. Instead, a small kiss or a silent hug is all they need to feel better.

    The writer wasn''t mentally prepared for it when Alex walked over to cradle Jasper''s head into her chest. While Scarlet had experienced her fair share of hugs, seeing one as intimate as this was a first for her. The young author turned bright red and tried to look elsewhere while her friends shared a moment. For the childhood friends, they didn''t think anything was wrong about it and Jasper even wrapped his arms around Alex, closing his eyes and seeking comfort in her embrace.

    "I don''t know what I''m doing wrong," the boy admitted quietly and Scarlet took a few seconds to know what Jasper was referring to.

    In all honesty, she didn''t know what Jasper was doing wrong either. The young writer couldn''t have done it better herself even if she wanted to. Teaching delinquents was simply something an uneducated teacher should not be doing. They needed the help of professionals but Scarlet didn''t know anyone else they could call on for help. Regular teachers didn''t like the delinquent class and Danny was extremely out of it to be reliable.

    "We can accompany you for tutoring sessions on the days we don''t have the internship," Scarlet suggested and Alex agreed.

    Although she wasn''t as advanced as Scarlet or Jasper academically, she had confidence in being able to cheer for everyone by the sidelines if needed. Then again, the Wilde heiress was honestly still afraid of the boys in the class even if Jasper was now their unofficial leader. First impressions die hard.

    "Thanks," the young entrepreneur smiled.

    Scarlet yawned and wondered what was going on back home. Wilmer and Danny have been seeing each other more and the girl couldn''t help but be suspicious of their secret late-night rendezvous. She was positive that Mrs Wilde didn''t know anything about it and if the girl hadn''t been staying up to pick up snippets of their discussion, she would have jumped to the conclusion that Mr Wilde could be playing for the other team.

    Danny often brought news and files that Wilmer would hide away in his home office under lock and key. Scarlet had a feeling she knew what those doc.u.ments were for. They had to be leverage against Collins as Mr Wilde prepared for his annual general meeting for the board of directors. It wasn''t a coincidence that everything was falling into place just in time. Scarlet knew better than to believe in coincidences. Things happened for a reason and if it wasn''t fated, it would be planned.

    The young writer kept the news to herself and didn''t share it with Jasper nor Alex. They were troubled enough as it was and the young writer thought that there was enough on their plate. The a.d.u.l.ts were more than capable of handling matters from now on but there was an unsettling feeling that had been bothering Scarlet for the past few days. She didn''t know why but she felt as if there was someone constantly looking at them from a distance. Sometimes she would turn back and try to catch whoever it was in action but often there would be nobody present.

    The feeling of being watched never left her even when she was in school. It briefly faded away whenever Claire was around but Scarlet chalked that up to her paranoia after the incident at the company when the men almost caught her with the stolen evidence. She didn''t tell anyone about it, not wanting to cause a fuss but still, the girl stiffened as she felt that feeling once more. This time, Scarlet decided to try a different technique and reached for the sharpener in her pencil case, pretending to search for something. The blade on the sharpener acted as a mirror and Scarlet studied what was going on behind her outside the window.

    Reflected on that blade, Scarlet couldn''t be sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her but there was a small drone hovering near a tree on the opposite building. The young writer felt her hands and legs grow cold with dread.

    Somebody was spying on her and Scarlet didn''t know why.

 Chapter 89 - Surprise Phone Call

    Suit?

    Checked.

    Black tie?

    Checked.

    Evidence?

    Checked.

    Doc.u.ments?

    In the briefcase.

    Alibi?

    On standby.

    Wilmer looked in the mirror one last time. Alex did say that his navy blue blazer made him look exceptionally handsome so Wilmer decided to go for a powerful blue suit today. It was the final war after all and Collins had better prepare his ammo against the onslaught of evidence stacked against him in Wilmer''s hands. The CEO wasn''t feeling merciful and it was time to collect his dues.

    The entire journey to the office was a silent moment for Wilmer to think through about Danny''s words. Elfie did his personal investigation and he had to make a decision. As of now, they had a fifty percent chance of winning the battle with Anastasia. However, if they failed, there would be no doubting that the businessman-mafia-boss would come for them with the intention to kill. Not even Claire would be able to guarantee the safety of everyone in the household.

    The file in his briefcase felt heavier than it should. They managed to gain some information about Anastasia''s meddling with Cody''s funds account and some traces about their dealings. With Cody''s reputation as a corporate rat, there would be nobody who would employ him ever again. Larissa would also be ruined, knowing Cody''s character. If played right, the man would run back to his employer and give them the much needed final nail in the coffin to pin everything on Anastasia and put him behind bars for good.

    The phone rang and Wilmer jumped a little. He checked the caller ID and saw that it was an unknown number. The CEO hesitated. In the end, he still received it out of courtesy.

    "Wilmer speaking."

    "Good day Mr Wilde, I assume that the information has proved useful?" a young voice greeted.

    Wilmer blinked. The boy had a strong arabic accent and the CEO had an inkling he knew who this was. Hearing about the young hacker from Danny wasn''t quite the same as having the pleasure of conversing with the boy himself.

    "Hello, Elfie. It is nice to finally hear from you. Are you doing well?"

    The hacker wasn''t surprised that Wilmer knew who he was. The CEO was a smart man and Danny was his close friend. Elife had been spying on the three new classmates and thought that they were incredible for risking their lives in a literal manner to obtain evidence. He secretly wanted to meet them but it wasn''t the right time to reveal himself with things so uncertain about his investigations. The police did say that he was to take refuge in a different country and were deciding to move him from America.

    "I''m doing good, Mr Wilde. I just thought that I would let you know something more interesting that could help you with your decision making. If you want more incriminating evidence about Anastasia''s operations you should wait until after the Olympics."

    Wilmer was interested. "Why the Olympics?"

    Elife grinned at the other end of the phone in a dark room. "Have you checked the sponsor list?"

    The CEO paused. A smirk came to his face and suddenly, he knew what to do. "Thank you, Elfie. Would you like to have some tea with us? I assume you would be coming to school for the coming mid-year examinations right?"

    Elife hummed. "I don''t know... they''re thinking of which country I should be sent to but it''s not set in stone. I would love to meet Scarlet, Alex and Jasper but I think it''s going to be impossible for now. We''re working on a trap at the moment and I''ve made some people very angry."

    Wilmer chuckled. Danny was right about this kid. He was a good influence. In fact, the counsellor didn''t think any of those children in the special class were snobbish. It was strange how the talented didn''t behave snobbishly unlike those who were born into wealth. Most of these child geniuses had humble beginnings. The founder of Joyville International was a person who believed in nurturing talent and took them in to help them flourish. Unfortunately, his children had to meet the class due to their different levels of success and busyness.

    "I could make a suggestion to Danny about having you over with us if you''d like. We have some spare rooms and I''m sure my children would be glad to have friends over."

    Elfie thought about it. As someone without parents who was taken in by Danny, the boy craved for some a regular life even if it might be a far-fetched dream. He was tinkering with computers ever since he was introduced to them and Danny who discovered his talent taught him what he knew. Elfie soon surpassed the informant and to repay his guardian, started helping him out with his jobs. Danny had no choice but to hand Elfie over to the government and Interpol for the boy''s personal protection. Although Elfie didn''t dislike the jobs he was getting, it was lonely not being able to hang out with friends. He would see the other children in his class but only briefly because they were all experiencing the same kind of busyness and loneliness he did. Well, maybe the Lopez sisters were slightly better because they had each other to talk to.

    "That sounds fantastic," he admitted and Wilmer assured him that he will do his best to make arrangements.

    "Also, I''d like to thank you for helping us."

    Elfie squirmed in his seat, not sued to receiving thanks. Usually the a.d.u.l.ts would tell him to keep up the good work when he found some dirt on their targets but nothing more. The warmth in Mr Wilde''s voice made Elfie envy the three children he spied on. No wonder they seemed different from the rest of his classmates. They were raised in an environment that promoted love. This was what true family was and the boy found himself wanting to hold onto the CEO''s promise. Suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to fly to Singapore and this time, it wasn''t because of his guardian although seeing Danny again was nice.

 Chapter 90 - Boardroom Drama

    Nine thirty in the morning and already Carol was exhausted. The meeting didn''t go too well and the level of unprofessionalism was simply too much when Collins finally snapped and let loose a whole string of interesting insults.

    - Rewind back to 9.01 a.m -

    Wilmer walked into the meeting room after having a cup of coffee in his office. He decided that it was no longer necessary to bring up the issue of their contender and instigator for the leak of confidential company information after the call from Elfie.

    The CEo took some time to collect his thoughts and ready for the meeting when his secretary entered the room.

    "Sir, the meeting is about to start. Should I prepare the things you texted me about last night?"

    Wilmer smiled at Carol. As usual, she was efficient about everything.

    "There are some changes to the plan. I''d like to start the meeting agenda with an announcement. Call in the security, we don''t need the spy to feed more information about our second phase of the project. There''s no reason to continue keeping him. However, you can distribute the minutes and meeting agenda as per usual. That will give him enough reason to lead us to the hive."

    Carol bowed and left to distribute the printed notes. The pretty secretary entered the meeting room full of smiles and offered everyone a cup of coffee, something she didn''t often do. Casia Lee, the head of human resources and admin, was surprised to see the unusual behavior.

    "Something good happened during the weekend?" she asked and Carol grinned.

    "Something like that," she replied and Cody rolled his eyes with a snort.

    "Leave it to the girls to play. Where is Wilmer? He''s late."

    Nobody paid the head of General Operations and heed. They were too used to Collins'' uselessness to care. If anything, they were more curious about the reason for Carol''s smiles. It didn''t seem like personal news because the lady was good at separating work and personal life matters. While it was common knowledge that Carol was a proud member of the LGBT society, nobody bothered her for it except for Cody. Carol was a very efficient secretary and working with her made things a lot simpler. before Mrs Wilde introduced Carol to the company, they would often find Wilmer buried under heaps of paperwork with an aura of death surrounding him.

    While waiting for Wilmer to make his entrance, the directors flipped through the meeting minutes that Carol distributed. The secretary watched for reactions while she served coffee and took note of Collins'' smirk. Now that the line was cast, all the had to do was wait for the bigger fish to bite after Collins took the bait.

    The door opened and Wilmer entered the room confidently.

    "Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I hope I didn''t keep you waiting for too long, the Monday blues are getting to me despite the great weekend. I heard that you went to the beach on Saturday, Ken. How was it? You have quite the tan there."

    There was a round of good-natured chuckle and a short recount of his trip by Kenneth Butterworth the Sales Director.

    "I see that you''ve done quite the reshuffling to our projects based on the meeting agenda notes," Max Morgans, the head of Research & Developments commented.

    Wilmer nodded. "Indeed. It was after long consideration and discussion that I decided to revise the plans a little."

    Cody rolled his eyes. "What''s the point of having monthly meetings if finalised plans are simply going to be revised on a whim like this?"

    Robert Wang, the Business Consultant, turned to the fat man and clicked his tongue. "For a General Operations Director, you seem to be forgetting that if it weren''t for your inability to meet the last deadline we wouldn''t need to have any revisions?"

    Not missing a beat, Tracy Mcgardens the Chief Financial Officer decided to give a verbal report of last quarter''s figures.

    "I recall that due to the mismanagement and poor execution of the first phase, Wilde Inc. had to bear a loss of 4.7billion in forecasted sales."

    Cody could not refute when Kenneth confirmed the numbers.

    "Please, it''s only a Monday and the meeting hasn''t started. Let''s hear Wilmer out, surely there is a reason for such a change," Shin Yamamoto, the director of Legal Affairs spoke out.

    The room quieted down again and everyone turned to Wilmer who smiled serenely. Jessica Miller, the head of Marketing and Public Relations had a feeling that she''d seen this before. A sense of dejavu came over her and the woman wondered if something big was going to happen today.

    Casia Lee gave Jeffery Lam, the Chief Information Officer, a look and they smirked in sync. The email had been scheduled for a company wide announcement and they were simply waiting for Wilmer to make his move.

    "Thank you Shin," Wilmer nodded in the Japanese man''s direction. "I believe you''re all wondering why I decided to introduce such a drastic change without consulting anyone about it. The truth is, the company has been infected with a slow-spreading poison that we''ve been unable to counter until very recently. As for what this is about, Carol if you would please..."

    The efficient secretary dimmed the lights and started the projector. Cody who was sipping on his coffee comfortably in his chair nearly spat the beverage out when he saw his own face in a video. Although nobody could see who he was talking to, it didn''t really matter. The General Operations director knew exactly what this was about and felt cold sweat forming underneath his armpits. he turned green with unease when Carol hit the play button.

    "Do you have it?" Cody in the video asked.

    The unknown man with his back facing the hidden camera passed Cody a thick envelope that the corrupt director snatched quickly with his grubby hands. The room was full of gasps when they saw how Cody counted the money and handed over a blank envelope, no doubt containing confidential information about the company''s projects.

    The video ended and another incriminating evidence appeared. This was the financial records that Tracy and Jefferey worked hard to recover.

    "As you can see, ladies and gentlemen... I think there is no need for words any longer. Shin and Casia, I will leave the rest to you. Xavier and Gavin, please follow me to the office. We will be discussing about the project duty segregation for the operational department. Meeting adjourned for today."

    Cody was fuming and thoroughly humiliated when nobody paid him any attention.

    "Do you really believe that? It''s a conspiracy against me!"

    Shin adjusted his glasses and calmly called for the security to escort the fuming man out. Casia also calmly passed the stunned director who paled.

    "This is an official letter of termination from the company, you have twenty-four hours starting from now to pack all your belongings and leave the premise. Please don''t forget to return your access card to IT before you leave, have a good day."

    Infuriated at the treatment, Cody yelled and tried to go after Wilmer but the security had already restrained the man who spat viciously.

    "You will pay for this Wilmer! Mark my words!"

    Carol tuned out to the colourful choice of vocabulary while Wilmer beckoned to Xavier and Gavin to follow him to his office.

    The head of Logistics and Director of Production shared a look as they followed the CEO in silence. Some of them had their suspicions about Cody''s intentions and questioned how he came to rise to his position but kept their silence. Was this all part of Wilmer''s plans? was this why he chose to relocate to Singapore instead of focussing on his business expansion in America?

    - Present time -

    Carol shut the door behind the three men and Wilmer gestured for them to take a seat. "I''m assuming you have a lot of questions."

    Indeed, both men had questions about what just happened. That was clearly a white collar crime to sell company secrets. Surely the company should be pressing charges against Cody instead of simply terminating him. Why wasn''t Wilmer discussing matters with Shin now? The CEO shouldn''t be so relaxed as if he knew this was going to happen.

    Then it dawned on Xavier Park, the Head of Logistics. Wilmer knew it was going to happen because he was working behind the scenes the whole time to make it happen. Suddenly, the director felt ashamed for not seeing it earlier. It was only six months since he''d been promoted to become the head of international logistics in Wilde Inc. The half-Korean still wasn''t very familiar with the political scene of the senior management but he knew that he didn''t like Cody whom he described as a slimeball for lack of better vocabulary.

    On the other chair, Gavin Foxx was contemplating his next move. As the Director of Production, he knew how badly the project would be affected by the removal of one director even if he was a corrupted person who should be removed from the equation. The Englishman looked through the rearranged schedule of the second phase and lost hope. It simply wouldn''t be possible to arrange for such a large scale launch of their newest product. Max wasn''t even confident that the prototype was stable enough for it. There were many safety concerns and so far, he had not heard about any plans for marketing from Miller or Butterworth.

    "Sorry Wilmer, I just don''t think we can proceed with phase two as written on the agenda. We''re not going to make it."

    The CEO smiled. Gavin was a very capable man who knew his stuff well. He knew that the man would bring the concern up when they were alone and for that very reason, he invited the two directors to his office to discuss further details about the project. Xavier was rather new to the job and was still settling into the role but the CEO knew that if there was anyone he could count on to understand the ground situation best, it would be the half-korean director.

    "I know,"he told them honestly and both directors were surprised. "The reason why I called both of you into the office was to further discuss this. The rest of the senior managers would have known by now or guessed that Cody was going to be removed from his position by how things were progressing over the last two months. However, we do not have a concrete solution for the mess Cody made. We don''t know exactly how much of the information has been leaked to our competitors and in order to gain an advantage over them, I can only ask for your opinions."

    Gavin frowned, feeling stressed. The situation was dire. From the last budget meeting, the loss from that information leak wasn''t small. Wilde Inc. was only beginning to get over its financial crisis phase from the previous management''s blunder and they''ve already started to stumble again.

    Xavier studied the timeline. The ground situation wasn''t doing very well either. Ever since he became the Director of Logistics, the man was finding more and more undiscovered issues that nobody addressed for years. Their main competitor, EZ Express, was gaining an edge over them with their rapid expansion of territories and the half-korean was at his wits end. If only they had better systems in place...

    "You look like you have something to say," Wilmer smiled at Xavier who hesitated to speak his mind. Of all the senior board members, he was the newest and the youngest. At only thirty-eight years old, Xavier felt that he wasn''t qualified to speak about strategies at all.

    Gavin sensed the thoughts going through Xavier''s brain and patted him lightly on the shoulder. "You might not know this but Wilmer is a man from humble beginnings. He didn''t promote you for political reasons, Wilmer values talent greatly and single-handedly rescued Wilde Inc. from the verge of bankruptcy from twenty years ago. Cody was the only loose end that we didn''t manage to cut from back then."

    Xavier looked at the CEO in awe and respect. He bowed humbly and spoke in a hushed tone.

    "I think that we need to review our systems in great detail if we want to make the deadline a possibility. Recently a fast-growing competitor has appeared. It''s a very strong competition in the market when EZ Express offers delivery services that beats our. Their ability to process orders within twenty-four hours is what makes them such a threat. We spend a lot on employing people to work in our offices and call centres to schedule for shipments. Human error is a factor, human speed is a limitation and even if we are able to somehow rush the paperwork, the warehouses cannot cope."

    Wilmer nodded in interest. The issue had also been on his mind but with Cody''s matter taking priorities, he left this on the back burner.

    "Implementing a system would require a long time to train all our staff," the CEO pointed out and Xavier agreed.

    "I can train the staff within a month if we have a system in place," Xavier told the CEO confidently.

    Wilmer thought about it and turned to Gavin. "Can production cope? I know the prototype is still in its finalising stages..."

    Gavin winced. "It''s a tight push but we can make it for the second quarter if the materials for production can be secured within a month. It doesn''t take a lot to make vacuum flask but the technology to purify and filter water isn''t perfect. A complex reverse osmosis microfiltration system in a flask with UV disinfection wasn''t so easily replicated for consumer use. If we cannot get the contract to collaborate with the Singapore government for this technology, who knows how long it would take for us to get it right?"

    Wilmer pursed his lips. That was another reason why he chose to relocate to Singapore. The Newater plant was an incredible system and if Wilde Inc. can find a way for a collaboration, they would be able to save the company and stabilise their financial standings. The Singapore government was not very successful in spreading the use of this discovery till date and Wilmer saw this as an opportunity that they sorely needed.

    "I understand. Once the verdict is settled, I will call for another board meeting about the upcoming phase two of this project. In the meantime, I actually have a favour to ask the both of you. It''s a personal favour actually."

    Gavin raised a brow. Wilmer wasn''t someone who asked for personal favours. Xavier didn''t know how to respond and appeared guarded.

    "I have three children at home," Wilmer explained and the two men relaxed. They''ve heard a few things about the interns who were said to be very outstanding.

    "Are you going to ask us to babysit them and teach them the ropes of the trade?" Gavin laughed and Wilmer gave a wry grin.

    "Something like that. I actually would recommend you to throw him some books and then let him run around with the other employees to figure things out."

    Xavier looked unsure. "I heard that they are only ten years old."

    Wilmer nodded. "They''re not getting any wages from doing this but there is something that Jasper wants to attain so as his unofficial guardian, I will do what I can to lend him a hand. How high he intends to fly after this is up to him. On the other hand, I would need to speak to Jessica about taking in my girls."

    Carol was typing an email when she heard laughter from her boss'' office. While things were still slightly messy with rumours flying all over the place and Larissa trying to deny any relations with the fired director, the secretary was glad that there would be a rainbow at the end of this awful storm. It was only eleven but Carol decided that she needed a break badly rom the boardroom drama that occurred that morning.

    Still, she thought that it was slightly disappointing that Cody couldn''t deflect any of the allegations against him. If she knew that it was going to be this simple, she wouldn''t have bothered to serve him coffee at all. The anti-climatic ending made her feel somewhat dissatisfied. For the thorn in their side to be removed this easily, Carol still felt uneasy.

    Surely things weren''t this simple. There was no mistaking it. Their enemy is still at large and invisible while they were in plain sight just waiting for an indication. Carol sighed loudly, the thoughts weighing heavily in her mind.

 Chapter 91 - Elfie Yskandar

    The girls were thrilled to hear that there would be a classmate joining them for lessons that morning. Jasper didn''t know what to think about it. The boy was slightly awkward and hoped that it wouldn''t be a girl at the very least. He didn''t know how to interact with others and girls were worse than boys. They were often noisy and if they weren''t noisy, Jasper wouldn''t know what they were thinking about. Boys were still easier to understand and he could guess because he was a boy himself.

    When Danny introduced the small boy as Elfie Yskandar, the young entrepreneur heaved a sigh of relief in his heart. Elfie looked like someone he could easily get along with. The boy was small for a ten-year-old and Jasper wondered if he had enough to eat. He briefly considered sharing his lunch with the kid until Danny dug into his wallet to give Elfie some cash to buy his lunch later.

    "Thank you, Dad- Danny."

    "No worries, kiddo. Also, feel free to keep calling me dad. these three are family friends and I heard that you wanted to have a sleepover at the Wilde''s?"

    Elfie ducked his head down in shame. He knew he should have mentioned the idea to Danny first before asking Wilmer for permission. The counsellor was probably upset at him now for jumping the queue and consulting someone else other than him.

    Danny saw the hunched shoulders and sighed. Although the boy was a marvellous informant and hacker as well as a genius programmer, Elfie severely lacked confidence in himself. the counsellor hoped that by bringing Elfie back to regular classes with the three new students, he would be able to form some friends of his age who shared special circ.u.mstances like him. As a parent, Danny felt that it was too dangerous for his talented adopted son to continue working on the huge crackdown. There were plenty of experts onboard and his kid has done more than his part as a freelance hire. The counsellor placed Elfie''s interest first and no amount of government protection will save them from the shadows of the underworld if they knew who leaked the information.

    "Hello, I''m Elfie Yskandar and I''m turning ten this year. This is Danny Wong, my legal guardian and my father. Yes, I''m adopted and that means I don''t know my birth parents other than what was written on the adoption papers."

    Alex and Scarlet didn''t know how to react to it but Jasper did. He simply nodded at the new kid and told him it was cool. Elfie smiled brightly at that and decided to take a seat beside the boy with helmet-styled hair. It was an odd fashion sense but Elfie didn''t question it. It was better this way because Elfie sometimes found it difficult to look at people in their eyes when talking to them.

    "Where are you from?" Alex asked, curious about the boy''s unusual features. Danny and Elfie looked nothing alike since Elfie was adopted but the boy''s name intrigued the artist. She''d never come across anyone with a name that spelt differently from how it sounded. It was spelt with a "Y" on the whiteboard that Danny scribbled but clearly pronounced as an "I".

    Elfie smiled, happy that the children were curious about him and welcoming. "I''m from Lebanon!"

    Scarlet and Alex looked confused at the country''s name but smiled anyway and introduced themselves. Danny ignored the chatter behind him and scribbled his lesson plan or the day on the board. It was nice to see his son interacting with children of his age but when the topic turned towards hobbies, the counsellor nearly dropped his marker.

    "Oh, I like to hack into high-security walls and see how far I can go in my free time. I also code and can make really interesting scripts that can do very interesting things."

    "Ok, that''s enough chatter!" Danny stopped any further conversations and told the children to take out their textbooks. he would have to talk to Elfie later about revealing such information. While it wasn''t uncommon for the children in the special class to be working on classified projects, it cannot be spoken openly.

    The lesson went by quickly and Danny called out to Elfie to meet him in the counselling room just before he ended lessons. Alex was glad that Danny was behaving more like himself now and wondered how Jasper was doing. The boy was silent as usual but there was no indication about the matters that troubled him. Mid-year examinations were4 creeping up on them and while the blonde girl wasn''t worried about her grades, the same couldn''t be said for more than half of the delinquent class.

    Scarlet pulled out her laptop to work on her final edits. Today would be the day she turned in the polished manuscript for Debbie to check. After the draft was finalised, Debbie had looked through the book of forty-thousand words and returned it full of correction pointers. Scarlet spent the week after that analysing them painstakingly and checking her previous drafts to the proposed edit points to polish the script. The writer then took an additional week to run through the polished script and screened it for potential errors.

    Alex and Jasper left Scarlet to work on her manuscript in peace. They had better things to worry about. Alex was catching up on her homework while Jasper reviewed the topics coming up for the mid-term and planned his remedial classes for the delinquents. He was running out of time and ideas to raise the class average for all subjects. the boys seemed to not retain any knowledge and if Jasper switched subjects, they quickly forgot was taught previously. The cycle of cramming and forgetting made jasper frustrated.

    While the special class regulars worked on their individual projects, Elfie was seated comfortably in Danny''s office, sucking on a sweet his father tossed him.

    "Elfie, do you remember how I told you that you had to be careful about disclosing what you do to others?"

    The boy nodded and the counsellor sat down on the bed opposite of his boy. "I know Alex, Scarlet and Jasper are good people. However, the fact that they''re related to Wilmer does not mean that they''re automatically included in the circle of people you can rust about your job."

    The hacker was confused. "But Wilmer..."

    "Yes, Wilmer knows. However, his daughter, the blonde one, doesn''t dabble very much and doesn''t see very much about what''s going on around her. Jasper and Scarlet might have guessed a few things but Wilmer is trying to keep them in the dark just like Orita. You can''t drag them into that world, Wilmer and I want to resolve this in our generation. If possible, I didn''t want to involve you either. This isn''t your fight. It was started by Orita''s parents and it will be ended by us."

    Elfie didn''t move and Danny worried that it might be too much for a ten-year-old to understand. Then, the hacker nodded with his head tilted downwards, hiding the sadness in his eyes away from his guardian.

    "Yes, daddy. I won''t tell them."

    Danny sighed and hugged the small boy. This really wasn''t right. No matter how talented children were, sometimes it wasn''t right to involve them for political purposes. "They''ll still like you and want to be your friend even if you have secrets. Don''t worry too much about it. Everyone has a secret or two that they can''t share with friends and family."

    Elfie heard it but didn''t respond. He wasn''t so sure about it. Most children of his age often ran away and called him mean names when they found out about what he could do. The boy didn''t know if things would be different this time. Just because they were in the same class didn''t mean that they wouldn''t treat Elfie differently from the children in the common class. After all, he saw the way the girls looked at him when he told them about his hobby.

    Elfie held onto Danny''s shirt tighter. That''s right. He didn''t really need friends of his age. All he needed was Danny and a.d.u.l.ts who understood what his talent was.

 Chapter 92 - Bullied

    The atmosphere in class the following day was a little weird. Elfie didn''t know where he should sit because Scarlet, Alex and Jasper were already seated in their usual places. Scarlet was seated beside the window, Alex in the middle and Jasper to the side nearer to the door. The special class had enough seats for all the registered students but Elfie didn''t know if it was right to be taking any random seat because it might be the regular seat of another classmate.

    Scarlet saw the hesitation and nudged Alex who caught onto what her sister wanted.

    "Good morning, Elfie! Come sit with us!"

    The hacker wasn''t sure if he should accept Alex''s extended invitation after how she looked at him yesterday. Still, the name-calling hasn''t happened yet and the boy was thankful. Maybe his new classmates were playing the long game trying to get him to warm up to them before they bullied him.

    Elfie took a seat next to Jasper who was silent as usual. Unlike Alex, the other two classmates did not greet him good morning. The hacker didn''t care. If anything, he preferred if they treated him as invisible. Not attracting attention to himself was often a good thing. Elfie had gotten so used to hiding from the people who were looking for him that any direct attention he received would send him into mild panic attacks. Alex''s greeting made him freeze up for a moment but eventually, the programmer took a seat beside the mysterious boy.

    Boys were better than girls to some extent. At least Elfie was somewhat more comfortable being in the company of boys compared to girls. back where he worked, there were no girls. When he went home, there were also no girls. The only girls Elfie knew were those in the class but even then, he only knew them from the screen and their portfolio files. Elfie never interacted much with them and from yesterday''s incident, he learnt that they reacted differently from boys.

    Danny came into the classroom with his chirpy personality and Elfie found himself unable to get used to the work personality his father put on. The programmer was more used to seeing a highly cautious, serious and analytical Danny. The informant never made jokes that weren''t morbid around him and hearing Danny spout lame one-liners non-stop with references to the internet meme culture made him cringe so hard. He felt second-hand embarrassment for Danny who was trying too hard to appear hippy.

    While the programmer was slowly dying on the inside, Scarlet was observing him from behind her textbook. As usual, Dany''s lessons were interesting whenever he drifted to other side topics. She was well-prepared for the mid-year examinations and decided that she would help the delinquent class study for the exams.

    Elfie looked painfully awkward and Scarlet wondered if it was due to his side jobs overseas. She didn''t think he interacted much with children of his age at all and that made her think back about her life before the Wilde''s adopted her. She didn''t miss that earlier look of fear either when the boy first walked into class. He looked as if he was deciding to sit somewhere or run away and if Alex didn''t call out to him, Scarlet thought that Elfie would have bolted if given the chance.

    The writer thought that it was a shame the programmer couldn''t experience a more normal childhood. Scarlet didn''t think any part of her current life was normal but she was happier. Maybe if Elfie were to join them for their crazy activities after lessons he would feel less guarded around them. If there was a group of people capable of making anyone feel accepted, it would be the class of misfits.

    With determination to include Elfie in their after-class activity, Scarlet wrote down her plan on a piece of paper that she tore from her notebook and passed it to Alex when Danny had his back turned to them.

    Elfie caught sight of the note being passed but remained silent. It was none of his business if these students didn''t want to pay attention to the lesson. With the mid-year examinations coming up in a few weeks, they had to be rather confident to not pay attention.

    Alex who read the note had a hard time finding an opportunity to pass the note to Jasper. Danny kept moving back and forth the four of them and didn''t have any indication that he was going to write anything on the whiteboard for a while. The teacher had launched into a tale about Indiana Jones while giving a history summary about aborigines. The Wilde princess was frustrated but tried not to let it show on her face. They still had another twenty minutes before class ended and she wanted Jasper to know about Scarlet''s plan before they lost Elfie.

    Finally, the opportunity presented itself in the last five minutes of class as Danny rushed with the rest of his lesson plans, scribbling furiously on the board as usual in complete silence. Scarlet''s pen moved non-stop as she copied whatever was on the board like a pro. Jasper was distracted when Alex shoved a crumpled piece of paper into his hand. It wasn''t like the blonde girl to write notes during class. If anything, he knew that the Wilde heiress was the most diligent who tried to keep up with the lessons.

    When he unfolded the note, Jasper smiled a little. He recognised Scarlet''s handwriting and was impressed by her suggestion. Truth be told, any extra hands he could get would be very appreciated. Elfie looked like he was smart enough to ace the exams without much studying but the same cannot be said of the neanderthals in the delinquent class.

    Jasper still had problems explaining how 2x is not the same as x to the power of 2. Those kids were meant to be older than him but Jasper didn''t think they were very far off in terms of intellect. Half the class could understand it and Jasper didn''t worry about them failing the exams. However, the failing half of the class made Jasper feel a sense of helplessness. He didn''t want to give up on their brains but most of them had already given up on themselves. The first miracle no longer inspired them and most of the failing students have written it off as a blessing by the Gods never to be repeated again.

    "And that''s it for today''s lesson. For the rest of this and next week, I will be in the counselling room if you require any studying assistance. Class dismissed," the counsellor smiled and left.

    Elfie packed his things with every intention of leaving the trio behind. He would study with Danny in the counselling room or work on something in the school library after borrowing a computer if he was bored. The programmer had zero intention of spending time playing friends with them but he wasn''t fast enough to leave when Alex trapped him with a question.

    "Hey Elfie, you''re a programmer, right? does it mean you''re also good at Math?"

    Unable to lie, the boy nodded and hurried to put away his book.

    "That''s fantastic! We need more people good at Math to help. You can join us, we''re just about to help some students study for the upcoming exams!"

    "But I-"

    "I''ll be heading down first. Scarlet, you lead them both to the classroom. Don''t rush, your leg is almost healed. It would be horrible if you hurt it now. Sorry, bro. Could you help Scarlet carry her things over? I need to hurry before they escape my classes again."

    Elfie wasn''t given time to respond when Jasper slung his heavy bag and dashed out of the class. Alex was also quick to react and held onto Elfie, pushing Scarlet''s books into his arms just as the boy intended to leave. The hacker secretly resigned to fate, unable to refuse with the pressure of the girls'' stares.

    Once again Elfie found himself reduced to becoming the lackey. It wasn''t even his first week and the hacker was already getting bullied. He knew he hated children and school. Maybe taking on Mr Wilde''s offer was a bad thing. His children were nothing like him at all!

 Chapter 93 - Fraction and Multiplication

    Elfie didn''t have a good feeling when he saw the classroom they were going to enter. He didn''t know how such blatant disrespect to campus property was allowed. Did nobody bother repairing the classroom anymore because of the terror that resided within it? Were these delinquents going to beat him up and hang him by his underwear at the school gate like what he saw in movies and books? Elfie felt his legs trembled and stopped twenty feet away from the classroom.

    Scarlet saw how their classmate froze up in fear. Alex was also unusually stiff. The girl still hasn''t overcome her fear of the scary-looking boys when she first accompanied Jasper to check out the Entrepreneur''s Circle. Scarlet giggled. They were going to be in for a surprise now. After Jasper''s influence, the class of delinquents were nothing more than a rowdy bunch of misfits. They were welcoming to anyone related to Jasper and didn''t usually question people who didn''t give them the judging stares first.

    "Come on, you two..." Scarlet grinned and hobbled towards the door.

    Alex was having second thoughts and wanted to make an excuse to escape the tutoring session she agreed to help with. Elfie didn''t look any better. Jasper had already gone in the class and Scarlet hobbled over slowly. Before the two more cowardly children could make their escape, the door opened and a rather handsome looking student made his appearance.

    "Scarlet! Come, let me help you with the bag. The rest of us are waiting for you. The Chief said that there would be two more tutors coming to join us for today''s session?"

    The dollish girl grinned. She turned back to look at her sister and new classmate. "That''s them," she pointed out while shrugging off her backpack for Tom to help carry.

    Alex blushed when the princely-looking boy reached out to take her hand before planting a chaste kiss on the back of it.

    "You must be princess Alex," the campus casanova smiled and led the smitten girl towards the class like a pied piper.

    Elfie couldn''t help but watch in horror as the charming upperclassman led the gullible girl into the dungeon-like classroom. Nobody was here to stop him from running away but as a hacker with a strong sense of justice, Elfie couldn''t let his classmate get tricked and led away right before his eyes. He gathered all his bravery and proceeded onwards with shaky legs. His heart was ready to burst out of his chest as fear fuelled his actions.

    The programmer yanked open the door and was surprised by how many strange-looking boys there were in the class. Alex and Scarlet were the only females and Elfie found himself not knowing what to do at the doorway.

    Nobody paid him much attention and the programmer took some time to observe the different species of students in the strange classroom. In the corner, there was a boy who was half-n.a.k.e.d. His shirt was nowhere in sight but Elfie could see that he was a martial art enthusiast as he practised swinging his nunchucks.

    Not far from the martial artist was an oversized boy with all sorts of cringe-worthy trinkets. He had expensive headphones and was tapping his feet to the rhythm of the music that Elfie couldn''t hear.

    Elfie felt his jaw slacken with the level of chaos of everyone doing their own things in the class. He didn''t know how so many different types of students could even coexist. Rules and regulations didn''t seem to apply to this particular zone and Elfie didn''t know what he should be doing. Scarlet was surrounded by the more normal-looking students and had already delved into helping them study. Alex was being interrogated by some other boys and looked highly uncomfortable with all the questions thrown her way. Jasper was still busy setting up his teaching materials and struggled with the projector.

    Deciding that he could at least be of help to the boy with bangs, Elfie headed over to offer his assistance.

    Once the projector was set up, the lights were dimmed and the chatter eventually died down. The students quieted down and brought out their books from underneath the desks. Jasper told Elfie to help him with any students who seem to be struggling with the lessons. He would be going through new topics and those who struggled to understand old ones needed more assistance.

    "We don''t have much time before the mid-year examinations after all," he told the programmer sadly. The sigh that followed told Elfie everything he needed to know about how the situation was looking.

    "Where are you covered until? Maybe I can help..." Elfie offered and Jasper turned to look at him for a moment without saying anything.

    The programmer was startled when he saw a sole tear falling from beneath the bangs and panicked. Without holding back, Jasper dumped an entire list of topics they had yet to cover before the mid-year examinations for three main subjects. Elfie was a little surprised that electives were not included and Jasper explained that it was a strategy.

    "Core Subjects hold higher credit points than electives. For them to get a passable acc.u.mulated credit point, it is wiser to focus on the beefy topics. I ditched some topics for certain subjects based on analysis of past year papers. They don''t amount to many marks. On the other hand, I need these topics I circled to be mastered. It''s going to help them pass."

    Elfie took a look at the topics and shuddered. He wasn''t too good at them himself and the thought of teaching someone else what he wasn''t familiar with scared him.

    Jasper saw the conflict in Elfie''s expression and put a hand on the smaller boy''s shoulder.

    "Don''t worry," he told the hacker. "These boys are dumber than you think they are. Let me handle the ones who already understand the concept of multiplication and fractions, all you need to do is teach fractions and multiplication to those who still can''t cope. They''re all hanging out in that left corner."

    Elfie didn''t know what to say and nodded. If it was only fractions and multiplication, it should be easy, right?

 Chapter 94 - Upgrading Brain Cells

    Jasper continued teaching the topics he had to cover to the only six students seated at the front who could keep up with the normal pace of learning. The boys who already knew the topics at the back of their hand either left early, didn''t show up in school or spent it minding their own business in a corner.

    Alex and Scarlet were doing very well helping the slower students like Jinru, Khalid and Teddy. Although the pace was slow, Alex and Scarlet''s continuous encouragement inspired them to persevere.

    Elfie looked at the three students who couldn''t understand multiplication or fractions and wanted to cry. Dragon, Reggie and Mustafa were starting to lose interest after Elfie''s fifth explanation.

    "Why can''t we just throw a die for the answer? My grandfather always does that before he buys the lottery," Dragon asked.

    Elfie deadpanned. "How many times did your grandfather win the lottery using this method?"

    Dragon grinned. "None!"

    Elfie groaned. "Then what makes you think that this is a good method for the exams? Also, there are questions that have blanks without options to choose from. How are you going to answer that?"

    The martial artist shrugged. "When there is a will, there is a way."

    As wise as that sounded, Elfie didn''t believe a word of it coming from the Bruce Lee fan. Having faith without a solution was simply fuel for a one-way trip for failure. Dragon didn''t have a plan at all!

    On the other hand, Reggie was like a balloon. If he didn''t hold on tight to the boy, he would lose him to the daydreaming.

    Mustafa was slightly better to work with in Elfie''s opinion. At least the soccer player was able to understand some things when Elfie put them into perspective for him. However, that''s the limits to what the hacker could do. He tried to introduce algebra to Mustafa but the boy''s brain simply shut down on that. Apparently, Mustafa didn''t do very well with English or languages. Seeing alphabets triggered some sort of trauma and the soccer star preferred to learn through seeing visual ill.u.s.trations.

    "Let''s take a short break, alright?" Elfie almost pleaded for it. None of his entrusted students turned down the request for a break and quickly went off to do their individual tasks.

    With some time and space to himself, the hacker quickly consulted the internet for teaching tips and tricks. The hacker groaned. The internet was full of methods and suggestions but Elfie highly doubted that any of those would work on the students he had. Scarlet was already applying some of those tricks and it was only proving to be mildly effective for the slower students under her care. He groaned. The problem here wasn''t understanding. It was a lack of intellect. Before any proper learning could take place, Elfie had to figure out a way to take care of that lack of useable brain cells in the three idiots'' heads.

    Nobody paid the small programmer any heed as he started tapping away quickly at his laptop. Elfie knew that this was a personal exercise he did when he was much younger. Brainteaser exercises only helped so much. However, this was Danny''s special mental training regime that allowed Elfie to understand much more than what books could provide. As a programmer, he had to be able to do multi-level thinking with complicated steps and processing that often surpassed computers.

    Jasper looked at the time and decided that he would also let the rest of the class have a short break. He had to review the progress from the girls and the programmer after all.

    To his surprise, Elfie had already dismissed the three idiots and was busy working on something else.

    "You''re done?" he asked in surprise.

    Elfie sighed heavily in response but his fingers never stopped working. Scarlet and Alex also dismissed the study group and decided to check on the boys.

    "It''s a fundamental problem of capacity. If I upgrade their ability to process information, things will progress smoother."

    Jasper wanted to point out how human brains weren''t like computers where parts could be replaced and upgraded for better parts.

    "I''ll need another twenty minutes to finish this coding exercise. Once it''s done, I would like to borrow the projector. I think these boys are not going anywhere with their brains like this. If you gave me two days, I can show you the results of this special brain exercise. My father created this and I can assure you that it works. I did it when I was much younger so it''s not impossible for them."

    The gardener''s son nodded, pleased to see that Elfie had already made himself comfortable with the class. It was concerning how guarded he was when they first met him. Elfie looked very lonely and afraid of them but thanks to the delinquent class, he was able to open up and be who he truly was. Scarlet gave Alex a sly wink at their success and Jasper smiled. The Entrepreneur''s Circle was a good place for people to let down their guard because the bunch of misfits weren''t judgemental people. In fact, their honesty often makes people feel at ease. Some of them might be fools but they were nice people to be with who had each other''s backs in times of need. Such an environment was hard to find and Scarlet was happy that Elfie looked happier now even though the happiness and stress were about the same level.

    "Do you think we can give the exercise a try?" Alex asked, genuinely curious about it. Teaching the boys might have been fun but it wasn''t challenging for her. She didn''t have much studying to do since the heiress was well prepared for the upcoming exams. She spent the whole of yesterday trying to rush out the year''s worth of homework and self-studied ahead of the curriculum just so she could dedicate more time into her art project. According to Debbie, Scarlet''s first manuscript was almost ready and Alex wanted to hone her art techniques before she drew Scarlet''s first book cover.

    "Sure!" Elfie smiled. "Everyone can attempt it. The exercise trains the brain to think on multiple levels. Although it isn''t designed to target certain intellect levels, it can still be tricky for geniuses who have not learnt how to multitask."

    Jasper was intrigued. "Multi-tasking is easy though, I see even the servants back home do it. Our butler, Jenna, is a pro at it. She can give out orders over the phone while inspecting the venue."

    Elfie laughed. "Well, she probably hasn''t done multi-tasking of this kind then but she definitely has a head start on many of the students here."

    Scarlet felt excited. "What do we need to do in order to participate?"

    The programmer didn''t look up from the screen. "We need good ears, writing materials and courage."

    Alex raised a brow and exchanged looks with her sister. "Courage?"

    Elfie grinned. "It''s going to be very demoralising and depressing... at least for the first few sessions until you get the hang of it."

 Chapter 95 - Mental Gymnastics

    Ten minutes. That was all the time it took for Elfie to single-handedly launch everyone into a pit of self-deprecation. Even Tom, the smartest student from the latest results, wasn''t spared. It was a massacre.

    For some reason, the hacker looked proud of himself for the deed. "Told you it wasn''t going to be easy," he laughed at Jasper who groaned.

    There wasn''t anyone in the class who didn''t tease Jasper about his results. In fact, this cheered the slower students in the class. Dragon scored higher than Jasper and wouldn''t stop rubbing it into the leader''s face. Elfie was slightly surprised that Dragon scored rather high on the benchmark even if it wasn''t anything great.

    Alex didn''t do very well but wasn''t too disheartened when she knew about everybody else''s results. Scarlet was impressed that she actually failed something for the first time in her life. Failing it together with everyone else made her feel as if it was alright to make mistakes at times and not always be perfect. She thought that failing something would leave a stain in her pristine records but he was wrong. If anything, she had a relieved look on her face as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

    Not many people realised it but Elfie who was standing in front of the class noticed the strange expression on Scarlet''s face. That made him more curious about her. Maybe she wasn''t the same as the girls he knew. Scarlet might be an exception and by extension Alex too because she was Scarlet''s sister. He found himself wanting to get to know the trio more now after seeing them act so unguarded in this class.

    "If only our class could be like this too," he thought sadly. Elfie knew that his time here would be brief. After the examinations, he would not have any excuses to stay or visit. Danny would most likely have him travel to another country to lose the traces of their pursuers. The Interpol would want him to start cracking down on a new case and the programmer would soon be back to his colourless life.

    While the students were still busy exchanging answers and laughing at how badly they did, someone noticed the strange expression on Elfie''s face.

    "Hey, kid!" Rowan yelled. "What did you score? Don''t lie, I saw you taking the test with us."

    Elfie blinked and tried to hide his results but someone else was faster. The class hooted as Dragon snatched the result slip and passed it to Jeff to tally the score.

    "Come on, what did he get?" Jinru urged and Jeff shook his head.

    "Perfect score..."

    At that, the class was once again thrown into chaos. Suddenly, Elfie became the star of the party and everyone wanted to talk to him from dishing praises to clapping him and the back and calling him a sly dog. The programmer was overwhelmed. He had never received this much attention or affection in his life and the feeling was unfamiliar with him. He didn''t know how to cope and tried to escape but to no avail.

    Elife blushed and stuttered in embarrassment.

    "It''s a matter about short-term memory retention and experience acc.u.mulation in the long term," he said.

    Jasper was impressed by how Elfie was able to demonstrate how to apply this multi-level thinking strategy in studies. He didn''t know where Elfie learnt this but he was willing to bet that it didn''t come from books or the internet.

    "Knowing when and what to pick out during an information dump to make intelligent guesses is the key to coping with stress. For example, I can''t accurately pinpoint what the girl is saying because it is a foreign term so I archive that information and focus on what she says after it. In this reading passage, I skim through the pages for verbs, nouns and adjectives. Things like connectors are seldom important. If a sentence has ten words, picking out two or three key points is good enough. Your brain learns to pick up priorities over time with the exercises."

    Jasper nodded. Now it started to make sense. Multitasking and parallel processing simply wasn''t humanly possible. What Elfie did was simply increase the speed of switching tracks for the mental processing capabilities. If he had to compare it to something, it would be similar to stretching metal limits like how a gymnast tries to stretch past their physical limitations.

    "Why are we learning how to count orders and calculate profits? This has nothing to do with the examinations, does it?" the DJ wannabe asked and Elfie grinned.

    "If you can improve your mental stamina as well as the flexibility to think and switch tracks, you will be able to memorise things effortlessly despite not completely understanding them. This is a simple mental exercise to increase mental flexibility and capacity to retain information."

    Alex blinked. She was overwhelmed by the level of complexity the simple exercise proved to be. On the other hand, Scarlet was having a hard time trying to do math under pressure. She could remember the orders in sequence perfectly fine and was the only one in the class, other than Elfie, who got all the order sequences correct. Many, including Jasper, missed out the changed order from gr.a.p.e juice to soursop juice.

    "Now that everyone understands the purpose of this exercise, shall we try round two?" the programmer smiled.

    Instead of being discouraged, the class got even more fired up. The better students like Tom were even more determined to master the skill of multi-level thinking now that the playing field was evened out.

    "Let''s make this a competition," Jinru suggested and the boys immediately jumped onto the idea, forming teams.

    "The team who makes the least improvement will have to clean the classroom for the rest of the next school term. The team that makes the most improvement will be given priority to choose the desks and chairs that they want in the next seat swap."

    Jasper had an evil smirk and added on to Jinru''s suggestion. "Team members you choose should be balanced out. The team with the highest academic average scores will be given cash prizes by princess Alex over there. The team with the lowest academic average scores must run errands for the rest of the next semester. Anyone who chooses not to participate will be subjected to counselling sessions with Dany."

    There were cries of outrage from some boys who called Jasper a devil. Elfie was nervous for a while until he realised that they were simply joking. The programmer smiled and found himself enjoying school for the first time.

    "Should we inform the rest of the boys absent about the challenge?" Jeremy asked and Jasper thought it was a good idea.

    "Hey, Elf!" Dragon yelled. "What''s your number? We need to add you to the group chat!"

    Not expecting that, Elfie froze. He had at least five different phones for business purposes and none of them were appropriate numbers to be given out because they were taped and highly secured lines. The troubled expression made the rest of the class shift their focus onto Elfie.

    Once more, the hacker found himself on the receiving end of hostile judgement played up by his low self-esteem and mental trauma.

    Alex caught onto it quickly and defended the programmer by chiding the boys.

    "Don''t pressure him! The poor boy is only ten and not many ten-year-olds have phones. We''ll be sure to add him to the group when his father gets him one."

    Tom laughed and was the first to apologise. That broke the tension and the rest of the class let the matter go, much to Elfie''s relief. He glanced over thankfully to the Wilde princess who winked at him. Perhaps his initial assessment of Wilmer''s children had been wrong. They were indeed nice and welcoming people even if they were a little odd.

    He returned her wink with a small smile and nod before resuming the mental exercises that everyone became fired up about.

    [Days till Mid-Year Examinations: 15 days.]

 Chapter 96 - First Meeting

    Jasper wasn''t expecting the class to be noisy when they arrived the next morning. The unusual level of activity surprised him. Alex and Scarlet exchanged looks and grinned widely. The girls have been dying to meet the rest of their classmates ever since Elfie''s appearance.

    "What are you waiting for, Jasper? Let''s go! I bet it''s going to be a full attendance today," Alex gushed and Jasper shuddered. He wasn''t mentally prepared to meet so many people.

    The door opened and Elfie beamed. "Guys, meet our new classmates! They are the ones who initiated the project to help the class of misfits study. We should crash the tutoring session later. It''s going to be fun!"

    Scarlet counted the number of students in class silently and was thrilled to know that there was a full attendance. She couldn''t identify some of them but it was possible to make an intelligent guess based on Dany''s brief introduction about them on their first day.

    Alex, being the social butterfly that she was, dragged her sister and Jasper along to introduce themselves to the small crowd.

    "Hello, I''m Alex. This is my sister, Scarlet and my childhood friend, Jasper!"

    A very small Chinese girl hopped from her seat and ran towards Scarlet, hugging the girl. "You''re Scarlet? I heard so much about you from Mr Wong! You don''t know how long I''ve been waiting to meet you. Are you interested in writing lyrics and forming a band with me?"

    Scarlet blinked. The girl had a high pitched voice, braided pigtails and looked younger than them.

    "You must be Lin Lin?" she smiled and returned the hug awkwardly with the crutches still under her arms.

    "Come, sit down first," a tall boy pulled out an empty chair for Scarlet. "It must be difficult to move around in that. How did you get hurt?"

    Alex looked away when she heard that question. She remembered how Scarlet broke her leg and despite the good relationship they now had, the Wile princess still felt guilty over what she''d done. Scarlet smiled politely and just told the young physicist that it was an accident but didn''t elaborate any further.

    "How about a round of self-introductions?" A Scandinavian girl with blue eyes, brown hair and light freckles suggested. Scarlet eyed her pink braces and thought that they looked pretty.

    "You should start first," a bespectacled Chinese boy grinned and pointed at the Scandinavian girl who rolled her eyes and flipped her hair back before smiling at the trio.

    "Hi, I''m Jean Dawn, a polyglot who speaks sixteen languages fluently. You''re next," she shot back at the bespectacled Chinese boy who pouted. Alex cooed silently and resisted the urge to pinch his cheeks.

    "I''m Jun Le, a chess grandmaster but I mostly play for fun. My hobbies are catching Pokemon and fixing jigsaw puzzles."

    The tall boy from earlier smiled. "I guess I''m next. My name is Nathan Chia but feel free to call me Nate. I''m fourteen this year and am doing my PhD in quantum physics so you won''t see me very often here although you can still contact me online. If you need help in Math or physics, I''m your go-to guy."

    "Don''t listen to him," a boy with messy curly hair told them. "I''m Farid and I am also good at Math and Physics. I like to fix and build things so you can come to me instead."

    Jasper grinned. "What a coincidence! I also know of someone who loves helping others fix things. You should talk to him."

    A tall girl cleared her throat and smiled. "Before you guys get too carried away about geeky things, let us girls introduce ourselves, alright? I''m Rebecca Wee and I love horses. I''m currently training hard for the Youth Olympics in the equestrian category next year so you won''t see me in class often but feel free to look for me at the racing ranch!"

    The last ones to introduce themselves were the identical twin sisters. "Hello! We''re Ria and Camilia Lopez and we love to dance! Nice to meet you, Alex, Scarlet and Jasper!"

    Elfie smiled. "Last but not least, I''m Elfie but you already know me from two days ago. I''ve been telling everyone about the competition for the mid-year examinations and we want to be part of it too."

    Jasper was taken aback. "How are we going to take part in it? You do realise that it''s the delinquent class we''re talking about. It''s cheating if we form a team with them. Some of us here are only average academically while some of us are pursuing PhDs."

    Nathan grinned. "Don''t worry, we will not be adding our scores average into it. Let''s make it a competition about who can be the best mentors for the Entrepreneur''s Circle. I don''t think Danny would discourage it as long as we keep up with our mid-term examination preparations."

    Jasper thought about it. "Doesn''t sound like a bad idea but what would you benefit from doing this? I don''t think anyone here is short on cash... the grand prize is going to only be twenty dollars per person."

    Elfie clicked his tongue. "Jasper, you don''t understand. The class only gets to meet up once every half a year. This is a good time for us to make good school memories! Who cares about the cash prize? We''re here to have fun! The three of you are new so you don''t know the tradition. However, it''s important for the Special Class to always get together and do class bonding activities when we meet up."

    Scarlet felt excited at the idea of having everyone work together to help the delinquents improve. As of yesterday, even the elusive Jin Si-Han has returned to class for the competition. Everyone was fired up and with their new classmates, the writer was almost giddy from excitement at how this would play out.

    "Before you troublesome kids can plot mischief, I will have to remind you that as your official teacher-in-charge, there are rules to abide by and proper approval channels to go through for such things."

    Everyone turned around to see the counsellor standing by the window, listening to their discussion. He didn''t look too pleased but he wasn''t annoyed either. If anything, Alex thought the man looked amused and somewhat pleased.

    "Pack your bags, all of you. We''re going to pay the trouble children a visit."

    Eager and excited, the children packed up in record time with Rebecca and Nathan offering to help Scarlet with her bag and books. Jasper found himself not knowing what to do now that there were others caring for Scarlet.

    They lined up outside of the class in twos and Lin Lin stuck to Scarlet like glue whenever she could. The violinist was incredibly attached to the writer for some reason and Scarlet didn''t find herself disliking it. It was adorable and the writer felt as if she suddenly picked up an adorable younger sister.

    "Alright, boys and girls. First stop, the principal''s office!"

    They baulked at Danny''s announcement as the counsellor skipped down the stairs happily and hollered for them to follow him.

    The two oldest children of the special class, Jean and Nathan exchanged unsure looks.

    "Don''t worry, trust Danny. He knows what he is doing even if he can be a little weird at times," Elfie assured them and led the way.

    With no better options, the special class made their way to the principal''s office with mixed feelings.

 Chapter 97 - Convincing the Big Wig

    Philip Goh was a tired-looking man in his fifties. The man wore some faded long-sleeved shirt that was ironed till it was thin but he still wore it to work. Anyone could tell that he was a humble man and it was hard to find someone who would hate him.

    The man was famous on campus for not only for his love for cafeteria lunches but also because he was the man who held the most power in the school. Yes, Philip Goh was the founder of Joyville International as well as its principal. Today, the busy principal was sipping on coffee when he was informed that he had thirteen unexpected guests.

    Almost immediately, the principal jumped and scrambled to ready the underutilised conference room for the guests. It wasn''t often that Dany or the special class made their presence known. For such a grand visit, something of major importance must precede it.

    By the time Philip made himself presentable, the thirteen guests were already helping themselves to the chocolates and snacks in the conference room while waiting for him. Danny beamed at the sight of the humble principal and stood up to greet him. His students followed his example to stand up and bow in greeting but Philip was quick to urge them to take their seats.

    "That was some rather short notice, Mr Wong. May I know what''s the agenda behind the sudden visit?"

    The counsellor grinned and glanced over to Jasper. "It''s nothing bad. The class and I had a discussion about this semester''s class bonding activity and we would like to seek your permission for some inter-class activity session. Jasper here came up with the proposal and the rest of the class are eager to participate in a little healthy competition. Jasper, please."

    The young entrepreneur felt his stomach drop at the sudden bomb passed to him. He stood up stiffly and bowed, his brain running miles per second trying to put together a sound plan to convince the principal.

    Philip was impressed by how collected the boy was acting. He carried himself with professionalism beyond his age that the school founder couldn''t help but applaud. Jasper Hopper had innate leadership qualities that Philip wanted to personally polish. Not only that, he could see now why Jasper was considered a genius despite the results pointing out that he could be merely gifted with his above-average intelligence and maturity. Wilmer Wilde insisted vehemently that all three of his children were genius by different measures.

    Initially, Philip only recognised Scarlet to be a genius and Wilmer''s other two children were merely considered above-average and talented. However, Philip didn''t think that Alex nor Jasper deserved the title of genius because they had very ordinary answers in the interview questionnaire. Still, Wilmer pushed it hard and made the principal an offer he couldn''t refuse. Everyone knew that supporting the special class took a lot of funding. Wilmer was able to cover all the expenses for the special class if Philip accepted all three of his children into it. The terms were more favourable for the school from a business perspective. it didn''t have much to lose out on whereas Wilmer was forking out a hefty price in exchange for it. That was the only reason why Philip agreed to give Alex and Jasper equal treatment like how the other geniuses of the special class would be treated.

    He heard stories about how Alex and Jasper fought had to forge their own paths and recognised that apart from talent and gift, they deserved to be in the special class simply because of their hunger to excel. The boy, in particular, had a rather interesting project and impact on the students causing Philip the most headache.

    While Philip didn''t dislike the students in the Entrepreneur''s Circle. However, they were making it difficult for him to justify the education system and rebuttals from jealous parents about the special treatment these misfits received from the school. The principal was a strong believer that every child deserves the chance to succeed and tried his best to provide the best for every child based on their capabilities. Streams were formed to match a teacher suited to the group of students'' learning pace. The special stream was a small group of unique individuals with different talents and gifts who didn''t need a lot of guidance from the school. They represented the school or country to accomplish world-changing deeds. On the other hand, the existence of the delinquent class was due to the social hierarchy created by the snobbish rich students that made up the majority of Joyville International. It was something beyond Philip''s control and the one regret he had ever since the birth of the school.

    No teacher wanted to teach the delinquent class simply because the task was too daunting and intimidating. The only person who volunteered for the job was Danny who was technically the school counsellor. He went in there from time to time to ensure that the students were in good mental condition and never forced them to study if they didn''t want to. At the same time, Philip couldn''t be more grateful to the eccentric counsellor for volunteering to be the person in charge of the highly challenging bunch of students from the special stream.

    It certainly wasn''t an easy task to find a teacher capable of stimulating the genius class when they were all so diverse and bright. These children came from all sorts of backgrounds, ages and countries. They specialised in different areas that most ordinary people couldn''t relate to. Philip didn''t know if it was a blessing in disguise that Dany had a son who was also a genius. Elfie''s school fees were subsidised by the school as part of special staff benefits to retain the counsellor.

    Imagine Philip''s surprise when Danny introduced a very rich and influential CEO as his friend who wanted to enrol his three children with the school. Now, looking at Jasper, Philip wondered if this was going to be the turning point for Joyville International. Was he looking at the future hope of this campus?

    "Hence, I would like to propose a plan that could help to foster better inter-class relationsh.i.p.s as well as a healthy competition to inspire the students who have long given up hope on themselves. There is as much to learn from them as much as there is to give."

    As Jasper''s pitch concluded, Philip found himself smiling from ear to ear. Everyone in the special class took it as a good sign and held onto their breaths, waiting for the final verdict. Once the principal gives his approval, they couldn''t wait to split up into teams and discuss their team strategy.

    "I have to admit that I am impressed by how detailed you planned this. Very well, I have no objections to the inter-class activity. However, there are a few things that you have to agree to. Firstly, Dany must be in the class to supervise your activities at all times. Any after-class activities must be arranged and signed by all your guardians and returned to Danny. This applies to both the special class and the members of the Entrepreneur''s Circle."

    Nobody objected to it and Philip continued. "Secondly, I would like all teams to submit their poof of class-bonding activities. You must all make a scrapbook full of pictures, plans, reflections or feedback about each other as proof that you can make new friends."

    The girls squealed in excitement at making a scrapbook for memory and the boys started discussing how many pages would qualify for a scrapbook, trying to put in as little effort as possible for the project.

    "Lastly, I would like everyone to aim for a record-breaking result for the students in the Entrepreneur''s Circle club. With this many brilliant students tutoring them, I think Joyville International would see yet another miracle. For change to happen, we must first break the cycle and build a new path to follow. Our teachers have failed these children and now, I have to ask a favour from you, the future of your generation to guide them to the best of your abilities."

    Touched by the principal''s speech, everyone agreed to the terms and assured the humble man that they would give it their best.

    Danny smiled and thanked Philip for giving them the green-light before calling for a class meeting and briefing before they visited their new classmates. Philip graciously left the conference full of smiles. He couldn''t wait to see the mid-year examination''s test average scores.

 Chapter 98 - Team Names

    Danny looked at the names and the teams submitted by the students before the break. It was quite an interesting combination with the special class opting to split from their usual combination to even out the playing field. On the other hand, the misfits were also doing well with their strategy of gathering those quick with their minds and those good with their minds after Jasper''s declaration of the prizes and penalty.

    More amusingly, the children had come up with names for their teams that reflected their personality. Danny couldn''t think of a better match for these names and snapped a photo of it before forwarding it to the principal. Philip would love the gossips and behind the scenes of this interesting class-bonding activity. It was the main reason why Danny was sent to supervise them.

    #1: Team Scarlet

    Leader: Scarlet

    Tutors: Lin Lin & Nathan

    Members: Jinru, Tom, Jin Si-Han & Samuel

    Danny was a little surprised as to why Samuel was in the group. He was aware that the rest of the members idolised the young writer to varying extents but why did that mysophobic german choose that team?

    Some things simply couldn''t be explained.

    #2: Team All or Nothing

    Leader: Jasper

    Tutors: Elfie & Ria

    Members: Mustafa, Khalid, Jeff & Jeremy

    Danny took a look at the submitted names for the second group and felt like it was no surprise. Jasper''s strong leadership and Elfie''s expert support would make a good team. It was a rather well-balanced team and Danny''s only concern was for Ria who was the only girl present. Would the dancer be able to cope without her sister interacting with a group of boys?

    #3: Team Dreamer

    Leader: Jean

    Tutors: Alex & Farid

    Members: Reggie, Rowan, Benedict & Issac

    The third team was something that made Danny burst out in laughter. Their team name couldn''t be truer. In fact, as Danny ran through the names on this list, he didn''t know if he should be worrying how Issac was the only one who didn''t count as a dreamer.

    He knew how Farid and Jean quarrelled earlier about the position of the leader and Alex was pressured into voting for one of them to be the leader. Eventually, it was decided that the two squabbling students would play a game of rock-paper-scissors to decide. Farid sulked the entire afternoon when Jean won all three games. The counsellor couldn''t help but worry about the dynamics of this team.

    #4: Team Action First

    Leader: Rebecca

    Tutors: Camilia & Jun Le

    Members: Dragon, Roy, Teddy & Vivian

    True to the team''s name, Danny felt a headache thinking about Rebecca''s strange request to go to the indoor sports hall for their team''s lessons. With the exception of jun Le and Vivian, the rest of them were rather athletic and sporty. Danny really didn''t want to judge but the term ''muscle heads'' came to mind immediately when he heard the request.

    Still, he couldn''t deny that Dragon learnt best when he was given the chance to move about while learning.

    Now that they had their teams, Danny asked each team leader to submit a crash course training program covering all three major modules after the 2-hour compulsory lessons every morning until the date of examination. The teams were discussing it over the break and Danny was excited to know what these kids would come up with.

    For the sake of the slower students, Danny had to revise his lesson plans and put into consideration that the students of the special class had different examination papers from the delinquents. Not all of them took the standard papers for their respective ages. Lin Lin, for example, was too young to be skipping years so she was still taking examinations for eight-year-olds. On the other hand, there were academically advanced students like Scarlet, Jasper and Alex who skipped a year and were taking examinations for eleven-year-olds. Nathan was exempted from sitting for Math and Physics examinations etc etc.

    "They would need at least three one-to-one study sessions with me during the next two weeks," Danny murmured and drew out a timetable. He couldn''t host a general class for the special students and there simply wasn''t enough time after school to complete all the individual lessons.

    There was only one way to do this and Danny didn''t know if it was a good idea to host private tutoring sessions while they tutored the EC class. Danny decided to take the gamble either way. For now, it was the most effective method and anything conventional can be ignored while his students competed against each other.

    Lesson plans aside, Danny was secretly thrilled when his son proposed creating a secure chat room for the EC class and the special class. It didn''t take long before Elfie became attached to the other kids and it was something Danny was very thankful for. Without the influence of Wilmer''s children, Danny didn''t know how to give Elfie a somewhat normal childhood memory of school. Thanks to their influence, he was now able to see EWlfie act like his age, sparkling with excitement and running around enthusiastically doing silly things with his new friends.

    The friendly rivalry between teams as they passed teasing remarks and poked fun at one another made Danny smile. So far, the mood was good and nobody has started making any toxic remarks or started any form of drama that Danny always saw in the other classes. Rich snobby kids with too much time on their hands tended to do that. Putting other children down seemed to be some kind of mean sport that every rich snobby child participated in. Of course, the school didn''t condone such acts but with powerful parents backing such uneducated behaviour, even Philip''s hands were tied.

    Strange as it may sound, Danny didn''t think that the students in the special class and EC class were too different. In fact, they shared more similarities than other people might think. All these were only possible because Jasper decided to take that first step into meddling with the EC class as part of his grand plan.

    In times like this, Danny wondered if fate had a heart. Danny tried for years to encourage the misfits but they''d completely shut him out of their world. All it took was for Jasper to make a ridiculous bet to break down that wall they built. the rest was easy after that as Scarlet built a bridge and the special class crossing it to meet the EC class halfway.

    Maybe there was nobody else who could understand the pain the EC class felt until the special class came along. Both classes understood what it meant to be different, to not have a place to belong, to crave normalcy and embrace their true selves. Danny envied how easily the children accepted each other''s quirks and personality. The teams started out as strangers but now, they were bonding over food, songs, games and even books during their break.

    As a counsellor, nothing was more touching than seeing faith in humanity restored. If children could accomplish things that a.d.u.l.ts couldn''t, it would be totally humiliating for a.d.u.l.ts to not be able to clean up the mess they made. Both he and Wilmer had to buck up if they didn''t want to lose to their children.

    The feud with Anastasia must be ended by them.

 Chapter 99 - Leaders Meeting

    The E.C. Class was rightfully excited after they had the principal''s approval to have a joined learning session with the Special Class. Likewise, the Special Class couldn''t contain their excitement. Danny supervised his students in the E.C. Class while they socialised. The four leaders decided to hold a meeting and stepped out of the room for a bit.

    "Thank you for accepting my invitation," Jasper smiled. The girls didn''t seem to mind. However, they were curious.

    "Why so sneaky? We could have talked about it back there," Jean pointed out.

    Scarlet smiled. If she guessed it correctly, Jasper wanted this to be a secret from the rest of the boys.

    "I know that we''ve been divided into teams but for the sake of class bonding, I want to bring up some suggestions that we can do together as a class and not just a team," the boy admitted.

    Rebecca who had been silent from the start smiled. "Actually, I was thinking about the same thing. I wanted to host a class party to celebrate everyone''s efforts before the exam."

    When Jean heard that, she became excited. "I volunteer to do the collage scrapbook for the class! Alex is good with art and Farid is good at making things. We''ll make the best commemorative present!"

    Jasper hummed. The girls had good ideas but he doesn''t know what his team would be doing. Likewise, Scarlet had no idea what her team could contribute to. Of all the teams, she had the most intelligent people on it. There wasn''t much she could do.

    "I would need to discuss this with my team. I don''t know what they''d want to do," Scarlet admitted. "I''ll let everyone know once we have it. Shall we set up a leader''s group chat?"

    Jasper volunteered to be the host of the group chat and added Danny just so the counsellor could step in if things get too overboard.

    "I''ll have to check with my team as well," Jasper said. "Let''s postpone the discussion for now. The next agenda of the meeting is to discuss study venues."

    Rebecca grinned. She had already thought about it from the very beginning when she formed her team. Who said that studying had to be conventional? With the number of muscle heads in her group, it wouldn''t be surprising for them to want to mix studying with moving around. Why not work out a sweat while studying? Besides, Scarlet said that it worked perfectly well for Dragon and that boy was the one Rebecca had most concerns with.

    "I''ve included the venue in my proposal to Danny. We will be taking a portion of the indoor sports hall. I will also be borrowing the strategy meeting whiteboard there and some markers. It will not clash with the venues the rest of you want."

    Jasper tried his best not to judge and Scarlet smiled. She thought that Rebecca''s idea was brilliant. "That''s probably a good idea," she told the athlete honestly.

    Jean decided that she wanted to go to the library for her team''s study session. "I think it''s better for my team to go to the library. We have a few inquisitive minds who might need the books and research."

    Jasper picked the computer lab after the girls. "Elfie said he was going to create a quiz drill so we will be needing those computers. If you girls are interested, drop by anytime."

    Scarlet had never heard of a quiz drill but that could be exactly what the weaker students in her team needed. She thought about it. Jinru and Samuel needed detailed lessons and slow explanations to understand concepts before attempting questions. Elfie''s special mental gymnastics had to be done daily and Scarlet frowned.

    "I think my team and I will stay in the classroom for our studying sessions. Would it be too much trouble if we dropped by the venues you are using? I think a balanced approach would be better for us. The quiz drill sounds interesting and we might need a change of scene from time to time."

    Jasper and Jean welcomed Scarlet enthusiastically but Rebecca welcomed Scarlet more enthusiastically. "If you can get some smart brain cells to rub off the members of my team I would be eternally grateful!"

    They laughed at Rebecca and tried very hard not to mention names. However, everyone knew that teaching Dragon was going to be tricky. Other than martial arts, that boy had difficulty in everything else. His attention span was as good as Reggie''s and his ability to understand was almost on par with Jinru''s. That said, Scarlet offered her assistance to Rebecca who looked like she wanted to cry.

    "I''ll see how I can help, don''t stress too much, alright? Nathan might be able to come up with something that can help."

    Jean raised a brow. "Nathan? I suggest you don''t count on him too much. He might be smart but he makes a terrible teacher. Trust me, the special class suffered in his hands trying to study together. He''s almost as bad as Danny. Once he touches on a subject with a side story, he never comes back."

    Scarlet blinked. "Oh. Thanks for the heads up... That''s rather unexpected because he looks so serious."

    Jean groaned and Rebecca patted Scarlet. "You''re adorable. No wonder Lin Lin is so taken with you. Nathan just has this poker face, he isn''t actually serious most times and has terrible social skills. His jokes are crass and the first time we met each other, I wanted to slap him. His sense of humour is not something ordinary people can get. Only the geeks will laugh but in Joyville, nobody is on his level to even understand them."

    By now, the meeting had long adjourned but the leaders were having a good time getting to know one another while discussing study strategies that they were going to use. Without much teaching experience, Rebecca took notes from Jasper and Scarlet while Jean listened attentively. The linguist wasn''t feeling too confident in teaching the other subjects like Math and Science so Jasper offered to help.

    "We can make joined study sessions if you are keen," he told her. "We just have to inform Danny."

    Scarlet nodded. "If anyone needs a more personal tutoring session, I think I can handle it. Just let me know beforehand so that I can arrange."

    Jean nodded. "I''ll probably be counting on you for that with one or two of my group members. If anyone has essays for marking please pass them to me. I think I''m faster than anyone else here. Don''t be shy, okay?"

    Scarlet blushed when Rebecca cooed and hugged the linguist. The equestrian extended her hug to Scarlet as well who beckoned for Jasper to join the group hug. Once they parted, Scarlet smiled.

    "All the best to us."

    Jasper grinned. "Thanks for helping out. I don''t think I''d be able to make it if I were alone."

    Jean smiled kindly. "Don''t mention it. Besides, this is more fun than listening to Danny''s lessons."

    Rebecca snorted. "I hardly get to make friends so this is cool. Alright, we should head back now. I think the class is getting rowdier. Let''s hope there isn''t a fight..."

    Nobody disagreed and Scarlet hobbled on her crutches with some help from Jasper. None of the leaders was prepared for what they saw in the class.

 Chapter 100 - Intra-Class Competition (1)

    Danny was hosting something that greatly resembled gambling. Scarlet dared not believe her eyes but the proof remained irrefutable. On the whiteboard were some names and below those names were numbers. On the right column were bets for the top-ranked group and on the left was for the bottom-ranked group. Apart from that, there were individual bets about the marks each student would score.

    Jasper looked at the bets with great interest but the three girls gave Danny judging looks with varying degrees of disgust.

    "No no no! I can explain!" Danny waved his hands frantically when the three girls gave him judging looks. Having missed out the initial part, it was easy to mistake Danny''s good intention.

    As it was, Scarlet learnt that the motivation method for males and females differed greatly. Males were powered on by the thought of benefiting from doing something. They must have a sense of accomplishment and that was completely opposite from how Scarlet felt motivation.

    "It''s basic psychology, I''m merely applying that concept to the tests. Think of this as an intra-class competition."

    Rebecca was still sceptical but there was nothing much that could be done about the situation.

    "What do the numbers represent?" the linguist asked.

    Danny smiled proudly. "This is the number of times they will be running around the school if they lose the bet. Also, the targeted marks here are decided by the students themselves. I didn''t force them to participate but everyone was inspired by Dragon''s dedication to score sixty and claim that he would run a hundred rounds around the school if he failed."

    Strangely, Scarlet could understand why everyone would be motivated. It didn''t matter how badly they did because they wouldn''t be the worst. Dragon really knew how to put himself at the edge of the cliff.

    "In that case, please allow me to make my claim as well. I will accompany anyone who failed any subjects in their exams to run around the school no matter how many rounds it takes," Scarlet smiled. Nobody has bet more than five rounds and Scarlet was confident that while running wouldn''t be possible, going around the perimeters of the school five times would be possible within a day even if it took up the entire day.

    Almost immediately, the boys on her team stared at her in shock. Lin Lin gasped and looked at Danny with disbelief when the counsellor wrote Scarlet''s bet down. The little violinist didn''t know if she should scream at Danny for taking Scarlet so seriously or the big sister she looked up to for being so foolish.

    Team Scarlet had a gloomy cloud hovering over them the entire time after Scarlet''s claim. It was evident in Tom and Si-Han''s expression that they didn''t like the idea. Jinru looked almost guilty and equally worried. He might have passed a topical test once but he wasn''t confident about the exams. What if he failed a subject? He didn''t want Scarlet to suffer along with him even if he only bet to run three rounds if he should fail. He wasn''t crazy enough to make the claim of five rounds like Si-Han.

    Scarlet looked over her team''s targets and bets on the board before copying them down in her notebook.

    Jinru - pass on all subjects, 3 rounds

    Tom - 90 for Math & Science, 75 for all other subjects, 3 rounds

    Jin Si-Han - 80 for all subjects, 5 rounds

    Samuel - 65 for Math & Science, 60 for language, pass for all other subjects, 1 round

    The team leader hummed. She wasn''t too worried about Tom or Si-Han. The two most good-looking males of the class had the brains to complement their looks. Samuel might need a little help in achieving his goals if he didn''t have much confidence in his other subjects. Scarlet would have to check the German boy''s past academic record to understand better.

    The one that Scarlet was most worried about was Jinru who seemed to be struggling and has set the highest expectations of himself.

    Lin Lin sidled up to Scarlet and pouted. "They wanted to get the class'' top average group position. Why did you have to make a bet as well?! It was totally unnecessary. Besides, how will you run with your leg like this? Don''t mention five, you won''t even make it for the first round!"

    Scarlet patted the adorable violinist''s head and smiled. "Don''t be angry, Lin Lin. I made the bet simply because I believe in these boys."

    Nathan heard that conversation from the side and bit his lips. He was often uninvolved with the class and found that hanging out with the students apart from the Special Class was usually a waste of his time because they couldn''t understand him. However, after seeing how the E.C. Class worked, the physicist wanted to do something to help them.

    "School is the easiest stage in life, nobody should be fumbling here..." he frowned.

    Unfortunately for Nathan, Jinru heard it and glared at the boy. "Just because you''re given a blessed brain doesn''t mean everyone has that same good fortune."

    Scarlet sensed the tension and glanced over worriedly. On top of his inferiority complex, his dyslexia made it exceedingly difficult to study. Scarlet knew that natural intelligence was a sore spot for Jinru and having so many people who were naturally gifted in that area on their team would put stress on the delinquent.

    Nathan sighed. This was exactly why he didn''t like talking to kids his age. They were quick to start a fight and judge. "Look. We''re a team. What you lack, let me make up for it. I can''t give you my brain or deny that I have better fortune in this area compared to others. However, there''s no need for you to act so defensively. Do you even know what examinations are? It''s a system and like all systems, there are rules. If you follow these rules, there is no way you won''t pass."

    Samuel raised a brow. The new member was really weird even for his standards. "What are you talking about? If following rules is all I have to do in order to graduate school, I would have been done with this by now."

    Nathan grinned. "I know. However, there''s something called the law and as long as we''re under the age of eighteen, there isn''t really much we can do with a.d.u.l.ts around. I can teach you the tricks to graduating. It''s not cheating but it''s also not the conventional way. Who cares if you don''t understand the textbooks and concepts? All you have to do is get the right answers, right?"

    Scarlet had a bad feeling about where the discussion was going but still, she chose not to comment. The writer was also curious about what Nathan was hinting at.

    "I don''t have it right now but I will get it ready in two days. Be prepared to be impressed!" the physicist claimed.

    Scarlet had a worried look and as socially bright people, Si-Han and Tom exchanged a brief glance with a small nod.

    "Hey, brother!" Tom grinned. "Allow us to help."

    Si-Han stared at Nathan as well, daring him not to include him silently. The pressure from both sides made the scientist falter and agree. Scarlet sighed in relief and patted Lin Lin subconsciously for self-reassurance. Would they really be ok?

 Chapter 101 - Intra-Class Competition (2)

    Unlike Team Scarlet, Team All or Nothing was facing a crisis. Jasper took a look at the bets on the board and groaned.

    Mustafa - 80 and above for all subjects, 10 rounds

    Khalid - 60 for all subjects, 2 rounds

    Jeff - 80 for all subjects, 3 rounds

    Jeremy - 70 for Math & Science, 60 for all other subjects, 2 rounds

    While the others were still manageable, Jasper didn''t understand where Mustafa''s confidence came from. While he wanted to be optimistic, it simply wasn''t realistic for the boy who struggled to get 52 in the topical test. He was one of the students Jasper and Scarlet thought wouldn''t pass and ranked within the bottom three. The gardener''s son wanted to cry.

    Ria sensed the tears coming and gave Jasper a pat on his back. She didn''t know why Jasper looked so lifeless but she figured that she would son understand. As the optimistic person, Ria decided to cheer the team on with her bubbly personality. Elfie was already working on his laptop furiously, crunching in lines of code and numbers.

    "Don''t worry, Jasper. I got this," he told the distressed boy.

    Jasper gave Elfie a side glance as if asking him if he really had everything under control. Unlike Scarlet, he wasn''t going to make a bet to run with anyone who failed on his team. He was considering whether it would be better to get Mustafa to study or train him for the ten rounds he promised to run.

    In another corner of the class, Team Dreamer was in constant war. Jean was fuming.

    "How can you make such a claim?! Hundred?!" her screams could be heard over the excited buzz in the class.

    Rowan grinned and waved his hand in an easy-going manner while rocking his chair on two legs.

    "Don''t worry, it''s going to be easy. Besides, the three of you are from the special class. What''s going to go wrong?"

    Alex took a look at the bets on the board by her team members and sighed.

    Reggie - 40 for all subjects, 1 round

    Rowan - 100 for all subjects, 1 round

    Benedict - 50 for all subjects, 1 round

    Issac - pass for all subjects, 1 round

    Were these guys even trying? Fifty and pass were unanimous. Unlike the other teams, Alex thought that her team had the least ambition. Nobody even took the exams seriously. Reggie wasn''t even aiming for a passing grade and Rowan didn''t seem serious enough to want to get hundred. Besides, every boy on her team made a bet of one round as if it was just to join in the fun.

    The studying hasn''t started but already, Alex felt exhausted. Would they really be alright?

    Like Alex, someone else was feeling the exact way. Rebecca looked at her team. Dragon was already trying to inspire everyone to start training for the run instead of studying to avoid.

    "Let''s see. If we make Mondays and Thursdays the cardio day, we have enough time to train legs on Tuesdays and Fridays. Wednesdays would be arms day because we shouldn''t slack off on training even though this is just a run."

    The high jumper nodded seriously. "I see. What will we do on weekends?

    Dragon grinned. "That is for revision and studying. Nobody comes to school on those days."

    Roy agreed and Rebecca facepalmed hard. Shouldn''t the priorities be opposite? They had everything backwards and this wasn''t something that Rebecca could work on immediately. It requires painful demolishing and rebuilding. These athletes have their basic mentality wrong and as the pride of the country''s equestrian hope, Rebecca took everything in stride. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

    Still, the bets glared back at her dauntingly from the front.

    Dragon - pass all subjects, 100 rounds

    Roy - 70 for all subjects, 10 rounds

    Teddy - pass all subjects, 10 rounds

    Vivian - 70 for all subjects, 2.5 rounds

    "It''s 2.5 rounds because Dragon told him anything less than two rounds would make him a wuss. Camila is going to run two rounds with them if anyone failed in the unofficial bet," the chess grandmaster explained when Rebecca gave a puzzled expression.

    The dancer grinned and gave Rebecca a thumbs-up. The older girl sighed. Of all the teams, she might have picked the shortest straw. Who knew that Team Action First might face dire consequences right off the bat?

    Still, the equestrian wasn''t going to give up. She looked at the group she had and nodded. Vivian and Roy were the better two of the bunch and Jun Le can take care of the more intellectual things. Camila had a naturally bubbly personality like her sister and can help encourage the boys when she introduced her spartan training regime.

    Yes, desperate times called for desperate measures. Rebecca knew it was going to be bad but this was worse than what she expected.

    "Listen up, your training begins this afternoon. I''m not going to lie but we have a lot to work with. In a team, everyone will live and die together. Dragon! Don''t drag us down. The special training to run a hundred rounds will commence after class, I hope you''re all mentally prepared."

    from the other end of the class, Alex gulped. Rebecca''s eyebrows were on fire with that frown. Everyone could tell that the athlete was pissed and nobody wanted to be in the way of that crossfire. Nobody could blame her for being so angry either. None of the other leaders wanted to deal with a crazy person who bet running a hundred rounds around the school. Scarlet would most likely back out of her claim if Dragon was in her team.

    As the different groups worked on their study strategy, Danny grinned and walked around the class, snapping pictures for proof of the class-bonding activities on-going. Everybody was fired up and none of the teams wanted to be on the bottom.

    After all, the losing team had to run the total number of rounds everyone on the winning team bet. If team Dreamer won, the losing team would have it easy. However, if Team Action First won... that would be interesting to watch.

 Chapter 102 - Strategy Meeting (1)

    Danny dismissed the class for their break earlier than normally allowed. The teams decided to take their strategy meetings outside and over food. It was such a strange mix of students that had tongues wagging by the time noon came about.

    The counsellor found it interesting how different team leaders approached the challenges differently. There was even a case of puppet leaders from Team Action First much to his amus.e.m.e.nt. Jun Le was certainly the dark horse for this intra-class competition. Due to his meek looks and mild temper, everyone seemed to have overlooked the chess grandmaster. When it came to strategy, nobody was better than Jun Le. Team Action First might just have a chance to avoid becoming the last team for this competition.

    The team that Danny worried about the most was Team Dreamer. They had a fairly balanced set of skills but nothing very useful. None of the students stuck out to him as capable in particular and even the students from the Special Class could only be considered average when it came to tutoring. Jean was a rather level-headed and mature girl but as a leader, she lacked assertion. Alex was too afraid of taking the lead and kept her thoughts to herself even if she might have some good ideas to help everyone. Rowan and Farid were too absorbed in their own world to care about anyone else. While it looked peaceful and problem-free on the surface, the challenges Team Dreamer would face in the near future might prove crippling.

    In terms of skills and resources, Team All or Nothing and Team Scarlet took the lead. Danny was interested to see how Scarlet and Jasper would fare as leaders. Both children had remarkable leadership qualities even if Scarlet''s leadership quality was still dormant. One was a logical leader and the other was an intuitive leader.

    The way Scarlet inspired her team by placing bets of her own was something Danny didn''t foresee. He didn''t think any special class student would participate but he was wrong. That was a brilliant move to pressure and motivate the students to do better. Scarlet''s team consisted of rather academically strong students so there wasn''t much to worry. Also, the sparkling hero of the Special Class was present. Nathan might have the highest mensa score in the school but he was severely lacking in social skills. If not dealt with properly, Danny could foresee isolation and underlying conflict between the boys. How was Scarlet going to deal with this?

    On the other hand, Wilmer was right about wanting to groom Jasper. The boy had a good head on his shoulders and always made decisions after heavily considering all possibilities. He was cautious and took only calculated risk to ensure that success would always be within his grasp. Being grouped with Elfie, Jasper was like a knight who was given a godly sword. the boy knew exactly how to make full use of each individual''s potential and strength while taking into consideration of their weaknesses. On the downside, Jasper''s control might feel stifling to some of the boys especially the soccer star if the school. Not everyone appreciated the rigid rule that Jasper inspired even if it was the best course of action.

    As Danny put down the finishing touches to his report, he wondered how many photos he should attach to the email. Philip was going to want to know everything but the email attachment had a limit. The counsellor sighed. Maybe it was better to send the email and pass the flash drive separately. For now, it was lunch and Danny decided to leave it for the day.

    The leaders have added him to a private group chat and Danny couldn''t help but wonder how these children manage to text during the middle of a strategy meeting. Wasn''t it supposed to be team bonding time? Why were these leaders sharing intel over the chat?

    Scarlet: Nathan said that he can finish the drafted study notes by today. We will be focussing on English, Math and Science first. What are the electives that your group members take? @Jasper @Jean @Rebecca

    Jasper: History, Geography and Social Studies. We have Arabic and Chinese too.

    Rebecca: I have someone who takes literature!

    Jean: Home Economics and Design & Technology. Does Art count as an elective? It''s project-based but the marks contribute towards the exams.

    Scarlet: Got it. I don''t know if we can help with Arabic, Chinese, Home Economics, Art or Design & technology. However, Tom and Si-Han said they can help with History, Geography, Social Studies and Literature. Didn''t know Si-Han was a fan of literature.

    Rebecca: <3 That''s so cute! When is everyone beginning the study session? My team and I are just chilling over drinks. We''re playing two truths and one lie.

    Jean: Any recommendations for breaking the ice? I have rather quiet team members... TTATT

    Jasper: How about some self-introduction?

    Jean: Farid and Rowan are too noisy... nobody can hear over them -_-

    Scarlet: What about a board game or truth and dare?

    Jean: I''ll try...

    Danny: Leaders... I thought strategy meetings were meant to be top secret?

    Jasper: It''s fine. I doubt it would hurt sharing strategies. Besides, it''s better if we exchanged resources. The main objective is to help the E.C. Class pass so we need all the help we can get. Also, Elfie hacked the school''s wifi password to distribute it to the other teams as a form of alliance bribe. Is that ok?

    Danny: ... tell that boy to see me in my office after lunch. We need to talk.

    Jasper: Roger.

    The counsellor groaned. While it was true that Philip and Danny''s intention was to get the Special Class to help the E.C. Class to pass through a joined study session, he didn''t expect things to become so complicated. From the individual leader reports, every leader was working on a different method for specialised subjects.

    Jean was teaching languages to nobody''s surprise. Rebecca took it upon herself to introduce spartan training for the muscle heads and students who didn''t perform well. Now Danny understood why she chose the indoor sports hall as the venue. It was basically a punishment centre! Jasper volunteered to be the central testing centre for core subjects and basic knowledge. Elfie definitely stole the syllabus questions from somewhere to incorporate them with his quiz drills. Those who failed more than three times were sent to Rebecca for remedial. Last but not least, the special lessons were conducted by Scarlet''s group. Everyone had to give Lin Lin their scheduled slots. The violinist had taken the role of Scarlet''s secretary and the writer has volunteered to become a tutor for those who couldn''t keep up with the pace.

    The kids had even drawn up a detailed timetable over lunch for class and group activities. There would be two lecture sessions per day. One for the faster students and one for the slower ones. While lessons were ongoing, the other group will do mental drills prepared by Elfie in the computer lab. Following that, everyone will sit in the lab until lunch running through quiz drills while Scarlet stationed herself in the classroom. Those who performed poorly in the quiz drill have to go for special classes with Scarlet and be retested. If anyone didn''t manage to score full marks for quiz drills by lunch, they would be scheduled to spend the afternoon running between Scarlet, Elfie and Rebecca. IN addition to that, all students of the E.C. class were given daily homework. Jean decided that the best way to improve in language was to write an essay every day. the linguist would spend the afternoon marking the scripts while she revised for her exams in the morning.

    Danny didn''t have issues with the proposal. However, he wondered what the point of the teams was. Sure, the Special Class remained in their respective groups but most times, the E.C. students would be moving around from station to station.

    Then he squinted at something scribbled below the timetable.

    "A point system?"

 Chapter 103 - Strategy Meeting (2)

    The point system wasn''t very complicated. However, the currency used was strange.

    "One round of run is one point?" Danny mused. The point system allowed those with bets to trade the runs with another team if they require a study favour.

    "Study favour bartering is allowed. Half points are not allowed. Bribes and favours are allowed. Leaders get to decide which team member''s run points should be removed in the event of a study favour request. If a team runs out of points to give away, they can gain immunity points to nullify the next run point they earn. Study favours upon failure are compulsory and cannot be bartered, bribed or traded for favours. Voluntary study favours are valid for an entire day. Compulsory study favours are valid for only an hour. Study favour and point scores must be tallied by every group secretary..."

    Danny laughed. No wonder Lin Lin was making appointments. If every group had a secretary, Danny needed to find out who they were. He took out his phone and started texting the leaders. This would go into his next report to the principal.

    Danny: Who are the secretaries of each team?

    Jean: Alex for Team Dreamer

    Jasper: Ria for team All or Nothing

    Scarlet: Lin Lin for Team Scarlet

    Rebecca: Camila for team Action First

    Noting the names down, Danny clarified the mastermind behind the complex point system.

    Rebecca: Actually, Jun Le didn''t think that Dragon was going to make it that''s why he decided to change that daring bet of hundred rounds to points so that he could get extra help when required.

    Danny nodded. It wasn''t a bad idea. In fact, thanks to the chess grandmaster and the brilliant strategy, the playing field was levelled.

    Danny: Just make sure that the competition is still fair. I need to have proper records to determine the top and bottom group for the bet.

    As expected, Jun le was the dark horse of the competition. Team Action First and Team Dreamer were naturally at a disadvantage when it came to academic matters. Thanks to the master of strategy, both teams now had a sliver of hope. On the other hand, creating a point system would only motivate the stronger teams to do better and get ahead of the game. Immunity was a rather powerful thing to gain after all. Nothing was said about immunity points. Perhaps it could be traded for favours at a later stage. Who knew?

    Danny approved of the timetable and point system. As he drafted his second email report for the day to Philip, the counsellor couldn''t help but be happy that the Special Class was getting along well with the E.C. Class.

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on and check out their other works. <<

    "Do you think Danny likes the idea?" Jean asked. The rest of the class were on bathroom break with only a few boys in the class.

    Jasper gave the girls a thumbs up. "He has nothing to lose. Besides, it got the class this fired up. Everyone is going to study until they puke blood at this rate. Nobody wants to take on Dragon''s hundred rounds. Rebecca, do your best to dish out as many as you can in your Spartan remedial."

    Scarlet grinned. Her team benefited the most from this proposal. They didn''t have that many rounds to bet with but there would be a few regulars who would allow them to gain immunity. She had already discussed it over with her team. Everyone wanted to use immunity points to exchange it with run points for voluntary study favours. Both Si-Han and Tom wanted to crash with team Dreamer and bombard jean with foreign language classes. Jean was the only one who could practice Korean and Japanese with them after all. Jinru and Samuel wanted to spend the whole time in the computer lab with Elfie for the special mental gymnastic exercises and quiz drills.

    Rebecca sighed. "I don''t know about that... how many students do you think will be sent to the indoor sports hall by the end of the day?"

    Jasper hummed. "In the beginning, you should expect about half of the E.C. Class but as we progress maybe by the end of it all you''ll only be seeing three?"

    Rebecca raised her brow. It wasn''t difficult for the Special Class students to figure out the famous three idiots of the E.C. Class. Some envied Scarlet for being lucky enough to not have any of the three idiots. However, they also pitied her for having the Tactless King of the Special Class in Scarlet''s team. It wasn''t easy for a.d.u.l.ts to deal with Nathan and it would be even tougher for kids to handle the scientist.

    The bathroom break was soon over, marked by the school bell. As the other students went for their break, the E.C. Class closed all their doors and windows, ready to start the class strategy plan. Jasper was giving the talk this time and all secretaries were required to pay close attention.

    "Listen up! This is what we will be doing before lunch. Secretaries, please come forward to collect the general quiz for your group," Jasper instructed and four girls stood up.

    Being a gentleman, Tom decided to help Lin Lin carry the thick stack. Each general quiz was sixty pages long and they had three hours before lunch.

    "I want everyone to complete the general quiz. No blanks allowed. If you don''t finish this, you''re not allowed to eat. Special Class students are not allowed to help and cheating is not allowed. The general quiz is an assortment of questions pulled from the quiz drills so that we can understand your strengths and weaknesses better to create a lesson plan."

    Although there were disgruntled sounds, nobody complained much. The secretaries distributed the general quiz and the boys separated their tables into recognisable test format rows even if they weren''t neat.

    Jasper started the timer and invigilated the test while studying for his own exams. The other students of the Special Class followed Jasper''s example to study for their own tests or prepare study materials for the E.C. Class.

    Danny walked in to hear complete silence in the E.C. Class for the first time and the serious mood made him feel as if he was intruding on something important. The counsellor took two pictures and quickly excused himself without anyone paying him much attention.

    Nathan scribbled away to prepare notes while Elfie tapped away on his keyboard. Scarlet highlighted someone''s borrowed textbook and circled some example questions for tryouts. Rebecca was researching workout routines on her phone and trying to incorporate them in Dragon''s special training program while Alex worked on her art project.

    In the harmonious silence and variety of activities happening in that one small classroom, the twenty-eight students shared the same focus, determined to succeed.

 Chapter 104 - Pizza and Burgers

    Philip called for Danny to his office and the counsellor wondered if he was in trouble so soon.

    "Hello, Danny. Have a seat."

    The counsellor smiled nervously and took a seat, fumbling with the buttons on his shirt as he waited for the principal to talk.

    "It''s only been the first day but I''ve already received two reports. How about we have some snacks while we chat? It''s been a while since we''ve spoken like this. What are the kids up to?"

    "They are currently in the middle of some kind of test. The whole class is quiet with everyone working very hard. Jasper sent a text. Apparently they are doing a calibration test for E.C. Class while the Special Class worked on their individual projects and preparation materials. Some are studying while others are working on remedial lesson plans."

    Philip chuckled when he heard that. It was a shame that he couldn''t be there to see the adorable children work hard with his own eyes. However, it was nice to know that they were getting along. These two groups of students always worried him the most. While it was common for children to form cliques of friends and have some drama, the ostracising of those who were different was the one that concerned him most.

    "Do you think they would like burgers or pizza more?" he asked the startled counsellor.

    Danny was not expecting such a question and the suddenness of it took him by surprise. What kind of question was that? They were children, shouldn''t the answer be obvious?

    "I think they would like both," he answered honestly.

    Philip nodded. "Both it shall be. Monica!"

    A lady in short black heels and a tight business dress came knocking at the door. "You called for me?"

    Philip smiled. "Please order pizza and burgers for twenty-eight students and have them delivered to the Entrepreneur''s Club."

    "Any special dietary requirements?" she asked and Philip looked at Danny.

    "Halal, Vegetarian and some without beef if possible. No seafood or nuts."

    Monica nodded with a smile before leaving the men to continue their discussion.

    "Why the sudden treat? It''s only the first day."

    The principal sighed and sank further into his chair. He felt old. "They''ve accomplished what I couldn''t accomplish in years within a day. I guess it takes one to know one. The children from the Special Class might not be so different from those in the Entrepreneur''s Circle. they''re more alike than we thought."

    Danny didn''t speak. The principal was right. It might not be obvious to everyone else who had the stereotype image of a genius being constantly showered with love and attention at every turn. In truth, many of them were shunned or treated coldly for being different. Jealousy was an ugly human emotion that caused even parents to hate their flesh and blood. It wasn''t uncommon to find parents of these geniuses trying to push their children towards a future they aren''t ready for. Lin Lin''s mother was once such a person. Once she discovered that her daughter was musically gifted, she pushed her daughter to an entertainment company who marketing Lin Lin so aggressively and made her go on world tours without concern about the girl''s welfare.

    After that incident of Lin Lin''s hospitalisation, her mother came to realise the cruelty she had forced upon her daughter of only six years back then. the woman repented and annulled the contract signed with the company and homeschooled the girl for a while before enrolling Lin Lin into Joyville hoping that the violinist would make some friends.

    Danny knew that not all stories have happy endings like this and Elfie''s case was certainly one of them. Unable to make friends and socialise with children of his age, the hacker had turned to ignore everyone else and chose to live in a world of only data and codes. Nathan was the same. Children called him names because of his personality and his unusual knowledge about things so the physicist preferred to be in the company of other scientists instead and actually hated the idea of coming back to school previously without the Special Class.

    The same sad story happened with the students in the E.C. Class and Philip allowed the existence of such a meaningless club simply because he wanted to give these unfortunate children a place to belong.

    The proposal to have a combined class was a risk that Philip took. If things didn''t go well, he would be dealing with two sets of enraged parents from various backgrounds. Joyville might have to close down from the scandal and he might have to retire early. However, like Danny, Philip had faith that these children can get along.

    "Have you been guiding them about the syllabus the exams will cover?"

    Danny nodded. "However, I didn''t teach them anything. They''ve decided to take on teaching, tutoring, remedial and supplementary lessons all by themselves. These kids are impressive."

    Philip nodded. "They may be impressive but you cannot forget that they are still young and immature. Keep a close eye on them."

    The counsellor nodded and then suddenly remembered something else he should be apologising for before he handed over the flash drive full of photos.

    "Uh... there''s one small problem," he said.

    Philip raised a brow. "What is it?"

    Embarrassed, Danny had a hard time admitting that his adopted son had hacked the school''s wifi and distributed the password to the entire class.

    Philip guffawed. "That''s no problem! We can always change it if it leaks. Besides, Wilmer has requested for special access for his daughter. Having a few more students with that privilege is not an issue as long as they don''t abuse the luxury."

    Danny smiled. This is why he liked working for Philip. The principal had a good heart and was easy-going, even though he was not a pushover. The man was also kind and wise, often giving Danny encouragement whenever he was in a difficult position. Philip never probed for more or asked about Danny''s personal life. He didn''t mind the crazy attire and personality Danny had when he was working. There simply was that level of trust between them like old friends.

    They sipped on tea and munched on some biscuits while chatting about some lighter topics and looked through the photos together until Monica knocked on the door to inform them a few hours later that the Burgers and Pizzas have arrived.

    "I''ll see that they are brought to the class," Danny groaned as he got up from the chair.

    Philip waved. "Let me know if they prefer burgers or pizza after this."

    Danny waved back, not bothering to reply. as much of a nice person Philip was, the man could be quirky at times. This was one of those times. Sometimes, the counsellor couldn''t understand how his boss'' brain worked.

 Chapter 105 - Making Friends Over Junk Food

    The class was full of groans. That general quiz was a killer and even the brighter students struggled with it. Jasper had to get help to carry the quizzes for marking. Alex and the twins offered to help with the grading after lunch while the leaders prepared for team bonding activities. But first, they had to settle their very first class lunch.

    "Hey, did you guys smell that?" Jeff sniffed the air and asked, breaking the silence.

    A wonderful smell wafted through the air and filled the classroom. Almost at once, the class'' energy was lifted.

    "Is that what I think it is?" Teddy asked and sniffed. His stomach growled loudly.

    Before anybody could offer to investigate, the door opened.

    "Over here. Boys and girls, can you help to make a huge long table in the centre of the class? Thanks to your brilliant efforts, the principal wants to throw a class party to commemorate the start of your hellish examination special training sessions!"

    Danny''s cheerfulness inspired some cheers and the boys flew into action with perfect teamwork much to the counsellor''s amus.e.m.e.nt. Not many of them took notice about Danny''s choice of words but Jasper did. The aspiring entrepreneur frowned. Was this a bribe or blackmail?

    Then again, in the face of a burger and pizza party, how could a mere ten-year-old boy deprived of junk food deny it?

    It didn''t matter about the age gap differences or the intellect differences the twenty-eight students had. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the feast and Danny took many pictures for the principal. Still, the counsellor wasn''t sure if they enjoyed the pizza or burger better. How should he write that into his report? These kids ate anything and everything!

    "Here, have one before these greedy boys take it all," Camila offered.

    Ria held out a drink to Danny who accepted it from the twins gratefully before the skipped away to join the impromptu arm-wrestling match over the last slice of Hawaiian pizza. While munching on the cheeseburger, the counsellor supposed they must like pizza more. There were still untouched burgers but everyone was fighting over pizza slices.

    As the girls gathered together just chatting among themselves, the boys were divided into several teams. There was a group of quieter bots who opted to eat and drink in silence by the walls and watched the others horse around. There was a group who were the life of the party. Jeff was definitely there trying to show off and purposely making a fool of himself to get laughs. Danny smiled at that. Some things just don''t change.

    Khalid had taken on the role of a DJ with Elfie by his side helping with the sound system set up. The trendiest music with sick beats slowly set the celebratory mood. There were a few unfriendly boys and Jin Si-Han was one of them. However, with the courage from eating junk food, the boys egged him into showing them some of his dance skills.

    It wasn''t a known fact but Si-Han learnt dancing and singing along with acting when he was younger. He simply debuted as a child actor but was actually serious about becoming an all-rounded entertainer on television.

    There was nobody more enthusiastic about a dance battle than the Lopez twins. After Khalid pumped out twerks that Danny thought he might need to bleach his eyes after witnessing, the girls took to the dance floor with some basic hip-hop grooves.

    Everyone cheered at the top of their lungs. Some stood on chairs and tables, drunk on the excitement. Dragon had already removed his shirt and waved it wildly in the air, cheering the sisters on as the moved from break dancing to popping. Scarlet looked like she wanted to join badly but the cast on her leg simply didn''t allow her to do so. Lin Lin saw that hunger in Scarlet''s eyes and smiled. Perhaps she wasn''t entirely correct. There was more to Scarlet than just writing. If she was interested in dance as well, perhaps the girl was actually an artistic type of genius but on a fuller spectrum for the arts?

    Unlike Lin Lin, Scarlet wasn''t restrained to an area of expertise that she could excel in. Lin Lin was good at performing music and composing them. Naturally, she would be good at Math and was pitch-perfect. However, Lin Lin could not sing no matter how she tried. Some things were just beyond her.

    In the short time frame that the violinist knew Scarlet, the girl was a very fast learner and took to anything art related like fish to water. Lin Lin was impressed when she heard Scarlet humming to a song she composed. She knew that other than getting Scarlet as a lyricist, she wanted the older girl to sing. If Scarlet could put words to her melody, Lin Lin knew that she could also be the voice for her songs.

    Danny didn''t intervene. Elfie looked like he was having a blast with the socially awkward Nathan who was tricked into drinking a strange drink mixture after losing the battle of rock-paper-scissors that was rigged by the sly delinquents. The hacker didn''t hesitate to drink cola mixed with chilli sauce. He was hailed a brave boy and earned the recognition as well as praise by the class. Fl.u.s.tered, Elfie yelled at them and called them idiots with a red face. Nobody was convinced but Elfie got a playful noogie for that.

    Other than yelling at the top of their lungs and dancing while dropping food all over the place, Danny thought that the special class bonding activity was a huge success. The most awkward and emotionally closed students have opened up and the level of trust for friendsh.i.p.s to blossom was just right. Philip must have done this deliberately to hasten the friendship-making process. Given only two weeks before the exams, it was a precious opportunity. Once the exams ended, the Special Class would be deserted once more.

    The party dwindled down once everyone was out of drinks. Alex and a few of the older girls started cleaning up on their own initiative. Seeing that the girls had to do such a thing, the boys quickly helped out. Danny was impressed by the influence girls had ni the E.C. Class. Who knew that these delinquents also had a gentlemanly side to them unlike the majority of the school''s male population?

    Indeed, there was probably no better way to break the ice by hosting a party with junk food.

 Chapter 106 - Team Scarlets Drama

    Each team headed out to their respective venues after the cleaning up. For some reason, the classroom looked better than it did in the morning. The boys really went all out to clean even the whiteboard and the top of the curtains. the writer couldn''t express her gratitude enough. Although there was still the smell of food lingering in the class, it wasn''t something that couldn''t be dealt with quickly with air fresheners and opening the windows.

    Nathan called out to the two boys who agreed to help him with the notes. "Can you look over them for me? Is there anything else that I''m missing out? Sorry, I haven''t exactly been in class for a while so I might miss out on some parts."

    Tom took the notes and looked over them with Si-Han who frowned. "It''s difficult to understand your notes."

    That comment made the air freeze. Nathan was expressionless but Tom definitely heard that inaudible cracking of his heart when his classmate said that. The Korean boy wasn''t the most tactful person around and the playboy was quick to do damage control.

    "Don''t worry about it, the notes are rather thorough. They completely cover the important points. It might be better if we could add some study tricks and tips after reorganising them."

    Despite those words, the physicist still looked broken. Lin Lin who was in the vicinity helping Scarlet to rearrange some desks for their study session rolled her eyes. The boys were definitely hopeless.

    "Scarlet big sis... I think you need to sort that out before things fall apart..." she whispered.

    Scarlet turned around to see the three boys standing over a set of handwritten notes. The atmosphere was awkward and the writer raised a brow. Observing people was her speciality. Why did Si-Han look so tense? His expression was tight with his lips pressed thinly together. Tom looked troubled and Nathan looked shattered.

    "Hello there, what are you guys doing now?"

    Tom was quick to respond in hopes of salvaging the situation. "Just in time, Scarlet! Could you help us look through the notes Nathan has done? Si-Han and I will help arrange the desks."

    Without waiting for Si-Han''s response, the playboy dragged him over to help Lin Lin who was struggling with a chair.

    "What''s wrong?" Scarlet asked in a low voice now that there wasn''t anyone in the area. That shattered and vulnerable expression wasn''t something she thought the physicist would show. Nathan was a socially awkward person with an emotional intelligence completely opposite of his logical intelligence.

    "Are my notes not good enough?"

    Scarlet took a brief look at the notes and noted that while the points were accurate, the presentation needed working on for the slower students to understand.

    "Your notes are good. However, we need to refine it and dumb it down a little for some of the students in the E.C. Class. Let''s revise it together?"

    Nathan wasn''t listening. His mind was too focussed on the part of not being good enough. Scarlet noticed the anger creeping in as well as a look of self-hate. She panicked a little.

    "Nathan? Let''s work with the others, alright? You did a great job."

    "But it''s not good enough, is it?!"

    Nobody was expecting an explosion from the physicist who was clowning around with them only a few hours ago.

    Nathan snatched the notes from Scarlet''s hand and tore it into half, shocking everyone in the class.

    "Nathan!" Scarlet exclaimed. Despite the difficulty of having one leg in a cast, the writer picked the notes up gently. By now, the rest of the team was helping in any way they could from finding tape to getting tissues for the crying scientist.

    Lin Lin who was earlier hostile to most of the boys in the class offered her handkerchief to Nathan. Samuel helped to tape the notes back with Jinru. Si-Han stood before the boy, not knowing what to say while Tom got him a chair.

    Nobody said much and allowed the scientist to cry. Scarlet had a basic understanding of Nathan and like Elfie, this must be the first time he made friends. For children, they often get hurt because of the things others said, not understanding why. Looking back, Scarlet knew that it was the same thing for her. She would use to run around alone and watch people simply because she didn''t want to interact with everyone who only thought of her as weird and creepy.

    However, ever since she entered the Wilde household, that feeling changed. She wanted to be closer to everyone. Back then, it was hard for both Alex and her. Suddenly having your friend as your sister and seeing your parents treat your friend better than you must have been tough on Alex. She said things that hurt Scarlet badly back then but the writer never once blamed her sister. Over time, she came to understand that words are like a knife. When used correctly, it is a useful tool. When used wrongly, it could hurt a person.

    "What happened back there?" Scarlet asked Tom who looked uneasy.

    The playboy led Scarlet away and dragged Si-Han with him. The other did their best to watch over the unstable scientist and Lin Lin took it as her responsibility to make sure that nobody did any more stupid things while Scarlet was busy. Seriously, she took her eyes off the boys for five minutes and this happened.

    "This guy," Tom ribbed Si-Han, "aid some rather insensitive things."

    Si-Han dared not meet Scarlet''s look. Tom didn''t have to elaborate much for Scarlet to guess what happened back there. Si-Han was the complete opposite of Tom. His aloof nature made it so that he didn''t have much interaction with people. If he wasn''t wearing his mask to the public, Si-Han was actually a very blunt person who doesn''t really take time to sugarcoat things.

    "Let me guess, Nathan''s notes were a little hard to understand?"

    Si-Han nodded slowly.

    Scarlet sighed and patted the tall boy on his head, taking him by surprise. "I don''t blame you. While the notes are comprehensive, Dragon wouldn''t understand them. You''re not in the wrong, let me talk to him."

    Tom felt uneasy. Nathan might have calmed down but he still felt like a bomb that could go off at any time.

    "Do you think she''ll be ok? That guy''s smart but also highly unstable."

    Si-Han sighed. "This is a pain."

    Tom rolled his eyes and smacked the actor. "Don''t let anyone hear you say that. I can''t believe your personality changes so much on and off camera. Can''t you call out your on-camera personality to handle this situation?"

    Si-Han blinked. "But I''m not working right now. Don''t want to do it, too troublesome."

    Tom gave his friend a disgusted look and walked away. Si-Han stood there like a statue and continued to observe how Scarlet tried to reason it out with Nathan who sat there stubbornly. None of her words was reaching him.

    The actor rolled his eyes. In his heart, he''d seen plenty of immature people at work. Nathan was one of those kinds of people he hated the most. He didn''t need someone so easily hurt and a drama queen in the team. So what if Nathan was smart? If the notes couldn''t be understood, it wasn''t going to be of any help. Considering there were rare idiots like Dragon in the class, Si-Han wasn''t wrong to say that.

    In the end, the actor still walked over to help the German and class leader to fix the torn notes. After sticking three pages back, Si-Han stopped.

    He pulled out his notepad and started to copy the notes instead. the taping can be done by the other two but in order to get that stupid scientist to understand what it meant by effectiveness, Si-Han needed to create an example.

    It didn''t take long for Si-Han to create notes for one chapter of Science in the presentation that was basically idiot-proof. Even Dragon should be able to understand it if he tried.

    Nathan was inconsolable and Scarlet was considering her next course of action when Si-Han walked over and shoved a piece of paper in Nathan''s face. Tom looked nervous at what Si-Han was attempting. He didn''t want a fight to break out but he couldn''t clear the misunderstanding with the two affected parties not talking.

    "Your notes. I rewrote them using your points. Check it."

    Nathan was resistant at first but he met Si-Han''s eyes and decided that the actor was sincere. he reached for the paper and glanced through the note that was rewritten. It didn''t take long for understanding to reach his eyes. After reading it the first time, Nathan sat up properly and scrutinised each line.

    "I think it could be more helpful to include the reference of the periodic group''s properties here," he said.

    Si-Han smiled. "I don''t know the properties of the periodic group. Aren''t you supposed to be the expert?"

    Nathan laughed. His confidence regained and the hurt he experienced earlier gone. He looked at Si-Han again and beamed. "That''s right. Tell me what else you need to know, let''s remake those notes."

    Scarlet and Tom heaved a sigh of relief when the two boys started discussing the details of the information that were missing. Lin Lin merely rolled her eyes.

    "Boys... how typical," she sneered and went back to her seat.

    Tom smiled at Scarlet and gave her a thumbs up. The writer sagged her shoulders forward before pulling herself upright to continue on to her seat.

    "Jinru. Samuel. Let''s start the lessons, shall we?" the writer smiled.

    Thankfully, the rest of the afternoon progressed smoothly without a hitch. Lin Lin sat with Scarlet and aided whenever she could. Tom joined Si-Han and Nathan in making notes, acting as the secretary and typing them into a word doc.u.ment using Scarlet''s laptop so that they could mass print them when it is ready.

    Danny dropped by at some point but the kids were too engrossed in what they were doing to notice it. Earlier, he was informed by the teacher teaching in the next classroom that she heard crying coming from the E.C. Class so he came by to check on them after attending to some situation with the other teams.

    Seeing them work together harmoniously allayed all of Danny''s uneasiness. It was time to write his third progress report for the day and update Wilmer about his children.

 Chapter 107 - Team Dreamers Drama

    The library was empty when Team Dreamer arrived. Danny told Jean that he managed to negotiate with the librarian about special room usage for the team until the exams. Jean had a letter from Danny that she was to pass to the librarian. They had to register themselves and wear some collar pin badge whenever they entered the library so that the librarian knew who they were.

    However, there was nobody at the counter.

    "Split up and search for the librarian," Jean told her team. "I''ll wait at the counter."

    Before Alex could go, Jean held the girl back. "Please help me keep an eye on Rowan and Farid, we don''t need them fighting here and getting us kicked out."

    The artist smiled. "Don''t worry, I''ll look after them."

    Assured, Jean let Alex go. The Wilde heiress thought that being close to Farid, she could stop the boy from causing trouble. Unfortunately, she underestimated the amount of rivalry both boys had. The search for the librarian turned competitive and Alex quickly lost sight of the small boy.

    Alex became frantic when she heard scuffles and some hissing from a few bookshelves away. Were they fighting already?

    As it turned out, both boys were glaring at each other but did nothing more because somebody else had beat Alex into restraining them. Issac pinned both boys down effectively with his naturally scary face.

    "No running in the library," he told them and Farid gulped. Rowan didn''t look too apologetic because he was more familiar with Issac but Alex didn''t let him off the hook so easily.

    "Rowan, you''re coming with me. Issac, I''ll leave Farid in your care," the heiress smiled. The inventor wanted to protest but Alex''s stern glare made him become quiet again as he followed the scary-looking boy to look for the librarian.

    Jean was waiting patiently at the counter when Reggie came running.

    "What''s wrong? Did Rowan and Farid end up fighting again?"

    The chubby boy shook his head and huffed.

    "Li-Librarian found! On the floor... collapsed!"

    Jean jumped in shock at the news and shouted for the rest of her team to gather. The librarian turned out to be a granny with white hair and thick plastic glasses. She was found on the floor looking very pale. Benedict offered to carry the lady to one of the sitting couches while Alex dialled for Danny, informing the counsellor about the situation.

    Danny was still talking to Elfie about hacking the wifi password in his office when Alex called.

    "Yes, Alex?"

    "The librarian has fainted. What should we do?"

    Almost at once, the counsellor jumped to his feet. "I''ll call an ambulance, take care of her. I''m coming up."

    "Elfie, come with me."

    Without question, the programmer followed. Danny was hardly ever unruffled and his sense of urgency could only mean that something bad has happened.

    The library wasn''t too far from the counsellor''s office but they still had to run up a flight of stairs that made the counsellor slightly out of breath by the time he reached  Jean''s team. The linguist was doing her best to keep the team calm but Alex was on the verge of a panic breakdown. None of the boys knew what to do either and simply stood around.

    Danny looked over the old lady and decided that she had simply fainted. He dialled for the ambulance to briefly explain the situation while Elfie tried to find out more. Issac and Reggie were the ones who provided the most information while Jean tried to calm Alex down.

    As Danny ended the call, he looked over at the children and then to the old lady.

    "Can all of you follow Elfie to the computer lab for today? I need to carry her down to the sickbay and wait for the ambulance. Elfie, do you have the key?"

    The programmer nodded and Danny carried the old lady.

    Seeing that, Rowan offered to accompany Danny to wait for the ambulance and open the doors. "I''ll meet you guys later," he told them and left.

    The boy''s actions made Farid feel shameful for picking a fight. While Rowan was usually annoying, he seemed to be very mature in the moment of need. Farid thought about himself and blushed in embarrassment for not knowing how to react to such a situation. Rowan was very mature and for the first time, Farid felt inferior. Silently, an admiration for Rowan started to blossom within the inventor.

    While the rest of his team proceeded to the computer lab, Rowan helped Danny get the old librarian to the sickbay. The ostentatious boy was strangely silent and Danny sensed that something wasn''t right.

    The ambulance arrived in twenty minutes and the librarian was sent to the hospital. Once everything settled down, Danny turned to Rowan.

    "What''s bothering you?"

    Rowan shook his head, not wanting to talk. He couldn''t tell Danny how lame he felt on the inside. As one of the smarter and older boys, he froze up when there was an emergency situation and let the girls do the heavy-lifting. If it weren''t for Jean''s level-headedness and Alex''s quick action, he would still be frozen in shock.

    Danny chose to observe Rowan for a while. The boy might act delusional from time to time but the counsellor knew that was all it was. An act. In reality, Rowan was just someone who was in his rebellious phase. He just wanted to stand out, be different and not be bound by the rules he hated. At the same time, he hid his insecurities and wanted somewhere to belong without conforming to the pressure of societal rules.

    "You know," Danny started casually and grabbed a packet of cigarettes from his pocket before lighting one. Rowan''s eyes widened at the sight. Nobody knew that Danny smoked, not even Elfie. the counsellor kept this close to his heart. He didn''t smoke often but sometimes when he was stressed, he did it to remember his childhood.

    "Isn''t it tiring having to pretend all the time?"

    Rowan scowled. "What do you know?"

    If they were talking about acting skills, Tom had way better acting skills. Rowan wasn''t the only one in class who hid behind masks. Jeff did it too. Why was Danny picking on him?

    "You froze up back there, didn''t you? How lame."

    That hit a sore spot. For Rowan, he became a delinquent by choice because it made him appear tough. He thought that after abandoning his good scholar-like behaviour and attitude, he''d changed. Deep down, nobody knew it better than he did. He was still that scared boy who was too afraid to go against society.

    Dany knew about Rowan''s history. The boy was transferred from a prestigious school. Due to a mistake on his part during a presentation at a fair, his school lost the top spot for the most innovative ideas. Danny wasn''t there during the presentation but he heard the rumours. To think that Rowan was one of the presenters...

    "However, you did well. You might not be good at attacking or dealing with the situation immediately as required. However, you have a good follow up. Stop trying to be a warrior on the front line, you''re more cut out to be a medic in my eyes."

    Finishing his smoke, the counsellor threw it on the ground and stepped on it. "I''ll be counting on you to look after those idiots in the lab. It''s about time I see the amount of damage the muscle heads have done to the indoor sports hall."

    Rowan looked at Danny''s retreating figure and played the words over and over in his head. He''d never had anyone recognise his strength in such a way before. A medic was a very important role during the war. They ensured that the army suffered minimal casualties and tried to save as many as they could. Rowan might not be quick-witted or brave but he certainly knew what to do in order to keep the team alive.

    Maybe being the main character like James Bond isn''t his calling. Was he more like Felix Leiter instead?

 Chapter 108 - Team Action Firsts Drama

    Jun Le and Vivian sat in a corner and watched the others scream at each other. Danny could hear the yells from below. By the time he arrived at the indoor sports hall, he was already mentally prepared for a damage cost of at least five thousand dollars.

    Instead, he saw an intense match of basketball.

    Camila acted as the referee and yelled foul when Dragon kicked Teddy away. From the headband colours, Rebecca and teddy were a team while Dragon and Roy formed another team. Danny deadpanned. Was this what the calories from pizza and burgers were going to be wasted on? When were they going to study?

    "What''s going on?" he asked the two boys who weren''t participating.

    Vivan smiled. "They are competing to come to an agreement on whose strategy they should use. Rebecca said that focusing on core subjects was easier but Dragon and Roy claimed that they should work on the other subjects since the notes for the core subjects will be released soon."

    Danny groaned. He needed another smoke. Studying anything would be better than playing a thuggish game of two-men basketball.

    Jun Le grinned happily as Teddy successfully blocked Roy while Rebecca scored. Dragon screamed in anger at his loss. The blue team was completely wiped and Rebecca looked smug with her win.

    "There, we won this fair and square three to two. We are doing core subjects," she panted.

    Roy rolled his eyes. "I''m going to sit out on this. It''s too easy."

    Jun Le''s eyes followed the high jumper with a sparkle. Whenever he met opponents who underestimated him, Jun Le would also have a similar look in his eyes.

    While they rehydrated, Rebecca started lessons, taking special care to smack Dragon with a foam bolster she found in the storeroom. Camila tidied the place up for lessons and was pulling out stack after stacks of frisbees.

    Danny watched as Jun Le approached Roy who claimed that core subjects were too easy.

    "Are you confident to get a hundred?" he asked.

    Roy raised his brow. Who was this pipsqueak?

    "Hundred? I''m not Rowan. As it is, getting an A for core subjects would be easy. I''m only bad at history and language seeing as my brain refuses to remember things."

    Jun Le nodded. "How about helping them out then? Rebecca can''t handle this many people. Dragon alone needs two dedicated tutors."

    Roy thought about it and Danny observed from the side. Whatever these kids were planning, he had to observe for a little while to see if it was safe and effective. Rebecca seemed to have something up her sleeve when she made Dragon look at the same formula and practice the same question over and over.

    Roy walked over and took over the drills thanks to Jun Le''s nudging. That gave Rebecca some time to help Teddy out. The chess grandmaster helped Camila to arrange the frisbee and took out some markers to scribble multiplication questions on scrap pieces of paper.

    It was true that some people''s mathematical basics were lacking but what exactly were they up to?

    His question was soon answered when Rebecca gave Roy the green light to stop.

    "Alright, we''re going to play a game. Have you all remembered the basic timetables and formulas earlier?"

    "Yes, ma''am!" they saluted and Rebecca nodded.

    Jun Le stood by the side recording answers and scores while Camila and Rebecca took turns tossing the frisbees with questions at the bottom. The training involved being able to identify key points in the question and applying the learnt formulas.

    Danny was impressed. He had to be sure to include this in his report. The counsellor thought that Vivian and Roy might have higher scores but when Jun Le announced the results, they were all surprised at Teddy''s accuracy.

    "I understand basic concepts but when the more complicated questions appear, I have difficulty applying the formulas."

    Rebecca smiled. Dragon had the worst score but Roy and Vivian''s scores were too different from Dragon''s. Even though some of the questions were simple, Roy panicked and made the wrong decision.

    "That was the first round. We''re going to be training differently from the other teams. This involves memory, accuracy and speed. Those who didn''t score at least seven out of ten, start doing frog leaps around the hall once. We will resume until you can all get seven and above."

    Dragon didn''t complain and accepted the punishment without complaints. Roy rolled his eyes and Vivian suffered by the fifth leap. Danny nodded and left silently. With Rebecca''s authority, Camila''s optimism and Jun Le''s cunningness, this team might just stand a chance at passing the exams.

    The learning method was unconventional but it worked rather well for Dragon in his opinion. The martial arts enthusiast was more fired up than before. Rebecca''s explanation of algebraic manipulations somehow got through that thick skull. She was making more progress than what Jasper and Scarlet could manage within a month.

    "If you want to be stronger, you must learn addition. Addition is strength. Multiplication is power. If I have two to the power of three, I''m taking the product of two times two then multiplying it by two again. It makes eight, not six."

    The physical representation of power was written out and Dragon glared at it. "Addition is weak, multiplication is strong."

    Rebecca nodded even though that wasn''t always the case. In Dragon''s dictionary, only the words ''weak'', ''strong'', ''power'' and ''challenge'' had the most impact.

    "Subtraction is the opposite of addition. What would that mean?"

    Rebecca thought for a while. "Addition and Multiplication are the training you do to strengthen yourself. Subtraction and Division are tricks you learn to weaken a strong opponent."

    Dragon stared at the big number that Rebecca gave. It was indeed a formidable foe.

    "Divide this by nine now."

    The martial artist painstakingly separated eighty-one into nine groups only to come to the answer of nine.

    "I did it," he told her.

    The equestrian smiled. "Good. However, you take too long. You must solve it in five seconds or less. Another test. Camila, you join in as well. What if eighteen divided by two?"

    Dragon was still drawing lines when Camila answered. "Nine!"

    Shocked, the boy glared at her. "You''re cheating!"

    Rebecca stopped the enraged boy. "No, she''s not cheating. She''s better than you because she studied the mathematical scripture."

    At the mention of a scripture, Dragon fell to his knees and bowed his head. "Please enlighten this lowly one. I wish to learn the ways of Math! At my current level, if I were to challenge the monster called exams, I will surely fail. Thank you for showing me how weak I am."

    Rebecca indulged in the role play and gave Dragon a timetable to memorise. "Repeat this until you can recite it in your heart, in your dreams before you come to me again."

    The frisbees were collected while Dragon memorised the timetable in various positions from handstands to horse stances. Roy tried very hard not to look at the idiot working hard. He was ashamed of his own inability to answer the questions and chose to study quietly with Vivian and Jun Le.

    Rebecca yawned. She didn''t think that role-playing would be so effective for Dragon. Maybe the boy was truly delusional and thought that if he trained for a hundred years he could blow down houses with just the wind from his punch. Scarlet had the strangest suggestions but Rebecca was glad she listened to her. Still, it was a little embarrassing to have someone bow to her.

    She stole a glance at the martial artist who was reciting the timetable out loud and blushed. Maybe he wasn''t that bad of a person if she looked past his immediate flaws. He was a disciplined man with ambition and dedication.

 Chapter 109 - Team All or Nothingéˆ¥æªš Drama

    Jasper was shocked to hear that the librarian had collapsed. However, he wasn''t fazed by the other team crashing his study sessions.

    "I will overlook the study favour for today because of circ.u.mstances. We will start by doing some mental gymnastic exercises then take a short break for revision lessons. After which we will have quiz drills. Whoever gets full marks for the quiz drills today can leave early. I''ll be here till five-thirty so do your best."

    True to Jasper''s words, he stayed till five-thirty and taught Mustafa with dwindling patience as the soccer star kept on rolling his eyes. The final straw was at four-forty when Mustafa proclaimed that Jasper''s teaching sucked.

    Danny walked in and saw Jasper snapping a pencil in half with one hand from anger. The cut on his hand wasn''t too deep but it bled without signs of stopping. The counsellor quickly sourced for a first aid kit and brought the usually nonchalant boy to the sickbay. Why did the kids choose today of all days to make him busy?

    Then again, it couldn''t be helped. With such a fierce competition going on and a tight timeline, everyone was giving their best. While some of these children were considered geniuses, not all of them understood that if two people tugged hard at a rope trying to move the other person, the rope could sometimes snap and cause harm to both parties.

    The counsellor couldn''t see Jasper eyes that were still hidden behind hair. It wasn''t very obvious if Jasper was hurt and holding back tears from that shaking or just extremely enraged. Danny didn''t question too much. If Wilmer''s information was accurate, Jasper was like a dormant volcano. It can be pleasant when he was dormant but when he exploded, all those bottled up emotions will come forth like an explosion. The damage would often linger for a while and the scale of destruction was at least ten times worse than any of Alex''s outbursts.

    Danny was merely a counsellor. It was not his job to teach these children how to make friends. That is the job of a pent but looking at all these children, they probably didn''t have parents around them enough to teach them how to interact with others. Jasper was mature but his hard-headedness would be the one thing other kids wouldn''t appreciate. Like a.d.u.l.ts, kids have pride as well. Mustafa was the school''s soccer talent and being told repeatedly how incapable he was academically would rub him the wrong way. Danny didn''t agree with Jasper''s method of tough love. However, Jasper was inexperienced and simply didn''t know how far to push them before the limits snapped.

    After the wound was dressed, Danny allowed Jasper to stay in the office until he was emotionally stabilised. The boy was good at keeping his emotions under tight control but Danny didn''t think it was a good idea to always suppress them. Things like that would often come to bite the person in the back. Closing his eyes and cursing Wilmer, he slyly peeked over his shoulder to look at the boy.

    "Are you going to give up? It was impossible from the very start. Those boys don''t have the potential for you to work with. Any more of this will only be a wasted investment on your end."

    Jasper clenched his teeth and fist, indicating that Dany''s words were affecting him. Reverse psychology was most effective when it comes from a person you''re usually acquainted with but not on a very close level. Jasper had always been stubborn as a child and often worried about many things even when it wasn''t his business.

    "Who are you to decide that they don''t have the potential to succeed?" Jasper''s voice was low but there was a biting undertone to it.

    Danny smirked, enjoying the role of an evil a.d.u.l.t. "Are you simply trying to delude yourself? Or is this simply pride speaking? Afraid that you won''t be able to uphold your promise?"

    Jasper said nothing. Everything that the counsellor said had actually gone through Jasper''s mind before. He made the resolve to help the class pass and wanted to transform them into loyal friends capable of helping him build his empire to compete with the Wilde Empire. however, he never expected the brain capacities of a few individuals to become his stumbling block. They had the potential, Jasper knew it was there. However, the fact that they don''t put in the effort or seem to want to try made him mad. Danny was wrong, this wasn''t about potential.

    Jasper looked at his bandaged finger. If it wasn''t about potential, was it the problem with personality? The boy thought back about how he first came to know Mustafa and what Scarlet did to create that first miracle.

    "Are you still using your computer?" he asked, sounding completely calm.

    Danny shook his head. "Be my guest. It''s still not going to change a thing."

    Jasper ignored the counsellor who left to check on Scarlet''s team now that the emergencies were over. He remembered that Scarlet like to keep a ''secret blog'' about the people she met. Although Jasper doesn''t read it, he hears things from Jenna and Mrs Wilde from time to time. Knowing Scarlet, there was no way she wouldn''t cover the members of the E.C. Class. Her completed manuscript was based on them after all. Scarlet was a better people observer than he was so maybe she saw something that he missed out on, explaining his clash with Mustafa.

    After reading the blog, Jasper was silent for a very long time. Danny didn''t interrupt because he knew that Jasper was already mentally preparing himself to go back and devise a new plan. He caught a glimpse of what the boy was reading and he read them too. Thanks to Scarlet, Team All or Nothing would be able to get out of their first ordeal quickly.

    "I''m heading back," he told the counsellor and stopped just before the door. "Thank you."

    Danny was surprised to hear that and wondered what exactly Jasper was thanking him for. Was he thanking him for letting him borrow the computer or has his intentions been found out? Either way, Danny was glad that the day was finally coming to an end. He would probably check on Scarlet''s team now. Of all the teams, he had the most faith in Scarlet''s. The girl always found a way to succeed no matter how daunting the situation was. It was Benjamin''s word and that lawyer could be trusted.

 Chapter 110 - Cogs in the Wheel

    Philip was beyond pleased, he was ecstatic. Danny was still slightly worried. The team preparations were progressing smoothly and a week had gone by. The study notes created by Team Scarlet helped a lot and Philip asked permission from the creators to distribute the notes to the rest of the cohort.

    The scientist proudly agreed only if they would be credited. He didn''t want names to be included but he wanted it to be a joint effort of the E.C. Class and the Special Class much to everyone''s elation. Philip agreed the administrative department became busy.

    Danny often heard Elfie working on something on his laptop. For the first time, it was not a project or a hunt. This was something private and the counsellor allowed his son to do whatever he liked until it was time for bed.

    Before he knew it, Elfie announced the completion of the very first encrypted chatroom app and web version. He invited everyone from the Special Class and the E.C. Class to join and extended the invisible moderator powers to his father. Danny wondered why Elfie would do such a thing. Isn''t keeping contact using the phone''s group chat good enough? Then he remembered how his son would often change phones. For him, it was merely a tool for his work and didn''t have any personal contacts apart from Danny''s number that was already memorised in his head.

    The third and fourth announcements shocked Danny even more. When Team Dreamer was caught taking photographs and buying art materials, Danny stepped in to investigate. It turned out that the team wanted to prepare a class collage scrapbook to give the principal, thanking him for allowing them to create such wonderful memories. Danny couldn''t deny them their wish. However, he knew that Philip was going to cry when he saw the gift. Knowing the principal, the old man would probably display it in a glass cabinet in his office and brag to anyone who visits it for a year.

    Team Action First had the boldest idea of all teams. They decided to take the afternoon before the exams to throw a party and was asking for permission to cater food to the school. The students were so meticulous with the plan that a detailed budget plan and menu had already been plotted out together with the decorations they wanted and the guest of honours which included the principal and Danny.

    Danny wanted to ask about the dietary restrictions and reject it but Rebecca was one step faster. She had already confirmed everyone''s food allergies and preferences. Fried chicken, vegetable chowder and pasta for thirty-five people from Kim''s catering. Apparently, it was a recommendation from Si-Han himself and Danny found himself unable to approve of it. For now, he sent the girl back after telling her he would check with the principal but there was a high chance the plan wouldn''t be approved. It was simply too expensive.

    With heavy footsteps, Danny walked to the principal''s office. Monica smiled at him and informed him that Philip had been waiting for him ever since that email. Danny smiled tiredly and thanked the diligent secretary. If Philip didn''t approve, Danny would have to call Wilmer to act as the children''s sponsor. He knew that was a dirty trick to use his precious daughters as bargaining ch.i.p.s but Danny couldn''t possibly fork out over six hundred dollars for the party.

    Danny knocked on the door twice and Philip told him to come in.

    "Danny! It''s nice to see you again. Tell me, how are the students? I know you sent regular reports but nothing beats hearing it in person and seeing it with my own eyes. Monica has been rather strict with me lately, I can''t patrol anymore because she said it would distract the students who were studying hard for the exams."

    Danny gave a strained smile. "They are doing well. However, I received a proposal for an after study party from them. Please take a look at it and let me know if it is alright to proceed. The cost is rather pricey."

    Philip received the thin file with interest. The students made a proposal? That sounded like very good news indeed.

    As the principal read through the proposal, Danny saw the smile on his face growing wider and wider. From the cover letter to the details, the proposal was brilliant. It spoke of someone who had experience in the corporate world. In fact, Philip was very impressed with how much better it was compared to the crappy proposals he normally received from the vendors he received. This was truly worthy of an applause but Philip was curious to know if Danny had a hand in crafting it.

    "Did you give them tips?"

    Dany shook his head. "They did it all on their own. I heard them researching how to draft a convincing proposal. The girls were even enthusiastic enough to simulate a formal presentation. Rowan helped them out there but I don''t think we need that, do we?"

    Philip sulked a little. He would have loved to listen to the presentation. These children were really growing quickly.

    "How is their study progress? Anyone still failing? We only have one more week."

    Danny grinned. "I think they''ll make it. If anything, they''re working even harder than before. You can expect a miracle although I don''t know if this lucky streak will continue after the Special Class scatter again."

    Both men immediately fell into a pensive silence at that. After the exams, it would be the year-end break. Most of the Special Class students won''t meet up with each other or have sleepovers like other kids. Due to their special circ.u.mstances, most of them would have to return to their old lives. Some of the Special Class students might not even be here next year. Some have already applied for a half year break from school while others have the intention to move abroad for good.

    Philip sighed and reached for the chop. Danny saw the red stamp of approval on the proposal as the principal handed the file back to him.

    "Since it''s going to be the first and last time for some of them, might as well make this extra special so that they''ll never forget it."

    Danny was moved almost to tears but held his emotions back. "Thank you, the children will be very happy."

    Philip laughed. "I expect that fried chicken to be good. It''s way too expensive even for a homemade speciality!"

    Danny laughed and assured the principal that he should find Si-Han if it didn''t live up to his expectations. Philip grinned and sighed when Danny left. It was nice to be young. If it was possible, he wanted to go back in time and join these kids himself.

 Chapter 111 - The Final Year Examinations

    Two weeks flew by and like the changing of seasons, the exam loomed over the students as the final obstacle between them and freedom. Armed with all their newly crammed knowledge, the students of the E.C. Class sharpened their pencils and awaited the monster to approach them.

    Dragon was strangely nervous. Rebecca''s methods might be brutal but they worked. For the first time in his life, the martial artist was able to understand the questions in front of him. He didn''t need to guess the options to choose his answer, he could solve them to arrive at a number that matched the option. That gave him the confidence to continue with the most serious expression anyone had ever witnessed.

    While the students of the E.C. Class faced their challenges with courage and determination, the Special Class breezed through their tests without needing to try too hard. However, they were still worried. After all the cramming they did, would it be enough for the students in the E.C. Class to pull through?

    Although they were in the Special Class, the school prepared the same examination papers for everyone in the cohort. Looking at the questions gave the Special Class a rough idea about how much their friends must be suffering. Some tried to delude themselves by calculating the probability of correct answers while others simply left it to fate. Jasper, in particular, had to excuse himself for the washroom during the exam because he felt too sick from worry.

    Immediately after the first paper ended, the quiet school came to life with the buzzing of students discussing answers. For the Special Class, nobody remained seated. There was still an afternoon paper but for now, nobody could wait to meet the boys in the E.C. Class. They promised to check on them and help them cram for the next paper so imagine their surprise when they came to an empty E.C. Class.

    At first, none of the Special Class members wanted to believe it. However, Lin Lin was the first to notice that there was something written on the board.

    "Look!" she called out and everyone turned.

    On the whiteboard, were words of gratitude, short messages for some of the students from the Special Class, pictures and sixteen signatures under the pledge to pass the examinations with their own efforts.

    [Thank you so much for what you''ve done for us, it is now our turn to prove that we can be strong too. - E.C. Class.]

    [Big thank you to the Special Class for helping us when not even the teachers bother anymore. Big shoutout to Elfie for that quiz drill, let me teach you how to play games after the exams! - Jeremy.]

    [Those class notes saved me, much love to you guys. Always stay awesome! - Roy.]

    [Jasper you prick! If I fail I''m going to kick you into the goalpost. If I pass, I''m going to buy you ice cream.]

    Jasper rolled his eyes at this one from beneath his bangs but his heart pounded. The spat he had with Mustafa when they first started wasn''t good. However, thanks to Scarlet''s Observational Journal, he was able to reconcile and share a frenemy relationship with the soccer star.

    Alex cried at this particular one.

    [Ms Alex, thank you for being so patient with me. I don''t think I''ve ever had this much studying in my life. You are a wonderful person.]

    The writer might not have signed off but Alex knew this was from Reggie. She had spent a lot of time reminding him to focus and giving him tips to stay focused. She revised every chapter thrice with the boy to ensure that he knew what he was doing even if he was slow.

    [All the best for your rocket science studies! You might not be the easiest person to talk to but those notes you made saved my backside from my mother''s spanking this time.]

    Nobody could figure out who wrote that but Nathan blushed at the praise. The Special Class took their time to take some commemorative photos of the notes. Then, someone suggested that they should clean it and replace the notes with their own.

    Some of the boys hurried back to their classroom to grab some markers while the girls started cleaning the board. Lin Lin took up a duster and insisted that the lower half of the board was hers to clean. Rebecca took charge of the upper half, leaving more than what Lin Lin could reach just so that she could see the adorable musician hop to clean the higher parts.

    When the boys returned with markers, Scarlet was given the honours of drafting a message on behalf of the Special Class because she was a writer. Scarlet thought for a while and smiled as she grabbed a purple marker.

    [For the E.C. Class,

    We felt your warm gratitude even in the cold and empty class. The times we spent together will be the greatest gift we received. Thank you for such a precious gift. You might not know it but some of us won''t be here next year. Still, we are glad to be given the chance to make friends with such wonderful individuals like yourselves.

    Fear not, no distance is too great for friendship like ours. The chatroom is specially created for us, use it. Don''t be afraid to bother us, we want you to talk to us even if we are busy.

    With that, all the best for the exams and all the exams that follow. You have the tools we''ve given you, they will accompany you for your entire life and nobody can take that away from you. Use that to triumph over the ones that previously mocked you and be proud that we''re not boring individuals.

    We''ve had a lot of fun, let''s make a new promise. After everyone graduates, we shall host another party. This time, at the Wilde''s mansion.

    Love, Special Class."

    Alex smiled. Nobody would protest to hosting a party at their place.

    "Just so you know, all of you from the Special Class are invited as well. Rejection is rejected," Alex told them playfully.

    Once everyone signed on the bottom of that message, they started to fill the board with little thank you notes and personalised messages of their own. Alex filled the gaps and spaces with wonderful ill.u.s.trations and they took photos of their handiwork before leaving.

    It was not ''goodbye'' but ''see you again''. Just like the seasons, surely spring will come again, more beautiful than before.

 Chapter 112 - [Bonus] A True Manéˆ¥æªš Confession

    While the other boys of the E.C. Class were worrying about their results and nervous about needing to run, Dragon had a far more important bet to place his life on.

    A true man will keep his promises. If he fails any subject, he will run a hundred rounds around the campus. However, there was one more bet that he made just before the exams that he didn''t tell anyone.

    If he passed all his subjects, he would also buy flowers and confess before the school term officially ended. There really wasn''t much time between the exams ending and the end of year vacation. Dragon agonised over the type of flowers he should buy. The internet told him that roses were common when confessing romantic feelings but the boy didn''t think that his crush would like roses.

    Hence, the information gathering session began.

    "You want me to do what?" Roy asked, perplexed. Dragon quickly shushed him. The students from the Special Class were not here yet so the martial art enthusiast decided to hold a small private meeting with the boys and ask for help.

    Vivian shared looks with Teddy. Who knew that Dragon would be the first to actually take interest in girls that way among them? Then again, this was something to celebrate. Both Vivian and Teddy were known romantics and to be asked for help, they couldn''t resist the urge to play matchmakers.

    Roy rolled his eyes at the other two boys who were discussing strategies to create ''opportunities'' for Dragon and his crush. He looked at Dragon and shook his head.

    "Count me out. I can''t do this. However, all the best to both your confession and studies. I''d worry more about your studies first if I were you."

    Dragon grinned and gave Roy a good-natured hug. "Thank you, bro. Means a lot to me. I''ll definitely invite you when I get married."

    The high jumper froze and smacked his friend on the head. "You idiot! You need to buy her a ring first before you can get married. Besides, you don''t have money and you don''t have a job. She won''t marry you just yet!"

    Dragon paled. "You''re right. I''m not good enough. What if another man comes along and steals her away?"

    It''s amazing how Dragon was able to do a hundred and eighty transformation in just a few minutes. Roy couldn''t believe that this was the same serious teen who demanded to perfect the plan for his confession moments ago. Dragon had to be consoled by Vivian and subtly brainwashed by Teddy to become normal again.

    Roy rolled his eyes. Of all the people Dragon would fall for, he thought that his friend would like a demure maiden in need of protection. Rather, he never thought that the martial art enthusiast would fall for a spartan tutor who was tougher than most boys he knew. The girl was not only younger than them but smarter, fiercer and more successful. She was a genius for crying out loud! They were from two very different worlds. One of them was at the bottom of this school''s academic trash and the other was the cream of the crop who was going to represent the nation for a sports competition. The thing called romance and love must truly be blind because Roy couldn''t understand it.

    Looking back at Dragon, the high jumper sighed. If this is what put that dumb sappy smile on his friend''s face and take his focus away from sparring with other people on a daily basis, he would do his best to support it.

    The study intensive week rolled by quickly. Vivian and Teddy proved to be very good at eliciting information. They didn''t just find out what kind of flowers Rebecca liked but also the kind of man she fancies.

    With Teddy''s good relationship with the dancing twins, it was easy to get some insider information. On the other hand, Vivian was able to bring down the walls of Rebecca''s defences just enough to get her talking about some of her dreams. Roy pretended not to know anything and focussed on studying while offering to smack Dragon whenever he lost focus. Dragon''s eyes often strayed from the books in a handstand and would end up plainly staring at Rebecca. Roy had to smack him back to reality before Rebecca caught onto his feelings.

    "This question is wrong, you idiot. How are you going to pass if you can''t even remember such a simple formula?" he sighed and Dragon tensed, biting his lips.

    "I''ll remember it. I''ll pass this exam for sure so help me out, Roy."

    Hearing this, the high jumper sighed. When a man bows his head, albeit upside down, and asks for a favour after swallowing his pride, how could he turn him down?

    At the pre-examination party, Dragon sat in a corner and ate silently, waving his nunchucks on the other hand. He still hung out with the boys but whenever nobody was looking, his eyes would drift over to a certain equestrian. Roy saw that but he didn''t say anything about it. He didn''t think that this fickle thing called love could create a miracle and improve someone''s non-existent intellect within such a short period of time.

    The examinations came and every time the papers ended, Dragon was nowhere to be found. Roy worried about the martial artist but didn''t let it affect his studies. After all, the E.C. Class had a promise to keep.

    Dragon would often return to the E.C. Class after school to look at the message Rebecca had left. Even though she didn''t sign her name off, Dragon recognised her handwriting after seeing it so many times. He didn''t just memorise the formulas on the board, he remembered even the shape of her writing. Seeing this helped propel him further with his efforts and resolve.

    On the day of the last examination subject, the whole school was in a festive mood but only one boy went back without saying goodbye. Roy found it odd and worried for Dragon. After seeing Dragon''s efforts, surely it would have paid off. then again, it was at least a week before the results were returned. For the rest of the boys, they would spend it gaming and fooling around while they still could. For a certain man wanting to confess, it was like the last few days to live before the noose tightened around his neck. Would the jury find him guilty or declare him a free man?

    One by one, the E.C. Class received their examination results. Teams have started to report their numbers to their respective Special Class leaders. Nobody was surprised that Scarlet''s Team had no failures. The fact that all the boys met their targets wasn''t surprising either. Scarlet was a rather good tutor and had the support of the school''s smartest boy.

    Jasper wanted to cry. All his members failed to meet their targets by a few marks. Thankfully, the team managed to earn immunity and safely avoided the penalty. The results for the best team average certainly wouldn''t be theirs even if the boys tried their best. Scarlet''s team was just too strong.

    Team Dreamer was in chaos. Reggie still had two subjects below the target of forty marks and Rowan didn''t get full marks for any of his subjects. It wasn''t even close to full marks when the score was eighty-seven. To make matters worse, the team had collected more running points from the activities, totalling it to twenty rounds. The boys were now arguing about who should run. Roy simply ignored them and watched Dragon closely. His friend hadn''t told anyone else about his results apart from Rebecca. His expression was also closed off. Nobody could tell what he was thinking.

    Rebecca stood proudly at the front of the class to report team Action First''s results.

    "Teddy, requirements met. Vivian, missed the target for one subject by one mark. Roy, target met. Dragon..."

    The class froze and waited for it. Was he really going to run a hundred rounds around the school?

    The smile on Rebecca''s face lit the entire classroom up. "Dragon, requirements met. I''m very proud of him."

    Dragon''s face was still like a stone even though everyone congratulated him. They chalked it up to the stress finally settling down after the mad final push he did for the examinations. Only the boys in Team Action First knew better. Dragon was getting cold feet and thinking of how to confess.

    Thankfully, with Camila and Jun le roped into the planning with Teddy and Vivian''s coaxing, the team found a good time to help the martial artist and equestrian meet in private. In fact, thanks to Jun Le''s masterful strategy, the E.C. Class was empty on the day of confession. He managed to find some activity or excuse, mainly encouraging everyone to watch the losers run and set up checkpoints for them to pass through so they wouldn''t cheat while giving some of the invisible helpers time to decorate the classroom for a romantic setting.

    Dragon was nervous. He didn''t know if Rebecca would like it. He was more unsure if she would like him back. He didn''t want to be rejected but he also didn''t want to keep his feelings for her a secret. He read the small note in his hands for the last time before entering the door with a small bouquet of violets.

    Rebecca was still admiring the tasteful decorations and drawings on the whiteboard. She wasn''t a fool. As a pubescent girl, she had her fair share of romantic dreams. Being confessed to was something Rebecca always wanted but she didn''t know who could have made so many preparations in such a short time. The decorations were carefully chosen. Rebecca loved horses and the theme wasn''t full of girly nonsense like roses and ribbons. Whoever this was, he really paid close attention to her.

    The door opened and Rebecca turned around to see the most unexpected person holding a bouquet of violets.

    "Dragon?"

    The martial artist looked very red and awkward but he still took steady steps towards her until he was right in front of her. Rebecca was tall even for a girl her age. However, Dragon was slightly taller. The boy pushed the flowers into her hands and stuttered badly, something that sounded like gibberish. In the end, he gave a yell of frustration before throwing the small hidden note away.

    In a very manly fashion, he knelt down in his gi and black belt, held her hand and looked her in the eyes.

    "Rebecca Wee, I''m in love with you. Please go out with me."

    The equestrian didn''t know how to respond but she wasn''t given a chance to anyway.

    "I''m not very smart, loud and crass, insensitive and love martial arts to a fault. However, more than all that, I think I like you. The time we spent knowing each other may be short but I found myself attracted to you. I want to be with you, talk to you, watch you smile and support the things you love. If it wasn''t for you showing me that it was possible to do the things I didn''t think I could do before, I may still be obsessed with being the strongest fighter. After getting to know you, I only want to be strong enough to protect your smile."

    Unlike all the fancy words that Jun Le and Camila helped to script, these words were heartfelt from Dragon. Rebecca blushed from head to toe at the intense stare and felt her heart skip a beat. She always admired how tough Dragon was but right now, on his knees before her, he looked extremely vulnerable.

    Rebecca always envisioned her Mr. Right to be manly and reliable. She just never expected him to be someone like Dragon but it wasn''t a bad feeling.

    "Won''t you be my girlfriend?" Dragon asked in almost a whisper and Rebecca smiled shyly before nodding her head.

    That small gesture made Dragon''s heart soar above the skies. Without asking for her permission, the martial artist wrapped his arms around her tightly.

    "Thank you, Rebecca. I''ll make you the happiest woman in the world. I might be insufficient at the moment but I will work hard to become a better man you can be proud of."

    Rebecca returned the hug equally tight, full of joy. She didn''t doubt Dragon''s words. A man''s word was more valuable than gold and for a man like Dragon, it was more than anything else.

    Cheers burst out from the windows and the door flung open to reveal the twenty-odd eavesdropper. Caught in the act, the newly formed couple turned beetroot and tried to distance themselves a little but their classmates were relentless with their teasings.

    "What a man! Dragon you did it!"

    "Rebecca congratulations!"

    "Invite us to your wedding!"

    From outside, Philip and Danny stopped. They''d come to congratulate E.C. Class and Special Class for the good results during the examinations but seeing that something else had taken place, they turned around and walked away.

    "These kids grow up fast, don''t they? How about a cup of tea in my office?" Philip asked and Danny smiled.

    "I''d have to trouble you and Monica again."

 Chapter 113 - [Bonus] Rehabilitation

    The examinations were finally over but for the Wilde Family, there was no time for rest. Scarlet was finally going to remove her dreaded cast and everyone wanted to go to the hospital appointment with her.

    "I should be going with the young miss," Tina asserted. Sue didn''t agree.

    "Don''t you have to go grocery shopping tomorrow? I''m sure it''s written on the roster list.

    Claire was expressionless as usual but nobody doubted it for a second that the head maid will try to put laxatives in the driver''s drink tomorrow so that she can take his place and go along with Scarlet. Wilmer had already banned the other two children from following because it was going to be another regular school day. Scarlet also had strict orders from the CEO to return home as soon as the cast was removed. Everyone knew that the orders were strict because Wilmer himself was not allowed to take a day off to accompany Scarlet. Carol wouldn''t allow it. Her words were ''it is not a family emergency, you cannot cancel meetings so easily''.

    That left only the maids to debate who could go with Scarlet while the young mistress was occupied with Debbie''s lessons. Tina and Sue were fighting over it and eventually decided to settle it with a game of three-player mahjong. Claire didn''t back down from the challenge because she was the head maid and was confident of winning a simple game even if she had never played it before.

    Tina and Sue were veteran mahjong players. With their pride on the line, neither of them went easy on each other. Deceit, lies and manipulation were used without care. Claire soon learnt that winning through conventional means wasn''t enough. She started to play the underhand methods and often counted on cheating to turn the odds into her favour. Learning that Claire was not an easy opponent to deal with, Tina and Sue worked hard to bring her down. Alas, none of the veterans could compare to the head maid''s experience when it came to strategy and tactics.

    "With that, I shall accompany Ms Scarlet for her appointment tomorrow," Claire told the disappointed helpers.

    Tina cheered up quickly."Understood. I shall prepare some nutritious meals for her when she returns."

    Sue offered to help and Claire smiled. Peace was returned to the Wilde household once more when Scarlet finished her lessons.

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on and check out their other works. <<

    The doctor was a very kind man who assured Scarlet that cutting the cast open wouldn''t hurt.

    "See?" he smiled and demonstrated it by placing the high-speed cutter on his palm. Scarlet bravely allowed the doctor to cut the cast open and Claire stood beside the girl. According to the x-ray, Scarlet''s legged had healed without a hitch. However, they still had to be careful because Scarlet''s leg was now weakened.

    Apart from taking care of her diet, Scarlet had to go for some physiotherapy classes so that she could walk normally and run again. Knowing that this was a precious child of the Wilde Family, Claire didn''t hesitate to make arrangements for private physiotherapy classes after school.

    The plastic cast came off with a small crack and Scarlet wrinkled her nose at the smell, looking embarrassed about it. The doctor was a nice man who didn''t seem to mind and told Claire that she could help Scarlet wash up at the huge sink while he went to fetch the supporter splints for Scarlet.

    Claire assisted Scarlet with care, carrying her to the sink area and gently washed her leg that looked oddly deformed. Scarlet was slightly horrified to find that her leg looked like a bone covered in skin and had shrunk so badly that her other leg looked fat in comparison.

    "Does it hurt?" Claire asked, knowing that the skin would be very sensitive after the cast was removed.

    Scarlet shook her head. "It tickles but nothing too bad."

    Claire smiled and gently rubbed soap onto the skin, helping Scarlet to bend her leg and asking if it hurt anywhere.

    Scarlet found her leg to be rather stiff and her ankle was a little swollen but Claire assured her that it was normal to feel this way. "It will pass after a few days. If there is anything that feels uncomfortable or hurts, please let me know."

    Scarlet nodded. Claire seemed to be very knowledgeable about broken bones. "How do you know so much about broken bones?"

    The head maid smiled. "I''ve broken a few bones before so I''m rather familiar with the healing process. Your leg healed up nicely, there is no need to worry about future deformities. You''d be walking fine in a few weeks and running soon enough but don''t overdo it. The muscles have not been used in a while and are still very weak. It''s very easy to sprain your ankle without the crutches so always wear the splint and use crutches for at least two weeks."

    Scarlet felt grateful for Claire''s advice and agreed to take it easy. The doctor returned just when Claire was drying Scarlet''s leg.

    "My apologies, it took me a while to find a splint of the right size. Would you let me put this one to check if the size is alright for you?" he asked Scarlet who nodded, feeling better now that her leg didn''t stink.

    The splint fitted perfectly but Claire didn''t allow Scarlet to walk out of the room with her crutches. The doctor waved goodbye to them as Scarlet was wheelchaired out to the waiting area. The head maid still had several doc.u.ments to take care off and some supplement pills to collect.

    Without anything to do, Scarlet took a picture of her leg free from the cast and sent it to the group chats. Immediately, she was bombarded by a ton of messages from her worried classmates, congratulating her on the speedy recovery.

    The messages never stopped and Scarlet texted replies happily all the way till they returned home. The first step that Scarlet took without her cast proved to be painful even with crutches.

    "Take it easy," Claire said and offered to carry her but the young writer denied.

    "I can do this. I want to be able to walk to school with Alex and Jasper without worries. I can''t have them run errands on my behalf during the internship either."

    Claire didn''t say anything. Tina and Sue greeted Scarlet the moment she returned and constantly showered her with their concerns. Scarlet was quickly made to sit and fed some herbal soup before she was sent up to her room to rest.

    "Don''t forget to press the intercom if you need anything, don''t come down the stairs without anyone to help you and keep your crutches nearby. Let us know before you take a shower, don''t be shy!"

    Scarlet giggled and assured the two worried maids that she will. Now that she was in her room, Scarlet sighed. With so much time left till Alex and Jasper returned home, what was she going to do? Debbie''s lesson was in two days and the editor was still looking through her revised manuscript.

    Her eyes landed on her laptop and Scarlet smiled. Maybe it was time to update her observation journal. The doctor earlier seemed to be an interesting man.

 Chapter 114 - Writer Scarlet

    Debbie was in high spirits that day. Scarlet didn''t know why her editor was so chirpy but she smiled too.

    "Oh! I see that you''re finally out of the cast. How does it feel?"

    The young writer laughed. "Not much different from when I''m still in a cast... I was told that I''d still need a few weeks to get used to moving around again and about a month before I can try to walk without the splint and crutches. There are physiotherapy classes that I will be attending to help with the recovery process but it feels great not having to bear the itch and not be able to scratch it."

    The editor smiled and presented the girl with an envelope.

    "This is...?"

    Debbie grinned. "Open it."

    Scarlet grabbed a letter opener and neatly ripped it open. There was a letter addressed to Scarlet and the girl looked at her teacher.

    "This...?!"

    Debbie couldn''t keep the wide smile away from her face. "I turned it in to a friend who is a literary agent and it was well-received. Your very first writing contract, darling. Congratulations."

    Scarlet didn''t know how to react and cried. Sixteen is a Gang might not be her first work but in terms of growth, it marked a significant milestone for the girl who had gained not only a precious family but a very close group of friends who didn''t shun her. The fact that the publishing agent who accepted the manuscript mentioned how touching the feelings of the main character moved them made Scarlet feel as if it wasn''t written in vain.

    The young writer had poured her feelings and the trials they''d overcome together into this make-belief world of adventure and evil a.d.u.l.ts. While the manuscript was unpolished in the eyes of the publishing agent, they were keen to sign her up for publication because of that unique perspective and Scarlet''s ability to move people with her story.

    "I didn''t tell them your age. This meeting might have to wait until you tell the good news to Wilmer and Orita. People normally don''t get their writing contracts with their second attempt. You''re very talented, Scarlet. I''m hoping to see more of your future works, there''s nothing much I can teach you at this moment."

    Scarlet hugged Debbie and thanked her from the bottom of her heart. Being offered a writing contract meant a lot for Scarlet. It meant that she was acknowledged and more importantly, this was something she didn''t accomplish using the influence of the Wilde Family''s name. Could this be the way she could repay Mrs Wilde''s kindness of accepting her into their family?

    The good news couldn''t remain a secret forever. When Alex and Jasper returned home that day, Scarlet told them the good news. One good news multiplied into two and when Mr Wilde returned home, he called for a celebration. It turned out that there was not just one simple piece of good news. They had two unexpected but dearly missed guests joining them for dinner and another two guests whom Scarlet was happy to receive.

    "Mother!" the girls screamed with joy as Jenna brought the luggage up. Mrs Wilde bent down to hug her girls with Jasper awkwardly standing by Mr Wilde''s side.

    "Mrs Wilde," he greeted politely and offered to help Jenna.

    Claire bowed with Tina and Sue behind her. The lady butler was impressed by Claire''s management of the household. The head maid did a great job despite the lack of manpower. Also, due to the short notice, Jenna was expecting some difficulty in being able to accommodate such a large group. Claire didn''t seem to struggle with the new guests. The dining table was quickly modified with the table extended to fit the extra people for dinner. The maids under Claire''s care were also quick to whip up extra dishes and make enough food for everyone, not neglecting to add a touch of classiness to them befitting of the Wilde Family''s prestige.

    Alex announced that she won an art competition that she was secretly participating in and was going to have her work displayed at an exhibit. Mrs Wilde and Jenna revealed that they would be moving over to live in Singapore for a more permanent period of time from now on so that they could spend more time as a family. Jasper''s parents would also visit from time to time when Mr and Mrs Wilde had to fly for business trips.

    Wilmer was all smiles as well. He had received news from Benjamin earlier that afternoon that the evidence the children collected was enough to permanently ruin Cody and Larissa. The verdict will be out next week. Danny and Elfie were here to deliver news about their findings of Anastasia.

    Danny smiled and congratulated the Wilde''s. "I have a favour to ask."

    Immediately, the joy and laughter melted into silence. The children looked at their teacher oddly. Jasper knew about Danny and Wilmer''s special relationship but Scarlet and Alex were slower to catch on. Whatever favour Danny was asking for didn''t feel like something a teacher and parent could easily talk about.

    "I would be taking a short leave of absence from the school due to personal reasons and in that period of time, I would like to entrust my son, Elfie, in the care of your family."

    Wilmer''s warm expression grew cold at once. The jokes and laughter erased from his eyes. "It''s about that, isn''t it?"

    Danny nodded. Orita didn''t look pleased but her eyes softened when she saw Elfie tense up.

    "You''re going to be personally acting on it?" the CEO asked and Danny nodded again, not daring to meet his friend''s eyes.

    Wilmer''s lips thinned into a line, his eyes hard. "Orita and I don''t mind taking care of Elfie for you. However, I won''t accept it if you don''t intend to come back for him."

    Elfie looked fragile at that moment and it was Alex who held the hacker''s hands to comfort him. Scarlet didn''t know what was going on either but she gave Elfie a small smile trying to reassure him that everything would be alright. The a.d.u.l.ts could be relied on and even if things didn''t work out, Elfie still had them and a group of very reliable friends.

    Danny bit the insides of his cheeks. "I''m not abandoning him, Wilmer. I didn''t adopt Elfie with the intention of abandoning him. He is my son."

    Orita decided that the tension was scaring the children a little too much and quickly diffused the tension by asking Jenna to bring out the alcohol to the study so the men could talk over it. At the same time, she expertly diverted the subject away from the serious discussion by asking the children how they met Elfie.

    Everyone had good news to share and interesting stories to tell about their time spent together at school. When Scarlet told everyone that Debbie sent her manuscript to an agent who found a publishing house interested in contracting her book, Orita squealed like an excited schoolgirl and immediately placed the first order of five copies that she wanted Scarlet to sign.

    "You need to start practising your signatures now," Alex joked and Scarlet blushed.

    Elfie smiled. "What is the story about?"

    The young writer launched into details about the inspiration she took and the hacker had a good laugh over some of the scenes Scarletdescribed. Scarlet''s vivid imagination and good sense of humour had successfully woven the personalities of everyone in the E.C. Class into her book.

    "I want to read that book, I really do. It sounds very interesting that you managed to capture everyone so accurately!" he praised.

    Scarlet squirmed in her chair, embarrassed by the praises.

    "That''s it!" Alex declared. "I''m going to draw your first book into a comic!"

    Jasper raised a brow. "Do you know how to draw digitally? I thought you were still trying to understand how paintbrushes work."

    Orita laughed. "Oh, Jasper dear... there''s no rush. Alex can slowly pick that up. We can employ some art teacher if she wants to speed up that process. Also, Wilmer might be planning on an internship rotation for the three of you."

    That news got their attention and the heiress smiled. "Don''t tell Daddy that I said this. However, Wilmer has been working hard to negotiate for the departments that would interest you most to accept you and teach you the trade. Alex will have plenty of opportunity in the future to get acquainted with digital brushes. Scarlet will have a lot of chances to learn different writing styles and the practicality of it. Jasper can discover the secrets to how money flows within an organisation."

    All three children had their eyes lit up. Elfie watched them with envy. He didn''t know what an internship was but it sounded fun. "Mrs Wilde, can I join them for the internship too if I''m going to be in the care of the Wilde Family for a while. I think my programming skills might come in handy. I''d also love to have a chance to study a network and create a network system set up on a large scale."

    Orita looked at Jenna who bowed at the hacker. "We will do our best to make arrangements. I''m sure many of our software developers and engineers would be thrilled to meet the mastermind behind the most recent underground raids in person. We will inform Wilmer about your wishes."

    Elfie was flattered. Not many people knew about his official job or talked about it apart from Danny. He knew that Danny and Wilmer were close friends but Wilmer had never once spoken about Elfie''s accomplishments before.

    "Underground raid?" Alex asked and Orita smiled.

    "That''s a secret between your daddy, mommy and Danny. Elfie is a very talented programmer and he sometimes helps a.d.u.l.ts who need his skills which is why he is often not in school. Elfie travels a lot to help others so he hardly has any time to make friends."

    Alex put a finger to her lip to indicate that she understood this should not be so easily revealed to others outside of the family. Orita smiled at her daughter''s simple-mindedness and gave the other two children a sideways glance. Jasper nodded slightly to indicate that he understood because his eyes were unreadable behind his hair. Scarlet met the heiress'' look with her own full of acceptance but also curiosity.

    Claire knew that look. There was no mistaking it. Her young mistress would definitely find a chance to catch Elfie and interrogate him for information. Who knows, this might be the content Scarlet needed for her new book.

 Chapter 115 - Lin Lins Request

    After the examination results were returned, more than half of the students in the Special Class had to return and bid farewell. There was a slightly gloomy mood in the air. Danny was also absent from school for an indefinite period of time. Some unknown teacher stepped in for lessons that none of the Special Class students were interested in listening to so they abandoned the class in favour of sneaking into the E.C. Class.

    Needless to say, the boys were thrilled to see their smart friends. Although it was slightly sad to hear that more than half of the Special Class had left to return to their duties outside of school, they did their best to share the good news. Many people shared their family''s travel plans over the school holidays. For the new couple, they spent their time together in a quiet corner, isolated from the rest of the world. Dragon and Rebecca made plans to meet up over the holidays while the rest of the class hyped over the different countries they''d be travelling to.

    "We won''t be going anywhere," Alex admitted. "Daddy said that we will be interning at his company."

    "What''s interning?" Benedict asked, taking interest in it. Some of the boys weren''t going to travel during the holidays and anything they would jump on anything that sounded remotely interesting compared to getting sent to tuition classes.

    Jasper grinned and explained how Wilmer assigned them to tag along with the a.d.u.l.ts and help out with the work. "However, we''re not getting paid. After all, we are still children."

    Benjamin''s eyes sparkled when he heard that Elfie would be working with them as an intern. "Can I join too?" he asked.

    Alex didn''t look too sure but told the boy she could check with her father. When the class heard that, some of the boys decided to jump on that opportunity. It would be fun to hang out with each other outside of school over the long holidays. Initially, they had plans to host soccer matches or gaming afternoons but compared to the idea of interning and working together, those ideas paled in comparison.

    "I can help move heavy things," Teddy offered.

    "I''m very fast at typing!" Rowan bragged.

    One by one, the boys started selling their skills to an overwhelmed Alex almost to the point of breaking the girl down from nervousness. Thankfully, Scarlet was there to help her sister out.

    "It''s not going to be an everyday thing. On the days that we don''t work at the company, won''t everyone come over to play? I''m sure Claire and Jenna won''t refuse if we let them know in advance."

    Jasper agreed. "We can''t have everyone staying over, it''s too crowded. However, we can definitely plan for a trip together at a resort to have sleepovers for a few days and maybe a barbecue."

    Vivian immediately agreed and offered to cook. Some of the other boys suggested a camping trip instead and the class was soon split into two teams with one opting for the luxury of air conditioning and the other hell-bent on experiencing the hardsh.i.p.s of youth by the sea.

    While the boys were occupied with a heated debate over their ideal holiday camp, Lin Lin dragged Scarlet away. The girl hopped awkwardly with her crutches and looked at the small violinist who looked at her with big sparkly eyes.

    "I have a favour to ask of big sister! This holiday, I won''t be doing world tours or concerts. There''s something I''d always wanted to do on a long school break like this. Won''t you hear me out?"

    Curious, Scarlet agreed. "What is it? If it is within my ability, I''ll do my best to help you. It''s going to be slightly busier with the internship and writing but I suppose I can reserve my weekends for you," she smiled.

    It was obvious to anyone that the young writer had a soft spot for the cute musician. Lin Lin beamed and giggled, thanking her.

    "Actually, I''ve always wanted to try forming a garage band with a group of friends. However, the people around me are always older and don''t share the same love for rock music like me. I was classically trained but I think I have a good sense for composing catchy music, just not ballads and symphonies."

    Scarlet hummed approvingly. She was thrilled to know that the little girl was disclosing her dreams to her. That trust made Scarlet''s heart warm. She might not know anything about music but Lin Lin''s sincerity and enthusiasm touched her. Before knowing it, the young writer found herself agreeing to help the girl out to compose some lyrics.

    "You''ll guide me along the way? I don''t know anything about music. I''ve only started writing this year so there are many things I don''t know about..." Scarlet confessed.

    That alone was enough to make the world in Lin Lin''s eyes light up. "Of course! It''s going to be brilliant! Once we have songs, we can definitely gather up a few friends to start learning some instruments and put together our very own garage band."

    "Eh?" Scarlet wasn''t expecting that. Wasn''t she only in charge of writing lyrics?

    "Don''t worry," Lin Lin smiled and held her hands. "I might be tone-deaf when it comes to singing but I have very good ears and know how to play many instruments. It won''t be anything complicated, you''ll pick it up in no time!"

    Scarlet wasn''t worried about Lin Lin''s ability. She just didn''t know that the little girl already had such grand plans that included her without her consent.

    "Uh... Lin Lin, hold on. What''s this band thing again? I thought I''ll only be working on song lyrics...?"

    The violinist tilted her head to a side cutely and put a finger on her cheek in thought. "But I thought you agreed to help me out with my dream? My dream is to put together a rock band to perform all the songs that I compose. I''m always standing on the stage playing that violin, it''s a nice change to actually be the composer and watching other people perform the songs I write. Don''t worry, I''m sure you''d be able to learn quickly. It''s not very difficult to pick up music with me as the teacher."

    Hearing this, Scarlet sighed in defeat. Now she understood what Claire meant by never agreeing to the devil''s request. Now, it was too late to take her words back. Lin Lin was cute but Scarlet was now afraid of her little sister who cackled madly, dreaming about the things she would be subjecting Scarlet and her siblings to.

    Mentally, Scarlet apologised to Alex and Jasper who had been unknowingly roped into Lin Lin''s schemes. The young writer only hoped that Lin Lin would be satisfied with one song and that Mr Wilde wouldn''t become overly excited about it to remodel a spare room into a garage band practising room. Knowing how passionate the Wilde''s were, there could be a very real possibility of things blowing out of proportion and Scarlet sent prayers to all the known Gods to give her strength even if she didn''t have a religion.

 Chapter 116 - A Lazy Weekend

    The school term finally came to an end. Elfie was staying with Jasper in the same room after Danny left the country. Scarlet felt bad and asked if it really was alright to not be sharing a room with Alex. Mrs Wilde explained that unlike Jasper, both her daughters needed more space with their hobbies. Jasper and Elfie were content with space to place a single laptop but for Scarlet who had a huge collection of books and Alex who had canvases and easels with a lot of paint bottles, they needed a bigger area.

    The boys spent most of the time in their room working on the chatroom and conversing with the other boys from the E.C. Class. Jasper was in charge of coordinating their meetups. Apparently, the debate about the type of vacation camp wasn''t resolved. Jenna dutifully watched over them from time to time while bringing meals up to them. Mrs Wilde only smiled and shook her head at the antics of the children under her roof. Scarlet and Alex could often be found working on their craft. The young writer was always reading and drafting plots if not researching something for her new works. Alex was constantly sketching or watching videos to improve on her skills. The Wilde princess was less focussed on the idea of a prince charming and more interested in improving her skills to help her sister.

    Mr Wilde had a rare weekend off from work and was slightly disappointed to know that all the children were busy.

    "Why don''t we let Claire and Jenna have a day off? I''m sure the children will be fine on their own for a few hours. You and I can go on a date, it''s something we haven''t done in a while," Mrs Wilde proposed much to Wilmer''s joy.

    The four children, head maid and butler were gathered. When Mrs Wilde made the announcement, the children were immediately thrilled and agreed. Meanwhile, Claire and Jenna felt uneasy.

    "Milady, I could stay behind to look after the children. Please let Claire take the day off instead," the lady butler offered and Claire was quick to refuse.

    "It should be me. Jenna hasn''t had any time to rest in between helping out with the business and running the household affairs."

    Scarlet frowned. "No, both of you haven''t had any good time off. We''ll be fine on our own. You should both go and pamper yourselves."

    Alex quickly agreed and the boys silently communicated their sentiments.

    "See?" Orita grinned. "They''re reliable and responsible children. We''ll be back for dinner together, just call for pizza or something and enjoy the lazy weekend. I''m sure the children won''t mind."

    Reluctantly, Claire and Jenna agreed. Scarlet grinned and gave her mother a wink. Wilmer raised a brow. His girls were definitely up to something but he didn''t know what it was. Why would Orita suddenly propose a date and leave the children alone at home? Sure, they were busy but the children had never denied him any attention when he craved it. Alex and Scarlet would often drop what they were doing to spend time with Wilmer at the tennis court or simply taking a stroll in the garden.

    "Let''s go, darling!" Orita laughed and dragged her husband upstairs to get changed. The heiress had already decided on a romantic trip to the laid back side of Singapore. Something about flying kites by the seaside and cycling together much to Wilmer''s amus.e.m.e.nt.

    Jenna excused herself and decided to visit an art exhibition while Claire excused herself and changed into a tracksuit. Alex wondered where Claire was going to with such a huge bag but the head maid simply answered that she was going to train. Nobody knew what Claire was up to but they didn''t question it. After all, it was a rare day off for the head maid. Most girls would pamper themselves at the hair salon or beauty house but the ladies of the Wilde household had very different ideas about an ideal pampering treatment.

    Scarlet decided to add them down into her observational journal. It didn''t take long before the children were left alone. The first to sneak out of their rooms was Alex who immediately went to find Elfie and Jasper. Scarlet was the last to gather in the boys'' room simply because of her still-healing leg. She didn''t have to wear the support now but the doctors still advised her to use the crutches.

    "We''re all here now," Scarlet told them and closed the door with a grin.

    Elfie was the most excited. The girls had made this plan with Mrs Wilde a few days back. They wanted to create a lazy weekend to give the hardworking a.d.u.l.ts some time to themselves. IN the meantime, the children wanted to thank them for helping them with the planning and putting up with their whims. Lin Lin''s request, the E.C. Class and Special Class'' gathering, some boys'' sleepover, the special exception to include the interested boys from the E.C. Class for the internship were things that the children troubled them with.

    It was only right for them to do a little something in return to show their gratitude.

    "Do we have all the information?" Jasper asked and Scarlet smirked, pulling out a notebook. Everyone knew that Scarlet kept her observational journal updated on the blog but not many people knew that Scarlet saved a more detailed journal with the names and particulars of each specimen in a physical book that was carefully blended into her massive hardcopy collection.

    The budding entrepreneur took a look at the pages and discussed ideas with everyone. Eventually, the children decided on hosting a surprise thanksgiving party in the TV lounge that was hardly utilised.

    "Alright, I''ll go through the list again," Elfie said. "Cake, chicken, pasta, pizza and fruits. We also need to get some balloons to decorate the room. Where are we going to get money for it?"

    Alex grinned and threw something on the bed that they were seated on. "Mommy gave this to me last night before tucking me into bed. The balloons are in my room, we just need to inflate them and hang them up with some tape."

    Elfie''s jaw dropped at the black card and Jasper gave her a thumbs up. "Good job. I think we should split the teams. You and I will hang the balloons. Elfie and Scarlet can inflate them. But first, we need to make some calls and place some orders."

    There were no objections and Jasper dismissed the team. Elfie stayed back to search for food delivery services that accepted card payments with Jasper while the girls worked on the decorations.

    By the time evening came about, the a.d.u.l.ts returned looking tired but refreshed.

    "I''m home!" Orita called out but the house was very silent. Jenna and Claire who had met up with the couple before returning started to worry.

    "Scarlet? Alex? Jasper? Elfie? Where are you?" Jenna called out.

    Wilmer raised a brow and looked at his grinning wife. "Are they playing hide and seek with us?"

    Orita chuckled. "Perhaps. We should put away our bags and find them. They must be hungry by now."

    Before they could start the search, there was a loud popping sound before the four a.d.u.l.ts were covered in party streamers.

    "Surprise!" Alex yelled and laughed at the surprised looks as she burst into the living room from the TV lounge.

    Wilmer spluttered and Claire relaxed from her fighting stance. Jenna was flabbergasted but Orita exchanged a knowing look with her daughter. Alex returned the black card to her mother and Wilmer gave a betrayed look to his wife.

    "You knew what they were up to!" he accused.

    Orita gave him her most innocent look and Scarlet laughed. "Sorry, daddy. We just wanted to surprise everyone. Before we start the party, I would like to thank you, mommy, Jenna and Claire for all the help. It certainly wasn''t easy to manage so many requests for stay overs, internsh.i.p.s and garage band instruments..."

    Elfie bowed. "Thank you for your hospitality and taking care of me while Danny is away, I really appreciate it."

    Alex smiled. "Thank you for supporting my passion for art. I know that you''re both worried about how far this will take me but I won''t regret it."

    Jasper bowed. "Thank you for giving me the chance to work with the company in a field that I can progress in."

    Wilmer didn''t know what to say and Jenna wiped tears from her eyes. Claire had her poker face on but the soft touch when she patted their heads spoke volumes about how she felt at the moment. They spent some time chatting until Orita decided to start the official party.

    At once, the children ran to the TV lounge and grinned. It was quite the sinful spread full of high calories, oil and unhealthy stuff but everyone enjoyed it thoroughly. Jenna didn''t fuss over the lack of greens in their diet for the night and indulged in the cake. Nobody commented about how much of a slob Wilmer looked like that night eating fried chicken with his bare hands instead of with a fork and knife. Even Orita had a good laugh seeing her husband with tomato sauce on his polo tee.

    Scarlet took in the joyful scene and burned it into her memory. It was nice to have a warm family, she would definitely protect it at any cost together with the help of her friends and siblings. Nobody, not even Anastasia, will hurt her family under her watch.

 Chapter 117 - The Birth of Britannia

    The doorbell rang and Jenna opened the door for their highly anticipated guest.

    "Hello, Lin Lin!" the butler greeted and the shy violinist blushed.

    Lin Lin''s mother smiled and exchanged greetings with the butler who accepted the small gift before she told her daughter to behave. Lin Lin nodded and waved goodbye to her mother who left quickly. Jenna showed the musician to Scarlet''s room where the young writer had been waiting for her.

    "Good morning, big sis!" Lin Lin beamed when she saw the dollish girl.

    Scarlet put down her pen and quickly hid her work from the musician, greeting her with a hug and offering her a seat. Jenna excused herself to get some snacks for the girls while they chatted. Wilmer and Orita were handling some business matters today and the internship didn''t start till two more weeks so it was the best opportunity for the children to get started on their garage band project.

    Alex and Jasper didn''t really mind being roped into Lin Lin''s request. If anything, they seemed excited about it. Jasper volunteered to learn the drums and Alex was contemplating between the keyboard and the guitar.

    Lin Lin bounced on the balls of her feet when Jasper told her about his willingness to learn the drums. Lin Lin took a look at the girls and requested them to sing something. Alex didn''t hesitate to sing a familiar nursery rhyme while Scarlet hesitated for a long time. Nobody commented about how Alex was off tune for some of the higher notes in the song. Her enthusiasm and cheerfulness were enough to make them smile.

    "I-I don''t know songs..." the young writer stuttered.

    In truth, she knew a few but after hearing Alex sing, she lost all her confidence. Unlike her sister, Scarlet didn''t have a refreshing voice. Whenever Scarlet sang, it sounded almost like a whisper. Lin Lin wanted to write a song for rock and Scarlet didn''t think that it would be good.

    Jasper noticed how Scarlet was feeling and decided to help her regain her confidence by volunteering to sing something as well. Lin Lin clapped and grinned as the boy took a deep breath. The boy''s voice wasn''t off-key but it was monotonous enough to make Lin Lin cringe. The violinist quickly stopped him and told Jasper to inject passion into his singing.

    Scarlet couldn''t help but chuckle at Jasper''s shrug. It didn''t sound bad but Jasper''s enthusiasm for singing certainly didn''t match his enthusiasm for the drums. Lin Lin got enraged when the boy couldn''t put more ''passion'' into his voice and rolled her eyes with her arms crossed.

    "You know what? Maybe singing isn''t your thing. We will get to the drums later, hopefully, you''ll be able to showcase your passion better with the help of instruments."

    Jasper hid his satisfaction when Scarlet decided to sing something for Lin Lin. Nobody was expecting a soft and gentle angel-like voice to come out of Scarlet. The young writer was shy when nobody reacted after she finished singing. It wasn''t a difficult song. In fact, everyone should know how to sing "Happy Birthday". There was really nothing special about it.

    Alex pointed at her sister and looked at Lin Lin. "She''s perfect for singing!"

    Scarlet was quick to decline and shot Lin Lin a pleading look. "I don''t want to sing, I''m fine with just writing lyrics and playing something..."

    Lin Lin frowned with a very mature look on her face. It was like a director feeling conflicted over the choice of an acting cast when two very good candidates are vying for the role of the main character.

    "You were both very good, it''s hard for me to decide who to put as the main vocalist. After all, the genre of rock is not easily mastered by children who have very clear voices. I was hoping Jasper could become the vocalist but his enthusiasm for singing leaves little to be desired."

    Alex outrightly laughed at the gardener''s son and Scarlet sighed. "It''s alright, I''m happy with not being in the direct spotlight."

    Lin Lin shook her head and looked at Scarlet. "You cannot say that when you have not experienced being in the centre of all attention before. I have. Alex has. Jasper has. You haven''t."

    When Alex and Jasper heard that, they expressed confusion. Scarlet hasn''t experienced being in the centre of attention before?

    "Jasper is the leader of the E.C. Class. Alex is the Wilde princess. Big sis, you''ve never had any direct attention on you before where you do nothing but receive all the affection of those around you. Don''t try to deny it, I''ve noticed it for a while now. All your greatest achievements are done behind the scenes. You always let someone else hog the spotlight as you cheer from them from the shadows. Back when we were still in Team Scarlet, you did your best to praise everyone and push the credit to Nathan, Tom and Si-Han. Don''t think I didn''t notice that."

    The young writer had no comebacks. Lin Lin then stood up and proudly pointed a finger at Scarlet. "I''ve decided! Scarlet will be the band''s main vocalist!"

    "Eh?!" Scarlet protested quickly but was silenced by Alex''s happy cheer.

    "Congratulations! Isn''t it great you get to sing the lyrics you write? I was so worried that I might have to memorise a lot of lyrics when I sing. You know how terrible I am with dictations, thanks for volunteering to be the main vocalist!"

    Scarlet looked over to Jasper with a pleading look but the boy simply nodded and wished her luck. Lin Lin cackled maniacally and moved on to the next agenda. Alex was the first to try playing the guitar and a keyboard.

    The Wilde princess decided that she liked the guitar better.

    "How can anyone play so many things at one time? The keyboard is so confusing!"

    Jasper also tried his hand at the keyboard but couldn''t make it past the third note when he had to play it at the same time with both hands and several fingers.

    "I give up," he told Lin Lin.

    Scarlet also tried to avoid the keyboard but after trying the drums and guitar, she conceded. It was the only thing she could play without getting hurt. Her leg was still recovering and playing the drums would be out of the question. The guitar was too big for her hands and hurt her fingers when she pressed on the frets.

    "Just think of it as tying," Lin Lin told Scarlet who did her best to imagine it as a keyboard.

    To everyone''s delight and Scarlet''s chagrin, she made the most progress with the keyboard even though she didn''t have any idea how to read scores. Lin Lin simply told her what keys to press and when to press them. Scarlet soaked the patterns up and remembered them easily although she fumbled with recognising the white and black keys that seemed to be duplicates of each other.

    "This is good. I think we can work with this. Before the lyricist and I have a talk to work on the band''s new song, how about we think of a band name?"

    "Team Scarlet?" Alex joked and the young writer shot her a fierce look.

    "I don''t want to use my real name or show my face..." the young writer admitted.

    Lin Lin nodded. "That can be arranged. Many performers use stage names. Also, we can definitely use something to hide your face from the audience. I know of musicians who do that. They become rather popular."

    Jasper heaved a sigh of relief. Like Scarlet, he didn''t want anyone to see his face or know who he was. Remaining a low profile, having fun and enjoying making music together was good enough for him.

    "As the creative director and manager for this band, I propose the image of royalty for the band''s visual concept. Jasper can be the mysterious Kaiser, Alex can be the androgynous prince or princess and Scarlet can be the timeless Pharoah."

    Alex proposed the name "Royals" for the band and it was immediately shot down by Lin Lin.

    "Too common."

    Jasper suggested the name "Kingdom and Empires" and Lin Lin smacked him on the elbow.

    "It''s a band, not a game name!"

    The violinist looked at Scarlet who suddenly felt very pressured to give a good name after her siblings have failed. "Uh... Britain? Germany? Egypt?"

    Lin Lin deadpanned. "Seriously?"

    Scarlet apologised. The four children looked solemn for a moment before Lin Lin''s eyes gleamed.

    "I know. Britannia. The band''s name should be Britannia. She''s a goddess associated with Athena the Goddess of Art after the Romans conquered Britain. It''s too daring for a bunch of children to name themselves after the Goddess of Art but it shouldn''t be too much to be named after a minor Goddess who is associated with Athena."

    Nobody objected. After all, there was no stopping Lin Lin when she was fuelled by artistic inspirations like now. Scarlet didn''t dare to say it but even if Lin Lin were to name their band after the president, none of them would object to it.

    "It''s decided! The band will be Britannia! Let''s get along well," the violinist smiled and the three older children smiled stiffly, doing their best to amuse the musician who was once again laughing maniacally.

    Scarlet sighed. Hopefully working with Lin Lin behind the scenes to create songs would be easier.

 Chapter 118 - Lin Lin and the Lyricist

    Scarlet took it all back. Working with Lin Lin on a new song had to be more tiring than learning how to play the keyboard.

    The young writer had agreed to leave all the song compositions to the musician. Her duty was to create lyrics but it seemed like Lin Lin wanted her opinion on the song arrangements. Currently, the violinist couldn''t decide if she wanted the chorus to be at the opening and blast the song open with a terrific guitar solo or weave in a softer approach of dark and mysterious string ensemble before sliding into the first verse.

    "What''s the song going to be about?" Scarlet finally asked after hearing Lin Lin ramble for half an hour.

    Lin Lin looked at Scarlet. "What do you want it to be about? I don''t think it''s appropriate for children like us to be singing about love. Of course, this is going to be a song about something we''ve all experienced before. Rock is a genre that allows musicians to vent their frustrations, hopes, dreams and grievances that people could relate to and bond over. I don''t think there is truly anyone in this world who truly hates rock."

    Scarlet looked clueless and Lin Lin sighed. She borrowed the young writer''s laptop and searched for some songs.

    "Here," she said. "Listen to these and let me know what you think about them. These are some of my favourite bands. The songs are relatable to me. Maybe you could draw some inspiration from them to come up with lyrics."

    The dollish girl paused. "How do I write lyrics? I know there are a chorus and some verses and something called the bridge. They should also rhyme but how long should each verse or chorus be?"

    Lin Lin laughed. "Silly sister... it doesn''t matter for now. We''re only in the drafting stage of collecting ideas and deciding on the emotions we want to bring into making this song. Anything that feels right in your heart is good enough. For all I know, you could write an essay and we could work from there."

    Hearing this made Scarlet feel slightly more assured. If it was an essay, Scarlet might be able to do just that.

    While Lin Lin went over the arrangements, key and instrument arrangements, Scarlet busied herself with the one thing a writer was usually good at - research. Unlike many people''s misconceptions about writers, the thing they do best is not world creation or grammar, it''s research. If there was something that Scarlet wanted to know, she would flip every book in the library on the subject, read up every article and research journal she could get her hands on the internet and hang out on forums to search for people who have asked the questions she had in mind to understand different perspectives. If the information still wasn''t sufficient, Scarlet usually tried to find an excuse to slide the topic into conversations with friends, family and sometimes strangers. The people-watching habit she had was very useful and Scarlet polished her social skills after hanging out with the socialite mother and daughter.

    Lin Lin and Scarlet worked feverishly in the young writer''s room. It was a world that not even Jasper and Alex can intrude on. Jenna helped to shift the instruments into the TV lounge that Wilmer decided to make the band''s practice room since it was a severely underutilised room.

    Jasper took to watching videos and trying different beats on the drums while Alex started memorising the chords for the guitar in her room. The noise that the children made didn''t seem to disturb the two girls in Scarlet''s room. Their concentration was something worth envying. Tina and Sue excused themselves as soon as they could to escape the horrid screeching and crashing sounds.

    "I will prepare some muscle cream and soothing balm," Claire told the butler who agreed. Jasper was using way too much arm strength, it was sure to be sore after today. Alex who wasn''t seasoned with the strings would have blisters.

    "I will prepare their meals. Don''t forget to take some videos for the master and lady of the house."

    It was two in the afternoon when Lin Lin finally gave up and caved in from hunger.

    "Big sis... let''s eat. We can continue after this. I think Jasper and Alex are also exhausted from practising today. We can discuss the song and the band''s concept with them over food."

    Scarlet agreed. She had long completed her research and was working on some drafts for the lyrics. Based on her understanding of everyone in the band, Scarlet wanted to write about being misfits.

    Jenna and Claire were thankful for the silence when the kids ate and discussed the theme and song''s meaning. Scarlet showed them her drafts. She had written about six versions about the same thing and explained how she thought it would be better for them to sing about something they''ve all experienced before.

    "I think the memories we share with the E.C. Class is something very special. I wanted to write it in but I can''t squeeze so many things into one song... hence these are some ideas we can choose from. Feel free to let me know if there is something else you want to add."

    Lin Lin scanned through all six drafts and smiled widely. Already, she could hear the melody for these songs flood in her head. "We don''t have to just do one song. We can do more. I like them already. However, I think it would scare the three of you if I said I wanted to make an album right off the bat. Let''s vote for the one song that everyone wants to perform and leave the rest for another time?"

    It was a tough choice but eventually, the song titled "False Friends" was selected as the first song Britannia wanted to work with. Lin Lin was slightly disappointed because it was voted for by Alex and Jasper. The musician was more excited to work on the song titled "Misfits Belong Too" because of how dark it sounded.

    "Alright," Lin Lin sighed in defeat. "We shall work on False Friends. These are the lyrics, once it has been finalised, Scarlet and I will bring it out for discussion again. I''m going home to work on the draft composition for all six songs and leave for the day. Let''s continue again on Wednesday!"

    Alex agreed. Her fingers were stinging badly from the practice and the Wilde princess wondered if it was a wise decision to practice the guitar today when she had to go for her internship tomorrow. Likewise, Jasper was regretting his decision. Scarlet was secretly excited and wanted to finish the lyrics as soon as possible. Unlike Jasper and Alex, the young writer didn''t have much of an opportunity to familiarise herself with the keyboard in the corner of her room.

    Lin Lin''s mother came about an hour later and the children bade the violinist goodbye. True to her words, Lin Lin was a good teacher. All three children were given a crash course about singing techniques despite Lin Lin''stone-deaf demonstrations. Jasper was able to get the basics about playing the drums and made smooth progress on his own after the girl left. Alex was able to play a simple song, much to the heiress'' joy and Scarlet understood how to read music scores.

    For the first gathering session of Britannia, Scarlet thought that they were making rather good progress. She couldn''t wait to actually perfect the song and practice so that they could perform it for the boys in the E.C. Class or post a video of it to the secret chatroom so everyone from the E.C. and Special Class can enjoy it.

 Chapter 119 - Little Labourers (1)

    Mr Wilde dropped the children off at a bus stop where six suspicious-looking boys were gathered under. The CEO didn''t recognise them and hesitated to let the four children under his care alight but Alex''s happy squeals and Elfie''s greeting once they opened the car door made him rethink. Could these be the classmates his girls had been talking about?

    "Goodbye, daddy. See you later!" Alex grinned as the car door slammed shut. The chauffeur drove off and Wilmer couldn''t help but turn back to see the ten children gathered at the bus stop chat animatedly.

    Unaware of Wilmer''s complaints in the car, the children were thrilled to see each other after a long week. It was rather unfortunate but not all the students of the E.C. Class could make it. Some of them were overseas on a holiday with their families and others had activities like tuition classes or had to help their parents out with their jobs. Others like Si-Han had to return to work or were working on their individual projects.

    From what Scarlet last heard, Mustafa was training hard at a soccer camp overseas, Roy was participating in a sports camp with some other schools in the country and Dragon was undergoing intensive special training to qualify for a spot to represent Singapore in the coming S.E.A. Games in martial arts. The young writer was happy for the martial artist who took his romance to greater heights. The S.E.A. Games was an international competition not paling in comparison to the Youth Olympics that Rebecca was going to participate in. She gave the new couple her blessings and wished them the best. While talent was required to excel, Scarlet believed that it was only a small reason for success. Without the true driving force of hard work and determination, no amount of talent could make an individual shine.

    The boys present today were Jeremy, Jeff, Issac, Samuel, Benedict and Rowan. Elfie was asked to give Wilmer a brief background report about these boys who requested for a position of an intern with his company. The hacker didn''t leave any stones unturned and Wilmer passed the files to his secretary to look over. Carol made prompt arrangements and decided to assign the boys to different departments.

    Alex was a little disheartened when the boys told her that they were all going separate ways at the company.

    "The four of us are going to intern at the admin department, I heard that there is a new manager and they are currently severely short-handed," Jeremy said.

    Jeff agreed and nudged Benedict. "I heard that they decided to assign you to the logistics department. How nice!"

    The punk rolled his eyes when Jeff wiggled his eyebrows at him. "There''s nothing impressive there. I''m just going to help with what I can. If there is anyone who is lucky, it''s that delusional idiot there. He''s going to human resource and public relations. Don''t know who thought it would be a good idea to put a nutcase there but if you want the phone numbers of any hot office ladies, you have a better chance by asking him."

    Scarlet propelled herself forward with the crutches in surprise. "You''re not going to be in the same department? I didn''t hear anything about it..."

    Jasper looked uneasy. "Is nobody going to the marketing or design department?"

    The six boys shook their heads and Jasper inhaled. How could Wilmer leave his two daughters alone without anyone accompanying them? Scarlet has only just recovered and might need assistance moving around. Alex was very dense and slow-witted. Being Wilmer''s daughter would only make her a target for bullying. What was the CEO thinking?!

    Elfie noticed Jasper''s silence and hummed thoughtfully. Although he wasn''t very well-acquainted with the quiet boy who often hid his eyes behind his bangs, the boy''s worrywart nature that rivalled Mr Wilde''s was not a secret. Lin Lin also mentioned it in the passing before and Elfie wondered if that was the only reason why Jasper agreed to become the drummer of the new band.

    They walked to the building and reached the lobby where a receptionist was waiting. The pleasant lady recognised Scarlet who was still walking with the help of her crutches and beamed.

    "Good morning! You must all be here for the internship? Please wait a moment, Ms Carol will be down soon enough to show you your internship assignment and introduce you to the person-in-charge."

    They waited patiently and chatted on lighter topics, trying to ease the nervousness. Elfie reassured the internally fretting Jasper that the girls would be fine. "I will be in the tech department if you need anything. Actually, if you can get some time alone you can drop me a text using the chatroom app on the phone. Let''s all arrange to meet for lunch."

    Issac agreed. "Should we head over to meet you or wait here at the lobby then head of together? When is lunch anyway?"

    Samuel came prepared. He retrieved a neatly folded schedule printed out last night after he received the email confirmation about his internship from Wilde Inc.''s HR. "Lunch is from noon to one in the afternoon. We should gather here in the lobby and go together. I don''t know where to go for lunch yet but we can decide that together later."

    Alex smiled when she heard that. "I know a few places that we can go to for lunch! Mommy said that lunch will be on us today to celebrate our first day as interns together although it''s not the first day for some of us."

    Carol stepped out of the lift and saw the group of children laughing away looking very carefree. She smiled. Wilmer had nothing to worry about even if some of the boys looked slightly more intimidating. As it was their first day of the internship, Carol decided to give them all an induction program for formality.

    "Hello, boys and girls. I''m Carol, the secretary of Mr Wilmer Wilde. I heard that we will be receiving some rather talented students who wish to experience working life during their end of year break. It''s a rather good timing actually because the company is currently short-handed with many staff going on long holidays. Don''t worry, the jobs should be very simple and business is usually slower during this time of the year for some departments. If you''re all ready, shall we head up?"

    Rowan looked hyped up about going on an office tour as Carol explained a little more about the company when they were in the lift. The secretary suddenly felt like a teacher or a tour guide with so many pairs of eyes looking at her. It was an uneasy feeling but not an unwelcome one. Nobody usually paid her much attention because all eyes would usually be on her boss. their worshipping looks made her blush a little especially when they showered her with genuine praises of her knowledge.

    "Alright, this is the meeting room that I''ve booked all the way till lunch. Please take a seat and help yourselves to the refreshments in the room. I''ll be back with your access cards and some paperwork," she told the eager children who answered her positively before fighting over who got the last packet of M&Ms in the refreshment tray.

    Carol returned to her office and nearly screamed in shock when Wilmer''s head popped up from beneath her desk just as she was about to reach it.

    "How are the boys? Are they bullying my girls? Do I need to fire anyone?"

    The lesbian secretary glared at her childish boss. Screw Wilmer and his daughter complex! What kind of CEO would ambush his employees to inquire about his daughters'' first day at work? It was totally inappropriate and Carol wasn''t afraid to let Wilmer know what she thought of him.

    The CEO visibly wilted when she told him that Orita would be informed of his ill conduct. Wilmer cried and begged but Carol was already immune to this wimpy side of her boss. She grabbed the files she needed, a container full of pen and a box of access cards that the HR readied yesterday for the arrival of the new interns.

    With a roll of her eyes, the secretary left her pathetic boss behind and shut the door. The woman received some strange stares from her colleagues but a glare from her made everyone hurry back to work. It wasn''t unusual to hear odd noises coming from the CEO''s office and his secretary''s room but nobody dared to breathe a word about it.

    After all, Carol had quite a reputation in the company. Nobody called her Capricious Carol without good reasons. They shook their heads in pity once the lady left the office. Let the Heavens watch over the group of new interns under the demon secretary''s care. If not a single one of them dropped out by the end of the week, now that would be the talk of the year.

 Chapter 120 - Little Labourers (2)

    Every student received their access card from Carol with both hands and bowed as if it was some sort of prestigious award. The secretary had a hard time keeping a smile off her face at how adorable these kids were being. She already knew that Scarlet was a natural sweetheart, Alex was a natural cutie and Jasper was a charming mother hen. Although she wasn''t very well acquainted with the rest of the boys, the files she received from Wilmer gave her enough to form a good first impression. Meeting them in person was more satisfying than she dreamed it would be.

    Once everyone received their cards, Carol explained how it could be used and briefly went through the doc.u.ment that they had to sign.

    "This is just a formality that the HR requires for filing purposes. Kindly bring it back for your parents to sign and return the signed forms to us. Do remember to take back a copy that the HR will make for you. If they do not give you a photocopy of the signed form, please let me know. I can be found in my office on the top floor. Just ask around for Carol, the CEO''s secretary and they will know."

    Rowan nodded in amazement. "You must be some really big shot here for everyone to know you. We''re very honoured to have someone important as yourself to give us a tour of the company."

    Carol laughed. This boy called Rowan was really a smooth-talker. She knew she wasn''t wrong to push for him to intern with the HR and public relations department. the secretary answered some of their questions while struggling with the laptop setup. When Elfie saw that, he quickly offered her assistance.

    Carol smiled. No wonder Wilmer recommended this young boy to work with the programming team. She heard that he was currently staying with the Wilde''s and was the son of Wilmer''s personal friend. He was also in the same class as Wilmer''s children which meant that he was probably a child genius too. The secretary was deeply intrigued by how the geniuses got to know such unique friends. Perhaps she could ask them over lunch when they were more comfortable with her.

    After the laptop was ready, Carol went through the PowerPoint slides introducing Wilde Inc. to the children with a brief history of its founding. She also presented some jaw-dropping facts and figures and enjoyed the mixed reactions she received from the boys. Issac, Jeff and Benedict looked like they were on the verge of breaking down hearing how much money was involved.

    "Don''t worry, as long as you are an intern, all mistakes made by you will naturally fall on the shoulders of your manager who is in charge of all of you. You don''t have to worry too much about making mistakes and just do your best to learn as much as you can."

    Hearing that only made the three boys grow paler. Rowan laughed and gave them a pat on their shoulders while Alex assured them that the people from the admin department are actually nice people. Benedict didn''t feel consoled when Alex apologised for not knowing anyone from the logistics team and Carol had to bite her lips to stop herself from laughing at their interactions. This was going to be a very amusing two months as well as a great way to end a shitty year.

    As they went through the company''s mission and vision, Jasper, in particular, appeared to be deep in thoughts behind the cover of his thick bangs. Rowan noticed it but decided to keep this to himself for now. Carol then quickly ran through what Wilde Inc. does as a business and how the various departments worked together. She also explained that because they were an international company, it became slightly more complex because they had to deal with their subsidiaries from other countries, especially with those from Europe.

    "The logistics department and admin department are currently the most short-handed at the moment. I have some information about everyone here and I hope that the departments you are attached to will help to broaden your horizons. If you feel that the job scope is not something you can cope with, please bring this up to me so that we can make different arrangements to make these two months with us meaningful."

    With that, Carol concluded the induction briefing and told them that they will be going on an office tour to introduce everyone to the various departments and their department heads so that everybody knew who to look for if they needed something.

    The boys roused in excitement and Alex had to remind them to keep their volume down and act professionally. Scarlet wanted to correct her sister but decided not to in the end. Other than Rowan and Samuel who made the act look believable, the other boys looked awkward and out of their element. Their dress codes were casual like what was stated in the internship letter of acceptance. However, there was a difference in the level of casualness within the group.

    Samuel was dressed in a pristine white button-up with black skinny jeans. His hair was slicked back neatly and it made him look sharp. It also helped that the german boy wasn''t trying too hard to put on airs. Rowan wore a simply collared shirt and dark denim jeans with black converse sneakers. His easy-going but friendly personality made him appear confident much to some people''s envy.

    On the other hand, Jeremy was stumbling over his words, Jeff was stuttering, Issac''s glaring was ten times worse than normal making him look like a murderer while Benjamin tried to open his eyes too wide to appear ''alert'' that he ended up scaring a few office ladies they passed by.

    "Loosen up, guys. You''re too stiff," Scarlet whispered.

    Issac hunched over and whispered. "I can''t... all the a.d.u.l.ts here are too above our level. I don''t think I can do this..."

    "Me neither," Jeff agreed. "I don''t understand anything that they were talking about! Danny didn''t teach us this in school."

    Jeremy was speechless. As the vice-leader of the E.C. Class after Jinru, it was his duty to pull everyone together. Yet the pressure of expectations made him feel ill in the stomach. He wondered if he could really survive this first day with so many people staring at them oddly.

    Benedict was twirling his screwdriver and Samuel wondered why the boy even brought his tools along. Where was he hiding the toolkit with nothing but some faded jeans and a thread worn cotton tee?

    Elfie chose to blend in with the taller boys like a shadow while Scarlet struggled a little to keep up with the pace while worrying about the E.C. Class boys. Would they really be alright? She knew that Anna was a nice lady who would definitely help the boys if they needed help. However, they have not even gotten to the real work and already, half of them were looking like they needed to go home.

    When the boys were introduced to the fifth director for the day, the young writer finally understood why these four boys, in particular, were struggling so much.

    "Issac, Benedict, Jeremy, Jeff... can I speak to you for a second?"

    Carol was surprised that the dollish girl would suddenly call the nervous lambs out. Did she realise something?

    "It''s alright," the young writer smiled. "We''re all interns here. It doesn''t matter where we come from, we''re all starting from the bottom of the ladder together. This isn''t school, we''re not in the E.C. class or Special Class. In fact, there is an advantage. We''re children going against a.d.u.l.ts. It''s not a shame to lose to those with more knowledge and experience than us. Why don''t we treat this as a special boot camp like what Dragon and the others are doing? Let''s give it our worst and meet up with the rest of the boys next year to show them what we''ve learnt over the holidays."

    Carol was slightly surprised when hse heard this. Although the secretary didn''t know what the young girl was talking about, the four nervous trainwrecks calmed down at once.

    "Scarlet," Jeff swallowed. "What if we make a mistake? Somebody else has to be responsible for our mistakes..."

    Alex laughed. "Isn''t that what we''ve always been doing? Back then, we had a bet as a team, didn''t we? If anyone failed, we would run laps around the school. You just have to do your best."

    "But what about actually doing work? I don''t know anything about it, the school didn''t teach us how to work..." Jeremy blurted out much to his later embarrassment.

    Jasper shook his head. "You don''t go to class knowing what the teacher is talking about. In fact, most of you only understood what I was trying to teach only after the fourth time I repeated myself. Working and studying is not very different. Besides, why are you of all people worried? You learn better doing things than reading it from a book, you''ll be fine."

    Benedict''s grip on his screwdriver tightened. "I can''t make friends well. What if they hate me in the logistics department?"

    Issac''s face grew gloomier at that. "My face is too scary."

    Elfie scratched his cheek at that and eyed Carol who took the cue and placed a hand on each of the boy''s heads. "Don''t worry about those. We''re only at the orientation stage, you haven''t even given the job a chance. If there are any concerns after trying it out, you can always look for me. While we won''t spoon feed you answers here in the working world, we do help each other out."

    More reassured now, the boys made it through the rest of the tour without much issues. Rowan was already getting friendly with everyone he was introduced with and even greeted them when he bumped into them along the corridor when he saw them getting ready for lunch. Carol was thoroughly impressed at the boy''s ability to remember names and people whom he''s only met for the first time.

    "Alright, that''s all for the tour. It is currently lunchtime and I will be taking all of you out for lunch just to show you some places that are budget-friendly for children like yourselves. Please grab what you need and meet me in the lobby," she smiled.

    The children were slightly surprised at how quickly time passed. Many of them thought that they would be hunched over files and doc.u.ments for the first half of the day and in great need for something delicious to recharge but this orientation was fairly relaxed as compared to their image of the working world.

    Carol smirked as she read their expressions. "Don''t worry, the actual work and stress will come soon. This is your honeymoon week. We will slowly hand you things that you need to learn in order to perform on the job. We''re not that cruel to throw you into the pit of snakes right off the bat so do your best to learn as much as you can."

    The boys paled slightly, not knowing if Carol was giving them a friendly heads-up or pulling their leg. One thing they all agreed on silently after Carol left was that the secretary was actually a scary woman.

    "A.d.u.l.ts are scary," Jeff whispered.

    Nobody disagreed and Alex promised that they would have lunchtime gossip another day, just not this week. It was unspoken but after the short session with Carol, everyone knew that in the working world, it was better to watch their words and use Elfie''s chatroom instead, especially if they wanted to bitch about some of their bosses or co-workers.

 Chapter 121 - Little Labourers (3)

    Overwhelmed was the only way Scarlet could describe her new internship life. It was very different working without Alex or Jasper with her. In fact, she rather envied the boys who had each other for company in the admin department. The girl often found herself left alone simply because the employees in the marketing department were always too busy.

    The young writer never knew just how busy a.d.u.l.ts were when they worked. Nobody seemed to be present in the office at their desks and when they were, they were often on the phone or typing furiously and screaming at the printer. That level of chaos scared the poor girl into silence as she held onto the pile of doc.u.ments she was told to look through.

    The girl had actually completed reading through the department''s SOP and overview. She understood everyone''s jobs in theory but looking at them work was a nightmare. Why didn''t anything seem to match the image she had in mind after reading the papers? That gap between reality and expectations threw Scarlet off very badly. Without anyone directing her, the young writer tried to stay out of everyone''s way. She wasn''t even able to help collect prints or organise files because of her leg so Scarlet was left with no choice but to entertain herself.

    Scarlet: Boop. Anyone home?

    Elfie: How nice! I thought I was the only one bored to death... are internsh.i.p.s usually this boring?

    Jasper: How do you two still have idle time? I''m still trying to understand what spreadsheets are... these stupid files don''t work even after I''ve done everything the explanation videos online said!

    Elfie: PM me the details, it''s excel right? I know some basics.

    Scarlet paused when nobody continued the conversation. From the response, Jasper must be very busy and struggling with the difficult things he had to learn. Elfie was idle but that was before he found joy in helping Jasper with his task. The girl sighed. She wished there was something she could do too. The marketing department and design department weren''t very far from each other. In fact, the marketing department worked very closely with a lot of other departments such as sales, finance, design and admin. Maybe if Scarlet found an excuse, she could go over to the other departments to see what the rest are doing.

    With her mind made up, Scarlet looked around and listened in on conversations of the busy a.d.u.l.ts.

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on and check out their other works. <<

    Anna was surprised to see Scarlet but she smiled happily.

    "Scarlet!" the office lady greeted happily and looked down at where the cast used to be. "I see you''ve removed the cast. Is it still difficult to walk?"

    The young writer grinned, happy to see a friendly familiar face. "Hello, Anna. I''ll be able to walk normally in about another two weeks. The marketing department is rather different from the admin department... Nobody has given me anything to do so I thought I''d do myself a favour and check if there is anything from the admin department that needs to be brought up to the marketing team."

    The bespectacled girl beamed. "You''re so smart! There actually are some things we need to bring up to the marketing team but we''ve been putting it off for a while. It''s been very busy lately because Ms Lawrence just left the company. The new manager is not very familiar and there are many people trying to take advantage of the situation by stirring chaos. We''ve also taken in four new interns today and I haven''t been able to help them much thanks to the sheer workload under the new management."

    Scarlet nodded and asked for a little more details. The new manager was a very young lady who was lacking in experience as a manager even if she was an efficient worker. The HR team scouted her when she applied for the position and thanks to her good academic qualifications, she got the job. Anna explained how the new manager was often tricked into doing things that she didn''t have to thanks to the senior employees who were jealous of her position. They were next in line for the promotion but their career paths ended with this new lady who was so many years younger than them.

    "It''s a real shame but I don''t know if our new manager can cope under so much pressure. If only there was something I could do but this is really something out of my abilities. In terms of cunningness, these older office ladies wouldn''t lose out to Ms Lawrence."

    Scarlet hummed. "Well, if things become too much for you to handle, you can always get those boys to do it. I know them personally and while not all of them are very bright, they are very hardworking and kind!"

    Anna beamed. "That''s very reassuring to hear. The boys have been a great help so far. I still feel bad that I''m not able to guide them properly as the one in charge of teaching the ropes to the interns... I merely told them about where you, Jasper and Alex left off and they picked everything else up on their own. Right now, I think Samuel and Jeff are helping to archive the doc.u.ments from ten years ago. I don''t know what Jeremy is doing but Issac offered to help with filing and scanning. He said that he had a scary face and wasn''t suited to meet people."

    The young writer laughed uneasily at that. Issac still had that kind of mentality? That wouldn''t do. He needed to build up more self-confidence and overcome the fear of scaring people away.

    "Thank you, Anna. I''ll ask one or two of the boys to help me carry whatever is needed up to the marketing team if that is not a problem?"

    Anna agreed and quickly hurried off to finish whatever she''d been tasked to do.

    Scarlet reached the intern''s room and was surprised to see the table and floors flooded with papers. "What happened here?"

    Issac who was working on them looked up in surprise. "Scarlet?"

    Jeremy who was assembling carton boxes also stopped. "Oh! Nice seeing you here. Is there anything we can do to help you?"

    Scarlet nodded. "Do you know what kind of things the admin team wants to send up to the marketing team? I''m here to collect them. The seniors in the marketing team are constantly busy, nobody has given me anything to do so I''m looking for something to work on myself."

    Understanding dawned on Jeremy as well as a sense of pity. "Alright. I think Issac and I should help you transfer them. It''s a few boxes of pamphlets that have been delivered to us from the printers. I think you''d find yourself busy for a few days with the sheer amount of folding required. There are a total of ten thousand pamphlets in these boxes for an event somewhere next month."

    Scarlet grinned. Folding pamphlets is something that she could manage without too much walking. Also, having something to keep her hands occupied was better than staring into blank space all the time. She could start with this.

    "Thanks, guys. I think I''ll be happy to work on them compared to not having anything to do. Can you help me bring it up?"

    Issac nodded and started loading the boxes onto a trolley while Jeremy excused himself to inform Anna about their errand. Scarlet sighed internally. She was initially thrilled to join the marketing team but with how busy everyone is, she worried if she would be learning anything at all by the end of it.

    Still, the girl tried to remain positive. It was only the first day, she might be able to pick up some new information over the next few days to learn a thing or two.

 Chapter 122 - The Worries of a Father

    Alex thoroughly enjoyed the time she spent on her first day working with the design department. At dinner, the artist gushed to her mother about what she learnt.

    Orita listened to her daughter talk about paint brushes, clipping and masks even if she understood none of it. On the other hand, Jasper looked like he was severely in need of rest. Scarlet looked pensive and the heiress looked over to her husband who was zoning out. What exactly happened at the company today?

    The meal ended earlier than usual with Jasper quickly excusing himself. Wilmer decided to go for a smoke break, something he rarely did with the children around. Scarlet decided to practice playing the keyboard and her sister also decided to grab her guitar. Elfie left early to work on some private project.

    "What happened at the company today?" Orita asked her husband once the children went upstairs.

    Wilmer was standing on the balcony when his wife appeared. The CEO sighed, sounding severely stressed.

    "Carol told me that the children were overly eager. After dismissing Collins and Lawrence, the admin department is unstable. The new girl is good at her job but isn''t doing well at dealing with the old foxes of the admin department. Carol heard it from Scarlet who went down to the admin department to look for work. We''re busy preparing for the new product''s launch at the start of next year. It might not be a good idea to have them interning now."

    Orita smiled and massaged her husband''s stiff shoulders. "Scared that they''re overwhelmed? While it is true that I''ve never seen Jasper look so drained, I think this is actually a good thing. Compared to him, the girls are doing well. Elfie is just doing what he normally does although I don''t know how their classmates are coping."

    Wilmer laughed without humour. "Jasper will be fine, he''s handled worse things. On the contrary, I''m afraid that with the eagerness of these children, they might put more stress on the managers, especially that new girl. It wasn''t easy to find a good replacement for Lawrence."

    Orita laughed. "You worry too much, darling. If anything, you can treat this as an opportunity to learn more things from these children. They are able to see things from a new perspective that us jaded a.d.u.l.ts cannot."

    Wilmer thought about it. "You might be right. However, it''s only the first day. Most of the boys would be gone by the time school starts again. We have less than two months and they don''t report to work every day. It''s three to four days in a workweek at the moment."

    Orita thought about it. "How about creating a special project group for the interns? They can report to the respective departments that they work in and work on whatever assignments they''d been given but when they don''t have much to do, Carol can give them some projects to work on. I know that you are having trouble with the design and development for new innovative products. Danny spoke highly of these children, there isn''t much to lose now, is there?"

    Wilmer nodded and kissed Orita. "What will I do without you?"

    The heiress laughed and kissed her husband back. "That''s why you have to properly cherish me, dear husband. Still, don''t think that I don''t know the main reason for your worries. Handling ten interns cannot make you falter. Tell me, it''s something related to Anastasia, isn''t it?"

    Wilmer neither confirmed nor denied it but his face was stiff. Orita knew better than to push her husband for details when he was in one of these moods. Instead, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and told him not to stay out for too long before returning indoors, most likely to check on the children.

    Danny had returned with some news about his investigations. Elfie was not informed about it because both men wanted to keep their families out of the matter. The reason for the sudden rush and expansion of the Wilde empire was because the CEO needed more power and resources to deal with the empire that Anastasia controlled. Jasper was proving to be a very reliable boy who not only took good care of his daughters but also was a capable leader. He was naturally smart and mature in his thinking. With enough training, the boy could take over the reins of his empire.

    Wilmer exhaled another cloud of smoke and looked up into the night sky. As much as he was proud of his children, Wilmer didn''t want to rely on them. As the father, it was his duty to protect them. Orita had already lost too much, he couldn''t take the innocence of his children away at such a young age and expose them to the horrible world of grown-ups. Children should enjoy their childhood to the fullest while they still can.

    His wife had hardly the chance to become a mother because she had been busy supporting him from behind the scenes using her social connections. Orita might not say it aloud but Wilmer knew she felt guilty for not being there for her daughter when she was younger. Jasper was a friend that Orita wanted for her daughter because Alex had been home-schooled for many years without any kids of her age to socialise with. Wilmer knew that his daughter was a very mature child. Although she was often lonely, she would never cry and complain. Her smiles were the brightest when the whole family came together and she treasured the gifts her parents gave her.

    Scarlet''s introduction to the family only made things harder for Alex and it was the first time Wilmer ever saw his daughter throw a tantrum. After Scarlet broke her leg, Alex seemed to have set aside her jealousy and started to accept her new sister, sharing her parents with the equally lonely girl. Wilmer couldn''t be more thankful for having such wonderful children. Seeing them mature by the day and finding a path that they could walk on brought joy to his life. He wanted this to last for as long as it could and eliminate the underlying threat to this beautiful family.

    Having Claire work for them was probably one of Wilmer''s greatest blessings. If it wasn''t for the capable ex-soldier, Wilmer would never have been able to put his mind at ease and focus on building his empire. Danny''s latest report made the CEO anxious. As a father, he wanted to spend more time with his family now that Orita was here. However, it appears as if he would have to leave very soon again. It hurt him to know that the family he wanted to protect was almost always never within his reach.

    The night was getting chilly and Wilmer snubbed out the last of his cigarette. His wife should be tucking the children in now. The CEO headed back indoors and sighed heavily. How should he break the news to his wife? He still had a little less than two months before he had to leave for America to expand the business. It might take him six years to complete the project. Six years is a very long time. Even if his wife and children visited during every holiday, it still wasn''t the same as living together.

    Jenna prepared a glass of whisky for the troubled CEO when she saw him come in. "Penny for your thoughts, sir?"

    Wilmer shook his head but accepted the glass. After taking a sip and enjoying the burn of the liquid sliding down his throat, Wilmer looked at the loyal butler.

    "Where do you think these kids will be in six years?"

    The lady butler was slightly surprised by the question but she thought about it. "It''s a little hard to say, sir. Scarlet has been with us for only a few months but a lot has changed already. It was like a spark when the young miss was still following behind Jasper like a lost puppy and not knowing what to do out of the things she was familiar with. Just yesterday, she was teaching herself one of the more difficult guitar chords even if her fingers were wrapped in bandages. I may not be certain of where these kids will be in six years but I can assure you that they will become very successful individuals. After all, they have each other."

    Wilmer smiled. "That''s right. They have each other. I guess I should head to bed early, you shouldn''t sleep too late either. Please continue watching over them like you always have."

    Jenna smiled with a small bow as Wilmer emptied his whisky and headed upstairs. The lady butler didn''t say anything but she understood the shadows underneath the CEO''s eyes. Orita was right, the burden of this empire might be too heavy for any one person to bear. For twenty years, Wilmer shouldered this heavy responsibility all by himself. Wilmer doesn''t like to talk about it but Jenna hoped that the day will come when the CEO can openly share all his burdens with someone else even if it wasn''t his wife.

    As for now, she would continue to stand beside her mistress and watch over the family like a guardian angel like the loyal butler she was.

 Chapter 123 - Britannias First Song

    Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye. Apart from Jasper, everyone was happy with the internship. The poor boy was constantly exhausted and became the subject of Lin Lin''s rage during rehearsals.

    Scarlet could only envy the young musician for her energy levels. The violinist never seemed to be tired and often gave it her all every round. Lin Lin revealed the completed song last week much to everyone''s amazement. Scarlet was still struggling with some of the high notes and Alex could be found practising the guitar solo riff every evening after dinner and shower while waiting for her hair to dry.

    Despite having to learn how to sing and play the keyboard, Scarlet was coping better than Jasper who was almost always too tired to play the drums, much to Lin Lin''s frustration. Eventually, she scolded Jasper and sent him straight to bed while asking for Elfie''s help with the recording of the practice sessions while taking over the drums herself. Scarlet had to admit, she didn''t think Lin Lin would be able to reach the foot pedal for the bass drum but she did. The girl was also somehow able to reach the crash cymbals.

    Orita was less busy now that she was with her husband. However, the heiress made it a point to always be out and give the kids their privacy to practice during band days. Only Jenna knew what her mistress was up to on those days. On the other hand, Claire took the opportunity to hit the gym while Jenna watched over the band practice. Wilmer informed her about Danny''s report and the head maid thought it might be appropriate to step up on her training and the security details of the escort team who followed after the children discreetly whenever they left the penthouse. Jenna called it an unnecessary precaution in a country like Singapore but Wilmer begged to differ. Nobody, not even Orita, could convince him otherwise.

    Scarlet sighed when the violinist announced that they would take a ten-minute break. Alex groaned and went down to ask Jenna for some ice. Her fingers were hurting badly and Scarlet took a long drink from her bottle. Lin Lin was a very strict teacher but thanks to her generous pointers and expert tips, they were finally seeing the song getting put together.

    "In a few more sessions, we will be ready for song recording," Lin Lin told Scarlet who was surprised to hear that.

    "Recording? Aren''t we just doing this for fun?"

    The musician laughed. "Of course. However, since I see potential in this becoming a real band, we might as well see how far we can go with it. Don''t worry, I will only record this one song. If any of the recording companies think it is good, it will be up to the three of you to decide if you want to continue with the band more professionally."

    The young writer didn''t know what to think. She was doing this mostly to humour Lin Lin. It never occurred to her that it could become something professional. The promise of fame on stage under the spotlight is not something Scarlet wanted. In fact, she preferred influencing the world from behind a screen like how she had always done it.

    Lin Lin noticed the reluctance in Scarlet and smiled. "You know, I didn''t want to stand on a stage and play in front of an audience wearing those frilly dresses and having my hair pulled into different styles with uncomfortable powder on my face. Everything started with my mother. I only played the violin and got into music because I liked it. However, I learnt that sometimes, it is necessary to be in the spotlight. Without this fame, I would have never been able to do the things I do now. It''s a kind of power that allows me to achieve my dreams a lot faster than most other kids my age. Can you imagine without this fame, I would still be stuck in one of those boring classrooms listening to boring teachers talk for hours."

    Scarlet mulled over Lin Lin''s words during the break. Her current concern was Anastasia. To avoid getting Alex involved with such a dangerous man, Scarlet wanted to better herself in every way possible to become a strength that the Wilde family could depend on. Her initial plan was to write her way into finding out more information as a journalist who investigated crime on the side while living off the paycheque of a novelist.

    Unknown to Jasper and Alex who were struggling with everything else in life, Scarlet had been contacting Elfie privately about things regarding the Wilde empire and its relationship with Anastasia. If Scarlet had not been pretending to be asleep from exhaustion those few days after she''d been chased by Cody''s men for evidence, she wouldn''t have heard Claire''s side of the conversation and the name Anastasia.

    It wasn''t difficult for Scarlet to find out more about the CEO of Wilde empire''s rival. Although it took Scarlet a lot of effort to dig up on old news, she soon learnt all about the scandal involving the Wilde empire more than two decades ago. The young writer doubted that Jasper or Alex was aware of it and it gave her the inspiration to work towards helping the ones who took her in taking down their enemies.

    On the surface, everything about Lucian Anastasia appeared clean. Other than being a rather shrewd and mean businessman, nothing much was known about his private life which led Scarlet to think about how influential he was if the media could not get any dirt on him. It was after she got to know Elfie better that Scarlet asked him for a favour over the secured chat room privately.

    Elfie was a little surprised that Scarlet knew about Anastasia. His father had him digging up information about the businessman but told him to lay it off after a while before bringing him over to Singapore. The hacker didn''t suspect much and handed whatever information he had previously dug up about the businessman over to Scarlet.

    After Scarlet read Elfie''s information, she told the hacker to keep this away from her sister and Jasper. Elfie didn''t know what was going on but agreed to keep it a secret as Scarlet made her plans. First, she was going to have to become financially independent and influential enough to make her claims credible. Scarlet had to start collecting evidence and compiling them to put Anastasia away behind bars for good.

    She was sure that Wilmer, Danny and Benjamin must already be working on the case but the young writer also knew how difficult it was for those three men to act freely. Unlike Scarlet, Anastasia must already know about them. On the other hand, Scarlet was a new addition to the family with hardly any information about her. She was that wild card that could be used against Anastasia, unlike Jasper and Alex who were known targets.

    Although Scarlet didn''t know about Claire''s background, the head maid must not be a simple person. Scarlet wasn''t fooled. When Claire rescued her, she was definitely holding a gun. Claire was a trained combatant and Scarlet didn''t need to pry too much to know that she was probably employed by Wilmer to protect Alex and even Jasper.

    Right now, Scarlet hated the age limit. She couldn''t own a bank account or hold onto her passport without a guardian. Lin Lin''s suggestion about the band gave Scarlet some hope. If she was famous like Lin Lin, wouldn''t she be given more freedom? If the band needed to travel for shows all over the world and the three of them had a contract with some entertainment company, wouldn''t they be required to have an individual bank account with only a guarantor in name to open that account?

    Scarlet gave the thought some serious consideration. She had no difficulties in convincing Jasper to make Britannia a success but the young writer wondered if Alex would be interested in such a thing. After all, her sister could be rather ditzy at times.

    "Alright, break time''s over!" Lin Lin clapped her hands twice and gave a short briefing about what she wanted to see over the next hour of practice, effectively cutting Scarlet away from her thoughts.

 Chapter 124 - False Friends

    A month passed by without much incident and Scarlet was happy that she was able to walk without the help of crutches at last. The young writer had immediately signed up for weekly hip-hop dance classes with Alex when her sister expressed an interest in it.

    Jasper was looking better now after learning the basics about how accounts worked. It was a very tough first two weeks as an intern with the company when he was thrown into the finance department without any knowledge about what journal entries were. Wilmer and Orita decided to sign Jasper up for some classes about basic excel uses and bookkeeping classes for beginners on the days that he wasn''t working as an intern.

    Orita decided to drag Scarlet along for a few sessions of martial art classes given by Claire instead of attending the boring physiotherapy classes. The head maid didn''t go easy on either of her students so Orita quit after two classes while Scarlet stayed for six until she was able to run again. Wilmer forbade the maid from teaching his girls martial arts after that, fearing that they would transform into muscular swimsuit models.

    For some reason, that strange development made even Wilmer excited about the band. He started talking about it to everyone. Orita wasn''t any better. Everywhere these two proud parents went, they would tell everyone about their adorable children.

    After showing some director and producer the video of Britannia''s band practice, the children were told to submit their demo tracks for an audition. Naturally, Orita didn''t hesitate to support Lin Lin when the girl brought up wanting to record their very first song in a studio. Wilmer was very busy with work so Orita took it upon herself to arrange everything with Jenna''s help.

    The three children were quickly measured for tailored clothing and Mrs Wilde called for Mr Leonce Le Beau to help them with the makeup and styling. Jenna arranged for professional photographers to do a private photoshoot in the penthouse''s library.

    Alex was most thrilled with her image that Lin Lin proposed. Mr Le Beau didn''t disappoint with androgynous fashion. Jasper didn''t look too different and refused all sorts of hair products when the stylist proposed it. He wanted to keep his eyes covered behind that thick wall of hair no matter what so the stylist had to relent but compromised by musing the thick straight bangs into something wavier that gave better dimension, suiting the look better. Jasper looked like a young noble vampire and perfected that mysterious vibe. Scarlet''s design was a little more complicated to perfect because of her dollish features. Eventually, Lin Lin helped Le Beau decide on a lolita doll image that turned out to be a huge hit.

    Wilmer cried when he saw the pictures of the photoshoot, feeling regretful that he wasn''t there to witness it. He also cried when Alex told him she didn''t want to wear skirts when she played the guitar. Orita had to drag her husband away to give the three children some space that evening. When Scarlet showed Debbie her photograph, the editor was pleasantly impressed by how doll-like Scarlet looked.

    "I didn''t think it was possible for a human to look like this... if you want to enter the entertainment industry, I think all three of you would excel very well," she smiled.

    Scarlet was slightly conflicted. During the excitement of recording their first song, Scarlet started working on more lyrics even without Lin Lin''s prompting. However, she wanted to listen to what Debbie had to say about it.

    "Could you look over these lyrics I wrote? I don''t know much about poetry but I''m hoping you might..."

    Debbie looked through the five sets of lyrics and made some comments at the side.

    "I think you have a very bright future more than just a writer. Your creativity knows no bounds and although you don''t study literature or poetry, you did rather well on these. I can feel the raw passion coming from your heart through these words. The choice of words is explosive even if the rhyming sense is simple. All you need to take note of when writing lyrics and poems is the tempo. There are too many syllabi in the line before the chorus so unless you want to create a rap or a rushed build-up, I would recommend avoiding that."

    Scarlet took down notes attentively and thanked the editor before revising the lyrics. She was excited about the band''s activities. Jasper had taken to practising with them after he settled down with his internship''s workload. Alex took an interest in dancing and keeping fit more than ever, even going as far as to study fashion. Orita noticed the change in her daughter who was beginning to take art out of the drawing block and canvases. If one didn''t know better, they would start to think that Alex was at the age where she wanted to dress up beautifully to impress boys. Instead, Scarlet knew better. Alex was trying to transform herself into a work of art to express her artistic ideas better.

    The recording session was four hours long with Jasper recording first, Alex second and Scarlet last. Lin Lin was equally excited at getting to direct a recording session for the first time. There was a very experienced sound engineer working with them in the studio who was rather impressed with the four children. Lin Lin''s directing was professional and on point while all three band members worked efficiently without much drama.

    A long-awaited week later, the finalised demo track was sent to the Wildes. Lin Lin was invited to listen to the end product and was very excited. Elfie had already started a live sharing session in the chatroom so that the E.C. Class and Special Class could enjoy it together.

    The song''s title was "False Friends" and Lin Lin decided to start it with a soft background of solemn violin with the light melody of the piano before bringing the heavy beat of drums and the high tension of guitar. Scarlet felt her heart pounding at the introduction and held her breath, not knowing how she would end up sounding in the demo track. She remembered having to sing each line repeatedly, some more than twenty times to get the best take. Lin Lin told her to leave everything else to the editors but Scarlet didn''t know if it would sound good.

    As the guitar dulled and the drums slowed, Scarlet''s clear voice rang out and filled the room, robbing everyone''s breath away with just the first verse.

    Song Title: False Friends

    Composed by: Lin Lin

    Lyrics by: Scarlet Wilde

    Performed by: Britannia

    V1

    She said she will not betray me

    When haters come to hate me

    So why is it when they come flocking

    On the other side is where she''s mocking?

    Pre-Chorus

    Trust no one, trust no one

    The voices in my head were right

    Trust no one, trust no one

    They''re all wolves in sheep disguise

    Chorus

    "False friends! False friends!"

    The ravens cried

    Why didn''t I listen to their warning?

    "False friends! False friends!"

    The angels lied

    When they said I could count on another

    V2

    He tells me we''re in this together

    That he would never tell the teacher

    So why is my homework in his handwriting

    While mine just a copy of his denying?

    Repeat Pre-Chorus

    Repeat Chorus

    Bridge

    Friendsh.i.p.s are fleeting

    Like flowers that bloom in spring

    False friends can''t hurt me more than loneliness

    Is that why I continue to seek forgiveness?

    Repeat Chorus

    End

    Unlike the children who applauded the success of that demo track, Orita and Jenna looked slightly worried when they heard the lyrics written by Scarlet. None of the a.d.u.l.ts was expecting such dark emotions and thoughts. Hearing it was worrying but nobody knew what to do about it. Bringing up the topic of seeing a psychologist might not sit well with Scarlet who was still looking very vibrant on the outside. The song spoke of teenage angst and Orita quickly brushed it aside. It might be Scarlet''s puberty and teenage rebellion that influenced her to write such lyrics. She showed no other signs of being depressed so far so the heiress decided to turn a blind eye to the matter and plastered a smile on her face to congratulate the children.

    Claire''s eyes never left Scarlet and the head maid wondered if she should try to subtly help Scarlet out emotionally. Those insecurities that Scarlet faced would eventually turn into demons that would paralyse her if not dealt with properly in the early stages. Mrs Wilde didn''t look like she wanted to do anything about it and continued pretending that everything in her family was a bed of roses. Jenna would never do anything against her mistress'' wishes and Wilmer wasn''t observant enough to identify the problems.

    Deciding to take the gamble, Claire wondered if she should inform Orita and Wilmer about her intentions or keep it from them. Scarlet blushed under the praises of the song''s success as both the vocalist and lyricist. The young writer''s happiness at the acceptance made Claire hold back. She couldn''t tell Orita or Wilmer... the song wasn''t simply about false friends. If the Wilde''s started taking action to pry into the girl''s mind when she was just beginning to warm up to them, it could have the opposite effect. No, Claire would do this discreetly.

    Orita and Lin Lin decided to download a copy of the song and try sending it to various entertainment companies alongside the photos taken from the photoshoot to see if Britannia can secure a debut.

    Jasper didn''t seem to object to the idea but Alex looked slightly uneasy with her level of proficiency with the guitar. Lin Lin assured Alex that she was good enough and only needed a little more practice. The androgynous girl smiled and agreed.

    Jenna called for pizza to celebrate the very first recorded song that evening and Elfie grinned. There was never a dull day with the Wilde''s.

 Chapter 125 - The Wolf and the Songbird

    Ahoy scrubs!

    It has been a while. Currently, we gained a new songbird on board the ship and everyone is in love with the little creature. However, we''ve also landed on quite the troublesome island thanks to some brilliant mis-navigation.

    Sometimes you''d have to wonder how fate worked. If we didn''t find this songbird and take it in, we might really never know about that terrible predator on the same island as us. It has tried to eat several of my crew but thanks to this little bird who would scream whenever it was near, we managed to avoid any casualties.

    That isn''t to say that the danger was over.

    What I''ve discovered lately is a little more than interesting. It''s more dangerous than it should be but any threat to my crew is a threat directed against me.

    For simplicity''s sake, I shall refer to the threat as a wolf - a huge and ugly wolf that has killed thousands of people with its deadly jaws. Coincidentally, this wolf has been the mastermind behind many of my comrades'' injuries. No, this wolf doesn''t only go for the kill like an ordinary animal. This wolf is a true beast with intelligence that surpasses us.

    My team and I have always been falling into traps set by this wolf and had always experienced bouts of misfortunes on our travels. We don''t know exactly when this wolf has been targeting us but there is no doubt about it. The wolf watches our every move and plots our demise.

    If not for this songbird, I would have never found out about the shadow lurking behind our misfortunes. Of course, the songbird cannot speak about much but now that I''m no longer in the dark about it, I shall begin my private investigations, like always.

    The first thing I found out about this wolf is his love for petty women. Fortunately or unfortunately, my crew has plenty of pretty women who fit in the requirement of being able to get close to the wolf as a spy and probably stab him when he is off guard.

    Secondly, this wolf is after my ship. He wants not just the women on board but also the treasure that we worked hard for. According to some information I received, this wolf is known for robbing others of their properties. For those who he didn''t like and resisted, he would kill them or dispose of them. The only reason why this wolf isn''t coming for us right now is because of a very strong crew member on board who is known for being a good fighter. The wolf simply couldn''t afford to risk an all-out confrontation with such a talent under my flag so he opted for sneakier ways to get rid of us.

    Thirdly, the wolf is known to be very persistent in what he wants. He is always careful and covers up his tracks well. There are no hunters in the world who can catch this wolf simply because he has befriended them all or gotten rid of the ones who oppose him. It''s not going to be easy to win against such a wolf but with my jolly roger at stake, I must.

    Thankfully, with this songbird who is able to let me know about the wolf''s secrets, I can devise a plan. Unfortunately, it is a plan that only I can carry out. My crew should not be involved because as much as I love them, they''re a bunch of dunces sometimes. I cannot get them out of trouble against such a terrifying opponent and that''s why this shall be the secret between you who are reading this and me who is writing this.

    My plans involve a long period of preparation so forgive me if the observation journal becomes deadly silent and missing of its weekly updates. I will continue to write blogs like this just so that you can all enjoy humanity at its best.

    If you''re curious about my plan, I intend to become a very famous beauty that the wolf wouldn''t be able to resist. After that, I''m also going to be a very rich pirate captain so that I can use those funds to expand the ship and prepare it against a siege from the sly wolf. In addition to that, I''m going to plant spies among the hunters so that when the time comes, we can take down this bad wolf for good. The songbird has already offered help to feed us with information about the wolf''s traces when it could find them. There isn''t a lot to work with but little and little adds up to a lot.

    With that said, that''s something that will only happen many years into the future. For now, I have to admit, this songbird is very interesting. I''ve never seen anyone more anti-social than this songbird. Even when the crew is loud and rowdy or hosting a party, this particular bird won''t move from its favourite spot on the crow''s nest. It slept alone, ate alone and worked alone, only flying back occasionally to pass information or steal some seeds from me. I wonder if there is anything I could do for this awkward bird to feel like it is more welcomed on my ship.

    I''ve tried practically all sorts of methods but am really out of tricks this time. The songbird doesn''t like a lot of people and is extremely polite to the point of frustration for the more casual folks like us. I wish there was some way to gain its trust that we wouldn''t throw them away if they didn''t help us with the wolf on our stern.

    If anyone is a bird lover, please leave your suggestions in the comments about how I could win this precious bird over. I really want to become friends but the songbird just wouldn''t let anyone close to his heart. It''s the first time I''ve run out of ideas and even my crew don''t know what they could do.

    With that said, please take care of yourselves! There''s a strange virus going around so pay attention to hygiene and stay home as much as possible so as not to increase the risks of getting infected. I''ll see you all another time!

    Fair Winds!

    Pirate S.

 Chapter 126 - New Skills

    "Oh my god! This is so boring... how much longer do we have to do this?" Jeff complained.

    The fur boys in the admin team have been sorting files and archiving those that were older than five years. Samuel had taken over the role of the cleanliness manager and cleaned every single dust-covered file before packing them into carton boxes and sealing them for archiving at a warehouse. Jeremy was in charge of carrying the heavy files and boxes alongside Issac while Jeff had the most tedious job of sieving through every file for doc.u.ments to match them with the database. If there were any doc.u.ments unscanned, he had to run over to scan it in the directory.

    "Don''t complain," Jeremy said and carried over a stack of four more thick ring files. "We did tell Jasper that we would help him, right? For those without degrees and aren''t geniuses, we can only put our bodies to work."

    Issac nodded. "Game testing is easier than game creation. I think that none of us would be able to do that even if we were given two years."

    Jeff sighed. "This sucks. I really want to help them create games too. I''m very good at story-telling!"

    Jeremy snorted. "Don''t make me laugh," he rolled his eyes. "If anyone is good at story-telling, that will be Scarlet. She''s a writer, remember?"

    "Oh ya..." Jeff droned and immediately fell silent, depressed.

    The boys worked without much chatter until it was lunchtime. They had been working on the archiving for the last week now. Who knew that a company like this would have so much backlog work to be done?

    "Why did they suddenly decide to archive everything?" Samuel asked after too much silence passed.

    Issac sighed. "Scarlet said that they''ve been wanting to do this for long but the admin department was always short-staffed. It''s something about going paperless? They want to keep everything a digital record for file-sharing or something."

    The germaphobe hummed. "I guess we''re stuck doing this for now. Pass me more wet tissues, please. The last pack just ran out."

    Jeff tossed the wet tissues over and Samuel immediately started wiping the shelves. Jeremy didn''t pay too much attention to the boys. He was on a different mission. Jasper told him that the archiving was a good opportunity for them to learn more about the company and how the business worked. According to him, even Scarlet and Alex worked here for a while before they were posted to different departments when they first started. Jeremy might not have a good head start in life but he hoped that while he worked here earnestly enough, he could secure himself a position at the company so that his parents wouldn''t have to worry too much about him.

    While the four boys slogged away in the admin department, another boy was working up a different kind of sweat.

    "Why can''t I find the missing three hundred thousand dollars?"

    Jasper felt like throwing up again. He never knew that a job in the finance department would be so stressful. He was alright with learning how to use the software and simply checking the postings to the invoices for starting work. However, the reporting supervisor liked his efficiency and decided to teach him more.

    Right now, Jasper was looking through drafted report generation. He had to tally the system''s balance to the actual amount of invoices received. However, as the finance department was severely short-handed with many of the workers working overtime on a daily basis, Jasper wasn''t able to ask for help and could only suffer in silence trying to understand what went wrong.

    Initially, Jasper thought that he could learn how a business moved their money and worked if he was in the finance department. While he got his wish and was allowed to view confidential records such as how much money was going to which department and the vendors that the company had, Jasper didn''t think it was a worthy trade. With the pressure of his game creations and the band practice, Jasper didn''t think he needed additional stress in the form of numbers. He was almost certain that by the time school started again, he would be traumatised by them.

    "Have a coffee," someone pushed a cup of coffee over to the stressing out boy and Jasper thanked the person without looking.

    Only after the first sip of coffee, the brain cells revived enough to prompt to Jasper that something was odd. He finally turned to look at the person who handed him his cup of coffee and nearly fell from his chair.

    "M-Mr Wilde?!"

    Wilmer grinned. "What''s up? I heard that you looked like death was coming for you."

    Jasper gaped but couldn''t answer immediately. Wilmer leaned over to study the excel report and the invoice piled in front of his future son-in-law then grinned. "I see that you''ve done quite a good job at tracking the paper trail. I believe you can find the missing numbers you seek from the e-invoices. There should be a record in the emails sent straight to the finance department''s general billing mailbox."

    The boy turned back to his screen dumbfounded. With one glance, the CEO was able to tell this much. Wilmer patted the kid on the shoulder and encouraged him before leaving and Jasper watched his back as the man left. What should he do to become someone as reliable as Wilmer? Could he ever become good enough?

    Jasper thought about it. Initially, he thought that he shared a lot of similarities with Wilmer who was born into an ordinary family like him who married into the rich. If Alex was like Orita, Jasper felt that he should become at least someone like Wilmer to be worthy of Alex''s company. He had been trying his best to support her for a long time but ever since meeting Scarlet, Alex had started to choose her own path to walk.

    Jasper wasn''t dumb. He knew of Alex''s affection for him in a non-platonic way. In fact, he returned similar feelings for the girl and intended to become a man worthy of her hand in marriage somewhere fifteen years into the future. The idea of wanting to start a company of his own to rival the Wilde Empire was something that Jasper thought would make him worthy. However, after seeing how easy Wilmer handled something like that, he had to think twice.

    "Yo! Why so gloomy? Are the numbers still playing tricks on you?" a cheerful voice scared Jasper out of his thoughts.

    "For someone interning in the HR department, you seem to be very idle."

    Rowan laughed. "Not really. I''m just good at time management. Speaking of which, it''s lunch now. Are you joining? The admin boys are cleaning up and Benedict is already waiting for us at the canteen. He saved seats for everyone."

    Jasper looked back at his work and sighed. "I''ll join," he told the sociable boy and tidied his desk before leaving.

    At the lift, Jasper and Rowan met with the girls and Elfie who were discussing the game creation. Hearing that they had made progress, Jasper felt slightly bad. It was initially his idea to start a game creation company but in the end, he was leaving the work to others. That was simply a new reason for the gardener''s son to doubt himself.

    Everyone had things to share over lunch and even Benedict claimed that he acquired a new set of skills that might prove useful when it came to studying.

    "You? Study?" Rowan asked then laughed without a care in the world, riling the delinquent up badly.

    "Yes, you got a problem with that, girly face?"

    As they bickered, Alex wondered how working in the logistics department could give inspiration for better studying techniques. Still, she congratulated him. A new skill learnt will never be in vain or wasted even if it wasn''t immediately useful. Her mother always told her that while she was born into a blessed household, all of that could be taken away from her easily at any time because the future was always unpredictable. However, the one thing that nobody can take away from Alex is the skills and knowledge that she gained for herself.

    Right now, the Wilde princess looked at her sister and her crush. They were working hard to build up their own fortress and skill repertoires. It was encouraging to know that while Alex struggled with perfecting her one craft with art, her sister and Jasper were also working hard at things that they''ve chosen. However, like Jasper, she was still feeling insecure about what she could do.

    "Aren''t you going to show him?" Scarlet whispered when she noticed that her sister wasn''t bringing up the topic of the game character drafts that she doodled while the design and marketing departments were in a meeting with the product team. Scarlet, Elfie and Alex talked over the chatroom to come up with a few possible versions of the game for Jasper to select from or point them out in the direction he wanted.

    Alex shook her head. "I will show him only when I improve on them," she told her sister. "It''s still too ugly."

    Scarlet didn''t comment on it and nodded, not bringing the subject up again. She understood what Alex was going through because it was exactly the same feeling she had when she had to present her new novel''s draft to Debbie. Ever since Sixten is a Gang was accepted, Scarlet felt as if she wouldn''t be able to create anything good again that was as original as that so the young writer was still working on it. It''s the same with the lyrics that Lin Lin has been demanding from her. Scarlet simply didn''t feel confident enough in her ideas to show them to anyone, she would rather spend time perfecting it before she allowed anyone to view it.

    Elfie yawned. Unlike the other children, his day had been uneventful apart from stupid office ladies who didn''t know how to plug in a computer and hit the power on button. He didn''t know why people would put up with such ridiculous troubles for the sake of earning money. After hacking the entire company''s network and rewriting a few scripts to fix the bugs and improve on the security, there really wasn''t anything worth doing now. The search about Anastasia''s activities was also not very fruitful and Elfie eyed a certain doll-like girl. Of all the people he met so far, Scarlet was the only one who continued to impress him by challenging her fears and limits, often succeeding.

    There were many kinds of geniuses but none quite like Scarlet. If Elfie had to find a way to describe Scarlet''s capabilities, it would be a monster with no boundaries. As long as Scarlet sets her mind to something, the hacker didn''t dare to believe the petite doll wouldn''t succeed.

 Chapter 127 - Coping with Stress

    Jasper couldn''t believe it. Thirty-eight degrees fever.

    Orita looked slightly worried and Wilmer frowned. Jenna told the boy that he had to call in sick for a week.

    "The doctor said that it was stress-induced," the lady butler reported and Jasper coughed.

    It was ridiculous! Just yesterday, he was telling Scarlet and Alex that he wanted to create a building block game similar to Legos with children friendly art styles and a very light story-line for optional quests. Elfie had started to work on the program kernel, whatever that meant.

    "I''m fine, I can still work..." Jasper retorted weakly and Alex shook her head by the door. Scarlet felt slightly sorry for the boy who was desperately trying to convince the a.d.u.l.ts that he was still well enough to walk.

    Elfie sighed. "He''s much too stressed lately. This sick won''t go away until he finds a way to de-stress..."

    Scarlet looked at the programmer. "How can we help him?"

    Alex winced as Claire forcefully shoved Jasper back to bed and threatened to tie him to it if he wouldn''t stop struggling. Elfie blinked. Weren''t maids supposed to be nice to their young masters and mistresses? Many things were indeed different in the Wilde family.

    While the ladies fussed over Jasper and forced the boy to rest, Wilmer went to work. Today, the children were staying at home, mandatory orders from Orita who thought they were overworking. Alex didn''t mind it as staying home gave her more time to work on her art projects. Scarlet decided to stay in her room and edit her draft for the new book but Elfie was lost. What was he supposed to do now?

    As the hacker went to Scarlet''s room because Jasper was sick and he shouldn''t be disturbing the resting boy, Elfie wondered if there was a way he could help. Unlike Scarlet, the other two friends of his looked like they were incredibly stressed for some reason. Scarlet had only recently gotten out of the cast and was walking again but Elfie didn''t think she would be walking for very long with the rate of how she constantly neglected her health and worked non-stop like Jasper.

    With nothing better to do, Elfie did what Scarlet was usually good at doing - research. Thank goodness for the internet in this day and age that had just about every stupid question humans would ask because right now, Elfie wanted to find out answers to a very dumb question given the current situation.

    "How to handle stress" was the title of his search and the hacker was rather impressed by the number of search results ranging from articles in women e-magazines and forum discussions. Elfie clicked on the first search and made a face at the suggestions.

    Suggestion #1: Keep a positive attitude.

    Elfie shook his head. Given how stubborn those two were, a positive attitude reinforcement was the least of the priorities. If anything, the hacker wished they would stop being so positive and taking on so many tasks.

    Suggestion #2: Learn relaxation techniques such as yoga and meditation.

    Again, Elfie thought that it was highly unsuitable for the people in question. Alex was rather dreamy and can often be found drifting into space but Scarlet and Jasper were very focussed people who might actually dedicate time to focus on being relaxed which would, in turn, create a different sort of stress from the idea of wasting time instead. Elfie scratched that out and moved to the next point.

    Suggestion #3: Eat healthy well-balanced meals and exercise regularly.

    This is already taken care of by a very dutiful lady butler and head maid. Thanks to the Wilde Family''s wealth, the children were never lacking in this area. Elfie tried joining them for self-defence lessons once and promptly swore never to do it again. How all three children coped with such a brutal training regime went beyond Elfie whose motto was to always fight his battles behind a screen.

    Suggestion #4: Make time for hobbies.

    Elfie blinked. For some reason, everyone in the Wilde household has a ton of hobbies. Alex loved painting and drawing. Scarlet was into writing and composing lyrics. Jasper was into reading and gaming. Elfie was the only one without much of a hobby. He spent all his time on a computer if he wasn''t eating, bathing or sleeping. Maybe he should get to that instead.

    Suggestion #5: Improve time management skills, learn to say no to requests that will create more stress on top of the current workload.

    Elfie hummed. This is exactly what Scarlet and Jasper needed to learn. If there was anything the hacker learnt about these two highly stressed individuals, it was their inability to say no. Lin Lin''s request to form a band had somehow become a regular activity and commitment. Claire''s martial art classes and training session from the self-defence lessons had incorporated itself into their lives without them knowing. The internship was treating them more like full-time junior staff instead of interns and yet neither of them said a word of complaint about it.

    Now that it was decided, Elfie made a mental note to talk to Alex about it. That girl was actually good at refusing things she doesn''t want to do. If Scarlet and Jasper weren''t going to learn how to reject requests, it would be up to Elfie and Alex to do so on their behalf.

    With that in mind and a hobby to find for himself, Elfie left Scarlet''s room to check on the sick Jasper before finding Alex.

    The artist was playing with some colour mixture when she heard someone knocking on her door. Puzzled, Alex opened it to find a sheepish programmer who carried his laptop with him.

    "Hello? Was Scarlet''s room not to your liking?"

    Elfie shook his head. "No, it was nice. However, I''ve come to make a deal with you. It''s about the stress levels of Scarlet and Jasper who have not been taking care of themselves very well."

    Hearing that, Alex invited Elfie in who took a seat on the floor, avoiding the mess as best as he could. Once he was nicely settled in her room, Elfie shared with the artist about his research. Alex waited patiently for the hacker to conclude his report and was silent the whole time.

    "I understand where you''re coming from," she told Elfie. "However, I don''t think I can help them cope with their stress. After all, they''re also fighting very hard for their dreams like us but in a different manner. Saying no to opportunities on their behalf is akin to killing them. I don''t want to be hated."

    Elfie deflated. "Then what should we do? At this rate, it''s not going to be just Jasper. Scarlet would fall ill from stress too."

    Alex smiled and patted the boy on his shoulder. "Don''t worry about it. The best way to relieve stress is to spend time with friends together. I''ve seen my mother do this. She schedules a ladies'' tea party from time to time when she has things she needs to get off her chest. We can do something similar."

    "A ladies'' tea party?" Elfie sounded sceptical but Alex was very certain.

    The Wilde princess told Elfie what she heard from her mother about how the tea party goes about. Sometimes they would engage in relaxing activities like a spa or a manicure session while talking about various things on their minds that have been bothering them. After that, they would go for luxurious food or sinful ones as Orita called them and sometimes they end with retail therapy.

    When Elfie heard it, he could only curse the spoiled attitudes of rich folks to afford that kind of lifestyle. He knows that Danny often copes with cigarettes and while it wasn''t healthy, it was a far cheaper alternative than doing what Orita did once a month. Still, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

    "I see. Perhaps we could plan something like that for them. Do you think we should ask the other boys from the E.C. Class to join us? I''m thinking of hosting a barbecue at a seaside chalet instead because we have a lot more people than your mother''s tea party group."

    Excited, Alex agreed and spent that afternoon plotting away with the hacker. He might not have found a new hobby but he was happy enough that there would be an afternoon that he didn''t have to spend idling in front of a screen for a change. It was a good change and Elfie was thankful for it.

 Chapter 128 - Britannias Debut

    Jasper recovered swiftly and everything went back to normal, as normal as a day in the Wilde household could be. Scarlet decided to take a day off her projects and actually enjoy some time not doing anything productive when a letter arrived for Mrs Wilde.

    Under Jenna''s urging, the children were gathered in the sitting room as Orita tore open the letter from one of the recording companies that Orita sent the demo track to. Nobody breathed as Orita read the contents of the letter aloud.

    Dear Britannia

    Congratulations! You have been selected as a candidate to be our very next band artiste project.

    Jupiter Records wish to formally extend an invitation for you to join our music family. We have listened to the demo track submitted and believe that with some professional guidance, Britannia can be the next big hit.

    Attached is a copy of the artiste contract. Should you be interested in joining us, kindly fill up the member profile forms and sign on the artiste contract agreement to be returned to us.

    We hope to hear from you soon.

    Best regards

    Jupiter Records

    Dumbfounded, the group in the sitting room could only stare at the letter in Mrs Wilde''s hands. It was Scarlet who suggested that they let Lin Lin know about it before making any decisions. Jenna called the violinist and everyone else waited, still in a state of disbelief.

    "Um, congratulations?" Elfie smiled and Jasper swallowed. Scarlet didn''t look too happy either and was more worried than happy at getting accepted.

    "What''s wrong?" the programmer asked. "None of you look very happy about getting offered an entertainment contract."

    Scarlet sighed heavily. "I don''t know if this is a good thing."

    Alex nodded. "I''m still not very good at playing the guitar."

    Jasper didn''t say anything but if he did, it would be something along the lines of not wanting attention. Mrs Wilde observed her children and had mixed feelings. While she wanted to encourage all of them to grab the opportunity, she knows that this wouldn''t be a long term thing. At most, the kids will play in a band till they are young a.d.u.l.ts but not more than that. The heiress knew that all three young geniuses had their individual chosen paths to walk. Still, it wouldn''t hurt to create some good memories of their childhood.

    "Let''s wait for Lin Lin to come by and then we can also discuss this with Wilmer. Don''t look so worried, it''s not the end of the world!" Orita laughed and hugged her girls before ruffling the boys'' hair.

    "Mommy, contracts mean that it will be forever, this is a very big decision to make. Although playing in a band is fun, I still want to be an artist and draw Scarlet''s book covers."

    Orita smiled. "Don''t worry about the contract, sweetie. We can annul it any moment if the three of you decide to stop pursuing music. As this isn''t an easy opportunity to come by, I would advise the three of you to think over it carefully with Lin Lin and let your father know when he gets back. You can try it for a while and if you decide that you don''t like it, we can always cancel the deal. Don''t let all these a.d.u.l.t matters affect your decision, alright? Follow your hearts and we will support you with everything we have."

    The heiress smiled so beautifully and his words touched not only the members of Britannia but Elfie who watched from the side as well. This was the very reason why the Wilde Empire stood till this day despite the horrible tragedy of twenty years ago. The heart of this huge business was actually the mother of the two very lucky girls and Elfie felt slightly envious. He didn''t have a mother and while Danny was good, the hacker wished he also had a mother as kind and supportive like Orita.

    Feeling down, Elfie went to his shared room with Jasper to sulk. Nobody really noticed his absence downstairs. Everyone was too preoccupied with their thoughts. Jasper took to smashing the drums while he thought and Alex preferred to lock herself up in her room painting her confusion out on a canvas. Scarlet decided to look for Claire to talk it out.

    For the entire day that was meant to be spent unproductively, Scarlet was suddenly thrown into a new set of problems. If she accepted the contract, it would save her a lot of time on the initial step to taking down Anastasia. However, she didn''t want to put the spotlight on Alex or Jasper in the process. This made her feel conflicted and after trying to nap unsuccessfully for two hours after the talk with Claire, she decided to look for Elfie.

    The boy was found brooding alone in the empty room, playing a game of solitaire and losing miserably. he didn''t seem to be focused on the game because Scarlet knew a stupid move when she saw one.

    "Elfie," she called out softly.

    "What is it? You''re going to be a very famous person soon."

    Scarlet wasn''t expecting such a comment and stood at the entrance, unmoving until Elfie tore his eyes away from the game to look at her. The rims of his eyes were slightly red and Scarlet hurried over, the door closing behind her automatically.

    "What''s wrong?

    Unable to hold back now that Scarlet was here, Elfie let the tears fall freely instead of trying to forcefully wipe them away like earlier.

    "It''s nothing," he told her in between sobs but it wasn''t going to fool anyone.

    Not knowing how else to help the programmer, Scarlet simply wrapped her arms around him to comfort the boy. Eventually, Elfie calmed down enough to apologise. As it turned out, Elfie was feeling down about not having a mother and Scarlet thought about it.

    "Not all mothers are nice," she told Elfie and the programmer immediately had questions that Scarlet took time to explain.

    She explained about her origins as a Liu before she joined the Wilde house. She also told Elfie how her biological parents weren''t as warm as Mr and Mrs Wilde. Wen Scarlet revealed the reason for her injury when Elfie first met them, the hacker was stunned. He didn''t think that such a gentle person like Alex was capable of doing such things.

    "Although I''m not orphaned like you, I can understand how you feel. It''s a shame that you''re not adopted into the Wilde household but I think Danny loves you very much. His love for you doesn''t pale in comparison to Wilmer and Orita''s love for us. You shouldn''t have to worry too much. Even if  Danny never marries in this life, you will always have the support from the rest of us in the E.C. Class and the Special Class. That''s the very reason why we have that chatroom, don''t we? We might not be able to replace a mother but we can definitely be your family."

    Feeling better, Elfie smiled. "You''re right. I was being silly. The chatroom still needs working on and so does Jasper''s game but I suppose they can wait for now. You came looking for me. Is something the matter?"

    Remembering her original purpose, Scarlet explained her concerns about being in a band that could potentially become famous.

    "You know how he works. If he catches wind of me, Alex and Jasper will become involved. I don''t want Alex to be exposed as the heiress of the Wilde Empire either when we become famous. The lesser he knows about us, the safer we are."

    Elfie agreed. "How about disguising yourselves? Something like what Jasper does isn''t a bad idea. If you hide your faces and use stage names, nobody will know. It''s difficult for them to relate you to the Wilde Empire and easier for you to make your move."

    Scarlet grinned. "I knew you were the right person to ask! I shall bring this idea up to Lin Lin as well and convince them to go for a masquerade-themed band. Do you think my plan will succeed? It''s not easy bringing a man like Anastasia down."

    At this, Elfie puffed out his chest. "That''s why you have me! You don''t just have me, if you told Jasper and Alex, they would be on your side as well. You have the support of everyone else from the E.C. Class and the Special Class too."

    Hearing her words thrown back to her, Scarlet laughed. "That''s right. However, I''ve decided on doing this alone as much as possible. I''m not the original child from the family and the Wildes'' have done too much for me. I''m simply returning the favour so that my sister can live a life of peace and find happiness."

    Elfie chose not to comment. From how he saw it, Alex couldn''t be happy knowing that her sister was doing such dangerous things for her sake. He had a feeling that if Alex ever found out, she would be furious with Scarlet. It wasn''t just Alex, Elfie knew that Wilmer and Orita would be mad at Scarlet for trying to shoulder everything by herself. Then again, Danny would also be so mad with him if he ever found out the things Elfie did behind his back for Scarlet. The hacker had not only broken the rules of not acting in self-interest. He was also hacking the Interpol for information buried away regarding the mafia lord. However, he wasn''t going to let Scarlet know about the risks he was taking.

    Like Scarlet, Elfie wanted to take Anastasia down for Danny. Their alliance was something that the a.d.u.l.ts should never know about.

 Chapter 129 - Oritas Love

    It was another ordinary day for the lady of the house. Orita woke up in an empty bed as usual and got up to enjoy the gentle morning sun. Her husband was working hard today as usual and the house was unusually silent, indicating that her children had followed her husband to work.

    Jenna brought breakfast up to Orita''s room like a clockwork. The daily paper was on her bed and the lady butler waited for her lady to come out of the bathroom. After serving her for so many years, Jenna knew exactly what Orita wanted.

    The heiress exited the bathroom looking fresh and regal.

    "Good morning," she greeted Jenna who bowed in return.

    "Good morning, milady. Today''s breakfast is butter croissant and Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. The weather is clear with a hint of passing showers in the late afternoon and Claire reports that all the children went to bed at the time they were meant to last night."

    Orita smiled. Ever since the Wilde household adopted Scarlet, it had become a custom for her to hear the reports received from Claire by Jenna. Even if they were now living under the same roof, Orita could never go back to not listening about the progress of her children. These kids simply grew up too quickly. Sometimes, Orita wished that they weren''t so smart because it felt as if they would quickly fly from the nest with how fast their way of thinking matured.

    Alex was her baby and for the longest time, the girl was content with simply living in the mansion and getting home-schooled. Her happiest days used to be spent with her mother in the garden and shopping with some of Orita''s friends. After Scarlet was adopted into the family, even Jasper had started changing. The usually disinterested boy was now inspired and working very hard to pursue dreams of his own. Alex has also started to have opinions of her own and started taking interest in something she''d like to work on.

    They were only ten but Orita felt as if they would very soon leave the nest ever since the entertainment contract came. Orita was no fool. As someone within the circle of entertainment, she knew how fame could change a person''s life. Once her children were making their own money and enjoying the wave of fame from the band, they might no longer want to be with her or her husband.

    Speaking of her husband, Orita sighed.

    "What''s wrong?" Jenna asked. Orita didn''t touch her breakfast much and that loud sigh was certainly something unusual. Nothing much fazed Orita Wilde, much less troubled her.

    The lady shook her head. "Do you think life would be easier for us as parents if our children weren''t so smart? It feels like I''m going to lose them to the world anytime soon. Ever since Scarlet joined the family, Alex and Jasper have started to take flight. As a mother, I couldn''t be prouder for such wonderful children but at the same time, I don''t want them growing up so quickly. They''re only ten but already they know so much about the world..."

    Jenna didn''t say anything. As the butler who watched over the family through good and bad times, she knew. When Alex was younger, the Wilde Empire was still struggling to get back on its feet. Wilmer wasn''t around very often and Orita had always been with the girl from the day she was born. Jasper grew up with Alex and Orita knew almost everything there was to know about these two children even if Jasper didn''t always live with them.

    When Orita took Scarlet in, her husband was in the middle of smoking out the rat in the company. Benjamin suggested taking in the Lius'' daughter initially because it would not only give the girl a better chance at life but also because Orita needed another ally who could protect Alex. Scarlet was smart, smarter than anyone gave her credit for. Orita felt slightly guilty that they didn''t have pure intentions when they first accepted Scarlet into the family. However, Scarlet had proven to be more than just an ally. She was also the reason for Alex and Jasper''s motivation to better themselves. For that, Orita could only feel grateful for having her adopted daughter in her life. Even if Wilmer and herself somehow succ.u.mbed to Anastasia, she knew that if all three of her children stuck together, they would still be able to escape and survive.

    "Milady, I think it is a good thing that they are growing up quickly. Even if it would be nice to see them act like children for a little longer, I don''t think the situation permits it. The stronger and more independent they can become, the better it is for them when the time comes. Anastasia has become more ruthless in his methods ever since the children helped to weed out Collins."

    Orita put down her coffee cup, her appetite was gone when she was reminded of how dire the situation was. Claire had to increase the security around Wilmer and some board directors who were close to her husband lately. There had been more ''accidents'' and a few close shaves. Everyone tried to act normal around the children but Elfie might have noticed it already. Orita was only thankful that the ethical hacker didn''t tell the rest yet. Elfie grew up with Danny and such threats were considered a norm to him.

    "You''re'' right," she told her butler. "For now, please help to support the interest of all my children. Right now, they need to grow stronger as quickly as they can. However, don''t push them too hard. I heard that Claire hasn''t been merciful with her self-defence classes. Elfie complained that he couldn''t move a muscle after a mere fifteen minutes of sparring?"

    Jenna laughed. Indeed, the programmer wasn''t a very fit boy. All three other children were considered normally active for their age but in comparison, Elfie was like an old man.

    "Milady, you don''t have to worry. Scarlet and Jasper are more physically active even if Scarlet is still recovering from her injury. Alex has been doing well ever since she was required to play the guitar. Some physical activities from time to time might be good for all of them. On the other hand, Elfie is really lacking in exercise. I cannot imagine sitting in front of a screen from the moment he wakes up till the time he goes to bed can be any good. If anything, I would say Elfie is in dire need of some movement to liven up his joints!"

    Orita laughed. Jenna had a point. While it was important to support the children in what they wanted to do, it is also the job of a.d.u.l.ts to guide them along the path when they stray too far.

    "Of course. I will leave the education of the children to you. I heard Scarlet is writing another book at last?"

    The butler smiled and reported what she heard from Debbie. Orita laughed when she heard about Scarlet''s insecurities at not being able to publish a book better than the last. How silly! Every book is different and for Orita, she is happy to know that Scarlet hasn''t given up on her chosen path even though she has been dabbling into music and marketing more. On the other hand, Jasper was spread very thinly.

    "We tried to shift some of his priorities around but Jasper refuses to drop anything at this point," Jenna explained. "He says that he needs to do everything to build a stable foundation for his future plans. From what Elfie revealed, the kid wants to make a company that creates games. The scale of that company should rival the Wilde Empire according to Alex and all four children are working on the master plan."

    Orita nodded. "And where does the capital for starting such a business come from?"

    Jenna tried not to smile. "Jasper said he has savings."

    For a moment, both ladies stared at each other before bursting out into laughter. When they finally calmed down, Orita wiped the side of her eyes where tears had acc.u.mulated after she laughed too hard.

    "Jenna, call for our old friend to teach the boy about investments. I think he''d need to multiply those savings to have a capital for that dream company of his. Let''s start with the easiest level, shall we? I think forex is still manageable for a boy of his age if he can understand politics and economy. Is Jasper actually good at Math?"

    The lady butler smiled. "Not as good as some of his classmates in the special class but definitely above average. He is two years ahead of his syllabus, maybe more. Would you like to hire a private tutor to home-school him instead?"

    Orita thought about it. "For their sake, I''m actually thinking of pulling them out of Joyville but I heard that they''ve made friends? Some of their friends are currently interning with them. What do you think?"

    The butler agreed. "Pulling them out to protect their privacy away from the eyes like Anastasia would be the best solution. However, it would be a shame to do so because it wasn''t easy for any of them to make friends. Claire did a background check on the boys of the E.C. Class as they call it. While most of them are delinquents, they aren''t bad influences."

    Orita sighed. As a mother, she wanted to make the best decision for her children but what was the best decision in this case? Jenna understood her mistress'' worries and remained silent. She couldn''t say anything as a butler as these children weren''t hers. However, if she had an opinion to express, Jenna would rather let the children do as they''ve been doing so far.

    "Don''t worry too much," she consoled her long-time friend and employer. "We should have more faith in the children, they''re usually stronger than we think they are."

    Orita nodded and quickly finished her breakfast before asking for her day''s agenda. Jenna didn''t miss a beat and fell into step once her lady got dressed. While her husband and children were at work, Orita had a different battle to prepare for. If her children wanted a barbecue party by the beach, they would only deserve the best that Singapore has to offer.

 Chapter 130 - Jupiter Records

    Everyone was feeling nervous even if Orita told them that it was merely a formality to get to know the studio and the team. Jenna was escorting the band to Jupiter records after they agreed to sign the contract with Lin Lin who also received an exclusive contract to work as Britannia''s composer.

    "I''m so excited!" Lin Lin squealed but she was the only feeling this way.

    Alex was sick to the stomach from nervousness. She didn''t know if they would ask her to play the guitar but Alex really wasn''t ready for that. Scarlet was only worried about getting rejected about the masquerade image idea. The band had agreed that they didn''t want their faces to be known and if the company couldn''t agree to it, they would not give them the signed contract.

    Jasper was conflicted. On one hand, he knew that being part of the band would earn him the capital he required. However, Jasper didn''t know what to expect from the entertainment industry. He heard many bad things about it from Lin Lin and wondered how Alex would handle such hurting remarks especially if their fame increased with time. Scarlet was the one who was under the most pressure as the vocalist of the band and Jasper worried for the girls to the point of being nauseous. Maybe agreeing to form a band was a bad idea.

    When they arrived at Jupiter Records, Alex forgot all about her initial nervousness. The interior of the building was beautiful. Alex thought that the small rooms were wonderful for someone like Lin Lin. Although they were small, the studio rooms had just about every instrument that Lin Lin would ever need to compose songs. Scarlet shared her sister''s sentiments but she also thought that those rooms were very good for practising. Usually, whenever they practised in the penthouse, the noise would travel. Whenever Jasper played the drums, Scarlet and Alex could hardly hear themselves.

    "Good afternoon! Thank you for coming, I am Pamela Ong, the band artist manager. Welcome to Jupiter Records, Britannia!"

    The lady who greeted them had dyed light brown hair that was pulled into a ponytail. She was rather young and gave off the vibes of a friendly big sister. The round glasses that she wore covered half her face and the bookish look didn''t match her fashionable outfit.

    Still, the children didn''t dislike her. Alex was the first to warm up to Pamela followed by Lin Lin. Scarlet and Jasper remained reserved, both deep in their own thoughts. While Jupiter Records looked reliable, they were still uncertain about how well the company could take care of them as artistes. Would they change attitudes later on or break their agreement?

    Pamela smiled and served the children some hot drinks with biscuits. Jenna took a seat with the children who made themselves comfortable in the meeting room, admiring the posters on the walls. The posters were official photoshoot materials of the popular artistes working with the company. Lin Lin recognised many of them and was in Heaven but Scarlet had hardly any clue who they were. She only knew that they looked good and wondered if they could be as successful with a mask instead.

    Jenna started the talks and thanked Pamela for receiving them. Jasper listened carefully to what their future manager said. So far, the company sounded reliable and the manager, though young, was experienced.

    When the lady butler brought up the subject of having a particular image for the band, Pamela paused.

    "Masks? But why? They look very good like this, it''s such a waste..."

    Scarlet shook her head. "We prefer to remain a mystery so that we can enjoy our private lives. If Jupiter Records cannot agree to this condition then we will not sign the agreement."

    Her firm declaration shook Pamela''s initial image of the children. For some reason, she felt as if she was dealing with mature teenagers instead of a group of ten-year-olds who didn''t know what they wanted. Lin Lin was famous in the music industry for being a violin prodigy from a young age so Pamela wouldn''t be very surprised if the composer said anything. However, she didn''t think that the three other children who made up Britannia would be equally interesting.

    "I understand. Please give us some time to amend the contract. Are there any other concerns that you might have?"

    This time, Jasper spoke up. "How will Jupiter Records handle Britannia''s public image in the future? As we are still students, it would be inconvenient if work-related matters were to affect our studies. I''m talking about a possible backlash and internet wars. Social media, in particular, can be a very damaging thing if not handled correctly. I personally do not wish to have a social media account to manage as part of Britannia."

    Pamela smiled. Indeed, Lin Lin''s friends were not simple people. "Understood. Naturally, all marketing work will be done by Jupiter Records. Promotional schedules will be advised in advance and the artistes have the right to bring their concerns to the management. I will attempt to schedule only the necessary promotional activities so as not to disrupt your studies. As students, the company wishes that you will take studying as your first priority as well. I''m sure your guardian and parents would not like it if we distract you from your studies."

    Once that concern was clarified, Pamela asked if anyone else had concerns. Immediately, Lin Lin''s hand shot up into the air.

    "I have a question!"

    Pamela smiled. She wouldn''t be surprised that there would be even more now that the can of worms had been opened.

    "Yes, Lin Lin?"

    The musician grinned. "Would I be able to have access to a studio at Jupiter Records all by myself? I''m looking at a permanent one for as long as I work here. Also, who is the director that I will be working with for recording and stage?"

    Jenna observed how Pamela dealt with the questions professionally and mentally approved of this lady. If she was the manager of Britannia, the butler can feel more reassured even if Claire was still going to be escorting them whenever they had to come for jamming and recording sessions. That was a private agreement between Orita and the company. The Wildes would provide their own security measures on top of the ones that Jupiter Records had. Of course, none of the kids knew that certain measures had already been taken into consideration.

    After all the questions lin Lin had were settled, Pamela glanced over to Alex who was the quietest of all. "Any other questions?" Pamela asked, expecting the last girl to have a go but Alex didn''t respond.

    "In that case, can I take it as good news? Will Britannia work with Jupiter Records?" the manager smiled and Scarlet returned the gesture.

    "It will be our pleasure, Pamela. I think we will leave the discussion of the contract terms to be amended to you and Jenna here. For now, we have no other concerns."

    The butler nodded and took over discussing the terms and conditions that needed amendments while Pamela called another colleague of hers to give the children a tour of the building that will soon become their second home.

    Once Pamela and Jenna were left alone, the butler turned to the manager. "I believe your higher-ups have informed you about the special background of these children."

    The manager bowed slightly and smiled. "Of course. My father has specifically sent me to manage Britannia because he didn''t trust anyone else. As for security details, we would need to meet the security chief in-charge form the Wilde Family to design a rotating schedule especially if they are going on concert tours."

    Jenna nodded. "I trust that you will be able to do a good job and guide them along if they need it. They might be capable kids but they are still children who need to be protected."

    Pamela stood up and shook Jenna''s hand. "Naturally. Thank you for approaching us, we look forward to working together more frequently in future."

    As the manager escorted the butler out, she informed Jenna that the new contract would be mailed to them in a few days. On the other hand, the children looked very satisfied with their soon-to-be working environment. Lin Lin, in particular, had fallen in love with one particular unoccupied studio so Pamela made sure to reserve that for the musical prodigy.

 Chapter 131 - Army Without Guns

    Wilmer was finally free for two weeks. The CEO almost cried when the most loved time of the year came about. Christmas was a big deal with the Wildes and every year, there would be no spare manpower when it came to preparing for the party.

    It was the first time Scarlet and Elfie was introduced to the full Christmas culture from advent calendars to Christmas stockings. Alex had the time of her life knitting everyone''s Christmas stockings. Wilmer and Orita were often out on errands but Jasper knew they were actually mass buying Christmas presents for everyone. Jenna spent most of her time in the study writing Christmas cards to all of Wilmer and Orita''s acquaintances. Scarlet felt bad for the butler who had written so much that her hand cramped up.

    Whenever the a.d.u.l.ts were too busy to bother them, the children got together to work on their secret projects. The game development was being put together and Jasper finally had time to make some progress. Elfie took this opportunity to present his improved chatroom version and Scarlet told him to make a copy of it available for the public so that they could make new online friends for fun. Alex started designing Scarlet''s new book cover and there was never a dull day with so many on-going projects.

    Of all the projects that were going on, the one project that the a.d.u.l.ts didn''t know about was the one about Anastasia. Elfie managed to infiltrate the Interpol''s records to retrieve the past cases buried away about the crime lord and the company that Alex''s parents owned. Scarlet and Elife took one afternoon to look over the information found and were horrified by the discovery.

    "Delete it," Scarlet told Elfie and the hacker was stunned after they finished reading the last evidence.

    "Why?"

    The young writer shook her head. "It''s too dangerous to have it saved anywhere. Now that we know the true story, the evidence is no longer important. The case cannot be reopened. I have to find a different way to take Anastasia down."

    Elfie refused and Scarlet insisted so they were stuck in a tug-of-war over deleting the evidence. Eventually, Elfie gave in and begged for mercy.

    "Don''t delete it! I''ll tell you everything I know so please don''t delete this... Danny needs the evidence!"

    Scarlet paused. "Danny?"

    Reluctantly, Elfie spilt the secrets to Scarlet who became pensive after hearing the full story.

    "So you mean to tell me that Danny and Wilmer are working on this case without Orita knowing even though it was Orita''s father and relatives who tried to sell the company to Anastasia?"

    Elfie nodded uneasily. Scarlet was speechless. Even if they were two very capable men, what could they possibly do against a mob boss? Anastasia''s underground connections were scary and his pockets were probably deeper than the Wilde Family''s. Whichever way Scarlet tried to see it, Anastasia had the advantage over them. While Wilmer and Danny were still restricted by the laws, the mob boss had no such concerns.

    "Do you know how much money Anastasia has? Or how far his connections run?" she asked.

    The hacker sighed. "I can only find what exists on a connection. That information wouldn''t be in the systems because not even the police know. Unless I have a way into Anastasia''s private network, it''s not possible for me to know anything."

    Scarlet thought about it and Elfie suddenly felt afraid. The girl looked as if she was plotting murder but the truth really couldn''t be further away from that. In fact, Scarlet''s brain was already working on overdrive to find a possible way to bring down Anastasia for good. The mob boss who tried to ruin the business and killed so many people for his personal gains must be stopped. Of course, the young writer understood that toppling such a powerful organisation wouldn''t be easy but she had to try.

    "Scarlet, what are you thinking about?" the programmer asked warily.

    Scarlet shook her head. "Nothing conclusive yet. However, I think I understand the scale of this operation and why Danny didn''t want you meddling. Anastasia can kill people as easily as he can kidnap them and force them to work for him. We''re going up against a monster."

    It''s not that Elfie didn''t understand that Anastasia has a personal army armed with illegal firearms behind him. In fact, the hacker was more than aware of that fact. As a hacker, he was always a target for people who wanted him dead. Elfie destroyed many lives from selling the information he had on them to the government and the Interpol. Scarlet''s words annoyed him greatly.

    "I''m always ready to die. A hacker who hacks must be ready for consequences. I don''t do this without putting my neck on the line even if I do hide in dark rooms to work alone. Don''t underestimate my resolve! Ever since we decided to work on this together, we have both agreed to sign our death warrants. If you intend to ditch me here and take down Anastasia by yourself, I will tell Wilmer and Danny about your plans."

    Scarlet scowled then sighed heavily. Sometimes it was too easy to forget that the hacker was a genius too. She thought that she could trick or convince Elfie to stay out of it but the boy was smarter than she gave him credit for.

    "When did you learn to be so cheeky?" she asked.

    Elfie played innocent. "What are you talking about?"

    Then he grinned. "When you work with criminals, you learn."

    Scarlet rolled her eyes. Now that they were officially an alliance, the girl had no choice but to make plans for Elfie too. Protecting one person was hard enough but now, Scarlet had an entire ship full of people she wanted to protect. The young writer wasn''t sure if she could pull this off successfully but in order to fight an army, she needed either an army of her own or godly powers. It was clear what she didn''t have so Scarlet sucked it up. Even if her army was smaller than Anastasia''s and didn''t have guns, Scarlet was still determined to win the war. After all, they had something that Anastasia lacked - they had the element of surprise and geniuses who could shift the world when they grew older.

 Chapter 132 - Recruiting the Army (1)

    After Elfie announced a new version of the chatroom ready for downloads and handed everyone special accounts with customised usernames and passwords, Scarlet started her army recruitment. The first people she approached were none other than her sister and Jasper. However, she never let them know what the purpose was for. Elfie who watched the data logs of their chat history smiled. Scarlet certainly knew how to be the mastermind behind a grand plan.

    There were a few parts to Scarlet''s plans and they were divided into stages. Elfie was initially impressed by the milestones Scarlet set. She planned out the kind of resources they required and expertise in order to deal with Anastasia after Elfie pulled out the records of the crime lord''s operations and businesses. While the hacker wasn''t able to provide any information about Anastasia''s army numbers, Scarlet filled that gap with her imagination. However, there was one thing that Elfie wasn''t sure Scarlet would be able to pull off despite the meticulous planning.

    "How will you know if the army will stand together even after next year, much less six years? People don''t remain constant all the time. I can understand Alex and Jasper because they''re like your family. However, the people in E.C. Class and Special Class aren''t going to remain unchanging. After six years, everyone will be walking on different paths. Some of us might pursue higher education after graduation and some of us might start job hunting instead. Not all of the Special Class will be staying till graduation either..."

    Scarlet nodded. "That''s why we need that improved chatroom. You''re going to help me place tracking devices to be downloaded whenever they access the platform from a new device. If possible, the program must be able to give us their location using the GPS."

    Elfie looked scandalised. "That''s a breach of personal privacy. It''s illegal!"

    The young writer deadpanned. "And hacking isn''t illegal? It''s not the deed that''s evil but the intentions. We''re not using it to blackmail them, we''re using it to protect them in case Anastasia finds out and gets to them. I''m honestly thinking about convincing Dragon to set up a martial arts school or train up a bunch of bodyguards that we can deploy at will for the cause."

    Elfie didn''t think that Scarlet would use them for evil but the fact remains. Invading somebody else''s privacy really wasn''t his cup of tea no matter the reason. Elfie was a hacker and in his dictionary, he steals information, not spy on people for them. That''s simply wrong and it made him feel like a pervert.

    Scarlet sighed. Step one of her grand plan and already convincing her partner was hard. Eventually, they made a compromise. Elfie would create such a program but it would be downloaded into a device but remained dormant until Scarlet or Elfie needed to retrieve information about their friends. The program will only be activated with a password by either Scarlet or Elfie. At the same time, Elfie and Scarlet decided that it wouldn''t be fair if the program affected everyone but themselves. Hence, the programmer made it fair. Everyone, including Scarlet and Elfie, who were part of the anti-Anastasia army will have a sleeping bug planted. As long as they were a special member of Elfie''s chatroom, they would have a special bug just in case.

    Once this step was resolved, Scarlet''s next step was to convince Jasper to go through with his gaming company. In fact, Scarlet wanted to convince all the members in the E.C. Class to aid Jasper in his quest. The recommendation will be in the form of special tutoring from the Special Class. The deal went smoothly and it coincided with what the boys wanted.

    The third stage was urging her sister to go for an acting audition that Orita had been pushing her for. Alex was introduced to modelling and acting after the signing of Britannia''s contract because the photographer who did their photoshoot and stylists were very pleased with how natural Alex was in front of a camera. Genetics didn''t lie and Alex was definitely Orita''s daughter. Her photogenic features and ability to bring out the best in front of a camera made her a very highly scouted individual.

    Up till now, Alex who had always insisted on pursuing the path of an artist remained unmoved. She preferred the comforts of her room, drowning in the smell of paint and sleeping atop canvases. Scarlet didn''t think it was bad but during a war, it''s a terrible idea to only be good with one kind of weapon. Claire mentioned that during her days of training, they had to know at least two weapons proficiently and fight bare-handed to hold their own against at least five people unarmed. At the same time, they ended basic knowledge in just about every other weapon. Being an all-rounder helped them to survive better. For Alex, the girl lived a very sheltered life, not knowing much about the world and Scarlet worried badly for her sister who might become the easiest target for Anastasia.

    If Alex agreed to act or model, it would kill two birds with one stone. Being in the spotlight and centre of attention meant that Alex would be watched by many eyes. By that time, even if Anastasia wants to do anything to Alex, it would be incredibly difficult. The eyes of the public are scarier than the scrutiny of the law for a man like the crime lord. Secondly, Alex would learn to be more independent and wiser if she entered the working world instead of living like a pampered princess. Scarlet had asked Jin Si-Han about how the entertainment world worked and wasn''t too worried if the handsome idol was by Alex''s side. Scarlet was determined to persuade her sister as part of her grand plan to join Si-Han''s agency to work as an actress or model.

    This step took Scarlet two long weeks. Eventually, Alex was convinced that modelling and acting would help improve her art and agreed to go for tryouts. Orita was overjoyed when her daughter declared that she wanted to audition for an agency and in particular, the one that a classmate was in. Of course, Orita didn''t object. In fact, she was more relieved that there would be a trustworthy and familiar face in the agency that Alex wanted to audition for.

    With Alex''s natural talent and good looks, she passed the audition easily with flying colours. Scarlet smiled from the shadows and tasked Si-Han to take care of her sister on her behalf.

    Now that her immediate army generals were taken care off, it was time to recruit the lieutenants and knights. Scarlet looked at the long name list that consisted of very talented individuals from the Special Class and sighed. So far, she had Lin Lin and Elfie on her side without even trying. Lin Lin''s role was simple. She just had to make Britannia as famous as it could be.

    For now, Scarlet''s next target was Jun Le - the strategist. How could they possibly win a war without a good strategist? Luckily for Scarlet, she knew one of the world''s best strategists and he was a classmate in the Special Class.

 Chapter 133 - Recruiting the Army (2)

    Recruiting Jun Le was tougher than anything Scarlet had ever tried, mainly because she was at a major disadvantage with the terms that the chess grandmaster had set. She had to last thirty moves in a single game of chess against him. He said that lasting thirty moves were easier than winning against him but Scarlet didn''t think Jun Le was going easy on her at all. Her game usually ended in five minutes at the twenty-something move.

    It''s been two weeks since Scarlet proposed a deal with Jun Le but she hadn''t seen a glimmer of hope since. Every day, she was allowed three games with the chess grandmaster who completely toyed with her and crushed her pride. Scarlet didn''t want to give up and continued playing against Jun Le but there was no way she could see victory or any other methods to convince Jun Le. The boy refused to negotiate until Scarlet found a way to last thirty moves against him.

    When they first started playing, Scarlet was forced into a corner trying to protect all her pieces. Eventually, she learnt how to sacrifice some to gain something better and buy time. After a week, Scarlet was able to spot the traps that Jun Le had set for her but even then, it wasn''t enough for the young writer to hold her own against the scheming chess grandmaster. Jun Le kept raising the bar whenever Scarlet thought she knew how to counter something.

    At the end of two weeks, the only thing Scarlet benefited from doing this was her ability to play chess better. She practised against a computer AI when she wasn''t playing with Jun Le but lasting thirty moves against the software was way easier than lasting thirty moves against Jun Le.

    Scarlet had a habit of not wanting to sacrifice her pieces. However, in a wat, she knew that not all pieces can be saved. There are no victories without casualties. A king doesn''t sit on a throne with hands clean from blood. There is a lot more to be lost than won in any victory. War benefitted nobody but yet it had to be done sometimes to protect the things that are much dearer than the lives of people closest to you.

    With this philosophy, Scarlet found herself hitting a wall.

    "Twenty-right moves," Jun Le smirked. "Too bad you were short of two more moves to hold out against me. You could have earned that victory if you let go of the horse three moves ago. You could have made it further to thirty moves if you didn''t stubbornly insist on saving that piece," Jun Le pointed out after the last game for that night ended.

    Scarlet sighed and left the game but continued to speak to Jun Le over a video call. "I know. However, I cannot do it, the horse is too important."

    Jun Le raised a brow. "More important than the King?"

    Scarlet sighed. "The King cannot live if all his subjects die after the end of the war."

    Jun Le made a strange expression, trying to think of the deeper meaning behind Scarlet''s words. "You know, it''s very odd for you to suddenly come up with a request that has no sense. Why are you trying so hard to win the bet? What exactly do you want me to do? I don''t like to do favours without knowing the reason behind them. Even if you did hold thirty moves against me, I wouldn''t necessarily comply with what you want. Also, did you really think you would last thirty moves against the youngest chess grandmaster in the world? It''s naive."

    Scarlet didn''t say much but told Jun Le to switch their conversation to Elfie''s chatroom. This was the first time Jun Le actually spoke to Scarlet after a game that wasn''t game related. Scarlet might not have won the battle of chess but she certainly would be winning the war of recruiting this elusive strategist. She wasn''t good at chess but she was a writer who was good at research. Of the many things she learnt, there was a strategy of hooking a willing fish. For a slippery fish like Jun Le, the best kind of bait would be something that could pique his curiosity and something that exceeds his expectations. Scarlet wasn''t confident of lasting thirty moves against the youngest chess grandmaster in the world and that''s why she wasn''t hopeful at her quest to win against him. However, she knew that in order to catch this fish she must persist and intrigue him enough for him to make the first move.

    "If I told you the game of chess reflects my current war, what would you do?" Scarlet asked in the chatroom.

    Jun Le took his time to type his answer and Scarlet waited nervously.

    "Will you be the king leading this war?" the chess grandmaster asked.

    Scarlet smiled. "Yes. However, I''ll only be King of this war. Once it is over I''ll retire and lead the simple life of a writer I''ve always wanted."

    "Do you have the other chess pieces yet? Who is the enemy? Why do you want to recruit me?"

    Scarlet took her time responding to every question. She had no problems giving information that was enough to satisfy the grandmaster''s curiosity but not enough to let him know the full picture. So far, Scarlet was able to secure potential funding and support. In every war, money and information were the most crucial. Following that, Scarlet needed manpower to fight the war for her but she hasn''t gotten to it yet. Right now, she needed to gather a small and reliable team to discuss strategies with. While Elfie was very good at finding information, he wasn''t the best at making long-term plans. Scarlet was only mediocre at best and when facing Anastasia, not even Wilmer can afford to take it easy. Scarlet knew that her plan wouldn''t work without some help so having Jun Le in on the plan is a must.

    When the chess grandmaster knew about the members on Scarlet''s team, he sighed. It was no surprise that she would recruit Jasper and Elfie. While he wasn''t against having Jasper and Elfie as team members, he thought that Scarlet would need a bigger and more well-rounded team. Even if he joined, that wouldn''t be sufficient.

    "You do realise that you need more people in order to fight a war of such scale, right? Wilmer has an army called the Wilde Empire. Danny has contacts. I don''t know who you''re up against but if a man can take down the Wilde Empire, he wouldn''t be anyone easy to deal with. Your opponent has connections with the top and the underground in places that not even a CEO of a huge company has. It''s like an amateur playing a game of chess against a chess grandmaster and hoping to win. It''s impossible."

    Scarlet grinned and typed quickly. "That''s why I''m trying to recruit a chess grandmaster to my side to help me out with the planning."

    Jun Le''s reply made Scarlet laugh.

    "A chess grandmaster is only good at planning strategies. They''re not good at fighting the war on the battlefield. You''re not going to make it. Unless you''re borrowing the army from Jasper''s delinquent class or from some unknown sources, I don''t see any hope."

    "As expected of the grandmaster! How did you know I was hiding an army?"

    Jun Le deadpanned. "An army of delinquents against some unknown rich person with powerful connections... I can see where this is going. Seriously, do you even have a plan?"

    This time, Scarlet answered seriously. "I have a plan but it''s not good enough. I need your help. Elfie has done what he can and I''m keeping everyone else in the dark. My plan has a few stages. Currently, they are all work in progress but I only have six years to put everything together before I go into the battlefield..."

    As Jun Le read what Scarlet typed in his room in front of a computer, he started to feel excited. Scarlet''s plans were not without flaws but she certainly had done her research well. Her guesses were also quite accurate despite not having enough information due to the nature of her enemy''s occupation. Jun Le wasn''t able to know exactly who it was but if it was something Elfie had troubles getting his hands on, this person must not be simple. He was also not foolish enough to think that it''s merely a business rival. Still, he never imagined that Danny was someone so incredible. He knew that Elfie worked with the Interpol but he didn''t think that Danny was in the same circle. Who would have expected a school counsellor to be a spy?

    As someone who had only known how to play chess all his life and never had a decent match with his opponents because he defeated them all, Jun Le finally found something that could make his heart beat.

    "I''ll join you on one condition. You must not keep anything away from me. I want to know everything. It''s alright if it''s dangerous. As long as I lie low and we keep our communications through this chatroom, no outsiders will know."

    Scarlet thought about it for a while and sighed. "You''re going to be targeted. We''re talking about gun blazing mafia bosses and assassinations like in the movies but less cinematic and more realistic. Something could go wrong, someone could slip up and the whole thing can fail. I don''t have anything to give you back in return for risking your life like that even if we''re friends."

    Jun Le''s reply made Scarlet think about how humans truly are unpredictable. Even after the warning, Jun Le insisted that he wanted in. His reason was simple.

    "I don''t want to live a life not knowing the bittersweet taste of struggling. I''ve never lost in a game of chess to anyone more than once before. I''d like to see if I will lose the game of chess in life by choosing your side as one of your chess pieces instead of being the player. If you can manage to convince the Special Class to aid you and the E.C. Class to be your army, you might have a chance. I don''t believe numbers and statistics are everything. Formations and logic only work in games. In life, I want to witness the power of a miracle created from feelings and only you can show me that. I''ll take your victory as payment for this war. Let''s do our best together."

    Conceding defeat once more, Scarlet welcomed Jun Le aboard, happy that she had another reliable ally but also burdened by the responsibility of needing to win this war. She might have lost every game to Jun Le but the war against Anastasia is one she cannot lose. Failure wasn''t an option.

 Chapter 134 - Recruiting the Army (3)

    Scarlet left matters to Jasper''s capable hands when the boy had to convince the E.C. Class to help him with his company. He couldn''t register a business yet because he wasn''t of age but he could start preparing for it. Orita had assured them that she would support her children in whatever they wanted to do. Jasper was no exception. In face, Wilmer was rather pleased when Jasper announced that he wanted to learn how to run a business from Wilmer because he wanted to create a company that could rival the Wilde Empire.

    Instead of feeling threatened, Wilmer was touched. The CEO thought that Jasper would be a very worthy rival to have when he grew up and agreed. Instead of interning at the finance department, Wilmer decided to toss books at Jasper and told him to read them. Those were what he called the ''mindset books'' that every successful businessman needed to know.

    While Wilmer trained Jasper how to be a good businessman, Alex was actually working out seriously to look the part for her very first role in acting. Orita signed her daughter up for some acting classes and they were both often very busy even when they no longer went for the internship. There were only two more weeks before a new year started. School holidays were coming to an end and Scarlet still hadn''t managed to convince most of the Special Class to help her out with her war. She had been more busy helping Jenna to coordinate the planning for that barbecue party by the beach in a villa that everyone wanted. It was tough finding a day that everyone in the E.C. Class and Special Class could be available but they managed to find one on Christmas Eve.

    Everyone''s families were invited and due to the number of confirmed attendees for the overnight party, the Wildes'' found it easier to simply rent out an entire resort by the beach instead of booking rooms or a venue for a certain time slot. Thankfully, it was only a two-day-one-night event. Many of the kids would leave by afternoon the next day and Scarlet was still slightly numbed by how the mindset of her rich new parents worked.

    In the middle of preparing for Christmas, writing her book and planning for the barbecue gathering, Scarlet had been putting together her secret plan with Jun Le and Elfie. She was finally going to convince the last few people she needed and had even assigned some team leaders for the groups she needed. For example, Jun Le was to coordinate the information network and Elfie was to support the chess grandmaster in order for him to advise Scarlet accordingly. Alex would work together with Si-Han, the Lopez twins, Khalid and Lin Lin who were all working in the entertainment field. The bigger the splash they made, the better it would be for Jasper''s team to work behind the scenes. Last but not least, Scarlet had to talk to the most important couple team that she knew. She had to find a way to convince Dragon and Rebecca to help out with training a batch of bodyguards for some reason. However, for that to happen, Scarlet needed to set the stage between Dragon and Claire.

    The day arrived sooner than expected. Claire was on standby and Scarlet had already spoken to the martial art enthusiast about a ''worthy opponent'' who could defeat him and will be attending the barbecue event with her. Dragon demanded a match as Scarlet expected and Scarlet made him agree to beg Claire to take him as her apprentice if he lost. Naturally, the martial art enthusiast wasn''t going to refuse learning from a master who was better than him.

    What he didn''t know was how Scarlet ran in between Dragon and Claire without either of them knowing, to twist the same story. She told Claire that there would be a classmate who was a martial art fanatic who was looking to become a great fighter and possibly bodyguard when he grew older if he wasn''t going to open a dojo. Claire who was the head of the Wildes'' security division took interest in that particular kid who would challenge her to a match.

    As predicted by Jun Le, Claire convinced Wilmer to let her take the kid named Dragon in if he expressed an interest to learn from her. She was going to train him into her direct successor like how Wilmer was training Jasper to be his successor and how Danny was training Elfie to be his successor. Orita was also training Alex to be the future Wilde heiress and Scarlet was happy that nobody was paying her any attention. The plan was progressing smoothly and while Scarlet worked hard at her craft as a writer, she also had Elfie to help her delete and remove evidence of her pet project.

    The Observation Journal was getting taken down even if there was a huge number of readers following it. OIf course, there would be huge chaos if Scarlet deleted it entirely suddenly. Instead of doing that, Elfie helped to schedule a timer to automatically erase the existence of Scarlet''s past posts up until a certain point. Slowly, Scarlet started to write differently and alter the content and style of her Observational Journal. It started to sound more like a personal blog that readers can feel free to share their opinions about instead a mere record of Scarlet''s observations and opinions.

    With every new post, three old posts will be deleted. Scarlet intended to slowly phase out the old style of the Observation Journal by three months and worked hard on maintaining the blog. She knew that of her many readers, Jenna and Orita were regulars of it even if they didn''t say it aloud. The last entry to be deleted was the one about the Wolf and the Songbird because Scarlet felt as if that might be too obvious. If Anastasia were to dig into it and read that, he would have a clue about who was targeting him. The final move would be to announce a change of title of her blog from "Observation Journal" to "Love Journal" and reintroduce herself under a new alias as a budding romance writer.

    With that in place, it was finally time to execute the last stage of her recruitment plan and enjoy the barbecue.

 Chapter 135 - Barbecue and Death

    The barbecue was a huge success. While some parents were overwhelmed by the hospitality they received, the event ran smoothly. Orita was an expert communicator who easily won the hearts of the initially uneasy parents. The E.C. Class was very different from the Special Class and to have friends from such a vastly different background made them feel inferior.

    Their children like Jinru and Jeremy were initially unable to persuade their parents that the Wildes'' were nice people. Jeff''s parents came with apologies instead of thanks when they understood that the entire resort had been booked out for the overnight party. Scarlet and Alex did their best to explain they didn''t have to pay or feel guilty for attending but Jeff''s parents were very insistent until Orita and Jenna stepped in.

    Watching the two ladies handle the situation professionally with that refreshing smile that never tired made Scarlet''s respect them more than ever. She didn''t know how Orita never seemed exhausted dealing with so many people.

    "What''s on your mind?" Wilmer asked, handing two fruit punches to his exhausted daughters. The party had only started but Alex and Scarlet looked like they were ready for bed at any moment.

    Scarlet accepted the drink gratefully and eyes her mother who was laughing alongside with some of the boys from the E.C. Class at their stories.

    "I don''t understand how mommy can be so tireless and constantly maintain that smile. She''s able to handle Jeff''s parents so easily too..."

    Wilmer nodded and Alex took a sip of the fruit punch. It was a little too sweet but she didn''t mind. After all, most of the other kids loved it.

    "Mm," Wilmer nodded. "That is something your mother worked hard to achieve. She''s a social butterfly not because of her wealth, name or beauty. It''s a lot of hard work behind the scenes. Most of the world only sees Orita like this but behind closed doors, she reads up a lot on others and does a lot of communicating via emails, texts and sometimes phone calls."

    "Is that why Jenna has to sometimes write greeting cards to all of mommy''s friends? She''s making connections and maintaining her huge network while increasing it. That''s what a socialite does, right?"

    Alex''s questions put a smile on Wilmer''s face but Scarlet still looked confused. "Mommy works?"

    At that, both father and daughter laughed. "Yes, she does. However, she doesn''t get paid in monetary value," Wilmer explained and Scarlet''s confusion grew.

    For half of the event, Wilmer and Alex did their best to explain to Alex the concept of a socialite and the duty of an heiress. While Orita was more than capable of running a business, she was better suited to building her business'' image and network through activities like organising tea parties and attending official charity events.

    At the end of the lengthy explanation, Scarlet roughly understood Orita''s duty as the lady of the Wilde Family. She turned to her sister and wondered if the day will come when Alex will have to take on that mantle too.

    "What?"

    Scarlet shook her head with a smile. "I was just wondering if you''d have to become a socialite too when you grow up. After all, you are the Wilde princess."

    Wilmer cooed and Alex blushed, shoving the responsibility back to Scarlet saying that she was also a Wilde princess. Scarlet looked horrified at the thought and shifted the responsibility back to Alex who claimed that she was much better at being an artist than a social butterfly. Wilmer was enjoying hearing his daughters squabble over silly things when the phone in his pocket vibrated.

    "Sorry girls, daddy has to take this call. Can you girls find Claire and stick with her for a bit?"

    Alex nodded and agreed while pulling her sister along to locate their head maid. Scarlet let Alex pull her along for a bit but then decided quickly that she couldn''t leave without satisfying her curiosity.

    "Sorry, I think I''ll head to the washroom for a bit. You go without me," Scarlet apologised and Alex pouted but agreed.

    Now that she was alone, Scarlet hurried to where Wilmer disappeared. If this was a work call, Scarlet might be able to listen in on some information that could help her with her plan to take Anastasia down. Wilmer didn''t have access to Elfie''s chatroom so neither of them could plant bugs to listen to his calls for more information. Hence, the young writer had to find her information using a different method.

    The latest news from Elfie was how Wilmer and his board of directors seem to be getting targeted by an unidentified bunch of thugs. The incidents were suspicious and while they had no evidence, Scarlet was willing to bet that Anastasia had a hand behind the scenes. The other day, Wilmer returned home with a bandage on his arm because a falling flower pot broke right before him. If it weren''t for the security team''s quick reactions, Wilmer would have been hit on the head instead of scratched by the broken ceramic shards. The fact that it happened in their very condominium made everyone nervous. Claire had talked to the building management who agreed to tighten security checks on all visitors as well as carry out a thorough investigation about that flower pot''s origin. While the investigations point to a careless gardening contractor working on replacing the function room''s exterior decoration, nobody in the Wilde family was convinced.

    "Wilmer speaking," the CEO answered the call and Scarlet quickly hid behind a pillar within hearing range in the empty car park.

    The young writer couldn''t hear the other party but from Wilmer''s side of the conversation, she had to cover her mouth to muffle the gasp that came out.

    "Robert''s dead?" the CEO trembled and slammed the wall beside him in grief.

    "Did they find out who did it? How did he die?" Wilmer asked and Scarlet listened with her heart beating in her ears. She couldn''t hear the rest of the conversation because Wilmer wasn''t saying anything much but Scarlet ran away to the nearest washroom to collect herself again.

    If she remembered correctly, Robert Wang was a business consultant of the Wilde Empire as well as one of Wilmer''s old friends. Benjamin did work closely with him and now that he was dead, Scarlet knew it was because Anastasia had been increasing his threats. They were no longer safe from the man''s reach and panicked gripped her.

    The plans she made with Elfie and Jun Le''s help is only beginning but before the seed can become a tree, they might be trampled on and killed quickly. Unable to think positively, Scarlet could only cry in despair at what appeared like the inevitable downfall of the Wildes'' who took her in. Happiness was like a mayfly, short lived and fleeting. If only she wasn''t just a ten-year-old... if only she knew them earlier.

    So many ''what-if'' scenarios made Scarlet sick and the light faded from her eyes. Was there really hope in this war? No. Scarlet shook her head and wiped her tears. Even if there wasn''t hope, she couldn''t give up. If there was no miracle from the gods then all Scarlet had to do was create one by borrowing the name of the gods regardless of the price she had to pay at the end. This war isn''t over, she still had everyone with her. The war isn''t over until the King falls, it doesn''t matter how many pieces Scarlet has lost over the course of the battle, she would have no choice but to continue fighting even if she was the only one alive by the end of it all.

    With her mind made up, Scarlet cleaned her appearance and returned to the barbecue party. She couldn''t tell anybody about what she found out, not even Elfie or Jun Le. She didn''t need this to affect their carefully laid out plans. If she was right, Danny would also not tell Elfie about Robert''s death. Wilmer will also try to keep things under wraps and not let the media get hold of it so that he can buy time to cover his tracks and prepare to deal with Anastasia.

    If Scarlet was in Wilmer''s shoes, she would make preparations to leave his family in order to keep them safe while fighting the war alone. Now that one of his generals had fallen, he needed to devise a new plan with the remaining army under his command. The young writer paused. Will Danny also be relocating? It could possibly be the last time she sees Elfie if Danny decides to disappear from the records. With his status as an information broker and a spy, it wouldn''t be difficult to make everyone forget about a mere school counsellor. People move on with time and many things get buried beneath the many other distractions that life throws at them. Nobody will remember Danny who, as queerly as he behaved, was just another ordinary person who didn''t root himself deeply into anyone''s hearts.

    Knowing what she must do now, Scarlet raced to find Elfie. The barbecue might be the only time she could tell the boy everything he needed to know before their inevitable parting.

 Chapter 136 - Parting (2)

    It hasn''t even been a week after Wilmer left them and yet the Wilde household was going to lose one more member. Elfie was tearful when he had to say his goodbyes. Even though he wasn''t technically a member of the Wilde family, Orita and the three children had already treated him like one of them.

    Danny had come by so suddenly, announcing that he was back for a short while. Then, they borrowed the study room for a few hours where the other occupants of the house heard them shouting at each other in Arabic. Elfie was definitely crying but it would be inappropriate for anyone to interfere with their personal matters. Eventually, the crying and yelling stop. Danny talked to Orita for a bit and Elfie started packing his belongings.

    Scarlet was worried when that happened but Scarlet reassured her that he didn''t breathe a word about their six-year plan. Danny only found out about Elfie''s hacking activities with the Interpol and wasn''t pleased with it. As a result, he was getting withdrawn from school and getting sent to another country to hide in for an unknown period of time. Danny also has to leave his job because Wilmer has started to step up on his efforts to fight against Anastasia.

    "Danny is going to join Wilmer as a consultant. He''s going to work side by side instead of from the shadows so I have to leave," he explained.

    Scarlet nodded and placed a hand reassuringly on Elfie''s shoulder. "Don''t worry, even if something happens as long as you can access the chatroom, we won''t be apart for long. See you in six years, watch out for our news. Britannia will be having concerts very soon and if we''re in your area, let us know. We can give you backstage passes."

    Elfie laughed at that. "That''s nice to know. Sure, see you in six years. Please say goodbye to everyone from the E.C. Class and Special Class for me when you see them. If they want to, we can plan another gathering like the last barbecue in six years. It''ll be interesting to see how much everyone has changed and grown by then."

    Scarlet smiled and agreed. Then, she started helping Elfie to pack even if the programmer didn''t have many belongings. Most of Elfie''s clothes were already in the suitcase. The only other important belonging was Elfie''s customised laptop and phone that were already in the backpack. Now that the room was cleared, Scarlet didn''t know how Jasper would feel sleeping alone in his room.

    Scarlet carried the backpack while Elfie carried the suitcase down the stairs. When they arrived, Danny was already exchanging a few words with Claire and Orita. Jenna helped to call for a taxi and Jasper looked at his roommate for a few months.

    "Heh, you''re looking well. I will finally be able to sleep without hearing you talk in the dead of the night now," he smirked from behind his bangs.

    Elfie pretended to be offended when Jasper took a jab at his sleeping habits. Alex laughed along with them, feeling the mood lighten somewhat despite the sad goodbyes. This time, Jasper hugged Elfie and whispered lowly.

    "The business will take off in six years. When that happens, you better not turn down my invitation to work with us. Don''t think I''m letting you slack off on our game development just because you''re not living with us."

    Alex, who was close enough to them heard it and felt reassured. The parting was merely temporary and it wasn''t goodbye forever. The farewell was only for six years. While six years felt like a long time, Alex did her best to see it in a different way. They were now ten, going on eleven. In six years, they would be seventeen. There were many things to do before she was seventeen and Alex decided to make a promise of her own.

    "In six years time, I''ll become a very famous person from singing to modelling and even acting. Even if we cannot often meet face to face, you can see me whenever you turn on the television!" Alex declared and Elfie nodded.

    "In six years, I will look forward to being employed by Jasper so please make good character designs for the game. If it isn''t famous, it''s no good. We need to make a lot of money before six years to invite everyone out again to a barbecue party," the hacker stated and Scarlet laughed.

    Danny turned around when he heard the laughter. Not too long ago, his son was crying at not wanting to leave. Despite the evidence and harsh reprimanding from Danny, Elfie didn''t want to admit to hacking the Interpol and meddling with Anastasia''s case. However, in the end, Elfie simply turned over all his collected ''research'' for Danny to make use of.

    Danny looked through the evidence stolen from the Interpol and was silent for a while. Many of the evidence was not discriminating enough but the conjunctions that Elfie drew from them made Danny think again. There were several other small irrelevant cases that had been archived included in Elfie''s findings that the hacker claimed was related to Anastasia based on a ''hunch''. Danny was initially reluctant to look at them but when Elfie became heated up and explained the reasons for his ''hunch'', Danny could no longer deny it. These cases were the missing leads they required to find out Anastasia''s true purpose of acquiring the Wilde Empire as well as his base of operations. He didn''t want to admit it but his son was becoming more capable at him at his work and Danny feared that any more meddling, Elfie would become too deeply implicated in his crooked world. Elfie was only ten-years-old and dealing with murder cases and prostitution rings aren''t things a child should be dabbling with. If it was merely a job about hacking firewalls and passcodes to gain access to files and videos, Danny could turn a blind eye.

    For Elfie''s safety and the safety of Wilmer''s children, Danny made the tough decision of pulling his son out of school and leaving his cover day job to relocate. Wilmer had asked him to join him officially to work against Anastasia now that Robert was dead. Danny initially refused to, saying that Elfie shouldn''t be in the limelight from his involvement. Now that Elfie was neck-deep in all of it, Danny knew he no longer had a reason to refuse his old friend. Instead of hiding Elfie away and trying to keep him away from getting involved, Danny thought it might be better to have Elfie by his side so he could keep an eye on his son who was also one of their strongest allies at this point. Elfie''s expertise and genius talent in the hacking world was something they badly needed. Right now, it was impossible to hold against Anastasia because the crime lord held all the cards while they were left grasping at straws in the dark. In just a few weeks, Elfie had discovered more than what Wilmer and Danny could have ever found out together for the past ten years.

    Of course, Danny didn''t tell Elfie about his plans to involve him in the war against Anastasia. Wilmer''s children and Elfie grew very close over the last few months and the counsellor simply didn''t need Elfie blabbing away. The sooner they cut ties with the Wilde children, the quicker he could fill Elfie in on the private job. They had only six years to make this work if Wilmer wanted to grant Scarlet''s unknown wish and return to his family alive.

    -Season 1 End-

 Chapter 137 - Sweet Sixteen (1)

    In a blink of an eye, six years passed quickly. Orita had gotten used to not having Wilmer around as often but when her children started to grow up and become busier, the lady of the house decided to return to America to the main Wilde mansion where she had a higher chance of at least bumping into her children while they were travelling for work.

    Joyville was sad without Danny around and things just weren''t the same anymore after that year. Elfie left the Special Class and the Special Class never did have another meeting like the one they did at the barbecue with the E.C. Class. The new replacements teachers for the Special Class were boring enough that even Alex decided to skip class. The three Wilde children spent their years self-studying in the library and graduated high school ahead of time. At the tender age of fourteen and fifteen, all three children had their diplomas and started focussing more on their chosen paths in life.

    Now at sixteen, all three children were experiencing the peak of their success.

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on and check out their other works. <<

    "Ms Wilde! Can you spare five minutes for an interview? Ms Wilde!" a bespectacled reporter asked and hurried after a beautiful blonde androgynous beauty. For Alex Wilde, this has become a common occurrence.

    The successful teenage model and actress smiled at the crowd and waved at them as she got into the car waiting for her. Her manager was no other than Claire who glared at the reporters before getting into the car after the Wilde princess.

    Six years passed by too quickly. For Alex who wanted to become an artist, it shocked everyone when she put down her paintbrushes to focus on studying for the national exams. Alex was twelve when she made the decision to accelerate her studies and graduate early. At the same time, she started asking Orita for more modelling and acting jobs. Orita did what she could and pulled many strings for Alex to get a strong head start in the showbiz. Thankfully, the girl matured quickly and was sensible. She ended up excelling two years into the industry and had her first big break as a child actress with a hit film as the main star.

    Orita still remembered the day Alex came back with Claire from the casting auditions to tell her mother the great news. Alex had been taking on small roles as supporting characters for small films while going for acting classes to help better her skills for only six months. She only started her journey as a novice actress after a long year so the news was rather unexpected. The movie director wasn''t someone Orita knew personally but he saw Alex''s talent and wanted to give her a chance. The heiress was ecstatic about the news and everyone celebrated it the same way they celebrated her small commercial shoots. While nothing much has changed within the Wilde household, the world had started looking at Alex differently just like how the Wilde princess wanted. Modelling jobs came flooding through the mailbox and Alex had to enlist the help of someone capable to act as her manager. Claire volunteered for the role after Scarlet''s continuous persuasion. The main reason why the head maid was recommended for the role of Alex''s manager was because of the increasing amounts of harassment cases. With the fame that Alex earned from her achievements, there were many people who hated her success or envied her. These people often resorted to underhand methods to harm the girl so to give everyone a peace of mind, Claire volunteered to be Alex''s manager and full-time bodyguard.

    "What''s next?" Alex asked and sighed once the car had driven far enough. It was only three in the afternoon but Alex was already exhausted. She was currently in Paris for a fashion week showcase. The Wilde princess had just ended her fitting session with the designer and tried on the outfits before the practice runs tomorrow. However, her day was far from over.

    Claire looked at her phone and ticked off one more agenda from the list. Alex was tired and Claire was glad that she worked as a maid previously. With her years of experience, Claire was now adept at making some snacks and seeing to Alex''s needs now that there weren''t other servants around to help. She passed the model-actress a sandwich prepared that morning. Knowing that Alex was on a strict diet, she made something filling but low in calories.

    "Eat this and then take a nap, I''ll wake you up once we arrive at the next venue. You''ll be having a talk show event next and then a gala later in the evening."

    Alex groaned and accepted the sandwich. Of all the things she did, Alex absolutely didn''t like gala dinners. They were full of reporters, cameras and creepy folks. On the bright side, tonight''s gala dinner wouldn''t be that bad.

    "Will we be meeting Scarlet to get our hair and make-up done together?" Alex cheered at the thought of seeing her sister after a few long months.

    Claire smiled. "Yes. Mr Le Beau has reserved his parlour for the both of you tonight so you can feel more at ease later. I heard that Scarlet''s flight would touch down at about five so she should arrive at the parlour before you."

    Alex ate happily and took a nap while Claire busied away, replying emails and checking Alex''s schedules. Thinking about it, it would be two years now that Britannia had disbanded. The band had done really well but because all three children didn''t treat the band as their priority, they decided to disband after their one year''s worth of fame. Unlike Jasper who was determined to become a young start-up and Alex who wanted to enter the showbiz as a model-actress, Scarlet didn''t give up what she''d built for herself.

    The young writer continued writing her books and updating her blog even though it was at a slower pace. At the same time, Scarlet continued her music career as a soloist with Lin Lin''s help. She debuted under the name Pirate S. as a singer who is a singer-songwriter who worked in a duo team with the composer LL who never showed her face. Naturally, the Wilde''s knew who LL was but they helped to keep their secret and supported the girls however they could. Wilmer often gave concert tickets to his clients to support Scarlet and Orita never failed to attend every live concert that was held.

    Under Jupiter Records'' management, Scarlet was eventually introduced to modelling as a side job. As her fame grew she became product ambassadors and that led Scarlet to become scouted as an actress in the East. She decided to go with her original Chinese name for her acting career in the East - Liu Xiu Wen and has been enjoying the duality that she lived. In the day she was a huge showbiz figure both in the East and the West. At night, she was a popular writer as well as the owner of the Human Observation Journal. While all three children were overworking themselves, Claire thought that Scarlet might have too much on her plate when compared to Alex and Jasper. Orita and Jenna had tried multiple times to convince Scarlet to drop something before she collapsed from fatigue but the young writer seemed to be enjoying herself too much to drop anything.

    While the two girls were building their success and increasing their fame in the entertainment world, Jasper''s game development project took off much later. It was only last year that his very first game prototype was created and released to the market in the alpha stage. Of course, Wilmer backed the boy up. Jasper traded using an account Wilmer set up for him and grew the capital handsomely enough to fund for his own research projects and hire professionals for his team. The boy took the longest time to get all the resources and people on board before his project finally took off. Needless to say, after Jasper pitched that idea to several big firms he managed to clinch the sales required and signed a partnership with some of them with the Wilde Empire backing his start-up''s major shares.

    Till date, Jasper''s net worth as the founder of Kiwi Cat Studio Corp. was worth way more than Scarlet or Alex. The company''s estimated net worth was $100 million when it was first registered on the stock markets but since then, it has skyrocketed. Despite being very rich at such a young age, Jasper never changed much. He still had bangs covering his eyes and lived a very simple life with the exception of not going to school now that he has officially graduated for a while. He rented an office and employed some of the E.C. Class members as part-timers to help him out on top of the professionals employed in his small team. Elfie eventually left the game development project when Jasper''s official team was stable enough to progress on its own. Scarlet and Alex also decided to leave that gaming development to Jasper while they focused on their individual career choices.

    Claire texted in the 3G Fan Club group to update everyone about Alex''s progress. Scarlet had Tina to help her out as an assistant while she wasn''t really Scarlet''s manager, unlike Claire. Sue volunteered to care for Jasper and moved to America with the boy when his company got registered on the stock market. The two servants updated the group chat almost as often as Claire did just so that Orita and Jenna wouldn''t fret. Wilmer appreciated the constant updates about his children and while it made him proud as a father, he felt like a failure as a man. In these six years, not once had he been home even though he called his family often enough to hear them. The problem with Anastasia still was far from being resolved and his heart ached.

    Six years ago, Scarlet asked him if he could grant her one wish if she studied hard and became very successful. Of all three children, he would say that Scarlet has indeed become very accomplished. Sometimes, even more so than Alex or Jasper with how many fields she dabbled in. Scarlet owned shares in Wilmer''s company as well as Jasper''s company. She even launched her own fashion brand with Alex despite her busy schedule but that''s not something many people knew about. If she asked for a wish right now, Wilmer knew he couldn''t deny her. However, the fact that he hadn''t been able to resolve the issue with Anastasia even after six years with Danny''s help made Wilmer feel rather hopeless. Not only was he unable to return to see his wife for their silver anniversary, but he also wasn''t even able to see his daughters for their sweet sixteen.

    As he read the group chat without replying, Wilmer thought how much of a failure he was as a man.

 Chapter 138 - Sweet Sixteen (2)

    Scarlet touched down at Paris and smiled. She still recalled the first time she went overseas by herself with her manager from Jupiter Records. Pamela was supposed to help Scarlet find her escort but the airport was too complicated and neither of them spoke French. Their luggage was stolen and the hotel they booked made a double reservation which left them stranded.

    Thankfully, Alex was in the area for work and offered her sister help. Claire gave Pamela some tips and contacts to help the fellow manager who broke down in thankful tears. While Jupiter Records was big, Pamela didn''t have many opportunities to travel overseas because she had only ever been an event manager who coordinated for concerts. Britannia was the very first artiste she nurtured but back then, they had the help of Jenna. After the disbandment and Scarlet went solo, Pamela had to learn to do everything by herself. Scarlet didn''t blame her manager. In fact, Pamela was a great manager who learnt fast even if she was slightly more inexperienced.

    "I''ve booked the ride, let''s check into the hotel first and put all these down before we go to Le Beau''s, shall we?" Pamela asked and Scarlet agreed. It had been a long flight from her last shooting location in Beijing. Still, it wasn''t the longest flight that Scarlet had been on. Eleven hours was still manageable but Scarlet knew that she would be sleeping at the beauty parlour later before Alex arrived. According to her sister, the talk show would end at around five in the afternoon so Alex would swing around by seven. They would attend the gala dinner event at nine and stay till about eleven before leaving together.

    After checking into the junior suite room that she would be sharing with Tina and Pamela, Scarlet took a picture and uploaded it to the chatroom.

    Lin Lin: Wow! Luxurious room indeed. How long will you be staying in Paris?

    Scarlet: About a week. I''ll swing by America to see Jasper and Elfie too before I return to Beijing.

    Lin Lin: Darn¡­ we''ll miss each other. I''m currently on my Europe Classical Tour and I''m stuck in Rome until two weeks later. You''d be gone by then¡­

    Scarlet: Hahaha! Don''t worry, we can still meet up once your Europe Classical Tour is over. Pamela said that they want us to start thinking about the concept of my next album. I was thinking about making a classical-rock fusion instead of the normal EDM-rock that we''ve always done. What do you think?

    Lin Lin: That''s a great idea! I want to record the acoustics live if we''re doing it. Oh, do you think putting in an orchestra will be an overkill for the next album''s main theme?

    Scarlet: ¡­ I have no idea. You''re the composer.

    Lin Lin: HAHAHAHA you''re right! I''m going to put in traditional Asian instruments in the album so that we can compete for the track to be used in your next drama. I heard the casting auditions went well?

    Scarlet: *victory sign* I''m playing the lead support as the bandit king''s sister this time. They''re going to start training me in martial arts once I return to Beijing.

    Lin Lin: Ew¡­ ok, good luck. When you''re done with the lyric drafts, as usual, send them over and I''ll have a look. Really want this stupid classical tour to be over¡­ I''m so bored of playing Vivaldi!

    Scarlet laughed at Lin Lin''s rant and Pamela looked over curiously. It wasn''t an uncommon scene to see Scarlet laughing over the phone. She knew that Scarlet was in close contact with the ex-members of Britannia and even if they were no longer in the music industry, Scarlet kept them updated about her activities. The manager admired that close friendship Scarlet had and wished that it would be that way for a long time.

    After the luggage was settled down and the clothes for the gala chosen, Pamela escorted Scarlet to Mr Le Beau''s beauty parlour. It was only four in the evening but seeing as the dinner gala would be very late, Tina decided to buy a little something so Scarlet could snack on after her beauty treatment before she left for the event. Likewise, Tina knew that Claire would be doing the same for Alex who would join them later.

    Leonce''s beauty parlour was a rather small shop on an upscale street in the middle of Paris. The street was full of high fashion boutiques, upscaled stylists and master shoemakers. While Leonce was a world-renowned beauty guru himself, he didn''t really fancy a big shop. In fact, unlike the other beauty masters, Leonce didn''t take on many students and didn''t want to open a school. Alex had always tried to convince the stubborn stylist otherwise but he was adamant. On the other hand, Scarlet loved the man''s convictions and how he remained true to his philosophy.

    The bell chimed and Leonce smiled. "Miss Scarlet! It''s always a joy to see you. I heard that you''re doing very well in China right now. Have you been eating and resting well? Oh my, you''re still as small as I remembered you to be. You truly are an angel frozen in time."

    Scarlet felt slightly annoyed that her favourite stylist was teasing her. It was true that Scarlet stopped growing, unlike Jasper and Scarlet. Jasper had grown to be a stunning six foot (182cm) and Alex wasn''t that far behind him, standing at five foot nine inches tall (175cm) without heels. Scarlet sometimes felt like a dwarf standing beside both of them. She disliked milk but drank lots of it when the two of them started their growth spurts. Sadly, it did nothing for the petite girl who now stood at only four foot and nine inches (145cm) without heels. It was one of the things Scarlet disliked about herself and she made it a point to always wear boots with platforms or wedge heels of at least five inches in height whenever she was in public. Still, the height difference between Alex and her could clearly be seen whenever they hung out together. Usually, her sister would wear flats or sneakers to lessen that difference in height but tonight, Alex had no choice but to wear heels, increasing their height difference once more.

    Leonce was giving Scarlet her facial spa to prepare her skin for the make-up when Alex arrived, looking very worn out and exhausted. At once, the reliable stylist turned on the humidifier with relaxing lavender essential oil for the tired Wilde princess. Alex greeted Scarlet and they chatted while Claire and Tina prepared snacks for the girls.

    "Sis!" Alex smiled when she saw Scarlet and went up to hug the small girl who was caught off guard. She hadn''t slept for a long time now thanks to the flight and was about to take a nap but Alex arrived before she could do so. Still, it was a pleasant surprise to see her sister so quickly.

    "Alex! How long has it been since I last saw you? Have you grown taller again?"

    The teen model laughed and pointed to her feet. Scarlet caught a glance of the kitten heels Alex wore and sighed, looking over to her stilettos. Even for gala dinners, Alex was still considerate enough to find something that was shorter than the ones she normally wore for Scarlet''s sake. The singer felt happy and slightly sorry that Alex had to go through so much because of her.

    "Come, let''s eat something first. You must be famished after such a long day," Scarlet suggested and Alex agreed.

    Leonce came back to attend to Alex when he saw the sisters chatting while munching on avocado sandwiches. Claire had prepared enough for the two girls and Tina decided that she would save the boxed meals for later. It had been such a long time since the girls saw each other so Tina and the managers decided to leave them alone with Mr Le Beau.

    "Alright ladies, I know it has been a few months since you last saw each other but I only have three hours to pretty up two very important people for tonight''s gala dinner event. Miss Alex, why don''t you finish that up quickly so that I can get started on your skin spa?" the gay stylist suggested and Scarlet waved to her sister with a smile. They had a week to catch up after all so she wasn''t too worried.

    Once Alex was gone, Scarlet felt the fatigue seep into her bones. She finished her sandwich quickly and found a good spot to take a nap. The skin spa would take a while so for now, the young writer thought she would get some shut-eye. It really was different whenever she was in the company of people she knew. Throughout the six years, Scarlet had never once stopped fighting the invisible war. She worked hard to gather information about Anastasia and planned her moves with Elfie''s help. Jasper somehow found out and Scarlet had no choice but to let him in on her plans. It was difficult for them, even with the help of the Special Class and E.C. Class. Still, the only blessing was Alex''s ignorance and decision to enter the showbiz.

    After fighting for so long and laying down the foundation to their plans, Scarlet was very tired. She wanted to rest from time to time but it was difficult. Whenever she met someone she knew, it would be like this for a week and then it would be long, arduous months of working towards the goal. Closing her eyes, the young writer finally relaxed for the first time in a long while.

    Home was not a fancy house. Home was with the people you loved and for Scarlet, she was finally home after a long while.

 Chapter 139 - Sweet Sixteen (3)

    The two Wilde daughters were dolled up nicely for the gala event. It wasn''t an ordinary gala event. In fact, it was a special kind of gala dinner planned by a certain someone whom neither girls knew about. Leonce looked over his work and had unshed tears of joy in his eyes. He''d known the girls since they were ten and time flew way too quickly. Now, he was looking at two very beautiful young ladies like budding flowers in spring.

    Once the girls left, he texted his old friend and patron.

    Leonce: They''ve just left my humble shop. Are you sure it''s wise not to tell them about the gala''s purpose?

    Orita: Why not? It''s their sweet sixteen and knowing how dedicated they are to their work, I don''t think they''ll be able to make it back home to celebrate. Besides, Wilmer is funding the gala dinner and announcements. We''re making this official to the public as well so they need to look their best.

    Leonce: Are you doubting my skills?

    Orita: Of course not! You''re the best that I know. I just can''t wait to see them in all their sweet sixteen glory! Oh, I''ve got to go now. The organiser is looking for me. Once again, thank you for taking care of my daughters. I''m sure this is a birthday party in advance that they won''t be able to forget in a long time.

    Leonce smiled. Of course they wouldn''t be able to forget it! He definitely outdid himself tonight and pulled out his best skills honed from years of experience. Scarlet and Alex were going to be formally introduced to the public as daughters of the Wilde household tonight. There''s no telling how the world would react to knowing the two most popular teen actresses were sisters. Britannia''s fame was something that ended prematurely and the stylist was a little sad about that. He was a huge fan and enjoyed helping them with their image style. Thankfully, that was just the opening act. They''re mysterious beginning and their even more mysterious ending made the audience crave for more. After tonight, there will be nobody who will doubt the Wildes'' place in this world. Fame and money go hand in hand, Leonce wished the girls all the best.

    Alex and Scarlet decided to eat in the car and take a nap. It was going to be a two hour journey to get to the gala event''s venue and their managers will join later. Scarlet blessed Tina''s soul for actually getting them rice even if it was brown rice. Scarlet missed eating rice ever since she had to diet strictly for her upcoming acting role. Likewise, Alex was touched. She never thought she''d be able to eat beef again ever since she started modelling seriously. Thankfully, the Fashion Week was over and Alex could relax a little.

    "Tina''s an angel," Alex said and dug into her beef bowl enthusiastically.

    Scarlet nodded. "Pamela is surprisingly strict about my diet. I''ll never get to eat rice with her around, this is a real blessing. I have a feeling lady luck is on our side tonight."

    Alex laughed. Ever since Scarlet started working in China more, the girl had picked up quite a few superstitions. They never slacked in their studies and with Jean''s help, they picked up new languages required for work. Scarlet learned Chinese, Japanese and Korean while Alex studied French, Italian and German for her work. When they first started, they were surprised that Lin Lin actually spoke more languages than she let on even if she wasn''t the most fluent in them. The violinist was a great conversation partner.

    As they chatted about the more trivial things like the latest things their Special Class classmates were up to, the sisters also took time to talk about Jasper''s new company. Kiwi Cat Studio had been featured more frequently and Scarlet wondered if Alex was going to help Jasper promote it as the ambassador.

    Alex sighed. "I did bring the topic up but Jasper said it wasn''t necessary. He said that he would use a mascot instead of a celebrity model to advertise his company and their games. Sometimes I wonder how he actually managed to convince the E.C. Class to graduate high school successfully. None of them failed!"

    Scarlet laughed. "Si-Han said the same thing. Also, I heard that Tom decided to debut as an idol with Si-Han? They were one of the few who didn''t take up Jasper''s offer to work at Kiwi Cat Studio."

    Alex thought about it and burped once, startling herself before laughing it off. "Well, they''re doing very well and although I don''t hear from them as often anymore in the chatroom, I know they''re in contact with Lin Lin. The boys have been bugging me to try convincing Lin Lin to compose songs for them too."

    The young writer smiled. Indeed, she had received similar pleas and tried to change Lin Lin''s mind but the musician was stubborn about wanting to compose for Scarlet only. Of course, that wasn''t the true reason. Scarlet knew that Lin Lin didn''t want to write songs for the idol industry simply because of the rigid requirements. Lin Lin was a free soul who loved exploring new ideas and genres. Writing bops all the time simply wouldn''t do.

    "Alex¡­ do you know what this gala is for? I didn''t really hear details about it from Pamela but she claimed that it was very important and cannot be missed. We flew straight from Beijing over just for it."

    Alex thought about it. "Now that you mention it¡­ Claire didn''t give me details either. Then again, I''m not the kind to ask for details. I leave most of my jobs and planning to her because she''s very capable. So far, she''s been plotting out my career path and it''s working. I''m just very tired because Claire doesn''t really give me much time to slack off."

    Scarlet only laughed at her sister''s complaint. Indeed, Claire treated Alex rather differently from how she treated Scarlet. With Scarlet, the head maid was usually nagging and forcing her to eat or go to bed. Scarlet was a notorious workaholic but Alex was just the opposite. Claire once described Alex like a helium balloon. If one didn''t hold onto the air-headed girl tightly, she would probably drift off and never return. Scarlet couldn''t fault Claire for it but she certainly thought that Alex matured over the six years and such strict control certainly was a little overdone.

    Still, it was odd for the managers to not give them more details about the gala they were attending. Leonce also did a lot today, it was practically a full princess pamper package and something just didn''t add up for Scarlet. Unlike her carefree sister, Scarlet had long grown used to being suspicious of things that were too good to be true. Her commoner background made it easier for Scarlet to relate to the ugly nature of humans who were striving to get to the top. Often, they would employ unscrupulous methods to attain what they want. If not for Claire, Alex would have been badly hurt by those petty people by now. Things like putting needles into a model''s shoes weren''t uncommon in the industry but Alex had never been exposed to such dirty tricks under Claire''s protection. Scarlet was thankful that the head maid agreed to become Alex''s manager and personal bodyguard on Scarlet''s request after much persuasion.

    Scarlet trusted Claire so she didn''t pursue the matter. If the gala''s purpose was a secret, there had to be a very good reason why the invitees were not briefed about it. As a manager, Claire wouldn''t accept any suspicious invitation after screening through. Scarlet knew that much. She would wait till later to find out what it was all about. Alex decided to take a nap and Scarlet thought it was a great idea. She was severely jet-lagged and no amount of make-up will cover up the fact that she was exhausted. In order to present only the best on such a social occasion, Scarlet decided to nap as well even though she had caught a few Z''s at Le Beau''s earlier.

    Orita was already at the event greeting guests and talking to the paparazzi. The gala wasn''t a very large scale one but it would definitely make for headliners on tomorrow''s papers. Wilmer was sad that he couldn''t attend the gala because he was currently in a business conference event in Norway to buy over a VR technology company. Ever since Jasper''s company was listed, Wilmer had taken Jasper all over the place, introducing him to the Wilde''s business contacts and buying over companies to help Kiwi Cat Studio expand its operations.

    Orita initially wanted to invite Jasper for the gala but seeing how busy the boys were, she decided to keep it a girl party. Lin Lin was stuck somewhere in Europe and unable to attend it according to Scarlet so the heiress dropped the thought. Knowing the Special Class, they would most likely be equally busy. Most of the E.C. Class were working with Jasper''s company so Orita assumed they wouldn''t be able to attend either. The sweet sixteen party that she wanted to throw everyone became downsized by so much that the heiress decided to plan the reunion separately.

    "Is everything in place?" she asked Jenna who was in a c.o.c.ktail dress instead of her usual butler suit. The lady butler looked stunning and the pair was the centre of the camera crew''s attention as they spoke.

    "Yes, milady. Everything is ready according to plan. Claire and Pamela said that the girls are on the way. They left Le Beau''s about an hour ago so their estimated entrance would be at nine in the evening. Shall I call for the performers to get ready?"

    Orita smiled at her efficient butler. "Yes. I shall hide and get ready for the surprise speech later. Let me know when you spot the girls and tell the managers to keep those pesky boys away from my girls. I will not be accepting any marriage proposals."

    Jenna laughed. Over the years the mistress had been receiving marriage proposals for her daughters but every single one of them was turned away. Orita wanted her daughters to find their true love in the old romantic fashion and the butler couldn''t say she didn''t feel the same way.

    "Understood, I shall take my leave now," Jenna bowed and left to find the stage manager while Orita made her exit discreetly to wait for her grand entrance later. It was going to be a Sweet Sixteen party that neither of her girls would forget.

 Chapter 140 - Sweet Sixteen (4)

    The gala was unlike any other. Firstly, it was way smaller than any social party that Scarlet and Alex had attended. The number of familiar faces shocked Scarlet more than anything else. No, it wasn''t because they were A-list celebrities well-known in the entertainment industries. It was more because they were people whom the singer had seen frequently hanging out with their mother. In other words, most of the guests were family friends.

    The only thing keeping Scarlet from totally calling out a candid camera was the fact that there were a few big names from the media attending the event for photos and a story. The nature of the event wasn''t made known even when Scarlet and Alex arrived. They had to greet so many people that Scarlet momentarily forgot her own name. It was confusing introducing herself as Liu Xiu Wen when many of the guests already know her as Scarlet.

    Still, the sisters made it through without much issues with smiles and compliments. The camera crew and reporters requested for interviews that they politely turned down. As strange as it was, neither of them saw their managers around. Scarlet was beginning to feel like something was off about this gala. However, Alex remained perfectly happy and clueless as she grabbed a champagne flute and started mingling with the crowd like the natural social butterfly that she was. Scarlet sometimes admired Alex''s outgoing personality. If it wasn''t because of her work, Scarlet would have preferred to remain in the comforts of home with only a computer to entertain her.

    "Oh no! I''m starting to sound like Elfie, this is bad," Scarlet shook her head when that thought appeared in her mind.

    Ever since they parted, Elfie had been following Danny all over the world and sometimes he had to help the Interpol with some tricky cases so the boy was never in one place for too long. He sometimes hinted that he would be in the area when Scarlet had her concerts but the boy never accepted any of the backstage passes Scarlet gave him. He claimed that until he succeeded, he would not meet anyone in real life simply because he didn''t want to bring trouble to them. Scarlet didn''t know if Elfie would succeed. If Wilmer and Danny spent so many years with the police''s help to find some damning evidence against Anastasia without success, how could a teen like Elfie possibly accomplish what the a.d.u.l.ts have failed for so many years?

    True, they were getting closer to it but Scarlet thought that six years simply wasn''t enough. With her connections in the industry, Scarlet was beginning to see how the entertainment world and the criminal world worked. She didn''t choose to venture into the showbiz in China for no reason. In fact, it was Elfie who suggested trying to dig for dirt in that direction. The boy managed to find some heavy connections between EZ Express and the factories in China. The logistic arrangements were also managed by the warehouse managers in China under EZ Express'' employers even though the logistic company was a different business entity. Not to mention, the good hacker was able to intercept some wire transfer details to prove that underground connection. Lucian Anastasia was using offshore accounts for some of the good shipments with vague cargo declarations.

    After getting famous, Scarlet had been going around to find out more information and rub shoulders with those involved with the companies working with EZ Express. She was actually surprised by how easy it was to get more detailed information about these companies. With the first lead, Scarlet was able to gather a lot more and open up access for Elfie to take over the rest. They''ve been collecting evidence for close to two years now but still, there wasn''t any conclusive proof that Anastasia was up to no good. Sure, Scarlet suspected that the goods stored in those suspiciously purchased warehouses were probably firearms or drugs but Anastasia had connections with even the government. Things were getting harder as they progressed and Scarlet felt trapped.

    Dinner served at the gala dinner was predictable. Alex and Scarlet dug into the hors d''oeuvre without a lot of reaction unlike some of the other guests. Foie gras was something akin to a common dish at the Wilde household when they were still studying. Every month, there will be a family dinner and each month, Jenna would invite an expert chef to cook their speciality. Many chefs prefer to cook French cuisine for some reason and over the years, all three kids had grown up getting used to eating all sorts of things from snails to duck liver and raw meat.

    As they served the dinner through courses, Scarlet wondered why they were here. Usually, a gala event would serve a marketing purpose like the announcement of a charity to ask for donation and support with the press'' attention or an announcement of some formal recognition for some great effort. Other gala events are formal parties to commemorate an industry milestone or a great person''s passing. The young writer wondered which kind of gala this would be. From the looks of it, the guests weren''t here with their cheque books and were dressed from lavishly to just presentable. There wasn''t a unified dress code or sense of competition vying for the media''s attention unlike the Oscars.

    "What could it be?" she wondered and Alex gave her sister a worried look.

    "Are you too full to eat after that boxed meal earlier? You haven''t touched your food and the main course is about to be served..."

    Scarlet looked down at her soup and thanked Alex before finishing it hastily. She completely forgot about where she was and what she was doing, too lost in her thoughts. Alex smiled when Scarlet apologised. She looked around and noticed that the performers on stage were actually some of Scarlet and her favourite acts. Unlike Scarlet, Alex was faster at getting these kinds of things. Her intuition told her that someone very dear to them who knew them well put the gala party together. From Claire and Tina''s behaviour, there were only one or two people who would do such a thing but one more likely than the other.

    The music faded and the crowd fell silent when the lights dimmed. A spotlight was pointed to the stage as the master of ceremonies gave a short speech to welcome the gala party''s organiser to speak a few words. Scarlet paid attention and gaped when Orita appeared. Unlike her sister, Alex smiled happily. Her initial guess had been right and seeing her mother after so many months of separation made her tear up a little.

    "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for taking time out of your schedules to attend the Sweet Sixteen Gala. Many of you here are friends of mine for a long time and some even worked with my husband from the very beginning. I have to admit that it wasn''t easy back then and it isn''t easy now either. But I had the joy of becoming a mother for close to sixteen years now and many of you know about my daughter. Today, I want to make an official announcement about my daughters. Yes, plural - daughters. Scarlet and Alex, please come up to the stage with mommy!"

    Stunned, Scarlet let herself get dragged along by Alex up to the stage while she received congratulations and praises from the people around her. Scarlet''s mind was still reeling from the shock. Sweet sixteen? What was that? Also, didn''t Wilmer and Orita say that she was the Wilde''s trump card? Why would they announce her existence to the world? Wouldn''t that make it easier for Anastasia to come after the whole family?

    The spotlight in her face made Scarlet unable to think while Orita continued to give her speech about her gratefulness for having such wonderful daughters in her life. She didn''t talk about Scarlet''s circ.u.mstances any more than necessary but the words that came after the explanation were deeply etched in Scarlet''s heart.

    "They are my daughters that I am very proud of. Please continue to show your support for them and take care of them on behalf of me while they are very new in the industry. I understand that some people question where Scarlet belongs as her stage name is rather different but make no mistake. Scarlet is my daughter as much as Alex is and they are sisters who grew up relying on each other. My husband and I will not tolerate anyone spreading bad names about them or trying to sow discord among my girls."

    That bold declaration made the cameras go off and the crowd applaud loudly. Scarlet felt warm when she heard those words and Alex held her hand tightly to show her support while Orita hugged both girls and kissed them on their cheeks. The rest of the party was dedicated to celebrating the girls'' sixteenth birthday together in advance because Orita knew they would be very busy on the actual day. Alex enjoyed herself greatly but Scarlet kept replaying Orita''s speech over and over in her head.

    For the first time, Scarlet was very certain that she was not making a mistake. Even if Wilmer, Orita and Alex found out about the truth later, she would not stop her plans. They can hate her for it later but for now, Scarlet was happy to be a Wilde too. As a Wilde, she would protect her family with her life on the line. Anastasia will not get away for what he did, Scarlet will see that he got the justice he deserved.

 Chapter 141 - Kiwi Cat Studio

    With a thump, the last box of the lot was finally here with the rest of its buddies. Jasper flopped to the ground and so did some of the other boys. Teddy looked over his shoulder with satisfaction.

    "That''s all of it," he said and Jasper gave the strong teen a grateful nod. Ever since Camila and Ria had taken to going on world tours to perform and to join dance competitions, the teen had taken to bodybuilding and was quite the sensational fat to fit story. The young CEO couldn''t be more thankful for having this group of wonderful boys help him with his business.

    "Let''s celebrate the moving of our new office. How do drinks sound like?" Rowan cheered and Jasper looked at his HR manager with dead eyes.

    "We still need to unpack. We''ve only moved everything up and there will be more furniture coming in tomorrow."

    Hearing their CEO speak, Rowan laughed uneasily. Jasper wasn''t in a particularly good mood because none of his employees wanted to work at hot desks like in the last office before Kiwi Cat Studio became a big hit. For the entrepreneur, that would have been the easiest way to resolve the renovation issues. However, Jake Connor ¨C Debbie''s husband and Jasper''s advisor, recommended a more youthful setup to inspire creativity for his employees. Hence, they had to move to a bigger office with more amenities to ''inspire'' creative ideas.

    Not everyone from the E.C. Class decided to work for Jasper. About half of them had chosen to walk on a different path to pursue their dreams. It was no surprise that the sports elites decided to pursue the professional path. Roy was training with the national team for track and field as a high jumper. Mustafa got a deal and a sponsor to go to England and train to become a professional soccer player. Dragon was training to become the next SEA games representative for martial arts.

    Of course, there were others like Khalid who had his big break after a collaboration project with Lin Lin. The famous trending youth DJ made his debut as DJ Fatboi and is now travelling all across America to play in popular dance clubs. His social media was full of party scenes and food. How could anyone not envy him? Tom and Si-han were training to become idols and according to Alex, their debut was confirmed for next year. Valentino was the only one who rejected Jasper''s offer and chose to build his own success. The boy applied for a job after graduating with a F&B diploma and worked as a manager-in-training at a restaurant to learn the business trade so that he can start his own popcorn store eventually.

    Wilmer''s internship helped to pave the path for the other nine boys who chose to follow Jasper and work for him after their graduation. Issac and Samuel didn''t mind the administrative jobs that they were assigned back during their intern days and are looking into getting the Business Administration degrees. Samuel has even expressed an interest to get his MBAs. On the other hand, Jeremy decided to pursue accounting while Jeff figured he was good at numbers and systems so he preferred to study finance. Both boys were working part-time for Jasper at Kiwi Cat Studio to fill in for the finance department for now. Naturally, most of the financial reporting jobs were outsourced for now to external firms on Jake''s recommendation. Rowan was obviously in the HR department because he was a very good social butterfly although he sometimes doubled up as a sales representative. The teen was the only full-time employee at Kiwi Cat Studio from the E.C. Class having graduated earlier than his peers. Lastly, the logistics department was formed by Benedict who coordinated most of the schedules, Jinru, Reggie and Teddy who were happier to use their bodies than their heads.

    It was a Saturday so Jasper''s full-time staff were not around. In addition to the E.C. Class, Jake helped Jasper to recruit two programmers ¨C Ronald West and Vicky Chen to take over the coding that Elfie normally did. Ronald was a veteran in the field and did most of the background coding. Vicky on the other hand is a graduate with only two years of experience in the industry. However, she proved to be very creative and promising that Jake chose her among the others who applied for the job. They worked very closely and Jasper felt at ease leaving the creation and testing in their hands.

    Jake also helped to hire two graphic designers for the game development. Henri Yeager was specialized in animation and special effects while Crystal Song was better at user interface designs. Their outstanding portfolio earned the handshake and even Alex approved of the people replacing her. Of course, this simply wasn''t enough to get a whole company running but it would suffice for now. Jasper couldn''t help but be thankful that while his team was small and many of his employees wore many hats to fill in the holes, they did so without complaining.

    For example, the boys in the logistics team were often asked to come up with ideas for new game storylines and quests for update patches. The admin team sometimes helped Rowan prepare his materials for a sales pitch. The team often held frequent meetings to discuss project status and development directions with Jake who guided them along wisely. Nobody held back on opinions and they fought as much as they partied. Overtime was a thing but because the company had become a second home, nobody really bothered. It was also the main reason why Jasper insisted on moving to a bigger and better office. He didn''t want his team to be sleeping on the floor or at their desks in the old office when they had to work overtime to complete a project. Jasper was paying them well but it didn''t mean he couldn''t treat them better.

    Jake didn''t dislike the CEO''s soft side but he warned Jasper about the risks when he was expanding the company. Jasper didn''t mind. In fact, he took a huge risk to get a bank loan with Wilmer''s help to expand the office. The packing of their old office was a slightly nostalgic one for Jasper who used to spend a lot of time there with Elfie, Alex and Scarlet before they pursued their different paths in life. However, he wasn''t too disheartened. They were still in touch frequently in the chat room. In addition, having a new office and a new team meant that Jasper would be able to create better memories.

    Still, there was one thing bothering him despite how smoothly the business was progressing. Six years had passed since that time and he only found out a few years later about Scarlet''s plans. He was two years behind time. While Kiwi Cat Studio was an astounding success to many, Jasper felt that it wasn''t enough. His influence wasn''t wide enough just yet for their plan to succeed.

    Scarlet and Elfie needed Kiwi Cat Studio to be big enough to start acquiring other companies and expanding into other countries so that Elfie can tap onto its network intelligence to place a tracker on Anastasia. The list of companies that Scarlet wanted him to purchase were very powerful and Jasper felt frustrated that he wasn''t able to approach them just yet.

    He didn''t keep his goal a secret from his team that he wanted Kiwi Cat Studio to become a multinational threat and a stable giant in the business world like Google. They were fired up at his speech and decided to work harder to make his dream come true. However, Jasper didn''t tell them about Anastasia. In Jasper''s opinion, both Alex and Scarlet were painting huge targets on their backs by entering the showbiz with the Wilde name. Time was ticking and it would only be a matter of sooner or later before Anastasia changed his target from Wilmer to the girls. Jasper wanted to build his company quicker and get a lock on EZ Express with the logistics team before that could happen so he built emphasis on the logistics department while developing a new app that could put that to good use.

    Jake didn''t know much about Jasper''s intentions but he thought it was odd for a game development company to suddenly take interest in app development. True, gaming apps are becoming the trend but Jasper insisted that his main aim was to create an app for logistics shipment worldwide. The ex-entrepreneur had a startup of his own that he sold for a handsome profit many years ago before he retired. As a freelance software developer, he saw the potential in Jasper''s vision but he couldn''t understand it.

    Jasper made a pitch about the power of consumer group buying and a cheaper cost by consolidating all orders and shipping companies to provide a seamless system of transfer to deliver the goods in twenty-four hours. The idea was good enough to hook Jake to agree with the proposal and start working on it without alerting the team as it was a private project for now. Still, the advisor couldn''t understand the need for secrecy even from Wilmer. While the boys partied and unpacked their belongings into the new office, Jake congratulated Jasper from the side.

    The teen was only sixteen but already he gave off a very mature vibe. Jake smiled. He couldn''t wait to see what else this remarkable entrepreneur could achieve in the future.

 Chapter 142 - Chat Room Meeting

    Time zones were really a pain. Good thing for Jasper, he was currently in America with Jake. They were on their way to meet Wilmer and the potential investors that Wilmer wanted to introduce. The Wilde group had shares in Kiwi Cat Studio before the market openings so it wasn''t odd for Jasper to find a reason to visit Wilmer when he wanted.

    Now that the meeting was over, he checked the time and excused himself to rest in the hotel room while Jake went out to find souvenirs for his wife. The teen quickly logged into the chat room on his laptop. Scarlet and Elfie must have been waiting for a long time now since they were currently on the other side of the world. Elfie was currently in Korea while Scarlet was back in Beijing in the middle of her filming.

    Jasper: Sorry I''m late!

    Scarlet: Don''t worry, I just logged in not too long ago myself.

    Elfie: ¡­ Seriously guys? I''m the one with issues connecting over. I''m in NORTH Korea at the moment and I''ve been waiting for over an hour.

    Jasper: Sorry

    Scarlet: Sorry¡­ filming over run due to the weather condition¡­ we were waiting for the rain to stop but it didn''t so we had to postpone everything.

    Elfie: Scarlet is forgiven. What about you @Jasper? What''s your excuse?

    Jasper: No excuse. I just returned to the hotel room and shook Jake off my tail. I met Wilmer today, he looks healthy at the very least.

    Scarlet: Did dad say anything about the Sweet Sixteen gala that mom planned a few months back?

    Jasper: No he didn''t, he was too busy. We had to meet several investors today and I had to pitch my idea for that app.

    Elfie: How did you convince Jake? Was he very surprised that your gaming company wanted to develop a one-stop app for all logistic solutions?

    Jasper: He was surprised but I appealed to his inner entrepreneur and Wilmer wanted to integrate that idea using the Wilde Empire''s name but I refused. The meeting of Wilmer''s larger shareholders to find a suitable investor was the compromise we came to.

    Scarlet: So we''re really going with the separate business entity idea? It''s not going to be Kiwi Cat Studio?

    Elfie: Will it be a problem if we used a second business identity?

    Jasper: ¡­

    Jasper: Let''s put it this way. Why have we decided to make Kiwi Cat Studio such a big deal? We needed the world''s attention and also to put pressure on Anastasia. Wilde Inc. is one of the major stakeholders in Kiwi Cat Studio but not the majority shareholder. EZ Express will see it as a challenge and try to buy it from under Wilmer''s nose because officially, Wilmer and I have no relationship outside of business partners. If we used a new business entity now, we would need to start from scratch.

    Scarlet: In that case is it possible to make Kiwi Cat Studio a group? You can create a subsidiary fully owned by Kiwi Cat Studio Group and launch the new logistic app under the name. That way, it can help you create leverage against the new playing field.

    Elfie: You''re both speaking about things I don''t understand now. Are we still talking about the app plan?

    Scarlet: Sorry, Elfie! I''ll try to keep it simpler for you¡­ yes, we are still doing the app plan but we need to ensure that Anastasia takes the bait to buy Jasper''s company so that we can get closer to the man''s contacts.

    Elfie: But we have a list of companies that EZ Express works with. Aren''t they contacts? Wasn''t the original plan to make Kiwi Cat Studio very big and eat those smaller Anastasia companies up so we can track the main branch after cutting his tails?

    Scarlet: Yes, but we cannot simply force a buy over. Anastasia must have reasons to allow Kiwi Cat Studio to buy them over.

    Jasper: In short, think of it as a honeypot trap. We sweeten the deal for Anastasia then infiltrate his organization and eat it from the inside by absorbing the connections he has and converting them to our side.

    Elfie: I see¡­ you''re both on a whole new level from me. I''ve been working on this project for so many years but I still don''t understand a thing. Ok, what do you need me to do this time? I''ve hacked everything the North Korean government has but Anastasia''s control doesn''t reach this country.

    Scarlet: Nothing strange at all?

    Elfie: Nothing. The firearms might have been produced from the same place but that producer sells to just about anybody who wants to buy. North Korea purchased it from Russia. Anastasia doesn''t have many bases in Russia.

    Jasper: That''s not right. We''re missing a link somewhere. Why will Anastasia have Russian guns the same as Koreans? If North Korea and Russia did not sell it to him, who could it come from?

    Scarlet: Elfie, is it possible that you''re overlooking something? Can you dig deeper into the Russians to see who else they sold their guns to? One of these sellers must have sold it to Anastasia, there is no doubt about it. China''s firearms are mostly home produced, they would not buy it from other countries. I will not be mistaken about the shipment of firearms in Anastasia''s warehouse, Claire did teach me a lot about guns previously. I caught a glimpse of it personally, there is no mistaking it.

    Jasper: Scarlet¡­ Why were you in one of Anastasia''s warehouses personally?

    Elfie: Scarlet, didn''t we say that you should stop your investigations?

    Jasper: Scarlet, you better not disconnect on me.

    Elfie: I have your IP address even if you''re using VPN. I know where you are, Scarlet. You''d better answer honestly.

    Scarlet: My job requires it. We were buying weapons for the filming and that warehouse belonged to one of Anastasia''s contacts. They sublet it to other smaller companies and I chanced across it. I swear I didn''t do this on purpose!

    Jasper: I''m giving you the benefit of doubt but this cannot go on. You pushed Claire onto Alex but it''s high time you got a bodyguard of your own.

    Elfie: I''ll agree with Jasper about this. Scarlet, you''re too reckless. I''m texting Mrs Wilde and telling her that you''re getting harassed by stalking fans.

    Scarlet: You won''t dare! Also, Alex is the one with stalker issues, not me!

    Jasper: You reap what you sow. You promised us to be safe but you were reckless. Since you never intended to keep your word, we''ll keep ours instead. You''re getting a bodyguard asap. I don''t care if you''re currently training in martial arts or not. I''m sending one of the best guys we know.

    Jasper has logged off.

    Elfie: I''m in with Jasper on this. You''re being too reckless, Scarlet. We''d rather see you unhappy but alive rather than reckless and dead. Danny was right about Anastasia from the start, he''s very dangerous and kids like us shouldn''t be meddling in a.d.u.l.t''s affairs. If you cannot keep yourself safe, I really don''t want you working on the project any longer. Digging for information behind the safety of distance is alright. Getting up close and pulling the lion''s whiskers is suicidal. This time we are putting a bodyguard on you. If it happens again, we really need to reconsider this partnership.

    Scarlet: But Elfie, if I don''t do this then we''ll never get anywhere! Anastasia''s too good at hiding things, even you couldn''t find much about him after digging around for so long. If it wasn''t for my find in China, would we have gotten this far?

    Elfie: We wouldn''t have gotten this far, that''s for certain. However, I don''t like how you keep launching headfirst into danger. Protecting your family is one thing, being reckless is another. If you got hurt or died doing this, do you think your family will be happy? As a friend, I won''t be happy at all. Also, if I were Alex, I would be very hurt that you didn''t tell me about it sooner and took matters into our own hands. When you get hurt or when you die, do you think the Wilde''s can be safe for very long? Anastasia will exploit that opening and use you against them regardless. It''s only going to make things worse for everyone so I''m begging you now¡­ don''t do anything more than this, you''ve done enough. Just be happy and leave the rest to us.

    Scarlet: Elfie, I think you don''t understand my feelings if you''re saying this. I can''t be happy until I know Anastasia is gone for good and that nobody else is trying to kill my family. You can stick a bodyguard to me but it''s not going to stop me. If the opportunity arises again, I will still do the same thing I''ve done the other day.

    Scarlet has logged off.

    Elfie: You''re the fool, Scarlet. Why can''t you see that we''re trying to protect you the same way you''re trying to protect everyone else?

    Elfie has logged off.

 Chapter 143 - New Bodyguard

    Scarlet wanted to groan. Jasper and Elfie weren''t joking when they said they were going to stick one of the best bodyguards they knew on her after the stunt she pulled. She had severely underestimated them and their threats.

    "Greetings, Miss Scarlet. I hope you''ve been well."

    Scarlet groaned. "Max¡­ why is it you?"

    The bodyguard was a muscular New Zealander with short blonde hair in a buzz cut and piercings on his lower lip. Raven Max was the head of security in the main Wilde household but after Jenna and Orita sent him over, he was now Scarlet''s personal bodyguard.

    Scarlet scowled. She still remembered the day she was first introduced to Raven Max. Claire had been busy with her sparring sessions with Dragon back in the days so Raven had become her self-defense teacher. He was certainly just a cut under Claire but he was good enough to take down most people Scarlet knew, including Dragon. Raven was good at his job even if Scarlet thought his name was slightly weird. However, she had never been fond of him. Raven was like a dog that followed her everywhere she went to the point of driving Scarlet crazy. She needed her privacy and the overly dedicated head of security didn''t permit it.

    Raven had been reassigned when Scarlet complained about it to Orita. It turned out, Raven was a hardcore fan of Scarlet''s and had read all her books. From that incident forth, Scarlet stopped calling him Raven and started calling him Max instead because it sounded more like a dog''s name. The head of security didn''t mind and took that as a compliment much to Scarlet''s vexation. She didn''t exactly hate the man but he was hard to handle and annoyingly good at his job.

    "To answer your question, it was because Jasper recommended me for the position. Don''t worry, I have found a suitable person to replace my position. Your mother''s security will not be compromised."

    Scarlet groaned again. "Listen, Max. I have a shoot in two hours. You can do whatever you do as long as you don''t get in the way of my work. I don''t know what Jasper or mom told you but just don''t get in the way of my work. We''re going to be hanging from wires today for the fight scene so I don''t want you jumping in every time a flip fails or a fall happens. Understood?

    Max grinned. "Yes ma''am!"

    It wasn''t even half an hour into shooting that the director called out cut for the fifth time. Usually, Scarlet would have completed her scene in two takes, three at most. However, with Max around, it wasn''t going too well.

    "Xiu Wen," director Zhang smiled and called out. "Can we have a little talk?" he asked in mandarin and Scarlet nodded, glaring at Raven to stay.

    Once they reached the staff break room, the director sighed and got straight to the point. "I know that you are a very important person and that this new bodyguard is probably sent by your over worried parents. However, I cannot continue shooting if that giant doesn''t stay out of the way. Every time we move the camera, he will be captured in the frame and I have to cut the scene. Can you ask him to wait elsewhere? Behind the cameras would be good, in the break room will be better."

    Scarlet bowed in apology with her cheeks aflame. Instead of making her life easier, the bodyguard was only a hindrance. She didn''t have anything against the man but he could be a wood block at times. Scarlet thought that it was common sense when she said "don''t get in the way of my work" but Raven didn''t get it entirely. Whenever there was a stunt scene, the bodyguard would always rush over and be prepared to catch Scarlet just in case something went wrong. His actions were thoughtful but they always ruined the shoot and Scarlet was at her wits end. She wanted to cry and complain but couldn''t because she brought this mostly upon herself.

    Once the director exited the break room with Scarlet in tow, the staff started whispering. Scarlet had always maintained a cheerful front in front of everyone so to see her looking so worn out and distraught made them worry.

    "Max, can you come over for a second? We need to talk."

    The bodyguard froze for a moment when he heard the last sentence. Talk? That didn''t sound good at all. He knew that the orders coming from Orita and Jasper were a little tougher than his usual job scope but the bodyguard thought he was doing a perfect job of it. Jasper said to not let Scarlet do anything dangerous and protect her from harm. Orita said not to let any creeps get near her daughter. Max was doing his best to fulfill both orders so why wasn''t Scarlet pleased? He didn''t exactly get in the way of her work, did he?

    When they finally had the talk, Raven was embarrassed. Scarlet looked genuinely exhausted explaining to Raven about her job as an actress and when it was alright to step in as a bodyguard. Raven might be a good combatant and strategist but he was sometimes lacking common sense and took things a little too literally.

    "For now, please stay with the camera crew whenever I''m on my job. In fact, stay with Pamela. You only step in when something is out of the norm when the director looks like he''s genuinely worried about something during the shoot. Usually, the rescue team will be activated if something goes wrong with a stunt and that''s the only time you''ll assist during a filming session. Most of my stunts are performed by a stunt double so you won''t have much to worry about. Just sit back and relax a little, okay?"

    Max nodded after Scarlet''s stern warning. The bodyguard sighed in relief when Scarlet returned back to work and apologised to everyone once more because of him. Claire did warn him about being overly enthusiastic about the job and threatened to replace him if Scarlet complained. It was only the first day of his new job and already, Raven felt as if he was going to be replaced by someone more capable.

    Pamela caught sight of the crestfallen new bodyguard and chuckled. Although the man was strong, he was a little dumb. Instead of berating him further, the manager offered him a canned coffee and sat down beside him.

    "You know, you should have a little more faith in your lady. She''s been practicing very hard to get those moves right. Besides, you should conserve your energy for times when you would really need it. I don''t know it entirely but Scarlet has been hanging out with some really dangerous looking folks in the industry. It''s not the stalking fans that bother me as much as the creepy celebrities and politicians at the parties who are very attracted to her."

    "Politicians?"

    Pamela nodded. "Scarlet attends a lot of charity events and you meet politicians among many other kinds of people there. Businessmen from all over have been giving Scarlet marriage proposals. Politicians are trying to get Scarlet to perform for them at a private party. Celebrities are always trying to get closer to a Wilde daughter. It''s a real whack job working in this industry. Sometimes I don''t know how Scarlet handles everything with a smile."

    Raven looked over to Scarlet who had just finished her scene. The wire-aided backflip looked incredible even from this distance. Pamela was right. Scarlet was really capable at what she did. That backflip was done beautifully and even to an untrained eye, it was obvious that Scarlet practiced very hard to perfect it for the camera. Raven felt slightly ashamed that he didn''t put more faith in Scarlet''s abilities and kept on assuming that she was that weak girl who constantly needed help. Back when Scarlet was twelve, he remembered the girl constantly struggling physically. When the young writer turned fourteen, she was lagging behind Jasper and Alex because her growth spurt just wasn''t doing her justice. Claire had even stopped being so harsh on Scarlet during the self-defense classes because the petite girl couldn''t keep up. It was also the time when Raven first knew the second mistress of the Wilde family.

    "First impressions are hard to change, I still see her as that fragile second mistress that I had to protect. I suppose I was wrong. She did grow up splendidly after all. Thank you, Pamela. I suppose I should let her do her thing and watch her back from the shadows. Now, about those creeps you were saying¡­"

    The manager laughed. Raven looked like he was out for murder when he demanded to know a few names. Luckily for him, she was in a talking mood. Raven recorded the names of those who approached Scarlet and made plans to do a background check on all the people mentioned. Once he was done, he would report back to Claire for further investigation and action.

 Chapter 144 - An Invitation

    It took a while for Raven to settle in with the routine. Scarlet really was overworking and he made sure to include that in his daily reports back home. Orita wasn''t too pleased but she understood why Scarlet had to work so hard. After all, Alex''s schedule was just as busy as Scarlet''s. While they were still young, it was important to build an unshakable reputation if they wanted to remain in the showbiz for a long time.

    Nevertheless, she entrusted Raven and Pamela to care for Scarlet''s needs. Tina was looking after Scarlet''s diet and the manager was very capable when it comes to handling the jobs Scarlet took on. Raven was also gradually improving over the weeks following Scarlet around as her bodyguard. Now, he even doubled up as Scarlet''s driver and personal assistant when he could.

    With that, Raven wondered what he should be doing about the shadow in the distance. For a while now, Scarlet''s residential mailbox had been flooding with tons of anonymous letters. While it wasn''t unusual for Scarlet to receive fan mails, they were usually collected at Jupiter Records or personally handed to Scarlet at the site of her work or at the airport. Never has there been a fan mail directed to Scarlet''s personal letterbox, her residential address was top secret after all.

    Raven knew it was not an ordinary letter when he saw it and asked Pamela about it before they passed it to Scarlet. Luckily, the manager agreed that it was odd and they opened the letter to scan through the contents before they passed it to Scarlet. Needless to say, the letters never made it to Scarlet''s hands. Pamela, Tina and Raven made an agreement to keep it from the busy actress while Raven investigated.

    Right now, he was busy holding a video call with his ex-boss while Scarlet was in the make-up room.

    "What is it? Alex is currently on her break but I need to get back in fifteen minutes," Claire frowned.

    Raven''s smile was grim. "Hello, boss¡­ it''s been a while. I''ve been on the new job for a few weeks now but there is a situation I''d like to ask for your opinion. Has there been any malicious stalking incident going on over on your end? Something like sending letters to the supposedly secret residential address and suspicious characters tailing after your ward with no intention of approaching?"

    Claire thought about it. "I''ve been taking care of the nuisance from my end but now that you mentioned it, there has been an increase in the number of cases lately. Is Scarlet in some sort of trouble?"

    Raven shook his head. "Not at the moment. Pamela, Tina and I have it under control although we''re being more cautious and checking everything before Scarlet gets to it. Have you seen letters like this before? They don''t seem to be done by just an individual. I feel like there is some kind of organization or group backing them."

    Claire took a look at the pictures of the letters Raven sent over the chat. She frowned. For some reason, although the sender was different, Claire could see a similarity. Such things were also happening on Alex''s side but Claire dealt with them swiftly. They were unable to catch the mastermind behind the disturbing invitations but thankfully, the attempts have stopped.

    "A few weeks ago something similar happened at my side but ever since we took action and tried to weed out the mastermind, they''ve stopped. I think they''re targeting Scarlet now because they could not get Alex. Be very careful about it and stay on the lookout for now. I need to report this to Wilmer for further instructions. In the worst case, we''ll have to accept the invitation and have Scarlet act as the bait to smoke the mastermind out."

    Raven nodded solemnly. If possible, he didn''t want to do that. His job as a bodyguard was to protect Scarlet and not put her in potential danger when he knew it existed. Yet, Claire was the actual commanding officer when it came to the overall security of the two Wilde princesses.

    "Roger that, I shall return to my duties and keep you updated should we see any changes."

    After the video call ended, Raven talked to Tina and Pamela about what they should do. The lingering shadow of the stalker who had been following them from Scarlet''s residence to the shooting location was nowhere to be found now but Raven was certain that they would be back again. In order to prepare to catch that stalker, the bodyguard devised a plan.

    "I want to catch the person and ask them questions later so I will be leaving Scarlet in your care for that. Please let her know that I have something on today, I will be taking my leave for now. A replacement driver will be coming in the evening when the shoot wraps up."

    Tina nodded. "Please be careful. We''ve been rejecting a lot of gifts from unknown sources lately according to your instructions. They were things that ranged from accessories to tickets and some even food. If you don''t catch the stalker soon I think they''ll start to be more bold the next time and knock on the main door to deliver the gifts."

    Pamela didn''t look too pleased with that thought. "I think I should start packing my things tonight to prepare and stay over at Scarlet''s apartment for a few weeks. Auntie Tina, will there be room for me? I know Raven lives with Scarlet as well."

    Tina smiled. "No worries! The apartment is big enough. I will prepare your room tonight so you can come tomorrow. It''s safer if everybody sticks together in times like this. The other day Raven found a basket of fruits by Scarlet''s apartment door with a card from the stalker. Luckily Scarlet wasn''t around so we quickly got rid of it. These people are getting more and more daring, isn''t it scary?"

    Pamela didn''t know what to say to that. They''ve already come to the front door and that means the situation is more serious than she thought. Pamela looked at Raven. Although she knew that the man was a capable bodyguard trained and sent by the Wilde family, she still thought it would be safer to at least alert the local authorities about the matter. Also, it would probably be wiser to look into moving to a new apartment for the time being.

    Raven sensed the manager''s thoughts and shook his head. "Give me a little more time. If it doesn''t work, we''ll escalate it and increase the measures taken. Right now, the Wilde family is trying to find out the mastermind. A similar thing happened to Miss Alex but the mastermind has now switched targets to Miss Scarlet since they''ve failed previously. They''re much more cautious now and any signs of defense from us will send them running quickly before we know who they are."

    Pamela sighed and relented with a nod. If the Wilde family was investigating the matter privately, she would stay out of it. After all, she was an outsider when it came to family matters. With such a powerful family like the Wilde''s there will definitely be a lot more than met the eye. Some past feud can be the cause of this stalking incident and it might not be just a simple case of fan obsession like she previously thought.

    "Understood. I will leave it to you, take care."

    Raven took his leave and pulled out a phone to begin his serious work. Orita might have sent him alone over to protect Scarlet but Claire was more prepared for cases like this. After working with Wilmer for so many years, they were all on guard against Anastasia should he try something against Wilmer''s family. Orita doesn''t know it, Jenna might have guessed it but a lot of the servants employed in the main house were also professional bodyguards trained by Claire. The security in the main house is the strongest and Wilmer thought that it would help keep his family safe. Who knew that the two princesses decided to place themselves out in the world as a target for Anastasia? The Sweet Sixteen gala that Orita held made things more complicated because Anastasia''s activities suddenly decreased and disappeared like the calm before the storm.

    "Ready teams six and nine for a crackdown. Send agent four, five and nineteen to rotate on Scarlet. Nineteen is the driver. Team eight on standby with agent four and agent five as captains. Report back if there are any unusual sightings."

    Raven didn''t need to wait for a reply before he ended the message that was sent out to every guard''s phone. In a caf¨¦ near Scarlet''s shooting studio, two men stood up simultaneously and paid for their drinks before leaving. A tourist who was feeding pigeons in the park nearby also brushed his hands and got up before walking away. They were agents four, five and nineteen reporting for a change of shift.

    Meanwhile, three cars from a rented office not too far from Scarlet''s apartment departed with men dressed in casual clothes and serious expressions. Two cars headed in the same direction to meet up with Raven and one care was headed to Scarlet''s shooting studio. Beside Scarlet''s apartment, the occupants finally returned. They were a very convincing couple who looked like newlyweds. However, once inside the apartment, wire tapes were being set up and the building''s security feed was being hacked. When everything was ready, the couple sent the information back to Raven who praised them for the quick action.

    Now, all the bodyguard had to do was wait for his ride, change his clothes and attend one of the meet-ups from the letters that he received from Scarlet''s mysterious ''fans''. There was a party to crash.

 Chapter 145 - Diversion

    Three days. Raven and his team had been trying for three days to lure the stalker into appearing but no such thing happened. Just like what Claire mentioned, the stalker had disappeared when they tried to pursue, similar to what happened to Alex''s stalker cases. Scarlet''s life went on as per usual.

    Raven was angry at himself for being slow. The invitation that he went to investigate led him on a wild goose chase. Other than sleazy teenagers in the club for rich kids and some perverted sugar daddies looking for a new sugar baby, there was nothing of significance worth investigating. The mastermind had them completely played like a fool.

    "Don''t worry about it too much, stay vigilant. They must have done it to ascertain the amount of guards and level of security we have. It''s a good thing you only activated three teams," Claire said over the video call.

    Raven nodded. He wasn''t satisfied with the outcome but Claire was right. They had to remain vigilant for the mastermind''s next move. On the bright side, Alex and Scarlet don''t seem to suspect anything out of the ordinary.

    At least, that was what the bodyguards believed.

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on and check out their other works. .>

    Money Face: Wait what? What commercial? And don''t get used to it! Brb, gonna search it up.

    Secret Pen: Do you think he''s going to be very shocked?

    Rich and Rotten: It''s not the first time I''ve twerked, he''ll be fine

    Rich and Rotten: Back on topic, so you do find it strange after all¡­ I thought it was merely my imagination. Also, I''ve been getting a lot of strange job offers. Claire declined them all on my behalf but I was curious so I stole a peek.

    Secret Pen: Who was it from?

    Rich and Rotten: Eh, some big hotel chain¡­ if I remember it right it''s called Tipton?

    After reading that, Scarlet froze. Tipton was a large hotel chain in the world. It was also one of the hotels that the Wilde''s frequently booked with. On the surface, there shouldn''t be anything to worry about. However, the singer-actress had a nagging feeling at the back of her mind.

    Secret Pen: Are you sure? What are the job offers like?

    Rich and Rotten: They want to invite me to film an extravagant commercial with them to introduce their new branch in Hollywood. The pay was really good as well and it''s only going to take three days at most to film that commercial. Of course, they wanted me to use my fame to promote it better so they offered me a free three days two night stay with VVIP treatment on the condition that I posted pictures of my stay to my social media.

    Secret Pen: Sounds like a legit job. Did Claire turn it down?

    Rich and Rotten: Not yet. They''ve been very persistent and the manager has visited a few times. I expressed my interest but Claire said that she had to consider it a little more.

    Money Face: OMG ALEX!

    Money Face: You''re not allowed to take on such jobs again!

    Secret Pen: Called it. I know he would be shocked.

    Rich and Rotten: But why? It paid very well.

    Money Face: I forbid! You''re not short on money anyway, why are you taking on jobs like that? You should take jobs that will increase your value and image.

    Rich and Rotten: Then do you think I should take the Tipton job?

    Money Face: Wait, let me back read.

    Money Face: Strange, why is Claire so against it? I think it''s a good job too.

    Scarlet paused and read as Alex and Jasper chatted about other things. The Tipton hotel had recently gotten a new major shareholder and stakeholder. The opening of the Hollywood branch is no coincidence. The young writer knew that the new shareholder was a very famous entertainment company known for running casinos and theme parks. She couldn''t recall the name of that company but she had a feeling this was the reason for Claire''s reluctance to let Alex take on the job. Firstly, Alex was underage to be promoting such things but the number of jobs requiring her to flaunt her s.e.x.u.a.l appeal over the years had increased dramatically. Scarlet wasn''t too surprised about it seeing how Alex had Orita''s genes. The girl looked very mature and was indeed a great beauty.

    Secret Pen: Alex, maybe you should take on that job. I have some rather strange job requests too and it sounds rather similar to what''s happening to you. Some rich Chinese tycoon is starting a new business venture and they want me to shoot a commercial or doc.u.mentary film about it to promote their new private resort. Claire''s main concern should be the casino portion of the new Tipton hotel in Hollywood. As a representative, you''re underage.

    Money Face: I see. Well, I suppose a commercial for a casino is still better than P3psi if you don''t have to twerk.

    Rich and Rotten: You don''t love me! I had to take several shots of that to get it right and they only used two seconds of my marvelous twerking in the video!

    Money Face: ¡­ I''m going to sleep. Good night and have fun.

    Secret Pen: Night, sweet dreams.

    Rich and Rotten: I hope you fall out of bed tomorrow.

    Money Face: Heh¡­ you wish

    Once Jasper had gone to bed, Alex decided to message Scarlet directly.

    Alex: Are you sure it''s alright to take the job? Claire''s instincts are usually not wrong. Besides, she allowed me to do a twerking commercial, why won''t she let me do a casino one?

    Scarlet: Your guess is as good as mine. However, I have a feeling it''s related to the stalking case.

    Alex: Stalking huh¡­ I managed to get a few weeks of peace. How''s your stalker doing?

    Scarlet: Max didn''t catch them. They also disappeared without a trace. However there''s no mistaking it, they''ll be back. I didn''t tell anyone yet but I have a feeling my stalker is not a fan.

    Alex: Me too. It''s really odd because my fans usually know what I like and dislike. I feel like this might be an anti-fan.

    Scarlet: What kind of gifts have you been receiving?

    Alex: Paintbrushes, oil pastels, colouring pencils¡­ just art supplies in general. Oh, the most annoying one has to be a glitter powder collection.

    Scarlet: But those are things that you like¡­

    Alex: Yes but only a few people know about it. It''s been years since I last touched my art supplies. Only those who know me since I was a child would know that and even so, these people are few. I was homeschooled for a long time and I didn''t pick up art before I met you. My love for art was never brought up during my interviews and it isn''t made known publicly. How would my stalker know what I''m like behind the camera? It feels like a threat or blackmail of some kind. Also, the colours are always very vibrant. If it''s not red, it''s orange or yellow. It''s creepy, don''t you think?

    Scarlet froze. As she composed a reply to reassure her sister who was freaking out without a doubt, she wondered who it possibly could be. While it didn''t seem like a fan, it didn''t seem like an anti-fan either. Those were the very colours Alex used to love when they were younger. Whoever planned this job for Alex and her was definitely trying to meet them in person. They were also very careful not to alert the Wilde''s security.

    Scarlet didn''t know about this person''s intentions but for some reason, she didn''t think they were Anastasia''s men. Just who could this possibly be?

 Chapter 146 - Job Offers

    Alex and Claire had a major argument about work for the first time. Alex was determined to accept the commercial shoot for Tipton''s new hotel but Claire was against it. That argument was brought to Orita''s attention and the heiress smiled when they told her about it.

    "Oh, I don''t think there''s anything wrong with that job. Alex, you should go for it. Also, there isn''t anything to be worried about, Claire. I know the partners working with Tipton and the hotelier herself. Alex will be in good hands, the job is legitimate."

    Claire hesitated. She hasn''t told Orita about the stalker''s gifts. After the first stalking incident that ended up in failure when they tried to nab the mastermind, a new incident occurred. The fact that this stalker was the one who proposed the job without revealing their identity made Claire very suspicious about their nature.

    She looked over to Claire who looked triumphant at her mother''s support.

    "Mrs Wilde, there is something I haven''t told you yet. It''s related to why I''m very against Alex taking on the job. It wasn''t a job recommended through the agency. It was by a private request."

    Orita''s eyes widened. "The Tiptons visited personally?"

    Claire shook her head and Alex scowled when her manager divulged all the details of their new stalker who also recommended the job.

    "The most peculiar thing was the gift choices. The letters were never signed off by a person but always under a company name with some email and phone to contact them if we were interested. I tested the contact details to ensure that they were legitimate. The job is legitimate too and that''s the reason for my concern."

    Orita thought about it. While the choices for the gifts were odd, the lady smiled mysteriously.

    "I think it will be alright. Let Alex take this job, I have a feeling this person doesn''t mean harm. Besides, it''s as you said, this person has to know Alex well enough to choose such deliberate gifts. Maybe they are giving hints to their identity before the meeting? Think of it as a reunion between old friends. That person must be equally awkward if all they could think of is to arrange a meeting in such a roundabout way."

    Claire looked sceptical but since Orita had given Alex the green light, the manager could only obey. Alex thanked her mother and the call ended. Claire wasn''t too happy but Alex was over the moon. Whoever the mysterious stalker was, Alex couldn''t help but feel a little excited over meeting them. If it was someone who knew her well enough from her younger days, Alex could only count a few of such people. Like Orita, she had a rough idea about who it was but until she saw them in person, Alex would wait patiently.

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on and check out their other works. <<

    "So you''ve decided to go for it after all?" Scarlet asked.

    Alex laughed. "Isn''t it exciting? I know Claire isn''t too happy about it but I think I know who it is. There are only a handful of people who knew how I was like when I was younger."

    Scarlet thought about it but nobody prominent came to mind immediately. "As odd as it sounds, I don''t really recall anyone like that much from our younger days. I do find it familiar though¡­ and maybe a little strange but I think that person is not an anti-fan of yours."

    The model grinned. "That''s what I said too but Claire doesn''t listen. She''s already preparing additional security around the clock. The job starts in a month so I have a lot of time to prepare for it. Oh, would you like to join me on a short holiday? I''m sure the Tiptons wouldn''t mind."

    Scarlet sighed. "Sorry, Alex. I can''t make it. Next month I''m going to start recording the new album. Lin Lin has been pestering me to check out the new songs but I haven''t got time yet with all the movie promotions and photoshoots lined up."

    "You sound busy," Alex smiled. "Don''t forget to take a break from time to time. Jasper doesn''t sound very healthy either¡­ both of you work too hard!"

    Scarlet laughed at her sister''s nagging. It was true that Jasper and herself have been pushing their careers harder than they should. However, that was only because they were still not strong enough to take down Anastasia. Not to mention, the boys weren''t very happy with Scarlet being directly involved in the case and sticking her nose too deeply in the enemy''s territory.

    "Don''t worry, Alex. We''ll be fine. Oh, I heard that mom is planning a class reunion for us?"

    The model laughed. "Oh, that! Yes, after mom convinced Claire to let me take the job for the Tiptons, she also said that it''s about time to organize a grand reunion party since all the E.C. Class has graduated at last. It''s going to be a reunion for the E.C. Class and Special Class like the barbecue event but on a grander scale at the Wilde''s main house. Mom''s currently calling everybody up to discuss it. Of course, dad says that he can arrange flights for everyone but I bet Jenna''s going to end up coordinating everything again."

    Scarlet laughed. "I don''t doubt that. Oh well, I have to get back to work now, good luck with the talk show later and congratulations on taking up the Tipton''s job!"

    Alex grinned and told Scarlet to sleep early instead before they hung up. Now that the call was over, Scarlet mulled over the mysterious job offer that had been sent to her while the stylist worked on her hair and make-up. Unlike Alex''s job offer, the ones she received were slightly more unique. Raven has investigated that company and found nothing out of the usual. Claire didn''t think that it was dangerous to take on the job even if they were being slightly unprofessional by sending company representatives to approach Pamela directly at Scarlet''s working site instead of going through the agency.

    While many others could see it as sincerity, Scarlet wondered what their true intentions were. The gifts they sent to try and convince Scarlet to sign a work contract with them to become a product ambassador were slightly odd too. Scarlet might be a famous actress and singer but she was only sixteen. Why would they give expensive perfume, bird''s nest and regal looking custom made accessories to a sixteen-year-old girl? Those were usually things that an older woman would appreciate.

    The company that kept pestering Scarlet was called Pineapple Group. Apparently, the owner of Pineapple group was a huge fan of Scarlet''s and wanted to use this as an opportunity to get closer to her. The owner of the group was actually a man in his thirties who inherited the position from his retired father. Raven didn''t like him when he knew that but Scarlet didn''t want to reject the offer immediately. Instead, she did some digging on her own.

    As it turned out, Pineapple Group was a huge shareholder in many of the companies that EZ Express deals with. In fact, they worked very closely with EZ Express on many projects that made Scarlet wonder if this was the huge power behind Anastasia''s mysterious supply routes. The Pineapple Group owns a lot of factories and warehouses all over China and had a huge skyscr.a.p.er in Shanghai that was their headquarters. In Beijing, their influence extends to a good majority of the public transportation used. The group has taken multiple government projects as well and has a finger in almost every pie in China.

    If they turn out to be Anastasia''s support and contact, Scarlet would have struck gold but there was no way of finding that out from the internet. For the first time after finding such a huge potential lead, Scarlet hesitated to tell Jasper and Elfie about it. After that argument, they would definitely not want her to take the job offered to her out of concern for her safety. However, Scarlet was willing to take that risk to find out more while acting as bait. If Anastasia had one hostage, he wouldn''t need another.

    Alex was very famous in Europe and America but she was practically unknown in China. This made it difficult for Anastasia to personally act against her because the sly mafia boss wouldn''t want any traces back to him. With the Interpol constantly watching his actions, it was easier for his partners to act on his behalf instead. That also meant that Scarlet was a better target. Before the Sweet Sixteen gala, not many people knew that Scarlet was a daughter of the Wilde family. She might be adopted and even if Anastasia knew about it previously, he wouldn''t prioritise an adopted daughter over a daughter of true Wilde blood. However, after Orita''s speech and the display of affection between sisters, it was clear that Scarlet was indeed important to the Wilde family and his target changed.

    Scarlet mulled over it. She didn''t want to unnecessarily worry her family and wanted to protect them but if something went wrong with her plan and she became a hostage, Scarlet had to make plans for that so that she wouldn''t be a burden to them. For now, the young writer would tell Pamela to accept the job but make an excuse to delay the meeting. She would meet them after the reunion.

 Chapter 147 - An Old Friend

    A month passed quickly and Alex couldn''t help but be excited. Even though this was for work, it was less stressful than everything else she had been doing. Claire still wasn''t happy that she chose to take on such a suspicious job but there was nothing the manager could do once Alex made up her mind. Instead, the manager increased the security details around Alex and the model can only sigh at the excessive number of bodyguards accompanying them for this job. To avoid suspicion, they were taking the Wilde Family''s private jet instead.

    Still, the new Tipton''s casino hotel sounded like a lot of fun. The director for the commercial shoot was someone whom Alex worked with previously. He was a nice man and Alex didn''t think Claire''s worries were valid.

    "Remember to always have two guards around you," Claire warned after Alex got into the car waiting for them. Hollywood was a bustling place full of life and Alex was thrilled to be in the centre of the activities.

    "Got it," she told her worrisome manager. Alex looked out of the tinted windows and smiled. The signature Hollywood signboard greeted her as they left the city and headed to a less crowded spot of the town where the Tipton resort was located. It was quite the drive but Alex preferred it this way. If she wanted to go back to the hustle and bustle of city life, it was only a twenty-minute drive away.

    When she got out, the hotel''s butler was there to greet her and escort her to the suite room they''d prepared for her stay. The director and his crew will arrive later that afternoon and the shooting will start only tomorrow. Other than the welcome dinner prepared by the hotel and the introduction session, Alex''s schedule was free.

    It has been a while since the teen had a good relaxing trip. Alex decided to spend some time alone and told Claire that she will be exploring the resort. The manager didn''t hesitate to assign two guards to follow the future heiress around. Alex didn''t complain. She was more than happy to put up with two guards trailing behind her as she explored the resort''s facilities.

    As expected of the Tiptons, the hotel''s interior was very classy. Other than the restaurants that were within Alex''s expectations of their reputation, she also checked out the spa that the receptionist told her about. They had a gym, a pool, some golf course and a casino that Alex wasn''t allowed to enter but she didn''t mind.

    The shooting tomorrow will take place in the lounge, a suite room, the poolside and the golf course with a view of the famous Hollywood signboard in the distance. Alex visited all those locations and noted where the best angles would be. Naturally, there will be a mini photoshoot after the commercial filming that the Tiptons will use to create a brochure for their marketing and advertising purpose. Alex wondered if it was possible to bump into that mysterious person who gave her the gifts. She wanted to know who it was that knew her so well enough to send her such nostalgic things.

    After walking around for about an hour without much luck, Alex decided to return to her room and change into more comfortable clothes. The spa reservation had been made earlier when she passed by the reception and Alex sighed. If only Scarlet or Lin Lin was here to accompany her¡­ Claire wasn''t the spa type of lady and Alex didn''t feel like joining her in the gym now that she finally had a break from work. Being a model isn''t as easy or as glamorous as many people thought. Alex wished that being pretty was all it took to walk down the runway. Sadly, that wasn''t enough. Alex had to constantly monitor what she ate and workout daily to keep her figure. The teen actress-model wished that she could return to the days when she would hole herself up in her room back in the penthouse with her canvas, brushes and paint. Unfortunately, kids won''t stay kids forever.

    Ever since Britannia''s disbandment, Alex understood something important. Wilmer wasn''t coming back and Alex didn''t want to spend her entire life waiting for him like her mother. Watching Scarlet and Jasper try so hard to build a path of their own, Alex also made her decision. She wasn''t going to sit and wait in the safety and comforts of her home. She wasn''t going to let her father do all the work trying to protect the Wilde Empire alone. She was going to support her father in the way that only she could. Her mother was a powerful socialite but her contact''s powers were waning with age. If Alex wanted to continue guarding the Wilde Empire in the future, she was going to need her own inner circle in high society. With that, Alex decided to debut as a model-actress to rub shoulders with the up and coming screen stars of the new generation.

    She didn''t really expect Scarlet to dabble in the same field even after continuing her career as a musician. Alex was initially ecstatic that her sister was joining her but soon realized that Scarlet''s goal wasn''t the same. She was more interested in building her name in the East as an all-rounder using a different name. Alex respected her wishes and didn''t try to convince her sister to join her. Instead, Alex made the decision to leave Si-Han''s companionship and become a freelancer to build her own reputation instead of working for an agency. With the Wilde''s name, it wasn''t difficult for Alex to secure jobs in the industry despite not having an agency to back her up. Ultimately, Alex wanted to start her company using the Wilde name in the showbiz and launch a brand using her family''s name to keep the position as top dog stable. Scarlet was helping her with the brand name and Alex couldn''t be more thankful.

    The spa session was very relaxing and Alex found herself thoroughly rejuvenated after it. The guards weren''t allowed to follow her in so Alex was very thankful that she had some alone time for once. While resting in the spa''s lounge, Alex looked around. There were a few other customers but they were few in numbers at this time. The new hotel wasn''t famous yet which explains the lack of hotel occupancy but Alex was ok with it. The spa''s employee served her some refreshments and a drink before leaving and Alex accepted them with thanks. As she drank, her phone vibrated.

    Thinking that it was work-related, Alex checked it immediately. The filming crew should be arriving any time now. After Alex opened her mailbox and read the message, the relaxed atmosphere around her quickly changed into one full of excitement.

    Elfie: I''m here. Wanna meet up at the golf terrace caf¨¦?

    Attached with the short message was a picture of Elfie in sunglasses smiling at the camera with the background of the golf terrace caf¨¦ behind him. That was the exact golf terrace caf¨¦ that Alex walked past earlier when she was touring the place. The teen quickly replied that she would be there and ditched the refreshments. She quickly found her shoes and changed into the clothes she came in earlier before rushing to the caf¨¦ they agreed to meet at. The Wilde princes completely forgot about the guards that Claire told her to bring along with her and left alone.

    When Alex came to the caf¨¦, her heart was racing. How many years has it been since their tearful parting? Alex didn''t believe in coincidences. If Elfie was here, it must mean that he knew she was coming. Then again, there was another question. How did Elfie know? Sure, they talked a lot in the chat room but Alex never remembered telling him about her schedule. Could it be Claire?

    "Elfie!" she smiled and the hacker stood up, walking over to her and giving the model a hug. Elfie grew since the last time she saw him but he was still nowhere as tall as her. Still, he was taller than Scarlet and Alex made a mental note to tell her sister all about it. The hacker''s surprise visit was something worth celebrating about.

    "Why are you here? This is so sudden but it''s nice to see you again!" she gushed and Elfie grinned.

    Once they sat down and ordered some drinks, Elfie took a good look at Alex. Indeed, Scarlet and Jasper never told this clueless teen anything. After a long private discussion with Jasper, the boys agreed to let Alex in on their plans just so that Alex could keep a leash on Scarlet and find out if her sister was trying anything dangerous behind their backs. It would be better to have Alex and Scarlet in the loop but not too involved with Anastasia''s matters any longer. The girls were now too famous and any movement from them can trigger a huge chain of events.

    "It''s been a while, Alex. I hope you like the gifts I sent you along with the job invitation? It''s been many years so I don''t know if you still paint in your free time."

    Alex''s jaw dropped. "It was you?"

    Elfie smiled bashfully. "I didn''t want anyone else knowing it was me. I still thought that you might get a hint and decide to take the job so we can meet up secretly. It must be tough having Claire and all those guards around you the whole time."

    Alex sighed and groaned. "Don''t remind me. I ditched the guards earlier after you texted me. I think Claire is going to kill me when she finds out. So, what''s the secret all about that we had to meet in person without my guards?"

    The programmer took a sip of his drink and became serious. "It''s something related to Scarlet that Jasper and I have known for a while. You must promise not to be angry and not to tell Scarlet about it after I tell you everything. We had to keep this from you for so long because we wanted to keep you safe. No offence, but you''re not exactly the brightest bulb around when it comes to such matters."

    Alex nodded and gave her word. Then, Elfie started.

 Chapter 148 - Alex Finds Out

    "Wait, let me try and get this right¡­" Alex inhaled. What Elfie just told her sounded too much like fiction and Alex was having a hard time understanding everything. The situation sounded very complex and she was speechless. How did she not discover their plans earlier?

    "You, Jasper and Scarlet had made plans six years ago to take down a dangerous mafia boss by yourselves after you found out that they were targeting the Wilde Empire?"

    Elfie nodded. "That''s accurate."

    Alex was silent for a while as she thought back about the things that happened when she was a child. There were many strange and odd things that happened but she never questioned it. She never questioned why her mother and homeschooled her for many years in isolation away from the world. Alex never once questioned why they couldn''t go out or why the decision was made to suddenly move to Malaysia, a country that they had no connections to.

    The more Alex thought about it, the more what Elfie said made sense. She never saw her father much as a child but her mother would always tell her stories and showed her pictures. They would have phone calls and video calls but Wilmer was hardly home. The only time she remembered Wilmer staying with them for a long time was when Scarlet joined the family. Back then, Alex was too busy fighting the jealous monster inside of her with the addition of a new sister who vied for her parents'' attention. She didn''t realize that it was strange to suddenly adopt a stranger''s kid no matter how close a friend she was with them.

    Scarlet did not know the true reason for her adoption but Jasper and Elfie did. Now, Alex felt sorry for her sister who didn''t know the truth although that might have changed over the last six years. Scarlet''s parents were involved with white-collared crimes on top of abusing their daughter. To make things more complicated, they were acquainted with the rats planted by the mafia boss in her father''s company. She remembered Collin and the awful mistress he had who was their internship manager. Larissa was a difficult person to forget after all. As it turned out, Larissa and Mrs Liu were acquainted and it was Jenna who advised Orita about it. After they found out that the Liu''s were abusing their daughter, Orita decided to fight for Scarlet''s adoption rights and give money to the Liu''s so that the negotiations between Larissa and Mrs Liu would break down.

    Scarlet was a victim in the power struggle and to make up for that guilt, the Wilde''s started to treat Scarlet as one of their own. The rest was history. Benjamin dug further into the background of the Liu''s and Elfie heard this from Danny.

    "The Liu''s are related to some criminal organization in China. We''re only afraid that they will come back for Scarlet. Also, the mafia boss we''re chasing down is a business partner of the Chinese. Knowing Scarlet, she would run head first into danger just to find us a lead. Jasper said that she did it before back during the internship days. She put herself in danger to secure the evidence needed to bring Collins down, we don''t'' want the same thing to happen again."

    Alex agreed. She didn''t know why the history between a.d.u.l.ts was this complicated but for her, it was clear whose side she wanted to take. Scarlet was her sister. It didn''t matter if her parents weren''t good people because Alex believed that Scarlet would never betray them.

    "I understand. What can I do?" she asked. Even though she was still confused about the plans and the enemies that they were facing, Alex still wanted to be of help. There was no doubt that Elfie was still hiding some information from her but Alex didn''t care. She was more concerned about everyone''s safety before revenge.

    Elfie smiled. "This is the app for the chat room that we use. This is the special password that can be used to activate a bug in Scarlet''s phone. I want you to secretly monitor Scarlet for us and let us know if the story she tells you doesn''t add up. Also, try to talk to her more and find out what she''s been up to when you can. If you can, find out from Pamela and Raven what Scarlet''s schedule is like and update us if there''s anything out of the ordinary. That''s all we really need."

    Alex looked at the password and app Elfie helped to install in her phone. She had many questions swimming in her head but for now, nothing really mattered.

    "Why aren''t we telling my father? From what you said earlier, Danny now works for him as well. If we joined resources, we could take the mafia boss down a lot easier. Besides, what are we going to do once we have all the evidence? We don''t have any means of arresting him. A mafia boss surely has guns and all¡­ we can''t win."

    Elfie smiled mysteriously at that. "All in due time, my lady. I have plans for that when the time comes. However, right now what we are lacking in the most other than information is money. Jasper is working hard on that but there''s a limit to what he can do. I don''t want to ask for loans but we''re really not in a good position."

    Alex laughed. "You''re talking to the future heiress of the Wilde Empire. How much do you need? I can loan it to you with a friendship discount."

    Elfie looked shocked that Alex was talking to him with a business tone. "Aren''t we better than that? We haven''t seen each other in years and you''re charging me friendship price? Come on!"

    Alex laughed and continued to tease the hacker who sulked. When they finally got serious, Alex was surprised by the amount of money that Elfie was requesting for.

    "Are you sure?" she asked.

    Elfie nodded. "This is to employ a certain expert I need to help us with the case. Of course, it''s not a real employment so I can''t return that money¡­ think of it more like hush money to keep him with us."

    Alex thought about it. "Who is this person you desperately want to recruit? Can''t you borrow the Wilde name to buy him over? Jasper should be able to convince him as well, he is the owner of Kiwi Cat studio after all."

    Elfie sighed. "He''s a rather strange person. I worked with him on a few projects and we crossed hands many times. He''s not a bad person but he''s not a good person either. If there is something this guy wants, nothing can stop him. He isn''t usually moved by money either and if he isn''t interested in something, nothing can move him. I''ve tried talking to him and asking him to reconsider it for many years now. Initially he said no but after four years of pestering, he finally told me to bring him a hundred thousand dollars in cash to give me a chance to buy him over for a month. If it doesn''t work, he isn''t going to extend the contract with me and no amount of money will change his mind."

    Alex gave Elfie a strange look. "Don''t you think that sounds like a scam? While a hundred thousand dollars isn''t anything much to me, it still sounds rather suspicious. I don''t know this person or what he can do. Why do you trust him so much? You don''t seem to know him all that well either."

    Elfie struggled for words and didn''t know if he should come clean with everything. If anything, he thought that this fellow would at least take interest in the case. He didn''t want to tell Alex exactly what the terms for the contract were. Hundred thousand dollars was the easy part. The hard part was the surprise interview that he had to help the annoying colleague of his to set up. If Alex knew that his friend was interested in Scarlet in not a good way, he didn''t know what the model would do. She might stab him with the heels of her stilettos or strangle him with her hair tie.

    Deciding to keep the details to himself, Elfie begged Alex to loan it to him and trust him on the account of the friendship. "I will pay you back if it doesn''t work but I really need this guy''s help no matter what. He''s the only one who can go against gun wielding mafia bosses after we get enough evidence."

    Alex sighed. If Elfie was this persistent, it would be bad if she didn''t give in. The hacker hardly wanted anything and for him to ask for something so earnestly, Alex knew he was sincere. There really wasn''t another person who could help them and if Elfie trusted that guy''s capabilities, the Wilde princess would give it a chance.

    "Fine. No need to pay me back but you must make it succeed. This is the price for keeping things from me for six years!"

    Elfie laughed and agreed, touched that Alex actually agreed without making things difficult for him. After Elfie gave her his bank account details, Alex transferred the money needed. Now that the serious matters were over, the two friends chatted about other trivial matters trying to catch up on the things they missed over the years.

    "Before you leave," Elfie called out. "This meeting didn''t take place today. Not even Jasper or Scarlet should know about it."

    Alex looked at the skinny programmer and nodded. "I understand. Stay safe."

    Elfie smiled and waved back at her. "You too. Thank you."

 Chapter 149 - Reunion After Six Years

    It was difficult trying to coordinate the timing for the long-awaited reunion. Orita had to pull many strings in order to get the busier individuals to agree to attend the reunion. She was surprised at the level of success some of these children managed to achieve in the span of six years. While she knew that her kids were amazing, she didn''t think that there would be many other individuals from the E.C. Class who would also be as accomplished, if not more.

    The heiress had long heard about the new celebrity DJ who had been invited to clubs with the red carpet treatment. Fatboi was a very difficult individual to have an appointment with but thanks to the past connections he had with her children, the Kesha fanboy cancelled a few shows just to attend the reunion Orita planned.

    Si-Han and Tom were slightly harder to get hold of. Both being popular trainees set to debut in the following year, Orita had to put in a fake job for the agency to allow them to travel to America for a few days. The entertainment industry in the East worked very differently from the West and the heiress wondered if Scarlet was being overworked the whole time she was in China.

    Then, there were the few sportsmen who were equally hard to get ahold of. One of them had to fly over from England and Orita had to pick a day that Mustafa didn''t have a scheduled match. It was unbelievably hard. In comparison, getting Dragon and Roy to attend was much easier. Last but not least, Orita had to thank Vivian for applying no-pay time off from his work just to attend the reunion.

    As for the Special Class, Orita didn''t need to do much. The moment they heard about the reunion, all Jenna had to do was give them the date. The teenagers from the Special Class automatically made arrangements on their end to rearrange their busy schedules and leave their work temporarily to attend.

    Of course, Lin Lin was the first to send her RSVP. Jenna was slightly surprised that the young composer will be arriving with Scarlet. Apparently, they were working on Scarlet''s newest album.

    Jun Le''s RSVP didn''t come as surprising as the boy chose to take his time with his education. He was still studying at Joyville and the school while participating in chess competitions around the world. Naturally, Philip didn''t make things difficult for him and approved of his leave from school for the reunion.

    Farid, Nathan and Elfie were the last few to confirm their attendance due to complications at work. Elfie initially told Orita and Jenna that he would attend but that he was unsure how long he could attend or which day he would arrive. However, after some heated discussion with Danny, the hacker happily told them to expect him two days earlier than the date of the reunion. The lady butler was more than happy to receive the guests earlier than planned. Elfie once lived with them for a little while, having the teen over would be a trip down memory lane all over again.

    Farid and Nathan will arrive together a day late and they apologized profusely. Jenna told them not to worry and Orita wasn''t too surprised by the delay. After all, these two teenagers were working with NASA. One of them was a quantum physics researcher while the other was working with the space development program as an engineer and inventor.

    Jean and Rebecca had no problems attending. The equestrian applied for study leave from Joyville as well and will attend together with the rest of the invitees who were from Singapore. On the other hand, Jean will be arriving alone from India. The lady would be flying immediately after her job and Orita wondered if the polyglot would be too tired for the party.

    Then again, Jean wasn''t the only one travelling straight after a job. The Lopez twins were coming straight after a dance competition finals and Jenna worried for a moment when they said that. Still, the twins were adamant. They didn''t want to wait a day later to arrive just to know the results of the competition and nothing the Wilde''s said could change their minds.

    The maids and servants of the Wilde main mansion busied their days away to prepare over twenty rooms for their guests. Orita didn''t worry about the accommodations or the lack of space for it. The Wilde mansion was big enough to house more than a hundred people as it was an old castle renovated to be a mansion located in Larchmont, a quiet place a little away from the hustle and bustle of New York City.

    Naturally, most of Alex and Scarlet''s friends weren''t prepared for the shocking welcome they received at the main mansion. While they knew that Alex and Scarlet hailed from a rich family, seeing the castle surpassed all their imagination. Who would have thought that castles still existed in this day and age where it was actually lived in by people apart from the Queen of England?

    The house stewards and maids showed the guests their rooms and Orita was busy interacting with her guests, making them feel at home. None of her daughters was back yet but thankfully, Elfie was there to accompany her.

    Orita had planned a very warm welcome in a style similar to the Sweet Sixteen gala but to her amus.e.m.e.nt, none of what she prepared was necessary. After the arrival of Jasper and his team, the boys coordinated the preparations required to recreate the barbecue party they had six years ago by the seaside resort. Some of the older boys who had their driver''s license borrowed a car and headed to town to get the supplies needed for the barbecue while the other boys decided to help themselves and redecorate the huge rear garden into an open party venue.

    Orita was rather proud of the seamless teamwork between the boys who worked together in Kiwi Cat Studio. Still, she had questions.

    "Jasper, if all of you are here for the reunion, what''s going to happen to your company?"

    The young CEO grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "Don''t worry, Jake can handle everything."

    Jenna felt pity for Jake as Jasper''s advisor when the teen skipped away and joined the rest of the E.C. Class to drag out pool chairs to the rear garden. Vivian took the lead when it came to deciding the menu. It was clear to everyone that his training as a restaurant manager was paying off with how confident the boy was giving orders over the phone. Rowan who was on the other end of the line was busy making a list and from the sound of it, a single trip might not be sufficient.

    "We can get the non-food items and meet them in town to load the rest up," Dragon offered and Si-Han held up the keys to the second car Orita offered to loan.

    Vivian looked at the second party and nodded. "Alright. Rowan is currently with Teddy and Jinru at the grocer. I need the three of you to get the decorations and party supplies. Of course, we should check with Jenna to know what they already have so we don''t double buy anything."

    Roy grinned and patted his bicep. "It''s a good thing we''re strong enough to carry whatever they need back. I think we''ll take care of the heavier things like drinks and frozen stuff so you can tell the other team to just work with the fresh food and snacks."

    Vivian nodded and informed Rowan''s team about the change of plan as the second team checked with Jenna what the Wilde household already had. The lady butler was impressed by the display of leadership from Vivian as well as how the boys worked without much friction. It didn''t matter how many years had passed, the chemistry between these boys was still as amazing as before.

    While the E.C. Class busied away, after most people had gathered on the second day of the reunion, there were still a few Special class members who were still missing. Firstly, Alex was still on a plane after a major delay in her flight since yesterday. Lin Lin and Scarlet were still stuck in China after an issue with their travel visa. Farid and Nathan were still stuck in another state after missing their transit flight but they had secured another plane ticket and would be arriving in a few hours. Apart from these people, everyone else was present.

    Jenna was slightly worried. Scarlet and Alex should have been here without issues, their managers had ample time to prepare in advance. Why would so many of the Special Class be having last-minute issues? The Wilde family had sorted out most of the difficult travel arrangements. Something wasn''t right. Claire wasn''t reporting a lot either and Elfie was almost constantly glued to his phone when he wasn''t on his laptop. Her butler senses were tingling as she looked over to the overly coordinated children. Could this have been a deliberate plot by the children before the reunion?

 Chapter 150 - Surprise, Mrs Wilde!

    New York City. Scarlet missed it a little after being in the East for so long. On the side note, Alex was late. Lin Lin and Scarlet had been going around for two hours now. Claire said that they touched down already so why wasn''t her sister out of the customs?

    "Are they going to be mad at us?" Farid asked a little nervously. After six years, the child Thomas Edison had lost most of his arrogance and was replaced by a more level-headed youth with some self-esteem issues.

    "I doubt it. Even if they are, we won''t be the one taking the blame," Nathan assured his friend and colleague. Unlike Scarlet and Lin Lin who had just arrived this morning, the boys landed late last night. Instead of spending time to check into a hotel for the night, they decided to sleep and wait in the airport instead. That was also how they found Scarlet and Lin Lin first.

    "Sorry, I''m late!" someone shouted after they left the immigration counters. Alex''s face was red from running and panting as she dragged her heavy suitcases with her. Claire followed not too far behind and the model apologised for the delay.

    "There was a baggage mix up so Claire had to sort it out earlier," Alex explained and gave Lin Lin a hug. Like Scarlet, Lin Lin hadn''t grown much and was still as adorable as everyone remembered her to be. In the composer''s defence, she hasn''t experienced her growth spurt yet.

    "Finally!" Farid sighed and smiled. Now that the five of them were ready, Scarlet called Pamela and Raven to get ready. Tina decided not to join them this time and went on a day tour with Sue who travelled down to Beijing for a short holiday paid out of Scarlet and Alex''s pockets. They''d been such wonderful caretakers that the girls felt bad about not giving them enough time offs.

    "Ladies and gentlemen," Scarlet smiled. "Are you ready for Operation Surprise Mrs Wilde?"

    The wide grin on everyone''s face told Scarlet everything she needed to know. Ever since Scarlet and Alex knew about how Orita was organising the reunion party for them, the girls decided to prepare a little something in return to thank their mother for supporting them so much. However, it wasn''t a surprise that they could manage by themselves so the girls asked for some external help in the form of two very intelligent people who worked for NASA.

    Claire didn''t make a single sound as all five children loaded their luggage into the limousine and got into the back. The bodyguard got in the front seat with the assigned driver and requested for the privacy screen to be up so that the teens could talk in peace. The head maid didn''t feel bad about not informing her employers about the surprise they wanted to prepare for Orita. In fact, she had sworn secrecy to not divulge it before time. Not all of the E.C. Class and Special class knew about it. Jasper and Elfie were definitely aware but their jobs were to create a diversion and from Jenna''s photographs in the group chat, the boys were doing a good job at it.

    "Did you bring it?" Alex asked in a whisper once the privacy screen was up.

    The young engineer grinned and pulled out a small device. He pressed a button and at once, a holographic image appeared. "Elfie did the coding for it. How''s it? Very life-like, right?"

    Nathan groaned at the thought of having to help with the calculations for this holographic projector. While it wasn''t difficult, it was tedious. Thankfully, Scarlet and Alex didn''t ask for the impossible. With this holographic projector that could be linked to any app with a video call function, Orita would be able to have an actual face-to-face conversation with her husband. Of course, this gift project was funded out of Wilmer''s own pockets but under Kiwi Cat Studio''s name as one of their new side projects.

    Scarlet received the precious device and tried it out for herself. Alex worked hard recording the input for this device''s voice and Lin Lin helped with that. Apart from acting as a holographic projector, the device could be connected using Bluetooth to act as a smart home system coordinator with an AI that rivalled Siri. Scarlet had been testing the AI out for a while now since last year. It was Elfie''s personal project that Scarlet agreed to help out as a beta tester. More importantly, this device had another very important function that nobody else other than Scarlet, Jasper and Elfie knew about. It had a security feedback function that will monitor the Wilde mansion''s security network and take control of the system to fire out responses to the main house''s security team if they spotted anyone.

    The five of them were fashionably late to the party because they were finalising the modifications to this device up until the very last possible moment. Naturally, the efforts paid off and Scarlet thanked everyone.

    "Don''t mention it," Nathan laughed. "It was a fun project even though there were frustrating moments."

    Farid nodded. "If I resign from NASA please ask Jasper to employ me at his company on account that I helped to create this smart home assistant."

    Lin Lin rolled her eyes and the girls laughed. It was still quite a drive away from the Wilde mansion so the exhausted teens agreed on a nap. Claire frowned after twenty minutes. It was too silent at the back. She dropped the privacy screen and chuckled at the sight of five tired teens snoozing away. Without a word, she took a picture and sent it to the group chat so that Jenna and Orita could stop fretting over their safety. Once that was done, the head maid raised the privacy screen once more and let them rest. It wouldn''t be long till they reached the mansion anyway. Besides, the boys were still preparing for the backyard barbecue.

    By the time the five VIPs arrived, the preparations for the barbecue were almost ready. Drinks were chilled, decorations were complete, food was prepared under Vivian''s strict supervision and the grills were heated. There really wasn''t anything much to be done except for the five of them to get changed while the servants unloaded their luggage and brought it to their rooms. Scarlet hadn''t been to the main mansion as often so she still got lost without a guide. Thankfully, everyone made it just in time for the grand opening speech by Orita.

    "Thank you, everyone, for making it to the class reunion after six years. I''m Orita Wilde, I believe you''ve seen me before at the last gathering back at the beach resort. It makes me happy to see that every single one of you has grown up splendidly and are pursuing your own paths in life. Once again, I would like to thank everyone for the wonderful friendship that you have with my children. Over the years I''ve made and lost many friends but I wish that the friendship that all of you share today won''t be anything as fragile as that. Here''s a toast to strong everlasting friendship!"

    The speech elicited cheers and the teens raised their plastic cups full of fruit punch and soda before getting the real party started. Fires were lit, balloons were popped, music was played and messes were caused. Still, the laughter that followed the chaos made Orita enjoy herself immensely.

    The E.C. Class and Special Class'' unique friendship was still the same kind of interesting as it was before. Khalid took on the official role of a DJ for the party while the dancers started to have a dance battle. Naturally, Rowan wasn''t one to pass up the opportunity and collected the bets that some other classmates placed. The Lopez twins were stunning but the two idol trainees didn''t miss a beat either. Scarlet had never seen Si-Han or Tom dance before but when they did, she felt her heart skip a beat. They were just too devilishly handsome! However, thanks to the male to female ratio, the Lopez twins won by a landslide and some of the rowdier boys took the responsibility of dunking both idols into the pool.

    Jenna sighed at the chaos. The party had only started but already, these teens were wrecking the garden. For some reason, the butler was glad the original plan of hosting the reunion gathering gala styled indoors didn''t happen. She tried to imagine all the hyperactive and hot-blooded youths climbing the tapestries and jumping on the long tables along to dub-step music and shuddered.

    With everyone else busy and distracted, Scarlet passed the wrapped up device to her sister with a nudge. Alex was strangely nervous about giving her mother a gift. Usually, she was on the receiving end of gifts from her parents. This would be the first time she was giving her mother a gift when it wasn''t a special occasion like a birthday or a celebration. Then again, after knowing Scarlet, Alex had a first time for many things. Having one more exception in her life wouldn''t amount to much.

    Mustering her courage, Alex approached Orita shyly with the gift behind her back. Her coy demeanour made Orita amused almost immediately. She had only seen Alex acting this shy on a few occasions, usually when she did something wrong and wanted to ask for forgiveness.

    Unknown to the mother and daughter, Raven was filming the precious scene from a balcony on the third floor according to Scarlet''s instructions. The surprise gift wasn''t really the real surprise. In fact, the true surprise was what would happen after.

    "Mommy, I have a gift for you."

    Orita smiled as Alex presented her a small box. She opened it carefully and was puzzled by the sight of an electronic gadget. Alex then demonstrated the use of the device and explained how it could be used. To ''test'' it, Alex called Wilmer and connected it to the device.

    Wilmer picked up his daughter''s call and was immediately surprised by his wife''s face appearing on his video call''s screen. He had just finished his last meeting for the day and the call was a pleasant surprise. Orita didn''t usually call him using the video function because the heiress found it too troublesome.

    "Darling?"

    Orita wanted to cry. She hasn''t seen her husband in years even though they called frequently. With the holographic projector, he seemed very real even though it was only his face. Alex watched as her mother and father talked and decided to give them some privacy before she returned to the party. The model passed by her sister and gave her a hi-five. Scarlet grinned. The true surprise and present wasn''t the device. It was Wilmer who they couldn''t convince to come for the reunion party.

    "Alright," Scarlet nodded in satisfaction. "Let''s get some food. Remember, when on a vacation, there''s no such thing as dieting."

    Alex nodded and the girls walked over to the grill area to snatch the first batch of honey chicken wings.

 Chapter 151 - Elfies Matchmaking Plan

    There were many different kinds of feelings for the teens who attended the reunion party. For some, it was nostalgic. For others, it was sheer joy. There were a few who felt that it was awkward but the one feeling that everyone had was joy.

    Elfie was no different. He was happy to see everyone again after so long. In fact, he was over the moon when he found out that the people he knew from six years ago hadn''t changed much even after so much time had passed. They were still the same kind of people they were except that many of them have matured mentally and physically. Their personalities haven''t altered much and the hacker found that to be very welcoming.

    Still, Elfie felt slightly bad and nervous for a different reason. Ever since he had that talk with Alex, the girl had agreed to aid him financially and now that he had given his word, Elfie couldn''t turn around and pretend that the second condition didn''t exist. He needed to set up a meeting between that guy and Scarlet somehow. Knowing his colleague''s personality, he would create hell on Earth if Elfie didn''t fulfil his end of the bargain. The hacker wanted to cry. For two strangers to sit down in a random caf¨¦ at his request to meet up sounded very much like a blind date and that idea was simply tacky. They were in the twenty-first century for crying out loud, why did they have to resort to blind dates when dating apps were a thing? Still, Elfie cannot imagine asking his colleague and Scarlet creating dating profiles. Firstly, his friend wasn''t a people person and secondly, Scarlet was way too busy for dating apps. As a famous actress and singer, Scarlet wasn''t lacking in dating candidates. This was just too awkward!

    After mulling over this for two days and two nights, the hacker finally came to a great conclusion. He could always plan a virtual date between the two by giving them the opportunity to meet online first. How it progresses from then on will be none of his business and if that person failed, he couldn''t blame Elfie for not upholding his part of the deal.

    With a huge chunk of his worries gone, Elfie enjoyed the rest of the reunion party.

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on and check out their other works. <<

    After the chaotic barbecue night, a lot of the teens slept in. Elfie was not one of them. In fact, the hacker was busy talking to the friend who requested a meeting with Scarlet.

    Gandalf: It''s me.

    Jedi: You''re up at an odd hour again?

    Gandalf: No, for once I''m doing it American time. There was a class reunion party last night so everyone''s still sleeping but I''m awake at eight in the morning.

    Jedi: That''s a change. So, what''s up? It''s not like you to contact me first thing in the morning unless it''s work-related.

    Gandalf: You know the girl you''ve wanted to meet? Yes, that same girl who''s sticking her nose into places it doesn''t belong according to you? I was thinking I could hook the both of you up via the chat room. How does that sound? I''ll admin it the first time then you can subsequently find her using a special ID that alerts you whenever she''s online.

    Jedi: Sounds fun. I''m assuming you haven''t told her about me?

    Gandalf: Now now, that''s not my secret to tell. Also, why does a university student like you have so much time to chat with me? Don''t you have morning lectures to crash?

    Jedi: Nah, not today. Say, does she attend school too?

    Gandalf: She used to but she graduated real early. No clue if she wants to pursue higher education but she''s rather successful in her current career so¡­

    Jedi: Oh well, I thought it would be nice to act like a normal student in the springtime of his youth for once. Are you sure she''s not a student?

    Gandalf: Absolutely sure. She used to be my classmate while school was still a thing for me. We''re still very close in touch so I know what she eats weekly.

    Jedi: Sounds like a stalker

    Gandalf: Oh, you got no idea. But if it''s stalking, she''s had worse experiences than me stalking her. There are some real creeps in the world and I worry. She doesn''t understand what staying out of danger means.

    Jedi: Why are you still friends with her then? It sounds like nothing but trouble. Also, the big bad wolf that we''re trying to catch sounds like he''s very interested in your friend. What''s the relationship?

    Gandalf: Classified for now but if you can win her trust enough to ask for a meetup irl then you''ll understand everything

    Jedi: Deal! Now give me the details of her username. Your chat room is open to the public and I''m assuming she''s a regular user?

    Gandalf: Yes but I know she likes to switch her nickname regularly. With the new patch update coming soon, you''ll be able to tell by her code number system assigned regardless of what nickname she changes it to. Don''t tell anyone that yet, it''s not in the release notes. Also, I don''t want her creating more than one account for the chat room without my knowing. She could be up to real no good.

    Jedi: Well, like I said. If the girl doesn''t interest me enough, I''m not extending my collaboration with you. You''ve been on it for years with that team but you''ve not found much. If anything, I would ditch you and work directly with that friend of yours since she was the real reason why you got a direction to start digging for dirt.

    Gandalf: Don''t you dare. If she''s harmed in any form or way, I won''t be the first person you should be worried about coming after you. It doesn''t matter what kind of background you have, you''re a dead man walking.

    Jedi: Is she really that powerful?

    Gandalf: No, but the company around her are. You don''t think that the people in my class were normal folks, did you?

    Jedi: Ah, I forgot. What was it again? The Special Class you said? I haven''t seen anything very special so far but if you insist, I guess I''ll humour you.

    Elfie rolled his eyes. Leave it to the son of the Interpol''s General Secretariat. On the surface, Edward Bayon was just another dreamy French university student who was on the nerd side but had a healthy social life. Not many people would pay attention to such an ordinary person and that was exactly what Edward wanted, a monotonous life without attention to him.

    Elfie got to know Edward when they were younger. Edward used to be the youngest intelligence officer who worked with the a.d.u.l.ts before Elfie came along. While Edward was older than Elfie by three years, they got along really well. Edward was an expert in information gathering while Elfie was good at hacking. Whenever they teamed up to work on a tough case, the results were miraculous.

    Yet, Anastasia was one tough cookie that neither boy was able to gain ground on without Scarlet''s input. This made Edward very interested in getting to know the girl who gave his best buddy the leads that were hard to attain even by professional spies and undercover agents. Over the years, Edward''s side had gathered more intel based on the tips Elfie received from Scarlet and the trained agents have been working tirelessly to infiltrate Anastasia''s organisations. The mafia boss'' contacts had also been infiltrated but not even the trained undercover agents could find anything damning other than a few doc.u.ments from top executives siphoning the company''s money for their personal use.

    How Scarlet found out about the firearms remained a mystery. None of the spies was able to uncover that or make the connection with Russia but Scarlet was the first to point out a missing link. Naturally, that discovery gave Edward a very good reason to end more agents to investigate it privately. Elfie wasn''t too pleased with Scarlet''s discovery even if the information she provided turned out to be a very crucial turning point in their investigations. He wasn''t happy that she was putting herself in danger to uncover the information they needed and wanted her to stop. Hence, Elfie decided that one of the best ways to do it was to use Edward as a leash to watch Scarlet carefully from the shadows. Who knew that the usually mild-tempered boy would be interested in the young writer and insist on knowing her personally?

    Still, what was done was done. There was no use crying over spilt milk. If Elfie was destined to play cupid for his best buddy and first friend, then he would just have to do a good job and make sure that nobody''s hearts were going to be broken at the end of it all. The hacker shut down his laptop after finalising technical details with Edward and groaned into a pillow. Why did he have to play matchmaker of all things when he was still single and miserable? The world was being too unfair to him!

 Chapter 152 - Love at First Text

    All good things must come to an end. For the Special Class and E.C. Class, many of them were reluctant to leave so quickly. However, duty calls and time waits for no man. Instead, as the mascot of the gathering, Alex announced that six years was way too long for a reunion. They would do this yearly instead. Nobody objected but many excuses were made about possible reasons for why they might not make it. Thankfully, one stern glare from Scarlet was all it took for everyone to apologise and commit to the annual event.

    While the first day was used for resting up from the jet lag and the second day for full out partying late into the nights, the third day was spent packing. Some had to leave earlier because of work and flight timing but Jenna did manage to get a group photo with everyone in it to be sent to everyone after it was edited. Of course, a copy of the photo would be blown up and displayed in the Wilde mansion.

    Scarlet and Alex decided to relax by the pool instead now that some of the class had left the mansion. It wasn''t easy for either celebrity to get any alone time or private time to simply relax and be themselves. Being under the camera all the time and scrutinised by the public at all times can be tiring.

    Jasper had to head back that afternoon because Jake wasn''t able to handle everything as he claimed. Mrs Wilde wasn''t the easiest person to say goodbye to but when Jasper promised her that they were welcomed to the new office whenever they wished, the heiress cheered up. Scarlet laughed at how Mrs Wilde sometimes had that childish side to her. It seems like growing old wasn''t a choice but growing up was optional. The singer envied her mother''s bubbliness sometimes. Ever since she started closing in on Anastasia, the stress piling up inside of her had blackened her youthfulness and the depression was like the swamp trying to consume her from the inside. Scarlet knew she was falling but she had to stay strong even for just a little longer. Once this was over, Scarlet would return to work and commence her other plan to gather more information about Anastasia and how his organisation worked through the Pineapple Group. After much probing, Scarlet was certain that the new owner of Pineapple Group ¨C Zhu Ming Yang, was definitely involved somehow.

    Unfortunately, Scarlet didn''t know if Mr Zhu was approaching her just as a genuine fan or because he was suspicious about her agenda and identity. It was no secret to the world that Liu Xiu Wen was also Scarlet Wilde after that Sweet Sixteen gala announcement. If Anastasia had changed targets, Scarlet would be the next person in line he would try to kidnap and use her to threaten Wilmer into giving away the company.

    "What''s troubling you?" Alex asked.

    The girls were sun tanning on the pool benches with their sunglasses on and sipping on some fruit juice in their swimsuits. While the atmosphere was relaxing, the mood wasn''t. The model didn''t know what her sister was thinking behind those shades but she knew Scarlet''s mind wasn''t resting, unlike her body.

    Scarlet bit on the straw and sighed. "Don''t you ever feel tired of smiling sometimes?"

    Alex blinked. "What do you mean?"

    The singer sulked. She knew her insecurities were really petty but those were the little things that piled up and threatened to break down her walls. On the outside, Scarlet was an optimistic and determined individual with a burning passion for her work. The world had often praised her with such words and Scarlet can only smile at them and offer empty words of gratitude. Behind the scenes, Scarlet hated just about everything she did apart from writing. If it wasn''t for her motive of getting close to Anastasia and his contacts by making herself an obvious target in the spotlight, Scarlet would have never acted, modelled or pursued a music career willingly. She was the kind of girl who secretly loved comfortable boots over strapless heels. She was the kind of girl who preferred an oversized old hoodie to a stunning body-hugging gown. She was the kind of girl who enjoyed the company of a few close ones and her bed more than greeting hundreds of unfamiliar painted faces just like hers at parties that don''t mean anything to her.

    While Scarlet remained silent and brooding, Alex observed her for a little longer. For some reason, the model could understand what Scarlet was referring to even without an explanation. For the model, she wasn''t tired of smiling because she couldn''t remember any incident where she had to force herself to smile and look pretty. Unlike Scarlet, Alex was very comfortable with attention. In fact, Alex didn''t think she could do without all the attention she''d been given ever since she was a child. Scarlet grew up in a cold and empty household without any warmth. However, the Wilde household was very different. There will always be someone around and their family was very big. Some, if not most, of the employees were considered family and Alex grew up surrounded by people.

    Instead of saying anything, Alex put her drink down and walked over to Scarlet''s bench to give her sister a cuddle. Due to their height difference, Scarlet got fully enveloped into Alex''s chest, making her feel rather uncomfortable. If there was something about Alex that made Scarlet more jealous about their height difference, it would be those knockers on Alex''s chest. Scarlet couldn''t help but feel severely inferior every time they went out together because Alex looked womanly and Scarlet was just a doll-like girl no matter how much time had passed. In fact, Scarlet resented how she could easily pass for a twelve-year-old at her age.

    "Let go!" Scarlet squirmed and Alex laughed. In the end, both girls ended up tumbling into the pool after a mock fight. The water was refreshing in the heat and that was how Elfie found them.

    "Hello, ladies. I see you''re both having fun?"

    The sisters turned to greet Elfie before getting out of the water. It was approaching noon and the sun was scalding.

    "Hey, Elfie. What''s up?" Alex grinned and Scarlet dried herself off with a towel.

    The hacker smiled. He was here to catch Scarlet and play cupid but seeing as Alex was here too, he might as well secure another beta tester for his chat room testing.

    "Actually, I''m here to ask for some help¡­"

    That got Scarlet and Alex''s attention at once. Elfie had helped them a lot over the years and never really asked for anything in return. Now that he finally asked for help, the sisters were not going to refuse him.

    "How can we help?" Scarlet asked and Alex told him to count her in.

    The programmer was momentarily surprised. "You''re not going to ask what it is about first?" He didn''t think that getting approval was going to be this easy.

    The disbelieving look on Elfie''s face gave the sisters stitches from laughing too hard. Scarlet wheezed and Alex wiped away tears from the side of her eyes.

    "No, we''re willing to help however we can. It''s rare for you to approach us for help anyway," Scarlet assured and Elfie felt slightly bad for using their trust in such a way. However, he knew that even if he was hated after everything was over, he wouldn''t regret what he did if they found out. After all, that''s what being a hacker was about. They don''t care about the opinions of others, they do what they believe is right and only fought for their version of justice.

    With a smile, Elfie explained how he wanted to take the chat room to a new level and open it to the public. He borrowed Jasper''s name for that and both girls bought the reason.

    "I''ll be giving both of you moderator functions so you could test the features as well. Of course, feel free to hop in any rooms and make friends or just lurk and read what other people usually talk about. If there is any bad behaviour you can exercise your rights and report them for me so they''d be on the ban list."

    Elfie then went into detail and demonstrated the revamped chat room. Scarlet immediately fell in love with the dark theme and anonymous chat concept. People could change their usernames and while Elfie said that the hidden number code behind the usernames was fixed and system assigned, that four-digit code was not visible to others apart from the admin.

    Scarlet and Alex created their accounts and started testing it out. Since it hasn''t been released to the public yet, they could mess around for all they wanted. Scarlet created a room called "Dumb Blonde" and Alex was made the room''s host. The girls had a ball testing out gif bombing, name changing, role-playing and trash-talking without restraint.

    While observing everything from the log, Elfie wondered if this was a good idea. Both sisters were having too much fun and with the anonymous filter, the kind of things they typed shocked even Elfie. Who knew that beneath that nice kitten image laid such wild lionesses?

    Elfie shuddered. Whatever. This was not his business, if Edward wanted to get to know Scarlet, this would be his problem from now on. Elfie was done playing Cupid and if they got together eventually, the hacker had no responsibility for the world''s possible destruction.

 Chapter 153 - Moderator

    After the reunion party, life went back to normal for everyone. For Scarlet, she was more cheerful and even Pamela noticed the change. Scarlet became more glued onto her phone than before and the manager had an inkling the singer wasn''t talking to her sister or close friends. That smile on Scarlet''s face wasn''t one that the manager was familiar with. Still, Pamela tried not to pry too much. After all, Scarlet was a girl in the springtime of her youth.

    While it was true that ever since Scarlet and Alex were given moderator permissions to fool around with the chat room that Elfie released on the app store, the girls found themselves incredibly addicted to this new world of chatting with mysterious individuals hiding behind an anonymous identity. On some days Scarlet would troll and on some days, Scarlet would find herself acting as a counsellor to listen to troubled peoples'' ranting.

    The singer didn''t really mind playing the role of a therapist or listening ear. As a writer, hearing the thoughts of individuals and snippets of their lives gave her great inspiration for future character development plots and personalities to model after. The Human Observation Journal was finally becoming more interesting after a long time. Instead of focussing on the less desirable entertainment industry and the top bitches who ruled it, Scarlet enjoyed writing more about the mediocre worries of a regular person. It was easily relatable and she hasn''t received such good feedback from her readers for such a long time.

    The reason for that genuinely happy smile on her face was because Scarlet found that she was actually able to meet more kindred souls and like-minded individuals who shared her views about some beliefs that she hadn''t been able to openly talk about with the people she knew. Of course, some were nasty but others were understanding. Scarlet enjoyed it the most when some of the people she chatted with became regulars in some rooms. It would sound odd but Scarlet was enjoying this strange form of friendship.

    It hadn''t been long since the alpha launch of the chat room but already, there were thousands of downloads and hundreds of users at any one point of time. Even Elfie was having a hard time moderating the chat contents while fine-tuning the coding behind it. There were forums reporting a lot of bugs in the chat room even after beta testing that Elfie had to fix. The poor programmer didn''t have enough resources to look at the moderation logs.

    In the previous video call that Scarlet had with Elfie, the programmer looked a lot worse than she ever remembered him to be. To lessen the burden on Elfie''s shoulders, Scarlet suggested opening up the moderation positions to all the E.C. Class and Special Class members. Initially, Elfie declined but after three more days of being overwhelmed, Elfie conceded reluctantly.

    After the moderators were increased, the E.C. Class and Special Class members found themselves frequenting the chat room more. While it was always nice to chat with each other, it was also fun chatting with other anonymous users. As moderators weren''t able to see each other''s unique number code, the E.C. Class and Special class had made it a game of hide-and-seek to uncover who each moderator was.

    For Elfie, he was nervous. He honestly didn''t expect the success of this chat room to blow up. It was initially an excuse so that he could match-make Edward and Scarlet to fulfil his end of the bargain. Now that the success had taken the tech world by storm, Jake and Wilmer decided to step in and help Elfie out on the business aspect. The poor hacker wasn''t given a break and was once more employed in Kiwi Cat Studio as a freelance developer to manage the chat room app. Edward and Scarlet had yet to meet and the programmer felt bad for the delay.

    Unknown to him, Scarlet had been acquainted with Scarlet since the second day of the app''s launch. There was a particular user who never changed his username so Scarlet found him interesting enough to talk to. The user went by the name Jedd77 and Scarlet often wondered if there was a meaning behind it.

    The two hit off as fast friends and slowly their conversations became deeper in topics. For the first time on the internet, Scarlet felt vulnerable. Without her speaking much about her thoughts, Jedd77 was able to accurately guess her feelings and plans. It was also one of the contributing factors to why Scarlet had the courage to face the Pineapple Group''s CEO at last.

    Pamela had rescheduled the meeting a total of six times before Scarlet finally agreed to have a dinner meeting with Ming Yang. The restaurant Ming Yang reserved was very famous and obviously meant for the upper class. Scarlet didn''t feel comfortable attending alone and Raven didn''t want her to go alone either but Scarlet bit the bullet because it was Ming Yang''s request.

    "It''s ok, Scarlet. If he hints at anything, just tell him that you''re only interested in girls," she whispered to herself in the car.

    Raven raised a brow at that. For some reason, Scarlet has been acting strange the past few days ever since she agreed to meet the CEO of Pineapple Group. The bodyguard reported this to Claire who also confirmed that Alex was seen acting oddly from time to time. The girls were both glued onto their phones and while the bodyguards weren''t able to figure out what''s going on, they''ve concluded that whatever Scarlet and Alex were doing wasn''t enough cause for concern as they weren''t malicious in nature.

    Scarlet was beyond nervous. She expressed her worry about meeting someone she didn''t know and gave off bad vibes. The singer had postponed the meeting several times because while she was curious to jump on the opportunity and dig for dirt about Anastasia''s dealings, she understood the complications if something should go wrong with her meeting. The CEO of Pineapple Group didn''t just deal with business in China. They also worked closely with other companies that could potentially threaten the Wilde Empire.

    "Be safe, milady," Raven bowed and Scarlet smiled before leaving the car.

    As Scarlet entered the building, Raven couldn''t help but feel uneasy. They tried to find information about Ming Yang but nothing much was known about the young CEO in his private life. In fact, it was odd how tight-lipped the employees of Pineapple Group were about their young CEO. There were more rumours circulating around Ming Yang''s father but nothing much was known about Ming Yang himself.

    Why the CEO of such a huge company took interest in Scarlet was anybody''s guess. Raven knew for a fact that Mr Zhu did not have a lover. That in itself was a worry. As for his love for Scarlet as a fan, even Pamela agreed that that sounded rather suspicious. However, the CEO was nothing but persistent. Despite turning him down so many times, Ming Yang continued to send Scarlet gifts and invitations. The singer had relented and decided to meet with the CEO once to resolve the matter but Raven couldn''t shake the feeling off that Scarlet was up to something again.

    For Scarlet, she was downright nervous. Although there was nothing wrong with her gown, shoes or make-up, Scarlet didn''t know if Ming Yang would discover that she actually had a recording device hidden in her clip-on earring tonight.

    Scarlet was led to the top floor by a pretty waitress after she told them her name. Apparently, Ming Yang had reserved a VIP room so that they could meet in private. This made Scarlet even more ill with ease but she persevered. Along the way, the writer was scanning the place for emergency exits she can run to and where the cameras were located at just in case. It was a force of habit that she picked up from training with Claire. Scarlet hasn''t been slacking off on her self-defence training either and with that confidence in her abilities, she took a deep breath to calm herself down.

    The room that Ming Yang reserved was a mix of modern and traditional in terms of d¨¦cor and furnishing. Scarlet appreciated the artful taste in Chinese porcelain and rice paper paintings. The table and cutlery were western-styled which made Scarlet wonder if this was done on purpose.

    In the room, a fine man in his thirties with slicked-back hair and vibrant eyes greeted Scarlet. The girl was immediately reminded of the lawyer Benjamin whom she met when she was a child. Ming Yang smiled and offered Scarlet a handshake that she accepted. Scarlet returned the smile and they engaged in some small talk to break the awkward atmosphere. Scarlet found herself relaxing a little more as they delved into deeper subjects while the waitress poured them tea.

    "So, I heard that you''ve finished filming. Do you have any new plans or job contracts after the film?" Ming Yang asked.

    Scarlet smiled politely. "Yes, I do. I''m currently in the middle of putting together a new album and taking on some side jobs for commercial filming."

    Ming Yang hummed. "Always working hard, as expected of my idol."

    Scarlet blushed. Ming Yang wasn''t bad looking but Scarlet didn''t know what to think of someone like the CEO before her. He was good-looking enough to catch her attention but there was also a somewhat dangerous aura around him that made her feel like a rabbit in front of a sleepy lion.

    The food arrived and Scarlet was thankful for that. Ming Yang didn''t seem to be up to anything no good and neither did he suspect her. For now, Scarlet decided to go with the flow and try to find out more about what kind of person Ming Yang was in his private life. If things went well for her, Scarlet might just be able to squeeze into his business and do some digging around for Anastasia''s trails in the Pineapple Group.

    For now, it was all pleasant smiles and small talks, just the way Scarlet preferred it to be.

 Chapter 154 - Confidant

    Jedd77: So how was your date?

    Scarlet groaned at that. Her newest online friend was being a major pain with all the teasing. Scarlet didn''t use her real name in the chat room and she decided to pretend to be a male instead online. This way, it would be difficult for others to make the connection between the celebrity and the online college student.

    Frost: It''s not a date.

    Jedd77: Don''t lie. If it isn''t a date, why are you back so late? Also, tell me all about it. Are they hot?

    The singer rolled her eyes. For someone like the self-proclaimed NEET, Jedd77 sure had a very gossipy nature. Her friend could act mature and say some really deep stuff from time to time but most of the time she was dealing with his hyperactive nonsense. Jedd was someone who spouted nonsense ninety percent of the time and it was difficult for Scarlet to know when the boy was actually serious. On that note, she wondered if Jedd had already suspected that she wasn''t male.

    Frost: It''s just a business meeting. There was nothing special but they were rather intimidating even though they were nice.

    Jedd77: Hmm¡­ maybe they had ulterior motives but didn''t want to scare you away on the first meeting? What were they like? I need details!

    Scarlet smiled and recounted her meeting with Ming Yang in as many details as she could without giving away too much personal information.

    Frost: They were good looking and considerate.

    Jedd77: Oho~ that''s a plus point. They must also have a lot of money since you said they were meeting you at a restaurant they reserved. Tell me, are they older or younger than you? A career woman perhaps? You lucky dawg!

    Frost: ¡­

    Frost: Is that all your mind can think about? Also, I did say it was a business meeting, what were you expecting?

    Jedd77: She didn''t give you her number or ask you out? No personal questions mixed with business talk? Did you sign anything? Come on, you''re killing me!

    Frost: ¡­

    Frost: I was getting there.

    Scarlet took her time to type out a proper recount of what happened after she entered the building and edited some of her text to make it seem more believable. Jedd didn''t know what she did for a living apart from how she was a college student from a fairly upper-class family who had to work at their parents'' company from time to time as training to become the company''s successor.

    The singer told him about how Ming Yang treated her well and took care of her from her arrival to her leaving. His attention to details was what impressed her the most. Still, Scarlet was slightly puzzled about why Ming Yang only engaged in small talk about her work and activities. He also asked several other things about Scarlet''s personal preference and seemed to be knowledgeable about the shadier side of the showbiz world.

    Frost: As strange as it sounded, they never once asked about my personal life, preference or pry into my history despite showing interest in me as a person outside of work.

    Jedd77: Hmm¡­ that''s odd. Maybe they''re secretly the manipulative type who doesn''t take no for an answer? They might be trying to win your heart over and make sure that you fall in love with them so helplessly that you won''t be able to do anything else. A crafty woman indeed!

    Scarlet rolled her eyes as Jedd started spewing nonsense again. Really¡­ sometimes talking to him frustrated her but other times, she was glad for the company. For some reason, Jedd was always able to make her laugh and feel at ease. There was just something about the NEET that made Scarlet feel as if she didn''t have to do anything to feel special around him.

    The two online friends chatted for a while more till Scarlet was unable to keep her eyes open. Lately, it had become a habit for the actress to spend her nights simply chatting with her new friend until sleep claimed her.

    Jedd noticed that his buddy had gone silent all of a sudden and decided to leave the chat room. The first time this happened, Jedd didn''t know what to think about it. He thought that he might have said something wrong to offend the serious college student. However, the very next time he met Frost, the college student apologised. Apparently, he had been too tired to stay awake and had fallen asleep. From that day onwards, if Jedd didn''t hear a reply from Frost after an hour or so, he would disconnect from the room.

    On the other side of the world, Edward smiled. It was afternoon and he was having lunch with Elfie. The poor hacker called him out after a week of silent treatment since the chat room app exploded. Many things happened and Edward heard bits and pieces of what happened from his contacts. When they finally met, the university student couldn''t help but feel slight pity for the programmer. He looked worse than he did when they had to pull a one-week all-nighter to catch the international hacker in action and arrest him.

    "You look like hell," Edward said and Elfie deadpanned.

    "Thanks for pointing out the obvious. Can we get something to eat with coffee first? I think I haven''t eaten anything since two this morning."

    Edward checked the time. It was two in the afternoon. Frost had fallen asleep not too long ago and Edward completely forgot about lunch until Elfie mentioned it.

    "Sounds good to me. There''s a good caf¨¦ I frequent around the campus, let''s head there for food before we talk. I''m assuming you''ve sorted out everything else?"

    The programmer sighed and Edward could almost see Elfie''s soul leave his body. Without even answering, Edward already knew the gist of Elfie''s current predicament. The hacker hasn''t sorted everything out but he was able to get some things in place enough to carry on as planned. The chat room''s fame wasn''t part of the plan and even Edward was shocked by it even if he understood the appeal it had.

    The caf¨¦ was a short walk of fifteen minutes away from the busy campus and main city hub. It was also one of Edward''s favourite haunts ever since he started his studies in New York. It was only the first term of his school life in the university but Edward felt as if he had been there for too long. The teenagers were too dumb and hardly anyone held his interest. In contrast, talking to Frost and Elfie was more fun.

    Elfie ordered a turkey sandwich and a strong coffee brew while Edward got himself some fries and a latte. The waitress knew Edward and smiled at him.

    "You''re a regular?" Elfie asked and the university student grinned. "Been here for a while now. Good spot away from the unwanted attention too. Hardly anybody comes here during this hour. It''s always the dinner and late crowd that''s busy in this caf¨¦. So, what do you have for me?"

    Elfie pulled out his laptop and asked for Edward''s user ID since Edward had downloaded the app and created one beforehand. The hacker quickly tapped on his keyboard to activate the admin access right for Edward''s account just so that the teen could view other user''s number code.

    "Scarlet''s code is 0003 so look out for any user with that tag. Also, while the chat room doesn''t allow for a friend''s list at this stage, I made one over the week just for you. Not sure if it''s going into the patch update in beta but for now, you''re the only one with it. Be careful and don''t let anyone know. Scarlet''s contact information has been registered in your friend''s list so you will know when she comes online and which room she is in."

    Edward reloaded his phone''s app and true enough, there was a new tab for friend contacts. The one thing that made Edward stunned was who Scarlet turned out to be. He knew that Elfie was in contact with the Wilde family. Scarlet was the adopted daughter who had recently been a hot topic ever since the Sweet Sixteen gala announcement. In fact, Edward knew more about Scarlet than he knew about Frost from Elfie and from the news reports.

    Who would have thought that his newest friend online would be the second daughter of the Wilde Family?

    The creepy smirk on Edward''s face made Elfie regret agreeing to play cupid. Whenever Edward was in one of those moods, almost nobody could stop him from doing the dumbest of things. The hacker felt slightly apologetic towards Scarlet but he had an agreement with Jasper that they would settle the issue with Anastasia without implicating the girls more than necessary.

    "Whatever it is that you are thinking about, you should cease at once. Scarlet is not the kind of girl you can approach easily, online or in person. If anything goes wrong, I''m not bailing you out of this one," Elfie warned and Edward grinned.

    "Got it. Don''t worry too much. I''ll keep my end of the bargain. You should get going, I''m sure you''ll enjoy some peace and quiet alone," the university student smiled and paid for both their lunches before leaving.

    It might be chilly in New York right now but Edward felt oddly warm after finding out who Frost really was by a twist of events.

 Chapter 155 - Background Research

    Scarlet Wilde¡­ Edward was intrigued. To think that the daughter of such a prestigious family would be doing so many things behind the scenes made him curious. What exactly was her source of motivation?

    Scarlet was very different from Alex. According to Elfie, the girl was actually a writer when she was younger. The Scarlet Elfie knew from his younger days was a very quiet and sensible child. The adoption into the Wilde family screamed suspicious for Edward but he wasn''t the type of person to pry into other people''s business. There had to be some kind of reason for the Wilde''s to make that kind of decision out of the blue. Not even Elfie understood the full story of Scarlet''s adoption. Scarlet also never spoke much about her biological parents.

    The lecturer was a foggy old man who talked like an old dialog modem. Half the class didn''t bother to attend his lecture and the remaining half that did attend were nodding off. Edward didn''t bother pretending to pay attention as he tapped noisily on his laptop at the very back of the class. Besides, going to university was only for show. Edward was smart enough to graduate with his master''s degree if he really wanted to. He had better things to do at the moment.

    Unlike most other students in the university, Edward had a second identity and a job of a lifetime. Ever since he was a kid, his father knew that he was different. You cannot be the son of the Interpol''s general secretariat without inheriting some of that gifted genes. His mother was a spy who died on a mission when he was only two so Edward didn''t know his mother. With both parents being highly successful individuals in their line of work, it was only natural that Edward too joined as a trained child spy.

    Edward and Elfie met on a job. Unlike other spies, Edward wasn''t allowed to go on field missions much unless a child was required for a cover on a job. Hence, the undercover agent worked as an information broker alongside Elfie when he wasn''t needed on the ground.  Background research was one of his strong suits and finding information regarding Scarlet shouldn''t be that difficult.

    The lecture lasted two long hours and in that time frame, Edward had to admit defeat. Scarlet''s history was harder to find than he thought it would be. Hardly anything about Scarlet''s existence was mentioned in any media sources before she turned fourteen. In fact, Edward couldn''t even find the official adoption papers for Scarlet. He didn''t know her old name and that made the spy frustrated.

    He thought of asking Elfie for help but then he remembered that Elfie warned him about not lending him a hand if it concerns anything more about Scarlet. Edward was doing it solo. The teen sighed. He knew about his habit to obsess over anything that caught his interest. Right now, he understood how creepy he was being. Scarlet might just come to hate him if she knew what kind of background checks he was doing on her. Still, he couldn''t help it. He was highly curious and Scarlet was a fairly interesting individual from how she had a very contrasting personality to the one she had for the public as well as her unique view of the world.

    Saved in Edward''s external hard drive were countless photos of Liu Xiu Wen from her debut till the latest social media post. There were also recordings of Britannia''s live concerts from the earliest days and all of the rare class photos that Edward stole from Elfie''s personal stash that included Scarlet in it. Edward knew that he was behaving like a stalker but he couldn''t help it. There was simply too little information about the girl. Also, something bothered him greatly. Why couldn''t he find any traces of the girl''s writings if she was a writer?

    [Frost is online.]

    Edward looked at the notification and smiled. Scarlet truly was one of a kind. Although her schedule was hectic and unpredictable, there were still some things that he could continue to look forward to. Scarlet hasn''t shown up in a few days but that was normal. Jedd77 didn''t log in daily either. In fact, if it wasn''t for Scarlet, Edward probably wouldn''t have bothered with the chat room.

    [Frost has created a room ¨C Moon Fairies.]

    Again, this was one more thing about Scarlet that intrigued Edward. She had quite the naming sense and every room Scarlet created, she always chose a unique theme. Edward first met her in a room called "Spy Stories" with the topic description set as "A time when you discovered a secret that saved the day". Upon seeing such a topic, there were many others who joined Scarlet''s hosted room. Jedd77 was just one of the twenty-odd people in that room.

    For some reason, Frost had a magnetic personality that kept the chat alive. They had such a fantastic personality that Edward didn''t have the pleasure of meeting in a while with his boring life. Instantly, he was drawn towards Frost but he didn''t think that he would be seeing that unique personality again.

    To his utter joy, the person with the username Frost appeared two days after that unique room. This time, they hosted a room called "Cat Life" and the room''s topic description was "For cat people only, must own ears, tail and a feline personality¡­ just kitten!". That bad pun made Edward laugh aloud for the first time in years. Previously, Frost was a rather welcoming host who could host intellectual conversations with well-timed roasts delivered in good humour. It was hard to believe that the same person was in charge of such a bad one-liner joke but Edward had no problems believing it was the same person.

    After the second conversation, Frost and Jedd77 became regulars in the chat room and always found one another somehow. Edward didn''t know that Scarlet was a moderator alongside the twenty-odd other friends that Elfie had. Scarlet''s username also changed quite frequently now that he had admin logs and special privileges. However, he did notice a pattern. Scarlet would always change her name to Frost at a certain timing of the day if she logged in. That room will be hosted as usual and Edward felt a fuzzy warmth spreading from his chest to the tip of his toes.

    It might be presumptuous of him to assume that she was doing it to meet him and create that opportunity but Edward didn''t care. He wanted to selfishly believe that there was still something special connecting them even without Elfie''s help. Initially, he wanted to get to know about the troublesome girl that Elfie was trying so hard to help. Elfie was very much like Edward when it came to human relationsh.i.p.s. They didn''t trust people easily and it was a common thing for people in their line of work. Scarlet must be really special for Elfie to go more than the extra mile for her and Edward didn''t like how Elfie was insistent on bringing down a top kingpin of the underworld just to prevent the girl from getting herself too involved. Edward was worried about Elfie when he saw how far the hacker was sticking his neck out for a rich and spoiled daughter of the Wilde family. Initially, the spy wanted to test Scarlet and scare her into staying away from Elfie but now, he had second opinions about her.

    Jedd77: You''re early today. What''s the occasion?

    Frost: You wouldn''t believe it even if I told you.

    Edward smiled at the reply. At this point, that line made him smile. He felt like a fool but he couldn''t wipe that grin off his face.

    Jedd77: Try me.

    After knowing that Frost was Scarlet, Edward wanted to try and lure her into loosening her lips a little more to give him more hints about what she was like as a person behind the screen. No, it wasn''t because his background research wasn''t going well. Edward shook his head. That definitely wasn''t a reason for doing this. He was simply interested in her and if she wanted to share, who was he to deny her? As a friend, it would only be right to be a listening ear for someone in need.

    Frost: They asked me out again.

    Edward froze. It took a while for his brain to remember who ''they'' were. The teen swallowed. Elfie didn''t say anything about who Scarlet met and Edward made a mental note to check out Scarlet''s schedule. If he had a clue as to who ''they'' were, he might have a better direction to start stal- searching for information about Scarlet''s history.

    Yes, this was purely professional, it wasn''t personal at all. Edward assured himself that he wasn''t wrong and composed his reply the way his NEET personality would.

    Jedd77: Are you going to meet them? Why do they want to see you again? Is it business or¡­ *inserts Lenny face*

    Frost: -_- It''s not what you think it is. They merely asked me to accompany them as their plus one to a social gathering event that could be good for us. We''re looking at meeting their clients and my company''s potential working business partners. The deal isn''t finalised yet so this is simply to give a good first impression before we negotiate conditions.

    Jedd77: Sounds like she''s making up an excuse to show you off to her friends. You lucky dawg! You got a hot lady right in the palm of your hands if she''s willing to go this far for you¡­

    This time, Scarlet''s reply took longer and Edward wondered what was going through her mind.

    Frost: I don''t have a good feeling about meeting these ''friends'' of hers tbh¡­ the way they look at me feels off but I don''t know what it is.

    Jedd77: Well, I would suggest you send someone else to replace you then. Safety first, you''re the precious successor to your parents'' company after all. Besides, what''s a college student doing attending such a fancy event? You should be getting smashed in clubs at your age!

    Frost: Hahaha! You have a point. Thanks, I''ll think about it carefully. Will crash now, I had an exhausting day. Catch you again¡­

    Jedd77: Oh alright¡­ it''s a little fast but I guess you need your beauty sleep more. I''ll be here again whenever you feel like dropping by¡­ I have nothing to do anyway. I bet you''re envying the eventful life of a NEET right now.

    Frost: You wish¡­ I don''t wanna sound like a nag but maybe you should consider getting a part-time job or something. Staying home all day to play games just doesn''t sound healthy to me.

    Jedd77: Neither does overworking¡­ alright, it''s rare for you to sleep early so I shan''t stand in the way between you and sleep. Good night!

    Frost: Good night ^^

    Scarlet logged off but Edward continued to stare at his phone. Today''s chat might have been short but Edward did notice something. Scarlet didn''t open the room for everyone else. She closed the joining capacity almost immediately once it was filled by him using her moderator rights. It was almost as if she wanted to talk to him in private and the thought made his face heat up.

    "It can''t be¡­ right?"

 Chapter 156 - Infiltrating Pineapple Group

    When work piled up, the days flew by quickly. Scarlet talked about her insecurities with Jedd77 that night after she came back from a photoshoot and felt much better knowing that there would be someone in the world that would miss her and wonder where she was if she screwed up on the mission. It was a rather twisted feeling but Scarlet wanted someone to feel as if they could never move on from her.

    As her depression got worse with the demanding workload and expectations of others, Scarlet found herself experiencing more mood swings and darker thoughts she tried very hard to keep out of her mind. Her smile was still as beautiful as before in front of the cameras but her eyes had slowly lost their shine. The photographer that day must have noticed it too because he stopped the photoshoot halfway and told Scarlet to wear coloured contact lenses.

    She might be able to fool the people around her who didn''t see her or know her as an individual but she couldn''t hide it from a professional who spent more than half his life studying people''s souls and hearts by looking at them from a lens. Thankfully, the photographer didn''t rat her out and kept her secret. The haunted look in her lifeless eyes scared her so much that the singer was glad those photographs wouldn''t be published.

    The teen writer wondered how long she would remain as the news headline if she died trying to achieve justice. For many years, she worked very hard to get dirt on Anastasia and finally, the opportunity presented itself. Ming Yang took the bait and invited Scarlet to a private party that the Pineapple Group hosted for their top executives as an annual casual meeting to maintain a good relationship with their business partners. Ming Yang usually went with a hired escort but this year, he wanted Scarlet to be his plus one at the event.

    The CEO sweetened the deal a lot by giving Scarlet the opportunity to perform her songs for his guests at the gathering and promote her upcoming work to his business partners. Pamela thought that it was fantastic and Ming Yang played the card of an enthusiastic rich patron and fan very well. Even Raven couldn''t find a reason to refuse such a good deal.

    The business partners that will be attending were well-known in their fields. While not many of them were from the entertainment circle, there were many directors and presidents of other companies that worked closely with Pineapple Group. Scarlet caught a glimpse of the names and recognised some of them as people who were on her investigation list. The teen singer didn''t have a reason to refuse the invitation but she still told Ming Yang that she needed time to discuss it over with her agency and stalled for time to give him her reply.

    Honestly, Scarlet was afraid. She didn''t dare to tell Jasper and Elfie about the invitation in fear that they would do something to mess up her meticulous plans. She knew that both the hacker and CEO were trying their best to approach Anastasia from a different angle without putting anyone in too much risk but Scarlet wasn''t that patient. She had the golden opportunity before her now and while she was afraid that a repeat of the incident where she would be hunted by goons for holding onto Collin''s evidence, Scarlet was determined to take that risk alone again.

    Jedd77''s words that night gave Scarlet courage to accept the invitation after a week of deliberation. The girl even made preparations in case something went wrong. Scarlet scheduled a post on her Human Observation Diary to be published if she didn''t make it back in three days. That post contained everything that the world needed to know about Anastasia. If she couldn''t bring the mafia boss down, she would at least cause a huge stir with her death.

    Many people were afraid of dying but for Scarlet, death wasn''t as scary as being forgotten. For a very long time, Scarlet lived like a doll with the Liu''s. It was only after she became a true daughter of the Wilde family that Scarlet felt like a real human. The story about Pinocchio made Scarlet smile.

    "I wonder if the blue fairy will make me a real Wilde princess if I succeed," the singer mused.

    She looked over to the dress that Tina helped to pick out for the event. Pamela also blocked the day off for Scarlet when she told them she wanted to accept Ming Yang''s invitation. Raven didn''t seem happy but he relented and offered to be her driver and escort. Ming Yang wanted to pick her up at her residence but Scarlet didn''t feel too comfortable about revealing her location so they agreed to meet at the venue separately.

    The event was going to be held at a country club resort a little way out from Beijing city. The teen writer was nervous about it and looked into the large dressing mirror. She had rehearsed the lines many times in her head and perfected that smile in the mirror for the greeting and first impression she wanted to make on her targets. There were name cards in her clutch and all Scarlet had to do was capture everyone''s attention at the party like how she always dominated the stage.

    "It''s going to be alright," Scarlet said and looked over at her phone.

    For a moment she hesitated to join the chat room. It was late. Will Jedd be angry that she didn''t listen to his advice and still chose to go ahead? What he didn''t know couldn''t hurt him but for some reason, Scarlet wanted to tell him about her decision just to know his reaction. Would he scold her or sigh in disappointment at her disobedience?

    Frost: Hello

    Jedd77: Busy day again?

    Frost: No busier than the normal. I thought about what you said the other night.

    Jedd77: Oh? Care to refresh my memory? We had many conversations over many nights, I can''t remember everything¡­

    Frost: I''m going to take the lady up on her offer and meet her clients. My manager and I decided that it would be a good opportunity for me to expand my contact network.

    Jedd77: Does she still make you feel uncomfortable? Will you really be alright?

    Scarlet paused. She expected a more intense reaction from Jedd like how she imagined Jasper and Elfie to be. For some reason, his concern didn''t feel suffocating but it didn''t feel like someone who said it like a programmed response out of courtesy. His genuine concern made Scarlet feel confused on the inside.

    Frost: Are you worried about me?

    Jedd77: Well yeah¡­ isn''t it normal to worry for a pal? Besides, it''s not as if men cannot feel threatened. If she tries anything funny you should run as fast as you can. Screw chivalry and male pride, scream for help.

    Frost: ¡­ Just what are you imagining?

    Jedd77: Well, that''s just the worst-case scenario. If they offer you drinks, make sure to take one that''s not unattended and not passed by them. I don''t know about you but I know of many r.a.p.e date drug cases at all these parties. People who are crazy in love can do just about anything. You''re a very decent guy so I worry about your chastity.

    Scarlet was speechless. While it was true she was pretending to be a male, isn''t it a little odd for another male friend to be worried about another male friend''s v.i.r.g.i.nity or something? Jedd was a real mystery sometimes and Scarlet couldn''t understand how he came to that conclusion.

    Frost: What are you talking about? Thank you very much but my chastity is fine, you don''t have to worry about that. Besides, they are not that kind of person¡­ I think.

    Jedd77: You think? You''re fresh meat for cougars! What do you think will happen if you put fresh meat in front of starving carnivores? You''re not going to stand a chance.

    Frost: ¡­ you have a really wild imagination. Have you been reading too much manga again? Those things only happen in stories¡­ they''re not going to happen to me. Also, this is a business meeting. Why would anyone try to drug me at a business party?

    Jedd77: I don''t know but if there are rooms at the party venue like a hotel''s ballroom then you should be careful. Also, don''t look down on the power of manga! According to the plot developments, 8/10 times something like this happens, it''s a flag of destruction and r.a.p.e.

    Scarlet shivered. Jedd was a NEET through and through. If she doubted it before, she now didn''t. How could anyone know so many weeb terms if they weren''t a NEET or otaku? Still, the night was spent debating with Jedd about possible scenarios of nasty cougars kidnapping a poor young and handsome business heir like him. Most of the scenario settings were ridiculous and it made Scarlet laugh if anything. However, one of the scenarios struck a little too close to home when Jedd talked about being trapped in a broom closet.

    Frost: Hypothetically speaking, what should someone do if they are being pursued and hid in a broom closet when their pursuers are closing in with guns in their hands?

    Jedd77: Really? We''re going in that direction? I suppose you can do one of two things in a situation like this if you are the main character.

    Jedd77: The first is to jump out of the closet and declare yourself an official proud member of the gay community

    Frost: And the second?

    Jedd77: Arm yourself with a broom and wait for the chance to smack the gun-blazing bad guys in the face before running for it. Of course, the more things you can find in the broom closet to buy time and throw them off guard, the better. For example, throwing buckets on their heads, pouring detergent on the floors to make them trip etc¡­ hypothetically, this would give you enough time to get away or smack them unconscious.

    Scarlet smiled as she read it then yawned.

    Frost: Thanks for the tip, movie director. I''ll be sure to survive like the shameless main character and tell you all about the cougars if they exist. Gotta sleep now¡­

    Jedd77: Good night, hotshot! If you score some numbers please introduce me a sugar mummy lmao

    Frost: Dream on

    Jedd77: Hahaha! Alright, good night and sleep well.

    That night, Scarlet had a good rest and dreamt of a different ending to the same nightmare for the first time in years. Instead of getting shot by Anastasia''s henchmen, Scarlet made her escape with the help of brooms, detergent and buckets.

 Chapter 157 - Idol Turned Heroine

    CEO Zhu looked dashing and Scarlet couldn''t help but be impressed by the man''s fine taste. He was a gentleman from head to toe and offered his arm for Scarlet to escort her to the party.

    "I''m very happy that you agreed to be my escort for this evening''s party," he told her with a gentle smile although his eyes hid a glint of something else that Scarlet couldn''t identify.

    Still, she returned the smile with her own and thanked him for the invitation. "It is my honour. Thank you for supporting my works, I never thought that I''d have the opportunity to introduce myself to such prominent figures."

    Ming Yang laughed at Scarlet''s scripted reply. "Given your talent, I''m surprised that you have not met them earlier. It hasn''t been many years since your debit in the showbiz world but already you have accomplished so much. I cannot wait to see more of what you can achieve."

    Scarlet blushed a little at the honest compliment and looked away nervously, not knowing how to reply. While Ming Yang was a little dangerous and suspicious, the man had been nothing but nice to Scarlet from their very first meeting. He acted like a genuine fan and patron and that was what puzzled Scarlet the most. Was Ming Yang truly a fan of hers and had no other ulterior motives? Reading Ming Yang was confusing and as a writer who was used to observing others, this was the first time she found it so hard to read a person''s character.

    "You seem a little distracted tonight," Ming Yang commented when Scarlet fell silent.

    The teen snapped out of her thoughts and apologised. At the back of her mind, she wanted to slap herself for letting her guard down. She was technically in the enemy''s territory, why was she acting so relaxed and full of openings? Now that she thought about it, Jedd might have a valid reason to be concerned about her safety at such events. Even if Ming Yang wasn''t a wolf, the same cannot be said about the rest of the guests at today''s reception. Scarlet had to be more careful.

    "My apologies, it''s nothing."

    The CEO wasn''t buying it and the raised brow directed at Scarlet made the girl look away. She avoided his scrutiny and prayed that he wouldn''t pry. Thankfully, Ming Yang was kind enough not to pursue the subject and changed the topic to something else that Scarlet could talk about with ease.

    "You''re quite the workaholic," Ming Yang''s off-handed comment took Scarlet by surprise.

    The wide-eyed look on Scarlet''s face and parted lips made the CEO break out into a peal of boyish laughter. It was true that Scarlet worked very hard but nobody has ever commented that she was a workaholic before. The thought about Scarlet being addicted to working made her brain stop working for a moment as she tried to figure out if it was true. Thinking about her hobbies, Scarlet frowned. Ming Yang might have a point there but Scarlet wasn''t sure. Does having a productive hobby like writing books count as work? Scarlet didn''t exactly hate her work when she did it.

    Ming Yang couldn''t keep the amused smirk off his face as they walked to the resort''s ballroom. Just an off-handed comment was enough to send Scarlet into an overthinking mode. The CEO was glad that he didn''t choose another boring escort for this event. In fact, the girl''s reaction made him quite confident in his choice of company for tonight. If everything played out like how he planned, Ming Yang would be watching some rather interesting drama take place later.

    "We''re here," he told the teen who had a frown as deep as the three gorges dam.

    Scarlet blinked and nodded before readjusting her socialising mask. Ming Yang silently approved of the girl''s professionalism and made his grand entrance. Almost at once, all eyes were on them when they entered the room. Scarlet shivered a little at the difference in temperature. The evening gown that Pamela and Tina helped her to pick out was sleeveless and the air-conditioning in the ballroom was brutal. Nevertheless, Scarlet gritted her teeth and smiled, enduring the cold even as it raised gooseflesh all over her exposed skin.

    They must have greeted over thirty people in the last hour and Scarlet wondered how Ming Yang can exude so much patience in front of the shameless gentlemen who did nothing to hide the needles in their words directed at the young CEO. Of course, the writer was wrong. It wasn''t patience that Ming Yang was displaying when he smiled and replied to the degrading exchange of words. It was forbearance and tolerance that he exerted with much difficulty in order to lay low in the radar as the new CEO. The old-timers who had a lot of power were still a threat to him so Ming Yang did his best to grin and bear with the insults blatantly thrown in his face.

    This went on for a while more until one man made a comment that struck a nerve within Scarlet as well. Unable to hold back her fury, Scarlet glared at the president of a car company.

    "Mr Shen, was it?" Scarlet smiled pleasantly although her tone was clipped and had an edge to it. "I believe you owe CEO Zhu an apology for what you just said."

    Mr Shen wasn''t expecting anyone to rebut and his eyes almost bulged when Scarlet demanded an apology from him in front of everyone. The room that was full of chatter and laughter was now a lot quieter after Scarlet spoke. Everyone, including CEO Zhu, was surprised that such a small girl had such a big audacity to tackle the elephant in the room. While Ming Yang tolerated the humiliation and bullying by the rest of his business partners, nobody was expecting his escort to stand up for him. It could be said that this was the first time in history that Ming Yang found himself an ally in his company.

    Not many of the directors knew who Scarlet was but after she spoke, they were now interested.

    "Wh-what did you say?" Mr Shen''s face was changing from white to red every few seconds, unable to decide if he should be angry or scared that such a small girl could look at him with such a commanding stare.

    "Mm, I believe you didn''t hear it the first time. My Mandarin isn''t very good so I''ll rephrase it. Please take back what you said about CEO Zhu''s leadership ability and apologise. I don''t think it''s nice to insult the achievements he created for Pineapple Group with his own efforts. Being born with a golden spoon might have been luck. However, the ability to inspire success has nothing to do with luck. I''m sure someone like you would be able to understand at least this much."

    Ming Yang was impressed. No, he was awestruck. Scarlet was his idol ever since he saw her debut in China. Her earnest attitude for what she did and her strong personality that went against many Chinese stereotypes was what attracted him to her. Now that the girl he admired, who was one and a half head shorter, stood beside him, Ming Yang felt as if he was looking at his heroine. All the frustrations at not being able to say the things he wanted to say were thrown out of the window when Scarlet spoke up on his behalf.

    Mr Shen looked alternating between Scarlet and Ming Yang before huffing and stomping off without even a word of apology. Scarlet''s words were sharp like a razor and that merciless strike back at Mr Shen was like a declaration of war. At that very moment, the room of businessmen started deciding which camp they wanted to belong in. Seeing the girl who was hardly five-foot-tall stand so tall and proudly for what she believed in made them feel like sissies.

    Some of the more cowardly directors came forward to offer their apologies so that they would remain on CEO Zhu''s good side. Ming Yang relished in the moment of gaining the temporary upper-hand. The more malevolent ones simply excused themselves to leave the event early now that the mood was spoiled. Everyone was curious about the escort CEO Zhu brought with him this time but Scarlet never spoke up again for the rest of the evening until she excused herself.

    The performance Scarlet put up garnered loud applause from the audience and the singer smiled angelically. Of everyone present in the room, Ming Yang was the one most affected by her performance. Seeing Scarlet perform in person was a true dream come true for a fan like him. She was terribly tiny in person when she stood beside him but on the stage, she ruled it like a queen. Her stage presence was bigger than his business empire and Ming Yang found himself falling for her all over again.

    Some of the businessmen who stayed back changed their minds about Scarlet after watching her performance. They were moved by her talent and beauty so much that Scarlet was immediately offered job contracts and brand sponsorsh.i.p.s. Name cards were exchanged and Scarlet was pleased to know that out of the eight directors on her investigation list, six have approached her on their own accord. Of the remaining two, one left early and the other didn''t look like he liked Scarlet at all.

    "That was a wonderful performance," Ming Yang smiled after Scarlet broke free from the pestering business directors.

    "I feel like I''m falling for you all over again as a fan," he said earnestly and kissed the back of Scarlet''s hand.

    The sudden action made Scarlet blush a little before laughing awkwardly. "Thank you, I''m very flattered. I didn''t expect to be swarmed the moment I stepped down the stage."

    Ming Yang smiled. "That only happened because you were too brilliant up on that stage. Now I''m feeling a lot of regret for missing so many of your live concerts. Do you always perform with so much energy?"

    Scarlet grinned. "I have to or my composer will nag my ears off."

    Ming Yang laughed when Scarlet let down her guard a little and shared with the CEO a little more about the people she worked with in the recording studio. While they chatted and laughed, many pairs of eyes followed them. For the directors who weren''t happy with Ming Yang''s position and influence, this was the perfect opportunity for a setup. With some clicks of their phones, hundreds of juicy gossip materials were ready to be sent to the printing house for tomorrow''s headlines.

    While Scarlet complained about the pressure of needing to hit impossible notes, Ming Yang cast a sideway glance discreetly and hid a smile while taking a sip of his champagne. He moved closer to the unsuspecting singer and allowed better pictures to be taken. Now that the fish had taken the bait, all he had to do was wait for it to be hooked.

 Chapter 158 - Scarlets First Scandal

    It didn''t take long for the pictures to be circulated and they made their way to the headlines. Of course, this matter didn''t just stop in China. In fact, Edward couldn''t believe such a thing was happening to Scarlet. There was no doubting who that ''business partner'' who invited Frost was after the headlines appeared. Scarlet had always been very careful and with the influence of the Wilde family, how could such a scandal appear overnight?

    Something wasn''t adding up. Edward decided to do some digging on Zhu Ming Yang. He didn''t have a good impression of the CEO. Scarlet might have been tricked by the young CEO after being so blinded by her need to find dirt on Anastasia. Elfie and Edward weren''t ignorant about the Pineapple Group''s involvement with Anastasia''s dirty deeds. Scarlet must have gotten careless trying to get close to CEO Zhu which resulted in the scandal.

    Back in Jupiter Records, the company''s president was in an important phone call with his daughter.

    "How did this happen?"

    Pamela sighed. "Sorry, dad. It''s my fault. Scarlet met up with CEO Zhu once before for dinner and proposed a deal. He is a very influential person and it wasn''t easy to turn down his persistent request for a meet-up. The job that Scarlet agreed to do was also very attractive for us to market Scarlet''s new album. Nobody expected that this would happen."

    Mr Ong sighed. He couldn''t blame his daughter or Scarlet for that. With the singer''s popularity, it would be considered a miracle that Scarlet only experienced her first scandal after so many years in the industry. Normal entertainers in the circle would already be attacked upon their debut but Scarlet managed to sail through her career without much resistance even without the Wilde family''s influence in the earlier days.

    "Forget it. What is done cannot be undone. For now, don''t let Scarlet go anywhere alone. If possible, cancel all her jobs for a few weeks until the flames have died down. CEO Zhu must also be rather upset about the scandal. You should know what to do."

    Pamela nodded. "Don''t worry, father. I will personally go down to talk to the CEO and appease him so that he will not hold Scarlet responsible. Raven is already contacting the Wilde family to inform them about the situation. If it isn''t good, we will send Scarlet back to America for a while."

    Mr Ong hummed. "That''s not a bad option. Scarlet can also pursue her higher education if things cannot be sorted out quickly enough. I will talk to Mrs Wilde about the idea. Keep me updated about what CEO Zhu''s reaction is like. We need to coordinate statements with Pineapple Group to keep the flames under control."

    Pamela understood what her father meant. While this was a terrible blow for both Scarlet and CEO Zhu, there were many ways to ride the wave and make the best of the opportunity presented. Currently, many eyes were on CEO Zhu and Scarlet. The media was hungry for anything they could get their hands on and should Pineapple Group''s heir and the Wilde princess have any solid connection, it would be free publicity for both sides. The only people who would be hurt by the alliance would be the one releasing the news in the first place.

    The more Pamela thought about it, the more convinced she was that CEO Zhu wasn''t the man behind the scandal. Even if he was, it would not harm Scarlet''s image. The girl was only sixteen and CEO Zhu was in his thirties. It wasn''t possible to label Scarlet as a gold-digger because she comes from a wealthy and powerful family. If anything, CEO Zhu was the one at a disadvantage.

    The capable manager gathered a lot of information from her network to find out more about Zhu Ming Yang''s background. It was said that CEO Zhu wasn''t very influential in his company even though he inherited it from his father. Nobody knew why Ming Yang''s father suddenly decided to step down from his position and hand the reins to his son four years ago but there was definitely a reason for some strange rumours to be floating around.

    While Pamela didn''t have concrete evidence to support the claims she heard from bystanders about CEO Zhu, many said that he had the backing of someone more powerful than his father who helped to threaten the old CEO into handing over the company to his son. Nobody knew who the backer was but in four years under Ming Yang''s leadership, Pineapple Group quickly rose to the top.

    The CEO Zhu that many other people talked about was a merciless tyrant who ruled with an iron fist. It was a very different thing from how Scarlet described him to be at the party that she acted as his escort. The CEO Zhu that Scarlet knew was a gentleman who was bullied by the other directors for being young and immature. Many people were hostile towards CEO Zhu according to the singer and she saw them bullying the CEO in front of her.

    While Pamela was busy dealing with so many phone calls about the rumours flying around the scandal, Scarlet remained emotionless to the scandal. Raven thought that it was weird because Scarlet kept palming her phone throughout that morning while they were in the office. Tina said that the singer didn''t lose her appetite this morning and that was saying something. According to the caretaker who had watched Scarlet grow up, the girl would often lose appetite if something bad happened. For some reason, the bodyguard thought that Scarlet gave off a vibe that told them this was merely the calm before the storm.

    For Scarlet, unlike the world that was thrown into a storm by her first scandal, she was waiting for a text. She didn''t meet up with CEO Zhu without a reason and after that one dinner meeting, they exchanged numbers. Scarlet even invited CEO Zhu to the chat room for easier communication and found out quite a few things that she could use for their mutual benefit.

    Firstly, CEO Zhu wasn''t a gentlemanly person like how he projected himself in public. He might be a tyrant but he was a tyrant without any real power or influence. His father was still pulling the strings behind the scenes and there were only a few people that CEO Zhu could trust. Not even his secretary and personal assistant could be trusted which was why CEO Zhu reached out to Scarlet, hoping to ask for the Wilde family to be his backer.

    Scarlet didn''t mind offering assistance for the young and ambitious man after hearing CEO Zhu''s resolve. He didn''t want to deal with the underground in his generation and wanted to walk the righteous path for his future generations. The woman he fell in love with was a commoner who worked hard to support herself. They studied at the same university previously and had to keep their relationship under wraps because Ming Yang''s father had fixed an engagement with Anastasia''s daughter.

    When the singer heard the name Anastasia, her face colour changed. CEO Zhu didn''t miss it and told her everything he knew about that man. Although he wasn''t too involved in the underworld dealings that his father managed using the Pineapple Group''s influence, Ming Yang was observant enough and knew more than Scarlet.

    The alliance between Scarlet and CEO Zhu was a mutually beneficial one. The CEO wanted Scarlet''s support as a child from the Wilde family to break off his engagement with Anastasia''s daughter as well as help him expose his father so that Pineapple Group can go back onto the right path. Scarlet stated her terms and wanted CEO Zhu to help her gather damning evidence and more information about Anastasia''s organisation so that she can bring it down entirely. Their plan was simple. In order to cause a huge shake to that solid black foundation built by two big crime bosses, they needed to take the public by storm so that all eyes would be on them. With so much attention on them, it would be impossible for the police and government to ignore it if they were to act suspicious and stir up incidents that could expose the dirty dealings behind the scene.

    This was only possible because of China''s communist government. Media censorship was controlled within the country and it would be difficult for CEO Zhu to cause waves alone. Things were different if he were to get into an affair with an internationally known celebrity who was Chinese but belonged to the powerful Wilde family. That gala event wasn''t a coincidence. The pictures were taken by businessmen who wanted to do dirty and smear mud on Ming Yang''s name. Ming Yang allowed it and Scarlet helped.

    Scarlet''s phone vibrated and at once, she unlocked her screen to read the message.

    Tyrant: It''s done. Have you seen the forums? They''re eating it up.

    The singer grinned and texted her reply, getting confused looks from her caretaker and manager.

    Scarlet: Perfect. Why don''t you get someone to contact my agency so that we can conduct a ''proper'' discussion?

    Tyrant: Sounds good. I''ll see you in the afternoon.

    The singer wanted to laugh but had to contain it. Raven would get suspicious if she lost control. All that good acting will have gone to waste if anyone reports her back to the Wilde mansion''s unofficial head of security. Claire would know that something is up and Elfie would be involved again. Thankfully, after having so many acting opportunities, Scarlet became a pro.

    Behind her, all three of Scarlet''s closest aides were staring at her full of confusion, worry and suspicion. That girl was definitely up to something again.

 Chapter 159 - Partnership

    "He''s here!" Tina screeched when the doorbell rang. Pamela and Raven were quick to get on their feet to receive the guest. After such a huge scandal, the reporters were crowding around the front of the apartment building, hoping to get a word of update from Scarlet herself.

    Fortunately for them, the building security personnel were very capable. None of the reporters or media crew got past the door. While Scarlet wasn''t able to leave her apartment, that didn''t mean other people couldn''t come to visit.

    "Good afternoon, Miss Wilde. It''s quite a scene at the front door. The security had to let me in from the back door."

    The singer smiled politely and offered CEO Zhu a seat. Tina quickly prepared tea while Pamela eyed the two involved parties of the scandal nervously. While it wasn''t their first time meeting, the manager didn''t sense any awkwardness between them. Could it be that the rumours were true? Was this a forbidden romance she was looking at? Pamela felt her soul leaving her body when Scarlet and Ming Yang''s hands lingered a little too long after the handshake. How was she going to explain this to her father?

    "It''s good to see you again, CEO Zhu. I wonder why you were able to escape the media so easily."

    Instead of rising to the bait, CEO Zhu merely laughed and accepted the tea from Tina. "You caught me there. I actually didn''t come from my home. I was at a business hotel when I saw the news this morning. I thought that you might be in a predicament so I decided to pay you a visit. As expected, the media really didn''t let you go."

    Raven was weary of the CEO. Firstly, CEO Zhu didn''t look anything like the weak and bullied man at the private gathering. Secondly, CEO Zhu had an air around him that screamed predator and dangerous, completely different from their mistress. Lastly, CEO Zhu didn''t seem fazed by his presence as Scarlet''s bodyguard. He waltzed in here alone without a shred of shame or apology for what he had implicated Scarlet with.

    On the other hand, Scarlet was also acting rather calm. They engaged in some small talk before Pamela broke the atmosphere and delved straight into the topic.

    "Sorry for spoiling the mood, CEO Zhu. I am Pamela Ong, Scarlet''s manager. Can I have a word with you about the current scandal? Your company''s PR representative told us that we should have a meeting to coordinate statements. I didn''t expect the CEO himself to turn up at our doorstep."

    CEO Zhu only smiled in reply. "Oh, that''s right. My father must have told my personal assistant to relay the message. Unfortunately, they didn''t know that I would be coming over personally. I assume that they would request for a formal meeting to coordinate statements with Jupiter Records in a few days."

    "¡­" Pamela was speechless as the CEO laughed in a carefree manner and continued sipping tea.

    Scarlet sighed. If Ming Yang was running away again, she assumed that he would be staying for quite a while. "Tina, please start preparing lunch and include CEO Zhu''s portion. I''m afraid we have a lot to discuss today."

    Tina didn''t question Scarlet even though she did look uneasily at the CEO who smiled and waved at her. Raven was requested to accompany the caretaker to get the ingredients she needed while Pamela and the two involved parties of the scandal held their serious discussions. The caretaker didn''t make a fuss. She knew that it was a discussion that needed privacy so she left quickly. Raven didn''t feel easy leaving the CEO alone with Scarlet but with Pamela''s assurance, he left, not before informing Claire about it. Someone from the HQ should still keep an eye on them just in case so that the agents living in the apartment beside Scarlet''s can jump in when needed.

    Once the caretaker and bodyguard were gone, CEO Zhu let his amicable fa?ade drop. Pamela shuddered at the change and Scarlet put the cup down.

    "Let''s get to business," she told Ming Yang who nodded. Without his usual smile, one could easily mistake him as a murderer.

    "Miss Ong," he greeted. "I understand that Jupiter Records and the Pineapple Group want to coordinate statements regarding the rumour. However, I have a request. I would like Jupiter Records to help spread a certain rumour before the official statements happen."

    Pamela swallowed. "W-what kind of rumours are we talking about? You might not be as affected by the scandal but Scarlet''s career is heavily affected even after she agreed to escort you at a private event. As her manager, I''m rather disappointed that you didn''t protect Scarlet''s reputation even after she has agreed to help you. We have rejected your request many times and if it wasn''t for Scarlet''s convincing, we would have never let her attend it!"

    The singer eyed her manager. It was obvious that Pamela was afraid. Pineapple Group was very wealthy and influential. Pulling strings to bankrupt Jupiter Records wouldn''t be difficult for them. Yet, the lady tried to stand up for her and the gesture made Scarlet very touched. It was as if she now had an older sister and Scarlet made a mental note to bring up Pamela''s good deed to her mother once the scandal matter is resolved.

    Ming Yang wasn''t affected by the accusation. After all, none of what Pamela said was false. Instead, he apologised.

    "Yes, it was my fault that this scandal happened. However, don''t you think this is a good opportunity? It is very difficult for celebrities to remain in the limelight for a long time. They have to work very hard to create drama for others in order to remain in public view. However, Scarlet doesn''t have to put in any effort in order to be famous. Other than Scarlet''s identity as a singer and an actress, don''t you think Scarlet''s last identity can become a very powerful playing card for situations like this?"

    Pamela paused and thought for a bit. Scarlet''s other identity? The singer didn''t have to think too much and smiled. Of course, both of them had agreed earlier that they would try to convince Pamela and Jupiter Records to spread rumours that will turn the tide of this scandal for them. In fact, now that she thought about it, the scandal might have been planned by CEO Zhu as well.

    Scarlet didn''t mind. Either way, if this can help them to get the old CEO Zhu and Anastasia''s attention, they were killing two birds with one stone. The partnership started a few days after the dinner meeting. While CEO Zhu was indeed fond of Scarlet as a singer and an actress, he didn''t approach her by chance. Ever since the announcement at the Sweet Sixteen gala, Ming Yang had never stopped trying to get close to Scarlet. It only sweetened the deal when he found out that he didn''t have to sell a sob story to the young girl for her to cooperate with him. Knowing that they had a common enemy made this partnership a lot easier to work with.

    Pamela listened to the idea that Ming Yang proposed and had mixed feelings. Over the years with Scarlet under her care, the manager had grown rather close with the Wilde''s and was in frequent contact with Jenna, their butler. Ming Yang wanted to use Scarlet''s identity as the second heiress of the Wilde family to turn the tides of this disaster and while it was a good move, she didn''t know if Orita would agree to such a thing.

    "I understand what you mean," Pamela told Ming Yang with a deep frown. "However, I cannot make this decision alone. Scarlet may be the young miss of the Wilde family but the business is run by her father. I''m only in contact with her mother so we would have to wait for a rather long time to get a reply from them."

    Ming Yang was slightly disappointed. He knew that it wouldn''t be easy but to have to go through so many gates, they wouldn''t make it on time before Pineapple Group sent someone to talk to Jupiter Records. The manager saw the disheartened look and glanced over to Scarlet. Then, she had an idea.

    "While I cannot speak on behalf of the Wilde family, I can speak on behalf of Scarlet as her manager. Pineapple Group might be looking for a good business venture and I while not many people know this, I think it''s time we started advertising for Golden Frost."

    Ming Yang raised a brow. "Golden Frost? Isn''t that the luxurious brand that all the young a.d.u.l.ts and teens are going crazy after? The fashion brand that sells everything from make-up to shoes that is affordable to people of all income classes? That company that refuses to reveal who the designers are?"

    Scarlet beamed. "Pamela, you''re a genius!"

    The manager laughed. "No, Scarlet. You are. I merely offered an alternative solution as a manager should. So? What do you think?"

    Scarlet nodded furiously. "No need to think about it any further. If it is Golden Frost, Alex will definitely agree to it. As the second owner of Golden Frost, you already have 50% of the approval. Pineapple Group''s CEO is meeting up with Liu Xiu Wen because she''s the second founder of Golden Frost. If this news gets out, it won''t just save our reputation but also increase it!"

    Ming Yang''s jaw fell. Scarlet was the second founder of Golden Frost?! Wait a minute, he heard that Alex was also involved. Could it be that the sisters started a business of their own without even their parents knowing? Was this why Pamela was so secretive about Scarlet''s public schedule? Now that he knew, he couldn''t help but be curious. What other things was Scarlet hiding? Suddenly, the partnership became something worth investing more into.

 Chapter 160 - Golden Pineapple Collaboration

    To strike while the iron was hot, a huge press conference was scheduled to address the rumours. Pamela was initially afraid of handling the big shots from Pineapple Group so Scarlet decided to personally attend the meeting. Needless to say, the manager was flawed by how the young singer handled the situation effectively in a nest of snakes. Nobody doubted Scarlet''s abilities or authority after that incident.

    In the car on the way to the scheduled press conference, a certain CEO couldn''t stop thinking about it. The way Scarlet spoke up for him at the meeting with his company''s PR representatives was too good for him. He would be attending the scheduled press conference for two reasons. The first was to make a public statement believing and the second was to pass Scarlet something that would be of use to her.

    In the eyes of many others, he was a tyrant. However, Ming Yang never once did dirty to those who helped him in his time of need. He remembered revenge as well as he remembered gratitude. For Scarlet, he might have initially approached her with ulterior motives but the singer had gone above his expectations and now, the CEO was indebted. It was a true pity that she wasn''t older. If she was, Ming Yang would make her Mrs Zhu once everything was over.

    Back in New York, a certain university student was looking very sour. Ever since the news about Scarlet''s scandal reached America, there had been no shortage of speculations for what was going to happen. He did his best to gather information but stopped short at China''s censorship and media control. To make matters worse, he only got to know the news about the true reason behind Scarlet''s scandal from a third party. If Alex didn''t tell Elfie that she was flying to China to provide support for her sister''s collaboration project with the Pineapple Group, he would have only found out after the release of the news.

    Alex and Scarlet were nervous. The model had been rehearsing the script that Scarlet gave her. As the model never had a proper education in speaking Chinese, she had an exceptionally tough time getting the intonations right. Jean helped as much as she could and gave the model a crash course about speaking Chinese as much as she could over the last three days.

    "Thank you," Scarlet tested her sister.

    "Xie xie," Alex replied with confidence despite the lisp at the ''x'' sound that sounded more like ''sh'' instead.

    Scarlet nodded. "What''s ''I love you''?"

    Alex swallowed. This was the easiest one but most important. "Wo ai ni. Also, I remember the last one. Wo ai zhong guo. Did I get everything?"

    Scarlet smiled. Last-minute revisions were going well. For everything else, she would handle the reporters with Ming Yang. Scarlet''s Chinese might be a lot better than Alex''s but she was still nervous. Whenever she didn''t understand something, Pamela would translate it for her. However, her manager wouldn''t be able to sit beside her during the press conference to do that and she would have to rely on the CEO to help her out of it.

    Weaving a believable story for Alex to agree to the collaboration project wasn''t difficult. However, Scarlet had to put in extra effort to make the story more detailed because she knew that Alex wasn''t someone who would keep such things to herself. If Jasper or Orita started to ask, Alex would no doubt spill all the beans. In order to successfully deceive one''s enemy, one had to first fool their allies. Scarlet was prepared for that much.

    Like the changing of tides, they eventually reached the venue where the conference would be held. Raven ushered the two ladies to the waiting room where the sisters revised Alex''s greetings in Chinese once more. Pamela wasn''t here to accompany them, too busy taking care of matters back in Jupiter Record''s main office. Claire was with them but she chose to spend time talking to Raven to get an update in person.

    While chatting, Alex didn''t stop trying to find clues about what Scarlet was up to. According to Elfie, her sister was definitely still trying to pull some tricks to uncover more about the mafia boss in China alone. Alex wondered when would be a good time to tell Scarlet to come back to America with her. It was too dangerous for Scarlet to remain in China alone and even Orita agreed. They planned to enrol Scarlet in a university bridging program somewhere in New York where it is closer to home but they didn''t know what Scarlet would be interested in.

    "Hey, Scarlet¡­ you know I''ve been thinking about it. Do you want to continue studying? Lately, I heard that those in the entertainment line don''t usually work for more than five years. Fame is a fickle thing. I''m not saying that acting and singing isn''t good but¡­ was it not your dream to be a writer?"

    Scarlet paused and looked at Alex who appeared genuinely concerned. Even though her sister was physically bigger than her, it didn''t change how Scarlet felt about her whenever she saw the blonde model. Alex was like a puppy and no matter how old she grew, Scarlet would always see her as an innocent child.

    "What about you?" she smiled. "Didn''t you want to become an artist? We did say that we would create books together. If I go back to studying, will you accompany me?"

    Hearing that Scarlet didn''t reject her immediately, Alex beamed. Elfie definitely prepared Alex well when he proposed the idea to the heiress. Alex gushed on and on about the different universities in America, especially New York because it was closest to home.

    Scarlet listened to her sister ramble on and wondered how long Alex had been planning for it. The level of research Alex put into this was certainly very thorough. Was she really neglecting her family for so long trying to chase after Anastasia? Suddenly, Scarlet felt like she was doing what Wilmer did to Orita and felt guilty. Chasing after Anastasia had almost destroyed Orita and Wilmer''s loving relationship when Mr Wilde succ.u.mbed to something near borderline obsession with his determination to put everything he had into work.

    The door opened and Alex saw the man from the scandal. At once, the sisters stood up to greet CEO Zhu who smiled at the sight of Golden Frost''s founders.

    "You must be Alexandra," he smiled and offered a handshake to the model.

    Alex returned the gesture politely, "Please call me Alex. I must say that you look a lot younger than in the photographs."

    CEO Zhu laughed at Alex''s frankness. It must be a Wilde thing with how straightforward both sisters were. They might not have been blood-related but they behaved rather similarly and are even closer to each other than some real sisters.

    After exchanging pleasantries, Alex smiled at the CEO. "I understand that this is a very good opportunity for Golden Frost and the Pineapple Group to expand business and influence. It is also the reason why I agreed to the press conference. However, if you have any other ulterior motives such as becoming a son-in-law of the Wilde family, I suggest you perish that thought after today."

    The rude words coming out of Alex''s mouth betrayed the angelic expression and for a moment Scarlet couldn''t believe that this was the same sweet sister she had moments ago.

    "Alex?"

    CEO Zhu smiled, unfazed by the direct threat aimed at him. It appears as if Alex was not to be underestimated either. If he had to compare them, he might say that both sisters were fiercely protective and strong. However, in terms of viciousness, he would be more cautious about offending Alex. The girl looked sweet but she was like a viper. On the other hand, Scarlet was easier to deal with. The singer often tackled things head-on, unlike her blonde sister who was not against back-stabbing.

    "Don''t worry. I''m not into girls younger than me by more than five years. Also, I don''t think you should be who I should be most worried about first. That bodyguard beside Scarlet has been glaring at me since our very first meeting and her manager had declined many of my invitations prior to our first meeting."

    Alex smiled. "I''m happy that we can come to an understanding. It would be tragic if something were to happen after today''s announcement of the collaboration. Despite my words, I am rather thrilled about this project. Golden Frost needs all the help it can possibly get to cater to more people of the lower-income classes. It''s not possible to slash the prices much further if we keep manufacturing in Poland because materials have to be shipped there."

    Scarlet watched as Alex spoke like a true business owner and was impressed. Just how much did her sister grow over the years? Like her, Alex must have put in a lot of thought to enter the showbiz. Either that or Claire must have done a very good job of training Alex to be a respectable heiress. Maybe a little bit of both now that Scarlet thought about it. The whiny part of Alex still hasn''t disappeared.

    "Rest assured. I wouldn''t do anything that will harm Golden Frost. However, I cannot speak the same about the Pineapple Group if you get what I mean, Alex. Unlike you, I''m just a powerless puppet right now which is why I need the influence of Golden Frost and borrow the Wilde name as a shield."

    Alex didn''t seem surprised. "I thought as much," she said. "No wonder my sister wanted to ally with you. It''s alright. I can guarantee you as the heiress of the Wilde empire that we will treat you well if you don''t betray us. Prove your loyalty and be rewarded, the Pineapple Group can use a capable man like you. The press conference is ready to start, shall we?"

    Scarlet didn''t even know what to say as they walked out of the waiting room. Why did it suddenly feel as if her sister was trying to distance her from Ming Yang?

 Chapter 161 - Hiatus

    The decision that Scarlet made wasn''t an easy one. For an artiste or celebrity whose fame had just begun to grow, taking a hiatus from work was akin to never being able to return to the showbiz world. The lifespan of a celebrity is short and a hiatus could permanently impair future opportunities. Yet, under Alex''s convincing, Scarlet still decided to let go what she had built up so far.

    "Are you sure about it?" Pamela asked. Jupiter Records was not only losing their biggest source of revenue but also their biggest talent from the decision. While the CEO of the recording company had nothing but gratitude towards Scarlet, Pamela was faced with mixed emotions at Scarlet''s decision to leave. The five-year contract was coming to an end and Scarlet decided that she wouldn''t renew it.

    Orita was overjoyed when she heard that Scarlet was coming home. At the same time, Alex decided to slow down on her work and attend an art school to become an ill.u.s.trator. The sisters decided to still focus on their luxury brand''s business while studying and the butler was more than happy to be of assistance. Orita also offered to help manage it on their behalf so that her daughters could focus on school.

    When Wilmer heard about Alex and Scarlet''s decision to go back to study for their degree, the CEO asked if Jasper was going to do the same. Unfortunately for him, the young start-up founder wasn''t keen.

    "Maybe in a few years," he replied and nobody could persuade him otherwise. Jake was also unable to get Jasper to reconsider so they let the matter rest.

    The announcement that soon followed after the Golden Pineapple Collaboration announcement caused yet another huge wave. With both Wilde daughters announcing their official hiatus from the entertainment industry, there were many conspiracy theories surfacing on the internet. While some theories were convincing and entertaining, others were absurd and ridiculous. Whichever it was, the internet was set ablaze with both Wilde sisters becoming hot topic searches.

    Ming Yang was rather understanding about Scarlet''s decision and told the young singer not to worry. He would still continue his investigations and uphold his part of the bargain while Scarlet attended school. Scarlet promised to keep in touch with the CEO and agreed that she would be in frequent contact with him about Golden Frost''s collaboration.

    There was still some time before the school term and bridging program started for the sisters so after they announced their hiatus, Orita booked a two week trip for mother and daughters to go on a cruise. She trusted her butler to handle the necessary preparations for the university applications and left everything else to the servants.

    When Wilmer heard that his wife and daughters were spending some quality mother-daughter bonding time over a two-week cruise trip, he could only cry bitter tears of envy. Orita showed no pity for her husband and chided him over the hologram device. Scarlet and Alex giggled in the background as Wilmer whimpered. Orita then told him to hurry up and finish his work so that they could go on their second honeymoon trip to make up for the lost time.

    Wilmer''s eyes softened and he sighed with a small smile, knowing full well that it might be impossible again this year. Up till now, the CEO still hasn''t found much about Anastasia. With Danny and Elfie''s help, they were able to prevent Anastasia''s influence from growing any larger but the threat still remained. EZ Express may not be as powerful and rich, unlike the Wilde empire that had grown and expanded over the years. However, Anastasia has been up to some really shady deals. All those government contract jobs that EZ Express won sounded fishy to Wilmer and Danny was currently assisting him to investigate further.

    Orita knew that look. Wilmer didn''t like lying to her and he wasn''t the kind of person who would make false promises just to make her happy. It was one of the things that made her fall for him but also one of the things that frustrated her most about him. Not wanting to put her hardworking and secretive husband in a spot, Orita shifted the conversation to a more cheerful topic.

    "Alex and Scarlet are finally going to pursue higher education. Can you guess what courses they are applying for?"

    Wilmer looked at Alex who had a mischievous grin and Scarlet who had mastered the art of poker face.

    "Alex is going for a design course, right? I heard that you want to be an ill.u.s.trator?" Wilmer guessed and Alex pouted.

    "Someone must have told you! How did you know?"

    Wilmer laughed. It''s nice to know that his daughter hadn''t changed all that much over the years. Alex was still very much an open book and after six years, he was happy that he still hasn''t lost touch yet.

    "But daddy, I''m not just studying how to be an ill.u.s.tration. To be more precise, I''m going for a double art major in fashion and design."

    "Oh?" Wilmer was surprised. "Is it related to Golden Frost?"

    Alex smiled. "Of course! I''m actually the lead designer for Golden Frost and I come up with a lot of the concepts for the products produced. Scarlet''s more of the business brain for our brand."

    Orita and Wilmer were impressed by the detailed plans about Golden Frost and Scarlet turned a riper shade of red with every passing minute as Alex continued to sing her praises. Unable to endure the embarrassment, Scarlet begged her sister to stop much to her parents'' amus.e.m.e.nt.

    When it came to guessing what course Scarlet wanted to study, the CEO was surprised to know that the singer wasn''t going to learn creative writing or journalism. It wasn''t even media-related.

    "Could it be business? So that you can run Golden Frost better or help Jasper with Kiwi Cat Studio?"

    Scarlet shook her head. "I actually thought about it but eventually decided against it. Like writing, it isn''t necessary to study business just to do well in it. I''ve chosen something more abstract that can help me achieve what I''m looking for in every aspect of my life."

    Even with the hint, Wilmer still wasn''t able to guess it. He did come close on his fifth guess when he mentioned psychology but Scarlet didn''t let her father go so easily. Eventually, Wilmer had to give up much to Orita''s amus.e.m.e.nt.

    "Darling, don''t be sad. I don''t blame you at all. The course Scarlet chose surprised me initially too," Orita tried to cheer her husband up and Scarlet took pity on her father.

    "I''m going to study philosophy," she told him with a shy smile.

    It was true that Scarlet spent a long time after she decided to pursue her further studies. Although Alex told her a lot about the courses available in universities within New York, Scarlet didn''t like any of the courses they offered. They might be useful but for a writer like her whose talent is in researching, none of what the university offered appealed to her.

    Business was something that could easily be learnt and picked up from the numerous books that people have already written. Art was subjective. Music wasn''t interesting because she was already a professional after working with Lin Lin for so long. Creative writing wasn''t interesting because Scarlet''s style of writing was unique to her and she''d already learnt from Debbie all the writing techniques that they taught in universities when she was younger. There really wasn''t anything new.

    Scarlet did think about studying psychology because they had a course called criminology. She wondered if studying that would give her the skills necessary in order to catch Anastasia. However, she soon realised that it wasn''t a rosy path. Even if she studied and graduated as the top of her class in psychology, she wasn''t going to be offered a position in the international criminal investigation department. Elfie''s involvement was a special case and Scarlet knew that even if she was accepted to participate in the raid, Wilmer would never allow it.

    Hence, she decided on the one that looked the most interesting that was rather similar to psychology but different in its own way. The singer thought that psychology and philosophy was the same thing at first but after two nights of in-depth research, she now understood that they were complete opposites.

    While psychology was backed up by numbers and data, philosophy was built upon expression of thought. Psychology was science but philosophy was art. It was a no-brainer after that discovery and Scarlet quickly made her mind up.

    Wilmer was slightly surprised at the choice but after thinking about it, he smiled and praised Scarlet for choosing something that he thought was perfect for her. To study something so abstract was something that they would expect out of Scarlet. Over the years, Wilmer and Orita had learnt to expect the unexpected with the young writer who was vastly different in both mentality and capability when compared to Alex. If Alex was like a steady tractor then Scarlet would be like a robotic vacuum cleaner.

    The call ended not long after and Scarlet was excited. In less than a month, she would be going for her bridging program at the university. While not much had changed, she could finally relax a little and be herself now that she was no longer scrutinised by the public.

    "I can''t wait to go to school and not need to wear make-up and diet all the time," she told Alex who agreed.

    "It''ll be great to be able to wear a loose hoodie and jeans again. I hate heels!"

    Orita sighed at her daughters'' conversation with a small loving smile. It was nice to have her family back.

 Chapter 162 - Cruising Around

    The cruise trip was a sorely needed one for both girls. It felt like a terribly long time since they relaxed at all with all the work and packed schedules. While they frequently travelled the world for work, it didn''t feel like a holiday even if they took breaks.

    "It''s beautiful!" Alex screamed and ran on the spacious deck. The cruise wasn''t very crowded because Orita booked it during an off-peak season.

    The heiress smiled and enjoyed the sunny weather and salty sea breeze. They were finally cruising away to the Caribbean or two weeks. Most of the journey would be at sea with some occasional stops at some islands but neither of the girls was interested in shopping. They were more interested in spending their days indulging in idling or pleasure.

    "Calm down girls, this is only the starting. We have two full weeks to enjoy ourselves. Why don''t you girls check out what facilities there are and perhaps make some lunch reservations? Claire and I will head to the suite room first to rest," Orita suggested.

    Alex grabbed her sister''s hand and ran off before Claire could get another word in. The head maid shook her head. Although Scarlet and Alex were on hiatus from work, they would still have occasional jobs coming in from commercials to photoshoots. Golden Frost''s face and model was Alex, she couldn''t allow the girl to be too reckless even if this was a recreational trip.

    Scarlet had never been on a cruise before and was awkward. On the other hand, Alex acted like she owned the place, not caring if there were VIP entry requirements or not as she hopped from one place to another.

    The cruise liner was a prestigious one and lived up to the rich heiresses'' expectations. They had everything from cinemas, arcades, karaoke rooms, swimming pools and their favourite ¨C spas. Once Alex heard the word spa, she immediately made reservations for three. Scarlet couldn''t stop her sister but she was thankful the model didn''t include Claire to make reservations for their head maid as well.

    "Can I also ask about the kickboxing class and the gym?" Scarlet asked the receptionist politely.

    The receptionist blushed at the adorable girl who was about a head shorter than her. Scarlet was dressed in a white sundress with a large straw hat on her head. It would be rather difficult for anyone to recognise her as Liu Xie Wen in this casual dress because the actress Liu Xie Wen was often dressed in classy expensive brands, looking more mature than her actual age despite her short stature. Scarlet was also not wearing make-up and her natural youthfulness shone through.

    "You can register for the kick-boxing class using this website. There is a pamphlet for all our classes if you wish to attend on the dressing tables of all rooms. Alternatively, you can give the reception a call to make arrangements for the classes once you''ve decided. The gym is twenty-four-hour accessible to all and that is required is the room card for identification purposes. Is there anything I can help you with?"

    Alex nodded. "What are the restaurants here that you''d recommend for lunch? My mother asked us to make lunch reservations for today but I''m not very familiar with these names¡­"

    Scarlet agreed. She was more familiar with the names of convenience stores than restaurants. In fact, she was tempted to go to the fast-food restaurants that they had on board. It had been way too long since Scarlet and Alex had any junk food or fast food. Being actresses and models was difficult and now that they could loosen their belts a little, everything looked tempting.

    The receptionist laughed awkwardly at the sight of the two girls salivating a little at the names of their restaurants. Still, she remained polite.

    "We have Asian restaurants, European restaurants and one that has seasonal exotic food for reservations today. May I know what kind of cuisine you prefer?"

    Scarlet looked at her sister before turning back to the receptionist. "Do you think we can call the reception later after we''ve decided?"

    "Of course! However, please make your reservations before eleven. All reservations are first come first served. For the dress code, please come in smart casual wear and covered shoes or heels. Is there anything else I can assist you with?"

    Alex smiled and thanked the lady. "That''s all for now, thank you so much!"

    Once they were out of sight, Alex turned to her sister with sparkling eyes. "I want to eat meat! Lots of it¡­ Claire has only been feeding me organic and vegetables or fruits for so long I can''t even remember the last time I had a good steak."

    Scarlet laughed. "I actually want rice. As weird as it sounded, I''ve never touched rice for the whole time I was in China."

    Alex felt her jaw drop. "Are you serious? You work in China but you''re not allowed to eat rice? What did you eat?"

    "I was on a low-carb diet so I only ate fruits, vegetables, fish and chicken for most of the time. No bread, no rice¡­ I''m dying for a burger as strange as it sounds."

    Alex thought about it. "Hmm, I think we should head back to check what they have in those restaurants. You poor thing, at least I had bread. I don''t know how you survived at all¡­ those fruit smoothies that Claire made me drink every morning don''t taste good¡­"

    Scarlet smiled bitterly at the memory. "I can''t have anything apart from black coffee in the morning. You have no idea how hard it is to stop my stomach from making noise until it was lunch and even then, on diet days I can only eat two hard-boiled eggs for lunch."

    The model looked horrified. "You put up with that treatment? No wonder you''re not growing any taller! Don''t worry. We can fix it on the cruise. Let''s eat until we explode!"

    Scarlet laughed at her sister''s choice of words. Yet, she couldn''t find anything more fitting. "Alright. We''ll eat a lot and play even more. There is still some time before lunch and the spa is at three in the afternoon. Want to try the ice-skating rink? I''ve never ice-skated before so it sounds interesting."

    Once more, the model hugged her sister and made strange noises consoling what she thought was a shame.

    "You poor thing," she lamented. "Don''t worry. I will teach you how to ice-skate, it''s not very difficult. Didn''t you try skating while in Europe?"

    Scarlet grimaced. "No time. Mr Le Beau''s treatments took up most of my day and then there were many social gatherings to attend. Pamela didn''t give me extra days to relax so once I''m done with business, I will fly back to Singapore or China depending on what''s next."

    Alex didn''t look happy. "They''re definitely mistreating you. How could they work you so hard? And I thought the schedule that Claire planned for me was tough. At least I had breaks in between to breathe. Tell me, how many hours of sleep do you get every night on average?"

    Scarlet thought about it. "Four on the days I don''t film and maybe two on the days I have music tours?"

    Alex looked horrified. "That''s it. We''re pampering you till you rot this trip. Nobody can change my mind and I''m telling mom."

    Scarlet didn''t think it was a big deal but to Alex, it was as if she heard it was the end of the world. How could Scarlet endure such harsh working conditions? She didn''t understand. On top of that, Alex now knew that Scarlet was also working on uncovering evidence of the mafia boss'' activities so that she could put him behind bars where he would never threaten their family''s empire again. It was simply too much workload for one person, especially a person as small as Scarlet.

    When people say that the grass is greener on the other side, Alex always thought that it was true. Now that she heard from her sister about the treatment received, Alex didn''t think that was the case. Maybe it was the difference between being an independent artiste and a contracted artiste but Alex didn''t approve. Celebrities should be treated with more love and care for all the hard work they put in behind the scenes.

    Thankfully, this was now over. Scarlet was no longer a contracted artiste with Jupiter Records. As an independent artiste, at least Scarlet would receive the same treatment that Alex received from Claire who was an excellent manager.

    With that, Alex made a secret plan to pamper Scarlet and shower her with lots of love. As the older sister of a few months, she couldn''t allow Scarlet to carry the burden of the Wilde family alone. The model might be immature and childish but she wasn''t selfish. If there was a need for her to step up to the role of a protector, she would.

    Right now, nothing was more important than deciding the most nutritious and satisfying lunch for a severely deprived Scarlet.

 Chapter 163 - Stalking Scarlet

    Scarlet found it odd. No matter where she went, she felt as if she could never find peace. Alex was a lot clingier than she remembered her to be. Claire was always skulking around nearby and within reach whenever she needed something. Orita was also paying more attention to her for some odd reason and Scarlet couldn''t help but feel as if they were up to something.

    The cruise was huge and they had many recreational activities as well as facilities. So why was it that whenever Scarlet had some alone time, she would bump into someone she knew?

    It was alright if the people she bumped into were Alex, Orita or Claire. After all, they were her travel companions. However, for some odd reason, there were other familiar faces on board too. This was too much to be a coincidence.

    Within the first three days, Scarlet had met Mr Le Beau at the spa. The stylist was also on a trip for some reason and Scarlet didn''t find that suspicious. Maybe it really was a coincidence and she let that pass. After all, it was always a delight to talk to the flamboyant stylist.

    On the evening of the fourth day, Scarlet was attending a theatrical musical with Alex who thought that Scarlet should be exposed to the entertainment of the upper-class society when they bumped into the Lopez twins. No, to be more precise, the twins were performing in the musical on stage. Immediately after the show ended, the twins rushed out from behind the stage to catch Alex and Scarlet. Despite the dimmed lights, the twins were still able to spot them on stage. Scarlet found that amazing.

    After a week, the young writer was no longer surprised when the famous DJ Fatboi turned out at a pool party when the cruise liner docked at one of their destinations. While Scarlet was happy to see the Kesha fanboy, she was also suspicious. Hence, the girl decided to take the topic to the chat room.

    Scarlet: Hi guys! It''s been a while. Alex and I have officially announced our hiatus for work so we''re currently on a cruise. What''s everyone else up to?

    Elfie: Cruise?! I''m so jealous I could die! Jasper and I and the boys at Kiwi Cat are dying¡­ please send coffee *inserts coffee emoji*

    Ria: I know! I saw you the other day¡­ what a coincidence! Camila was telling me she saw you and Alex but I didn''t believe it until we escaped the backstage party after the show.

    Si-Han: Oh, that cruise. Yes, Rowan and I have seen you girls on Alex''s Instagram posts. Looks like fun.

    Scarlet paused. Alex was still updating her social media? Ever since Scarlet announced her hiatus, her social media that was usually managed by Pamela had gone inactive. The singer had forgotten all about it until Si-Han mentioned it.

    Curious about what her sister was uploading, Scarlet launched the app to look for updates.

    Instantly, she was bombed with notifications. Alex had posted at least hundreds of pictures about the activities and tagged her in most of the photos. Some of them Scarlet knew about but many others, Scarlet wasn''t aware of. The candid shot was taken from below when Scarlet attempted to climb the advanced rock wall was one that Scarlet didn''t know about. Alex actually did have amazing photography skills even if she used the app''s filters to edit the photos. Scarlet had to admit that when it came to networking, Alex was a goddess.

    On the bright side, Alex was helping her keep her fans satisfied. The photos were amazing and the tags were attention-grabbing. Even if they were on a hiatus, they wouldn''t be forgotten soon with her sister''s efforts. However, Scarlet now understood how everyone knew where they were and what they were doing. Alex didn''t understand the meaning of privacy and uploaded just about everything from eating to shopping and spa. She even tagged the location and the name of the cruise. The last post was tagged with the island they docked at.

    Seeing this, Scarlet decided that she needed to have a heart to heart talk with her sister and teach her how to respect somebody else''s privacy. Scarlet didn''t want to become a camera girl who lived like a doll for others to watch at every moment. She wanted her own life and privacy too especially when she was secretly working.

    There was an odd trait about Scarlet that she realised about four years back. While she was alright with standing under the spotlight and smiling for the cameras in heels, make-up and shiny gowns, the singer wasn''t alright with having her pictures taken in a recording studio with her brows furrowed and her hair in a bun with sweat on her forehead.

    Some of the pictures Alex took of her made Scarlet feel uncomfortable. The ones that made her look unguarded were the worst. Scarlet always looked sharp in the eyes of others. For her, it was always as if she was fighting giants. Hence, as a precaution, Scarlet never let her guard down in front of others. She wore a smile and a mask whenever she had to deal with colleagues or the media. Those relaxed and childish expressions were only reserved for her true friends and family. To publish this to the world¡­ Scarlet didn''t know how to feel.

    Tom: I saw the new tag that Alex made and it''s gone viral ever since. Hey Scarlet! Why didn''t you tell us that you were secretly a miracle medicine! I would have approached you to cure my heartache and depression years ago.

    After Tom talked about the thing that Scarlet dreaded most, the entire chat was full of her friends joining in to tease the mortified singer. Yes, if there was something worse than the pictures that Alex posted, it was the hashtags that she created, starting a viral trend.

    There were several hashtags that topped the trending news in the entertainment world but the two most famous ones were #1scarlet1day and #adorptablescarlet. The first was referring to the proverb "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" and the second hashtag was to throw shade at Scarlet''s anti-fans for pointing out that she was adopted. The word was a combination of "adopted" and "adorable" plus the captions to the uploaded photographs on Alex''s account made Scarlet want to bury her head in a hole somewhere.

    After scrolling down, Scarlet''s embarrassment deepened. Wilmer, Orita, Jenna, Claire, Pamela and all of Scarlet''s friends didn''t show mercy and hopped onto the train to comment, share or repost Alex''s photos. The world had once again gone wild over the Wilde''s and this time, it wasn''t over any breaking news.

    Scarlet didn''t know how she was going to survive when she got back to New York. All the other kids at the university would no doubt poke fun at her or swarm over her now that this had gone trending and viral. Memes were created and the damage was done. Scarlet spent the rest of the day ignoring the chat room after the incident and hid in the cinema where it was dark. At least this way, nobody would recognise her.

    No wonder she felt as if people were always staring at her on the cruise! Initially, Scarlet thought it might be a stalker and ignored it. Then she thought it might be the paparazzi but no suspicious person showed up. Even if they were true, Scarlet had faith in their head maid. The smile she received from strangers when she passed by them seemed a little strange but Scarlet brushed that away and returned a polite smile as a greeting of her own. She thought that it was because the people on the cruise were friendly but now she knew better.

    They weren''t smiling out of courtesy as a greeting. They were smiling and laughing at her because of the trending viral posts going on social media. Scarlet groaned. She wanted to die. Why didn''t she realise this sooner? The singer had also unknowingly posed for a few photos for these enthusiastic cruise merrymakers when they asked. She thought that they recognised her as fans but who knew that it was to contribute to the hashtags?

    Now, the whole cruise was looking out for the mascot of the journey and Scarlet didn''t know if she should try to swim back home or wait it out till they returned home. After all, there was still one more week to go but already, Scarlet was exhausted. Nobody could be trusted at this time and Scarlet groaned. Now that she thought about I, wasn''t this worse than the stalking incident?

    With a heavy sigh, Scarlet munched on yet another handful of caramel popcorn. It was a good thing the cinemas operated for long hours so she could go on a movie marathon with minimal interaction with others. Might as well enjoy the moment. Scarlet decided to erase all the bad memories by indulging in junk food and watching the movies that she didn''t have time to watch over the last few years.

    Now, it was finally time to find out what''s the craze over the yellow clones called Minions that people were talking about two years ago.

 Chapter 164 - Parting (1)

    Orita didn''t look very happy and Jenna looked conflicted. At the dining table, the couple stared at each other wordlessly after Wilmer''s announcement while the four children simply looked between them.

    Scarlet and Elfie already knew this was going to happen. The young writer had talked to the hacker about it at the barbecue and her predictions weren''t wrong. Wilmer was leaving them and if Wilmer is leaving, Elfie knew what was going to happen next. The CEO would talk to Danny and Elfie would be taken away once more. This time, maybe for good. It was said but inevitable, even with the heads-up. Elfie knew he would never be ready for it.

    Alex tried to hold back her tears and Jasper supported her emotionally by holding her hand under the dining table, hidden away by the long table cloth. Scarlet glanced over to her sister and felt her heart ache. She knew that Alex never had much time with her father ever since he was young. The last few months with Wilmer in Singapore was like a dream come true for her and when her mother joined them, it made up Alex''s entire world. To have that fairy tale ripped away from her so soon would most definitely be hard on the perpetual dreamer.

    Still, Scarlet was proud of her sister who showed signs of maturing in the last few months. She tried to keep her emotions in check even though it was clear to everyone that she was desperately holding back tears. Jasper was beside her so Scarlet wasn''t as worried. When Wilmer left, Scarlet just knew that it would take some time for Alex to pick herself up and move on. She had faith in the artist, Alex was stronger and kinder than most people. She might not understand why this kept on happening but Alex would always forgive Wilmer for leaving them and welcome him back with a radiant smile.

    Orita didn''t say anything and Wilmer avoided her gaze. The heiress wasn''t foolish. She knew that her husband kept many secrets from her so as not to add burden on her but she still worried about him dearly. If it wasn''t because of the on-going troubles with Anastasia and the Wilde Empire, Orita would have argued with him. What could possibly be more important than raising their children right now? Then again, if Wilmer made such a decision, it could only mean one thing. The children were in danger and Wilmer needed to leave to keep them safe.

    "When are you leaving?" she asked eventually, deciding to ignore Jenna''s exasperated looks.

    Wilmer didn''t miss a beat and carried on with the conversation in the direction that his wife pointed out. The butler knew that it was inevitable. The master was too busy trying to protect the empire at all times and Anastasia''s involvement had escalated despite Claire''s best efforts to thwart them. The situation didn''t permit a happy family but Jenna wished they could have come up with a better reason and timing to say all these in front of the children.

    "Next Tuesday," Wilmer replied and briefly glanced over to the children. "I''ll leave after New Year''s."

    The answer was simple but the implication was not. The unsaid words weren''t lost to Scarlet. Wilmer wanted to still spend at least one day a year with them in a year but because of the situation, he didn''t know if the opportunity would exist in the next year. Hence, his decision was both a kind but cruel one. Alex didn''t know the meaning of those words but Orita did and her eyes softened as she excused herself, most likely to hide the tears from the children watching her.

    Once Orita left, Alex excused herself as well, unable to hold back tears any longer. Jasper followed after the artist and the dining room immediately felt lonelier with half the occupants gone. Claire stood beside Scarlet, watching for the young writer''s reaction carefully but the girl didn''t show any expression or indication that the news affected her. Elfie seemed worried and fidgety in comparison but was doing a decent job of hiding it by finishing his meal quickly.

    After the hacker left and Jenna cleared the dishes, Scarlet looked at Wilmer.

    "Daddy... I''m going to study very hard and work very hard to become successful. If I succeed in six years, will you grant me one wish?"

    Scarlet''s sudden request made Wilmer look up from his brooding thoughts. "One wish? What wish is that?"

    The young writer merely smiled angelically. "I''ll tell you again in six years. By then, all of us will be sixteen and a.d.u.l.ts of our very own rights."

    Wilmer frowned. "No, you''re not considered an a.d.u.l.t until you are twenty-one. It doesn''t mean anything even if you can drive a car at eighteen, daddy will not allow it! Also, no kissing and dating until you are at least sixteen, you hear me? I might not be around but if I find out from your mother than you or Alex are going around seeing boys, I will fly back no matter how far away I am or how busy I will be!"

    Scarlet laughed, glad that Wilmer is back to his usual self even if he was faking it. "Then I guess we''ll just have to do it more often so that you visit us more. I''ll be sure to tell Alex that. Love you, daddy!"

    Without waiting for Wilmer''s response, Scarlet hopped off her chair and ran away, leaving a dumbfounded Wilmer and Claire behind.

    "Has she always been like this?" he asked dryly and the head maid blinked.

    "Not that I know of. I guess the young lady has more surprises up her sleeve than we thought. She was deliberately luring you into making a promise knowing that you cannot commit to anything. Scarlet is smarter than we give her credit for."

    Wilmer sighed, troubled yet slightly happy. "Children grow up too quickly, Orita was right. If circ.u.mstances were different, I would have stayed to watch them grow up into fine a.d.u.l.ts. Claire, you''ve been working with me closely on the case. We got careless a while ago but I don''t hold it against you. If anything, I''m counting on you to watch over my family while I''m gone. The further away they are from him, the safer they will be. Scarlet has a nose for trouble, don''t let her get too close."

    Claire bowed. "Roger that, sir. I will watch over Scarlet closely. Ever since the day she was almost kidnapped, the young lady hasn''t stopped trying to find out but we''ve been keeping her occupied as much as possible to distract her. However, if she finds out one day and starts confronting it, I hope that you will be responsible for explaining everything to her personally."

    Wilmer agreed. "I will tell them everything once they are older. I will tell Orita as well but not yet."

    Claire didn''t say anything and Wilmer left to grab his cigarettes. There are only four days till Tuesday and there was a lot to pack before he left for America. However, at this moment, the CEO just wanted nothing more than to enjoy the cold wind at night in Singapore and smoke a bitter cigarette while his family slept peacefully behind him. The rest can wait till tomorrow.

 Chapter 165 - University Preparations

    After taking the social media world by storm, Scarlet was finally home. It had taken her a while to get used to the Wilde mansion but things were finally progressing. Her early graduation from college made her the youngest student to study for a Philosophy degree at the University of New York East. The school was an hour''s drive from the Wilde mansion and it wasn''t very convenient to travel to and fro daily even if there was a driver. Hence, the girls were now apartment hunting in Brooklyn.

    As expected, Claire was living in the apartment as the girls'' guardian. Tina had to return to Singapore to attend her daughter''s wedding. The goodbye was tearful and Scarlet promised to see the bubbly caretaker after she graduated. Tina told the writer to take her time and enjoy campus life.

    "Make more friends and enjoy your youth. You are still young, there is no rush to grow up," Tina said and gave Scarlet a tight hug at the airport.

    The loyal caretaker then turned to Alex. Even though she hadn''t been by Alex''s side for a few years, Alex was still dear to her. Instead of hugging the model like a child, Tina decided to go for a pat.

    "It''s been a while since I last had the chance to see you and my goodness how you''ve grown!" the lady laughed and patted the model''s head.

    Alex blushed a little when Tina complimented her. Still, all good things had to come to an end and Tina had to leave. The driver helped to load Tina''s luggage into the boot and the household became quieter after Tina left.

    Now that the caretaker had left, the girls went back inside to look over the materials Jenna helped to gather about apartments in New York. Alex poured through the bigger apartments with more than five rooms but didn''t like the design of it. The interior designs reminded her of the Victorian era and not even the Wilde mansion which was an actual castle had any of those bulky and tasteless antiques.

    "Don''t they have anything that''s spacious and more modern with a good view?" the model couldn''t help but ask after rejecting six of the proposed locations.

    Mrs Wilde said that the girls will have to find one within Brooklyn Heights because that was where the heiress had the most contacts. Not to mention, it was one of the safer places in New York City even if Brooklyn was also known for having one of the highest crime rates. Claire went to scout the area and claimed that only some parts of Brooklyn were dangerous to visit because of the poverty in those areas. However, as Claire will be escorting both ladies to their schools by car, it would only take ten minutes per trip. Talk about a real tale of two boroughs!

    Scarlet didn''t like the idea of living in an apartment similar to the size of the penthouse that they had back in Singapore. She felt that Claire would never be able to finish cleaning something so huge but a studio apartment couldn''t host three ladies who needed their space. At the same time, Scarlet thought about Claire and wanted to find an apartment with gym facilities for Claire. Not to mention, Scarlet thought that she needed the gym badly if she wanted to retain all her tone muscles that she worked hard to get for her last film.

    "Are there any three-bedroom apartments with gym facilities in Brooklyn Heights?" she asked and Claire helped to select a few suitable apartments that matched Scarlet''s criteria.

    After looking through the pictures, Scarlet found that she liked a particular one although it was rather low on the priority list in Orita''s opinion.

    "Alex, what do you think about this?" Scarlet asked her sister who glanced at it.

    The building was newly completed and had a hundred apartments in it with ten floors with the top floor being a pool, barbecue terrace and sky garden. The floor below it was a gym, some children''s playroom and other facilities like function rooms and meeting rooms that residents of the building can book. The first floor was the reception and car parks so effectively speaking, the building had only seven levels worth of apartments ranging from studio to four bedrooms.

    The one thing that Alex did like was the view from the window of the higher floors. The building was built near the waterfront and had a beautiful city park five minutes on foot away from it. The bay view of Hudson river was breath-taking. The model only regretted that they couldn''t see Brooklyn bridge from it because there was another tall apartment building blocking it but on the whole, the apartment that Scarlet liked had all the requirements the artist wanted.

    "I think it''s great! The rooms are spacious enough for desks and a bed. There''s also a huge built-in wardrobe and I really like the modern design. The sitting room is large and comes with an open concept kitchenette with a washing machine. I guess they took the idea from the UK?"

    Scarlet laughed. It was accurate. Only in England did the dishwasher and washing machine go side by side in the kitchen. She was initially surprised to find that out from Alex when her sister told her about it on one of her work trips however it soon became a norm for them.

    "You can put your easels in the sitting room and work on your art projects too, I think there''s more than enough space," Scarlet said and Alex agreed.

    Claire took a look at what looked like the girls'' selection and frowned. "Will you girls be alright? There''s only one bathroom in this apartment. Also, there isn''t a balcony."

    Scarlet looked at the head maid. "Is that going to be a problem?"

    Claire looked over to Alex with a disapproving look. "Unlike you, Alex takes an hour when she showers."

    Orita only laughed at the side when Alex started bickering with Claire again. It wasn''t the first time Alex and the head maid argued about what a reasonable shower time was. Scarlet usually only took fifteen to twenty minutes to shower but her sister took after Orita and took an hour to complete the beauty routine. Claire, on the other hand, took less than ten minutes to get cleaned and not even Jenna could understand how the head maid did it so quickly.

    Scarlet couldn''t help but laugh when Alex started to point out Claire''s shower habits. The decade-long mystery was finally solved when Alex spilt the beans.

    "Head and body 2-in-1 shampoo and bath gels don''t count as proper care! Also, one doesn''t brush their teeth and floss while in the shower. Don''t you feel sorry for lacking proper routine and care? I don''t even see you using a cleanser!"

    Claire rolled her eyes. "I don''t understand how you need to use at least twenty products in one shower. What do you actually do? Drink them?"

    Alex felt her eyebrow twitch. As a model, taking care of her looks was very important. From a young age, Mrs Wilde had taught her a lot about how to take care of herself. However, Claire mocked her daily beauty routine and it was starting to get on Alex''s nerves.

    "Listen, unlike you, I need to be very careful about what I do. Since you don''t understand why I need at least an hour, let me explain. First, you need to remove make-up with the make-up remover. Then you need to start cleansing your skin. Then you take a shower. After shampooing and rinsing, there''s something you use to keep your hair soft called the conditioner. After you condition the hair you wash your body and at this point, you need to also exfoliate the dead skin cells. Once that''s done, you''ve taken up at least twenty minutes."

    Claire wasn''t amused and Scarlet wasn''t surprised. This was her daily shower routine too. Then Alex continued. "If you think that''s finished, you''re wrong. Once you finish you need to apply hair serum and oils. Once the hair is done, you need to move on to the face. You need to use a toner to close up all the pores and then use treatment serum to tighten it or repair the damaged skin during the day. Once you''re done you apply moisturiser. After that''s done you apply body butter then brush and floss your teeth before blowing your hair dry. That''s the actual bath routine and that''s the remaining forty minutes that you don''t seem to understand."

    Hearing it, Scarlet felt slightly inferior as a woman. She was also in the entertainment industry so why wasn''t she aware of it? Claire only rolled her eyes at the model while Orita enjoyed the good show. Not even Jenna knew what to say after hearing what Alex explained. She knew that a lady''s bathroom routine was usually a secret but to think that both mother and daughter shared a similar routine¡­ it must be difficult to be a true lady. For the first time, the lady butler was happy that there was something she didn''t have to assist her lady with. She didn''t think she would get anything past the twenty-minute routine right and she wasn''t the only one.

 Chapter 166 - Moving House

    It wasn''t very difficult to settle down into the apartment that Scarlet set her eyes on. However, she didn''t expect that Orita would buy the apartment instead of rent it. Wilmer didn''t say anything about splurging five million on it but he did insist that the girls hosted a housewarming party once they officially settled in.

    The owner of the apartment was more than delighted to give the girls a tour of the apartment and even served them tea in his home when Orita negotiated for the price. Scarlet was once again amazed by the power of money. According to Jenna, the proper procedures of transferring a property''s ownership would take at least a month but because Orita paid twice the amount the house was valued at, the owner took an express route. Within a week, the Wilde family was now an apartment richer.

    All the furnishings were left the way it was and while there wasn''t anything wrong about it, the lady butler told Scarlet and Alex to think about how they wanted to redesign the apartment for their liking to suit their needs better.

    On the bright side, Alex and Scarlet really loved the modern theme of the apartment that the old owner adopted. Not much had to be changed although the girls did add a list of things they wanted to include. It came to no surprise that most of the things on the list were related to their work.

    Scarlet wrote a computer and a mechanical keyboard as some of the things she wanted in her room. In addition, she wanted a specific brand of mattress to help with her sleep. Also, the keyboard was to be brought over with Scarlet''s recording equipment and some bookshelves for the ''study materials'' Scarlet bought online in preparation for her studies. Claire didn''t question anything when she saw the online shopping cart before Scarlet checked out on book depository. Things like myths and legends to feminism were added to the massive list and the books were sitting in the storage room, unpacked yet simply because it was easier to see three huge carton boxes than sixty encyclopaedias lying around.

    Alex ordered everything from amazon. All her crafting supplies, canvas and paint would be delivered in two weeks. Other than the art materials, Alex did place a request to get a powerful desktop and laptop for her digital art course. At the same time, bales of fabric were ordered so that Alex could work on designing new outfits. The best sewing machine was also in the list and Claire made a mental note to remove all carpets and coat the floor with vinyl floor and wall stickers.

    Claire didn''t need much even though Orita insisted that Claire should voice out what she thought she would need in the apartment. The head maid only had one request other than the vinyl floor and wall stickers. She wanted to have an additional toilet so that nobody would be inconvenienced if Alex decides to hog the washroom for an hour. Naturally, nobody disagreed with the idea. The original bathroom in the floor plans was huge and spacious enough to be partitioned into two so there were no arguments.

    Surprisingly enough, nobody really wanted to do anything about the kitchenette. In fact, Jenna wondered if Claire was going to use it at all. Usually, it would be the chefs, the cook or the caretakers who were in charge of meals. Claire''s duty was cleaning and protecting the two young mistresses as a bodyguard. Now that the butler thought about it, she was slightly worried.

    "How do you intend to settle meals?" she asked.

    Claire pointed to the take out menu. "I can make simple meals but if we want anything fancier, it''s going to come from takeaway menus. Alternatively, I could source for a catering company that will deliver ready-made meals for dinner. I''m assuming that the girls will have their lunch at the campus or outside because they would be studying till late in the afternoon."

    Orita didn''t find anything wrong with that but Jenna still looked over to Scarlet with slight concern. "Maybe we should ask Sue to come over to help with the cooking¡­ I can''t let Miss Scarlet eat food that doesn''t contain enough nutrition. In a few more years, she would stop growing so if she still wants to grow a few inches taller we have to take care of her diet when we can¡­"

    Suddenly, there was a gloomy dark cloud in the house hovering over Scarlet''s head when she heard it. Seeing that Jenna''s observations were too effective, Alex quickly rushed to her sister''s side and tried to cheer the writer up. Claire and Orita gave Jenna a reprimanding look and the lady butler immediately felt guilty for being too straightforward. Still, it didn''t change the fact that both teens needed proper nutrition even if they didn''t cook.

    "Let''s not worry about the kitchenette for now. If there isn''t anything else to add to this list, Jenna please prepare for the makeover. Girls, can you help me to write invitation letters? We''re going to invite some of my friends for the housewarming party," Orita said and changed the mood.

    With something to look forward to, Scarlet immediately felt better. Claire didn''t miss that cue and left with Jenna to settle all the logistic arrangements and source for suppliers. The butler had a real cause for concern and Claire knew that her short-coming had always been the inability to cook. Hence, they decided to settle for catering instead.

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on and check out their other works. <<

    The week passed faster than Scarlet thought it would. Despite not working, the girl found herself incredibly busy helping out with the renovations and preparations for their moving in. They called for the movers twice with the first to get rid of furniture they didn''t want and the second to bring in everything they needed from the Wilde mansion once the vinyl stickers were pasted properly.

    None of the girls did the actual heavy lifting but unpacking and cleaning worked up a huge sweat. The writer''s arms actually ached at the end of it all. Claire was the only one who looked unfazed by all the shifting. On the bright side, the apartment now feels closer to home. It gave off a sophisticated air for those who entered but every individual''s personality could be felt through the room decorations.

    Scarlet loved her new space. The desk was spacious and the bed was soft. The writer chose a super single bed much to everyone''s surprise. When asked why she didn''t go for a queen bed when the room had enough space for it, Scarlet only explained that she''d gotten used to sleeping on a single bed after travelling for work over the years. On the other hand, Alex was slightly sad she couldn''t shift her king-size four-poster bed over to the apartment. The room was much too small to accommodate something that luxurious even if she shifted everything else out. The vanity table was also downsized according to the model but Alex accepted reality by the end of it all.

    Claire''s room was the first to be ready. She didn''t do anything much to the room and left it just the way it was ¨C simplistic. The new bathroom was slightly smaller now that there was an extra toilet separate from the bath and shower. However, this made Claire and Alex very happy. If there was one thing that Alex discontent about the new bathroom, it would be the lack of space to put all her beauty products now that the bathroom got smaller. To resolve that, Claire bought a DIY shelf and assembled it before she mounted it to the partitioned wall so that Alex could put all her products there. In comparison, Scarlet and Claire''s supplies looked modest.

    Once that was done, the letters that Alex and Scarlet helped their mother write were sent. There were a few rich heiresses who permanently resided in Brooklyn Heights and RSVP''d for the housewarming party.

    After a hard week''s work, Scarlet flopped on her new bed after a relaxing bath. A glance over to her phone made the writer''s hands itch. It had been a long while since she visited the chatroom with how busy everything had been lately. Despite her tiredness, Scarlet decided to peek in and check if her friend was online.

    Jedd77: You''re finally here! I thought you''d died without a trace¡­ where have you been this past last month? You had me worried sick!

    Scarlet couldn''t help but laugh. She had just created a new room and not even five minutes later, the person she was thinking about appeared.

    Frost: Sorry about it, I''ve been really busy lately making preparations. I''m going back to school.

    Jedd77: School? Didn''t you graduate already and started to inherit your parents'' company? What happened?

    Scarlet didn''t reply immediately. This time, she was considering telling Jedd the truth. However, she wouldn''t do it just yet unless they exchanged phone numbers first. She felt a little bad for making her online friend worry about her but knowing how busy she would be in future, the chat room wasn''t going to be very frequented until she settled down at school.

    Frost: Long story¡­ I''m so tired today after moving house. Tell you what, why don''t we exchange phone numbers? We''ve known each other for a few months now and honestly, I like chatting with you. Seeing as my future will be very busy, I wouldn''t have time to enter the chatroom and I feel bad for keeping you waiting for me.

    Jedd didn''t hesitate to give her his number and Scarlet added it quickly before sending a text message.

    The reply came quickly and Scarlet smiled. They didn''t stay up to chat for too long before Scarlet had to apologise for logging out early. She was simply too tired and her body ached everywhere. Still, knowing that there was a flimsy thread connecting her and Jedd made Scarlet happy.

 Chapter 167 - Adice from a Senpai

    Everything was finally in place and tomorrow was the first day of Scarlet''s bridging program. Alex''s school term didn''t start until next month so the model was currently still residing in the mansion with her mother. Claire and Scarlet had moved into the apartment for a while now to get familiarised with the neighbourhood.

    Apart from reading up on the books she purchased, Scarlet also took some time to visit the gym and supermarkets in the area. Claire and Scarlet decided that they would learn how to prepare healthy and affordable college meals. Alex found a youtube channel that taught broke college kids how to cook simple but nutritious and filling meals. The main purpose of cooking might be to save money but Scarlet thought that it looked rather simple for beginners even if they weren''t in need of money.

    Now that they weren''t working and were simple university students, it would help to be able to relate to the way of life for ordinary folks. Scarlet didn''t want anyone to find out that she hailed from a rich household or is a celebrity. Alex didn''t mind the celebrity status but Scarlet decided to lie low for various reasons.

    In fact, there was more than one reason why Scarlet wanted to remain unknown. The main reason why Scarlet was so determined to keep her identity under wraps was because of an online friend. After exchanging numbers with Jedd77 and coming clean, Scarlet revealed that she was simply an ordinary person who worked in some shitty internship company for a while. She was now going to attend university in New York.

    Jedd also revealed that he wasn''t exactly a NEET although he might be considered one with his low attendance record in school. They shared the same time zone and after chatting for a bit more, both online friends revealed that they lived in New York City. The coincidence became a little too much when Scarlet found out that she was going to attend the same university that Jedd did. Her heart pounded and she wondered if it would be appropriate to meet up with the boy. Still, she didn''t bring the subject up. She wanted to settle down on the campus first and ascertain a few things before she proposed an offline meeting with Jedd.

    This was one thing she kept from Claire and her sister. Scarlet didn''t want them to worry. She knew that meeting an online friend offline was a dangerous thing especially when they have never seen each other on video calls or heard each other''s voices. Still, Jedd didn''t give off the vibe of some paedophile on the internet. In fact, the boy had been nothing but comfortable to talk to. In Scarlet''s eyes, he was understanding, non-pretentious, brutally honest and savage, had a lame sense of humour and slightly darker thoughts about the world and its inhabitants. However, Jedd was similar to Scarlet in many ways that made the writer think she might be able to treat him as a confidant if he proves himself to be trustworthy.

    Claire was out and Scarlet was alone in the apartment. The writer was tired of reading so she decided to bug her friend.

    Frost: You there?

    The reply didn''t take long even if they weren''t in the chatroom. Scarlet flopped onto her bed and grinned when Jedd replied.

    Jedd: Always. What are you up to? Are you ready for classes tomorrow? I heard that the bridging program for all applicants start tomorrow.

    Frost: Wow¡­ for someone who hardly attends lectures or pays attention, you sure know your stuff.

    Jedd: Is that sarcasm there? I''ll have you know that while I don''t have the best attendance record, I have one of the widest social networks!

    Scarlet snorted. For a NEET, Jedd''s social networks must include forum gossip and stalking various groups for hot topics. She didn''t think that the teen would actually have any real friends that he hung out with like all the other cool kids.

    Jedd: I know that silence, stop judging me!

    Frost: I didn''t say anything!

    Jedd: You don''t have to. I know you well enough by now. In any case, I would suggest you try and exchange as many numbers as you can with the students in your bridging class. I don''t know which school you attended in the past but this university works rather differently. You''re going to be sixty percent reliant on your group mates for projects that contribute to your semester''s grades. Some projects can be inter school based so the more contacts you have, the easier your campus life.

    Scarlet blinked. She didn''t know that.

    Frost: But I''m not the popular kind of person¡­ Am I going to fail?

    Jedd didn''t reply immediately and Scarlet waited. A minute passed then two but still, there was no reply.

    Frost: You still there?

    On the other end of the conversation, Edward frowned. Was Scarlet serious? She didn''t think she was a popular kid? According to Elfie, it was Scarlet who initiated the bridging of the gap between the E.C. Class and the Special Class. If it wasn''t for her, the special friendship that Elfie treasured wouldn''t exist.

    Could it be that Scarlet was just being humble instead? It was odd for her to be completely unaware of her charms, right? Even when Edward was researching Scarlet''s background to find anything about her suspicious activities, he only came across many positive articles and rumours about the hardworking actress and singer. It was very difficult for anyone to hate the petite teen and almost everybody got along with her easily.

    What''s the reason for Scarlet''s low self-esteem? Edward was now curious to pry into the mind of his oblivious friend. When he heard that Scarlet told him more of the truth about herself and about her acceptance into his university, he was nervous. Should he try to convince her for a meet-up and win her over so that he could keep a better eye on the girl to ensure that she didn''t try anything suspicious and get herself deeper into the abyss? Or should he simply go along with the flow and pretend not to be interested in an offline meeting until she proposed it.

    Scarlet''s new message snapped him out of his thoughts and Edward quickly apologised. For now, he would decide to play dumb and follow the flow. If Scarlet wanted to meet with him offline, he would go along with it.

    Jedd: Sorry, distracted for a moment. I don''t think you''ll fail. You did say you graduated early so it would mean you''re quite smart. Even if you don''t have friends to group up with, I''m sure you''ll be able to single-handedly complete a project assigned to you if you really have to although it''s going to be extremely tiring for a single person to do it.

    Scarlet thought about it. The bridging program only had simple high school revision courses on it and Scarlet knew she could breeze through those. However, she wasn''t sure about what would happen after the three months of bridging courses. Her first impression of group projects was getting a stack of cardboard boxes to create pinball machines but she highly doubted that the philosophy major would require that kind of group project. That was a project back when she attended school in Malaysia.

    Frost: What kind of projects will there be? I''ve never really had to do any group projects with my class back in school. How long is the project deadline? Is it very difficult?

    Jedd smiled. Now that Scarlet wasn''t living up to a personality she created, she was starting to sound more adorable. Edward couldn''t help but like the writer more when she revealed more of her n.a.k.e.d soul. Indeed, Elfie was right. No wonder the hacker was so protective of the teen.

    With the patience of a saint that Edward normally didn''t possess, he answered all the writer''s curious questions about university life. It didn''t take a genius to figure out how the girl must be feeling. The teen spy found Scarlet adorable when Scarlet confessed that she didn''t know how to make friends on the campus.

    Frost: I''m actually not the stylish kind. If anything, I might be a nerd.

    Edward laughed aloud at this. If he didn''t know that Frost was Scarlet who was also Liu Xiu Wen, he might have sympathised with the writer. Then again, maybe her real self was a bookish girl more than the social butterfly persona that she portrayed to the public. Edward didn''t really know what to believe. Still, as a good friend, he offered words of comfort.

    Jedd: You should just wear whatever makes you feel comfortable. There isn''t a strict dress code for attending lectures as long as it is decent. I''ve seen students dressed up like models and students who just come in their pyjamas. It doesn''t really matter¡­ I don''t think people are going to judge you.

    Scarlet didn''t seem to believe him because she started asking him about what he normally wore. Edward looked over to his messy pile of clothes and decided to take advantage of not texting through the chatroom. He took a picture and sent it to her.

    The writer wasn''t expecting to see any pictures so seeing Edward''s undone laundry made her blush a little. Thank goodness Claire was out! This could be easily misunderstood on so many levels if the head maid found out.

    Frost: I''m deleting that picture. Next time a little heads up would be nice. Also, thanks for the reference although I think you should start doing your laundry. Letting it pile isn''t good.

    Jedd: HAHAHA! Don''t start sounding like a mom now or I might just start to call you that. Also, you''re welcome. Just don''t spend too much time worrying about stuff like that and enjoy university life. It can be more fun than you imagine it to be. Also, if you need anything, you can always text me. Seeing as we''re going to the same university and I''m your senior there, I can recommend a lot of good quiet studying spots or cheap cafeterias.

    Scarlet smiled and thanked her friend once more before making an excuse to leave. For now, she had to coordinate her outfit so that people wouldn''t associate her with her celebrity image.

 Chapter 168 - New Kid at School

    Scarlet was nervous. Although the drive from the apartment to her university took only ten minutes, the girl set her alarm two hours earlier before her first class. It was six in the morning and Scarlet decided to make some simple breakfast before she showered. Last night, she had been too nervous to sleep. The school prepared a three-day induction day-camp activity for all bridging course students from across the board. That meant that Scarlet would be meeting students from other faculties and courses as well.

    The philosophy major only had about sixty students every year so the chances of finding someone who would be studying the same thing would be rather rare. The writer heard that there was only one lecturer in charge of the entire year''s cohort for philosophy and the writer was slightly nervous about meeting the lecturer-in-charge after the camp was over.

    Still, Scarlet tried to be optimistic and hit the gym for a short morning jog before taking a shower and having her breakfast. When she was done with everything, there was still a good forty-five minutes before the class started. Scarlet didn''t want to go too early because she didn''t want to wait awkwardly alone at the meeting venue with nobody to talk to.

    Jedd: Wakey wakey! Don''t be late on your first day!

    The writer smiled at the reminder text. Jedd was rather considerate and it was the exact distraction that she needed right now.

    Frost: What are you doing up so early?

    Jedd: Morning lecture. It''s a compulsory one so I can''t skip today. Are you excited about your induction camp? I heard that it''s very fun. I regret not signing up for it last year. The introduction camp for first years isn''t as fun as the induction camps. I bet it would have been worth the extra money if I signed up.

    Frost: You have to pay to attend this?

    Jedd: If you''re not from the bridging program then yes you have to. I guess you''re privileged in a way that you don''t have to pay to attend this. The people in the induction camp are usually more fun than the ones in the introduction camp. Mostly because these are the kids who''ve seen more than just books before they attended university.

    Frost: What do you mean?

    Jedd: I mean most people who take bridging programs are doing it because they didn''t apply straight out of high school. It''s a refresher course after all. Many of the people who attend the bridging course are either a.d.u.l.ts who''ve had some work experience and want to further their studies, those who came out from national service, those who are from the smart streams or people coming from overseas. They''re the more ''exotic'' creatures on the campus and you can usually find the cooler company there.

    Scarlet blinked. She didn''t know that but now that Jedd mentioned it, Scarlet didn''t know if she should be more excited about meeting people of similar types to her or worried that someone might actually recognise who she was.

    Frost: I guess I will enjoy it??? Do you think we would be asked to do any physical games? I don''t think my stomach feels very well today. I haven''t been to school in such a long time that thinking about it makes me feel nervous.

    Edward blinked. For someone who had no problem standing on a stage in front of thirty thousand people or being in front of a camera all the time, this was weird. It sounded like a panic or anxiety induced stomach ache from what Scarlet was saying and Edward wished he studied a little more about medicine to advise what kind of counter drug Scarlet should be taking.

    Jedd: You know what? Don''t think too much about it. If it makes you feel better, even if the entire campus judges you for it, I would never do that. If anything happens, send me a text. I''ll be at campus all the way until three but I''ll stay a little later to self-study in the library so if you need me, I''ll be around.

    Touched by Jedd''s offer, Scarlet felt more reassured. Still, she was slightly hesitant about meeting up offline on the first day of school.

    Frost: Thank you, knowing that you''re there makes me feel a lot better. Let''s hold the offline meeting for a while, shall we? Let me get accustomed to school life ^^"

    Edward didn''t push it and respected her wishes. They ended their conversation quickly as Scarlet had to prepare to leave. Claire was already waiting for the writer even though they still had twenty minutes before the meeting time. Scarlet decided to go a little earlier just in case she got lost on the campus.

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on and check out their other works. <<

    Heading to the campus earlier was a good idea. Claire wasn''t allowed to accompany Scarlet so the writer had to find her way around. There were signboards pointing to the meeting location for first years attending the induction camp but Scarlet still managed to get herself lost. She simply couldn''t find the stairs and was close to tears when there were only five more minutes before she was officially late.

    "Are you ok?" someone asked and Scarlet turned around. How had that person snuck up on her without her noticing? The writer was shocked but also thankful that there was finally someone she could ask for directions.

    "I''m sorry!" Scarlet squeaked and pushed up her fake glasses. The girl in front of her was rather tall and looked like a senior in the campus so Scarlet decided to give it a try.

    "Do you happen to know where the indoor auditorium is? I''ve been looking for it but cannot find the stairs that lead to the third floor¡­"

    The tall lady looked at the venue written on Scarlet''s camp invitation card and laughed. "You poor thing¡­ they should have included a map of how to get there. I still have some time before my lecture so I''ll lead you there. It''s quite a shitty design so many first-years like you get lost. Don''t worry about it. The lecturers won''t be mad even if you''re late. The culture of this university isn''t as strict as the others."

    Scarlet thought that the senior was a nice person as she explained a lot about the different faculties and their buildings on the way to the auditorium. In the short ten minutes of their chat, Scarlet found out several things. The senior''s name was Alicia and she was a first-year on campus studying psychology.

    "Here we are," Alicia smiled and then turned to Scarlet.

    "Since you don''t look like you came to this campus with any friends, why don''t we exchange numbers? This way you can call me if you run into any issues."

    Scarlet didn''t say that Alex would be attending lessons with her next month and accepted the kind gesture. She gave Alicia her number and only gave the senior her first name. She didn''t want to cause a scene by telling people her actual last name but if she had to, she would use her old surname instead of her current surname.

    Alicia was quite pushy and insisted on taking a wefie to commemorate their first meeting. Not wanting to be any later than she already was, Scarlet complied and smiled for the camera. With her disguise, it would be difficult for anyone to recognise her as the second daughter of the Wilde family or the singer of Britannia. Also, she might be popular as an actress in the East but Scarlet didn''t think many Americans watched Chinese dramas. With that knowledge, Scarlet tried to convince her paranoid self to calm down and not regret agreeing to a wefie.

    The writer left quickly and Alicia giggled. The new kid she found today was rather cute. With those thick-framed rectangular glasses and her tiny size, Alicia wanted to treasure such a cute junior.

    Excited to share the news with her boring friend, the psychology student rushed off to her own lecture, not really caring that she was going to be twenty minutes late. With such a good photo and such an adorable creature, Edward would forgive her. Besides, it wasn''t as if the lazy bum did anything for their project work. This was going to be payback. Feeling satisfied, Alicia captioned it "found a cute new kid lost today" and sent it to her boring friend.

    Edward was half asleep when the phone in his pocket vibrated. It was rare for Alicia to be this late and he couldn''t help but be curious about the excuse she came up with this time. To his legitimate surprise, he wasn''t expecting to see a familiar face beside that tomboy in the wefie.

    Although she was dressed in an oversized hoodie and cheap jeans with thick black-framed rectangular glasses, there was no mistaking her identity. The co-founder of Golden Frost and his only texting buddy was on the campus today so how did Alicia get to her before he did? This was simply too unfair.

    She-devil: Jealous yet?

    Edward looked at Alicia''s follow up text and held onto his temper. Yes, he was jealous but he wouldn''t let her have the satisfaction of knowing it.

    Lazy Bum: Get your ass to the lecture hall before I tattle on you.

    Satisfied with that, he set the phone to silent mode while Alicia spammed him with empty threats. Still, he couldn''t keep all the red away from his face. Scarlet looked really cute in her ''inconspicuous'' style and he liked it way better than her red carpet look.

 Chapter 169 - Camp for the Youths

    When Scarlet entered the auditorium, there were already hyperactive teens doing weird dances, claps and yelling at each other. Scarlet didn''t know that she''d sign up for such a rowdy activity. What was so fun about such a noisy event? Scarlet couldn''t understand what Jedd was thinking about when he claimed that he regretted not joining such a fun camp. Which part of the camp resembled fun?! Scarlet wanted to quickly run back to her apartment and hide in her room.

    "Hi, there! Are you here for the Freshie Camp?" a friendly senior asked Scarlet who looked like she was about to cry.

    Scarlet nodded and was ushered to a group of rowdy teenagers. There were at least twenty people in the group and Scarlet felt anxiety grip her when all twenty pairs of eyes turned towards her.    It was only the start but already, Scarlet felt like she didn''t belong. The minimum age for most of these students was nineteen but Scarlet was only sixteen. The girls looked very mature and the boys looked way older than her. Scarlet felt like a child who didn''t belong and was regretting her decision.

    Back in Malaysia, nobody bothered Scarlet. She was a loner and always did things on her own. Even in group projects, nobody talked to her. When she was in the Special Class, the atmosphere was different. They didn''t stare at Scarlet as if she was some kind of rare animal on display. Heck, even the annoying media didn''t do that!

    "Hello, I''m the camp facilitator in charge of your group. My name is Patricia but feel free to call me Tricia. I''m a second-year studying aerospace engineering with the engineering school. We are simply warming up right now so feel free to join us for the cheers."

    Scarlet accepted the camp guidebook and flipped through the ages. None of the cheers seemed familiar to her even though the lyrics were written down. The girl beside Scarlet saw her uneasiness and bent down to whisper.

    "Are you ok?"

    Scarlet was startled but nodded. The girl who expressed her concern was a brunet with a good sense of fashion. Scarlet was slightly hesitant to open up to anyone but she made an attempt. "I don''t know any of these cheers."

    The girl smiled. "Don''t worry about it. Just clap along and shout when everyone else does it. We''re currently warming up before the actual camp starts where teams will be given tasks and competitions will be hosted. Don''t be so nervous and have fun. Nobody is going to eat you up. My name''s Joanna and I will be studying dentistry when school officially starts. What about you?"

    Scarlet trembled. "I¡­ I''m Scarlet. Studying philosophy¡­"

    "Philosophy? That''s unique! Nice to meet you, Scarlet!" Joanna smiled and Scarlet returned a shy smile.

    Thankfully for the writer, nobody spoke to her after that and the warm-up concluded after fifteen more minutes. They got seated and the camp coordinator stood on stage with a microphone in hand.

    "Ahem! Testing! Alright, folks! Welcome to the freshie camp. It''s a bridging camp meant to familiarise everyone with the campus grounds. As the university is quite huge, please always carry your student guidebooks so that you can refer to the maps. If any of you get lost on campus, don''t worry. Simply ask around and the helpful seniors will point you in the right direction. That''s all from me, I will let the camp facilitators brief you and your team about what''s going to happen from now until lunch. It would also be wise to start exchanging phone numbers and adding everyone into a group chat because you will need to talk a lot over the next two days."

    After the speech ended, Scarlet followed the group leader and the team outdoors. The weather in New York was lovely and Scarlet wondered how long it had been since she had taken time off from work to simply enjoy the simpler things in life. Joanna found Scarlet spacing out and decided to nudge the girl a little. The camp facilitator was explaining some rather important things for their next group activity and it would be bad to miss it.

    Scarlet didn''t know how ice-breaker games worked but she was terrified after hearing the rules. It was a silly game whereby everyone will be encouraged to remember each other''s names in the group. There will be a round of introduction before the game and Scarlet was confident of her memory. However, Scarlet didn''t know any subway station names. Claire had been driving her around New York for as long as she remembered. In addition, Scarlet was too busy working overseas and studying out of America. She paled at the thought and felt ill. The rules of the game required everyone to sit in a circle and call out each other''s names. When a person''s name is being called, the people at their sides will be allowed to hit them on their laps repeatedly until they give a subway station name that hasn''t been mentioned by the others before. Scarlet looked at the people to her side. She didn''t think that Joanna was going to be hitting her very hard but she was slightly terrified at the jock sitting to her left.

    Everyone did their round of introduction stating the names, age, courses that they were majoring in and their hobbies. Scarlet wasn''t the first to go so she had plenty of time to think. She wasn''t a fan of lying but what could she say to not attract attention to herself?

    It was finally the jock''s turn to her left and Scarlet could feel her heart pounding.

    "I''m Ryan, twenty-four and studying Sports Science. My hobbies are generally active and include anything from swimming to mountain climbing. Also, one small fact about me, I''m single and gay."

    Scarlet blinked. She wasn''t expecting such a bold announcement but the people in her group didn''t look like they minded. Instead, there were some catcalls and even a bold guy who flirted with Ryan asking for his number.

    It was finally Scarlet''s turn and she got up shakily, fiddling with the edge of her hoodie. She wasn''t afraid of the masses or cameras but why was attending school such a frightening thought for her? Scarlet hadn''t felt this way for a long time. The feeling of insecurity that she felt previously was when she first entered the Wilde household as their adopted daughter. Back then, Scarlet kept everything bottled up and to herself. She still felt insecure but not as much ever since Mrs Wilde hosted the Sweet Sixteen Gala and declared to the world that there were two Wilde daughters.

    "I-I''m Scarlet¡­" she squeaked and blushed when her voice came out higher than expected. There were coos from some of the older girls and Scarlet swallowed, looking down at her sneakers.

    Patricia gave Scarlet an encouraging look and nobody rushed Scarlet while she took deep breaths trying to calm herself down. "I''m sixteen this year and will be studying Philosophy. M-my hobbies are wr-writing. Please take care of me."

    There were looks of surprise when they heard her age. Everyone thought that Scarlet looked small and adorable but nobody expected that Scarlet would only be sixteen. Many people couldn''t hold their curiosity back and started bombarding the girl with questions, frightening her more. Patricia saw that Scarlet was frozen stiff with fear and told the rest to pipe down so that they could finish the self-introduction rounds in order to divert the attention.

    Joanna took the cue and quickly stood up. She was confident and introduced herself without difficulty, gaining a round of applause before sitting down. Scarlet was close to hyperventilating so Joanna placed a hand around the small girl.

    "What''s wrong? You don''t look too good. If you''re worried about your age, don''t be. The University is full of diversity so nobody will judge you for it."

    Scarlet was close to crying when she looked at Joanna. "I-I don''t know any subway stations¡­ am I going to fail?"

    Joanna blinked. "Uh¡­ we should let Patricia know about this. I don''t think it''s fair for you to participate if you''re clueless about it. Say, did you live overseas before coming to America to study?"

    Scarlet swallowed and nodded. "I was in Malaysia for a while then I lived in Singapore for about six years. After that, I was travelling around the world mostly to China and Europe. I''ve only recently been able to settle down with my sister in America to further our studies so I''m not very familiar with New York or the subway stations¡­ Claire usually drives us around because she says that it''s not safe to travel alone.

    "Claire?"

    Scarlet blushed. "She takes care of us," Scarlet explained, not wanting to give away too much information about her family''s background.

    Joanna saw that Scarlet wasn''t too comfortable with talking about it so she didn''t pry. Instead, she grabbed Scarlet''s hand to raise it up with hers.

    "Yes?" Patricia asked. She didn''t think anybody would have any questions about the game because it was rather simple.

    "Can I answer on behalf of Scarlet if she gets called? The girl has only recently come to America and has always been overseas so she doesn''t know any subway station names."

    Scarlet thought that bringing this up was a bad idea until another scrawny boy who was studying computer science raised his hand as well. "Sorry, I don''t know any subway station names either. I''m from Canada."

    Patricia hummed. "In that case, shall we change it to something else that everyone else knows? How about animals?"

    A teen who was studying Zoology laughed. "You''re all going to lose! I''m the specialist."

    Patricia smirked. "Alright, everyone. You heard Gary. He says that he''s the animal expert so please remember to call on him more often!"

    The two ladies sitting beside Gary promised to hit him extra hard whenever anyone called and Gary paled. "I take it back! I take it back!"

    Scarlet laughed along with everyone else and Joanna gave her a wink. Scarlet returned a smile. Maybe the camp was going to be fun after all. She couldn''t wait to tell Jedd all about it.

 Chapter 170 - A Small Jealous Flame

    Frost: You were right! The camp was fun even though it was nerve-wracking at first. I''ve never met so many friendly people or played games like that before¡­

    Jedd77: Isn''t that great? Did you meet anyone from your course?

    Scarlet sighed and texted back that she was the only philosophy student in that group although she talked a lot about Joanna. The more Scarlet talked about it, the more Edward smiled on the other end of the conversation. Scarlet talked about how open the people were and how nobody judged the other person for being who they were. In particular, Scarlet had respect for one of the guys in the group who was openly gay and single.

    The more Scarlet talked about the gay comrade she met, the more Edward''s smile disappeared. He liked it when Scarlet talked about her day because Edward learned more about her that way. However, he found himself disliking it when Scarlet talked about other boys. Edward wasn''t a fool, he knew what he felt for her but it didn''t mean he couldn''t get jealous.

    Trying to switch the topic, Edward asked if Scarlet was ready for the second day of camp tomorrow. The camp will only become more intense with each day and according to Alicia who was a social butterfly. Scarlet looked at the time and almost screamed. She was used to staying up late after shoots and waking up late in the morning near noon because most of her work didn''t take place until after lunch. School life was tough having to wake up early and all.

    Frost: I''m so sorry! I''d gotten so used to staying up late and waking up late that I forgot... I have to go to sleep now, I''ll find time to talk to you tomorrow!

    Jedd77: Oh dear! It''s best that you head to bed then. I''ll be waiting to hear your updates ^^

    Frost: Thank you and sorry about that!

    -Frost logged out.-

    Edward chuckled. Scarlet really wasn''t very good at hiding things even when she was hiding behind a new name. He didn''t know her personally in person but her personality wasn''t too far off from what Elfie told him about her. Now that Scarlet was offline and probably heading to bed, he could call the hacker.

    "What''s up? Jasper and I are still working on it. That Pineapple CEO really is fishy. We''re doing our best to track him down and find leads but everything is very contradicting. It would be good if we had someone else to help us sort it out. Scarlet is usually good at it but we decided against involving her further so this is going to take a while. Say, can''t you reconsider? A month is really too short for us to get any solid leads without her..."

    Edward thought about it. "I just spoke with Scarlet as Jedd. Today is her first day at the university so don''t bother her. Have you heard from Danny and Wilmer''s side?"

    The hacker sighed. "Danny is keeping me at arm''s length regarding the matter. He doesn''t even see me now! How dare he throw me to Kiwi Cat Studio... I didn''t even want the chat room to become a business, now I have to manage everything because of the stupid business plan! I hate Jasper sometimes and he isn''t the one helping to trace information. Shouldn''t managing the business and making money be his job? Why am I doing his work too?!"

    Rolling his eyes, Edward ignored Elfie''s ranting. This wasn''t the first time Elfie complained about having to do actual work that got him paid the legal way. As a hacker working for the Interpol occasionally, Elfie never got used to the concept of doing work to pay the bills. Danny had controlled the money very strictly and all Elfie had to do was treat the jobs he was given like a game. It wasn''t difficult to get Elfie interested in a case but it was difficult to get Elfie to cooperate with a team. The teen was great at what he did but could only be a soloist. Edward didn''t like working with Elfie unless it was absolutely necessary because Elfie had a tendency to change plans without informing others about it. He suspected that Jasper isn''t helping Elfie manage his chatroom business for the same reason seeing as Jasper and Elfie had been acquainted for a long time.

    "Are you done?" Edward deadpanned. "Can we go back to talking about what you found? I''m calling you for an update report before I consider extending my services. Also, did you know that both Alex and Scarlet are attending my school? It''s easier for me to keep tabs on the sisters even if we''re not in the same course."

    Getting into a serious mode, Elfie returned to the topic of his investigation. "I really will appreciate it if you can keep Scarlet beside you whenever you can. Alex isn''t too much of a concern. She''s a social butterfly and will make a lot of friends when school starts. Her social media updates hourly so if something happens to her, we will be ready. Scarlet doesn''t keep her account active after the work hiatus announcement. I also don''t know when she will be in communication with that Pineapple CEO. There was an agreement that he can be in contact with the sisters for business-related matters and I''m afraid that he will try to get to Scarlet using that excuse. Alex doesn''t handle business matters for Golden Frost."

    Edward understood his friend''s concern. CEO Zhu was a very suspicious person and if anything, both his search results and Elfie''s findings were pointing towards the same direction. Despite that, they were still unable to uncover more details simply because their hands were tied. Elfie was restricted by time and responsibilities with the unexpected business boom. Edward wasn''t on probation. He stuck his nose too deeply into a case about three months ago and his father benched him from all Interpol access rights. He couldn''t do any spy missions and it was the absolute worst.

    "I can''t help out this time even if I want to," Edward admitted. "My passports and identity cards have been taken back and my bank is frozen. You''re the only one capable of finding out anything at all so if you''re stuck then we''re doomed."

    The hacker didn''t like the sound of it. He was neck-deep in this thing called work and he hated every moment of it. Yet, he couldn''t leave it to anyone else because nobody knew what he wanted to do for the chatroom. Some of the E.C. Class members working or Jasper volunteered to help and Elfie was thankful that he didn''t have to handle the administrative work and deal with customer emails. Elfie was eternally grateful to Samuel for making his life a lot easier by sending daily summarised reports. He was also grateful that Jasper sometimes told Ronald and Vicky to help him out with some debugging and user testing. Yet, Elfie couldn''t spend enough time to spare working on doing background checks on all of Pineapple Group.

    "Say, can you help me sift through the massive data that I can secure access for? Pineapple Group is too big for me to investigate everything alone... I''m begging you now, you''re the only person I can count on! I know that there will be a lead to Anastasia somewhere in the millions of files but I don''t have the spare time or energy to do it."

    Edward considered it. Classes were boring and Edward was going to start climbing walls if life was going to continue being this boring. Aside from being able to talk to Scarlet whenever she could find the time, Edward had no other highlights for his day.

    "How can I do that?"

    Elfie deadpanned. "Are you serious? You''re a spy. Isn''t going through the information and collecting them your speciality? I can''t tell what all those financial figures or blueprint or emails mean. I only know how to bypass firewalls and jam networks to gain access into places I''m not meant to."

    The spy rolled his eyes. "I mean how can I access them after you hack into the system? Also, where will you be starting? Pineapple Group is a huge company with worldwide influence. They span across several industries and have a very complex company structure. When you say something fishy it could mean anything from frauds and embezzlement to illegal research and development. How do we know which one leads to Anastasia?"

    Elfie wasn''t sympathetic. "That''s for you to find out. You''re a spy, aren''t you? Then again you''re still very young and rather inexperienced so this might be hard for you. How about letting your father know so that he can help assign someone more suitable for the task?"

    Hearing the taunt, Edward had to collect himself and remind himself not to fall for such an obvious trick. "If you think my father will lend his men for you then be my guest. Just be prepared for Danny to come after you in person when he finds out. I''m also sure that Wilmer won''t let you off the hook when he knows that his daughters were involved."

    The spy smirked when the hacker spewed vulgarities in his native tongue. Knowing that he now had the upper hand in their negotiation, Edward waited for Elfie to throw in a more appealing offer.

    "Ok, I will make you one last deal. If you help me find Anastasia''s tail and protect Scarlet, I will make sure nobody dates her before you can ask her out. I know you like Scarlet. I see your chat logs. I won''t tell Orita or Wilmer and I can get Alex to be cupid. Alex can help to distract Claire as well and I know you can take care of the other bodyguards following Scarlet when you bring her out on dates."

    Edward swallowed when he heard it and a furious blush coloured his face to the name of his secret crush. "Y-You! If you tell anyone about this before I ask Scarlet out, you''re a dead person."

    Elfie laughed. "I take the secrets to my grave but even as a ghost I will throw flower petals over the both of you. Scarlet is a good girl and you are a reliable boy. I''m happy for both of you if you can win her heart. At the same time as Scarlet''s friend, I must threaten to rip your balls off if you hurt her. Unlike Alex, Scarlet suffered too much when she was young. She pulls everyone in the class together and heals our wounds but nobody is able to heal her scars. Be careful of what you do and say around her, you study psychology so you know what PTSD is."

    Hearing that, Edward nodded and bit his lip. "I will. Thank you for telling me. Once you''ve copied the files out, let me know how to access them. It''s better to hurry because EZ Express is on the move."

    Elfie agreed and they ended the call. For a long time, Edward stared at the phone in his hand. Elfie''s words echoed in his head. Scarlet had a painful past that nobody knew much about and she had PTSD. The spy was pained knowing that the person he couldn''t reach out to Scarlet. She was so close to him now but somehow after learning that, she felt very far away to reach. If only he was one of the freshmen in her camp, it would have been easier to get close to her. Even if he wasn''t gay, he was willing to swap bodies with Ryan just to be a little closer to her.

 Chapter 171 - New Friends

    The three-day camp was finally over and Scarlet was nervous for a different reason. Ever since she left Joyville, Scarlet didn''t have any proper education. She was very busy with her career and neglected to put any of her knowledge to practical use. From what Scarlet heard, university lectures were rather fast-paced and there were no textbooks. Students had to listen to the lecturer and take down notes on their own. These notes will be used to help students study for their exams.

    Orita prepared a small recorder so that Scarlet could tape down the lecture if she wasn''t able to copy the notes as quickly. Scarlet was thankful for the gift and promised to put it to good use. The friends she made during the three-day camp proved to be very interesting and the group chat was constantly flooded. Scarlet didn''t always read through the spammy messages but she did become closer with Joanna and Ryan.

    At the same time, Scarlet wasn''t expecting her first accidental encounter with the senior named Alicia to progress so quickly into texting buddies. Alicia was a very cheerful person and reminded Scarlet a lot about Alex. The girl was bubbly and quick-witted. She was outspoken and had a great sense of humour. With no familiar faces in her course, Scarlet was happy that she had some people she still knew around the campus even though she didn''t think that there will be any chances of bumping into them anytime soon. The university was simply too huge!

    Although it was a bridging course and a refresher for many, Scarlet felt oddly out of place. The room was full of a.d.u.l.ts who had recently left work and came back to study or men who had left the military service. There wasn''t a single person in the bridging course younger than twenty and Scarlet didn''t know who to sit beside. She didn''t know how to behave or who to talk to even if everyone was friendly. When she was working, she learnt that respect was to be given to one''s seniors in the industry. Usually, she only bowed and smiled, leaving all the talking to Pamela. This time, she had nobody beside her to help.

    "Hello, can I sit beside you?" a lady asked and Scarlet nodes even though she felt uncomfortable.

    The class slowly filled up and all sorts of people appeared. The bridging program was slightly different from regular university classes that took place in lecture halls or online. For the entire riding program, Scarlet''s classes will take place in this same classroom. There were about thirty students who were studying the same things and Scarlet wondered if there would also be tests at the end of it. The recorder was placed neatly on the table along with her notebook and pencil case. It was five minutes before lessons officially started but the teacher was nowhere in sight.

    Ten minutes later, the classmates were busy socialising while waiting for the teacher who was already tardy. Scarlet fiddled with her phone. Should she send Jedd a message? She didn''t have any friends and the lady sitting beside her was more interested in fixing her make up and taking selfies.

    The lecturer finally burst through the door looking breathless as he apologised for being late. Scarlet thought that he looked rather busy. The teacher took five minutes to set up his laptop and connected it to the screen. Scarlet thought it was rather odd that he didn''t take the class attendance. Instead, he merely threw a file to the nearest student and told them to sign on the list then pass it around.

    The list reached Scarlet and she looked for her name. Thankfully, nobody put two and two together seeing her name printed so clearly. The Wilde surname didn''t seem to make anyone suspicious and Scarlet mentally sighed in relief. It would be best if she could continue this all the way until graduation. While signing her name, Scarlet couldn''t help but be curious at the other students in the bridging program and scanned through the list briefly before passing it to the lady beside her.

    The lecturer didn''t take any questions as he ran through his lesson slides and Scarlet was thankful for Orita''s thoughtful gift. Although classes were two hours long, Scarlet couldn''t understand why the lecturer finished the lesson in an hour. The lecturer slides were rushed through and a copy of the lessons slides will be uploaded to the student portal for them to download and review.

    "Any questions?" the lecturer asked.

    Hands started shooting up and Scarlet struggled to keep up with the rapid-fire ask and answer session. She didn''t understand how these students were able to keep up with the lecturer''s pace of teaching. Other than basically reading out from the teaching slides, the lecturer didn''t do anything much. Although the bridging course topic was new to Scarlet, she didn''t have problems with it. The program was called the Art of Communication and the first lesson was all about presenting oneself for a good first impression. Scarlet had enough experiences with her work history so it was a breeze for her. Still, the technical terms flew over her head. Things like "Imprinting" and "Individualism" threw her off very badly.

    By the end of the lesson, Scarlet could only numbly pack her belongings while half the class dashed out for work and other classes and the other half of the class stayed back to exchange numbers and get to know each other more. The lady beside Scarlet belonged to the latter group.

    Scarlet''s next class was after lunch in a different classroom in the same teaching building. She might have gone through a three-day orientation camp but the campus was still very big and she didn''t know where to go for lunch.

    Her phone buzzed and Scarlet quickly checked it.

    Alicia: My class just ended! Want to meet up for lunch with a few of my friends? I bet you''re lonely on your first day. Have you made any new friends yet?

    Scarlet smiled and quickly texted back.

    Scarlet: No. It''s a little awkward as many of the people attending the bridging class are a.d.u.l.ts. There isn''t anyone below the age of twenty except me. Also, where should I meet you and your friends for lunch?

    Alicia: Seeing as you''re still new to the campus, how about let me know where your teaching block is? I will meet you there directly while my friends find some place to settle down for lunch. You won''t believe it but it is very hard to find seats during the lunch rush so we have to strategise a little... HAHA!

    Scarlet took a picture of her timetable and sent it over to Alicia because she wasn''t sure what the alphabets on the venue meant. However, Alicia got it immediately. In fact, the girl enthusiastically started to compare it to her schedule and made future arrangements so that they could meet up more often. Scarlet didn''t mind. Talking to Alicia was fun even though she was slightly nervous about meeting Alicia''s friends. What if Alicia''s friends didn''t like her? What if she was intruding on their get-together time?

    Alicia: It''s settled! I''ll meet you there in ten minutes. The boys are finding places for us. My usual group of friends can be quite loud and rowdy but don''t mind them. They''re all nice people and when I told them about you, they couldn''t wait to meet you because you looked so cute!

    The writer blinked at the last line. Cute? Her? Surely Alicia must be joking. The writer took a quick look at herself in the toilet mirror. She was wearing fake glasses, an oversized hoodie, some cheap jeans and sneakers. This was as down-to-earth and as boring as one could look. Scarlet deliberately chose the more affordable line of clothing from Golden Frost to wear to school seeing as the rest of her wardrobe consisted of designer brands. Did she make a mistake somewhere?

    In less than ten minutes, Scarlet spotted the cheerful senior making her way through the crowd. Even before Alicia reached Scarlet, she squealed and rushed over to give the girl a hug. Beside Alicia were two other girls who looked equally tall and outgoing. One of them wore glasses and looked like a cool beauty. The other girl was a sporty person with her hair pulled into a ponytail while she wore some loose tee and yoga pants as if she was heading to the gym.

    "Hello again, Scarlet! Sorry to keep you waiting. These are my friends, Mandy with the glasses and Beatrice with the ponytail. Mandy is a little bit of a nerd and loves reading. Beatrice is a yoga fanatic so she''s always wearing something that looks like that even though we''re all studying psychology. The other two friends of mine are waiting for us at the atrium''s cafeteria. They are Edward and Mike. Edward is the quiet guy and Mike is the loud jock. Don''t mind Mike, he doesn''t have tack but he''s a good person. Come on, let''s go before you starve to death. I''ll recommend the tuna melt sandwich, it''s brilliant!"

    Scarlet remained silent the whole time, more than happy to listen to Alicia ramble on with some input from Mandy and Beatrice from time to time as they made their way over to the atrium.

 Chapter 172 - Stars Are Falling

    Edward was quieter than usual. He tried his best to compose his inner self when he heard that Alicia wanted to invite that cute junior over to join them for lunch. The madwoman mentioned that Scarlet had a shy streak and warned Mike to watch his mouth.

    On the surface, Edward looked like he was having a bad day. On the inside, he was full of many emotions. One side of him was thrilled to finally meet his texting pal and secret crush. A small part of him still wasn''t keeping up with reality. The spy side of him knew that this would be the perfect opportunity to get closer to Scarlet so that he could watch over her better. Then again, the wolfish side of him wanted to use his mission as an excuse to get closer to Scarlet. He wanted to flirt with her just to watch her reactions and pretend to be a different person just so that he can protect both his texting buddy identity and his spy identity by hiding behind the new identity he had as Alicia''s friend.

    Edward knew that he wasn''t being fair to Scarlet by pretending not to know her but he couldn''t help it. Even though he was a great spy, he was still a coward when it came to his feelings. If it weren''t for Elfie''s warning last night, Edward would have gone straight for it. However, the hacker reminded him exactly how fragile Scarlet was when she wasn''t putting up a strong front. It might not be obvious to many people but Edward trusted Elfie''s judgement when he said Scarlet had PTSD and depression. It took one to know one after all.

    "Sorry guys! This is Scarlet, the cutie I mentioned."

    Scarlet blushed when Alicia referred to her as a ''cutie'' but was unable to say anything. She could only look down in embarrassment but Mike didn''t notice it. He grinned and introduced himself in a loud voice while offering a handshake. Scarlet accepted the handshake and Edward burned with jealousy on the inside even as his expression remained neutral. Instead of acting friendly with Scarlet, he maintained the character of a silent and emotionless jerk that he had around Alicia and her gang.

    The writer didn''t know why but she felt that the silent guy who simply nodded at her made her feel more comforting than the overwhelming characters in Alicia''s gang. She had barely placed her bag down, choosing the seat beside Edward when Alicia dragged her away by the arm.

    "W-wait! I haven''t gotten my wallet..."

    Alicia laughed. "You don''t need that, it''s on me today. Congratulations on surviving your very first class. Now, tell me all about it! Also, I hope you''re not allergic to tuna melt sandwiches."

    Edward''s eyes followed the girls as they left and Mike was about to join them when he noticed Edward not moving from his spot.

    "Bro, are you coming?"

    The spy blinked. Was he spacing out? That wasn''t good. As a spy that was totally unprofessional. He should be more careful about it but the way Scarlet walked up to place her bag beside him even in such a brief moment made such a deep impression on him that he lost his mind. In their brief encounter, Edward knew that he was a fool in love. He practically saw stars falling all around her with everything she did. He could still remember the smell of her shampoo and recognise the clothes she wore from the Golden Frost collection. Still, he insisted that he recognised them only because he was busy looking through everything that could possibly concern CEO Zhu and Golden Frost''s collaboration for a hint on Pineapple Group''s link to Anastasia.

    Edward shook his head and told Mike that he would get something later. He offered to watch the bags for them and Mike raised a brow.

    "The queue is going to be long by the time you get there. Why don''t I order for you?" the jock offered and Edward considered it.

    "Then, please get me tuna melts and a black iced coffee," he said and passed Mike some money.

    The jock grinned and jogged to beat the queue. The lunch rush was always the worst and usually, Edward hating jostling with the crowd. However, today he felt slightly blue about not joining in with the crowd. It would have been a good excuse to loiter around and observe Scarlet from a closer distance without getting spotted for it. Still, he didn''t mind. There would be plenty of chances in the future if he played his cards right. For now, he was perfectly content with watching Scarlet from his seat as Alicia shoved drinks into her arms and walked to the cashier as Scarlet toddler behind like a lost duckling.

    He couldn''t help but chuckle and was glad that none of his friends were here. If they saw such a sappy expression on his face, he would never hear the end of it. It took them fifteen minutes to get food and return to the table so Edward took that time to compose himself and fix that aloof mask in place before Scarlet returned.

    For the first time in his life, Edward was thankful for Alicia''s existence. Scarlet was easily distracted with the girl asking her many questions so Edward could steal some glances in Scarlet''s direction to see how she ate. He didn''t know if it was Alicia''s recommendation that influenced Scarlet''s decision for lunch but his heart did a little somersault when he noticed that they ordered the exact same things.

    "Do you like black coffee too?" Edward asked after a while.

    The group fell silent when Edward spoke. It was rare for Edward to initiate conversation and even the person who spoke seemed a little taken aback by the words that left his lips. Scarlet didn''t notice the difference in atmosphere and nodded absent-mindedly while chewing. She had some cheese stuck by the side of her mouth and everyone had to look away to not blush at how much Scarlet resembled a child holding the tuna sandwich with both hands while eating messily. Edward didn''t know what possessed him but he grabbed some tissue and helped to wipe the mess off Scarlet''s face before going back to his meal.

    Alicia held her breath and held onto Beatrice''s hands while Mandy smacked Mike excitedly. The jock''s mouth was wide open with Edward''s bold action and was about to say something when Mandy stuffed his mouth so that he couldn''t ruin the moment.

    "You like black coffee as well? My sister hates it but I think the bitter taste is refreshing. I don''t get to eat a lot when I work so black coffee is one of the things I can enjoy on the set."

    Edward raised a brow. "On the set?"

    Scarlet froze and realized that she had said something wrong. She had gotten so used to talking about her work with Alex that she forgot who she was supposed to be in the university. Nervous, Scarlet waved her hand to explain herself and come up with an excuse. Edward couldn''t hold himself back and chuckled at how fl.u.s.tered Scarlet had gotten, bringing a new shade of red to Scarlet''s face.

    From the sideline, Alicia glanced between Edward and Scarlet with furrowed brows. For the icicle king to laugh and initiate conversation, it was a first for anyone. Her matchmaker senses were tingling the more she looked at how Edward looked at Scarlet.

    "I''m going to the ladies. Beatrice, Mandy you wanna come?" Alicia asked and gave them a strange look that made Scarlet wonder what that was all about.

    When the girls were gone, Scarlet found the silence a little hard to handle. Edward was strangely comfortable to be around with his lack of conversation that Scarlet couldn''t join. She didn''t know much about university life to join in the gossip so she appreciated the temporary peace and ate quickly. Still, her heart was racing with what Edward did earlier. his actions seemed very natural as if he was used to caring for someone younger when he cleaned her face, embarrassing the writer when he did so.

    Mike yawned and got up. "I''m going to get myself some coffee before the next class. "Scarlet, where is your next class? We can take you there before we leave for our lecture."

    Scarlet cleaned up quickly and pulled out her phone to check through the timetable. Edward leaned over for a look, taking the opportunity to catch a whiff of her shampoo. For some reason it smelled like strawberries and Edward might get addicted to it if nobody stopped him. He tried not to be creepy and quickly pulled back.

    "It''s in our old criminal psychology tutorial classroom. There''s still time so you can get coffee first."

    Mike grinned and gave Edward a thumbs-up before disappearing, leaving Scarlet alone with Edward who checked his phone. With nothing better to do, Scarlet started checking her phone as well for a certain text buddy.

    Edward almost jumped out of his skin when Frost texted him. Quickly, he peeked up to Scarlet who had a faint smile as she texted Jedd77. While Scarlet was on cloud nine, Edward was sweating bullets as he tried to figure out if Scarlet had discovered his identity.

    Frost: Guess what?

    Frost: I met that nice senior and her friends today for lunch.

    Swallowing, Edward composed a reply and tried not to let the nervousness show on his face.

    Jedd77: Really? How was it? Where were you having lunch?

    Scarlet grinned and took a picture of the atrium before sending it to Edward. The spy quickly set his phone on silent mode so that Scarlet wouldn''t figure it out. While it was a nerve-wracking experience texting Scarlet beside her, he couldn''t help but keep up the risky game until Alicia and the girls returned from the bathroom.

    "Sorry for the wait! Where''s Mike?" she asked.

    "He went to get coffee. What time is it?" Edward asked.

    Beatrice checked the time and gasped. "We have ten minutes to scoot. I''ll find Mike, you grab his stuff and head to the lecture to book us seats."

    Edward refused. "You girls do it. I''m escorting this lady to her class before I join you."

    Mandy blinked. "Oh yes, maybe that''s a good idea. Give me your bag then, I''ll carry it over."

    Edward shook his head and cleared the table before getting up with Scarlet following his actions. They carried their belongings and bade the girls goodbye before leaving for Scarlet''s lesson venue.

    Once they were gone, Mandy couldn''t hold back her smirk and Alicia squealed. "See? I called it! He''s got a crush on her!"

    Beatrice scowled. "I hope she dumps him. How dare that jerk fall in love first and leave us old hags still single?"

    Alicia laughed. "Who cares? I need popcorn. Also, we should set up a group chat without Mike to add Scarlet in with Edward. I bet he won''t quit this group chat if she is inside."

    The other girls agreed and quickly got to work while they hurried for their next lecture.

 Chapter 173 - A Strange Chat Group

    Edward was exhausted. The only highlight of his day was meeting Scarlet in person for the first time and talking to her even though they barely exchanged any words. Alicia and her two hags were behaving more oddly than usual and Edward didn''t know if that was a good or bad thing.

    He reached his apartment and wanted to do nothing more than having a hot shower before he looked through the data dump that Elfie prepared for him. Just listening to the sheer volume of files Elfie found made Edward want to take back his word. He didn''t want to sacrifice his sleeping hours sieving through millions of financial files to find something that looked suspicious. It was akin to grasping at straws when it came to finding something against Anastasia.

    He didn''t think that his day could get any weirder but he was proven wrong. While waiting for Elfie''s call, Edward received a strange message. Alicia was up to one of her antics again by adding him to a group chat. If this was another one of those online university social groups, he was going to delete it.

    To his shock and panic, Alicia added a familiar number to the new group. Edward wanted to curse when he realised that his phone number would be exposed and Scarlet would quickly realise he was Jedd77. It was too late to leave the group because Scarlet and Alicia had been chatting for a while now. Edward cursed and checked the history. Then he remembered something. He gave Scarlet his personal phone number, the one that only a few people like the agents he worked with, his father and Elfie had. The phone number that Alicia added into the strange chat group was a different phone number that Edward subscribed to for his university life and student cover. This was the number that he freely gave anyone because he knew he would be deleting it completely once he graduated, erasing the identity of Edward Bayon and returning to his spy life.

    Feeling the tension pass, Edward felt as if he had lost ten years of his life from the scare. Now he understood why spies who fell in love usually left the service. It was difficult to keep a cool and collected head when it concerned the people they loved. An exception to this rule was his father. Edward both admired and hated his father for being a very cold man when he needed to be even if Edward''s mother understood the situation. When Edward was much younger he remembered how his father would always prioritise his work over his family. For years, Edward would only hear stories about the man who was his father from his mother. If he didn''t run away from home to try and track his father down at the age of ten, he would never know the man who was his father.

    Becoming a child spy was something Edward decided to do because he wanted a way to be closer to the world''s most important man in the intelligence department. He worked hard and discovered that he had a talent that he could exploit, making his father treat him a little more warmly even though Edward still did not have any special privileges when it came to working.

    Now that Edward was benched, he was considering if he should continue living the life of a spy after helping Elfie out with Anastasia''s mission. If they succeeded in what the a.d.u.l.ts failed to do, there would be no doubting about his future career path as a spy. However, Edward wasn''t a fool. He couldn''t deny that he had feelings for the second Wilde daughter even though she was very out of his league if he removed his spy identity. She was rich, talented and beautiful like a fairy that didn''t belong to Earth. Edward didn''t know how he could possibly make someone like Scarlet look his way.

    Thankfully, Alicia was a witch who loved meddling in other people''s business. This strange chat group was definitely another one of Alicia''s matchmaking ploys and for once, he wasn''t against the idea.

    Edward: What''s this group? @Alicia you better not be up to something funny again. I''ll tell on you to the professor that you''ve been missing from his classes for more than three weeks and faking your attendance.

    Alicia: No! I swear this is a group for friendly seniors like us to help Scarlet out. The poor girl is so lost and doesn''t have friends other than us in the bridging program. She''d be thrown to a different course after the three months of bridging courses are over. Poor thing... so I thought we could still be here for her even after she completes her bridging program.

    Mandy: No offence Edward but you could do with more social life. You''re the only one permanently in New York so after the term breaks the rest of us will go back to our hometowns leaving lonely Scarlet all alone in this big city. As a senior, shouldn''t you take care of her? You''re both in the same state anyway.

    Beatrice: @Edward if you dare quit this group chat or delete the app again I swear you''re not going to have a group to team up with you for your next assignment!

    The spy inhaled deeply to suppress the irritation building at the three-way attack of the hags. Although he knew many ways to take down people from inside out, there was absolutely nothing he could do to these three brutal hags. Edward ignored them and muted them while back reading Scarlet''s messages. If it wasn''t for Scarlet, this new group chat would have been utter hell. Thankfully, there was always a silver lining.

    Scarlet: Why is the group chat''s name Edarlet? What does that mean?

    At the innocent question about the obvious ship name created by Alicia, the chat went dead silent. Edward didn''t know how he should reply to the writer or if he should even attempt explaining it. Alicia was really shooting herself in the foot by doing such things. He wasn''t going to offer his help this time and set the chat group to mute. After he showered, he was going to look through the files.

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on and check out their other works. <<

    Scarlet didn''t understand why everyone kept dodging her question about the strange chat group''s name but she didn''t pry any further if it made them uncomfortable to talk about it. Still, she was rather happy that she had the phone number of the silent gentleman who escorted her to her afternoon class.

    Then, Scarlet recalled the scene straight out of the movie where Edward cleaned her face with a tissue. Her blood pressure rose and Scarlet buried her face in the pillow, groaning when it made her feel all sorts of weird. She didn''t think that she would enjoy attending university as much as she did because she had been so occupied with her work and tracking Anastasia''s tail. In less than a week, Scarlet had a completely different opinion about attending university. It was probably something she was looking forward to doing from now on until she graduated as long as Edward was still around.

    Alex was busy preparing for her lessons but she hasn''t moved into the apartment yet. Claire noticed that Scarlet was out of sorts when she picked the writer up earlier today but didn''t comment about it. Scarlet was practically glued onto her phone for the whole journey in the car. Alicia was a very fun person to talk to even though she could come off as rather arrogant at some point in time. Mandy was quieter but she had a savage side to her while Beatrice was a total basic white chick.

    For Scarlet, she found the dynamics of this strange clique interesting. On the surface, Alicia would look like she was the leader of the group because of how outspoken she was. However, the more Scarlet got to know them individually, the more the writer came to understand that there were no clique leaders in their small group of friends. Everyone was unique and people were able to tell Alicia no when they didn''t like something. Mike and Edward were the best examples, constantly making Alicia mad.

    While Alicia had a very terrible opinion of Edward, Mandy thought that Edward was cool and great to work with because he was very smart and efficient in group projects even if he was a man of few words and fewer expressions. Beatrice didn''t know what to think of Edward and was neutral about his existence, claiming that they weren''t very close and that he was hard to read. Scarlet did sense that Beatrice actually might have a thing for Mike because she turned all odd and flighty when Scarlet brought that subject up.

    The writer spent a lot of time chatting with the girls so she didn''t realise how much time had passed until Claire informed her that dinner was ready. With the company of her new friends, Scarlet couldn''t help but feel as if she was forgetting someone important. Whatever, she will deal with it when she remembers. For now, she was going to fill her stomach, have a shower then go through the day''s recordings and prepare the notes so that she could revise them at a later date if necessary.

 Chapter 174 - EZ Express

    As Scarlet and Alex were slowly getting used to their university life, a certain company was starting to make major movements behind the scenes. CEO Zhu didn''t want to disturb Scarlet from her school life. After all, it had only been a month since it officially stated. However, the situation was becoming worse and there was no way he could contain it for long.

    Scarlet just came back from the university and was about to update her blog when she received an email from CEO Zhu. Immediately, the writer read the email. CEO Zhu did say that he would let her settle down into her school life before consulting her about other matters concerning Golden Pineapple Collaboration or Anastasia. It had only been a month so she doubted that CEO Zhu would contact her so quickly for a courtesy call.

    The email started out courteous enough but Scarlet quickly noticed something amiss. Both CEO Zhu and her had agreed on only using certain phrases when there was a situation concerning Anastasia''s movements in any messages. The phrase was well blended into the email that congratulated her on her university acceptance. It had a casual tone to anyone who was reading it so the phrase "go get ''em" would easily be overlooked by anyone else who intercepted the email.

    The writer chose to compose herself before drafting a reply. To match with CEO Zhu''s friendly and casual tone, she weaved in some replies about her mundane university life before introducing her concern for the collaboration details. Using that as an excuse for the new fashion line and production, Scarlet asked if they could meet up soon for a face to face discussion as well as a factory tour.

    Naturally, the factory tour wasn''t just a regular facility tour. If CEO Zhu was reaching out to her this early, it would only mean that EZ Express was doing something huge in the warehouses of subsidiaries that the Pineapple Group owned. She wanted to know which warehouses and factories were involved in Anastasia''s new scheme so that she could tip off Elfie even though she had been warned to lay off the case.

    According to the email, CEO Zhu randomly brought up the topic of security in America differing from China. He mentioned gun laws in a passing remark but Scarlet wondered if there was more to it. CEO Zhu could have easily kept to a generic message. Why did he deliberately drive the topic towards guns? Unless it had something to do with Anastasia, Scarlet couldn''t think of another reason why Ming Yang would bring it up.

    After checking through her drafted reply, Scarlet sent it and went to shower. She had some assignments to be done today and Scarlet wondered if a certain someone could help her out seeing as they were studying psychology.

    Claire kept an eye on Scarlet. For some reason, Scarlet seemed to be glowing ever since she started going to university. Maybe Alex was right about her sister needing a break from all the limelight. Ever since Scarlet announced her hiatus, the girl had returned to her quiet origins and dressed down tremendously. She hid behind nerdy fake glasses, didn''t wear any make-up and was almost unrecognisable from her red carpet looks. Scarlet looked like the sweet girl next door and was almost out of place in the Beverly Hills neighbourhood with her get-up.

    Alex, on the other hand, was still a popular social butterfly. It didn''t make much of a difference if Alex was in front of cameras on the red carpet or going to lectures. She was still the centre of all attention. Unlike Scarlet, Alex made no attempt to hide her wealthy status. Her social media was extremely active and even after her hiatus announcement, Alex still continued to gain followers. The model wanted to involve herself with Scarlet''s social media account as well but Scarlet refused to participate and even begged Alex not to tag her so Alex stopped. Instead, Alex helped to manage Scarlet''s social media account to promote Golden Frost''s new collaboration project with the Pineapple Group.

    "Dinner will be ready in two hours," Claire said. "I will fetch Alex in an hour. Will you be alright at home by yourself?"

    Scarlet thought that it was an odd question to be asking. Of course, she would be alright by herself in the apartment. Why would Claire ask? Still, to reassure the worried head maid, Scarlet nodded with a smile and told Claire to busy away.

    Claire looked unsure but promised to be back as soon as possible. She also told Scarlet to call her if anything happened while she was gone and Scarlet had to agree to make the head maid give her breathing space.

    What Scarlet didn''t know was how everyone in the Wilde Family including Claire and Tina as well as Pamela was aware of Scarlet''s PTSD and depression. Scarlet did not get diagnosed but the family doctor mentioned that Scarlet might develop symptoms and they should look out for the signs. Initially, nobody noticed anything off about Scarlet even after the scare from almost getting kidnapped and running from men with guns with her leg in a cast. Scarlet didn''t have any particular outburst after finding out that her parents practically sold her to be adopted for money. Nobody noticed anything different about Scarlet even after some scary stalking incidents over her career. Many people admired Scarlet for being so resilient but only the close ones knew that those people were wrong.

    Claire was the first to discover how Scarlet was hiding her fear. When Scarlet started looking at her oddly and would flinch whenever Claire touched her shoulder from behind, the ex-army officer knew what that was. She voiced out her concerns to Orita and Jenna who promised to observe more closely. Orita knew that Scarlet was struggling with something but she didn''t know what her daughter was suffering from. Ever since Alex pushed Scarlet from the stairs and they had a talk about family, she thought Scarlet had gotten over the feeling of not belonging. However, that never truly disappeared and Scarlet never truly felt like one of the Wildes, choosing to work on her career and distancing herself from her family. Orita planned for the surprise Sweet Sixteen Gala hoping that it would remove the doubts about where Scarlet belonged and thankfully, it worked. Still, there was no doubting that occasionally, Scarlet would relapse back into depression although being around people helped to pull the girl back out.

    Alex also knew about Scarlet''s inner demons. The sisters sometimes slept together when they met up for work. In the day, Scarlet didn''t act any differently but at night when she was at the mercy of sleep, the true nightmares surfaced. Alex would often wake up to the sound of Scarlet crying and whimpering in fear. However, the model could only pretend to still be asleep as her sister woke up in cold sweat and hurried to the bathroom to throw up. Pamela and Tina were also aware of Scarlet''s sleeping habits. In fact, Scarlet often suffers from bouts of insomnia from time to time.

    The writer kept herself busy and overworked herself on purpose even when she could afford a break. Pamela didn''t understand it at first but working with Scarlet for so long, she gradually came to understand that working was Scarlet''s way of coping with her fears. When Scarlet was busy, she had no tie to think of the things that made her feel helpless. Now that Pamela wasn''t here, Claire took the duty upon herself to watch over Scarlet so that the girl was alright.

    The time came and Claire promised to be back as soon as she could. Scarlet waved goodbye to the head maid and proceeded to take a shower. She was going to hit the books and ask the Edarlet group for help for her assignment.

    The apartment was eerily silent and Scarlet shook her head, clearing her mind of thoughts and paranoia. Just because Claire wasn''t here doesn''t mean the apartment wasn''t safe. Still, Scarlet felt the sticky sensation of eyes watching her. It was similar to the feeling of having a stalker and Scarlet quickly closed all the curtains, just in case.

    Feeling better now that nobody outside could peer inside, Scarlet checked the entire apartment for anything that would look like it would have hidden cameras before she finally decided to hit the showers.

    The hot water felt good and all the stress that she was feeling gradually eased away. Scarlet took time to think about her current progress with the normal university life. Although Scarlet still did not have friends in the bridging program class, she was able to mingle around the other students and feel more at ease around the campus now that she was more familiar.

    Scarlet liked Alicia and her friends but there was one person, in particular, Scarlet found herself wanting to get to know more. She wondered if the silent and slightly snarky boy would be interested in becoming friends. He didn''t really give the vibe of someone friendly but Scarlet didn''t mind. In fact, she liked that he respected her personal space and didn''t pry too much into her business or pressured her into doing things she wasn''t comfortable with. He was patient and observant. Edward was someone Scarlet wanted to get to know more now that she had gotten more comfortable with being around him. The only problem was knowing if Edward was willing to be friends with someone like her.

    Unlike Alicia, Edward barely spoke to her. At least for Alicia and the other girls, Edward still insulted them and answered some of their questions. He was more frank with them and outrightly told them to get lost if he didn''t like something. On the other hand, Edward had never been so forthright with Scarlet. If anything, he had been nothing but nice to her and Scarlet wondered how she could bridge the gap between them so that he could be more open with her too.

    Just like this, without meaning to, Scarlet spent the whole time in the shower until Claire knocked on the door to announce that she was back. Scarlet quickly apologised for wasting hot water and replied that she would soon be out, rushing to finish her shower.

 Chapter 175 - Becoming Scarlet Wilde

    CEO Zhu was coming in two weeks and Scarlet had some preparations to make.CEO Zhu replied to Scarlet''s email in two days and fixed a timing where they could meet up to discuss further about the collaboration matter. However, he was unable to confirm the timing for the warehouse and factory inspection yet so Scarlet took it as a hint that it wasn''t time to make any movements. Scarlet updated her sister of the meeting and Alex frowned.

    "Will you be alright? Entertaining a business partner will mean that you have to cut classes and even apply for a study leave if necessary. Golden Frost might be doing well but Pineapple Group isn''t someone we can ignore if we want their help to expand to the East market. Should I accompany you?"

    The writer laughed. "It''s fine. You have several art assignments due so you''d be very busy. My bridging course isn''t something difficult and there are no exams either. I can afford to take a week off from school. Besides, CEO Zhu wouldn''t be arriving anytime soon. He said that there were still some urgent matters requiring his attention in Hong Kong so he could only arrange to come to America in two weeks. I don''t know if we should let mom know about it. Mom is better at showing guests hospitality but I think CEO Zhu came for more than just business discussions."

    Alex smirked. "Why? Does he specifically want your company? Sister, I didn''t think you would fall for older guys but seeing as you''re a little old-fashioned at times and a serious romantic at heart, I think CEO Zhu will be a good brother-in-law!"

    Scarlet blushed and vehemently denied it while Alex pretended not to know.

    "I- It''s not like that! CEO Zhu and I are just business partners, there''s nothing going on behind the scenes. He''s just really stressed out at work so it''s a holiday for him. I was just going to show him around New York or something... besides, he''s not my type."

    Alex''s eyes widened and she quickly latched herself onto Scarlet, not letting go. "Really? You have a type? Let''s hear it!"

    At that moment, Scarlet realised her mistake and paled. She tried to escape but even Claire joined in, teasing Scarlet until the blushing girl confessed.

    "H-He''s someone I met at school..." Scarlet smiled shyly and Alex screamed while Claire nodded with a small smile, urging Scarlet to continue.

    "Is he tall? Is he handsome? Is he smart? What''s his name?!" Alex demanded to know and the poor writer had to pill the details. Claire quickly confiscated Scarlet''s phone to look for the person called Edward Bayon and quickly memorised the phone number before Scarlet wrestled it back.

    Alex sighed wistfully. "I thought I''d be the first to get a boyfriend. Who knew that you would beat me to that..."

    Scarlet sighed at that. "He''s not my boyfriend. We''re not friends yet. He''s just a friend of Alicia''s..."

    Claire heard that and raged. "He likes Alicia? He''s two-timing you? I''m going to castrate him!"

    "No! No! No! He''s friends with her and I have only known him for a few weeks! Edward''s a nice person but he doesn''t talk much. We haven''t really spoken because I''m always hanging out with Alicia and her group... There just wasn''t the right chance to talk to him. Besides, me liking him is only one-sided. I don''t know if he has a girlfriend but I won''t be surprised if he has one."

    Both the head maid and Alex looked at the writer with pity. Alex gave her sister a hug and told her that it didn''t matter what happened in the future. If Edward made her cry she would kick him and Claire promised to help Alex dispose of the body if Alex wanted to run the boy over with a car in the dead of the night.

    Scarlet was slightly traumatised by the talks of violence when Claire and Alex started discussing the best methods to torture a sc.u.m so she slowly crept away and returned to her room. CEO Zhu was coming in two weeks and Scarlet had some preparations to make.

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on and check out their other works. <<

    Two weeks passed quickly and even Edward was shocked when Scarlet sent a message in the Edarlet group chat that she would be taking study break for a week for personal reasons. Alicia and the girls tried to find out more but Scarlet remained tight-lipped. Edward tried asking Elfie about it but not even the hacker knew why Scarlet had to suddenly take a week off from school.

    The reason became apparent when Scarlet Wilde''s social media became active once more. The transformation from Scarlet to Liu Xiu Wen was astonishing even for Edward when he saw it. Edward took time to skip classes even if he had to owe Alicia a lot of favours but he was too worried about Scarlet to sit still. Elfie tracked Scarlet''s phone and Edward found out who the writer was meeting.

    CEO Zhu Ming Yang of the Pineapple Group was a good catch and Scarlet seemed happy with him. Edward noticed that there were guards and paparazzi tailing the high-profile couple and he could only bite the edge of his paper coffee cup in frustration at not being able to get close to them. He didn''t like the Scarlet Wilde personality who was all dazzling and smiles. Edward very much preferred the slightly awkward and shy girl he knows as Scarlet at the university.

    CEO Zhu and Scarlet went to one of the fine dining restaurants in the city and Edward groaned. He couldn''t possibly follow them inside with sneakers and jeans. Hence, Edward ducked to a nearby store to buy a black blazer even if it was going to cost him a pretty penny. He had to find out why Scarlet was hanging out with CEO Zhu not because he was jealous but because he promised Elfie to keep an eye on the girl, or so he tried to convince himself.

    Edward chose a seat close to Scarlet and CEO Zhu in the restaurant but not close enough for Scarlet to recognise him. He was hidden behind a pillar but in hearing range of their conversation. Just to be extra sure, Edward recorded their conversation so that he could review them later. It was a great opportunity to find out more about the number one prime suspect of being in team Anastasia - CEO Zhu Ming Yang. Pineapple Group was definitely guilty for having so many dealings with EZ Express.

    Edward: I''m at the scene, see if you can hack into Scarlet''s phone and get into CEO Zhu''s phone. I can''t believe she took a week off from school to meet him! Didn''t you say she was laid off the case?

    Elfie, who was eating lunch alone, raised a brow at Edward''s message. The hacker worked quickly and gained access to Scarlet''s phone. He switched on the Bluetooth remotely and searched for the phone number that matched CEO Zhu''s phone and laughed. If CEO Zhu was truly guilty as Edward suspected, it wouldn''t be this simple to find Anastasia''s tail.

    Elfie: Shut up, lover boy. You must have lost your brain in the gutter after seeing how pretty Scarlet is. Don''t let jealousy get to you, CEO Zhu isn''t Team Anastasia. I''ve checked this phone number before. Even if CEO Zhu is an Anastasia spy, he wouldn''t give Scarlet his ''work'' phone.

    Edward scowled and ordered a regular pasta dish when the waiter came to take his order. He couldn''t believe the CEO was not guilty. Why would CEO Zhu meet Scarlet privately then? Shouldn''t all business talks take place in meeting rooms or something? Even if they were here to discuss the Golden Pineapple Collaboration project, wasn''t it inconvenient to talk about such details in public?

    Edward''s fears were confirmed an hour later. CEO Zhu paid for the meal and suggested that they headed to his hotel suite. Edward''s blood froze when Scarlet agreed and he panicked. Desperate, Edward quickly paid and tailed the couple but was stopped by CEO Zhu''s bodyguards. Helpless, Edward retreated and thought of the only way he could think of to check on Scarlet to know if she was alright.

    Edward decided to text Scarlet first as Jedd77. Scarlet didn''t respond right away so Edward tried another method. he decided to call Scarlet as Edward Bayon from Alicia''s stupid chat group.

    Back in the hotel room, Scarlet was startled by her phone buzzing. CEO Zhu was kind and asked if Scarlet needed to respond. Scarlet checked the message and ignored it. She would reply to Jedd77 when she wasn''t busy. However, soon after that, Scarlet''s phone buzzed again.

    Apologetically, Scarlet told CEO Zhu that she had to take a call. Ming Yang watched as Scarlet answered the phone shyly. He wasn''t a relationship expert but he could tell that the person calling was special to Scarlet.

    When the call ended, CEO Zhu grinned. "Your boyfriend?"

    Scarlet was startled and vehemently denied but the CEO only laughed. The writer sat down with bright red cheeks and a pout. "Stop that. Don''t you also have a lover?"

    CEO Zhu hummed. "Only in name. To be more precise, she is my business partner. We''re not romantically involved. Also, is it really alright for you to be following me into a hotel? I''m sure your boyfriend called because he had a sixth sense about you being in danger. Not to mention, I see paparazzi following us. We''re going to be headline news again. Is that alright?"

    Scarlet laughed. "It is a good bait to lure EZ Express into making their move. Say, have you gotten the list of warehouses and companies involved?"

    CEO Zhu nodded and passed Scarlet a brown envelope. "We cannot go for warehouse and factory visits yet. The managers working there are still Anastasia''s people. I need more time to replace them with my people and time it right so that those who were involved cannot escape. The Chinese government has been alerted but we still do not have enough evidence to make it a case."

    Scarlet nodded. "I understand. Golden Frost can be a very good ally for when you need support to prove your case to the government."

    CEO Zhu poured a glass of wine for himself and opened a can of iced coffee for Scarlet. "Cheers to our collaboration. May Anastasia''s downfall be not far from now."

    Scarlet grinned. "Cheers to the prosperity of both the Pineapple and the Wilde Group. Let us not worry about Anastasia''s power and the safety of our family."

    While Scarlet celebrated, a certain spy was pacing around the neighbourhood suspiciously out of worry. Scarlet sounded sober and alright when she picked up the call but until she left the building safe and sound, Edward would continue to worry.

 Chapter 176 - She Did It Again

    Elfie and Edward weren''t happy. They did not know what to do with a certain girl. As much as the list of factories and warehouses involved with Anastasia''s EZ Express were important to helping them find the crafty man''s tail, Scarlet broke her promise.

    One part of Edward was happy that nothing happened between CEO Zhu and Scarlet at the hotel that day. Even if Scarlet and CEO Zhu had been hanging out a lot during the week that Scarlet took a study leave, it was merely to promote Golden Pineapple''s collaboration efforts and stir the headlines towards the two big companies.

    Scarlet worked hard and helped to advertise not only for Golden Frost and the Pineapple Group. She also announced that the Pineapple Group might be interested in collaborating with Wilde Inc. on their latest game development with Kiwi Cat Studio. CEO Zhu confirmed that the next step that Pineapple Group was looking into would be the new edge of technology for the younger generations. He wanted to bring in a popular chat room to China that Kiwi Cat Studio was working on and Elfie almost fainted when he read the news.

    "What are we going to do?" Edward asked. "She''s not going to stop meddling in the case. Even if she was in the limelight with her sister, I don''t think Anastasia can sit back after hearing that CEO Zhu has intentions to work with Wilde Inc. EZ Express cannot afford to have their business partner team up with their enemy."

    Elfie groaned. "I don''t know. Can you please kill me and make it painless? I don''t even have time to hack anything now that emails and jobs are pouring in ever since that CEO said he wanted to buy over the chat room. Jasper has been trying his best to push back the meeting between me and that shady businessman. Danny is ready to step in since my identity and involvement is meant to be a secret. I live in the shadows, for the light to suddenly shine in my direction makes me scared. You''re a spy, aren''t you? Let me hide at your place for a while!"

    The nineteen-year-old university student grumbled and Elfie gave him a levelled stare over the video conference call. "Scarlet has a reason to go to the hotel with CEO Zhu. You don''t have a reason to be alone with Scarlet in your apartment, much less hers. She met up with him in secret so that he could pass her the list of warehouses and factories. You don''t have the same excuse."

    Instead of giving up, Edward became even more determined. "If I find a good enough reason I can invite her over?"

    The hacker slammed his fist on the table and the camera shook. "No! I forbid! Not until Wilmer and Orita approve of your relationship with her. Besides, you haven''t even confessed to her, you have no chance!"

    Growling at the sore spot that Efie hit, Edward scowled. "She doesn''t even talk to me as Edward Bayon. She only talks to Jedd77. I can''t exactly tell her that I am Jedd77 now, can I? The two personalities are simple worlds apart."

    Instead of showing sympathy, Elfie snorted. "Serves you right. If I wasn''t working with you for long enough to know the different faces you have, I would have called you a creep. You can either continue deliberating about whether to confess to her or not and have another man like CEO Zhu snatch her away from under your nose or man up and confess to her somehow. Your choice. I''ll be here to go on a movie or gaming marathon when she rejects you."

    Annoyed that the hacker immediately assumed that he would get rejected, Edward ended the call without saying goodbye. Elfie who saw that Edward lost his cool actually howled in lighter so hard that he tumbled off his chair and continued laughing on the floor until his sides hurt and tears were running down his cheeks. Who would have expected that the day the almighty top spy would be so rattled up when he was in love?

    While the two boys figured out what to do with Scarlet who broke her promise, the writer was dead tired. Entertaining CEO Zhu was the easy part of that week. The hard part was figuring out why Edward was suddenly talking to her privately and why Jedd77 was acting oddly all of a sudden. Could it be that they found out about her secret? Scarlet shook her head. That couldn''t be. She was very careful to prepare a believable cover story about her absence from lessons. Alex was a good alibi too.

    Alex saw the news and instead of scolding her sister who had clearly met up with the CEO for ''business'', she decided to take matters into her own hands to deliver punishment. Scarlet was way too involved with Anastasia''s case and Elfie had complained to Alex about it. The model didn''t know how Scarlet was able to weasel out information about EZ Express from CEO Zhu but she was convinced that her sister was doing something dangerous again.

    If Scarlet was able to do dangerous things, it only meant that she had too much free time to plot. Alex couldn''t allow that. Given her sister''s brilliant intelligence, it wouldn''t be difficult for Scarlet to cope with the pressure at school. Instead, to occupy Scarlet to the extent where she wasn''t able to try anything funny, Alex decided to introduce something else into her innocent sister''s life.

    Alex was going to play cupid. Scarlet needed a boyfriend. If Scarlet had a boyfriend, she would be too busy dating and worrying about her relationship to bother about Anastasia. It would be even better if Claire could help and her mother got involved. Scarlet needed to be eyed on twenty-four by seven by everyone. Still, Alex was feeling slightly guilty. She should have insisted that she wanted to tag along with Scarlet to meet CEO Zhu as the owner of Golden Frost. If she did, Scarlet wouldn''t be able to try anything funny. If only university art projects weren''t so time-consuming!

    The model m.o.a.ned. Why was Scarlet taking to school life a lot easier than her? It was totally unfair! Alex had to work out to keep her figure, update her social media and hang out with new friends at all kinds of events and parties. On top of that, Alex had to maintain her model student image and turn in assignments on time, attend all lectures and even join a club after school. She was busy till no tomorrow but Scarlet had time to come home and write her books after completing her assignments with plenty of time to spare. Where was justice?!

    When Scarlet went for her shower, Alex quickly divulged her plan to match-make Scarlet and her secret crush. The head maid agreed and Alex was surprised that it didn''t take much effort to convince Claire.

    "You''re not going to object?" Alex was surprised and Claire raised her brow.

    "Why should I? Scarlet would be happy if he agrees to date her. If he makes her cry all I have to do is break his kneecaps so that he will grovel before her in apology. If that doesn''t work then I can only kill him and dump his body into the Hudson River."

    The model shuddered. Claire was scary when she wanted to be. Then again, Alex turned to the head maid. "Will you do the same for me if I get dumped?"

    This time, the head maid smirked. "You? Good luck with that."

    Scandalised by the difference in treatment, Alex protested while Claire hacked into Scarlet''s phone to get Edward''s number. There were no secrets between ladies when it came to romances so Alex and Claire already know the name of the boy Scarlet has a crush on. It wasn''t difficult to figure out. Still, Alex raged over how different Claire treated them.

    "I work for your mother and not you," Claire said dryly when Alex demanded to know if this was how she treated her employers.

    "Then why do you treat Scarlet so differently from how you treat me? This is unfair!"

    Claire rolled her eyes. Alex was being dramatic again. "I treat Scarlet differently because I like her better than you, Ms I-take-an-hour-to-shower."

    Truthfully, it''s not that Claire disliked Alex. However, it was so fun to rile the model and Alex always took the bait. On the other hand, Scarlet was very much like a fragile glass that had to be handled with care. Nobody knew when Scarlet would jump off a cliff if she was pushed too hard and even Orita worried over Scarlet more. Scarlet fought depression and PTSD all on her own, never asking anyone for help or telling anyone her troubles. Hence, it was obvious who needed more attention.

    Unlike her sister, Alex was more open with what she struggled with. It wasn''t difficult to know what was going on with Alex and things were often resolved before they became a real problem. Claire wasn''t too worried about Alex even though the model was stressed over finding a balance in her new lifestyle.

    Once they got Edward''s number, Claire and Alex put the phone back to where it originally was and continued with their argument until Scarlet came out. Now that the writer was present, Alex and Claire decided to tease the girl about her phone''s wallpaper that Claire changed from cats into Edward''s profile picture that the head maid saved.

    Scarlet turned bright red at the merciless jabs at her crush on Edward all the way through dinner till bedtime. Satisfied that she punished Scarlet enough for her mischief with CEO Zhu, Alex reported to Elfie about what she did as well as Scarlet''s crush on a boy called Edward Bayon at school.

 Chapter 177 - How Jedd77 and Frost Met

    Not long after Scarlet returned to school, Alicia put together a study group session so that they could help Scarlet with one of her assignments. Mike had to bail because of club activities and Beatrice said that she had yoga classes. That left Alicia, Mandy and Edward for the study meeting.

    While it wasn''t a terrible thing, Edward couldn''t help but feel suspicious. Alicia usually didn''t do something and rope him in without ulterior motives. When the girl organised something and wanted Edward''s attendance, he was usually the one doing the grunt work. If he wasn''t there to do grunt work, Alicia would be borrowing his intelligence to solve some problems.

    In the study group, Edward was very sure it would be the latter. Sadly, he wasn''t feeling in the mood to help anyone.

    That thought quickly flew out of the window when he saw who was in the study group. Mandy and Alicia booked the library meeting room for an entire afternoon till it closes so they would be stuck in the room for four hours. Edward was expecting four hours of utter hell but as it turned out, the girls failed to mention there was an additional person in the study meeting.

    The girl, no, the angel looked at Edward in surprise and Edward found himself not knowing what to do until Alicia snapped at him.

    "Hurry up and sit down! You''re already late. We''re here to help Scarlet catch up on her assignments since she was sick for a week and missed lessons. The assignment is due in two days but if we put our heads together, she should be able to finish it by today."

    Mandy nodded. "Since Edward is here, I will leave to find the books needed. Edward, you''re better at teaching than Alicia. I''ll leave it in your hands to teach what Scarlet doesn''t understand."

    Alicia agreed and looked through Scarlet''s course assignment. The module was similar to what they studied in psychology so Alicia was able to find her notes to print out for Scarlet to reference seeing as the poor girl didn''t have anything to refer to after she was away for a week. Edward, on the other hand, was walking on a tightrope.

    Scarlet felt as if her heart was going to burst out of her chest when Edward pulled a chair closer to her so that he could share her laptop screen. The course assignment wasn''t very difficult given Scarlet''s intelligence. Even if she didn''t attend any class, the writer knew she would still be able to manage on her own by reading up extra during the weekends. However, Alicia was nothing short of persistent so the writer gave in and agreed to attend the study group. Now, she wasn''t so sure if it was a good idea.

    "Alright ladies and gentlemen, I got all the notes. Please continue without me for a while, I have to go to the printer''s to get my print outs," Alicia smiled and left hurriedly.

    Edward didn''t know what the girls were up to but he didn''t mind the opportunity created to be alone with Scarlet. The spy was curious about many things but was never able to find any answers as Jedd77. Even though Scarlet was openly honest as much as she can be with him as Jedd77, Edward was never truly able to read Scarlet like how he did as Edward in the brief moments that he saw her in person.

    Scarlet in person was very different from how she was in the presence of the media and on the red carpet. If Edward were to put it in perspective, Scarlet was like a warrior without openings on the red carpet and in front of cameras. Every action was calculated from her smile to her tears. Even appearing vulnerable was part of Scarlet''s strategy to stay ahead of the game. Liu Xiu Wen''s popularity wasn''t only because of her looks and acting skills. She had many fans because she was mysterious and unpredictable. Just when the public thought they knew all there was to know about the actress, Scarlet would throw them a new bait to show them that they were wrong.

    Working as a spy and observing people was Edward''s strength. He could tell at once that Liu Xiu Wen was a professional actress in just about every aspect of her life on camera and in the industry. It was close to impossible for any celebrity to not be caught up in any kind of scandals no matter how hard they tried. Apart from work promotions, there was nothing about Liu Xiu Wen''s personal life revealed. Edward did his best to dig up the connection between the popular actress and the Wilde Family but he couldn''t find much until the Sweet Sixteen Gala.

    Even so, Scarlet''s name didn''t appear very widely in China. More people still know her as Liu Xiu Wen and even lesser people could make the connection between the actress, writer, Wilde''s second daughter and the masked singer from the disbanded Britannia. If Elfie didn''t reveal so much to him, Edward might have never found out that Liu Xiu Wen wasn''t Scarlet''s true self.

    When Edward first met Scarlet as Jedd77, he was slightly surprised that Scarlet liked to hide behind anonymity. She would often change her name as well as personality whenever she hopped from room to room. In fact, if Edward didn''t have the access to the moderator''s panel to check the users based on IP address and have Elfie mark Scarlet out specifically for him, the spy wouldn''t have known. Scarlet kept those identities true to their character and never slipped up when she got into character.

    The girl intrigued him at first because of how professionally she was able to play different characters. Even as a spy, he had trouble telling the truth from the lies. However, after spending enough time around Scarlet and her personalities, Edward decided to cast the line out using a personality that Scarlet felt comfortable around. Hence, Jedd77 was born.

    Edward''s real self was slightly arrogant and condescending when dealing with others. He didn''t do anything that he didn''t like or want but would be able to do anything when it concerns a personal interest or a mission. Edward was a loyal person but he was also a merciless person who wouldn''t hesitate to backstab anyone if the need arose. He knew best how he was like when he had a bad day and even Elfie didn''t want to mess with the spy on a meltdown. Edward was no stranger to the counselling facility in the Interpol''s headquarters.

    However, Jedd77 was nothing like Edward. He might be a more mysterious person who liked to tell obvious lies a lot just to tease another person or insult them indirectly. He was fun and witty but also quick to pick up on other people''s emotions to know what line to respect.

    Frost and Jedd77''s first meeting happened when a troll was harassing a regular chat room member who pinged the admins for help. Jasper entered the room first and was monitoring the situation silently while trying to calm the distressed members. The spy wasn''t going to interfere with the moderator''s duties even if he had access simply because it was none of his business. Elfie gave him the mod access so that he could identify Scarle so Edward wasn''t interested in anything else.

    Usually, the other moderators from the Special Class or the E.C. Class would handle such cases. Edward didn''t think that he would meet the elusive writer.

    When Frost entered the chat, Edward didn''t see anything happen for the next five minutes. He expected her to ban the troll and resolve the issue quickly. However, Scarlet did something that made Edward raise his brow. Of all the personalities that he saw Scarlet use, Frost was a rather passionate personality with a snarky tongue. The character of Frost that he knew before was a cold and unsympathetic person with OCD so seeing such a turn in development caught Edward''s interest before he knew it.

    Frost didn''t step in as a moderator. In fact, she hid her moderator status from everyone and talked to the people in the chat room. The troll who created problems simply left when they knew that they weren''t able to stay in the spotlight for long with so many people seeing the truth of their intention. Scarlet was merciless with the facts and her words. She exposed their ''back story'' and the reason why they can only choose to bully others on the internet. Of course, the backstory was just a bunch of cliche scenarios based on well-researched statistics for anyone who knew a thing or two about psychology. Edward didn''t think that Scarlet knew psychology but he was once again impressed by Scarlet''s knowledge about people in general. Perhaps it was her acting experience or writing research that gave her such a bone-chilling supernatural ability to read into the hearts of others. Perhaps it was something else. Regardless of how she did it, the troll got spooked by how much Scarlet was reading into them that they had to leave to protect what remained of their identity.

    As it turned out, the troll was actually someone else in the chat room who just wanted attention. Edward had to give credits to Frost for handling the situation so well. Not only did she not ban the troll which would have also banned the user in the chatroom, but she also delivered punishment swiftly to those who deserved it as well as a second chance for those who wanted it.

    From that meeting onwards, Edward was unable to turn his eyes away from Frost and would try to catch Scarlet whenever he could. Having a conversation with Frost was always the highlight of his day ever since he was benched from missions.

    Liking Frost was something Edward was unsure about until he saw Scarlet in person. Now that she was beside him, the spy was absolutely sure that this was the girl he wanted to dedicate his everything to keep her safe and happy.

    "Edward?" Scarlet asked when she noticed the teen staring at her.

    Edward smiled. He would work on Anastasia''s case when he got back, it could wait for now.

 Chapter 178 - Alone with Edward

    Scarlet was nervous. First, it was Mandy. Then, even Alicia left. Now, she was left in the quiet room with only Edward with her.

    The teen remained serious as he looked through her assignment requirements and some of the materials posted on the course forum uploaded by the lecturer in her absence. Edward was a quiet person and had a serious face. Scarlet who wanted to get to know him better found it difficult to start a conversation at all. The mood in the room was heavy and the writer secretly wished that Alicia didn''t organise the study session even if she meant well. Scarlet was having a hard time sitting still as Edward kept inching nearer to her.

    Edward kept studying Scarlet''s reactions from the corner of his eye while looking through the bullshit assignment that the lecturer gave. This kind of thing was easily no difficulty for someone like Scarlet who was in the Special Class with Elfie. For some reason, he couldn''t help but wonder why Alicia would pull him and Scarlet into a study session without using the group chat Edarlet.

    Then, it clicked.

    Edward clicked his tongue in annoyance when he realised Alicia''s ploy. The nosy woman planned this from the very beginning to hook them up ever since they found out about his crush on her. He should have been more careful about that but it was no use crying over spilt milk.

    Scarlet jumped when Edward had a menacing look on his face as if he was plotting murder. The writer wanted to hop away as quickly as she could with how predatory Edward was behaving. She almost could not believe this was the same person who helped her with her laptop bag and escorted her to class.

    The sudden movement beside him jolted Edward back to his senses. Both of them locked eyes in surprise at each other''s reactions and were unable to tear their gaze away from the other party until they heard footsteps approaching from outside. Quickly, they settled into an awkward mood, with Scarlet looking away and Edward looking back at the laptop but not really focussing on the words.

    Once the footsteps passed, only the sound of the air-conditioning humming could be heard. Scarlet shivered. For some reason, it was colder today than it was yesterday. She was still wearing a long-sleeved hoodie so she did not bring a jacket with her.

    Edward immediately noticed it and had an idea. It might be out of his character but since he''d made so many exceptions for Scarlet ever since he met her as Edward Bayon, he might as well continue doing what he wanted to do without caring about his public image as he attended school. Alicia and Mandy can go hug a tree for all they want if they have a problem with him showering her with affection and treating her well. Besides, compared to this angel, those two women are like devils. Edward didn''t need to show any compassion or consideration for them.

    Scarlet was doing her best to ignore the chill and focus on her assignment. The task wasn''t difficult but drafting out the report outline would take time. She couldn''t do any research yet because Edward was still using her laptop but it was becoming slightly harder to focus with shivers wracking her body.

    A soft and dark-coloured sweater that smelled exactly like Edward was dr.a.p.ed around her shoulders and Scarlet looked up from her notebook in surprise. Edward had to keep his lips from turning upwards when Scarlet looked at him with wide eyes in surprise at his gesture. He tried to play it cool even though there were fireworks going on in his mind. It might be a little disgusting to think that he would employ the moves used in rom-com films to win his girl but Edward shoved his pride aside. He was going to exploit every opportunity he could get to better himself in her eyes when he could with the opportunity that Alicia and her hags created for him.

    Being alone with Edward was both a thrilling and disconcerting feeling or the writer. The nicer Edward treats her, the more Scarlet was inclined to misunderstand his kindness as favouritism and fondness only special for her. Logically, Scarlet tried to remind her heart that Edward was only being a gentleman and that there was nothing special about his actions. However, her stubborn heart clung onto the hopes that Edward might feel the same way she did without listening to her logic.

    Edward observed how Scarlet seemed confused for a moment with a bashful small smile but that small smile quickly disappeared and a light frown replaced her earlier static expression as she clutched onto this sweater with tiny hands and thanked him in an even tinier voice. The troubled expression and the deliberate avoidance to meet his eyes made Edward falter. Did he trigger a landmine by accident? Seeing that Scarlet returned to her work, Edward turned his focus back to reading up on the assignment lecture slides, feeling lost.

    Outside the room, Alicia and Mandy held back their groans and wanted to scream in frustration. It had been almost half an hour since they left Edward alone with Scarlet. As the man, shouldn''t Edward be more active in pursuing his interest? Why did he give up after one try? Also, Scarlet looked a little down today. Perhaps they caught her on a bad day. This library surprise date idea wasn''t going too well.

    "We need a plan B," Alicia whispered and Mandy agreed.

    Silently, both girls crept away and brainstormed how else they could help the two stubborn people break the ice. Scarlet was very easy to talk to and opened up fairly quickly to Alicia and her girls even though the writer was still painfully shy. Alicia''s loud personality made it easy for Scarlet to take the backseat and hang out with the group. However, Edward was a loner who kept mostly to himself even in Alicia''s group. If not for the social butterfly''s persistence to include him in social activities, Edward would probably rot at home with whatever he did as Edward. Alicia frowned. She was wrong for assuming that Edward would change just because he was with Scarlet. Sure, he did take initiative on other things but Edward was a serious person.

    "Do you think they''re just going to complete the stupid assignment and head home separately?" Mandy asked.

    Alicia sighed. "Most likely. Scarlet''s too young and innocent to know how to play the dating game and Edward''s a rare species of man who doesn''t know how to flirt. I say if we don''t give the both of them some help, this love of theirs would never blossom."

    Mandy agreed. "I think I have an idea," the bespectacled teen grinned and shared her idea with Alicia.

    Impressed by how sneaky her friend could be, Alicia immediately agreed. "Who would have known the weather forecast would be good for something? I''ll say, this must be pre-planned by heaven. It''s a sign that the gods are helping us! You booked the room until five in the evening, right? Once I collect the printouts and get us some drinks I am going to head home. There''s a party at Jake''s tonight so I''m going to use this as an excuse to bail. If you stay, I trust that you know how to get them to head back together."

    Rolling her eyes, Mandy told Alicia to hurry with the printouts and drinks. "Remember, they like black coffee. Don''t add any sugar or milk like you did the last time. Edward was in a foul mood for the rest of the day after drinking it."

    The social butterfly cringed at the memory. "Don''t worry, I don''t make the same mistake twice. Now hurry up before they get suspicious!"

    The bespectacled teen watched as her friend left in a hurry to buy some drinks for them and collect the printout notes. She shook her head with a smile. Alicia could be really dumb at times but she always meant well. Seeing how Edward was trying his best to create an opportunity with his guarded love interest, Mandy decided to spend an extra ten minutes browsing through some of the more interesting books before she headed back to the meeting room.

    Unlike Alicia''s opinions about Edward being passive, Mandy thought that Edward was doing a good job. Giving Scarlet his jacket when she was obviously cold and trying to endure it in silence was a good move. The problem didn''t lie with Edward. In Mandy''s eyes, Scarlet was the one who was guarded against Edward who had already made the first move and left the ball in her court. All the time that Edward initiated something, it always ended there simply because Scarlet never gave Edward the chance to continue further.

    Still, it was obvious to Mandy that Scarlet also liked Edward even if she did a better job at hiding it than Edward. Compared to Alicia and Beatrice or Mike, Mandy was rather observant even if she wasn''t as observant as Edward. Sometimes at lunch, she would notice Scarlet texting someone while looking in Edward''s direction with a complicated look. Although she did not know what was holding Scarlet back, she had a feeling that Edward wouldn''t give up just because Scarlet didn''t pick up on his advancements.

    In fact, Mandy was very certain that once Edward got through Scarlet''s walls, it would be their turn to have to complain about having to watch a couple flaunt their love to everyone else who was still single. With a smirk, Mandy gathered the books for Scarlet''s research and headed for the meeting room.

 Chapter 179 - Edward Knows Alicias Cup Size

    Edward sighed internally when Mandy came back with an armful of books for Scarlet to look through as references for her research. However, he was also happy that the awkward tension between them was now over with the additional presence of one more person.

    Writing references and citations was something Scarlet was new to and struggled with. Edward noticed that his crush was good at piecing together a report for the assignment but only struggled with the APA in-text citation and reference list. In fact, Scarlet was so lost that she didn''t know what a bibliography was.

    Mandy chuckled at Scarlet''s confused expression and exchanged glances with Edward, silently communicating for him to seize the chance to help Scarlet out.

    Edward sighed and stood up, startling the girls. Mandy and Scarlet watched as Edward went to his bag and grabbed his laptop out. Scarlet immediately recognised the brand of the laptop. Elfie liked to use something similar too and if she wasn''t wrong, Edward must have modified the insides as well.

    "Is that a custom-made laptop?" Scarlet couldn''t help but blurt out.

    Edward was surprised the girl would start a conversation with him but he was more than happy to answer her.

    "How did you know?"

    The writer grinned. "I have a friend who uses something similar. Do you also play games or code as a hobby?"

    For a moment, Edward was wondering which kind of crazy idiot would use such an expensive and high-specs laptop for games. It wasn''t a regular laptop bought from stores. This laptop was specially put together by one of the world''s best and youngest hacker who worked with the Interpol from time to time. Calling Elfie''s work of art a regular laptop was going to be an insult to what the hacker could do. This beast could run multiple servers on it and crack thousands of passcodes faster than you could praise the Lord. Then, he remembered that Scarlet was also friends with Elfie and paused.

    "Does your friend also play games and code?" Edward raised a brow.

    The writer thought for a while. Technically, Elfie uses it to test games and not play them. The new VR games that Jasper was designing at Kiwi Cat Studio needed some really insane processing power so only Elfie''s laptop could handle it.

    "I guess so. I''m not too sure but there''s no mistaking it. You must be a really good coder as well if you have such a customised laptop. I can''t believe this is my second time seeing something so amazing!"

    Hearing that, Edward couldn''t help but want to thank Elfie for coincidentally becoming the spark that he needed to start an actual conversation with Scarlet. Mandy watched as Edward and Scarlet went on about the differences between Edward''s laptop and a store-bought one.

    "You''re so lucky you''re a computer wizard. My sister and I often struggle. We used to have a friend who would help us out when the machine jams but now, we have to call for repair service if something happens," Scarlet sulked.

    Edward grinned. "What a pain... Those repair guys don''t know anything. If they can''t fix it they usually reinstall the system and you have to back out everything to hope nothing is missing when they reinstall it or they tell you a part is broken and ask you to pay for a replacement. Sometimes they won''t even bother fixing it and tell you to simply get a new one since technology becomes outdated very quickly."

    Mandy smiled behind her file as Scarlet huffed in annoyance at being reminded of her latest visit to the computer repair ''expert''.

    Edward laughed openly when Scarlet complained about the ''expert''s'' skills and told him that she would rather pay someone like him to help her with her laptop issues instead of finding a man who took fifteen minutes just to find the power on button.

    Edward didn''t take too long to think about it. "I can help you check your laptop if you want. You have my number, just let me know. We will be seeing each other more often on campus now that you''ve been deemed as part of gang Alicia. Speaking of which, why isn''t she here yet? It''s been an hour."

    Scarlet nodded. Indeed, time flew when she was having fun. "I should finish up the last part on the citations. Mandy, how do I put the in-text thing again? I lost the tab..."

    Mandy pretended to check her phone and quickly apologised. "Scarlet, why don''t you ask Edward? He can teach you how to do citations although you might want to take notes. University reports will require citations for everything so it''s best to learn now. Alicia just texted me, she says she can''t carry the drinks up with the printouts."

    Edward rolled his eyes. "No food and drinks allowed in the library. She should know this!"

    Scarlet giggled when Mandy deadpanned that it wasn''t Edward''s first day knowing Alicia''s character. "The rules don''t mean anything to her. Also, you''d thank her later. She told me she got black coffee for the both of you."

    Hearing that coffee was on the way, Scarlet perked up. She was feeling sleepy from the cold even though she was wearing Edward''s jacket. Coffee sounded great now and she couldn''t wait. Edward noticed the eager expression on Scarlet''s face and smiled. The writer was small even for her age and that expectant expression only made her look younger.

    Mandy left quickly and Edward turned to Scarlet. "You shouldn''t do that," he told her.

    "Do what?" Scarlet blinked. Did she break any rules?

    Edward snorted and rolled his eyes. "If you give Alicia such an expectant look, she will never let you get away with it. That woman is crazy and if she sees that you''re being cute, she''s going to smother you to death with her F-cups."

    It took a while for Scarlet to understand what F-cup meant but when she did she blushed. "H-How would you know the size? Are you dating her or...?"

    The words "secretly a pervert" hung in the air and Edward blushed at Scarlet''s misunderstanding. While it was true that all guys were perverts, he didn''t want Scarlet to have such an image of him. Besides, who would date that psycho?!

    "Me and her? You''ve got to be kidding... there''s no way I''d be dating her even if the world ended. Besides, she''s not my type at all. I don''t like girls who go around announcing their bra cup size like she does."

    Scarlet''s eyes nearly fell out of their sockets in shock. "S-She announces it?"

    Edward''s soul nearly flew out of his mouth as he recounted the traumatising bold introduction Alicia made on their first day of the class. "Not just her bra cup size. She announced that she''s single and ready to mingle but not looking for a serious relationship. That woman introduced herself as she was reading out from her Tinder profile. I don''t know who let her in the school but don''t you dare get corrupted by her!"

    Scarlet giggled when Edward warned her about Alicia with seriousness. Knowing that Edward wasn''t dating Alicia made her feel slightly better. Still, since Edward started talking more and opening up to her more candidly, Scarlet decided to push it and find out a little more.

    "If you don''t like Alicia, then do you have a girl that you like? Or a type that you prefer if you''re not dating anyone..."

    For a minute, Edward couldn''t believe how forward Scarlet was being with him. When the media claimed that Liu Xiu Wen was the most unpredictable celebrity, they were right. Scarlet wasn''t faking anything in the university but even so, Edward was still having a tough time following her pace and thought pattern.

    "Ahem... why do you suddenly ask?" Edward turned away to hide his embarrassment at being so suddenly taken by surprise.

    Scarlet saw the tip of Edward''s ears turning red and also looked away, blushing furiously as if she said something wrong. Her voice raised itself by two pitches as she dismissed the question and changed the topic to how to do APA citations.

    Edward sneaked a glance back to the fl.u.s.tered girl and smiled with a soft look in his eyes. Instead of answering the answer about citations, he replied to her previous question.

    "I don''t know."

    "Huh?"

    Edward sighed. "I said I don''t know the type of girl that I like. However, I am single."

    Curious, the writer asked why he didn''t know and Edward looked her in the eye.

    "I don''t know the type of girl I like because I already know who I like. I just haven''t gotten the chance to know her better to answer your question about the type of person she''s like. However, if I have to put it into what I think she''s like, she would be small, cute, strong and bright like the sun. Her existence gives me strength and her vulnerabilities make me want to protect her. Unfortunately, she''s not ready for anyone else to get close to her heart so I''m currently waiting for that opportunity. Should she be willing to open that door, you will be the first to know what my type is."

    Scarlet''s heart was pounding as she listened to Edward''s serious answer as his eyes searched hers. While Edward wasn''t referring to anyone in particular, the writer felt both happy and worried at the same time. Edward''s relationship status was still single but for some reason, Scarlet felt like his heart already belonged to someone else. Did she still stand a chance?

    At that very moment, the door flung open and Alicia announced that coffee was here before dumping a heavy stack of fresh printouts in front of Scarlet.

    Edward glared at her.

    "What?" the social butterfly asked and looked at the unofficial couple in confusion while Mandy sighed at the back. Clearly Alicia had ruined an important moment. It wasn''t going to be easy to fix Edward''s mood for the next few weeks.

 Chapter 180 - A Lovely Storm

    With the help of everyone, Scarlet''s assignment was a breeze. Within the four hours that they spent in the library, Scarlet was able to complete it in three. Alicia had to leave early because she had a party to attend and Mandy excused herself just as Scarlet finalised her report content. The writer didn''t want to hold anyone back from what they had to do and appreciated how they took time out of their schedule to help her.

    "Thank you, Mandy. I learnt a lot today," Scarlet smiled.

    The bespectacled beauty grinned and patted Scarlet on the head. "It''s no problem."

    She packed and checked her phone for a bit then cussed. "Ah shucks! It''s raining now... guess I''ll be stuck here until it stops unless someone has a spare umbrella."

    Edward who was looking forward to spending more alone time with Scarlet sighed. He threw his umbrella to Mandy who grinned.

    "Return it to me tomorrow and go home now," he grumbled. Mandy only stuck her tongue out at him and waved goodbye to Scarlet.

    When it was just the two of them again, Scarlet glanced over to Edward worriedly. "Is it ok to give her the umbrella? You don''t happen to carry spares, right?"

    The spy leaned on the table with his elbow and rested his chin in his palm. Scarlet thought that he looked oddly playful. "No, I don''t."

    Hearing that, the writer couldn''t help but wonder why he would do such a thing. "How are you going to get home then? I don''t think the storm is stopping anytime soon..."

    Edward laughed. "Is it such a bad thing being stuck in school? I spend most of my time here or at a cafe anyway. Going back is a pain. Maybe it would be different if there was something to look forward to going home, like a cat. Sadly the apartment doesn''t allow animals so it doesn''t really matter how late I get back."

    "Do you live alone?" Scarlet couldn''t help but be curious. She knew that some students were living on their own because they travelled from far. Was Edward also one of those independent university students? He looked like someone who would take a part-time job to pay his rent and struggle a little with school fees with those dark eye circles.

    Edward nodded. "My father travels often for work and my mother is in a different state. Thankfully, everything is paid for by my father so I don''t need to work. I just don''t like to go back to the apartment because it''s empty and always quiet."

    For some reason, he didn''t understand why he was telling Scarlet all these. Things that were usually boring and insignificant were suddenly important enough that he wanted her to know. Edward was a private person. Even Alicia who was deemed his closest pal in the university wasn''t about to weasel anything much out of him.

    Feeling slightly sympathetic for the boy, Scarlet texted Claire that she would be back later than usual. Since they still had about an hour left before the library closed, Scarlet decided to create an excuse so that she could stay behind to accompany Edward for a little longer. "I guess I''ll just wait for the storm to pass. How about some games or movies to pass the time? We have about another hour before the library closes."

    Edward took Scarlet up on her suggestion and the girl grinned. After successfully having Edward open up more to her, she found out that the quiet boy had a lot of similarities with her. He shared the same love for mystery movies and had a tad dark humour sense with a lot of dry puns that were more intellectually engaging than entertaining. They theorised over the murderer''s motives even before the movie started and spent half the time skipping through boring parts.

    "I don''t think there would be anyone else who would watch movies the same way I do," Scarlet admitted. "My sister often screams at me when I fast forward all the boring parts that are predictable."

    The spy laughed. "I can understand that. I''d rather skip them to get to the interesting part to confirm my theory instead and then move on to the next movie or get back to homework or something. There''s no joy in it for me to watch the actors do things that aren''t important. Seeing them go through emotional distress and arguing is just a waste of time for me. I only watch what I need to know when they''re finding clues and not observe how they form their conjecture amidst all the drama."

    Elated that she finally found someone who could agree with her way of thinking, Scarlet beamed and Edward wasn''t ready for the blinding smile. He knew that Scarlet had always been pretty even with her tacky thick-framed glasses and shabby sense of fashion. The nerdy look did look cute on the girl but she looked several hundred times cuter when she was all happy and bubbly. This child-like side of Scarlet was completely new to Edwar and he had never heard Elfie mention it. According to his hacker friend, Scarlet was always a very emotionally closed off individual who acts very cautiously with everyone.

    The unguarded version of Scarlet before him was something Edward didn''t want to share with anyone. He liked it when she was expressive without restraint even though Scarlet could be awkward about how to express it herself with words. He observed her in more detail as he listened to her babble about not liking how actors weren''t able to fully portray the conflict of a character during a scene because the scriptwriter didn''t give them the entire script to study it before the filming began.

    The more Scarlet spoke, the more she forgot that she was a student in university as she went into details about some of the things she hated that went on behind the screen.

    "And the one time that I requested for a completed draft of the script, they changed the shooting scenes without informing any of the stage actors. How unfair is it?"

    Edward smiled. "You''re very enthusiastic about the filming behind the scenes, huh? Never thought you''d be so knowledgeable about it. If I didn''t know better I would have thought you were an actress instead of a stagehand."

    Scarlet froze and laughed nervously. She felt a little too comfortable around the quiet boy that she forgot who she was pretending to be for a moment. She wasn''t Liu Xiu Wen now, she was just an ordinary student called Scarlet. Why was she talking about her work frustrations when she was supposed to be enjoying her school life?

    "Don''t worry," Edward smiled. "I won''t tell anyone about your part-time job. However, you might want to keep this secret to yourself and not tell anyone else, especially Alicia. That girl would demand to have you arrange a position for her so that she could meet famous celebrities too."

    How Edward came to conclude that Scarlet was harbouring a secret part-time job as a stagehand through that conversation made the actress on hiatus puzzled but she wasn''t going to complain. Anything was better than having the silent guy find out about her other identities. It would be bad if Edward came to know that she hailed from a rich family and was actually a famous celebrity in the East. It would be worse if Edward didn''t want to associate with her after finding out. She liked the current friendship they had now, it was a very comfortable companionship.

    Relieved that Edward wasn''t going to go around telling everyone her secrets, Scarlet smiled. Not only did they have the same taste in movies, but they were also rather similar people. Scarlet and Edward both stood on the same side as justice even though they might differ in methods.

    "The storm has mostly lightened," Edward said to shift the attention elsewhere and checked the time.

    "The library is about to close as well..." Scarlet said. "My big sister will drive to fetch me. Do you want a lift?"

    Edward thought about it. Big sister? Didn''t Scarlet only have a younger sister by the name of Alexandra?"

    "You have a big sister?"

    Scarlet nodded. Claire could be considered a big sister. Their ages weren''t that far apart when compared to Jenna and Tina. The head maid was only ten years older than them.

    "She''s part of the family even though we''re not related by blood. Claire takes care of me and my other sister really well when we''re away from our parents. We go back every weekend to see mom but we haven''t seen dad in years... I don''t know how he is doing but we miss him a lot."

    Hearing Scarlet''s feelings about Wilmer''s long absence, the spy felt bad for procrastinating on finding more clues in the lead that Scarlet got for Elife and him. He made a solemn vow to finish finalising the list for Elfie by the end of the week.

    "It''s alright. I''m sure your father has his reasons for not coming home in years. He must be doing something very important at the moment. Let''s go before they chase us out of the library and let me know if you still need any other help when you get back. Also, I will be more than happy if we can talk about movies again since you''re the expert."

    Scarlet blushed at the reminder of her slip up and quickly packed before walking to the foyer to wait for Claire.

    The head maid arrived with impeccable timing and silently chuckled when she caught sight of the boy beside Scarlet. This was definitely Scarlet''s secret crush. There would only be good news and new gossip to talk about when they reached back. Alex would not let her sister go to bed without spilling details about her secret date today when Claire unleashed the bomb over dinner. The head maid waited for Scarlet to bid Edward goodbye before climbing into the car. Claire drove off quickly, he couldn''t wait to hear the progress of Scarlet''s love life.

 Chapter 181 - An Ordinary Life

    When Claire and Scarlet got home, Alex was cooking dinner. Scarlet raised her brow. She knew that Alex had taken up cooking classes recently for some reason even though the artist wouldn''t say why. Her sister had been going to Kiwi Cat Studio more frequently and Scarlet felt slightly bad for not doing the same. Jasper and Elfie must be working really hard but here she was, just hanging out with new friends.

    "Oh, you''re back. Dinner is almost ready. What took you so long?" Alex asked and Claire grinned.

    Before even Scarlet could make an excuse, the head maid declared that she met the boy in question that Scarlet had a crush on.

    "Oh my god! Really? You met Edward?! What''s he like? Is he tall or handsome? I need DETAILS! I knew I should have cooked something better. We should be celebrating our dear Scarlet''s romantic milestone. I assume they had a date in school, that''s why it got so late?"

    Claire had to give Alex credit when credit was due. The model wasn''t wrong at all and Scarlet couldn''t even get a word out to defend herself. The writer turned redder with every guess that Alex made, sounding wilder and wilder from an accidental meeting in between classes to a hot make-out session behind the tree.

    "It''s not like that..." Scarlet tried to reason but her sister wouldn''t listen.

    "Oh gosh! He''s such a beast! You''re not even ten- oh wait, you are. Sorry about that. A certain area of you is still undeveloped and you''re not very tall. But still! how could he steal your first off-set kiss like that? It should have been at a hotel after a candlelight dinner with some c.o.c.kta-"

    "Alexandra Germaine Wilde!" Scarlet shouted and huffed.

    Claire wisely remained silent and watched as the fight between the sisters unfurled. Calling Scarlet short was a sore point. Calling her short, pre-pubescent and flat-chested was asking for death. On the other hand, while many things triggered the model, nothing made her madder than hearing her middle name.

    Since Alex wasn''t going to cook anymore, Claire decided to take over while the sisters quarrelled over it, the topic about Edward completely forgotten. In the background, Claire heard them sparring and smirked with pride. Scarlet still hasn''t lost her touch with martial arts but Alex has gotten rusty. Clearly, someone had been slacking off from practising. Just because they weren''t required to be in front of cameras now doesn''t mean they should neglect basic training. Claire thought that after many years, this would have been ingrained in the blonde but she was wrong. Instead, it was Scarlet who remained hardworking who had the upper hand.

    Alex quickly tapped when Scarlet locked her in an arm hold with a knee pressed into her sister''s back while pinning the model to a nearby wall surface.

    "I give! I give!" Alex cried and apologised.

    Scarlet let Alex go and huffed. It wasn''t the first time the sisters had taken their self-defence lessons to their fights and after the first time when both girls had swollen faces, Pamela set some fight rules. Anything except for the face and hair. The best would be to hit places that can be covered by clothes in case they bruise and could not be covered by the concealer.

    Claire finished setting the table with the pasta dish and scalloped eggs that Alex made. "Dinner is ready, go wash up. And Alex? You''re going to spend an extra hour with me after gym session this weekend for losing the fight so disgracefully. Don''t give me that look, I know you haven''t been practising. I''ll be telling your mother to cancel that shopping trip in Soho so don''t think about going anywhere else."

    While rubbing her sore shoulder, the model gaped. She couldn''t believe what she was hearing. Did Claire just ground her again? She was a student, for crying out loud! Why did she have to put up with martial art classes? She was going to be a normal student, there was no need to practice anything! It wasn''t as if there were going to be stalkers... right?

    "Claire!"

    The head maid gave the heiress a levelled look. "Don''t start. You and I know how this will end. Wash up and eat. I believe you still have your sketching assignment that''s due in two days that''s half-completed."

    After listening to the reminder, Alex no longer complained but she sulked. Scarlet who had come out of the toilet looked at her downcast sister. Being an art student was definitely not easy and Scarlet wondered what she could do to motivate her sister who was now also deprived of her shopping therapy this weekend. She gave Claire a glance when Alex slammed the bathroom door shut.

    "Can Alex really not go to Soho this weekend?"

    Claire blinked. "Why do you ask?"

    The writer shuffled. "The stress has been piling up for her lately. I know shopping is a kind of therapy for Alex so I was wondering if it could be rearranged instead of cancelled."

    The head maid smiled kindly. Leave it to Scarlet to be so thoughtful. Thankfully, she hasn''t lost her touch as the head maid even though she hadn''t been with Scarlet in person for the last two years.

    "Don''t worry about that, miss. I''ve made alternative arrangements for that. Leave your afternoons free, your mother has arranged for the spa masseurs to do a home visit. Full body treatment if I remember correctly. We invited the Thai specialist for you as well."

    Scarlet beamed. She could really use some of that Thai bone-cracking art. Sitting at the desk for so long during lectures and sitting even more when she came back to work on her writing was killing her back and shoulders.

    "You''re a saviour, Claire!" Scarlet praised and sat down, waiting for her sister so that they could dig in.

    The rest of the dinner proceeded with some lighter topics. Claire asked how school was for both girls and while Alex didn''t say anything out of the ordinary, Scarlet admitted that she was late today because Alicia, Mandy and Edward arranged a study session for her at the library earlier.

    "It''s not a difficult project but I didn''t know what citations were," the writer admitted and Alex nodded.

    "They''re a little complicated to get at first but once you know where to find the APA generator, it''s going to be very simple."

    Scarlet blinked. "There is a generator? Why do you know about it?"

    The artist grinned. "I''m an art student. Of course, I have to know! There are so many things we need to quote and reference to or our art pitch before we commence on a work. The write up is also not easy. Drawing anything is the simplest part of any project. It''s the entitlement of those who live in the age where the internet exists. If there is a name generator for couples who don''t know what to name their babies, why can''t there be a citation generator?"

    Claire sighed. "I don''t know whether to praise your laziness or chide you for it."

    Scarlet giggled and Alex looked offended at Claire''s sudden attack. "It''s called working smart! Unlike somebody, I don''t use another phone to take a picture of a screen on their phone to send it to their other phone. There''s something called a screenshot function."

    Irritated that Alex reminded her of her lack of awareness in technology and its uses, Claire dumped more peas into Alex''s plate and told her to finish it. The poor artist protested but Claire''s glare made her shut up immediately. Nothing was scarier than an enraged head maid. Scarlet mentally sighed. When will her sister ever learn not to pull the lion''s whiskers?

    She had to admit, sometimes Alex was brave even though she wasn''t very smart for a genius. When Alex wasn''t in front of the camera or coming up with new fashion designs or any designs in general, she was a blonde inside and out. Jasper often secretly referred to the shade of her hair as ''dumb blonde'' with fondness and Scarlet felt bad that she didn''t visit the busy young CEO enough.

    "Alex, why don''t we visit Kiwi Cat Studio after your assignment has been submitted? I''m sure the boys and the staff there would appreciate some pizza party."

    The change in topic made Alex light up again and the model started listing off the types of pizza flavour everyone likes. Claire listened to the girls talking and was happy that they were finally acting like their age and talking about ordinary things. A few years before, the girls would only talk about album production, photoshoots and promotions. That made the head maid wonder if they would miss their childhood and teen memories pursuing the path of fame and an early career like the other Special Class students. Now, she was thankful that they were at least enjoying their youths and creating ordinary memories of school like the rest of the university students.

 Chapter 182 - Ambiguous Relationship

    When Edward saw the scary head maid that Elfie warned him about pulling up at the foyer, Edward stiffened a little but tried to act natural as he waved goodbye to Scarlet. The moment the car drove off, the spy let out the breath he had been holding. That was way too scary! Thank goodness he did not agree to accept the lift from Scarlet''s big sister. He convinced Scarlet that he would grab a cab back to his apartment that was ''not too far from the campus'' to appease the worried girl.

    Once the magic wore off, Edward was thrown back to reality and he looked at the dark skies. Although there wasn''t any lightning now, it was still a considerable downpour. The closest bus stop was a five-minute walk and Edward had to hop on a bus that would journey for another ten minutes before he could sprint back to his apartment. His apartment was in no way near the campus considering how heavy the rain was. On a normal day, he could take half an hour to walk but if he were to do that in this weather, Edward knew he was going to fall sick.

    "To take the bus or run for it? I don''t think the bus will be coming anytime soon either. The bad weather and peak hour jam will take me an hour to get back..."

    With a sigh, Edward checked for the important things in his bag and made a run for it. If he fell sick, he was going to make Elfie responsible.

    The run back to Edward''s apartment wasn''t pleasant. No sane person would be walking without an umbrella much less run in it. The sky rumbled again and Edward cursed. His pants were already soaked and he grimaced at the uncomfortable feeling of water in his shoes as the thudding on the concrete pavement while squelching with every step.

    Edward slowed down to jog and wiped the water that got into his eyes. He felt stupid now for giving Mandy his umbrella but in front of Scarlet, the only thing he could think about was looking reliable so he lost his brain cells. Come to think about it, Edward could have easily borrowed an umbrella from the student service centre and return it tomorrow. Why didn''t he do that?

    Well, he was reaching his apartment soon so there was no real point in going back to get the stupid umbrella when he was soaked to the bone. Lately, the spy felt as if his highly-praised intelligence was nowhere to be found. It was quite concerning. Perhaps he should see the psychologist again.

    The first thing Edward did once he slammed his door shut was to check on the laptop. Thankfully, the machine was designed to be bulletproof and waterproof. The master hacker really had to be given credit for taking into so many things when designing the monstrous laptop. Edward heaved a sigh of relief when the thing powered on.

    Knowing that his work wife was alright, Edward stripped and threw his clothes into the washing machine, including his shoes. If his mother knew what he did, she would probably scream his ears off. However, Edward didn''t really care. He didn''t have a lot of time to waste. Besides, why would it be called a washing machine if it couldn''t wash everything that could fit in it? That made no sense.

    Edward didn''t bother with a shower even though he was shivering slightly. Instead, the spy put on some dry clothes and settled down with a mug of coffee as he looked through the files that Elfie sent him. The list of warehouses and companies that Scarlet got from CEO Zu was a lifesaver. With that information, the spy was able to quickly zoom into the areas he needed to check for discrepancies. While the work was monotonous and tedious, knowing that he was helping Scarlet by doing this made Edward bulldoze through the millions of spreadsheets.

    The washing machine whirred in the background and Edward''s tapping on the keyboard filled the silence that was occasionally broken by the sound of him sipping on coffee. One of Edward''s best investments after becoming a university student was the coffee machine. It wasn''t the expensive kind with a milk steamer for lattes. He wasn''t a latte kind of person. Instead, it was a simple boil and brewed coffee with a filter function. The machine didn''t cost him more than twenty dollars and it did its job proudly.

    As Edward worked, he found himself wondering about what kind of coffee beans Scarlet would enjoy. Scarlet did say she indulged in the bitterness while she was filming so Edward was guessing she would prefer Robusta beans that have less acidity and lean towards a more chocolatey taste compared to Arabica beans that have a more distinct fragrance and richness with higher acidity. if Elfie''s insider information still proved to be correct, Scarlet actually enjoys her sweets.

    The spy toiled through the night and sorted through the copied data. Financial sheets, suspicious purchase order forms, and non-compliant doc.u.mentation control for delivery as well as movements of money transfers to a different subsidiary''s account for no apparent reason surfaced when Edward knew where to look. Scarlet''s source of information was genuine and if CEO Zhu was the one providing it, Edward wondered why he would do such a thing to his empire.

    There was definitely something more to their relationship than just a business collaboration. Edward felt his heart race and body heat up thinking about it. What would a man in his thirties with a fiancee want from Scarlet that he would willingly offer his own empire for it? Was CEO Zhu out of his mind or was this a trap so that he could win Scarlet over? Edward didn''t know what CEO Zhu''s relationship with EZ Express and Anastasia was so he remained wary of the CEO''s motive.

    Gradually, the sound of the washing machine stopped but Edward only became more heated up by the thoughts of CEO Zhu and Scarlet''s unknown and ambiguous relationship. Were they really just work partners? Somehow, he couldn''t bring himself to believe that. Scarlet prettied herself up for him and even entered a hotel alone with the man. She ignored Jedd77''s messages and brushed him off when he called.

    "Please tell me she''s not actually in love with him!" Edward groaned and slammed the enter key a little too hard that it hurt his fingers. With the caffeine coursing through his veins, the spy was highly strung and his brain that was usually uncooperative started supplying him with more and more disturbing images of the CEO''s illicit relationship with the innocent writer.

    Unable to keep himself from going insane, Edward chose the first number on his speed dial. He didn''t care if it was the ungodly hour of three in the morning, he just needed Elfie to confirm the facts so that he could focus on the right things.

    "Bro... it''s like three in the morning for normal people. Don''t you have better things to do like school?" Elfie groaned and picked up the call after the twelfth ring. Edward was nothing but persistent when he wanted to be and if Elfie wasn''t going to pick up, the spy would go over and drag the hacker out of bed.

    "I need your help," Edward confirmed.

    Elfie sighed. "At three in the morning? What''s going on?"

    Edward mumbled over the phone and Elfie growled. "If you''re not going to speak human language I''m hanging up."

    "Wait!" Edward panicked and swallowed his pride. Just for tonight, he told himself. "I need to know what kind of relationship Scarlet has with CEO Zhu. No matter how I try to reason it, something doesn''t add up. Why would he give her information about his company to her? Especially when this information can cripple the Pineapple Group severely. Everything that I''m checking on based on the leads is hitting the jackpot. I can''t help but feel uneasy. This is progressing too smoothly."

    Elfie raised a brow. "Isn''t that good news? We''re finally gaining ground on this cold case that even your father hasn''t been able to crack. Still, whatever your father and his group are doing is working well to our advantage. Wilmer and Danny are pressuring EZ Express so much that they''ve started to become shaky. Anastasia expanded too quickly and his empire''s foundation couldn''t keep up. It''s easy to plant spies so the old snake is trying to weed them out one by one. Of course, that sneaky bastard has been planting people in Wilde Inc and recently has started sending strange people over to watch Kiwi Cat Studio and Golden Frost."

    Edward bit on his thumb. "Do you have any idea what Scarlet did to get access to this information? How are we not informed about the methods and the kind of deals she made with CEO Zhu? It could be dangerous with her, I couldn''t even get close to Scarlet the last time she met with him. Were you aware that they went to a hotel room, just the two of them? Scarlet has no sense of danger and I''m starting to have a bad feeling. What if the lead that Scarlet obtained for us is a trap by the CEO?"

    Elfie felt slightly more awake after hearing it. "You know, I thought you were just lovesick at first but you''re making a lot of sense for someone who is still awake at three in the morning. It could be a trap, I don''t know yet. Just keep working on the names and the list, I will take it from there. Keep a closer eye on Scarlet and if possible, get personal with her. It doesn''t matter if you have to meet her extended family, you should do it anyway. I''ll help you out if you want."

    "Extended family?"

    Elfie grinned. "You don''t know? Kiwi Cat Studio is mostly made up of the boys from the E.C. Class. We are her extended family. Alex has been coming by lately and I heard Scarlet will join too. A pizza party will be organised sometime next week. You should take the chance to join and stick with the sisters. If your hunch is accurate, we might need to watch out for CEO Zhu."

    They discussed a little more about Edward''s progress before Elfie yawned and announced that he had to go back to sleep. Edward hung up at four in the morning and sighed. He suddenly felt very sluggish and blamed it on the coffee running out. After brewing a new cup and tackling laundry, Edward went back to the laptop with renewed vigour even though he was constantly suppressing small coughs and sniffles.

 Chapter 183 - Bro, Send Help

    Scarlet was puzzled when she didn''t hear from Edward at all the next day. Alicia and her group met up with the writer but nobody knew what happened to Edward.

    "He doesn''t usually skip school without informing us," Beatrice noted and Alicia agreed.

    "Didn''t he go back with you yesterday?" Mandy asked and Scarlet shook her head.

    While the girls and Mike discussed why Edward was missing from classes, Scarlet thought back about what happened yesterday. It was raining and they decided to stay back in the library to watch some movies together. Edward didn''t seem like there was anything bothering him enough to not attend lessons. Besides, even though everyone tried contacting Edward including Scarlet, there was no reply. Mike said that Edward usually responds within the hour if he wasn''t sleeping and Scarlet looked at the time. It was already lunch. Did Edward sleep through the alarm all the way to lunch?

    "Does anyone know where Edward lives?" the writer asked and everyone paused.

    "Sorry," Mike sighed. "I only know his email and phone number."

    Mandy looked at her contacts. "I don''t have his address either although I have his birth date, student ID number and bank account number."

    Alicia was impressed and Beatrice gaped in shock. "Why do you know so much? Also, wouldn''t it normally be easier to get a person''s address than their bank account number?"

    The bespectacled beauty rolled her eyes and pushed up her glasses. "I got his bank account because I usually make him pay for my meals at the cafe. He has a membership and they give good discounts. Instead of paying him in cash, he just gives me a tally of the bills at the end of the month and I transfer the money to him."

    While it was logical reasoning, Scarlet felt a strange ache in her chest. Why did she feel left out when Mandy told everyone the story of how she got Edward''s bank account number? The closeness between Mandy and Edward made Scarlet feel alienated. Perhaps... Perhaps the girl that Edward talked about was Mandy.

    The thought of Mandy and Edward having feelings for each other made Scarlet grow weak and pale. She didn''t feel too good after knowing that there was a possibility. While everyone wondered about why Edward wasn''t showing up at school, Scarlet looked at her phone. Lately, Scarlet was also receiving lesser messages from Jedd77. Could Jedd be angry at her for ignoring his messages when she was at a hotel with CEO Zhu?

    "What''s wrong, Scarlet?" Alicia asked when she noticed the little girl''s hunched shoulder and unusual silence.

    "Oh! Nothing, I was just tired. Edward stayed back with me until the storm lightened after all. Neither of us had umbrellas so I thought I''ll ask my older sister to drive him a lift to his place but Edward declined, saying that he lives in the area."

    Mandy raised a brow. "Did he say that? I''m sure he takes the bus. He couldn''t possibly have gone home in the rain, could he?"

    Alicia thought about it and said nothing. Knowing Edward, it was a real possibility. Still, nobody said anything in fear of making Scarlet feel guilty. Beatrice took the hint and changed the topic so that nobody would think too much into it. The most important thing now was to keep Scarlet from finding out. The poor girl might blame herself if she finds out Edward wasn''t coming for classes because he fell sick running in the rain after declining her offer to give him a lift back.

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on and check out their other works. <<

    Edward groaned. He finished what he had to do by eight in the morning but it was evident now that he wasn''t just imagining it.

    Edward Bayon was officially down with a cold.

    he couldn''t remember the last time he had a cold this bad. It must have been years ago and even after getting injured during a mission, the teen had never felt as horrible as he did now. his head was pounding, his muscles were sore and he was shivering despite the hotness of his forehead.

    There was no more energy or strength left in his limbs to carry him to his bed so the teen settled for something second best - calling Elfie.

    Elfie who was finally no longer drowning in work over the chatroom developments was leaning back in his chair and spinning around in the ''boss chair'', enjoying freedom when his phone rang. The hacker didn''t need to look to know who was calling him. Instantly, the good mood plummeted and even Jasper shivered at the icy atmosphere in the office.

    "What is it? You had better have a good reason to be destroying my rare moment of peace after ringing me up at three in the morning and keeping me up till four yesterday," the hacker growled but soon changed his tone when he heard an indistinguishable groan over the line.

    "Bro... Send... Help..."

    With that, the line went dead and Elfie quickly slammed his laptop shut, threw on his jacket and told Jasper that he was done for the day. Nobody questioned why Elfie was in such a hurry but the boys from the E.C. Class waved goodbye to Elfie''s shadow as the hacker had already taken off running.

    The good thing about having a best friend was that they would always be there in your times of need. The bad thing about having a best friend was that they knew where you lived if you ever pissed them off. Right now, Elfie was contemplating if he should strangle the living ghosts out of Edward or show some sympathy for the overgrown baby.

    "Thirty-eight point two. Congratulations, you''re having a fever and a cold. What did you do? Run n.a.k.e.d in the storm yesterday?"

    Edward couldn''t answer, feeling too horrible to do so and Elfie rolled his eyes. The hacker scrolled through his phone and looked through the food delivery app for somewhere that sold congee or broth. He was definitely going to take full advantage and order himself some kebabs and put it on Edward''s card as payment for taking care of the sick teen.

    "I didn''t run n.a.k.e.d," Edward groaned but didn''t deny the part about running in the storm.

    The hacker didn''t know what to say. Did Edward finally lose his mind? Elfie was almost convinced that Edward still had that small genius in him somewhere and not all of him was infected by the love virus that removed intelligence. It looks like he might be right after all. Edward Bayon was dead and in his body resided the soul of a lovesick fool.

    "Why didn''t you call your other university mates? You should know I''m not so free to babysit you. I had to take a cab over and it was expensive!"

    Edward groaned when Elfie raised his voice. That didn''t make his headache feel any better. "Bill it to me. Can you get me some water first and some medicine?"

    Elfie checked the fridge and took two pills before pouring a glass of water for his sick friend. Seriously, he hated how he was best friends with Edward sometimes. "You didn''t just call me here all the way from the office to babysit you, right? Speak."

    Edward laughed before choking and hacking his lungs out. When he regained his breath, the feverish teen pointed to the laptop. "Everything is in that silver flash drive. The names, doc.u.ments and suspicious links. You should try to find out what Scarlet and CEO Zhu''s relationship is. I don''t trust that man, he is suspicious. Can you find out everything you know about him and send it to me? I believe this could be a trap."

    Elfie nodded and took out his laptop to plug in the flash drive. Since he was already here and nursing Edward back to health on behalf of Scarlet who would have done it if she knew, Elfie might as well start working on Anastasia''s case. It was rare that they could meet in person and even though Elfie hated Edward for calling him at three in the morning, there was no denying that their working chemistry was the best when they were together.

    "Where do I start?'' Elfie asked and Edward pointed to the first folder.

    "I don''t think you can hack the banks to check the transfers but if you can hack the related subsidiaries and their internal system, you might be able to match these numbers. I suspect that the moles in control of these companies under the Pineapple Group are the ones EZ Express planted. Without confirming CEO Zhu''s intentions, I wouldn''t know if these leads are intentionally being leaked to us through Scarlet or not. You''d best be careful. They might have a hacker trying to counter hack you when you enter their systems. Anastasia is tightening on his security and the moles planted by the Interpol are getting taken care off in brutal ways. My father isn''t happy about it."

    The hacker laughed. "Danny isn''t happy about my meddling either. Don''t worry. We''re in the same boat at the moment. I just worry about Anastasia''s movements. I heard rumours that he is in America now."

    Edward frowned and coughed. "We better hurry then. Also, can you get me a bag of ice? I think the fever is conspiring with Anastasia to kill all my intelligence before we can put our heads to crack the case... thanks, bro."

 Chapter 184 - Jedd77 or Edward Bayon

    School was manageable and Scarlet didn''t have to pay too much attention to classes. Her assignments were a breeze after Alex introduced that APA citation generator. Everything seemed to be progressing smoothly and Scarlet finally understood what having a normal life meant.

    It was boring.

    How anyone could live such an ordinary life was beyond her. With not much happening with any aspect of her life, the writer in Scarlet was ready to climb the walls out of frustration. Where was the insanity? Where was the inspiration? She needed more drama, more mental stimulation and more unpredictability in her life. The roller coaster of emotions and experiences was what gave Scarlet the thrill of living., Without that, what was the difference between the living and the dead? Everything was too peaceful.

    Alex was spending more time at Kiwi Cat Studio and learning how to prepare nutritious meals for Jasper who was often too busy to eat anything while the other employees left for lunch. The poor CEO was overworked and Scarlet felt bad that he was trying very hard to play his role with her plan to bring Anastasia down. Hence, she took on the job of organising the pizza party by herself so that Alex could spend more time with her childhood sweetheart.

    It came to Scarlet as a shock when Alex announced that she was officially dating Jasper. Claire wasn''t surprised. In fact, even Orita didn''t react to the news apart from a message congratulating Alex and reminding her to prioritise studying first. The writer wondered if she was the only one stunned by the news of her sister dating someone even though she knew about Alex''s affection for Jasper for a long time.

    Now that she had time to slow down, Scarlet reflected on herself. The pizza party had been planned and there wasn''t much that Scarlet needed to do now. Facing a writer''s block, Scarlet gave up working on a new book. The story about a cross-dressing boy and a tomboy girl can wait for now.

    With a sigh, Scarlet stared at her phone. Edward hasn''t been showing up at school for nearly a week and wasn''t talking much to anyone other than informing them that he was sick. The writer was worried about Edward. To make matters worse Jedd wasn''t texting her at all. The last message was four days ago.

    Then, as if the gods above heard her prayer for a more interesting life, something unexpected happened.

    Scarlet grinned when her phone beeped. Jedd finally sent her a message after four days. Quickly, Scarlet abandoned her work to check her inbox.

    Jedd77: Hello, Scarlet! have you been busy?

    Scarlet grinned and texted back quickly.

    Frost: Not at all. What have you been up to lately? You didn''t contact me at all, I thought you''d died or something.

    On the other end of the texting, Edward had mixed feelings. He was almost fully recovered from the cold now and Elfie had gotten what he needed to know to start working on those leads. They would be able to find out what connections Anastasia had with the Pineapple Group soon. For now, Edward and Elfie were keeping the progress they made away from Jasper who was having the time of his life with his girlfriend. An office romance sounded hot but not when Jasper and Alex spent half their time eating and arguing over how many hours of sleep was reasonable.

    The teen felt touched that Scarlet was still concerned about him as Jedd but didn''t know how Scarlet would feel about him as Edward. What if Scarlet liked Jedd more than Edward? Would she look at him in disgust or feel betrayed if she found out Jedd77 was actually Edward Bayon? He didn''t want to keep her in the dark for too long about everything but he was also unable to tell her everything, especially if it concerned EZ Express and Anastasia. The mob boss was picking off spies like grains on the ground. He was merciless and unstoppable that Edward''s father had to recall back some of the agents sent to investigate for their safety.

    Jedd77: I didn''t die although I can understand why you''re worried. As a texting friend, you wouldn''t really know if it was me texting you or an alien that had taken over my body

    Frost: No kidding... Are you still mad that I didn''t reply to you a few weeks ago when you texted? I was busy :(

    Jedd77: If I say that I was, what would you do?

    Frost: ...

    Frost: What would it take for you to forgive me?

    Edward paused for a while. This was getting dangerous for him and his evil self couldn''t help but want to take advantage of the situation. If Scarlet was offering, why should he refuse?

    Jedd77: If I said that I wanted to meet you in person? We study at the same university. how we haven''t seen each other in person is ridiculous if you''d asked me.

    Scarlet thought about it. Jedd77 wasn''t like those creepy online texting buddies who befriended you so that they could ask you for money. However, a part of the girl was afraid of meeting up with a stranger from online. Elfie and Jasper had always told Alex that she shouldn''t trust anyone she didn''t know personally online. Many things could be faked and Elfie gave a very long and detailed lecture about internet crimes.

    Not replying to Jedd immediately, Scarlet switched apps to find Edward. For some reason, he was the first person she could think of. Alex was way too busy and from a different faculty so meeting up with the artist was going to be challenging. Nah, who was Scarlet trying to fool? She just didn''t want to be the third wheel in her sister''s love life now that Alex and Jasper were finally a couple.

    Scarlet: Edward... are you busy?

    The teen who was waiting for Scarlet''s reply raised a brow when she texted him using his other phone''s number. Having dual SIMs in a phone had both advantages and disadvantages. Edward had to switch over to the other SIM card to reply to Scarlet.

    Edward: What''s up?

    Scarlet didn''t beat around the bush and explained that an old online friend of hers was proposing a real-life meet-up because they were both students in the same university.

    Scarlet: But I''m afraid to go alone. Can I bring you along as a friend for the meeting?

    When Edward read that, he didn''t know if he should be happy that Scarlet trusted Edward or hurt that Scarlet didn''t trust Jedd77 seeing as they were both him. Also, to make things more complicated, how was he going to meet Scarlet as Jedd77 while accompanying her there as Edward Bayon? This was a twist that even the teen spy never expected.

    However, before he could think of a solution, his eager fingers had already agreed to accompany Scarlet to meet her online friend. When he came back to his senses and read Scarlet''s ecstatic reply, the spy groaned. He did it again... the disease of losing his intelligence around Scarlet was confirmed. Edward was a doomed man.

    Scarlet agreed to meet Jedd77 and asked if it was alright to bring a friend along for the meeting. As Jedd, Edward didn''t disagree and quickly arranged a time and a place for the meeting. Knowing that Scarlet would feel safer in a place with more people but not crowded and noisy, they decided on the cafeteria at the atrium where Alicia first introduced Scarlet to the group.

    Jedd77: The tuna melt sandwiches and black coffee there is the best

    Frost: Oh wow! You and I have similar tastes. I like the tuna melt sandwiches and black coffee. In fact, it''s the first place I went to for lunch after my official start of the bridging course.

    They chatted for some time and Scarlet made an excuse about needing to help with dinner preparations before the phone quieted down. Still lost and in a daze, Edward wondered what he was going to do about agreeing to meet Scarlet as both Edward and Jedd77. Why did he do that? He kept shooting himself in the foot when it concerned Scarlet and the only solution to it was to call a certain someone.

    Elfie rolled his eyes when he heard a familiar ring tone. Wasn''t Edward calling him a little too frequently lately? He didn''t have to be a fortune teller to know what the call was about. There were only two things Edward would call him for. The first was Anastasia''s case but the hacker highly doubted Edward was calling about it. The teen usually worked late into the night and called after midnight if there was anything related to the case. It was almost dinner so Elfie bet it was about the second topic that had become a fad for Edward - Scarlet.

    "Let me guess," Elfie picked up the call. "This is related to Scarlet. Have you done something stupid again?"

    Edward blinked. Was he that predictable? "Yes, and yes," he admitted begrudgingly. "I need your help to pretend to be Jedd77 for a day. Please!"

    Elfie groaned. "What have you done this time? Please at least make this entertaining or I''m not going to help."

    With no choice, Edward started from the beginning while enduring the humiliation when Elfie hooted in laughter for the next twenty minutes. If he didn''t get a solution by the end of this phone call, he was breaking into Elfie''s ''high-security'' apartment tonight.

 Chapter 185 - A Plan to Escape the Friendzone

    Scarlet was nervous. Her classes ended earlier than it should and she was currently waiting for Edward to show up before they got to the atrium. Unknown to her, somebody else was even more nervous than she was.

    Edward dragged his feet over after class to meet up with Scarlet. He had to admit, Elfie had a good plan but even so, Edward doing it with a huge risk. The hacker outwardly refused to pretend to be Jedd77 simply because "Scarlet would find out and hate you forever when she does". Edward couldn''t refute that. Knowing Scarlet, lying to her was a bad idea even if keeping secrets isn''t much better. Edward would rather be hated than ignored by the girl.

    The plan was simple. Edward wasn''t going to lie to Scarlet but he was also not going to simply blurt it out. Elfie told the spy he had to do a little acting and let Scarlet expose herself to him as Frost. In other words, Edward was going to accompany Scarlet over first as a friend. They would wait for Jedd77 to appear and because Elfie refused to play that role, Jedd77 was going to ghost Scarlet. Edward''s job was to convince Scarlet to send her text buddy a text and hold onto his phone to ''confirm his suspicions''. From that point onwards, it was up to Edward to manipulate the situation to his favour.

    Edward agreed to the plan but was extremely nervous. This was even an even more nerve-wracking operation as compared to getting close to a rumoured terrorist for a four-men-take-down. He didn''t really care if he put his life on the line for a mission but why was he so concerned about the fate of his heart?

    According to the signs he read, Scarlet wasn''t ready to open up to him completely. To be more precise, she was constantly giving him mixed signals when he was Edward. On the other hand, Scarlet was more open with him as Jedd77 because she had faith in that wall of anonymity. However, when Jedd77 proposed a face to face meet-up, Scarlet pulled back to the safety net and agreed with a condition indicating that the level of trust she had for Jedd77 isn''t the same as Edward Bayon. How was he meant to understand what Scarlet wanted? If she truly liked Jedd77 romantically, she wouldn''t have asked a male friend along. She would have asked a female friend along because bringing a male friend over to see a potential love interest was only going to deter them from asking her out.

    On the other hand, he didn''t know what to feel as Edward Bayon - the man getting called to be Scarlet''s bodyguard in the meeting. He might be flattered that Scarlet placed so much trust in him to feel safe around him. However, those feelings usually extended to a friendship or a sibling level. Many men find themselves getting stopped in the friend zone or the brother zone by the ladies they liked even though they were always the ones the ladies cry to when they broke up with a cheating jerk. He didn''t want to fall into this horrible category in Scarlet''s eyes, he wanted more.

    Today''s meet-up was going to be a gamble. According to Elfie, it could either go very well or very badly. However, there was one bright side to it. Edward would know for sure where Scarlet''s feelings lie for both Jedd77 and Edward Bayon. If Scarlet rejected him calmly, he would know that she never harboured those feelings for him. However, if Scarlet hesitated or reacted differently from the norm, Edward would take it as a sign of her interest and denial of feelings for him due to personal reasons. Scarlet was a kind-hearted person and Edward was going to place bets that she wouldn''t truly reject him if he wanted her too. It was the biggest gamble of his life and one that Edward didn''t know if he was ready to take but there was no time to back out, he was already here.

    "Edward!" Scarlet waved with a huge smile of relief and the teen put on a reassuring smile like how he practised in the mirror till two in the morning last night.

    Yes, just do it as rehearsed, Edward convinced himself and walked over to the girl. "Hello, Scarlet. Sorry, my class got delayed. Is your friend waiting already?"

    The writer shook her head. "I guess his class is getting delayed too. Shall we head over and find a place first?"

    Edward agreed and offered to help Scarlet carry her laptop. "It looks heavy," he told her.

    This time, Scarlet didn''t refuse. After getting to know Edward for a while, she had gotten used to Edward''s considerate and gentlemanly behaviour even if Alicia and the girls still teased him for it. Edward simply replied that only Scarlet deserved special treatment. Hearing that made Alicia and her girls shut up but they continued making gooey eyes at Edward whenever he did something sweet for Scarlet. Those two were simply too adorable and according to Mandy, they should just get married when Scarlet becomes legal.

    They got to the atrium and finally found a place for four to sit after walking two rounds. Jedd77 still hasn''t texted Scarlet so they decided to settle down first and wait for another ten minutes. Time ticked and the writer was beginning to feel more nervous when her online texting buddy wasn''t responding. Like Scarlet, Edward was nervous and he felt bad for keeping her waiting. Yet, he was waiting for her to make the first move.

    Pretending to check the watch, Edward tapped his foot and glanced to Scarlet who was holding onto her phone tightly like a lifeline. The poor girl looked so lost that Edward felt his heart hurt a little. Even if he was the one going to be hurting later, he couldn''t bear to keep her waiting for much longer.

    "Why don''t you drop him a text?" he suggested and Scarlet mulled over the suggestion for a long time.

    "I don''t know... Jedd will usually text me first. He wouldn''t give me the cold shoulder and is always online. Do you think something might have happened?"

    Edward couldn''t say that she was right. He was doing it deliberately so that Scarlet would text him first, after all. Still, he pointed at her phone. "Only one way to find out."

    The writer didn''t say anything and hesitated for about a minute, fiddling with the device before she nodded and started to text Jedd. Edward looked away, pretending not to notice how Scarlet edited her message at least five times before she finally sent it. At the same time, he pretended to play a game on his phone to kill time while he waited for Scarlet''s text.

    Frost: Where are you? My friend and I are here. Do you want us to get you anything from the cafe?

    Edward looked at the text and felt his heart pounding in his chest as he composed the reply he had in mind. He stayed up for a very long time last night, unable to keep as he devised several dozens of strategies to what Scarlet could possibly say and do according to his understanding of her. Elfie called him a fool but Edward simply couldn''t sleep and leave it to fate. He''d be devastated and broken for real if Scarlet didn''t return his feelings. When that happened, he might even launch himself headfirst into investigating Anastasia without a plan just to get killed. It might sound a little too dramatic but that was exactly what Edward felt. No mission was more dangerous than this. No stakes were higher than his heart.

    Jedd77: No, it''s alright. Sorry for being so late. Actually, it''s not that I didn''t want to meet up with you but I don''t know how to do it without frightening you.

    Scarlet who read the reply was immediately anxious. What did Jed mean? Frighten her? What was going on?

    From across Scarlet, Edward watched her reaction discreetly. He didn''t like to be the cause of worry for Scarlet but seeing how desperate her replies were made Edward feel as if there was a huge sinking stone in his stomach.

    Frost: Why? What''s wrong?

    He composed the reply quickly. It was best to do it quickly and get over with it. A painless death was always the most merciful one.

    Jedd77: The purpose of me calling you out for a face to face meeting was to confess to you. I like you, Scarlet. In a romantic way. Sorry for being selfish about my way of confession but I didn''t want to come out before I knew your answer to my feelings.

    Scarlet read the message over and over again as if she had read it wrong. She thought back about it and peeked at Edward who was still playing his games calmly. Jedd was a nice person that Scarlet felt at ease with. However, she now knew where her heart belonged. If it wasn''t for Edward, she would probably never have the courage to meet up with Jedd in person. The one he liked was Edward and not Jedd.

    Feeling bad but deciding to be firm, Scarlet typed her reply slowly. Across her, Edward didn''t need to read her reply to know what it was going to be. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. With one of his personas shot down, he could only gamble on his other persona as Edward Bayon. If Scarlet was feeling calm and unruffled after such a sudden confession from Jedd, what was she going to do when she found out that Jedd was Edward?

    Suddenly, he didn''t feel nervous anymore. If he was going to be rejected, he preferred to be rejected while looking into her eyes in person he liked. Getting rejected over the phone was such a cold feeling and he pitied Jedd a little, smiling bitterly when his phone prompted him of a new message.

 Chapter 186 - A Shocking Revelation

    Frost: Jedd... you and I have known each other for a while now and honestly, you''re a great guy. You have no idea how many times you''ve cheered me up when I was struggling and honestly, knowing you was like a blessing in my life. I like you too, but not in the romantic sense. I''m very sorry about it but I still hope that we can meet in person at least once... sorry for being selfish.

    Edward read the message a few times and closed his eyes. His hands shook and he ran the possibilities through his mind. Scarlet still wanted to meet with Jedd even though she couldn''t return his feelings. Would she be mad that Jedd was someone she knew?

    Instead of taking the plunge, Edward played it cautious and decided to send a probe to find out how Scarlet would react to the revelation. If he came on too strongly and suddenly like declaring he was Edward in front of her, he honestly couldn''t predict how Scarlet would react. Hence, he went for the mild approach.

    Jedd77: What if I said you already knew me in person?

    The question was effective in making Scarlet sit up straight. He didn''t know what was going through her mind but he made plans for both scenarios. If Scarlet still insisted on meeting with him, Edward would simply reveal his identity gradually using text message. If Scarlet didn''t want to meet up with Jedd, Edward would just pretend Jedd never turned up and probably postpone his confession for another time. Now that he had a taste of what rejection felt like, Edward didn''t think he had the strength to be rejected twice in the same day if he could spare himself the pain. Elfie was probably going to scold him for using out but Edward didn''t want to do it for both their sakes. He rather enjoyed how Scarlet was beginning to slowly open up to him ever since the library date. She still wasn''t ready to trust him fully and he wanted to wait for her to be ready before he laid his feelings on her.

    While Edward was troubled with his conflicted feelings and kept in suspense, Scarlet''s world was in chaos. Someone she knew? Many thoughts flew to her mind. Was Jedd a stalker? Did he already know her from television or was he someone she met briefly and didn''t remember? Were they faking their conversations the whole time just to get close to her? As if her world shrunk down, Scarlet felt that she couldn''t breathe. The memory of being stuck in a broom closet with the envelope of evidence when she was younger came to mind and the atrium slowly faded away, leaving only darkness in front of Scarlet.

    Edward who had been waiting for a response for a long time frowned. Scarlet shouldn''t need to think so hard about it. He glanced up to check on the girl and immediately dropped his phone.

    "Scarlet!"

    The writer was hunched over and sweating but looking deathly pale. Even though he wasn''t a doctor, Edward recognised the signs of a panic attack when Scarlet started to breathe heavy. Her eyes were wide open but they were unseeing. He tried to talk her out of it but Scarlet was no longer listening either. Her PTSD was worse than he thought it would be and without another choice, Edward rushed over to her side of the table.

    He pulled the hyperventilating girl into his chest and hugged her tightly, whispering to her in hopes that she will snap out of it. There were some stares in their direction and Edward glared at the curious busybodies while holding Scarlet for a long time. The process wasn''t easy for either of them with Scarlet''s paranoia escalated, no longer in her right mind. She started to cry and even struggled in Edward''s hold and Edward could only hold onto her tighter. It wasn''t a simple case of an anxiety disorder, it was a full-on panic attack that Edward wasn''t ready for.

    Thankfully, the panic attack only lasted for a few minutes until Scarlet came back to her senses even though there was still fear in her eyes and her body couldn''t stop shaking. Edward let Scarlet go a little but the girl clung tightly onto his shirt.

    "Scarlet? What happened?"

    The writer didn''t talk at first and her words were incoherent but she didn''t give up and continued struggling to find words.

    Edward frowned as he made out a few he understood. "Stalker? Where?"

    Scarlet shook her head. "Jedd... not coming..."

    Piecing the two together Edward pulled back. "Are you saying that Jedd isn''t coming because he''s a stalker?"

    Scarlet nodded with tears and occupied. The trembling had lessened but the paranoia wasn''t over.

    "Guns... they come with guns to look for me... wh-what if... Jedd also...?"

    Edward''s heart turned to ice upon learning that Scarlet had ever been in a situation when she was facing armed assailants. Although he had even more questions about what happened in her past, he could now understand why she had PTSD.

    "No, it''s not possible. Jedd isn''t a stalker and he wouldn''t harm you. I promise you that."

    Scarlet shook her head, not willing to listen and Edward didn''t know what came over him but the words were blurted before he knew it.

    "Jedd isn''t a stalker because I''m Jedd77, Frost."

    Scarlet froze and Edward sighed. In a softer voice this time, he looked her into the eyes and repeated, "I am Jedd77. I like you, Scarlet."

    Author''s Note:

    Just a note, this chapter is rather heavy and PTSD is a very real thing that can come with severe depression and anxiety attacks. I don''t know how many people will read an author''s notes but if you are, I want you to know that if you suffer from PTSD you are not alone.

    I''m am a survivor of some very horrifying things in life. I won''t mention what happened here but I suffer from PTSD, depression and anxiety attacks. My PTSD has been bad enough to make me hallucinate, become paranoid for no reason, caused me severe insomnia where I was unable to sleep for 10 days at one point I collapsed and was hospitalised. I was afraid to sleep because of nightmares and I couldn''t trust anyone. My depression and anxiety attacks were a side effect from the prolonged PTSD that I had to cope with alone. At one point I was suicidal and have attempted several times to take my life but have failed. My anxiety attacks get so bad that I couldn''t go to crowded places like the train or a shopping mall for a long time.

    PTSD is something that cannot be cured but there is still hope. For the people who know someone else with PTSD, depression or anxiety attack, the most important thing to do is just be with them to let them know they''re not alone. It can be exhausting when they reject help and saving but if you care for them, you will persist. I cannot say that they will snap out of it someday or how soon they will get better but I believe it would be better than watching them die without doing a thing. I didn''t have anyone by my side back then but I was lucky that I found a group of misfits in society who took me in. They might have taught me some bad things that may or may not have been against the law but their constant company and sincere attitude saved me from myself. I might have lost all contact with them now but I will forever be thankful to them.

    To my gang, if you''re reading this right now. I''m proud to say that I kept my promise even if you didn''t keep yours. I studied and graduated splendidly. I''m also a proud writer even though I''m not making much money doing this. I just want to say that you guys will always be the best.

    To my readers, thank you for staying with Love Journal. Writing this hasn''t been easy. The story is both a painful and hateful to write because this is the story of my life in a modified setting. It''s been almost a year since the book started and many things have happened. The boy I dated that I modelled the original ML - Jasper13 for is no good. I broke up and I was heartbroken which was why I didn''t introduce the ML for such a long time.

    I know many of you are thrilled to finally see Edward and such a great ML finally appear for Scarlet (who you might have guessed who it was modelled after) but it wasn''t easy for me to create Edward either because he was created after my ex-lover that I couldn''t be together with due to circ.u.mstances. Digging up the memories of someone who I love from my past has been painful and writing it into a happy story for a future I can never have has been hateful. The only bright side about doing this has always been the warm support I receive from the readers.

    I hate to say it but Love Journal is going to be ending soon. We will progress full-throttle from now on. No more delays, no more slow-paced scenes (although knowing me I will give you many sweet bonus scenes and chapters after the ending). I don''t know why I got so emotional in the author''s note writing about this but that''s the main point of my announcement. Thank you for staying with me and the end of the book doesn''t have to be goodbye for us. I will be creating new works both on and outside. I have discord, twitter, Facebook and Instagram that you can stalk for news. It might not be the same as Love Journal but I promise I won''t change, I''ll only get better.

    That''s all from me and although it''s rather awkward I promise no more surprise lengthy notes like this from now on.

    Stay awesome, stay amazing and live strong!

    Fair Winds my friends,

    Destiny Aitsuji

 Chapter 187 - A Proper Confession

    Two days passed since Scarlet found out that Jedd77 was Edward Bayon. She didn''t know what to do and spent her time thinking about what she should do. She wasn''t angry that Edward hid the fact that he was Jedd77. Initially, she was shocked and they parted ways awkwardly but now that she thought about it, it wasn''t weird that Edward would figure out her identity.

    Her conversations with Jedd77 revolved around Alicia''s group and the topics they talked about. For someone who was part of that circle, it would be stranger if Edward still hasn''t figured it out by now. On the other hand, Scarlet had no clue who Jedd77 was because he was very good at keeping secrets.

    Remembering how she actually rejected Edward''s feeling made Scarlet want to kill herself. She had been liking Edward for a long time and when he finally confessed to her, she turned him down. How stupid was she?!

    The writer wanted very much to go back in time or to beg Edward to forget about what she said so that he could confess to her again. Scarlet would definitely not reject him this time but the reality was cruel. A time machine still didn''t exist and even with all the money in the world, Scarlet didn''t think she could buy one from a different universe.

    "What''s the use of having so much money when it can''t solve my problems?" Scarlet whined and then paused after she remembered the reason.

    Compared to the confession from the boy she liked, there was another more pressing issue. EZ Express has been making splashes all over the headlines, covering up Golden Frost and Pineapple Group''s collaboration. Elfie still hasn''t gotten back to her about the lead she passed him and CEO Zhu was still unable to schedule a trip to visit the warehouses and factories due to domestic affairs.

    By domestic affairs, Scarlet understood that his fiancee was kicking up a fuss again. Leah Yuan was a beautiful heiress in China with a net worth of approximately three billion. Leah was a hotelier with major shares in airline and shipping companies. Although Scarlet had never met her in person, he saw pictures of her in the news articles occasionally. Leah was a beautiful young woman in her thirties and was very accomplished. She was also an ageless beauty. It was rumoured that Leah was the one who proposed the start of their relationship with CEO Zhu but Scarlet wasn''t as interested in that. All she could feel right now was miserable that she couldn''t even have a false relationship with Edward like how CEO Zhu had one with Ms Yuan. Single people were really the most miserable.

    Scarlet tried to call Edward and text him but it was clear as day that the teen was avoiding her. He didn''t outrightly ignore her messages or calls but he would often answer vaguely and make some kind of excuse to dodge the topic. Whatever it was, Scarlet found it hard to move to the next level of closeness after the incident. Edward had feelings for her and she had feelings for him so why were they still stuck as friends?!

    "Trouble in paradise?" Alex asked as she placed a cup of tea down before the writer who sighed.

    "There is trouble but I''m not in paradise," Scarlet said and accepted the tea while her sister closed the door and sat on her bed.

    "I can see that. No, don''t say anything! Let me guess... it''s about Edward."

    Scarlet deadpanned. Why was Alex doing this? Who''s paying her to investigate? Alex saw her sister''s expression and sneered. "Just because I''m being helpful for once doesn''t mean I''m up to something. Everyone is rooting for your happiness! Come on, spill. What''s going on?"

    With a heavy sigh, Scarlet told Alex everything that happened on the day she was meant to meet Jedd. The model listened without interrupting but when Scarlet ended, she tilted her head in confusion.

    "So? What''s the problem?"

    "Were you not listening?" Scarlet frowned in annoyance.

    "I was!" Alex insisted. "But there isn''t a problem, right? He has feelings for you and you like him. Both of you should just date already!"

    "That''s the problem," Scarlet insisted. "We''re not dating!"

    Alex paused. "And why is that so?"

    Scarlet sulked and pulled her knees up to her chest on the chair. "Because I screwed up... I mistook Jedd for a stalker and Edward had to come clean about his identity but I couldn''t tell him anything because I already rejected him earlier before I freaked out."

    Alex blinked. That''s it? Scarlet thought it was over and that she didn''t stand a chance because she rejected the guy once?

    "Scarlet my sister, I think you''ve got it wrong. A real man who''s truly and madly in love with you wouldn''t give up so easily. How about this? Let''s give him a timeline to prove his worth. If he makes a proper confession in a week, you date him. If he doesn''t come back at all, I''ll lend you a hand and beat him up for being a wuss."

    Scarlet considered it. "Don''t beat him up too badly, I like his face. Also, isn''t a week too short? What should I do in the meantime?"

    That was a good question. Alex thought about it and grinned. She borrowed some paper and a pen from Scarlet before making a list. The most important thing was to keep Scarlet occupied in the week but remaining within sight of Edward so that he could change his mind before Alex gave him a piece of hers. Scarlet looked at the schedule drawn by her sister and grimaced.

    "I know that we''re from the same university but these timings are a little too far apart. My bridging classes are also coming to an end. I will be having a short term break before the actual semester. Why do I need to accompany you to the school gym when we have one here? Also, what is with the lineup of events? Most of them are not even related to my course."

    Alex rolled her eyes. "This is so that you''ll be around the campus in case a certain somebody wants to change their mind. Also, I know who Alicia is. I''ve met her several times at some of these events. If you attend them, she will most likely be there and tell Edward about you. Alicia''s going to be a very important person in the plan to get Edward to man up. Also, you should continue to text him as usual just so that it doesn''t get weird. The good thing about this is that he isn''t ghosting you. If you persist to show that you''re willing to keep in contact with him even after rejecting him once, it will give him hope to try again as Edward even though Jedd was rejected. When that happens, you must explain to him why you rejected Jedd."

    Scarlet blushed. That was true. She rejected Jedd because she liked Edward. "Thank you..."

    Alex grinned. "It''s no problem. Also, I think Elfie and Edward are friends."

    "Huh?"

    The model nodded. "Elfie said that he was going to invite a guy called Edward for our pizza party because that person has a crush on you. I was going to reject it but then I remembered the guy you like is also called Edward. Who knows, they might be the same person!"

    Alex rambled on for a few more minutes before excusing herself to get back to her new art project after procrastinating enough. The writer was still frozen and deep in thoughts., Elfie and Edward were friends? Now that she thought about it, she could understand why she thought that laptop was familiar. Who exactly was Edward? If Scarlet remembered correctly, Elfie didn''t have many friends outside of the E.C. Class and Special Class.

    If Elfie built a laptop for Edward, that could only mean that their relationship was very close. Elfie might have created the chatroom for the E.C. Class and Special Class but he had never done more than that for them even if everyone was friends. Suddenly, Scarlet wasn''t too sure anymore who Edward was. On the surface, he looked like a normal university student who wasted life away but knowing that he was friends with Elfie made her hesitate. Could it be that Edward was also hiding his identity like her? Was he secretly a rich young master as well?

    Although Scarlet didn''t know everything about Edward, she probably knew more than Alicia and her gang. Edward lived alone. Unless he was lying to her, Scarlet believed that Edward and his family must be rich to allow him to live alone in an apartment within New York. If he lived near the university or within the city, the rental of the apartment must be very expensive too. Normal students will co-share the apartment to make the rent cheaper but Edward didn''t need to do that. Not to mention, Edward didn''t need to work any part-time jobs or scholarsh.i.p.s to cover the expensive expenses.

    Scarlet took a look at the schedule and nodded. Even though she liked Edward and wasn''t being totally transparent to him, she was now curious about the secrets he was hiding. A part of her was thrilled that Edward wasn''t an ordinary person but another side of her was cautious. Both Jedd and Edward''s phone numbers saved in her contact list were different. How much was Edward hiding?

 Chapter 188 - Pizza Party

    The next time Scarlet and Edward met was at Kiwi Cat Studio''s pizza party. Scarlet tried to act normal but the people rooting for her romance watched on with concern. Scarlet wasn''t acting any differently than how she normally was with the E.C. Class and Jasper found it strange.

    Alex and Elfie often heard stories about how Scarlet behaved with Alex. The writer would sometimes do that in front of everyone else too when Alex was around. However, there was none of that snarky insults and low-key sparring that happened today.

    The pizza party was wild and entertaining. Scarlet did take the chance to speak to Jasper and Elfie alone away from the rowdy group that was good at creating distractions.

    "How is it going? I remember passing you some solid trails for investigations. His information will not be wrong."

    Jasper raised a brow. "I passed it to Elfie. On that note, EZ Express has been approaching us in many ways. Lately, I think they''ve lost their patience and started making a move on some of my employees."

    "How so?" Scarlet asked and Elfie sighed.

    "I''m still getting someone to check on the information for me. Don''t worry, they are reliable. I''m a hacker, not an analyst. Even if I can worm my way into the system I cannot find out what they are up to. Jasper is too busy so I enlisted the help of another friend. Don''t worry, they are a professional."

    Scarlet blinked. "You gave Anastasia''s lead to someone else who is not on the team? Who are they? How do you know that they''re trustworthy?"

    Scarlet wasn''t pleased and Jasper looked guilty. "Sorry, Scarlet. I-I thought that it''ll be alright since Elfie trusts this guy. He said that they''ve worked together on multiple occasions for big cases. The dude is from the Interpol or something but has recently been benched for personal reasons."

    "Benched," Scarlet confirmed. "Why do you think it''s a good idea to bench me and get someone else who is also benched to work on it? I can''t believe you did this to me after the trouble I''ve gone through. At the very least you should tell me who he is."

    Elfie felt conflicted. Edward''s identity and secret are his to tell or keep. However, he knew that they weren''t being fair to Scarlet who worked the hardest on the case. It was like stealing somebody''s work and giving it to someone else to claim credit for.

    "Scarlet, this is for your own good. You''ve done too many dangerous and reckless things over the last few years trying to get to the bottom of the case. Now that we have a good lead, we can take it from here. You''ve opened the door for us that nobody has ever been able to, let''s leave the rest to the professionals, shall we? Right now the most important thing is to concentrate on keeping Alex and Mrs Wile safe. EZ Express has been trying to buy over our employees and send their spies. I''ve been able to hold them off thanks to Wilmer''s help but once they know about you and Alex, they will start targeting the both of you."

    Jasper''s words made sense and Scarlet felt slightly guilty. Alex still didn''t know anything and now that she was finally dating Jasper, the writer didn''t want to do anything to endanger her family.

    "How do I know if Elfie''s friend can be trusted? Anastasia''s case has been cold for years even with the Interpol. What can a few brats like us possibly do? They must already know where Anastasia is from and what he is doing. The leads that we find cannot compare to what the higher-ups of the Interpol know."

    Elfie nodded in agreement. "You''re right. However, I have inside sources. Remember that the Interpol works with me on missions. They''ve sent in spies to investigate Anastasia but many have been killed. Anastasia has been on the edge lately with the news of CEO Zhu''s collaboration with Golden Frost. Their hands are tied but we are free to run around while the bigger powers fight it out. I don''t know how you managed to get your hands on the missing link but so far, we are able to identify Anastasia''s purpose."

    "His purpose is...?" Scarlet asked and Elfie lowered his voice.

    "We know he trades drugs and firearms but the most crucial one is actually human and organ trafficking. He needs the Wilde Empire''s influence to bring in humans easily and he is trying to worm his way inside. The Wilde Empire is too big and even Wilmer cannot get rid of all the spies. Danny is working at it from another case but that''s the reason why they''ve been guarding Kiwi Cat Studios so fiercely."

    Scarlet couldn''t say anything. She understood now the severity of the situation. If Anastasia was into human trafficking and organ smuggling from the humans he kidnapped, it wouldn''t be difficult for him to plan a kidnap for Wilmer''s children. In fact, such a man wouldn''t be bothered by a murder or two to get rid of the obstacles in his path. If Scarlet continued to dig further alone, she would only involve the people around her and risk their operation''s failure.

    "What can I do now?" she asked and Jasper glanced over to his girlfriend.

    "Stay safe and out of attention. It''s better to watch over Alex as well. She attends too many parties and meets too many people. If Anastasia wanted, he could easily plant a spy to befriend Alex and lure her into his trap. Watch out for both of yourselves and don''t ditch the security. It''s a crucial period right now, we''re currently investigating his base of operations in the East with the lead."

    That got Scarlet''s attention. "The list of warehouses and factories involved?"

    Elfie nodded. "We sent some people with Danny''s help but they haven''t gotten back to us. Danny didn''t give me details but he said that the inside situation was very messy. Someone deleted a bunch of files and the system crashed. Emails were hijacked and everything is a mess. There is no system within the companies and the reporting line is corrupted. There are factions within the company and they don''t behave like regular businesses. the legal department is the only solid thing, covering up for all the blunders. The accounts are faked. Physical stock and doc.u.ments don''t match. It''s going to take some time."

    "Elfie! Jasper!" Alex yelled from the party. "If you don''t hurry over these guys are gonna finish it all up!"

    "Save me a beef bolognese pizza!" Elfie yelled with a panicked expression when he heard that the pizza was going to be finished when he hadn''t had the chance to take even a bite.

    Jasper patted Scarlet on the shoulder and told her to take care of herself and level the rest to them before going over to Alex who complained about the lack of attention as she passed him his portion of pizza that she saved for him. Scarlet stood in the corner alone and watched as her sister laughed alongside the boys and discreetly held her boyfriend''s hand when they weren''t looking.

    Elfie who had secured his pizza and cola stared at Edward who was nursing a can of coke like he was nursing a can of beer. The hacker frowned. After all the trouble he took to invite Edward over to make a move on Scarlet and patch things up, why was the teen not doing anything?

    "Oi! Aren''t you going to go up to her? If you screw this up I''m going to announce to the world that you''re gay!"

    Edward glared at Elfie who didn''t back down. "Go up to her and say what? Can''t you see how uncomfortable she is? Your meddling is getting worse. Also, how am I supposed to explain my friendship with you to her? She''s not going to believe me because she knows what you do for a living."

    Elfie grimaced. That was true. He didn''t think that far ahead. Edward was usually the smarter of them with the exception of matters pertaining to Scarlet.

    "Sorry," the hacker winced and glanced over to Scarlet who was looking at her sister being lovey-dovey with Jasper with a forlorn look.

    "How about you get her something to eat? She hasn''t gotten anything since she came. Her sister is also preoccupied with her boyfriend and nobody will bother both of you. It''s a good time to apologise and come clean about Jedd. Here''s a trick. Scarlet doesn''t like people lying to her but she is understanding about it if you wish to keep certain things a secret from her even if her curiosity kills her after she knows there is something she doesn''t know."

    Edward took a moment to digest what Elfie said and stared into blank space before getting up to get a paper plate.

    Scarlet wasn''t expecting to be approached but she still looked up when someone shoved a Hawaiian pizza under her nose. Looking up, it was none other than the person she''s been wanting to talk to all week. Instead of lighting up at his appearance, Scarlet squashed that bubbling hope in her chest and played it cool.

    Edward watched as Scarlet accepted the pizza calmly and muttered her thanks. The girl still looked dejected, even more so than him who had been rejected. Scarlet held the plate but didn''t eat and Edward took that as something to start a conversation.

    "Not to your liking?"

    Scarlet glanced at the plate and noticed that it was Hawaiian. She shook her head. "No, this is my favourite."

    Edward smiled. He already knew that. "Why aren''t you eating? Penny for your thought?"

    Scarlet seemed to shrink further into herself when Edward asked that. She didn''t know how he could suddenly be so casual with her as if nothing happened. Numbly, Scarlet picked up the pizza slice and munched. It was good but scarlet couldn''t find it in herself to enjoy it, too conscious about the boy beside her.

    Edward let Scarlet eat in peace and enjoyed the silent company despite the noise buzzing around them. Alex was introducing a game of twister to the boys and hyping the crowd but he wasn''t interested in it. Instead, he could only focus on the slight warmth radiating from Scarlet who was finally sitting beside him.

 Chapter 189 - Can I Still Say Yes?

    As the party progressed and became nosier, Edward felt like it would be a terrible idea to stay on if he was going to have a serious conversation. Hence, he waited for Scarlet to finish before suggesting that they grab a coffee nearby to get away from the crowd.

    Scarlet accepted and sent a text to her sister so that Alex wouldn''t worry about her when she realised that the writer was gone.

    As neither of them was too familiar with the area, they decided to stroll leisurely down the streets in search of a quiet cafe away. Scarlet walked in silence beside Edward who was much taller than her. At first, she had to run a little to keep up with his pace but after a while, Scarlet noticed how Edward was slowing down to match her. Blushing slightly at that, Scarlet wondered if they were a little too close to each other. If she moved a little more, they would be touching. Yet, that didn''t happen. Both of them remained their distance even by just that little gap.

    The cafe that Edward found was about two streets away from the office and Scarlet looked at the interior decoration. There were many cat pictures and the writer smiled. She liked cats even though she had a slight allergy to them.

    "How about this cafe?" Edward asked and Scarlet nodded, feeling a lot more relaxed with the cosy ambience.

    They grabbed an iced coffee each and Edward paid for them even though Scarlet insisted that she would pay. They settled at a small table in the corner near a window where Scarlet could people watch. Edward didn''t say much and decided to look at the menu.

    "Are you a fan of cakes?" he asked.

    Scarlet looked through the menu and frowned. "It''s too fattening."

    Surprised that Scarlet would actually be concerned over such things, he couldn''t help but laugh. The girl was indeed unpredictable. After taking time to glance through the menu twice, Scarlet settled for a strawberry crepe and Edward ordered himself a tiramisu slice. Scarlet raised a brow at the coffee and coffee cake combination but didn''t comment on it.

    "How are you feeling?" Edward asked after the waitress took their orders.

    The writer was slightly surprised but immediately knew what Edward was referring to. "I''m alright. How about you?"

    Edward took his tie to study Scarlet''s expression. She didn''t look too comfortable talking about it but she still said it. "Why did you keep avoiding me?"

    The spy didn''t answer immediately. Instead, he took a sip of his coffee. "Would you have liked it if someone who lied to you about their identity continued on as if nothing happened? It was wrong of me, I should have told you earlier when I knew that it was you but I didn''t. I even hid behind Jedd77 to confess because that''s the kind of sc.u.m I am."

    Scarlet didn''t comment on that but she didn''t like Edward referring to himself as a sc.u.m. Truthfully, she didn''t want to know why he didn''t tell her about it. She could guess the reason. Instead, she wanted to know how he felt about it now as Edward without Jedd77 in the picture.

    "How long have you known?" she asked almost quietly.

    Edward thought about how he should answer her. He couldn''t tell her that he knew about it from Elfie or give her a specific timeline. However, he listened to Elfie''s advice. It was better to tell Scarlet the truth than lie to her.

    "From the very beginning," he said ambiguously and left it to Scarlet to interpret.

    Thankfully, it worked and Scarlet didn''t pry further when the desserts arrived. Scarlet focussed on her crepes and m.o.a.ned in delight when the strawberries exploded in her mouth. It was such a long time since Scarlet had anything this luxurious. As an actress, she didn''t eat a lot and even after she was on hiatus, Scarlet only ate what Claire prepared or grabbed a sandwich from the cafeteria.

    Edward watched Scarlet enjoy her food and dug into his cake. She didn''t look mad at him for deceiving her but she also didn''t appear to be thinking too much of Jedd''s confession. That made Edward feel rather hopeless but he didn''t want to give up. If Scalet wasn''t pushing him away, he still had a chance to redeem himself.

    Once they finished their food, Edward contemplated for only half a second before he looked up and caught Scarlet''s attention. Locking eyes, he took a deep breath and apologised.

    "Scarlet, I''m sorry. I shouldn''t have deceived you like this and put you through something so horrible."

    Scarlet blinked and set her glass down. "I''m sorry too."

    The teen blinked. Why was Scarlet apologising? Was she rejecting him before he could confess? Edward''s heart sank and Scarlet lowered her eyes.

    "I didn''t mean to reject you back then. If I had known you were Jedd77, I would have taken my time to consider before giving you a reply. Don''t get me wrong, I rejected Jedd not because I didn''t like him, I just liked you better. For me, Jedd is an irreplaceable friend who always cheered me up. He was like a brother and had a very sunny personality even though he had a morbid sense of humour. I just couldn''t like him the same way I like you as Edward Bayon."

    If that wasn''t a sign that Scarlet felt the same way as him, Edward didn''t know what was. The heart that had sunk crawled back up and raced full speed ahead after hearing those words. Edward knew it wasn''t the caffeine nor did he want to pretend that it was.

    "Scarlet... is this...?"

    The writer blushed when Edward stared at her intently.

    "That confession from before... I want to change my answer. Can I say yes?"

    In the background, Edward heard imaginary fireworks and a harmonic choir praising the Lord. However, Edward wasn''t going to allow her to change her answer. Instead, he was going to make her give him a new answer.

    "No. You can''t change the answer to Jedd77''s confession. However, in a few days, Edward Bayon will give you a proper confession, not a cowardly one over text. You can tell him your answer when it happens. So, how would you like to be confessed to?"

    Her mind blanked out when he asked her to choose how she wanted to be confessed to. How would Scarlet know? She had never been confessed to before in a normal way by a person she liked. Most of the people who confessed to her did so because she was a famous actress or singer. Nobody confessed to Scarlet, everybody confessed to the singer from Britannia or Liu Xiu Wen.

    Edward loved teasing Scarlet who was glowing red from trying to find an answer to his question. Pretending to brainstorm for her, Edward suggested that he confess to her with a bouquet of ninety-nine roses after her class.

    "No!" Scarlet half-screamed in horror. The sheer embarrassment of it could kill her and knowing the kind of people in the campus, word will spread if she carried something so ostentatious around. Scarlet didn''t like being the centre of attraction. In fact, she would hide in a hole away from the world if she could.

    "I know! I''ll confess to you by calling into the school''s radio station so that they can broadcast it loud and clear for everyone to hear."

    "No!" Scarlet glared at him. "Nothing grand! Just something normal, please..."

    The poor writer looked like an angry chipmunk sulking when she tried to glare at him out of embarrassment and Edward melted a little on the inside. She was cute when she smiled. She was cute when she was angry. Is there a time she wasn''t cute?

    "Alright. I''ll do it after a date with you. How does watching a movie of your choice sound like?"

    Scarlet swallowed and considered it for a while until Edward ruined it by recommending a movie that she had acted in before her hiatus.

    "Rejected."

    Edward pouted. It would be fun to see Scarlet react to seeing herself on-screen and hiding from everyone else hoping that nobody recognised her. Too bad she wasn''t falling for it. The devious teen suggested a few other methods including visiting Scarlet''s house and going to the school event to make it official. Scarlet rejected every single idea that came out of his mouth.

    "A letter. I want a handwritten letter. Can I?"

    Edward blinked. In the modern dating culture of America, do people actually confess with handwritten letters? Scarlet was truly one of a kind and the teen laughed heartily. "Sure, I''ll give you a handwritten letter although my handwriting is horrible."

    Scarlet smiled. "I don''t mind. I''ll be happy to receive it."

    Edward grinned. "A handwritten letter, huh? It''s a little unexpected but you do have a little old-fashioned sense of romance in you. Where did you get such inspiration from? That actually never crossed my mind."

    Scarlet looked away, declining to answer and Edward sulked as he prodded the ice with his straw. Still, it was nice to know what Scarlet liked. Now, the only problem would be finding the right words to convey his feelings for her. Edward might be a smooth-talker but he wasn''t the most eloquent with his words when it came to writing and neither was Elfie.

    It was going to suck but he was going to need Mandy and Alicia''s help with this.

 Chapter 190 - Words From The Heart

    Edward tore his hair out in frustration, spammed coffee and suffered almost three days without sleep. It was just a letter. It was just a simple letter and one piece of paper. But why couldn''t he do it right?

    Only now, he understood how noble a writer actually was. Writing wasn''t just something anyone literate could do. It was a skill and an art. Scarlet was a writer and a blogger. She churned out beautifully crafted sentences stringing together words like pearls on a necklace that flowed seamlessly without stumbling on any awkward lack of words to express what she truly meant. Reading what his crush wrote put his confession letter to shame and Edward tore up another revision of it. This was probably the fifteenth one but Edward lost count. It could be more.

    Elfie thought Edward was getting increasingly embarrassing as the days passed. His friend wouldn''t go by each day without calling him for help with his love life. Did Elfie look like he was someone experienced in relationsh.i.p.s? Compared to Edward, Elfie had zero love life experience. His only love life was reserved for his laptop and keyboard.

    The phone rang again and the hacker wanted to cry. He was at work, did Edward forget about it? Jasper looked up from his desk and raised a brow. It wasn''t the first time Elfie had calls during working hours and while the young CEO didn''t mind, it was becoming more frequent. Elfie wasn''t setting a good example for the other employees and interns. Elfie quickly apologised to everyone and went outside to receive the call.

    "What is it? This had better be important, I''m at work!"

    Hearing that he was getting scolded right after the call connected, Edward rolled his eyes. "You scold me when I call you at three in the morning and you scold me when I call you in the daytime. What kind of thing would work for you?"

    Elfie thought about it and apologised. "So, what did you call me for again? Didn''t you confess to her at the pizza party when you took her outside to a cat-themed cafe?"

    Edward sighed and slouched in his chair. "That''s the problem. I did confess and she didn''t reject my feelings but she won''t accept them either unless I confess properly. Her idea of a confession is receiving a love letter. A handwritten one and you know how I''m like with words."

    Elfie laughed. "You''re eloquent with them, aren''t you? Isn''t this great? It''s right up your alley. All those pick-up lines that you''ve been teaching me to use on girls, you can now use it with Scarlet and give me a review on how effective they are."

    This was a deliberate jab at Edward''s dark past and he knew the hacker was bringing it up to tease him. Back then, Edward didn''t know better and he didn''t even use those lines on missions. It was merely something he heard the other agents talking about. Now, he just wanted to bury his head somewhere and forget about that portion of his history. Ever since he grew up and taught Mike them, the jock had been attracting flies all over. True, those cheesy pick-up lines might work for someone like Mike but Scarlet certainly wasn''t a girl who Edward could spew garbage and hope to impress her. The writer was more intelligent than that and Edward didn''t want to put her on the same level as other Tinder girls.

    After hearing Edward''s concern, Elfie tried not to laugh. To think that the most arrogant child spy would be facing this kind of problem one day... if Edward''s father knew, he would laugh. For many years Edward claimed that emotions were a chore that he didn''t want to deal with and now, he was asking for advice on how to properly convey them. How times have changed!

    Not willing to let such a golden opportunity pass, Elfie asked Edward to show him the drafts of the previous letters he made. According to Edward, nothing felt right or good enough so the hacker was curious to know what he would see.

    When the pictures were finally forwarded, Elfie regretted even asking for them. Although the photo quality was bad and the letters were too crumpled, the words that Elfie could make out made him want to puke. Who would have imagined that Edward Bayon would be capable of writing utter mush?

    As Edward looked through all twenty-something drafts that Edward discarded, he understood one thing. Edward was struggling because he wanted to impress Scarlet and by doing so, the spy missed out the most important thing in a confession letter - telling her how he really felt about her.

    "Why don''t any of these letters have the words "I love you" in them? Isn''t that the most important part of a confession letter? Why do you write about her hair and smile and even fashion sense? What''s all the garbage I''m looking at? Are you even trying to confess? This isn''t a ''flatter your girl'' contest, it''s a confession letter. The words should be coming from your heart and not your head."

    Confused, frustrated and disappointed with Elfie''s advice, Edward hung up and growled at the paper balls. How did the words from his heart sound like? It''s been so many years since he walked his emotions off and now, Edward hesitated to all the one person who knew him well enough to give him proper advice.

    Edward stared at the number on his phone that only had less than five contacts. Although the number wasn''t saved with a name, Edward knew who it belonged to. Deliberating if he should call her after three years, Edward looked at the letters. If she knew what he was going through right now, she might be sad he didn''t tell her sooner or introduce Scarlet. She would most certainly be happy to meet the young writer.

    After thirty minutes of debating with himself and staring at the phone, Edward decided to shove logic and consequences aside, listening to his instincts for once. It wasn''t an encouraged behaviour for a spy but Edward wasn''t on a mission right now. He could do whatever he wanted in his private life and his father would have no control over it. If he was benched from taking missions, Edward didn''t have to follow the spy''s code of conduct in his private life.

    The call connected in five rings and Edward wasn''t very ready for it.

    "Hello?"

    The words got stuck in his throat but Edward closed his eyes and basked in the warmth of the confused lady who picked up the call.

    "It''s me, mom. How have you been?"

    Shocked that her son would be calling her after three long years, Mrs Bayon sobbed over the phone and Edward didn''t say anything until she calmed down.

    "Good, I''ve been good. Your father still sends money to me and writes me letters. When will you be coming home? Is your father doing well?"

    Edward smiled and talked to his mother, keeping her updated on his and his father''s well-being as scripted. Even though she was his mother, it was still a rule that spies don''t talk about anything mission-related to anyone not involved in the mission.

    "I actually called because I''m currently facing a problem and I need your advice," Edward admitted.

    Mrs Bayon listened as Edward talked about Scarlet vaguely and blushed when he admitted that he liked her. For some reason, he felt the need to praise Scarlet to his mother so that she would form a good impression and also chuckled when he told her about Scarlet''s adorable quirks.

    "She''s not against accepting my feelings but after that mistake, I can''t just hand her a crappy letter. I''ve written over twenty drafts but they''re no good. How does father write letters to you? What does a love letter sound like?"

    Mrs Bayon listened to her son without asking any questions and smiled. Her boy has grown up now and even found someone he loves. Although three years was a long time, she could still understand her baby boy. If he didn''t like Scarlet and thought that she was the right person for him, he wouldn''t be putting in this much effort to make it work.

    "A love letter and a confession letter should be written just like how you described her to me," Mrs Bayon said and Edward raised a brow.

    "I don''t understand."

    The lady laughed. Although Edward was a grown-up now and a brilliant student, he was still sometimes like a child on the inside. Instead of explaining in words to Edward''s logical side, Mrs Bayon decided to appeal to her son''s stunted emotional side.

    "What do you think of that girl you like? Is she pretty?"

    Edward thought about it and saw an image of Scarlet in his mind. "Yes, very."

    Mrs Bayon followed up with another question. "When do you think she looks the prettiest?"

    Without even a second of hesitation, the answer was at the tip of his tongue. "When she''s working hard and doing what she loves."

    The answer was right there and Mrs Bayon smiled. "My child, that''s what a confession sounds like. A confession letter should be to tell her the things that she doesn''t see from your eyes and to let her understand your heart so that she can accept it and return you a serious reply doing the same thing. Your father often writes to me and although he doesn''t say much in those letters, I always know that he cares. I might feel lonely now that both of you are far away, doing important things and I''m just teaching little kids in a rural school but each time I get lonely, I read your father''s letters and remember that I''m not alone."

    Listening to his mother made Edward feel both enlightened and guilty. "Sorry, mom. I''ll call you more often. Or maybe I''ll write to you so that you can keep those letters and read them when you get lonely. Thanks, I think I know exactly what to write now."

    Mrs Bayon smiled. "Let me know how it goes and if Scarlet agrees to go out with you, I want you to bring her to meet me one day. She sounds like a lovely lady."

    Edward laughed. "She is, you will like her. I''ve got to get the letter written now, love you."

    "Love you too and give your dad some kisses for me!" the cheerful lady giggled and hung up.

    Edward smiled. Thanks to his mother''s support and advice, he was now determined to write the greatest confession letter of all time.

    Author''s Note: Please add help me add "My Wife is an E-Ghost to your libraries!" to your library! I need collections for WSA competition. Thanks <3

 Chapter 191 - Scarlets Reply

    Bumping into Edward after class was one good way to end Scarlet''s three-month-long bridging program with the university. There would be a short one week break before the actual school starts for the philosophy course and Scarlet still hasn''t heard from him until today.

    "Do you have any other appointments for today?" the teen asked in a cheerful voice and Scarlet felt as if her immunity to his charms had completely disintegrated over the last one week of waiting for his confession. Was he going to do it today?

    Scarlet shook her head and Edward had already expected that much. He didn''t mean to act like a stalker but the teen had taken the initiative to find out about Scarlet''s schedule after getting Alex''s contact from Elfie. The Wilde heiress wasn''t going to say no to getting Edward''s number and was rooting for him to get together with Scarlet although she did threaten to break a rib cage or five if he made Scarlet sad. Why was everyone around Scarlet so violent? Edward couldn''t understand how they could remain beside such a docile lamb like the writer. Didn''t they say birds of the same feathers flock together?

    The unofficial couple strolled down together and Edward proposed a place to stop by for lunch outside the campus. Scarlet agreed to it and texted Claire that she will be heading out of the campus with Edward so that the head maid wouldn''t worry.

    Edward was hyper-aware that there were people following them throughout but acted as if there wasn''t anything wrong. He had already known that the head maid that Elfie warned him about was in charge of Scarlet and Alex''s security arrangements. Today, even more guards were tagging along and the spy wondered why. On a normal day, there were only two but there were four guards today.

    Scarlet remained oblivious to the people following her. She was already used to seeing a few shadow guards and spotting them in the area ever since she knew Max. These guards weren''t very discreet but they were polite enough to respect Scarlet''s wish for them to stay further away and not crowd around her while she was a student. If she was an actress, they would be walking beside her and behind her instead with Pamela in front. The feeling of being boxed in by people wasn''t peasant and Scarlet was grateful for a more ordinary life.

    The lunch venue that Edward proposed turned out to be a small Japanese restaurant that also sold cheap take-out sushi. Edward grinned at the owner who bowed and asked if Edward wanted his usual. The teen shook his head and glanced at Scarlet before the owner took a cue and offered them the best seats.

    "I will bring the green tea, please take your time with the menu and let me know when you are ready to order," the Japanese chef smiled and left with a bow.

    Scarlet took around. The Japanese restaurant was clean, small but cosy. From how familiar the owner and Edward were, she inferred that this was also one of Edward''s regular haunts. It didn''t look as if Edward brought anyone else here from the owner''s casual behaviour and Scarlet blushed. Could she be the first person he brought to share his hideout with?

    Edward didn''t look at the menu and was playing with a pair of disposable wooden chopsticks instead. Scarlet was staring at him too seriously and too obviously at it that made him feel squirmish. Wasn''t she being too obvious? Her intense staring was making him shy and the courage that he had gathered up over the week was slowly shrivelling in front of her. He didn''t know how long more he could withstand it but he could now understand why some men turn into puppies in front of their wives. Apparently, girls had the power to make even the strongest man feel helpless.

    "Have you decided on what you want?" Edward asked and looked up from the chopsticks, unable to withstand Scarlet''s continuous staring. The question took Scarlet by surprise and like a rabbit hiding in a hole, she quickly brought the menu up to cover her face.

    "No, I can''t decide... what will you recommend?" Scarlet asked. If she was honest, she had been too distracted by Edward to look at the menu. Now that she looked at it, she realised that it was written in Japanese with very little English translations.

    Edward chuckled to himself when he watched Scarlet try to cover up her embarrassment at getting caught staring at him. Was she trying to hide that? It was adorable how badly she tried to cover it up. For some reason, Edward didn''t think Scarlet was the kind of person capable of lying. Even though she was an outstanding actress full of mystery, Edward was beginning to think that Liu Xiu Wen wasn''t just another self that Scarlet created for the world to see. In fact, it was a part of Scarlet that was blown up while she hid the other parts of herself in front of the camera. The similarities between the famous actress and the university student in front of him can be seen now that he observed closer. Liu Xiu Wen never answered questions she didn''t want to answer honestly. She would always divert it with a question and hide her embarrassment by looking away or behind an object if she could before peering back up like right now.

    Edward felt as if his heart died when Scarlet peeked from behind the menu. Those thick-framed glasses only served to highlight her dorkiness more and the teen swallowed hard. Why wasn''t the tea here yet?

    Speak of the devil and he shall come. The chef interrupted the moment when he saw some awkward tension between the young love birds. If Edward wasn''t a regular customer, he might not have interfered. However, if his good customer and friend needed help with the girl he liked, Joe Yamamoto will offer tea and some good advice.

    "Are you ready to order?" the chef asked and Scarlet blushed, shaking her head.

    "Sorry, I don''t really know what to order. Could you recommend something?"

    Joe hummed and looked at Edward. "This regular customer likes to eat seafood here. Are you a seafood person as well, miss?"

    Scarlet thought about it. "I won''t say I''m a seafood person but I like fish. Does that count?"

    Edward listened with interest as Joe and Scarlet struck up an easy conversation about the different types of authentic Japanese food that he thought would interest Scarlet. Listening to them, Edward learned that Scarlet was a fan of fresh sashimi and not a fan of hotpot. She also didn''t like crabs and shellfish much and was horrified at the idea of eating fish milt even though fish eggs were alright. Joe recommended something that was low in calories for Scarlet who expressed her regret at not being able to have dessert if she ordered too much.

    "Here, you must eat at least one kind of Japanese dessert. Because you like fish, I recommend a dessert in the shape of fish called Taiyaki."

    Scarlet laughed at the owner''s sense of humour and agreed. Then, the chef turned to Edward. "You must also eat, good for you."

    Edward was puzzled. "I''ve never heard that eating dessert could be good for anyone. Give it ten years and they''ll be complaining about diabetes."

    Joe tutted. "Not this one. You know what fish this is? The Taiyaki is a koi fish, a KOI fish I tell you. And koi in Japanese has another meaning."

    "What meaning is that?" Scarlet asked and Joe smiled knowingly.

    "Is the meaning for love, you can look it up on the phone. So I repeat the orders again, one sashimi platter assorted, small. One assorted tempura set. One plate of takoyaki. One plate of salmon roe sushi. One plate of chicken karaage. Two Taiyaki."

    Edward nodded and shooed the old man back to the kitchen when he gave the teen a thumbs-up for the mission. Scarlet blessed and couldn''t look into Joe''s eyes the whole time after she found out what ''koi'' meant. Were they being too obvious that even other people could see?

    Edward didn''t really care about it and looked at Scarlet who was flushed. She looked as if she wanted to bury herself somewhere. Since the food will take some time to arrive, Edward decided to strike while the iron was hot, thanks to Joe''s opening.

    "Here," he said almost casually and held out a white envelope.

    Scarlet stared at it for four seconds and linked. Was this what she thought it was? Looking up at Edward, she noticed how pink the tip of his ears were and smiled, accepting it with both hands.

    "Can I read it here?" she asked and Edward heard his heart in his ears. Here and now? He wasn''t mentally prepared but nodded stiffly. There really wasn''t anything he wouldn''t do for her at this point.

    Scarlet thanked him and opened the envelope nicely. She took out the folded note and took some time to appreciate his cursive writing. Edward must have put a lot of thought and effort into this one letter. Even though it was only half a page long, Scarlet read it as if they were gems.

    Edward tapped his feet and looked away, too nervous to do anything else while Scarlet read the short letter. What did she think about it? Was it too short? Was it too ridiculous or did she not think that waiting a week for such rubbish was with it?

    As he waited, Edward could feel his courage melt away. All he wanted to do was go back to his apartment and hide under the covers to cry alone. Then, Scarlet folded the letter and tucked it away. With a shy glance in his direction, she asked. "Can I still say yes?"

    The words were soft but for Edward, it was as loud as fireworks. His face lit up and he nodded vigorously, taking Scarlet''s hands across the table in his.

    "Please say yes. Scarlet, won''t you be my girlfriend?"

    This time, Scarlet giggled and teared up a little before nodding her head with a smile. "Mm, yes I will. Please take care of me."

    From the counter, Joe watched the new couple confirm their feelings for each other and smiled. Seeing happy couples made him happy too even though his wife had passed away more than four years ago.

 Chapter 192 - Status: In a Loving Relationship

    When Liu Xiu Wen aka Scarlet Wilde changed her relationship status sneakily on her dormant social media, the world was set on fire.

    Needless to say, Alex wasn''t pleased to find out about Scarlet''s relationship from social media. Orita was happy that Scarlet finally had a boyfriend but was also upset that she wasn''t the first to know. Claire didn''t show it but she was hurt that Scarlet didn''t tell them first. Didn''t family have dibs on this sort of thing? How could Scarlet feed the sharks out there and come back with scraps for them?

    "We''re not going to let Scarlet go until she spills everything about how it went. How could she tell the world before us about her relationship status? This is unacceptable," Alex fumed and for once, Claire didn''t disagree with her.

    "The question now should be what do we do about dinner? According to Chinese tradition, I should be making red eggs to celebrate a joyous occasion."

    Alex looked horrified. "No, it''s red rice and it''s a Japanese tradition. Why are you making red eggs? That''s only to celebrate the first month of a newborn. Claire, what would you do without me?"

    The head maid felt her eye twitch at Alex''s smugness and glared at the model. "You''re helping me out. Go to the supermarket and buy some adzuki beans. Also, we don''t have sticky rice. Will risotto rice be alright?"

    Alex checked the kitchen''s inventory and hummed. There will be a few other things she would need to grab to make a celebratory dinner for Scarlet tonight. Adzuki means and champagne were on the top of that list.

    "I don''t know how it will turn out but I suppose there''s no harm trying to make risotto with adzuki beans. After all, red rice is a tradition of eating rice cooked with red beans for the occasion. Nobody said we had to use Japanese rice."

    It made sense so Claire just went with it and Alex quickly changed to make a trip to the supermarket. The head of security didn''t think much and let the girl go alone. After staying at Brooklyn Heights for a while, both girls were already familiar with the neighbourhood and didn''t need an escort for something as trivial as going to a nearby supermarket. Alex was also travelling incognito so there shouldn''t be much of a paparazzi problem.

    Still, two guards walked after the Wilde princess and accompanied her to the supermarket. Alex didn''t notice it at first but there were a few rather suspicious individuals around the neighbourhood that she hadn''t met before. After living here for nearly three months, Alex had made friends with just about everyone that lived and worked here. Yet, she never saw that homeless person by the bakery or the postman collecting the post today. What''s stranger was how the traffic officer issuing parking tickets was different.

    "Hello, there!" Alex greeted the postman first. "Why isn''t Lehmann here today? Did something happen?"

    The postman was startled that Alex would strike up a conversation with him and left quickly without saying anything. Alex was stunned by the response. Usually, people would engage in some small talk before making an excuse to leave. Seeing the postman run from her was rather odd but Alex brushed that from her mind.

    She wasn''t deterred. Instead, she made her way to the new parking officer and grinned. "Hi, there. Busy day?"

    The lady smiled. "Yes. Too many people who don''t care about traffic rules. Is this your car?"

    Sensing that the parking officer wasn''t suspicious, Alex laughed. "No, I''m too young to be driving. Say, what happened to Jordan? Isn''t this meant to be his district?"

    The lady rolled her eyes. "That fool resigned about a week ago so I''m doubling up to cover for him until they find a replacement."

    Alex raised her brows. "Resigned? I thought he said he was gonna stick to it till the year-end to save up for the wedding ring he was planning to buy?"

    Taking interest in how Alex knew about that, the officer divulged more details. "I know right? It was so sudden even for us. I guess there''s trouble in paradise. He clocked-in one day looking like he''d seen a ghost and begged the boss to let him resign. I don''t know why but we never heard from him after that. Ryan, his best bud, tried to call him but the poor chap already changed his number."

    Alex nodded. "Sounds scary. I do hope the poor fellow''s alright. I''m Alex, what''s your name?"

    "Jasmine," the officer smiled. "Hope to see you around kiddo, I have to get back to issuing tickets before these people drive away."

    Alex smiled. "Alright, I''ll leave you to your job then. Have a great day!"

    Once Alex was far enough, she eyed the homeless man who picked up his tin can and started walking away from her. Frowning, Alex signalled for the other guard following her at a distance to check on that homeless man. There was definitely something up and after following Claire for a few years, Alex knew a trick or two. Now that she was informed about Scarlet''s involvement with Anastasia''s business, she had her suspicions.

    "Let'' grab what we need and head back," she told her other guard. "Watch out for anyone else tailing us but be discreet. Also, don''t let my sister find out anything and report the suspicious movement to Claire when you can."

    "Yes, ma''am," the guard nodded and followed closer to Alex.

    The supermarket staff greeted Alex when they saw her and the model socialised while grabbing what she needed. The guard helped to carry the grocery basket while remaining vigilant while Alex asked questions about strange people in the neighbourhood lately.

    "Did you hear? Jordan resigned." Alex asked to see the grocer''s reaction.

    "Really?" the blonde teen raised her brow. "That''s odd. I saw him in his uniform a few days ago in the area dropping by for a coffee."

    Alex didn''t let the chance go and probed for more information. "Where did he stop by?"

    The girl thought about it. "I think it was by the bakery in the next street. Did he really resign?"

    Alex shrugged and threw a head of fresh lettuce into the basket. "That''s what I heard from Jasmine over there. I don''t think she can be wrong but you''d never know."

    Ending their conversation, Alex was now sure about the homeless man. He was too suspicious and Jordan''s resignation was somehow involved. Not to mention, that suspicious postman was also someone who should be investigated.

    "I suddenly feel like buying some sourdough bread for tomorrow. Let''s stop by that bakery after this, shall we?"

    Her guard couldn''t refuse and only followed silently behind while the model filled the basket with two bottles of expensive champagne. Scarlet had finally found happiness and Alex was going to do what she could to make it last. She only hoped that whatever her boyfriend and Elfie were doing could be sped up.

    After paying for the groceries, Alex met with the other guard who returned and shook his head. That was all the model needed to know that the homeless man had escaped. If that was truly a man sent by Anastasia, he would report it back and Alex would lose the trail they had. Thinking fast, Alex whipped her phone out and called Elfie.

    "Yes? Is this about Scarlet''s new relationship status? I''ll say it''s about time."

    Alex laughed. "Well, it''s true but I didn''t call for that. There''s something more important now. I came out to buy groceries for tonight''s celebration but there were a few weird people in the neighbourhood that I don''t recognise and they behaved oddly. One of my guards pursued one of them but they escaped. Can you check the surveillance camera? I think they finally made a move against us. Thankfully, Scarlet isn''t here."

    Elfie jolted up at the news and quickly switched his laptop tabs. "I''m on it. Give me the street address and a location of where you found them, I''ll try to get the footage in the area. Where are you now?"

    Alex walked into the bakery and let the shop assistant announce her location. "I''ve got to go, keep me informed."

    One of the guards stood outside the bakery to keep watch and the other followed Alex in the shop. "Good afternoon," the model smiled. "Do you sell sourdough bread?"

    The shop assistant smiled. "We actually do! How many pounds of it would you like?"

    Alex hummed. "Just enough for my breakfast tomorrow. Say, what do you normally do with your leftover bread? Wouldn''t they spoil if you can''t sell them by the end of the day?"

    The woman nodded. "They will and it would be a big waste to simply throw them away so we usually pack them in bags to give the homeless we see."

    "That''s very nice of you," Alex commented. "I''d hate to think that the man sitting outside of your bakery would starve. Thank goodness for kind-hearted souls like yourselves. Does he eat anything else other than the bread you give?"

    The woman shrugged. "I don''t know, I''ve only seen him yesterday and he refused the bread I wanted to give him so I gave it to some of the other homeless regulars I know. He wouldn''t even talk or look me in the eye. I tried to give him some change but he didn''t even say thank you and kept watching the people on the streets the whole time, sitting there. If he didn''t move from my shop I would have called the police. There''s just something off about him, you know?"

    Alex nodded. "It''s dangerous to be working alone in the shop with such a suspicious man outside. Are you really alright?"

    The woman laughed. "Well, nothing''s happened so far but if something does happen, I can tell you that these trays on the rack are pretty heavy. They''ll make good weapons."

    Alex laughed at that and gave the shop assistant a tip after paying for her sourdough bread. Now that she had the information, she had to inform Claire about it so that the head maid could improve the security details around Scarlet.

 Chapter 193 - Daddy Concerns

    Danny didn''t know how to break this news to his old friend. He also didn''t know if he should be telling Wilmer about it. His wife wasn''t saying anything yet so the CEO''s assistant was feeling very conflicted about it since morning. Nothing boded well when Elfie called and although he was happy to hear from his son, it wasn''t always a good thing.

    Wilmer came into the office that morning looking tired as usual and Danny greeted him. "Would you like a cup of coffee to start the day? We have a lot to deal with by eleven. EZ Express tried to send in another spy to our top management."

    Wilmer nodded numbly, placed his bag down and sighed. If word got out that even the charming CEO of the Wilde empire could slouch in his chair with an air of defeat, Anastasia would have changed his tactic to kill Wilmer by mailing him paperwork to his doorstep instead of sending spies and sabotaging the cars.

    "So, what''s new? I know I have to look through twenty reports before the meeting at eleven, I''ll get to it after some coffee. You look like you have something to say."

    As expected, Danny wasn''t able to hide it from Wilmer. The CEO still had it in him and his sharp observation skills were not dulled even with fatigue, stress and a mountain of responsibilities. Wilmer''s kind heart shone through despite the adversities stacked against him. No wonder Orita is still very much in love with Wilmer even though they haven''t seen each other in person for six years.

    "I guess you won''t let the matter rest until I spill the beans," Danny smiled awkwardly and Wilmer trained his eyes on his assistant until Danny threw his hands up in defeat. "I get it! I''ll tell you but you must promise me to remain calm."

    "How bad is it?" Wilmer narrowed his eyes and clasped his hands in front of him like an evil overlord brooding over which city he wanted to destroy. "On the scale of Catwoman stealing an Aztec Cat Statue to Joker shooting Batgirl, how bad is this?"

    Danny swallowed, thinking of what kind of damage this news would do to Wilmer''s world. After thinking for a while, he looked at Wilmer fearfully and replied. "Batman losing his memories and Robin apprenticing for Slade as Joker takes over Gotham if it ever becomes canon."

    Wilmer sucked in air and closed his eyes. "This is about them, isn''t it? My family."

    Danny didn''t answer and Wilmer prepared for the worst. "Let''s hear it," the CEO said with finality in his tone, resigning to fate.

    The assistant nodded. "Your daughters changed their relationship statuses."

    The sentence hung in the air and Wilmer blinked. "Are you sure the one changing the relationship statuses are my daughters and not my wife? Didn''t you mean that Orita found another man and decided to email me a divorce form?"

    Danny blinked. How did Wilmer get to that conclusion? "No?"

    "B-but you said Batman losing his memories like me not going home. Robin apprenticing for Slade is like my wife leaving me for another man and Joker taking over Gotham as in Anastasia toppling the Wilde empire? Wasn''t that what you meant?"

    If this was an anime, crickets would be playing in the background as two grown men stared at each other with an uncomfortable silence at the terrible misunderstanding. Danny wanted to jump out of the window and fall to his death. How should he explain to Wilmer that he wasn''t being literal?

    "No. That wasn''t what I meant. I didn''t think that deeply when I gave you the example, it was simply the worst-case scenario I could think of because I don''t watch or read anything about Batman."

    The crickets flew away and the crows replaced them as they stared at each other before turning away with awkward coughs to clear the air.

    "As I was saying, both your daughters have graduated from the single ladies club and are now happily in a relationship with boys. One of them you already know of but the other... I have no idea how they met or who he is."

    As soon as the news sunk in, Wilmer''s eyes changed into one of a fierce papa lion. Danny knew that was going to happen and braced himself when Wilmer roared, demanding a background check on the unknown boy Scarlet was dating. At the same time, no reports were dealt with that morning and the CEO spent it demanding answers from his wife.

    "Darling, Scarlet isn''t picking up her phone! Is she out with that little bastard she''s dating? Why didn''t anybody tell me? It has been two days! TWO DAYS! I''m sure I told Claire strictly to get rid of the flies hovering near my girls. Why are there flies beside Scarlet?!"

    Wilmer Wilde was usually a calm and collected man, steady like the mountain. However, for those in his inner circle, they knew better. This calm and steady mountain was like a volcano if there was something concerning the girls in his family. Danny closed the door and put up the "Do Not Disturb" sign before leaving the shared office to deal with the meeting that Wilmer wouldn''t be attending. Private matters were extremely important and if Danny wanted a productive CEO for the rest of the week, it was better to let Orita handle the hysterical man.

    Orita was an expert when it came to dealing with her husband. Jenna who was serving tea and scones left quickly and shooed the other attendants out of the room. It didn''t happen very frequently but whenever Wilmer was on a meltdown, Orita would be the one to talk him back to sanity. The entire Wilde estate was expecting some kind of natural disaster to befall them ever since Lady Scarlet''s relationship status was made public on her social media. Even to date, the media hasn''t stopped trying to get an interview opportunity with the Wildes. Nobody knew who the mysterious lover was but the name Edward had gotten around in the estate.

    Scarlet didn''t put the name of her boyfriend and the media had gone wild, cooking up storms and scandals. Past photos about Scarlet''s interaction with any male celebrity were pulled out of their dusty boxes but the hottest trending speculation was Scarlet''s ambiguous business relationship with CEO Zhu Ming Yang.

    Shipping wars have started between those who support Scarlet''s love life and those who hated it. Nobody understood how such a thing could happen after her hiatus and some even wondered if this was the reason why Scarlet announced her hiatus at the peak of her popularity. The media company had nothing to disclose and the Wilde household remained tight-lipped. Still, their every action was watched by the vulture-like paparazzi.

    Claire struggled with keeping the paparazzi away from the girls and had to deal with investigating the strange stalkers that Alex noticed hanging around the apartment. Eventually, the head maid made her decision. They were too high-profiled in Brooklyn Heights. Continuing to stay here was a bad option and they had to split up.

    Alex had no issues. She decided to live with Jasper and Orita allowed it. Wilmer had no objections about it when his wife informed him about it. However, when she broke the news about where Scarlet was currently staying, he flipped.

    "How can Scarlet live alone with Edward?! Who is he? I don''t know him and I don''t approve of him even if he is Elfie''s friend. What was Claire thinking when she suggested it? Do you know how dangerous it is right now? Scarlet needs the best protection she can have. Why can''t she stay with Jasper and Alex?"

    Orita raised a brow. "The idea is to minimise the risk. On top of the media vultures, Claire is dealing with a stalker issue. If we don''t split them up, how do we know who the stalkers are targeting and what their purpose is? This is a vulnerable time and the stalkers would definitely take advantage of the confusion to strike. You trust Claire with her skills to handle the security so don''t question it. Also, I met Edward on a video-voice call. He seemed trustworthy and Elfie spoke highly of him. They''ve worked together on cases before, he''s not your ordinary boy."

    Wilmer still hesitated. When Danny got back, he was going to give the man a piece of his mind. How could Elfie introduce a friend that Wilmer didn''t know about to his precious daughter? Was this Scarlet''s way of revenge because Wilmer didn''t keep his promise to grant the girl her wish? Scarlet did send Wilmer a father''s day message and asked if she had been a good girl who accomplished great things in the six years he was away. He asked if he could grant her a wish to see him come home for the wedding anniversary he shared with Orita but Wilmer couldn''t agree to it.

    "But Daddy is still concerned... you know how boys of that age are. They''re all wolves! How can Scarlet stay alone with a boy like that... how do I know that he can be like Jasper and treat my precious girl like the princess she is?"

    Orita groaned. Her husband was being dramatic again. "Did you think we would let them live with boys without doing a background check and getting some form of insurance? Claire had already taken care of that so the daddy who doesn''t come home can shut up and focus on work. Edward is a good boy and our girls are strong. They can take down men armed with knives in three seconds and Claire taught them well. There will be guards patrolling those areas and living nearby to watch them around the clock. We set the ground rules and made the boys sign an agreement so you don''t have to worry."

    "But-"

    Orita gave her husband a stern look. Defeated, Wilmer whined and complained. "Would you change your mind and bring the girls back if I came home right now?"

    Orita''s heart skipped a beat and ached when she heard it. They both knew the answer to this question.

    "If you could really come back even just for a week, you know we would do anything for you. It''s been six years, Wilmer. I''m not getting any younger. Do you really have to take down Anastasia? Can''t we enjoy the bliss that we have now and forget about him? I do like the current life we have and our children are growing up too quickly. You''ve missed six years of their lives already, how many more years will you miss? Will you miss their weddings too?"

    The question struck Wilmer in the most painful spot and the CEO looked away. "I''m sorry, Orita. You know that I love you and the girls. I want to go home too but I have to do this. Anastasia might come for you and our daughters, I don''t want that to happen. Scarlet suffered enough, I don''t wish for Alex or you to be involved too deeply either. How is her PTSD and depression?"

    Orita smiled and told her husband all about how Scarlet was coping with school. She added in the back story about how Edward met Scarlet and helped her with her mental condition. Wilmer''s opinion of Edward changed slowly but surely. Yet, the man was serious.

    "I know what you''re trying to do, darling. But I won''t relax until I meet Edward face to face. Could you arrange a meeting with Edward for me and keep it away from the girls?"

    Orita smiled in defeat. "Sure. I better leave you to your boring management meetings or Danny is going to complain. Love you lots and don''t ever forget that you have a place to come back to. I''ll always be waiting for you."

    Wilmer tried not to choke up and smiled, blowing her a kiss before they ended the call. The hole in his heart that had been plugged when he saw his wife''s face was now bigger than ever. They were both dating and Wilmer was still nowhere near taking down EZ Express that had started gaining leverage on them by stealing big contracts from underneath their noses.

    The CEO swallowed and looked back at the reports. His wife and daughters were strong, they were still fighting. As the man of his family, he couldn''t disappoint them. Downing the coffee in one go, Wilmer turned his focus onto the reports. There were still ten more minutes before the meeting and he was going to weed out the moles in the upper management.

 Chapter 194 - Cohabiting?!

    He couldn''t understand what kind of magic this was and how Scarlet ended up moving in with him. It hasn''t even been a week since they started officially dating, isn''t cohabitation a little too fast for them?

    Edward swallowed. He did his best not to meet Claire but here she was, posing as Scarlet''s older sister and cooking up a weird story to force Edward into signing a legally binding doc.u.ment so that Scarlet could move in with him. It was so wrong on so many levels but the spy couldn''t do anything about it. They had him where they wanted.

    Scarlet didn''t know what to think when Alex brought up the topic of cohabiting with Jasper. It was obvious as day that her sister was using the media as an excuse to escalate her relationship with Jasper to the next level. The writer couldn''t understand why her mother agreed to it. Even Claire didn''t object and Scarlet found it fishy.

    There was also no time to warn Edward about what they were going to do because Alex, who had Edward''s number from the pizza party, was already arranging a meeting with the teen at their apartment for a face-to-face meeting. Orita and Jenna will be travelling from the Wilde estate to the Brooklyn Height apartment to meet her boyfriend and act like an average family. The cover story was simple. Scarlet easily memorised the script because it wasn''t nearly as complex as the lines she received for her acting. However, the plot was extremely unconvincing. Scarlet didn''t know who the author was but she had her suspicions.

    The cover story was simple. The apartment was getting sold. Claire was going overseas to work and Orita was going to travel together with her husband for his long-term business trip. Jenna was their caretaker who was going to retire and go back to her hometown so the sisters had nowhere to go. Alex was going to live with her boyfriend and Scarlet''s family decided to entrust Scarlet with her boyfriend who they already know lives alone in an apartment.

    Claire played the role of a lawyer very well, explaining the terms and condition of the agreement in the contract. Jenna worked fast and Benjamin drafted the legally binding doc.u.ments within a night, impressing Scarlet. The lawyer was still as capable as she remembered him to be even after all these years. It was a pity she wasn''t able to meet up with him to catch up for old time''s sake. Scarlet also couldn''t get a quick look over the drafted terms so as Claire explained it to Edward, the writer was also listening to it for the first time.

    If Edward didn''t already know that Claire was the head of security in the Wilde household, he would have believed that the head maid was actually a capable lawyer and Scarlet''s bossy big sister. At first, Edward couldn''t recognise her because Claire was wearing a blonde wig. On a closer look, Edward realised what the family was doing. There had to be a reason for pushing Scarlet to him and abandoning the apartment in Brooklyn Heights. Liu Xiu Wen''s relationship status change had driven the world insane and he was partially to blame.

    Scarlet blushed when Claire went through the terms about sleeping in separate bedrooms and no visiting each other''s room after the bedtime curfew in the contract. There was also some weird clause like no removing shirts or pants or anything in front of Scarlet and that Edward had to be decently dressed at all times. No closing of the curtains to the windows because Scarlet was ''claustrophobic'' and things like having separate laundry washes were stated in the detailed agreement.

    Edward didn''t know if he should be laughing or crying.

    "First, I''d like to announce that a housekeeper comes in from time to time to tidy the apartment. We don''t need to do chores. Secondly, this is rather sudden and I have to let my father know. I do have a guest room that my father sleeps in when he returns from his long business trips once every few months. I don''t think he will mind because you insist on paying rent but it''s going to be awkward for him to come back unannounced to find someone in the guest room. Thirdly, I need time to clear some space before Scarlet can move her things over. My place is currently a mess and I throw my stuff all over."

    Scarlet couldn''t understand why Edward was negotiating terms. Shouldn''t he be rejecting it?

    The teen laughed when he saw Scarlet''s expression. "Don''t worry, it''s not a big deal. Besides, I don''t think your sister and mother would be so willing to let you live with me if they had another choice. We might not be dating for a long time but let''s consider this as one of the trials we need to overcome, shall we?"

    Orita listened to Edward and smiled. He was a good kid with a very mature personality. Scarlet will be in good hands even though the kid had many secrets. Jenna was slightly unnerved by how smoothly everything was going. She didn''t have to worry about Alex and Jasper because the lady butler watched them grow up together. However, entrusting Scarlet''s safety to the hands of a boy they didn''t know... what was her mistress thinking?

    "It''s negotiable," Claire announced. "I believe that we should be the ones contacting your father to explain the situation because we''ve caused inconvenience. When would be a good time to sit down and explain things to him? The apartment''s lease will be cancelled in two weeks so I hope we can finalise the arrangements by then."

    Edward froze. He didn''t think that his father would be pleased to know about him cohabiting with his girlfriend so soon. In fact, Edward didn''t let him know about his relationship. He only wrote a letter to his mother to inform her about it but the letter was via snail mail. The news wouldn''t have reached her in France yet.

    "Can I check with him and get back to you somewhere tomorrow?" Edward asked and exchanged numbers with Claire and Orita.

    The trio talked a little more in detail about living arrangements, completely ignoring a certain writer''s feelings. Alex noticed her sister''s gloominess and pulled Scarlet to the room. "Isn''t it great? You get to learn more about Edward and live with him! You don''t see him nearly as often in school so this is a great opportunity to increase his fondness for you."

    Scarlet looked like she wanted to run. Honestly, she never thought that lining with someone she liked was such a terrifying thing. She didn''t even have this sort of reaction when she was adopted into the Wilde household. Scarlet had no issues living in hotels and moving from place to place during the world tour as a singer. Living with Edward, on the other hand, terrified her for some reason.

    No, it wasn''t that she didn''t know the reason. Scarlet simply assumed that there would always be people around. When Claire wasn''t around, Max and Tina were there. They were family. Now, nobody was following her and she was going to be living with Edward alone without even Alex by her side even if they were going to be in the same city. Her family suddenly felt so far away from her and Scarlet wanted to cry.

    "Alex, I can''t do this. Can I live with you and Jasper instead?"

    The model was stumped. Wasn''t this an opportunity of a lifetime? Why did her sister look so abandoned at this moment? It wasn''t as if they were giving Scarlet up for adoption, they would never do that.

    Hugging the smaller girl, Alex wondered what was going through Scarlet''s mind. "You know that you can visit, right? Jasper and I will be heading to Kiwi Cat Studio''s office more often. Also, this apartment might be empty but it won''t be abandoned. You''re only going to bring college clothes to Edward''s place. If you need to glam up, you''d still have to return here or head back to the mansion to grab your stuff. With the media making up stuff these days, I wouldn''t be surprised if you and I have to attend press conferences to confirm or deny our relationship. Speaking of that, what are you going to do? Edward isn''t a celebrity like us and he doesn''t know that you''re famous even if he might have guessed that we''re rich."

    Scarlet refused to let go of her sister and buried her head into Alex''s shoulder. "I don''t know. I thought of asking CEO Zhu for help to act as my boyfriend but I remembered I can''t. He has a fiancee."

    Alex gave it a thought then grinned. "In that case, not giving an answer is the best answer you can give. Besides, aren''t you the mysterious hot celebrity in China that everyone loves? Your personality fits the bill here. You don''t answer things you don''t want to."

    Scarlet looked at her sister and Alex appeared to have an imaginary halo around her. Enlightened, Scarlet agreed and felt a lot better. "Promise to keep in touch like how we did before when we had separate schedules?"

    Alex chuckled and squeezed her sister tighter in their hug. "Promise lots and send me updates on your love life! I won''t go easy on you just because you''re a beginner. I''m going to be super lovey-dovey with Jasper that will make all my haters have nightmares for days. I''m going to be so happy that all those ugly bitches will wake up to find ten new strands of grey hair and extra wrinkles on their face!"

    Scarlet laughed as Alex went on to describe what she would do to all her haters spamming her social media ever since she updated the world about her relationship status after Scarlet did. The writer listened and gave her opinions about how they would torture their anti-fans until Claire knocked on the door.

    "Edward is leaving, do you girls want to say goodbye?"

    Scarlet immediately got up and checked her appearance in the mirror before exiting the room. "You''re leaving?" she asked shyly and Edward smiled, giving her a pat on her head.

    "Do you want me to stay instead?" he teased and Scarlet''s face exploded into the shade of cherry.

    Orita and Jenna watched with interest at how different Scarlet was when she was with Edward. Even though the butler felt uneasy about leaving Scarlet to Edward''s care, she approved of the teen. With them, Scarlet had never been this open with her emotions. Having more of Edward in her life would be good. Perhaps this young man could be the one to drag out that darkness that Scarlet tried to hide and dispel it for good.

 Chapter 195 - Home Is Where The Heart Is

    Instead of talking to Edward''s father, Claire and Orita talked to his mother who was currently residing in Paris. The woman was easy-going and very understanding. In fact, she was thrilled that Edward finally made a move and the relationship was rosy. The ditzy lady also expressed her eagerness to meet Scarlet in person as well when her son and Mrs Wilde''s daughter were ready to take the next step of their relationship.

    "If Edward treats Scarlet poorly, please do not hesitate to let me know. My son left me from a young age to be with his busy father so I did not teach him a lot. I will take full responsibility of punishing him if he makes her unhappy or acts inappropriately," Mrs Bayon promised and Orita laughed.

    "No, Mrs Bayon. Your son is a wonderful young man. I just hope that it wouldn''t be too much trouble to accommodate Scarlet for a while. If we had another alternative, we would have arranged for Scarlet to be elsewhere but seeing as things happened too quickly, we can only ask for help from Edward. I promise to compensate accordingly and if the money for the rent and living expenses are not enough, please let us know. My husband and I are more than willing to increase the amount because we know Scarlet has been brought up a little more pampered than others."

    Edward raised a brow at that when he heard it. Scarlet didn''t make a comment but Edward doubted that Scarlet was a material girl who depended on luxury items. In fact, Alex seemed more like that kind of girl. Scarlet was very humble and down-to-earth, his mother had nothing to fear.

    The talk concluded swiftly and Mrs Bayon sent her son and his girlfriend kisses over the phone. Scarlet blushed and Edward looked slightly embarrassed by his mother''s display of affection. Mrs Wilde thought that it was endearing. If Edward''s mother was such a lovely lady, she didn''t have too much to worry about. Scarlet would be in good hands and Claire can focus more on catching the pests skulking around her girls.

    Now that negotiations were settled, Claire turned to Edward and started to ask when they could start moving Scarlet''s things to his place. Edward looked around the apartment and was a little hesitant. Although it was an apartment that he could live comfortably in, it wasn''t anything as luxurious as the one the Wildes had in Brooklyn Heights. Most of whatever that was here wouldn''t fit.

    Scarlet noticed Edward''s troubled expression and frowned. "Don''t trouble him too much, I don''t need to bring a lot of things. We won''t even need a mover, I''ll just bring a suitcase of clothes, a laptop and some books that I need for classes. I won''t impose for too long."

    The head maid sighed. "It''s not up to you," she told Scarlet. "It is dependent on our jobs. If I cannot come back within a month, you might have to stay with Edward for a little longer. I can''t let you and Alex stay alone together, it''s not safe. Neither of you has culinary skills and you''ll fight too much. Thank goodness you have reliable boyfriends so I''ll be counting on them to keep an eye on the both of you for me."

    Edward raised a brow. Fighting? That didn''t sound like Scarlet at all. The Scarlet he knew was meek after all with an occasional bold streak. If anything, he thought that Alex would be the more likely one to start a fight with his girlfriend but he didn''t know for certain with Scarlet glaring at Claire in protest. Still, it was rather interesting to him.

    Claire and Edward made plans and talked about arrangements for Scarlet''s moving into his apartment.

    "My apartment isn''t very big," he admitted. "It''s enough for one person and it could squeeze one more person in but that''s about it. This place is huge in comparison and I''m afraid none of the furniture can be over in. I don''t even have a bookshelf in the guest room, just a bed and a flimsy wardrobe. There isn''t even a table in the room, the table is outside and I use the dining table to do my school reports."

    Claire nodded. "Maybe we can do some adjustments and bring over something so that Scarlet can work on her things. Do you have a rough idea on the space dimensions and floor plan of your apartment? We''ll try to fit the necessities and not go overboard."

    While Edward drew out the rough dimension of his apartment for Claire to brainstorm and negotiate what could be brought over and what she be left behind, Scarlet looked at Orita and Alex. The mother and daughter were discussing the things Alex needed.

    "But I want to bring this dressing table over. It has all my make-up. Also, what am I going to do without my gym clothes? I can''t be just seen wearing the same old jeans and dresses to school all week long. I need to change it up! Also, there are parties I have to attend, one suitcase wouldn''t fit everything!"

    Orita sighed at her biological daughter''s meltdown. They were already having problems fitting all of Alex''s paint bottles and canvases. Jasper didn''t live in a very huge apartment either and the heiress wondered if she had been raising her daughters wrongly. On one hand, Scarlet refused to bring anything. On the other hand, Alex wanted to bring everything including the bathtub when she heard that there was only a shower stall at Jasper''s apartment.

    "How will I use the bath bombs without a bathtub?" Alex asked in horror when Orita told the model about the new arrangement. Claire rolled her eyes and ignored the model, leaving Orita to sort things out with Alex in another room. Scarlet didn''t know what to do, feeling a little left out so Jenna accompanied the writer in silence.

    "How are you feeling?" the lady butler asked and Scarlet bit her bottom lip.

    "Nervous," she admitted. "I don''t know what to do. I think I''ve become too spoilt by the constant company of family that moving away even for a short while feels lonely."

    The butler gave Scarlet a side hug. "Darling, don''t say that. Think of it this way, home is where the heart is. No matter how far apart we are, we will always be with you in feelings. It would be worse in the past without the wonders of technology but now, we can have video conference calls. Look at the madam and her husband. I think it has been six years since they last saw each other in person. Yet, their marriage is still going strong. Family isn''t something broken that easily just because of a little distance. I don''t think feelings are fragile things. Do you?"

    Scarlet shook her head. Jenna was right. "The Wildes will always be my family. Even if I marry someone else, I still want to keep this name. It was the name that changed my life forever, I am very grateful."

    Hearing Scarlet''s innermost feelings moved Jenna. Scarlet had never spoken about the matter of being adopted before but hearing it now made the butler feel that Orita made the right decision back then even though it had been on a whim and one that was rashly made with ulterior motives. Initially, the two sisters had to battle their inner demons and the feelings of belonging to the Wilde family. Alex dealt with jealousy and Scarlet dealt with an inferiority complex. Eventually, they came to terms with it and were even comfortable enough to fight.

    There was nothing more heartwarming than watching the shy flower called Scarlet bloom with them over the years. While Jenna might not have been there personally to witness Scarlet''s transformation but the people around Scarlet have been giving them feedback. The media has captured Scarlet''s moments and the results were breathtakingly beautiful. If Alex was like a daisy - simple, innocent and pure, then Scarlet was like a lotus - coming out pure and unscathed by the muddy waters of her past. Nobody could be prouder of her than the people who watched her come this far.

    Scarlet and Jenna listened to both sides of the conversations. Claire and Edward were looking around the house to see what would fit in the room and what wouldn''t. Edward was being very accommodating and encouraged Claire to inform him about what Scarlet needed so that he could rearrange his interiors a little to make space. According to him, a lady shouldn''t have these little belongings and he didn''t mind if Scarlet came in with three suitcases because he knew that one of them would be a suitcase for shoes and one would be for books.

    On the other hand, Alex and Orita were yelling at each other. Scarlet listened with concern when the ladies escalated something small into a huge matter.

    "You don''t have to bring so many pairs of shoes," the heiress reasoned. "You''re just going to school, why do you need three pairs of the same heels in different colours? Just get the black one for presentations!"

    Alex couldn''t be talked out of it and refused to put down the yellow kitten heels. "I can''t! This pair goes with this romper and the other pair matches the hat. I wear them often so I need both."

    Orita made an unladylike sound of frustration and grabbed the shoes from Alex who snatched it back. Jenna jumped up to interfere before it could turn into an ugly catfight and Edward was momentarily shocked at how the ladies screeched at each other. Scarlet didn''t care about her image and interfered. pulling her sister back as Jenna restrained Orita.

    "You old hag!"

    "How did I raise a daughter like you with only powder in her head? No wonder people have bad impressions of blondes!"

    Scarlet tried hard not to laugh but failed. Her grip on Alex became loose and the model lunged at her mother. Thankfully, Claire was around and turned the situation around, locking Alex in a painful armlock.

    "You left yourself open," the head maid said as Alex struggled and tapped out. Orita regained her composure and Scarlet shot Edward a sorry smile.

    "Sorry, you had to see all that. We''re not always very sane or composed behind closed doors. Welcome to my family."

    Jasper nodded humbly. "It''s a lovely eye-opener. Remind me never to make your sisters angry."

    Scarlet laughed and Claire smirked. The boy would be in for a surprise if he ever made Scarlet mad. The writer may be small but she was Claire''s best student who could win against some of the trained bodyguards in a one-on-one match.

    This was going to be fun.

 Chapter 196 - House-Warming Party

    Claire planned things quickly and Edward had only two days before they shifted Scarlet''s things over. He had many things to hide and the one person he could think of in such a crisis was Elfie.

    The hacker was initially reluctant to offer his place as a storage place but when Edward blackmailed him and threatened the programmer about telling his father about the things he''d done behind his back, Elfie shut up and reluctantly gave Edward his apartment''s spare key to do whatever he pleased.

    The first thing Edward did was to shift all his doc.u.ments, research materials and even suspicious mission-related materials. Elfie was shocked to see a briefcase full of fake passports and identities even though the hacker had some of his own. Elfie tried not to judge Edward for the skin masks and make-up that he used for his missions. Some of the more suspicious clothes were also dumped over and the most damning evidence that he was an active spy on a mission? That assault sniper rifle with his license.

    Edward still kept some spare IDs and passports with him and hid them in a safe place. He also hid a handgun with clearance for firearm use under a registered seller under his name just in case. Edward paid attention to details and removed the traps and listening bugs for when Claire came over to inspect. He kept them inside a waterproof bag in one of the pipes that he could disconnect in the bathroom. It was only a temporary thing and Edward would reinstall them once Claire was gone. He still needed to ensure the safety of Scarlet and himself even if he wanted to avoid their suspicion. Playing a double agent was usually the hardest kind of mission and Elfie only had that sort of mission once in his life. He never wanted a repeat of such things because it messed with his mind so badly. Yet, here he was, trying to cover his traces and putting on a false front in front of the girl he liked for her sake. It felt terrible lying to Scarlet but he didn''t have a choice. Even if Anastasia was taken down, Edward would still not reveal his identity as a spy to her. He would quietly leave the service and lead a normal life with her, as normal as they could be.

    After the rush to clean up his act, Edward invited Claire and Scarlet to his apartment. Claire came with three suitcases and some DIY furniture that was bought from IKEA since the furniture that the Wildes had wouldn''t fit in his room. There was a small bookshelf desk that could hold Scarlet''s books if she could reach it. The design was very compacted and Scarlet liked it. With the help of Edward and Claire, the bed and wardrobe in the guest room were rearranged so that they had space to assemble the new desk-bookshelf. The rug was removed and placed in the dining area instead since there was a little walking space there.

    Claire and Edward worked together to assemble the new furniture while Scarlet unpacked her belongings. Edward blushed when he caught sight of her more intimate innerwear and turned around politely. Claire noticed that and smirked to herself. At least this boy was still a gentleman and not a downright beast. He respected Scarlet''s privacy enough so he wouldn''t be doing anything that Scarlet didn''t like. Claire was reassured after seeing this but that didn''t mean she wasn''t going to put some listening bugs where she could in Scarlet''s room for her safety when Edward left.

    The desk was assembled quickly and Scarlet applauded when she saw how neatly it fitted into her new room. Edward wiped his sweat with the sleeve of his shirt and excused himself to grab the guests some cold juice. Scarlet marvelled at her new table and started arranging books on the shelves. Claire took the opportunity to stick a listening bug on the wall behind the table leg so that it was well hidden.

    Edward came in with some cold juice and Claire offered to cook them something for dinner because they had been too engrossed with settling Scarlet in that they missed lunch. "It''s on me today. What do you want to eat?"

    Edward felt awkward requesting for dinner but Scarlet didn''t. Claire decided to check the kitchen and was immediately appalled by the lack of ingredients and basic cookware. Instead, they decide to order pizza for dinner while Scarlet cleaned up. Edward offered to help and Claire took some time to kick back while surveying the apartment''s neighbourhood from the window. Edward seemed like an ordinary person and the good thing about him was how neat his apartment was although Claire didn''t know if Edward deliberately cleaned it up before they arrived. She checked everything and it looked as if Edward was really just a university student who had a father who worked in some big company and earned enough to sponsor his education and living expenses.

    There were books about psychology, a gaming console and a battered laptop. All these were ordinary for a boy studying psychology. The head maid tried to find anything off and searched Edward''s room discreetly when the boy was outside in the living room with Scarlet. His room didn''t seem anything out of the ordinary although it was a little too plain. The clothes were normal and practical, showing that Edward was probably a minimalist who preferred things to be more practical than aesthetically appealing. Scarlet and Edward were rather similar in this aspect.

    The bed was tidy and the blankets folded. Claire didn''t see anything wrong with it either. The colours that Edward chose were on the dull side and the head maid wondered what sort of person Edward was. If she didn''t know it was an apartment that a nineteen-year-old teenager lived in, she would have thought it belonged to a man in his thirties. It looked very much like a bachelor''s den. There were no dirty magazines or posters of idols around, indicating that Edward didn''t show much of an interest in those things. Still, there must be some kind of interest outside of studying, right?

    When the pizza arrived, Claire helped Scarlet take a wefie to send it to her sister. The house-warming party looked cosy and the atmosphere was relatively relaxed compared to Alex''s moving-in experience. The model fussed over details about where to put her things that Jasper promptly gave up in defeat and let the model handle everything. Claire didn''t say much but the whole time she was having dinner with Jasper and Alex, the girl was bitching over the lack of luxuries. Jasper didn''t say anything but Claire didn''t put it behind him to start an argument when she left. Jasper was a patient person but he had boundaries too. He wasn''t afraid of putting Alex in her place when he needed to but he wouldn''t embarrass her in front of others.

    Compared to that, Scarlet and Edward''s relationship was more mature even though they haven''t been dating for long. Edward was very understanding and easy to talk to. He was able to match Claire on an intellectual level usually missing from teenagers his age. The boy was also sensitive to Scarlet''s needs and very thoughtful. He didn''t ask Scarlet about it but he asked Claire about what Scarlet needed for her feminine needs that he should know about because he doesn''t have a sister and he didn''t have things like a laundry netting for her clothes or even a sanitary bin.

    Claire found herself talking about it with the boy and explaining that he didn''t need to worry about them. "Scarlet and I will be going shopping with Alex to get the necessary things. You don''t have to worry about it. We have not really gotten time to get things like toothbrushes and shower caps so we will be doing it soon. Today is just a day to move most of the things over but I will try to settle everything by the end of this week because I have to leave soon."

    On that topic, Claire explained that the transfer for the rent will be made tomorrow. "I also noticed that the apartment is very spruce and practical. There aren''t posters or anything of that sort that a teenager would normally have. Does your dad not allow them?"

    Edward blinked. "Oh, no. He isn''t against them. I just have no interest in that sort of thing. I do play games occasionally but I usually chill in front of that 4k screen to watch movies. Scarlet and I watched one together in the library after we were done with her report. I was rather surprised to learn that we share the same tastes in movies."

    Claire nodded. It was a normal answer and she let down her guard a little more but she wasn''t done testing him. "You''re rather neat for a boy who lives alone. Even for Alex, she''s very messy at home. Scarlet and I are constantly cleaning up after her."

    Edward laughed. "I didn''t do this all by myself," he admitted. "My father engages a cleaning lady to come three times a week to help with cleaning and laundry. I just do what I normally do and put things back where I took them from so that they don''t lie all over the place. Also, I''m not fond of clutter. A person''s home and their workplace is a reflection of their mind. I want to be free from distractions and I don''t come home very often. I like hanging out so I come back to shower and sleep mostly."

    Claire nodded. She didn''t study psychology but she knew that a person''s desk or home could reflect on their personality. Alex''s clutter reflected her free-spirit and creativity. Scarlet''s organised notes and colourful display of various things represented her curious mind and all-accepting personality. Edward was definitely a minimalist here and it could indicate that he was more attentive to details and very disciplined. He would be a successful person in the future and Claire had a better opinion about him.

    Toasting to juice and pizza, they continued to eat and enjoy the successful moving in.

    Author''s Note: Join the caption competition on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter or even discord! Closing date is 3rd July, most creative captions for the texting messages between Jedd77 and Frost will get to decide the theme of their second date <3

 Chapter 197 - Living Together

    Moving in with Edward hadn''t been easy for Scarlet or Edward. When Scarlet gradually moved in and spent more time over a week, Edward could feel the shift in the atmosphere. The apartment felt less like a place to sleep and shower and more like a place he wanted to go back to and let himself go.

    Seeing two toothbrushes warmed his heart in the early morning. Hearing Scarlet bustling about in his apartment made his heart race. Hearing Scarlet sneeze made him melt. The girl was adorable at every moment and he didn''t know what to do.

    On the other hand, Scarlet was still struggling to adapt to her new environment like a fish transferred from a pond to a tank. She felt bad about using Edward''s things and kept realising that she was constantly missing something that she didn''t pack or buy. She thought that she was a minimalist but compared to Edward, Scarlet now knew what a true minimalist was like. The teen didn''t even have a spare cup for drinking so Scarlet had to buy one.

    Today would be the first day of them going to school together. Claire and Orita had officially left and the apartment was evacuated. That also meant that Scarlet would have to take the public transport to get around now that Claire wasn''t here to fetch her and send her to school. Edward wasn''t too concerned with it and told Scarlet what time they had to be ready to leave together so that they wouldn''t be late for lectures.

    Scarlet woke up two hours earlier than Edward to prepare herself and gather her thing. Edward also noticed that Scarlet followed a very strict routine. The girl woke up once after the alarm rang and turned it off within ten seconds. She woke up and walked straight to the bathroom to freshen up even if her eyes weren''t fully open. Then, a cup of coffee would brew as she made toast. After breakfast, Scarlet would start working out for about an hour. Edward had to admit, she was way fitter than most other people he knew. It wasn''t obvious because Scarlet was small in size but the way she did those cardio and planks made him cringe. She was one fit actress and he could now confirm in person that those stunts she did for the movies were done in person and not by a stunt person.

    After the workout, Scarlet would take a shower and that would be about the time Edward got out of bed with messy hair and a bad headache. While he put himself together, Scarlet would be revising her lecture notes before classes or checking through emails on her phone. Sometimes, he would even see the girl work on something in a notebook that she always kept close to her. Edward didn''t know what that notebook was but he made it a goal to find out before Scarlet left his apartment.

    "Are you ready? Do you have a travel card?" he asked.

    Scarlet blinked. "Travel card? I have some money to take the bus. Now that you mentioned it, I don''t have one. Claire has been driving me around so much that I forgot it existed. Where can I get one?"

    The spy smiled in resignation. Sometimes he forgot that Scarlet was still a rich person''s daughter. The fact that she knew about a travel card was impressive enough. Edward didn''t want to compare but he didn''t think Alex would know about a travel card.

    "It''s fine, we can still use money for today. However, please remind me to get you one before we come back. It''s more convenient to buy a travel card because we can top it up using online credit cards. It''s always a hassle to find the right change for the trip and the bus driver has to issue you tickets if you use cash. I don''t think the rush hour crowd would be happy either with too many cash payers holding up the line."

    Scarlet nodded and put on her shoes. "Alright, I''m ready. Let''s go."

    Edward did one last check and asked if Scarlet had her keys. The writer patted her pocket and Edward nodded. He locked the door and checked it twice as Scarlet hit the lift button. They walked together and huddled closer when the chill morning air hit them. Shyly, Edward offered his hand to Scarlet and the girl looked at it for two whole seconds before breaking out into a bright smile to accept it. They held hands all the way to the bus stop and Edward showed Scarlet the bus routes on the chart.

    "We''re going to be taking this one so watch out for the number when it comes. There aren''t many stops so we will alight very soon. On a normal day, it will take ten minutes to get to school. However, if there is a peak hour jam, it can take three times longer. On days like that, I would walk back. It''s usually faster for me to walk."

    Scarlet nodded and thought about it. There was a huge distance between the campus and Edward''s apartment. Did that mean Edward walked home in the rain the day they were in the library? suspicious, she gripped onto his hand tighter and stared at him.

    "Ed..."

    "Yes?"

    Scarlet stared at him intently and Edward felt slightly nervous. Why was she so serious all of a sudden?

    "Please answer me honestly. What happened to you the other day when we were at the library and had to go home later because of the storm? You gave Mandy your umbrella and didn''t have spares. Did you run home in the rain? Was that why you were missing for a few days?"

    Busted, Edward tried to look away but Scarlet''s eyes held him captive. Swallowing hard, he tried to form a reply but words failed him. Even so, Scarlet already had her answer. His actions confirmed her suspicions and Scarlet felt Edward''s hand start to become sweaty from nervousness.

    Before Edward could say anything, Scarlet sighed and glared at him. "Don''t do it again," she told him strictly and Edward shut his mouth, nodding dumbly. Who knew that such an adorable creature would also have such a scary side to her?

    The bus was his saving grace and they had to let go of their hands for a while so that Scarlet could pay the bus driver the correct fees. Edward stood behind her and waited just to be there in case she needed assistance. Scarlet didn''t struggle with it and Edward tapped his travel card before ushering Scarlet to move behind where he knew there would be seats. There weren''t many people getting on the bus this early as most students preferred to attend the afternoon lectures and sleep in more in the mornings.

    Scarlet looked like a child getting on a bus for the first time. She sat near the window and looked out of it the entire time while linking hands with Edward and marvelling at the sight of busy crossroads.

    This was another perk that Edward got to enjoy from living with Scarlet. He got to know more about her from living together. Scarlet was a meek person and a shy girl with some social awkwardness but once that was gone, she was actually a jovial person with an inquisitive mind and an undying hunger for knowledge. They were rather similar in their quest to know more and Edward didn''t know if this was a good or bad thing. It was very easy for both of them to go down the rabbit hole together if they were curious about the same thing.

    They reached the campus in no time and Edward offered Scarlet his hand as she got off the bus. His gentlemanly behaviour didn''t go unnoticed by his friends. Alicia was the first to notice them alighting the bus and yelled out to them.

    "Good morning love birds! Isn''t it a little too early for that?"

    Edward stiffened and scowled when he recognised that voice. Scarlet giggled at the sudden change in mood. Her boyfriend was sometimes a little bipolar and Scarlet wasn''t a fool to think that he was always an angel. He was only an angel for her and Scarlet didn''t mind that. It was always fun to see different sides of him and her favourite was when Edward was napping on the sofa, doing nothing.

    Mandy smirked and pushed up her glasses. "I can''t believe that Scarlet''s parents allowed her to live with you while they are o a business trip. What kind of magic did you cast?"

    Beatrice wasn''t going to pass up the chance either and congratulated them with a gift. When Scarlet opened the box, she blushed. Edward looked at the couple mugs and wondered what he was going to do with them.

    Mike grinned and suggested that they can use it to put their toothbrushes in. "It''s going to be really sweet," the jock claimed and Scarlet tried to imagine it but failed.

    "Not possible," she said. "Edward''s bathroom mirror opens up to have toothbrush holders. There isn''t any space to put these cups in there. Although I do think cups will be needed in the kitchen. I''ve been drinking my morning coffee from his because we don''t have spares. Thank you, Beatrice."

    Edward didn''t know why Scarlet wasn''t more embarrassed as she said that. In fact, it was now Alicia, Mandy and Beatrice''s turn to feel awkwardly shy after hearing Scarlet flaunt her love life so naturally in front of the lonely singles.

    "Lectures are about to start," Alicia coughed. "I think we should get going."

    "Yeah," Mandy agreed. "See you later at lunch?"

    Scarlet smiled and Edward offered to take the mugs instead. "It''s too heavy. I''ll carry them instead. Text me after classes?"

    "I will," the writer smiled and Edward gave her a quick hug before running to join the group for his lecture. Scarlet allowed herself to linger and watch Edward go a little further before she headed to her class alone with a gentle smile on her face. Today was going to be a good day.

 Chapter 198 - A Date After Class (1)

    Time has never passed slower and Scarlet was hardly able to pay attention to the things the professor was saying. Her mind was full of thoughts about Edward. He was such a swoon this morning and she couldn''t stop blushing over how close he had been to her. It was unthinkable just a few months ago how she would be able to get this close to him and it still made her very nervous when she was with him. While he gave her the flutters, he also gave her the jitters.

    She had only one class in the morning and so did Edward. They would be ending early today and it was a rare chance. Scarlet didn''t know if Edward had plans but she intended to use this time to catch up on some writing. She had a new story she was working on but due to the pressure of coping with school and moving to Edward''s apartment, Scarlet hadn''t been able to do anything with it.

    They agreed to meet at the foyer after their classes ended and Scarlet was slightly nervous about seeing Edward again. She wondered if they would grab something to eat first before heading back together or stop by somewhere outside of the campus for a meal. It was a lazy day and Scarlet found herself not wanting to actually work on writing for once. It was too good an opportunity to pass up and all she wanted was to spend the rest of the day with Edward just doing anything at all.

    Her boyfriend was already waiting at the foyer, looking through his phone with a very serious expression on his face when Scarlet arrived. It was only eleven in the morning but the air around Edward looked as if it was already dusk. He didn''t seem to have a good time in class and Scarlet felt slightly bad for him. Instead of going right up to him, Scarlet snuck up behind and deployed one trick she learnt from one of the scenes that she acted in.

    Edward wasn''t expecting the sun to fall from the sky when his world became dark. He was still scrolling through the list of places he could take Scarlet out to in the city when darkness descended. Startled that he was ambushed in the campus of all places, Edward wanted to struggle but he felt someone shorter than him press against his back with a giggle.

    "Guess who?" the cheery voice asked and Edward couldn''t stop the smile tugging at his lips.

    "Hmm..." he played along. "I wonder who it could be. You''re definitely not Alicia, Mandy or Beatrice. Could it be my beautiful girlfriend, Scarlet?"

    Scarlet wasn''t expecting such a flirtatious response and blushed when Edward gently pried her hands from his eyes and turned around to catch her by the waist, pulling her towards him. Out of reflex, Scarlet placed her hands on his chest to stop the collision and realised that they were too close and still in public where many people could still see them. Such an open display of affection made her jumpy and embarrassed. Edward caught onto that quickly and sighed. He decided to let her off easy and simply planted a kiss on top of her head, her hair tickling his nose in the process before he let her go.

    Still, he caught onto her hand and gave her a blinding smile. "Shall we go? What would you prefer? Wheels or blades?"

    Scarlet was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

    The spy scratched his cheek and looked away. "Does it matter? It''s going to be about the same anyway. Just choose one. We''re going on an after school date like all the other ordinary couples."

    Scarlet took a few moments to process what he said and her mind exploded from overworking.

    "A d-d-d-d-date?" she squeaked and clamped up when Edward intertwined their fingers.

    "Yes, a date. Since the lectures were short, I thought we''d do something a little more fun and take a break from studying. Besides, you probably haven''t seen much of the city. Your older sister said that you were moving around from country to country and you''ve only come to New York for university. I thought I''d play tour guide today with you. Do you hate it?"

    Edward was sly. He knew Scarlet couldn''t refuse him if he asked such a question but he really did want to spend time with her now that they were finally together. As expected, Scarlet didn''t refuse and Edward did a small victory dance.

    "I don''t hate it but where are we going? I don''t think I''ve dressed appropriately for the occasion..."

    Edward took a look and grinned. "Nah, you''re alright. So, wheels or blades?"

    Scarlet didn''t even need to think twice. "Blades," she grinned. They sounded way more interesting than wheels.

    The spy wasn''t even fazed by her reply and nodded. "Blades it shall be. I hope you''re ready for something new and challenging today."

    Always ready for new things, the writer smirked. There was nobody more ready for a challenge than her. Scarlet never rested for long and she wasn''t the type to be complacent. If there was something that the world wants to hinder her from accomplishing, she would be the first to break those boundaries. The writer truly believed that there wasn''t anything she couldn''t overcome if she put her mind to it.

    When Edward said blades, Scarlet truly wasn''t expecting it to be a sport. She thought he was going to introduce her to a fight club, the one that Claire sometimes spoke about. The ice-skating rink was huge and Scarlet was amazed that the ice didn''t melt.

    "Won''t we fall if the shoes have knives on them? That ice doesn''t look steady..."

    Amused by Scarlet''s concern about the ice''s strength instead of the difficulty in skating for a first-timer, he rented two pairs of skates. Scarlet was a little on the smaller side so they had to get her something from the kids'' side, making her pout. The disappointment didn''t last long because once Scarlet was strapped into the skates, she couldn''t wait to glide on the ice.

    "Have you done this before?" he asked and held his hand out to her like a true gentleman.

    Scarlet shook her head. "I''ve seen people do it but I''ve never had the chance. Didn''t really have the time to try. Have you skated before?"

    Edward grinned. "What do you think?"

    Scarlet watched as Edward took to the ice steadily and wobbled a little because of how different it felt to walking. The feeling reminded her a little of running in socks on the polished wooden floors but more intense. The writer flopped forward when the sharp edges of the toe pick hit the ice and she tumbled right into Edward''s waiting arms.

    Edward didn''t want to tell her that he had never ice-skated before. However, he had some practice with inline skates and they were similar. The only difference was how the brakes on in-line skates were at the back and how ice-skates had toe picks at the front. He had to be careful about that. However, seeing Scarlet behaving like a baby deer on ice made his worries insignificant. He didn''t think that she would be gliding effortlessly within an hour.

    The first few steps were challenging for Scarlet but she was a fast learner and surprised even Edward. Within fifteen minutes, Scarlet was able to let go of Edward''s hands to push herself a little over the ice to glide. Edward was a good teacher and went slow so that Scarlet could practice moving on the slippery surface. Of course, there were a few times when Scarlet stood up completely straight in elation and forgot that she was on the ice, resulting in her falling down. Yet, Edward was always there to help her up.

    The writer was stubborn and tenacious. Edward liked her drive but he was also worried for her safety when Scarlet declared with fierce determination that she wanted to learn how to do the loopy spin on ice that she saw some other girl trying. Edward couldn''t stop her but he tried to steady her if she went too fast and lost control.

    "Shall we take a short break and just skate around? Your hands are freezing!" he said and held them tightly within his to warm them up.

    Scarlet''s cheeks reddened when Edward blew warm air onto them and rubbed them. The act was too tender and she felt shy that he was treating her with so much care. If only he knew that she was an actress who performed harsher stunts compared to this. Back then she was used to hanging on wires that dug into her costume and caused awful bruises for hours. She twisted and turned in the air to perform acrobatic tricks while reenacting fight scenes without the help of a stunt person.

    Yet here, she was being treated like a porcelain doll and a very loved one at that. Scarlet''s heart warmed and she gave up her ambition to make a jump on the ice. Spending time with Edward beside her just gliding aimlessly was also nice.

 Chapter 199 - A Date After Class (2)

    Scarlet enjoyed herself immensely during the ice skating session. Just before the hour ended, Scarlet shyly asked if she could take a picture of their feet in skates. The picture was adorable because of how different their foot sizes were and to make things sweeter, Edward used the tow pick to draw out a heart shape so that Scarlet could capture it in the frame.

    Scarlet didn''t know if Edward used social media but she decided against tagging him even if he did. Hence, when the teen was returning the skates for them, Scarlet uploaded that picture to her social media account with the tags of "ice skating" and "first date". Needless to say, her fans who thought that Scarlet would lay low ever since her scandal was pleasantly surprised by the unexpectedly sweet picture.

    [OMG WHO IS DAT LUCKY BOI?!]

    [OUR QUEEN CAN DO ANYTHING]

    [PROTECC OUR ANGEL!!! If he breaks her heart I''m getting my pitchfork.]

    [:heart_emoji::heart_emoji::heart_emoji::heart_emoji::heart_emoji::heart_emoji:]

    As the comments came flooding in, Scarlet forcefully closed the app and blushed heatedly. That was just one picture. She was now living with Edward too. What will her fans think if she posted a picture of the couple mug that Beatrice gifted them?

    Before Edward could return, Scarlet''s phone rang. She checked the number and cringed. She should have asked Alex first before she posted it.

    "H-hello?"

    "Sis! Why didn''t you tell me you were going on a date? I should''ve prettied you up for it so that you can take a picture of your pretty face and not just some rental skates!"

    Scarlet laughed as Alex whined over the call. She was still stuck in school but it was lunch now. Edward returned to see his girlfriend on the phone and wondered who that was. From Scarlet''s side of the conversation, she seemed to be telling the other party that make-up wasn''t necessary. Knowing that there was only one such person in Scarlet''s life who was obsessed over beauty, that had to be Alex.

    When the writer saw that Edward had returned, she cut the call short and apologised to Alex who got hung up on quickly.

    "You could have talked for a little longer," he smiled and Scarlet shook her head, grabbing their bags. "It''s fine. Alex can talk for hours. Where to next? Should we grab something to eat? I''ll pay for lunch because you paid for ice skating."

    Edward wanted to refuse but Scarlet was insistent so he accepted it. Still, he decided to choose somewhere less crowded so that he could enjoy some quality time with Scarlet. At the same time, he wanted to avoid crowded places because it would be difficult for Scarlet''s guards to keep an eye on her. This was his way of being generous and cooperative with Claire.

    Scarlet was surprised by Edward''s pick for lunch. They were heading to an Indonesian restaurant. As Scarlet had never tried Indonesian cuisine, she wondered if it was spicy. Knowing south-east asian food, most of them are very spicy and Scarlet wasn''t very good with spice.

    Edward was surprised to know that Scarlet wasn''t a fan of spice and reconsidered their options. IN the end, they settled for Thai food because Scarlet was curious about green curry and mango sticky rice.

    The meal was rather humble and Scarlet enjoyed the odd taste from the combination of mango and rice. Edward stuck to the green curry more because he didn''t think mango and rice was a good combination. However, they did agree that Pad Thai was still the best among everything that they''ve tried.

    Now that they''ve settled their stomachs, Edward suggested that they took a walk around the area. Scarlet didn''t mind and agreed right away after making payment. They held hands and strolled down the quiet neighbourhood full of old shops. Scarlet enjoyed the uniqueness of the quiet streets in a bustling city like New York. Ever since she moved here, she hadn''t actually been out to explore the city. It was usually heading to the Wilde estate, heading to the apartment or heading to the university. The only other time that Scarlet didn''t go to these places would be either with CEO Zhu or Edward.

    The teen caught sight of the guards moving discreetly and sighed inwardly. It was going to be hard to do more than hold her hand now. He was thinking of hugging her and kissing her if she was ready for it but these men tailing them would surely report back to the scary ''older sister''. Edward didn''t know if he was ready for consequences. In fact, he already knew that Claire bugged his apartment. He found hearing bugs in Scarlet''s room and one in the living room while he was replacing his own bugs. The spy didn''t disable them but he had to be careful about what he was doing around the house. Thankfully, Scarlet usually spent her time in her room alone, working on something she wouldn''t let him see.

    The couple passed by an old arcade that was empty. The machines were noisy and Scarlet became attracted by the flashing lights. The curious writer pulled Edward along unconsciously for a closer look and the boy grinned. He didn''t know if his mother''s opinion about girls liking sparkly stuff was accurate but it certainly was accurate enough for Scarlet who was entranced.

    It was one of the old arcades that Edward remembered was a popular thing about ten years ago. He didn''t really play any of those games but the one game he did try was the pinball machine that the headquarters had. It was fun and according to his knowledge, arcades offered you tickets when you played games to exchange for prizes. He checked his wallet and wondered how much he should spend on tokens. The little boy in him was as excited as Scarlet was and without asking her, he pulled her inside.

    "Welcome," the man at the counter greeted with a grin. "Are both of you on a date? I don''t see a lot of couples coming to arcades for dates anymore."

    Scarlet blushed and Edward grinned. "We were just walking aimlessly and this looked interesting. I''ve never played at an arcade before and I don''t think my girlfriend has either. Won''t you give us a tour and demonstration? How much should I change for tokens?"

    The man was very helpful and told them to buy about ten dollars worth of tokens each for a start. "You can buy more if you still want to continue after you''ve used them up. Each game is about one to two tokens and each token is worth a dollar."

    Edward paid for them and Scarlet examined the silver tokens. They were very light and the writer wondered briefly what kind of metal they were forged from. The thought was soon forgotten when the arcade owner gave them explanations about the different types of games they could try.

    The classic shoot the basketball in a hoop game scared Scarlet. She was never good with basketball and her height was a huge disadvantage. Edward considered it but they moved on for now and looked at the racing arcade games. Edward grinned. This would be in the bag for him because he had a driving license. When Scarlet heard that, she sulked. Due to her job and travelling, she wasn''t able to get one yet. Besides, Claire had always driven her around so she never once considered the need for it.

    "It''s not the same as driving a car," the arcade owner laughed when Edward looked smug about it. "The race game doesn''t follow the logic of driving a car. If anything, it''s all about reflexes and reaction timing."

    Scarlet cracked her knuckles playfully. "Then this will be in my bag. I have better reflexes than most people."

    Edward snorted. "We''re competing in a racing game later. I don''t think you can beat me with such scrawny arms. You might not be able to reach the gas pedal control either."

    The arcade owner pretended to see nothing and moved on to explain how shooter games worked. Edward found it very odd that they had to press the pedal to dodge and press the gun trigger twice to reload. When he handled guns, it was never this easy. Also, it was hard to know who was shot on the screen because there wasn''t any red laser light to indicate their aim. Scarlet was intrigued by the shooting game and they agreed to give it a go later.

    "This is a claw machine where many people throw their money at. It is the only game that you can get a prize from without needing to earn tickets. Of course, it isn''t easy and that claw is very flimsy. You won''t be able to catch the big ones even with luck, I''ve never seen anyone succeed."

    Scarlet took a look at the claw machine and studied the prizes. The elephant toy looked adorable but she really couldn''t imagine either of them bringing that back.

    "We''ll pass," she smiled and Edward raised a brow. "Are you sure you don''t want to try? Some of them look rather adorable."

    Scarlet shook her head. "I don''t have a habit of collecting what I don''t need."

    Hearing that, the parade owner nodded. This couple might be young but they were rather different from the other couples that came by. In any case, he continued the tour and introduced the whack-a-mole machines, punch machines and joystick fighter games.

    "That''s all we have but you can spend a good hour or so here if you''re good. Games allow time extension if you clear the levels before the time is up so you don''t need to pay new tokens to proceed or restart. We have special prizes for those who set new high scores so do let me know if you manage to break any!"

    They thanked the owner and Scarlet gave Edward a mischievous grin. "What''s it going to be first? Say, the loser has to grant the winner one thing over the next three days. Fair?"

    Not one to pass up a challenge, Edward grinned. "Deal. Ladies first, your pick."

    Scarlet looked around and thought for a while before pointing to her choice. "I choose that!"

 Chapter 200 - A Date After Class (3)

    Scarlet looked around and thought for a while before pointing to her choice. "I choose that!"

    Edward looked at the whack-a-mole machine and chuckled. It was a cute machine with an overly exaggerated toy hammer. The machine was slightly too tall for a.d.u.l.ts but it actually looked like the right size for Scarlet. He found it amusing and agreed on the first battle.

    Scarlet paused when they got there. She wanted to see how Edward''s arcade skills were and asked him to go first. Not one to disappoint, Edward rolled up his sleeves to show off a little arm muscle that went unnoticed by Scarlet. The same could not be said about the guards lingering outside the arcade. They knew when a man was trying to flex and impress a lady and weren''t very happy about it. Still, there was nothing to be proud about flexing muscle over a whack-a-mole-machine with adorable creatures who went "ouchie" whenever you hit them.

    Scarlet had to admit, she felt slightly bad for the penguin that just got smacked on the head with the hammer that came down with a pow. Edward was merciless and Scarlet covered her mouth as she watched her boyfriend work up a small sweat over the last stage when the pace became faster and the animals started to rise in rebellion, dodging the hammer expertly before Edward could get them. It was at this moment that she noticed something that she could use to defeat him in the game. Edward was only using one hammer and there were actually two. Perhaps this was meant to be a couple''s game but for them, it was a competition. Too bad Edward didn''t notice the other hammer because the string had been snapped off and it was lying on the ground beside the machine underneath the stool that he was sitting on.

    The previous high score was 395 and Edward trashed it completely with 605 by the end of the game. The arcade owner walked around to congratulate him and told Edward to choose a prize. The prizes weren''t very appealing and Edward decided to ask if he could have more tokens instead of getting a prize. The arcade owner was generous and gave him thirty more tokens that Edward handed half to Scarlet.

    Now that it was Scarlet''s turn, she looked over to the owner. "If I break his current high score does it mean I also get extra tokens?"

    The arcade owner smirked. "605 is quite a high score. I think your arms would be tired out within a minute. It looked easy but it''s not. However, if you can break his current high core, I''ll give you thirty tokens as well."

    Scarlet grinned and picked up the other hammer beneath the stool. "It''s not cheating if I used both hammers, right?"

    The arcade owner shook his head. "The hammer is quite heavy so it''s not advisable to do so but if you feel like it, be my guest. Even your boyfriend changed hands twice in those five minutes."

    Scarlet laughed and tested the hammer out, throwing it by the handle and letting it spin in the air before she caught it and gave the toy a flick with her wrist, bringing it down harshly on the hole. Edward didn''t understand why her display of brute force here was exciting and he swallowed. For some reason, a confident Scarlet was rather s.e.xy.

    Scarlet fed the machine a token and waited as the music played. The starting was rather boring and Scarlet even had time to dance a little to the music. It wasn''t until it started to speed up that Scarlet became a little more serious. She didn''t need the stool. Instead, she stood with her legs apart and slightly bent to lower herself to an optimum height before delivering blows onto those small heads before they made their way fully out of their holes. Edward''s jaw fell. The girl wasn''t even looking at where the next one would pop out, she was just staring at the scoreboard screen in the middle and reacting completely on reflex with deadly accuracy.

    Even the arcade owner was stunned by how mesmerising Scarlet was as she continued to pummel the machine without missing a single one. It was now at the most insane stage when three or more creatures would pop out at once. Scarlet didn''t even bat an eyelid at the confusing pace. Her reflexes were faster than the machine''s trickery and the high score of 605 was easily smashed. Edward wondered how such thin arms could continue to whack moles without tiring and then he remembered that Scarlet was an actress who performed her own stunts. He might have underestimated her when it came to reflexes and strength. Scarlet might be small but she knew just how to pack a punch.

    The lights flashed wildly as the music came to a dramatic stop, indicating that the game was over. Scarlet smirked. The new high score? 997.

    "I believe you owe me thirty tokens now," she said calmly and put the hammers to where they originally were. Her arms were aching slightly and Scarlet knew that if Claire found out, she would have to train harder at the gym. She had only started to live with Edward and already she was slacking off on her training. Scarlet berated herself as she received the thirty tokens.

    Curious about what the new high score was, the shopkeeper went to take a quick peek while Scarlet and Edward decided on their next game. His jaw fell when he saw that Scarlet was only three points away from the perfect score. If he knew this was going to happen, he would have filmed it earlier. That said, he looked at the couple who settled down on an easy racing game. He was expecting the girl to win again but this time, the boy won.

    "You should use the brakes. Going too fast and crashing into the sides will make your car spin. You lose more time like that," Edward advised and Scarlet frowned.

    "Again!" she demanded and Edward chuckled.

    "Fine. But it''s first to have three wins and we''ll stop, alright? You can choose the track this time."

    Satisfied, Scarlet tried again and fed the machine another token. This time, she chose a trick that had more hills and slopes. At the same time, Scarlet decided to go for a different car. She chose a Ferrari earlier and it wasn''t doing good so she changed it to a Porsche. Edward was more practical and stuck to his same Benz because he knew that the car models functioned the same in the game.

    "3... 2... 1.. Race Begin!" the voice boomed and Scarlet stepped on the gas pedal, not caring about all the other cars.

    Edward was more cautious and allowed the other cars to overtake him at the start. He knew he would be catching them at the bend and watched out for signs of the first big bend on the smaller map.

    Scarlet was several cars ahead of Edward and could feel her heart racing as she approached the bend. Instead of heading towards the outer lane to prepare for a drift, Scarlet stepped on the brakes and spun the steering wheel before hitting the accelerator again. Edward nearly had a heart attack when he almost crashed into Scarlet''s car when she did that. Thankfully, he was able to manoeuvre away in time and easily overtook her.

    After losing the lead, Scarlet naturally lost that round to Edward. It was two to zero wins and she was beginning to get worried.

    "Mr shopkeeper, you said that driving games were about reflexes and not about knowing how to drive a car. How come he''s winning by so much when I clearly have better reflexes?"

    The arcade owner laughed. "I guess having some basic knowledge about ars would be important as well. He''s using techniques to win you."

    Hearing that, Scarlet immediately jumped on the opportunity to find out more. She went up to the owner to talk him into giving her tips. Edward didn''t mind at first when the owner shared with Scarlet things like how she could take the outer bend before a turn to drift and how she should release the accelerator to slow down instead of slamming the brakes then hitting the accelerators to save time. However, he found it a little unfair when he started talking about the tracks that she could choose with some shortcuts.

    "That''s enough," he chimed in and brought Scarlet back. "Any more and that would be cheating."

    Scarlet pouted but agreed. She thanked the shopkeeper and readied herself for the next round, determined to win. Edward fed the machine tokens and they braced themselves to the track that Edward chose. Scarlet didn''t know everything but the tips the owner shared came in helpful.

    With her head start on speed, Scarlet was able to pull ahead of Edward and prepared herself adequately for the first bend approaching according to the arrow signs. She took the outermost lane as advised and drifted to make a turn before keeping to the inner lane again. This time, Edward didn''t pull ahead of her and they were still maintaining the same distance on that minimap. Scarlet grinned, happy that this might be her win.

    Edward struggled a little to pull ahead of Scarlet after she received some tips. In terms of reflexes and coordination, Scarlet might be better and from the looks of it, he might have to concede defeat for this round. Nevertheless, it wasn''t over. He still had a trick up his sleeve that he would use as a last resort.

    Scarlet won two rounds and now, they were neck and neck with the score. At this point, Scarlet had decided that she liked the Maserati and stuck with it for the next match that would conclude the winner.

    Edward selected a track that he knew would be in his advantage. Unlike the previous tracks, this one had a sharp turn that made the car turn two hundred and seventy degrees. Scarlet had no idea that using the same trick for this bend wouldn''t work and Edward was ready to claim that victory.

    True enough, Scarlet grabbed a good headstart and Edward lagged behind. At the problematic bend, Scarlet tried to do the same thing but ended up crashing into the side and falling to the last place instantly while Edward swiftly overtook her in a perfect drift.

    The match ended and Scarlet admitted her defeat. Yet she had a question.

    "How did you tackle that sharp bend so easily?"

    Edward grinned. "A true master never reveals all his tricks and secrets. However, since the match is over I''ll let you know how I did it. You can step on both the brakes and accelerator at the same time to cause the car to drift in a reverse direction because it technically locks the wheels from moving behind while the front wheels are still moving. Cars aren''t driven for all four wheels in real life."

    After listening to the explanation, Scarlet couldn''t even be mad. Edward was more knowledgeable than her and he didn''t cheat. Hence, it was a fair game.

    "Alright, that''s one to one. I guess it''s my turn to pick another game. How about some shooting game?"

    Edward looked at her for a long time and Scarlet blushed.

    "What is it?"

    Edward hesitated. He didn''t know how to bring up the topic of guns without scaring her. However, he had a duty to care for her and he didn''t want her PTSD to return and ruin the date.

    "Will you be alright? A shooting game means guns, Scarlet."

    Blinking, it took a while for Scarlet to remember why Edward was asking this. She remembered how she panicked and broke down in front of him before. He must have learned about her fear from that meltdown and his concern warmed her heart.

    Smiling, she nodded. "I''ll be alright with a plastic gun but not a real one. Besides, these guns shoot light instead of bullets, I''ll be alright."

    Edward nodded. "I trust you. However, if you start to feel uncomfortable or unwell, let me know. We don''t have to do this."

    Scarlet nodded and Edward patted her on the head, kissing her lightly on the forehead before escorting her to the shooting games.

 Chapter 201 - A Date After Class (4)

    The gun controller was a lot heavier than Scarlet expected it to be. When they were in the holders, they looked like it would be light to carry because the exterior was made from plastic. Scarlet didn''t think that it would weigh almost much as her training dumbbells and made a startled noise when she lifted it, amusing Edward to no end.

    The other issue she faced was the lack of ability to see half of the screen. Being vertically challenged had a lot of shortcomings and this was one of them. Even though the kind arcade owner brought over a stool for Scarlet to get higher, she wasn''t happy. There was no way for her to step on the foot pedal below from the stool even if she could see the screen. This game was trying to make her lose by default!

    "Shall we try another game?" Edward asked after seeing his girlfriend struggle over how to get into a good position for the simple game.

    For many others, this would have been an easy game to pass the time and have fun. However, the burning soul of a warrior in Scarlet refused to throw in the towel so easily. So what if she wasn''t vertically inclined like her sister? History didn''t discriminate against short people and some of the best performers on big stages weren''t very tall. Take her idol Lady RaRa for example. She was only 1.55m tall. Even if Scarlet missed the 5 feet club by a little and was technically 4''11 (150cm), she was still a very popular performer and actress.

    "No!" she insisted. "I will play this fair and square with you. Don''t you dare go easy on me!"

    The two men sighed and let Scarlet do as she pleased. Yet, Edward gave the arcade owner a grateful look when he stood behind his girlfriend just in case Scarlet lost her balance and fell. The man nodded in silent understanding and didn''t mind giving the teen a hand with his spitfire girlfriend. She might be cute and small but there was definitely a huge fire burning underneath that sweet image. Perhaps this was the true thing that this youngster fell for. Edward didn''t look surprised at the gap between the girl''s looks and personality. In fact, he was very supportive of it and helped her out by checking if her shoelaces were firmly tied before they started.

    Scarlet proved to be very creative with how she played the game despite her physical challenges. Edward and the arcade owner had severely underestimated her and Edward finally understood why the small actress had so much support from the Chinese netizens. Scarlet didn''t use the stool as intended. Instead of using it as purely a stand to elevate her height, Scarlet turned them into an extension of her feet. The technique she used to balance on it was similar to those skateboarders and the arcade owner found it so incredibly amazing that he filmed their entire gameplay.

    Scarlet''s small stunt attracted crowds from outside who gathered outside the arcade, some even coming in to film her. However, for the couple who were in a competition and on their third boss fight, they didn''t realise how much attention they were getting. While they wanted to rake up more points than each other, the couple had one similar intention. That old high score must be broken!

    For Scarlet, she wanted to break that high score and leave their names there to commemorate their first date. It was a romantic notion and she didn''t mind if she lost to Edward although she wouldn''t be giving him the win without a run for his money.

    For Edward, he needed to break that high score because his pride as a spy was on the line. What kind of spy wouldn''t be able to shoot properly in such a predictable video game? The simulators that they used were a lot tougher. This was simple compared to it. However, the truth was how Edward still felt slightly salty over the whack-a-mole game. How did Scarlet beat him with an almost perfect score? He still couldn''t believe that those thin arms were capable of holding out until now.

    "Left!" Scarlet half-shouted in excitement when a new enemy appeared on Edward''s side. They might be playing against each other but they still worked together as a team. Their coordination was so flawless that some of the couples watching them felt a sense of admiration.

    The arcade owner noticed the crowd and was slightly nervous. This couple was truly good and in addition to breaking high scores, they were drawing his shop a lot more attention than it ever received in the last three years. Perhaps they were bringers of good luck!

    Edward didn''t know when he started to look out for Scarlet''s screen more than his screen. Instead of snatching for the health pack, he told Scarlet to get it because she was on 30% health even though he had only 40%. The competition soon turned into a couple tag team as they slaughtered enemies and took turns weakening the boss.

    Scarlet did her best to draw the boss'' attention to herself when she saw that it was chasing Edward when he was trying to flee and reload. Whoever dares to bully her boyfriend would have to think twice. It didn''t matter if this was only a game, Scarlet wasn''t going to ignore it happening right before her eyes. The same went with her famous personas. Right now, she was enjoying the quiet romance but if someone leaked the news that Scarlet Wilde or Liu Xiu Wen was dating Edward Bayon and started giving him hell, she wouldn''t hesitate to throw it all away to protect him. She would still find another way to get back at Anastasia without the shields of her famous identities.

    Unaware about what Scarlet was thinking, Edward quickly hid to reload. He wouldn''t let Scarlet face dangers alone even if it meant he had to lose and put himself on the line. Scarlet was worth it. She was worth all of it.

    Quickly, Edward reloaded and timed his attack to sync with Scarlet''s and cancelled the boss'' AoE attack, giving Scarlet a chance to deal the finishing blow. The boss died with a horrible growl and the machine vibrated, indicating that they cleared the final stage of the game in their first attempt. Scarlet looked at the scores. She won Edward by a few hundred points because of that last boss kill and they actually managed to create a new high score like she intended to do.

    Elated, she jumped for joy and forgot that she was still balancing on a stool dangerously.

    Edward didn''t have time to put the gun down when Scarlet lost her balance. He reacted out of reflex and caught her by the waist with one arm, stumbling a little backwards. Scarlet and Edward remained in an awkward half-hugging position for too long and time seemed to freeze until there were cheers and catcalls followed by thunderous applause.

    Startled, Scarlet jumped and Edward snapped his gaze towards the sound. His expression reflected his surprise when many people were cheering for them and congratulating them for a new high score. Some even asked if they could take a photo with them and Scarlet paled very quickly.

    Edward declined politely and Scarlet refused to let go of him, burying her face in his sweater as Edward politely thanked them and asked them to delete any pictures or photos of them for their privacy because they didn''t like attention very much. The teen did his best to explain it politely and while most people were willing to comply, some were difficult and refused to delete it. Others have also already posted the video on their social media and Scarlet wanted nothing more than to run away even if they had unspent tokens.

    Although Scarlet was confident that not many of her fans would recognise her with this getup, she was still afraid. Once Anastasia knew how she looked off the red carpet, he would most certainly try to find out where she was and zoom in on her, putting CEO Zhu''s plan to waste. She still had to buy more time so that her partner-in-crime can collate evidence to involve the Chinese government to help with investigations.

    Edward misunderstood Scarlet''s action as her fear of being recognised as Liu Xiu Wen and glared at the uncooperative people, noting down their faces. The security camera in the arcade was working and he would pay Elfie to help him make these people''s lives hell after their date ended.

    "Come on," he whispered to Scarlet and kept her hidden from curious eyes. "Let''s go. We will find another way to have our rematch if you want. Let''s go somewhere quieter."

    Scarlet agreed and Edward gave back all their tokens to the surprised arcade owner who felt bad that this had turned into such a chaotic situation. The man apologised profusely and before they left, he asked what Edward wanted to input for their high score.

    The spy didn''t think long and smiled. "Edarlet."

    With that, he let the man puzzle over the meaning of the odd names while attending to other customers. Edward escorted Scarlet out and kept an eye on the guards tailing them to ensure that they resolved the situation about the pictures taken without their consent. For now, his priority is to find a quiet place so that Scarlet can recover.

 Chapter 202 - A Date After Class (5)

    The quiet place that Edward found ended up to be a small and quaint bookstore that also sold aromatic drip coffee. While he did plan to bring Scarlet out for a shopping trip after playing at the arcade, he wasn''t quite expecting the girl to choose such a place. They ventured the less crowded areas of the city and stumbled upon this old gem that Scarlet immediately fell in love with.

    The lady of the bookstore had cataracts and seeing difficulties. However, she still welcomed the couple, more than happy to have customers.

    "How can I help you?" she asked and ushered them to a seat.

    The bookstore was rather tiny because of how many books there were cluttered in the small shop. There wasn''t even a menu to offer, just an option of coffee with milk or sugar or tea. Edward wondered how such a place was able to sustain until now and the old lady hobbled back with the order of two black coffees.

    "Scarlet, are you feeling better now?" he asked.

    The writer nodded with a small smile. Normally, she would feel claustrophobic in small enclosed spaces but now, the tiny shop cluttered with books made her feel at home. As a writer, this was like a dream come true to be surrounded by books and coffee. However, she couldn''t tell Edward that yet.

    "I''m fine," she smiled to reassure him but Edward wasn''t thoroughly convinced. It wasn''t because Elfie told him not to trust a girl when they say that they''re alright but because he was still genuinely worried about her.

    Even though she wasn''t able to see clearly, the old lady brewed the drip coffee with practised ease, her body remembering just where everything was. Edward and Scarlet glanced back when the air was filled with a delicious aroma. As coffee addicts and appreciated, they knew that this old lady''s skills were top-notch. No fancy machines, no fancy beans. Just pure skills and a touch of motherly love.

    When the two steaming cups came, Scarlet offered her gratitude and told the old lady that she loved her shop. Edward could see the true joy and enthusiasm as Scarlet talked about the books that the old lady collected. Her collections were a little out of taste for the younger generation so she was pleasantly surprised when the bookish lady started talking about them.

    "You must be a true lover of the old kind of literature. Most young people prefer to glue their eyes onto phone screens. Back in my days, getting our hands on any one of these would have been considered a luxury. I used to flip through the same book until the pages were worn simply because I couldn''t afford new ones. We traded books with friends so that there was a healthy variety to go about. Young people nowadays are too privileged but they don''t treasure it."

    Edward sipped his coffee and didn''t know how to ease himself into the conversation between the ladies. He knew that Scarlet was a little bookish. According to Elfie who studied with her for a brief period of time, the girl was not only smart but also hard working. He knew that Scarlet liked reading because she had a bookshelf in his guest room. The books on her bookshelf were very diverse so Edward didn''t know what Scarlet liked. She didn''t seem to be collecting anything in particular but after hearing her talk about books with the old bookshop owner, he now understood her better.

    She wasn''t simply collecting them. She was a true master when it came to books. Those books that she kept must have been special. Scarlet''s memory was incredible. Edward knew that he had better memory abilities than most people because he was trained as a spy. He had a photographic memory but Scarlet''s abilities surpassed his own. She didn''t just remember things quickly. She was able to analyse them quickly as well.

    For every book that Scarlet read, she remembered the names of every character, every scene and could even quote their dialogues to the old bookshop owner. Her analysis was very different and her opinions about each masterpiece were very detailed almost as if she was giving it a critique. If Scarlet could remember everything from just glancing through a book once, why would she need to keep any physical copies of books with her? Now, that made him curious. Learning new sides to Scarlet was always something that excited him. For everything new he found out about her, Edward couldn''t help but fall for her more and more.

    "You have not read it? What a shame," the old lady sighed when she brought up a book that Scarlet never had the chance to read before.

    Hobbling over to one of the tall but overly tall bookshelves, she started to climb a wobbly stepladder and Edward quickly stood up and offered his assistance. Scarlet watched as her boyfriend played the role of a gentleman and blushed. How was it possible that she was able to get such a thoughtful boyfriend like Edward? She still found it hard to believe that they were dating and just the thought of calling him her boyfriend made her heart seize up so fully that she found it impossible to breathe.

    Impressed by the courtesy of this young man, the old lady nodded in approval. The young lady was delightful and this young man was kind. They made a good couple and even though they were strangers, the old lady was starting to treat them like her grandbabies. She had taken a liking to them and decided that she would gift this book to Scarlet as part of their fated meeting.

    "Is this the one?" Edward asked from the top of the stepladder.

    The old lady nodded. "It is. Thank you, child."

    The teen climbed down carefully with the book in his hand and Scarlet watched as her boyfriend suavely delivered the book into the shop owner''s waiting hands.

    "This is the book," she said and pushed it into Scarlet''s hands. "You should have it."

    Scarlet took a look at the dusty hardcover and dusted it lightly. "How much is this?" she asked.

    When Edward heard that, he quickly reached for his wallet but the old lady chuckled and shook her head. She saw what the young man was about to do and she couldn''t let him do that. University students should save their money for more important things. Books like this hardcover would be very lucky to have an owner like this young lady. Finding a well-read youngster nowadays with an old-fashioned sense of manners and respect for the elderly didn''t come by every day. She liked them very much and thought that this would be a lovely gift to commemorate their meeting.

    "It''s not for sale, it is a gift," she smiled. "A gift with a prayer that someday you''ll come by again to keep this lonely old lady company. I used to be able to talk to my husband about books but ever since he passed away, I talk to walls. My children aren''t interested in good literature, what can I do? My grandchildren prefer playing Boxcraft over picking up a good read."

    With a sigh, the old lady grabbed Scarlet''s hands tightly with a strength that one wouldn''t expect from a frail woman like her. Her eyes might have been covered with cataract but they reflected clarity and wisdom.

    "Take care of it. Someday you will come to understand it the way I do. I know that you are a very intelligent lady but don''t let your heart be clouded by logic. Listen to it sometimes, love can save you when everything else fails."

    Scarlet looked at the romance novel and blinked. It wasn''t the kind of genre that she usually read simply because she preferred to read about a character going on an adventure to accomplish something. It didn''t matter if they were doing it to fight noble battles or if they were doing it for revenge. Scarlet liked to read stories that inspired her to be stronger, smarter and better. There was an insurmountable wall by the name of Anastasia and Scarlet had always felt weak and small whenever she was reminded of reality. It was only in books that she could find the courage and borrowed the bravado of heroes to face her fears.

    If there was anything being an actress taught her, it was to fake it till she made it. With her talent, Scarlet knew that it wasn''t easy for other people to read her. Yet, this old lady who she had only met for less than an hour could see right through her, all her vulnerabilities, flaws and insecurities. The fear that she suppressed like a monster locked in a vault was threatening to break the chains of control and Scarlet''s heart trembled upon hearing the words.

    Edward didn''t know what it was that caused such a reaction but he knew it when he saw that flash of fear in her eyes. It was there for only a brief moment and anyone would have thought that it was their imagination because Scarlet reigned it in very quickly and thanked the old lady politely before making payment for the drinks and leaving. However, Edward knew better. He has been watching Scarlet for a while now and that smile wasn''t fooling him. It was the fake one that Scarlet gave to the camera. Still waters run deep and what he saw might only be the tip of an iceberg, waiting to be discovered.

 Chapter 203 - A Date After Class (6)

    Scarlet could feel it. His eyes were on her again and even if he was trying to be discreet about it, she knew that he was concerned about something. The hardcover was tucked away in Edward''s backpack because he insisted that it was heavy and he didn''t want to tire her out. Before this, Scarlet didn''t know that Edward made plans for this ''sudden'' date. However, after seeing how things were going, she had an inkling that some of the things they did were planned.

    The finding of the bookshop wasn''t in Edward''s plans. The crowd that they attracted at the arcade certainly wasn''t part of the plan either although Scarlet suspected that ice-skating and lunch was part of his itinerary. If he insisted on carrying the book, he must have more plans for them before the date ends. Scarlet was curious. What else could he possibly be up to? Sure, the date didn''t go as intended but on the whole, she enjoyed herself a lot.

    Edward shyly reached for Scarlet''s hand without looking at her. The tip of his ears were red and his face felt hot but the teen could only think about holding her closer to him. Ever since the time that they entered the bookshop, he had been feeling a little left out. Scarlet hadn''t been giving him any attention and while he knew that he was behaving in a rather childish manner, sulking over the lack of attention from his girlfriend, he couldn''t help it!

    With the boldness of a warrior and the shyness of a panda, Scarlet had to hold herself back from laughing at her boyfriend. Was he really sulking from not having his plans work out the way he intended? Scarlet didn''t mind the way things turned out. However, he did owe her a wish now that she won two out of the three kinds of games they played.

    "Where are we going?" she asked, breaking the silence and pretending that she didn''t see how red his ears have become.

    After receiving the attention of his favourite person in the world, Edward beamed like a puppy, happy to see its owner return home after a long day. Was he really that attention-starved? Scarlet felt slightly bad when she saw how happy he was from just a simple question. Claire often said that men in love were fools. She thought that the head maid was referring to Wilmer and she never expected it to be universally applicable to all men, including Edward.

    When she first came to know him through Alicia, he was often aloof and mysterious. She didn''t think that it was possible for Jedd77 and Edward Bayon to be the same person because of how contrasting their personalities were but now, she was beginning to see the resemblance. Edward really was Jedd and Scarlet giggled.

    "What?" he asked, confused to see her reaction. He hasn''t said anything yet but for some reason, he felt like she was laughing at him.

    "Nothing," Scarlet smiled in a lilting tone and that only fuelled the spy''s curiosity.

    "Tell me!" he demanded but Scarlet refused and giggled.

    Their joined hands never parted even though the couple started to argue a little. Scarlet remained stubborn and Edward remained persistent. They closed the distance between them and their steps fell in sync, slowing down to a halt. With Scarlet facing his chest and looking up into his eyes, Edward finally realised just how close they were with their fingers still intertwined. He swallowed and even Scarlet sensed a change in the mood.

    The playful atmosphere from earlier was gone and suddenly, she was very nervous. Edward knew that he was getting glared at from at least three different directions. One of the guards from earlier was nowhere in sight and the spy wondered what happened. Still, if there were guards around, Scarlet was still safe. He hesitated. The mood was good enough for a kiss but if he did that, would the scary head maid come for him?

    It wasn''t written in the contract that he couldn''t kiss her outside of the apartment. It was also not stated explicitly that he could do it either. The contract was very vague and if Edward wanted to be critical, there were many grey zones that would work in the Wilde family''s favour. Unfortunately for them, he was Edward Bayon, the world''s most notorious child spy. If he didn''t fear death, he wouldn''t fear consequences.

    Being the man that he was, Edward leaned in and held Scarlet closer. He went slow so that Scarlet had enough time to push him away if she didn''t want it. He wasn''t going to force his feelings on her like a beast. The burning passion in him might threaten to consume rationality but Edward was a firm master in control of that beast. He wouldn''t do anything to hurt her, ever. There was nothing scarier than the prospect of losing her because of something he didn''t mean to do in the heat of the moment. To everyone else, Edward could lie and tell them off. But with Scarlet, he was going to treasure her with everything he had.

    "Can I kiss you?" he asked in a soft voice. He respected her too much to steal what might be her first off-set kiss without asking for permission.

    Scarlet felt her face heat up and swallowed, lowering her lashes slightly as she nodded. The gentle wind that brushed past them on the empty street made it look as if Scarlet''s hair was trembling in the wind. The anticipation made the three guards tense as they panicked mentally. How were they going to include this in their report without incurring Claire''s wrath?

    Edward''s heart raced and he lifted Scarlet''s chin with his thumb and forefinger. Descending like a falling snowflake, Edward planted the kiss on her lips tenderly. Scarlet didn''t know when her eyes fluttered close but she felt his eyelashes brushing against her cheek as he pressed their lips together gently. Like the wings of a butterfly fluttering, Scarlet opened her eyes when the warmth left her. They locked eyes for a while after the first kiss they shared and Scarlet understood.

    This man was the only one seeing her for who she was. He wanted her, needed her, loved her and was willing to give everything away to have her. Like a dying man in the desert parched for a sip, that passion in his eyes didn''t lie. He knew the same kind of hunger she knew, felt the same kind of fears she felt, and experienced the same kind of pain she experienced.

    Psychology was a funny thing. Knowing that you''re not alone in this world even though you''re suffering was sometimes all you needed to find a hidden strength in you that you never knew existed to shove you along. For Scarlet who had fought the war alone for so long, it was like finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. No wonder scriptwriters always included a kiss scene for couples with a love so deep that could last several lifetimes. Scarlet finally understood the feeling of having someone she could trust entirely.

    A kiss. That was all it took. If she knew that her doubts could be resolved from such a simple action, she would have done it earlier.

    Edward was surprised when Scarlet pulled him down by his shirt and tip-toed to crash her lips into his forcefully not long after they parted. He didn''t know what sort of trigger he hit but Scarlet''s feelings were clearly transmitted to him into that kiss. Unlike his gentle peck, Scarlet''s kiss was more painful and even violent.

    Yet, Edward understood clearly what she was trying to convey. It wasn''t a sweet kiss or a sweet romance that Scarlet wanted. Edward could understand the desperation that Scarlet was trying to convey through her actions. The trust she had in him, her expectations of him, the things she needed were clear as day.

    Edward winced when Scarlet bit his bottom lip hard enough to leave a mark. It stung like a constant reminder when they parted and the teen didn''t mind. Scarlet felt slightly apologetic when she saw the bruised mark but Edward grinned and kissed her hand that was still clasped with his. "Don''t apologise," he told her. "I understand."

    Those two words made Scarlet feel like bursting into tears. How long has it been since anyone tried to understand her the way he did? Scarlet did her best to keep everything together but there was always that wall separating her and the world outside. It simply wasn''t possible for her to belong anywhere. It was hard to believe that somebody else would want her when her birth parents were willing to sell her for money.

    Sure, the Wilde family might treat her well but for Scarlet, she would always be eternally grateful to them for giving her a better chance at life. This was a debt she would never be able to repay and in return, that drove a wedge between the relationship she had with them. Scarlet could never confide her insecurities with them the way she felt like she could with Edward.

    "So," she smiled, satisfied that they were on the same page. "Where to now?"

 Chapter 204 - A Date After School (7)

    Of all the places that he could take her out for dinner on a date, Scarlet wasn''t expecting to be pulled into a club for comedy that served fast food on the side.

    The comedy club was dimly lit and there were all kinds of people in the house that night. Scarlet didn''t know what she was expecting but she calmly observed the people who were here for the show. Edward ordered them some fish and ch.i.p.s as well as two glasses of iced peppermint limeade. Scarlet had never heard of such a drink but he assured her that it was going to be good. The writer trusted him and her curiosity was piqued when the people started to cheer.

    The performer went by the name of Bobbinskrier - a legendary magic dragon of sorts but was also known as Bob the Drag Dragon by his fans. Even when Scarlet was in the entertainment industry and knew many gay men, she had never seen one dress up like a woman with a loud sense of fashion. For some reason, she admired the amount of effort Bob put into his transformation.

    While Scarlet studied the level of skill Bob the Drag Dragon put into his make-up and costume, Edward was looking around. Scarlet''s three bodyguards were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps they were stationed outside and couldn''t come in? He wondered if Claire would be unhappy if she knew about it. Truthfully, the teen hadn''t considered that they wouldn''t be able to get into the club. Only those who bought tickets early and reserved a spot were allowed in. If he knew this was one good way to get rid of them, he would''ve done so earlier.

    The food arrived swiftly and Bob started his introduction, greeting everyone in a grandiose manner. Scarlet wondered if this was why they were referred to as drag queens. He certainly did give off the air of royalty when he spoke. The way he carried himself full of confidence wearing those eight-inch stripper heels and strutted in it on stage like he owned the place made her respect him even more. Back when she was still an actress and a singer, she was never able to own a stage like that.

    Edward didn''t know what was going through his girlfriend''s mind. Instead of watching the show and enjoying it like everyone else, she was watching Bob like a hawk, studying his every movement intently. Did Scarlet not like it? He knew about her love for odd things and after doing research and asking Alex for her opinion, this should have been the highlight of their first date as an official couple.

    While Scarlet trained her eyes on the performer who was explaining how the magic trick was going to work and asked for a volunteer, Edward pulled out his phone to text his girlfriend''s sister.

    Edward: You said that she was going to like the show.

    The reply came back within a few seconds.

    Alex: What''s wrong?

    Edward: She isn''t laughing along or smiling at all. If anything, she looks like an eagle spying on a mouse. Are you sure this is the kind of thing Scarlet likes?

    Alex was just out of her bath when Edward texted her. Jasper wasn''t back yet so the spoiled heiress had all the space to herself. Flopping onto the bed, she asked him what Scarlet was doing and how she looked like.

    Edward took a picture and texted back.

    Edward: She hasn''t touched her food at all. I thought you said she liked fish?

    Alex grinned. Her future brother-in-law had so much to learn about her sister. Scarlet was like a pyramid. When you first start out, you would think that it would be to conquer it by climbing to the top. However, when you reach it, you''d come to realise that there was nothing there. Only those who knew her well enough would understand that everything presented above ground was just a distraction from the truth buried beneath. The real Scarlet was a secret that can only be accessed through the labyrinth that will attempt to shut you out permanently. However, once you''ve evaded all the traps perfectly, there will be no more walls to stop you from understanding who Scarlet truly was.

    Scarlet was a complicated person but only on the surface. She liked to mislead people into thinking what they wanted to think of her. If they thought Scarlet was an angel who was kind-hearted, Scarlet would give them evidence to support their theory. If they wanted to see her as a hypocritical bitch, the young writer would give them ample reasons to think that way. Scarlet never cared about the opinions of others. In fact, she relished in their confusion over who she truly was underneath everything.

    The media was a frequent victim of Scarlet''s amus.e.m.e.nt. Alex knew that well enough. Edward also had an inkling but knowing and seeing were two very different things. Right now, he was using his head to gauge Scarlet''s reaction. Edward might study psychology and normally, that would have been accurate. However, he was dealing with a half-genius. Surely, all those theories in his textbook won''t work. This is Scarlet Wilde that he was dealing with.

    Alex: Don''t worry too much, she likes it more than you think she does. She will eat when it is over or you can secretly feed her while she concentrates on the show. Scarlet subconsciously eats things as an auto-response when someone feeds her, especially when she is highly focussed on a task at hand.

    When Edward saw the model''s reply, he blinked and slowly eyed Scarlet from the side. Indeed, she wasn''t angry at all. Yet, he found her focus very out of place. This was clearly a light-hearted event, why was she getting all serious and fired up? Just when he thought he understood her, Scarlet did something to throw him off the loop once more.

    The one thing he gained out of talking to Alex was getting to know a small trick. Eager to test the theory out, Edward slowly pulled Scarlet''s plate away from her and cut up her food into smaller pieces. He dipped the fish into tartar sauce and slowly inched it towards her mouth.

    Scarlet''s eyes were still focused on the show but she started to lean in. She slowly opened her mouth and allowed Edward to feed her.

    Grinning to himself when he watched Scarlet munch, Edward couldn''t keep a grin off his face. The comedian was getting laughs from his acts but Edward''s smile was reserved only for Scarlet who ate like a baby bird getting fed by its mother. He alternated between eating and feeding Scarlet until the show was almost over. Edward tried it out with drinks as well and Scarlet reacted a little differently to drinks. She held the cup when offered to her, took a sip and put it back down again.

    Amused by his girlfriend''s behaviour, Edward didn''t listen to any of the jokes told by Bob the Drag Dragon. He was more interested in finding out Scarlet''s reason for being so focussed. It was almost as if she was attending lectures. Although he had ever seen the girl attend her lectures, he could imagine Scarlet being the studious kind who recorded the professor''s and took notes diligently. On the other hand, he was the kind of bad role model who wouldn''t attend a class if he didn''t have to. Alicia and her gang were already accustomed to his shenanigans but nobody would think that Scarlet was capable of doing the same.

    Sometimes, he felt like he was a terrible influence on Scarlet especially when he knew how young and innocent she was compared to him. Scarlet wasn''t like the other university students. In Edward and even Alex''s eyes, the small girl was very sheltered in many ways. Claire did a good job in keeping her clean even though the stinging pain on his lip reminded him about her more passionate side. She would be an amazing love when she grew a little older but for now, he was very satisfied with this baby bird.

    The show ended at about ten at night and Scarlet applauded, finally smiling when it was over. She looked down and was about to finish up the food she left untouched quickly but blinked at the empty plates that a waiter quickly came to clear.

    "What?"

    Edward couldn''t hold back his laughter and almost fell off the chair. Scarlet didn''t think that they had alcoholic drinks but she was now highly inclined to think that her boyfriend was drunk. He wasn''t behaving sanely and this was very different from the usual Edward that she knew. Then again, maybe it wasn''t so different. This was more of a Jedd kind of behaviour and Scarlet ignored him to finish up her drinks.

    "Did you feed me?" she asked after the drink was emptied and Edward sighed, holding his cheeks that hurt from laughing too much.

    "How did you know?"

    The writer grimaced. "Sorry about that, I was too engrossed. Alex must have told you about it. It''s a habit that I developed after a few years because I was simply too busy. It saves time eating on the go while I do something. That''s multitasking that Alex would never be able to do."

    Her boyfriend looked slightly curious so Scarlet wondered if it was too early to tell him more about her celebrity persona. She did win two out of three games at the arcade and Edward owed her a wish. That wish expires in three days so the writer was still wondering how she should use that wish. Asking him not to panic was a bad idea. She didn''t want to scare him away or shock him. Edward took to it well that she came from quite a rich family but he still insisted on paying for her. While Scarlet had a good feeling about it, she still couldn''t help but be worried about Edward''s attitude towards finding out at her ''part-time job'' as an actress and not a stagehand.

    "Did you enjoy the show?" he asked as he paid for dinner and left the club.

    Scarlet nodded. It was chilly so she huddled closer to him. Edward glanced around casually and spotted three tired-looking bodyguards. Served them right for trying to interrupt their date.

    "Let''s head back home," Scarlet said and Edward felt his heart skip a beat. Hoe was never a word he liked to use but when Scarlet said it, he changed his opinion. He liked that word now.

    "Yes," he smiled. "Let''s go home."

 Chapter 205 - The Zone

    Edward agreed to let Scarlet win their bet from the arcade and because he felt bad for what happened, he made a concession and extended the three-day limit to a week so that Scarlet could slowly think it over.

    Edward didn''t know what kind of thought Scarlet was having to make her look so troubled. He noticed it immediately that night after they returned from the comedy club. He came to understand slowly why she was so focussed on the performance to the point of being fed absent-mindedly. Alex explained that it was a Scarlet thing. Once she enters a ''zone'' of intense focus, Scarlet can shut the world around her completely out.

    The first time Edward heard about ''zone'', he was intrigued. Alex described her sister as a machine who would continue to work on the project until she succeeded or broke down trying to finish the task. It started when Scarlet was engrossed with writing her book. That was new information to Edward. He didn''t know Scarlet was a writer because he only knew about her celebrity persona.

    "Scarlet might have stopped writing for a while but ever since she developed the ''zone'', there was no stopping her from forgetting basic necessities like eating, sleeping and drinking. Sometimes she didn''t bother with a shower and the only time she left her spot was to go to the lavatory."

    Edward found it odd that Scarlet was able to maintain such discipline. It was almost as if she trained with him at the spy academy. Even common soldiers didn''t have her kind of determination. Mental conditioning was a practice that either made or broke the toughest of soldiers. Spies who were broken had to be sent away but those who succeeded would never walk the same path that ordinary people walk. He didn''t know how Scarlet came to induce the ''zone'' but he was almost certain that the ''zone'' Scarlet created was similar to something they called being in the ''flow''.

    To achieve going into the ''flow'', a spy must be able to enter a meditative state full of concentration to maintain a stable emotional state but a hyper sense of perception to receive an overload of information at light speed and process them as fast as they saw it. In that state, everything was enhanced and one could even say that a human''s best potential existed within the flow. Scarlet''s ''zone'' sounded very similar and if she was able to unlock it without any guidance, Edward was starting to wonder just how far Scarlet''s potential went. Elfie did say that Scarlet, Alex and Jasper attended the Special Class with him. With the other two, Edward would only consider them incredibly intelligent but for Scarlet, he didn''t know exactly what Scarlet was capable of.

    To be capable of creating the flow without guidance and being able to actively use it, Scarlet must be one of a kind. Last night, she wasn''t unhappy about the performance. After listening to Alex, Edward figured out what Scarlet was doing. She was learning.

    He didn''t understand why she would be studying Bob the Drag Dragon so intently but she must have a reason for it. Sometimes he would also see the odd look on her face especially when she was watching people and being unusually silent. Alicia and the rest wouldn''t notice it because they were too caught up in their conversations but Edward was trained to be perceptive.

    The one thing he couldn''t understand about Scarlet''s ''zone'' is how she was able to completely forget eating, sleeping and basic survival needs. For spies, being in ''flow'' heightened their self-preservation instincts and pushed them forward to achieve their goals, ignoring the body''s limits. Scarlet took it to a whole new level that was almost scary. How could anyone override the power of instincts? That was unheard of even among spies. For that to happen, Scarlet must have staked a lot. This kind of behaviour would only be heard in Russian spies who were brainwashed into doing anything for their mother country including throwing their lives away. Scarlet was most certainly not brainwashed. Why would she need such a huge sacrifice and concentration ability? It was as if she was putting her life on the line to accomplish something recklessly.

    Wait, he knew why it happened now. Scarlet''s obsession with Anastasia was probably what caused her to push herself to a breaking point. Suddenly, the picture became very clear. His main objective now would be to hinder Scarlet''s plans to look for more clues about Anastasia and start digging up the trail that followed CEO Zhu. Scarlet was in contact with that man because she most probably had dealings with him. That list of names collaborating with EZ Express was given by an insider and CEO Zhu was the only person Scarlet was in contact with.

    Whatever wish that Scarlet wanted, he would do his best to fulfil it. However, now that he understood what Scarlet was aiming for, Edward had a gal of his own. He was going to dissuade her to continue with her ambition. Alex said that Scarlet enjoyed writing almost to the point of obsession. If Scarlet tells her about it, he would encourage her to go for it instead of all the other things she was doing on stage or behind the scenes for Golden Frost.

    Scarlet and Edward settled into an easy daily routine. They would wake up together, go to the university together, meet up in between lectures then wait for each other in the library or atrium to come home together. Scarlet who had been very cosy with Edward during their date was somehow beginning to distance herself from him after the second day. She seemed troubled but not even Edward could find out why she became so pensive. It wasn''t the exam period and it wasn''t Scarlet''s period. Edward didn''t know what was causing his girlfriend so much distress but he knew he didn''t like it.

    Edward: How long does Scarlet''s zone last for?

    Unable to tolerate the listless behaviour, Edward texted Alex. The model was rather busy with her art project but she took some time to check on her sister and replied to her sister''s boyfriend. Jasper had already given up on trying to keep everything in order. In less than a week after living with Alex, Jasper begged for a housekeeper. Orita pitied Jasper and agreed. The housekeeper was currently cleaning up the place so the model had time to chat with Edward. After all, there wasn''t much she could do until the floor was dry. The housekeeper was a scary lady who wouldn''t hesitate to chew Alex out if she got off from the couch before the floor was dry.

    Alex: It depends on what she''s doing. Sometimes it lasts only for a few minutes but it could happen for weeks. The first few times Scarlet went into the zone for too long, she collapsed and had to be hospitalised. We adapted and learnt that she would eat and drink if given food. However, Scarlet wouldn''t rest so Claire tried to put in sleeping pills with the food. Scarlet doesn''t suspect it and that was how we got her functioning all these years.

    Edward needed more information if he was going to find out the triggers and how to get Scarlet out of the zone.

    Edward: What are the usual causes for her to enter the zone for an extended period of time if she isn''t writing or learning something?

    Alex hummed and thought about it. The model placed her feet up the couch and hung her head upside down while she texted her reply.

    Alex: It rarely happens but when it does, it means Scarlet''s stuck on something. A good example would be the writer''s block. Or when she''s thinking about how to make the best arrangement for the new album production. Oops! Don''t tell her I said that!

    Edward didn''t know if Alex was capable of keeping secrets. She just divulged her sister''s huge secret as if it was nothing. Even Scarlet hasn''t told him anything. Yet, he had to pretend not to know. He was waiting for her to tell him about it and hearing it from someone else annoyed him.

    Edward: Don''t spoil me, I want to hear it from Scarlet personally. Just tell me more about the zone. How can I get her to snap out of it?"

    Alex: There isn''t a real way to get her out of it. We''ve tried. Scarlet only gets out of it the moment she figures something out. We could only help Scarlet to remain alive by feeding her and putting sleeping drugs in her food.

    Edward didn''t like the answer he got but he thanked Alex anyway. Scarlet''s zone must have something to do with her coping mechanism. One didn''t simply have PTSD and not create ways to cope without professional help. Some developed social anxiety, others were depressed. Some developed all kinds of phobias and others had personality disorders. Compared with those victims, Scarlet''s method of coping was a little more dramatic. It was very Scarlet-like to transform her fears into strength to make herself stronger.

    "What is it that you''re afraid of, Scarlet?" he asked nobody in particular and wondered what she would do next. In a week, he should be seeing some results. The wish was only valid for one week and Scarlet must be worried over it. It wasn''t in her nature to place bets either unless she was confident about winning. He might not know her for long but he noticed that his girlfriend had troubles being forthright about what she wanted. She liked to go in a roundabout way of asking for favours as if she had to work to earn them. The betting was a very good example and Edward couldn''t wait to teach her how to act more spoiled after he granted her wish.

 Chapter 206 - Kitchen Ghost

    It was the fifth day and Scarlet was close to pulling her hair out. Edward had been very patient with her and behaved no different from the ordinary. However, Scarlet found herself avoiding him on purpose when she could. Sure, she still ate together with Edward, went to the campus together and came back together. However, they never had any real conversations apart from casual greetings and Scarlet felt horrible.

    Unknown to Scarlet, Edward was feeling a similar sense of frustration but he was patient. If there was anything that had been drilled into his head early on, it was that haste made waste. If he wanted to perfect the plan, he must wait for a perfect opportunity to present itself and grasp it when it came. Scarlet had been skittering around the edges lately and tip-toeing around Edward. The distance between them might have indeed again but Edward was willing to gamble that after this, they would become one more step closer to each other.

    Scarlet was debating how much she should let Edward know about her. While she trusted Edward with her heart, she couldn''t endanger his life by telling him all her secrets. Some of her secrets were meant to be carried with her to the grave. For starters, Scarlet couldn''t let Edward know that she was investigating a dangerous crime boss. Secondly, she couldn''t just tell Edward that she was a celebrity and a business owner and expect him to take it well. Right?

    There were only two more days and Scarlet wondered how she was going to break the news. Ever since they confirmed their feelings for each other and decided to trust each other, Scarlet felt bad for not telling him the things she knew she should be telling him. However, the consequences should things go very wrong scared her so much that Scarlet hesitated. She wished that there was someone she could talk to about it but right now, nobody came to mind.

    Scarlet could easily never tell Edward and the poor boy would never find out. However, Scarlet would be a terrible lover if she did that. Sure, Edward might never find out but what would happen if they eventually got married and all? It would be worse for her the longer this dragged on. Edward would be extremely mad and the sense of betrayal could very well put an end to their relationship. She didn''t want that.

    Or she could just put it off until Anastasia was dealt with. Scarlet would never want to keep Edward in the dark forever. She knew her boyfriend had many secrets too but she didn''t ask about them. Edward and Elfie were friends and that alone made her very curious. How did he know Elfie? Where did they meet? Even the Special Class and E.C. Class students weren''t very close with the hacker. Elfie was only close to Jasper, Alex and her because he worked with Wilmer. Danny was on some job before and Elfie lived with them for a good while. It was inevitable that they were closer than the other classmates. However, Elfie and Edward seem to be on a whole new level of closeness. It was as if Elfie and Edward put each other''s lives in the other''s hands. Was this the rumoured bromance that she heard of in China?

    Blushing at the thought of Elfie and Edward sharing that kind of special relationship made her very fl.u.s.tered. For some reason, the thought of her boyfriend and her friend sharing a rather intimate relationship made her more embarrassed than picturing herself marrying Edward. What was wrong with her? No wonder the ladies in China were so crazy over bromance. The power of bromance was very real when a ship sailed between the right people.

    "Are you alright?" Edward asked. They were in the middle of preparing dinner when Scarlet drifted off and became embarrassed all on her own with the thoughts her brain supplied her with.

    Looking at Edward, Scarlet''s blood pressure skyrocketed. She could only imagine those kissable lips whispering secrets into Elfie''s ear while they shared a mouse over a laptop.

    "E-Excuse me!" she screeched and ran to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her, leaving Edward alone in the kitchen looking very confused.

    Scarlet might have snapped out of her zone for some reason but her reaction was very odd and her face too red to be normal. Edward decided to wait for a little and focus on finishing up the rest of dinner preparations. He was careful to only give Scarlet a potato peeler instead of a knife. While the writer was in the zone, Edward took care of her the whole time and moved all the potential dangers away. He fed her, took care of her schedule so she wasn''t late for classes even though he barely made it on time for his own lectures after escorting her to her lessons. Edward also picked her up as quickly as he could and kept tabs on the assignment that Scarlet was assigned through the school''s student learning portal.

    He looked over to the peeled potatoes and decided to continue. They were going to make an easy mashed potato dinner when Scarlet bolted on him. Edward took over expertly. Thanks to his training as a spy and working at several restaurants before, Edward knew how to cook simple dishes.

    Now that the potatoes were peeled by Scarlet before she ran away, Edward cut them up quickly into cubes and added them into the pot filled with water together with the broccoli. Once that was done, he added a little salt to the water and let it boil, putting the lid on and leaving a gap. Then he pulled out the bacon from the fridge and cut them into small pieces.

    He didn''t really cook at home so the couple decided to go shopping for necessities and got themselves a small pot, a non-stick frying pan and some cutlery, crockery and some basic cooking utensils. It cost a lot for an ordinary student but Edward had money and the Wildes paid him so that didn''t amount to much. Still, he didn''t want to go overboard to get everything so he only bought the bare necessities. There wasn''t an oven or a microwave so he didn''t get any bakeware.

    The pan was heated up on the induction stove and Edward threw in the cut bacon slices, watching them sizzle and flinching at some hot oil splashes. He might not be able to use the lid to prevent splashes but he could definitely wield it like a shield when he flipped them.

    While Edward busied away in the kitchen, Scarlet was finally done with brainwashing herself into denying her fujoshi awakening. Still, she slowly crept out of the bathroom and what she saw made her fall for Edward all over again. The way he moved around in the kitchen at ease spoke about his capabilities. Not going to lie, Scarlet knew that her talents came with a price. Even though she was majorly gifted in many areas, the kitchen was one place she was severely lacking in. Whenever she tried to do something, everyone would chase her out. Claire didn''t mention it in the contract so Scarlet was determined to slip into Edward''s kitchen and learn how to cook. She was actually excited to explore the mysterious world that she had been banned from until that weird thought stuck in her head.

    Sure, there might be a few times when muffins caught fire and gas exploded1 but Scarlet swore she followed the book!

    There is all his glory fighting oil splatters was the love of her life, in the kitchen. Scarlet bit her lip. If she told him about her identity, perhaps it would be alright after all. Edward had never once let her down and she had no reason to start doubting him now. Still, to be extra sure about it, she wanted to talk to Alex before she told him everything.

    The potato and broccoli were boiled and soft enough so Edward turned off the heat. At the same time, the bacon was fried so he let it sit in the pan while he drained the water and started to mash the vegetables.

    Scarlet crept behind Edward as he added salt, pepper and herbs while mixing the butter in gently. She couldn''t help but be curious about what people normally did in kitchens because she had been banned from entering.

    Edward was focused on the task that he didn''t realise how close Scarlet had gotten until he saw a long strand of black slithering pass his forearm and a shadow to his right. The teen yelped but held onto the bowl steadily and collapsed onto the floor, clutching it when he realised it was only Scarlet and not some ghost.

    Scarlet was equally startled and flinched when Edward looked at her. She didn''t mean to scare him but she was very afraid of getting kicked out of the kitchen. Instead of scolding her, Edward only sighed and smiled at Scarlet as if nothing had happened.

    "You''re back," he smiled. "Could you grab the plates? I''m almost done here."

    Happy that he wasn''t angry with her and was entrusting her with kitchen duties, Scarlet complied. She was careful with the plates and thankful that she convinced Edward to get plastic ones instead of ceramic. She lost count of the number of spoons she broke while she was in China and it wasn''t something she would ever tell Edward about. That spoon count was simply too ridiculous.

    Edward tested the consistency of the mashed potatoes and nodded at the greenish mixture, he taste-tested it and was happy with the results. For the final touches, he pouted the cooling bacon and oil on top and brought it out, ready for serving.

    Author''s Note: Disclaimer, do not follow the recipe. I am not a cook and I was banned from my own kitchen as well as everybody else''s kitchen. If you''re curious to hear my story and the difficulties I faced writing this chapter, I will be making a video to be uploaded on my Youtube channel. You can check it out and subscribe to it if you like such content! It''s a real story from yours truly. More on Youtube, I make videos to explain it.

 Chapter 207 - Question for a Question

    Dinner was great even though it was simple. Scarlet felt slightly guilty for not helping out much. Edward didn''t mind and told her to go shower while he cleaned up but Scarlet refused. Her reason was that it was only fair for her to clean up since she didn''t do much with dinner preparations.

    Seeing that Scarlet was obstinate about it, he let her do as she pleased. It wasn''t wise to fight with her over such trivial things. Besides, he had a feeling now that she was finally out of the zone, there would be something interesting coming up. With only two more days before the wish expired, he was looking forward to seeing what Scarlet had in mind. Surely it wouldn''t be anything ordinary.

    Indeed, Scarlet sent Edward away with the pretext of cleaning up silly because she wanted to mentally adjust herself. This wish couldn''t be as straightforward. While Scarlet didn''t feel comfortable about telling Edward just about everything, she didn''t want to keep him in the dark. She convinced herself that if he asked, she would answer as truthfully as she could. At the same time, she wanted to get to know him better on a deeper level. Hence, what would be a better way than to have a little game?

    There is a popular game called Truth or Dare but Scarlet didn''t want that. She wanted more questions than dares so she decided to modify the rules a little. Searching through the cupboard, she found what she was looking for. It was a bag of tea leaves that neither of them touched because this was something Alex gave them as a welcoming gift when she saw the couple mugs.

    The electric kettle went off just as Scarlet finished washing the plates. She poured some tea leaves into a filter sachet and threw the bag into the electric kettle. It didn''t matter if they finished the tea. It was only a last resort since she was too young to drink anything alcoholic. If it were Alex, her sister would have just taken all the vodka out without a care for age limit but Scarlet was more law-abiding. She wouldn''t drink until she was eighteen.

    The set up was simple. Scarlet tried to make it cosy and dimmed the lights. It looked slightly funny to see an electric kettle on a coaster with two empty mugs on the table but Scarlet ignored that. She drew the curtains shut and put on some random movie in the background, playing it softly so that there wouldn''t be a horrible awkward silence when they started. Edward would soon be out so Scarlet ran through her mind the things she planned to ask him and the rules of the game.

    When Edward left the showers, he was surprised to see the lights dimmed. They only did this for movie nights and he heard something playing softly. Could this be Scarlet''s wish? A movie marathon? He grinned. All that zoning out for a marathon seemed odd but he wasn''t going to complain if it was. Still, he had better put on a shirt before the guards outside reported his indecency to Claire who was already unhappy with him about kissing Scarlet. The head maid might be overseas but she still contacted him daily and demanded a report. Although she didn''t tell him directly, her interrogation was twice as long on the day he shared a kiss with Scarlet.

    Scarlet was seated on the floor by the tiny coffee table with cushions all over the floor. Edward was slightly surprised that she wasn''t looking at the screen but he also noted that there were a kettle and their cups on the coffee table. He wondered what she was up to this time. It wasn''t a setup he was familiar with.

    "What''s this?" he asked and Scarlet glanced up.

    "This is my wish. We''re going to play a game. I''m sure you''re familiar with Truth or Dare. However, I''m going to make some modifications. The game goes on until both of us run out of questions for each other or the tea is emptied, whichever first."

    Edward grinned. Leave it to Scarlet to do such a roundabout thing. He honestly didn''t think there were many things he wouldn''t tell her if she genuinely wished to know. Maybe the thing regarding his true identity and job had to be a secret but if she was curious about him as a person, he would never hide anything from her.

    "Sounds interesting," he said and sat down opposite of her. "How do we play this? Also, do I smell rosehip tea? Isn''t this the one your sister mailed?"

    Scarlet laughed. "I didn''t think you would be familiar with tea but yes, this is the one Alex sent. I only drink coffee so I don''t know what this would taste like."

    They got comfortable and Edward glanced at the screen. It was an old movie that he didn''t watch. It was something that his father liked and he didn''t think it was something that Scarlet would be interested in either. Why did she choose this of all the films he had?

    "The rules are simple. I figured out that there are many things I still don''t know about you even though we''ve been dating for a while so I want to take this chance to ask you all the things I never had the chance to ask you. You can tell the truth or you can lie, whichever it is, I wouldn''t know better. However, if you feel uncomfortable about answering now or would like to postpone answering a certain question, you can choose to drink tea. That''s the game I want to play using my wish. Are you regretting it now?"

    Edward scoffed. "Me? Never. In fact, this would be great. I''ve been dying to ask you a few questions of my own. Let''s do this instead. A question of equivalent value with another question. If the answer isn''t satisfactory the other person can go for 2 questions instead."

    Scarlet didn''t find any problems with it so they sat down and started the conversation light.

    "What''s your favourite colour?" Scarlet asked and Edward grinned.

    "Black. I know, it''s technically a shade and not a colour but that''s what I like. What about you?"

    Scarlet nodded. "I''ll accept it. I like red, purple, blue and silver. I can''t choose a favourite but I tend to waver between these colours."

    Edward laughed. That was something he had already long realised but he didn''t think Scarlet was aware of it. Still, they asked for more questions. Scarlet moved to the what-of type of questions and that was where things started getting interesting. So far, nobody has drunk any tea.

    "What if I didn''t have a panic attack that day? Would you still have revealed to me who you were?"

    The question was so serious that Edward could no longer take it lightly and tease her. He looked at her in the eyes and wondered if he should drink some tea instead. He didn''t intend to tell her about him because it would have been better that way. Jedd77 could have just been another friend that came and went like everyone else and there would only be Edward Bayon who might also disappear, depending on circ.u.mstances. However, things were what they were now. Would she hate him if he said no?

    Scarlet was slightly afraid because this was the first time Edward hesitated after they started the game. Whichever answer he had prepared for her, she would accept it. If he would have never told her at all she wouldn''t pursue it. If he said that he would still tell her eventually, she would still understand it. It was just something she wanted to confirm about his personality. While she knew Edward would never harm her, she didn''t know if he wouldn''t lie to her.

    Edward reached for the cup and Scarlet felt her heart breaking a little. Was he that reluctant to tell her?

    He was judging her expression when he reached for the cup and knew at once whichever answer he gave her, it wouldn''t have mattered. Reaching for the cup and not answering her was the one thing he shouldn''t be doing. Hence, the cup was at his side but Edward didn''t reach for the kettle.

    "What kind of answer do you want to hear? Any answer I give now would only hurt you either way. The reality remains that I did what I did. Nothing can change that now."

    Scarlet looked at Edward who didn''t pour the tea. "Do you regret telling me?"

    Horrified, Edward reached for her hand. "No, never. I don''t want to deceive you if I can help it. More than anything, I don''t want to hurt you."

    Scarlet felt touched by those words but another bagging worry surfaced. What if she was the one deceiving him instead? Would he still say the same thing?

    "Then have you ever deceived me from the time we started dating until now?"

    Edward didn''t even lie when she asked this question. Alex''s advice remained deeply ingrained in his head. If Scarlet was asking questions, it meant that she already had suspicions. It was best not to lie to her because she was a smart girl and she will find out. He couldn''t let her be betrayed like this so he admitted it.

    "Yes. However, I can''t let you know about some of the secrets I Harbour. I know it isn''t fair and I cannot promise you that I will ever tell them. However, the only thing you need to know would be that I wouldn''t waver in front of you, your family or the world."

    Scarlet teared up a little. Edwar wasn''t lying when he said that and it made her feel horrible inside. "What if I''ve been lying to you and hiding a huge mountain of secrets? Will you come to hate me if you find out one day or will you not want me anymore because I won''t tell you any of them even though they come to haunt me?"

    Edward didn''t know which secret Scarlet was referring to. Was it the secret of her identity, her agenda with Anastasia or her feelings with the past that traumatized her? Yet, he was firm with his resolve.

    "I won''t ever be mad at you but I will be displeased if you suffer alone. You don''t have to tell me if it is too painful for you, I won''t ever blame you or it. However, I don''t like it if something troubles you and you don''t come to me for it. I might not be able to help you fight your battles but I can comfort you and lend you my strength in whatever form that it comes in. Even if everyone else deserts you one day, I will always be your ally. That''s crazy coming from someone who you haven''t even known for a year but this is how crazy I am for you."

    Letting the walls around her collapse, Scarlet started to cry, forgetting all about the game or the tea. Edward held her tightly without a word and neither of them moved even as the credits of the movie started to play. As a psychology student, he was happy at the signs that Scarlet was finally starting to open up to him. However, as a spy, he felt pained that he might not be able to keep his promises to her depending on the situation. Still, he meant every word he said. Even if he had to leave her one day or hurt her, it would be to protect her.

 Chapter 208 - One Secret at a Time

    Through his reassurance and patience, Scarlet found herself slowly opening up. It was all the minor things at first that she chose to tell him about even though she didn''t really think it mattered to anyone else. Not even Alex knew about her little secrets even though they were sisters for a long time. They were sometimes silly things that Scarlet felt guilty about not admitting to. For example, she wanted Edward to know that she wasn''t perfect like what everyone else says about her.

    "I sometimes will skip on workouts. I actually don''t like doing planks or reverse crunches in front of others. I know the personal trainer likes to see me do those because he enjoys seeing me struggle for some reason and I don''t like being seen as weak in the eyes of others."

    Edward nodded. They''d given up on the silly game and chose to simply talk about it, cuddled on the small couch with rosehip tea in hand. The tea tasted slightly strange for Scarlet but she drank it anyway. Edward didn''t have the heart to tell her that she added too much tea into the bag and that it was over-brewed. For her first time, it was still a decent attempt but he would have to teach her how to brew tea and appreciate it as a healthier alternative to coffee. Scarlet might not know this and nobody told him about it but Edward thought that the writer was drinking a little too much coffee in a day as if it was something that she relied on to keep herself going. He wanted to try to cut down her intake and get her to properly rest. How anyone could do so many things with only six hours of sleep every day remained a mystery to him. In his eyes, while she was the perfect role model of a human being, she was still overdoing it. He had a small suspicion that his girlfriend was secretly a workaholic even if she wouldn''t admit it.

    "You''re not weak. You might be small but never weak," he said and earned himself a small nudge with her elbow. It was true. While he couldn''t help but tease her, Edward didn''t want Scarlet to feel like she needed to work even harder to better herself to the point of constant exhaustion. She was already there and what he thought she needed the most now, was a break.

    "I sometimes feel like if I don''t do something to keep it up, I will fall behind everyone else. You might already see it but I look very different from my sisters and mother. I''ve been adopted not from the time I was a baby. Long story short, my biological parents sold me for money in some way. I was a transaction that finally made them happy with my existence. I was never wanted before this and I cannot be more grateful towards Alex and her parents for accepting me into their family. We might have had our disagreements over the years but Alex is still a very dear sister of mine. I could never hate her."

    Edward nodded. He knew that already but he didn''t know if Scarlet wanted to talk about it. While his girlfriend put it very briefly for him to understand, he was almost certain that there were more complicated feelings beneath that calm exterior. Scarlet knew that she had been sold to a richer family. It certainly couldn''t have been easy.

    "Do you hate them? Your biological parents, I mean. It didn''t sound like they treated you well. You must have suffered greatly."

    Scarlet laughed and planted a light kiss on Edward''s chin. "No, nothing of that sort. I wasn''t exactly abused. Not too much anyway. My last name used to be Liu. I don''t remember where I was born but I spent a good amount of my time attending an international school in Malaysia where I first met Alex and Jasper. Alex was my first friend. I had always been a loner before that. How do I say this? My parents didn''t want a child and I was a hindrance to their career. The moment I grew old enough, they left me to my own devices and gave me money to get whatever I needed. There were no nannies or babysitters whenever they travelled for work for months at a time. I learned how to take the bus to school, make sandwiches, buy food and clean the house when I wasn''t studying. My favourite place to be back then was the library. Books were my only friends before Alex and Jasper came around."

    Edward nodded. He knew about her love for reading. However, he didn''t know that it was born from loneliness. If only he came to know about this little girl back then, he would never have let her suffer. Then again, thinking about it, Edward didn''t think he would have been in a better position. Scarlet was eight or ten back then and at that age, Edward was undergoing rigorous training after he ran away to find his dad and was accepted into the academy where spies were trained. He went on his very first mission at ten and killed his first man at fourteen. His hands were hardly clean but he didn''t regret it. If they were to meet back then, he might not have been ready for her.

    "Your parents neglected you. That''s abuse enough."

    Scarlet chuckled. "No, that wasn''t the worst. I still recall it sometimes how my mother who never gave me any attention or affection would often drag me out whenever she returned to those social gatherings with the upper class and made me dress up in those expensive but uncomfortable clothes. I was like a doll back then. I couldn''t smile or have an opinion, I just stayed there and did as my mother wished. I was told to play nice with the other rich children and there was one time I fought with a boy because he was harassing me. My mother wasn''t happy. I was punished badly. It was the first time I was starved, beaten and locked up for a very long time. I remember being so terrified I dreamt of running away but my father was always watching. I couldn''t call for help, I couldn''t go to school. Nobody would have cared if I died back then because nobody knew me. I think they would have been glad if I was gone too."

    Hearing her innermost thoughts, the teen hugged her closer and buried his head into her hair. "I would be sad if you were gone. So don''t go anywhere without telling me and don''t go anywhere I can''t reach. I could take a plane ticket to fly to any country. I could even walk there if I was broke no matter how many years that would take. But don''t go somewhere that I cannot find you, it''s terrifying."

    Scarlet didn''t want to cry. Her head was pounding from the tears earlier but Edward was just too good at getting her to bawl her eyes out today. The writer sniffed and clung onto his arm. "I won''t promise you anything but I will do my best not to go anywhere without letting you know. If the day should come that I disappear for no reason, won''t you come and find me?"

    "I will," Edward kissed her hand and wiped her tears. "I will come and find you. I won''t let you be alone again. I will find you," he promised.

    Scarlet sniffed and laughed. "It''s silly, isn''t it? I''m crying so much tonight. I think I''m going to look puffy tomorrow at this rate."

    Edward pretended to study her face and nodded seriously. "Yes, you''re going to be very ugly tomorrow. Your eyes are going to start resembling that one emoji that has lines for eyes instead of dots. I guess that saves you the trouble of using it for the day. You can just take a selfie and send it. Nobody will notice the difference."

    Annoyed by his teasing, Scarlet smacked him with a cushion she swiped from the floor. Edward laughed and raised his arm to block it. That gave Scarlet even more reason to attack with all her might until Edward was laughing and begging for mercy. They tumbled around and hit each other with pillows, laughing so hard until they were breathless.

    "Truce?" he asked.

    "Truce," Scarlet agreed. After telling him some things about her past, Scarlet''s heart felt a lot lighter even if her head felt heavier. If this was what a hangover felt like, she was staying off vodka.

    "Ugh," she groaned. "My head hurts. I haven''t cried in so long."

    Edward smiled fondly. "There''s a first for everything. Also, don''t worry. I think I''m going to make you cry a lot more when you''re with me. In a good way, I hope. If there''s something you want to tell me, you can do that anytime. Just let me know beforehand and we can arrange something like this again. No need to go all the way out to arrange a game. I''ll always be ready to listen and answer any questions you have about me, about us."

    Scarlet blushed. At this moment, she knew for sure that what she felt for this boy could no longer be counted as a crush. She might not know this feeling before when she was acting, writing or reading about it. However, she had fantasised about it for so long that there was no mistaking it.

    She loved Edward. It didn''t matter what name he went by, she loved this man for who he was.

 Chapter 209 - Scarlets Part-Time Job

    Their relationship grew a lot closer after the talk. Scarlet felt that Edward didn''t treat her any differently even after knowing more about her past. That made her feel reassured that he wouldn''t judge her for the other secrets too. It would be better to ease the secrets into their very new and unstable relationship.

    Sure, Scarlet and Edward had no problems cohabiting, unlike Alex and Jasper who had started dividing territories because they simply couldn''t see eye to eye. However, Scarlet and Edward were just too busy as of late. The first project season was coming and both students were locked in their rooms most of the time. They no longer waited for each other to come back home. Scarlet was always busy meeting with her group mates to work on presentations while Edward was pulled along by Alicia and her team for various events. The psychology department was recruiting freshies for the open house and Edward was roped in to help manage the projectors for their showcase.

    To put it shortly, Scarlet and Edward''s relationship was making no significant progress because of how busy they were.

    Scarlet''s classmates and groupmates were nice people but the girl wished that she didn''t have to hang out with them as often. In comparison, listening to Alicia talking was a lot more interesting. She didn''t know if it was because of the difference in their course of study but psychology and philosophy students had very different mentalities. The classmates she had were very bookish and often spoke in a sophisticated manner, carrying themselves with a sort of air that made it hard for others to come close. On the other hand, Alicia and her gang were very laid-back and welcoming. Scarlet felt slightly out of place with her classmates and always found excuses to bail earlier. The group project wasn''t difficult for her but these people simply spent too much time talking about unrelated stuff trying to sound more profound than the other. Scarlet was not in a mood to entertain their paper pride. She had better things to do and places to be.

    Everyone was too busy with their lives lately so Scarlet took this opportunity to distract the guards that Claire placed on her. It hadn''t been easy trying to hide her other celebrity personas from Edward because the teen was sometimes too perceptive. She had to give him more credit than she originally thought when he found out about her secret dislike for chickpeas when not even Tina knew about it. To summarise it, Scarlet had now confirmed that Edward was extremely observant when he wanted to be. Scarlet just happened to be his sole obsession and nothing went past his eyes.

    He had almost discovered her secret job as a writer too and Scarlet had a heart attack when he found her ''report'' on the dining table. It was her fault for leaving plot drafts all over but Scarlet hadn''t expected Edward to read them. Thankfully, the teen didn''t understand her scribbles and Scarlet nearly collapsed in relief in front of him. She didn''t like showing anyone her plot bunnies because most of them didn''t make good content for books. Even Debbie was shown polished plots in Judah1.

    That said, Scarlet hurried home today. It was a miracle that he was able to leave the campus by three in the afternoon when she had been going back at eight because of the project. The report was finally finalised and they submitted it earlier. Scarlet was finally free to do what she pleased and skipped on the invitation to celebrate the project''s competition with the girls. Compared to going to a tea time party at a local cake shop and debating over various political views of the common folks, Scarlet preferred to look through her manuscript and edit the poor thing that has been sitting at the back of her laptop for months.

    Edward was still not home yet and Scarlet heard a sigh of relief. Not many people knew about Scarlet''s writing process and how she got into her writing mode but there was nothing glamorous about it. For starters, Scarlet dressed down. She either dressed down completely or wore something so absurd that nobody could look at her without judging her for it. For today, she felt too dull for such a thing so Scarlet looked through her minimal clothing selection before pulling out a brightly coloured jacket made from quilt patches.

    To get inspired, she needed to first feel inspired.

    Tying her long hair into a very messy bun, Scarlet looked for her favourite headset and rejoiced when she found it. She usually used earpieces for normal occasions because she only plugged in one side. It was a habit that she developed after working on-site and in studios for long enough. However, when it came to writing, nothing felt more familiar than shutting the world around her out completely. The beauty of writing was being able to lose herself completely in a sea of words. Scarlet looked at the time and got changed into her pyjamas as the coffee brewed. She was going to make an entire flask of it and grab a packet of blueberries to pop while she was at it. The tin of mint sweets and a bottle of plain water was also within reach. Scarlet went through her mental checklist.

    Yes, everything was in place. It was finally time to write.

    The door was closed, the windows were shut and the curtains were drawn. Scarlet flipped on the light and put on her computer glasses. There were about four more hours before Edward returned. She was confident that she could get about a third of the manuscript edited before he came back. Although Scarlet shared a lot of things about herself with her boyfriend, she still wasn''t too ready to tell him about her ''part-time job''. In fact, she didn''t tell him anything about her family''s background or celebrity personas but they don''t scare her as much as him finding out that she was a writer.

    While Scarlet knew she wasn''t the kind of girl to care so much about how others perceived her and she didn''t preen whenever she looked at any mirror, she didn''t want Edward to see her in such a dishevelled state. She wanted to look presentable in his eyes even though it was only a hoodie and a pair of faded jeans. Anything would be better than this disastrous slob of an appearance!

    Confident that she would be able to finish what she needed on time, Scarlet played the instrumental track to some of Britannia''s old songs loud enough to drown out any other noises. Blocking the world out around her, Scarlet finally settled into the editing mood and scrutinised the manuscript with a critical eye.

    Time flew by quicker than expected and Scarlet didn''t know when the flask of coffee had been emptied or when she had finished the packet of blueberries on the desk. Her stomach protested but she ignored it.

    "Just one more chapter," she told her noisy stomach and continued to read.

    Fatigue was starting to set in but with the power of caffeine and mint sweets, Scarlet powered through one more chapter.

    It was nine when Edward returned. He was tired and still rather confused. He sent Scarlet texts and even called her but the girl wasn''t replying. Wasn''t she meant to finish the project today? Did something happen at the last moment that she became so busy?

    Those questions were immediately thrown out of the window when he saw her sneakers by the doorway. Scarlet was back. That was odd. Why didn''t she answer any of his messages or pick up any of her calls?

    As he walked to her room, he heard it. The sound of typing and music. Scarlet usually didn''t close the door while she worked. What was going on today? He knocked on the door loudly twice and called out to her but there was still no answer. Hence, he tried the door handle and found it unlocked. If it was unlocked, that meant Scarlet wasn''t sleeping. Why wasn''t she answering?

    He stared at this adorable sight of his girlfriend in a chair with her legs folded in it, eyes focussed on the screen with a deep concentrated frown. He heard a weird sound as well and it took him a while to realise that it was coming from her stomach. How long had she been working on the project that she forgot to eat? This wouldn''t do.

    Tired as he may be, Edward wasn''t going to let Scarlet go hungry. He wasn''t angry at her for not replying to him. After all, whatever she was doing looked important. He hasn''t eaten either and it was late so Edward decided to go for something simple - pasta.

    From her room, Scarlet was distracted by the smell of something good. Finally unable to ignore her stomach, the writer pulled away from her work and saved it. She was progressing better than she thought she would and checked the time.

    It was half-past nine and Scarlet gaped. What happened to the alarm she set?

    Saving her work and shutting down the laptop, Scarlet pulled off the headset and stretched. Whatever Edward was cooking in the kitchen, it smelled heavenly. Curious, Scarlet crept out to spy on the cook. The name of Scarlet''s exchange journal with Debbie.

 Chapter 210 - Sloppy Scarlet

    After battling with grammar and phrasing for so long, Scarlet had completely forgotten about what she was wearing. The only thing that she could think of was her rumbling stomach and how divine the pasta Edward was making smelled.

    Edward didn''t need to turn around to know that Scarlet was out. For some reason, her footsteps were less coordinated today as if she was still half-asleep even though she was awake. Scarlet didn''t seem like her usual energetic self either and that was rather surprising. Even though they have been living together for a while, Scarlet had been nothing but sharp and polished even when she was relaxing. Perhaps it was some unknown training that she had gone through as a rich heiress?

    Whatever the reason was, he was actually glad that he got to see Scarlet in her natural habitat. He knew that he liked watching her focus on something she was passionate about. It didn''t matter if it was on stage performing a concert or on-screen as an actress. He liked her serious attitude and enjoyed watching her chase after her own success. When Scarlet was working hard on the group project, he didn''t disturb her and was waiting for it to be all over so that he could spoil her rotten. Who knew that he would come home to Scarlet secretly working on something else?

    He didn''t recognise what she was doing but he had a feeling it wasn''t the school project that Scarlet was engrossed in. Many things about her behaviour tonight pointed out that this wasn''t a side of Scarlet he was acquainted with yet. Edward didn''t know what she was up to but he was enjoying this cat-like version of his girlfriend who was asking to be spoiled.

    "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, darling. Why don''t you sit down and wait for a little? Any drinks for you?" he asked when Scarlet nuzzled his back like a cat trying to get his attention.

    "I''m hungry," she whined and Edward had to bite his lips to stop himself from turning into a puddle of slush at her feet. It wasn''t often that Scarlet acted spoilt. She always acted way too a.d.u.l.t-like and Edward had to admit, he had zero immunity to her cuteness when she was like this.

    "I know, baby. You must be tired as well. Why don''t you rest for a little first? I''ll get you when everything is ready."

    Scarlet didn''t protest and shuffled off to lie on the couch sprawled out much like a lazy cat and yawned. The girl was behaving rather undignified but Edward preferred to see her like this more often. Scarlet is usually rather tense and he wasn''t sure if she knew the meaning of relaxing at all. Today, he was glad he came home late to witness this. Scarlet might be sloppy but it just added to her natural charm.

    Once dinner was ready, Edward went over to the couch and kissed Scarlet on the cheek. "Dinner''s ready," he said.

    Scarlet cracked open an eye and looked at him. Instead of getting up, she reached his arms out to him. "Help me up?" she asked.

    Who was Edward to deny her anything? Edward smiled and hoisted her up, not letting it end there as he carried her in a princess carry to the dining area. where he tucked her into a chair. Scarlet didn''t squirm in embarrassment and Edward found it amusing. So Scarlet could be spoiled after all. She just had to be in a mood. This was reassuring.

    The normal Scarlet would be hard to please and Edward sometimes wondered if doing more was a good or a bad thing. Scarlet often rejected his offers with a blush or came up with some sort of retort. This sloppy version of Scarlet who couldn''t even be bothered to use both her hands and utensils was a refreshing change from their usual chase. Scarlet slouched and toyed with her food even though she was hungry and Edward laughed when she got sauce on her cheek.

    Without another word, he wiped the sauce off and Scarlet looked at his finger stained with sauce. Scarlet wasn''t thinking when she leaned down to lick his finger clean, shocking Edward a little. This version of Scarlet might be cute but she was also dangerous for him. Thankfully, they weren''t outside. He wouldn''t see tomorrow if she did this outside and Edward made a mental note to not bring Scarlet out when she was in such a mood.

    "Are those actual glasses?" he asked in between bites. Scarlet blinked.

    "What do you mean?"

    Edward pointed to the pair that she was wearing and Scarlet touched it. Then she remembered what they were and smiled. "Computer glasses. Only use them when writing."

    "Writing?" Edward couldn''t help but be curious.

    "Yeah. Writing. I was editing my manuscript. Chapter sixteen is still not done but I was hungry."

    Edward didn''t ask further. Chapter sixteen? He knew some things about Scarlet from Elfie but he didn''t know anything about this.

    "You write?"

    Scarlet froze mid-bite, realising what she just admitted to. Edward noticed the ''oh shit'' expression and wondered what Scarlet was going to do next.

    "We can talk about it later after dinner. Or we can forget about it if you don''t want to share. It''s fine with me, don''t freak out," he told her and Scarlet blushed, returning to her normal poised and proper self.

    Edward chuckled. It was indeed a shame. He enjoyed the sloppy version of Scarlet a lot and wished that the fun wouldn''t be over too soon.

    Scarlet was mortified. Firstly, she forgot about her attire and appearance in front of Edward. Secondly, she acted completely spoiled in front of him. To make things worse, she unintentionally let the cat out of the bag. How was she going to explain it all? Now that Edward found out, there was no more reason for her to hide.

    "You''re not shocked?"

    "At what?"

    Scarlet watched as Edward ate. Her boyfriend truly didn''t behave anything out of the usual. He looked more tired but that was understandable. Somehow, she got the vibes that he was happier tonight despite being tired.

    "You''re not shocked at how shabby I actually am?"

    Edward swallowed his shrimp. "Should I be? You look comfortable. Truth be told, I would accompany you to dress down in nothing but just my boxers like I normally do but your older sister''s contract said that I had to be decently dressed around you. I don''t want to jeopardise our relationship so I held back a little on getting overly comfortable. You''re not required to follow that rule, though. In fact, you should have done this earlier. This is now your home too."

    Edward''s words made Scarlet feel a little silly for caring so much about her appearance. He was right. This was now her home and she shouldn''t need to care about the opinions of others especially when she was at home. Why couldn''t she feel at ease with Edward the way she felt at ease with Alex? So what if her desk was a little messy? Alex was ten times messier and she didn''t care even though she was now living with Jasper. Surely Edward wouldn''t mind a little bit of mess, right?

    "I''ll do my best. But please let me know if things are getting a little too out of hand. I can be very messy sometimes."

    Edward laughed. He highly doubted it. Between Scarlet and Alex, his girlfriend was an angel. Scarlet didn''t leave her paintbrushes everywhere and didn''t occupy the entire toilet cabinet with her cosmetics. She kept everything in place with consideration. Edward couldn''t ask for anyone better.

    "Don''t worry about it. I don''t think you can be any worse than your sister so it''s fine. Besides, I think this apartment can get a little homier with you putting your things around. Sometimes I come back and I have to search for traces of you around. Feel free to leave your things out if you need to, you don''t have to keep everything in your room."

    Scarlet blushed. He might be talking about her plot journal but Scarlet didn''t know if Edward already knew about her little secret and was pretending not to know it out of courtesy. Still, she was slightly hesitant.

    "Um... about the book you found the other day..."

    This caught Edward''s attention. Was she finally going to tell him about it?

    "Yes?"

    Scarlet hesitated for a moment. The food was getting cold like her hands and feet. Before she completely chickened out, Scarlet decided to blurt everything out in a burst of bravado.

    "It was my story plot journal!"

    Startled at the shout, Edward reeled and took some time to understand what his girlfriend was saying.

    "Yes?"

    Scarlet looked at him with resolution. "My part-time job... I''m actually a writer. I write books. Please don''t tell anyone!"

    Edward wasn''t expecting to be told such a huge secret so suddenly. The fork in his hand clattered to the plate and they didn''t say anything for a while.

    "Ok. Cool. What do you write? Have I read any of your books before?"

    Scarlet blushed. "I doubt it," she said. "It''s not exactly published yet, this one."

    Interested, Edward asked more and Scarlet shyly told him about her pen name and her first published book. He didn''t ask many questions and listened attentively to everything she said. How Scarlet described the writing process was very different from how she gave interviews about the shooting scenes behind the movies. This writer Scarlet was very passionate and Edward thought that it might be better if Scarlet pursued writing as a full-time career.

    "Why don''t you consider becoming a full-time writer after you graduate? I''d love to see you publish more books. If it''s about finding a job and paying for rent, you don''t have to worry about it. I will work hard enough to support the both of us."

    Scarlet wasn''t expecting such support from even Edward but she was touched by his offer. To be honest, it was something Scarlet had been considering heavily. If Anastasia''s case could be resolved, would she still continue the showbiz or would she retire silently to become a humble writer?

    "I-I''ll have to consider but thank you. I love writing but there are some things I cannot give up yet to do this. Still, thank you. It means a lot to me that you''ll support me if I intend to pursue this path."

    Edward blinked. "Is your family against it?" he asked softly.

    "What? No! They aren''t against it. I just have... other problems that I need to resolve before I can think about what I want to do with my life. Oh, thanks for cooking dinner even though you''re so tired. Please rest early. I''ll try to finish up the rest of that manuscript. Good night in advance," she smiled and left Edward all alone.

    After Scarlet returned to her room and started editing, Edward sat there wondering what was the uneasy feeling in his chest when he found out about her writing career and reason for not pursuing it. He should be happy to know that Scarlet was entrusting him with more and more secrets. However, he kept getting the feeling that the more he knew about her, the further away she was becoming. It was ridiculous but he felt uneasy.

    Since Scarlet was going to be working on it for a while, Edward decided to get back to his work and step up the matter with Anastasia. The faster that man was dealt with, the better it was for his current relationship.

 Chapter 211 - Scarlet Suspects

    The next few weeks passed peacefully. Scarlet received ample support from Edward regarding her writing career. In fact, Edward seemed to be cheering her on to pursue that path for some reason. He was her biggest fan and proofreader. However, something about his enthusiasm felt off to her.

    For starters, Edward was busy. When she said busy, she meant busy. The teen was still very affectionate with her. However, he was always outside doing unknown stuff. Yes, he might tell Scarlet what he was dealing with or who he was with but Scarlet couldn''t understand why a guy as inactive and introverted like Edward would suddenly have so many social appointments. Besides, Edward''s alibi was unquestionable. What was he up to?

    She knew that Edward was a friend of Elfie''s but the question of how they met never popped up so glaringly until Scarlet casually asked about it over breakfast. Initially, she didn''t think too much about his answer but now that she reflected, something sounded odd.

    If Edward and Elfie were friends since they were children and Elfie had been travelling frequently because of what he did, under what kind of circ.u.mstances did they meet and how was Edward still in contact with the hacker? Apart from the Special Class and E.C. Class that kept in touch via the special chat room, Elfie never had friends outside of work. At least none that Scarlet knew about.

    To make matters more complicated, Scarlet had discovered listening bugs around Edward''s apartment. She thought that this might have been planted by Claire initially but now that she thought about it, Claire wouldn''t have planted so many bugs in odd places. Scarlet found one in her room and she wasn''t worried about it. Claire always taught her where to place the bugs in hotel rooms and the spot it was hidden in was one of those places Scarlet knew about. If she didn''t want Claire to know about what she was doing, Scarlet could easily disable it. However, the ones she found recently under the kitchen sink, in the sole of a shoe that Edward hardly wore, behind the key hooks and under the movie rack made her wonder if those listening bugs were truly planted by Claire. Thankfully, she didn''t find anything suspicious in the bathroom or she would have freaked out by now.

    Edward was mindful of her privacy so Scarlet felt that she should respect his privacy too and had never been into Edward''s room before. However, Edward was away from home very often nowadays and the curious side of her couldn''t hold back for much longer. She was curious about what she would find there. Edward didn''t seem to own many things but he did seem to have many secrets. The more Scarlet observed him, the more oddities she discovered. As a writer, it was second nature to notice things that were different about individuals compared to others. On the surface, Edward appeared normal but not even he could fool her.

    Edward was a light sleeper, just like Scarlet. He would wake at the slightest noise or movement but he didn''t wake up immediately. The first few times it happened, Scarlet didn''t notice anything out of the ordinary. She once dropped a bowl and Edward was sleeping on the couch, passed out from exhaustion over finalising a report for submission. Edward didn''t stir and she found it odd. It wasn''t until something happened a second time.

    Scarlet had been cleaning the floor after a movie that Edward had dozed off to halfway when she stumbled on him. It was dark and she couldn''t see where she was going. Unlike the apartment, Scarlet was still not used to navigating her way around in the dark in Edward''s apartment. It had only been about a month since she started living here. She didn''t expect for Edward who had been snoring moments ago to have such quick reflexes to catch her and cushion her fall. When they trend on the lights, Scarlet forgot all about how quickly he had reacted even though he had been genuinely asleep before. The scare of almost getting blinded in one eye with the sharp edge of the coffee table so near her eye made her forget everything.

    Now that she thought back about it, it was rather strange. For a recluse who didn''t like working out or going out, Edward had surprisingly steady hands. If Scarlet was honest, she would define his muscles as lean and capable of lifting weights heavier than the average person. Although she wasn''t sure if Edward was able to win Mike in an arm-wrestling match, she knew that Edward easily hoisted things that the athletic Scarlet couldn''t lift. Scarlet knows this because she made the mistake when shopping for groceries to buy liquid detergent with a bag of rice. She tried to carry both of them back but not even a third through her journey, she had to call Edward for help. Her boyfriend rushed over and carried both purchases home with Scarlet toddling along, feeling exhausted. Maybe it was a guy thing but Edward was way stronger than he looked even though she had never seen her boyfriend work out.

    The one thing that made Scarlet highly curious about Edward''s secret was how he managed to convince Elfie to make him a laptop similar to his. No matter how Scarlet tried to get her head around it, there was only one person who would build such a laptop. Edward and Elfie''s relationship went further than friends. Even if Elfie was good friends with the E.C. Class and Special Class, he wouldn''t help them build such a laptop. That laptop was almost as good as a server farm. It was what Elfie used for work and Edward has ever maxed that beast out in terms of processing. Scarlet knew that because she heard those powerful cooling fans on turbo.

    Edward never talked much about himself or the past with her even if she asked. The fact that one of his phone numbers had only three numbers in the contact list and the other phone number had hundreds made no sense to her. Elfie''s number, her number and his father''s number were the only three saved contacts in Edward''s second phone contact card. Edward''s phone had two sim cards and Scarlet found out his passcode once. Out of curiosity, she tried to access it in hopes of finding a nice photo of Edward in it so that she could send that to herself to add it into her personal collection. Instead, there was nothing there. All conversation traces for Edward''s second phone had been erased completely and only the nonsense text messages from Alicia''s group chat and various social groups were stored in Edward''s more active phone number. She found that odd.

    Lastly, Edward knew many things that were seemingly irrelevant to each other. Sometimes when he spoke, he would let it slip and use the technical jargon that she didn''t understand. He didn''t speak normally either when he wasn''t in the socialising mood. Scarlet witnessed a few of those moments in the month that they lived together. Edward could get very focussed and lost in thoughts when he was working on something on that monster of a laptop. She tried to search those jargons up and they were commonly used in the police department or military department. For some reason, that alone gave her a ridiculous idea that she couldn''t confirm. What if Elfie and Edward were friends because they worked together? That seemed slightly ridiculous but if Elfie was a hacker, why couldn''t Edward be one too working for the Interpol? That would explain the long overseas trips that Edward''s father had. If Edward''s father was doing anything like Danny, everything would fall nicely into place.

    Furthermore, if Scarlet were to include Edward''s reaction to what she told him about herself, she couldn''t help but feel uneasy and doubt the authenticity of his reactions. She didn''t doubt his feelings for her but somehow, she had a feeling that he already knew who she was even before he told her. From when he was still Jedd77 till now, Edward seemed to know a lot about her and Scarlet still had no clue about him. When he revealed that he already knew who she was, she bought his reason. However, Edward seemed to also know of things she didn''t remember ever telling him about.

    For instance, Edward knew that Scarlet had a habit of not washing her hair on days that she didn''t have to work out. He even knew the type of soap she preferred to use even though they changed brands so often. To make things scarier, he understood the types of sanitary pads to buy her when she freaked out in a public toilet when her period came and she didn''t carry any pads. It was scary and Edward sometimes knew more about her than she knew about herself. He told her that selfies were better taken in natural light and Scarlet''s better side was her left side.

    As a boyfriend, Edward was fantastic. In fact, she couldn''t find flaws with him, he was perfect. However, if there was anything that was too good to be true, it usually was the case. Scarlet didn''t believe that Edward wasn''t hiding anything from her. He was too suspicious and the writer was now on a mission to uncover the truth. What sort of secrets was Edward hiding from her that he didn''t want her to know?

    Snooping was bad and Scarlet knew this. However, against the curiosity threatening to drive her insane? She was willing to grovel in an apology afterwards and satisfy her curiosity first.

 Chapter 212 - Edward Explains

    When Edward came home, the first thing he did was freeze. Something felt off but he couldn''t put a finger on it. Not yet. After working as a spy for years, he came to know how to trust his sixth sense more. The apartment might not be in danger at the moment but that didn''t mean it was alright. Whoever had the audacity to break into his apartment was courting death. Yet, he found it odd that the guards staking outside of his apartment made no attempt to apprehend this bold intruder rummaging through his room.

    The first thing that ran through his mind was to confirm Scarlet''s safety. Her shoes were here which meant that she was home. If this thief had hurt his girlfriend in any way, he would make them pay dearly. Yet, something told Edward to proceed with more caution than usual.

    This thief didn''t seem to be experienced because he heard a hiss of pain after a loud clatter. Suddenly, Edward had a strange feeling that this confrontation might not be good. As he got close to his room that had the door slightly open, Edward confirmed his fears.

    The thief was none other than his girlfriend. He didn''t know what she was doing in there or why she was going through his things but he didn''t understand what he should be doing in this kind of situation. Should he get angry with her and defend his rights to keep his own secrets? Should he play it cool and guilt-trip her? Both sounded like something he would do in a normal situation. However, against his better judgement, he wanted to stay and watch a little longer to figure out what was going through her head.

    Scarlet wasn''t aware of her boyfriend''s return and groaned. That was definitely going to level an ugly bruise for a while. She wasn''t familiar with Edward''s room and that bed was too ridiculously huge. She knew that she had triggered some sort of trap when she entered simply because she found a broken pencil lead on the floor. It was a simple trick to know if anyone had entered a room. This was a trick she used a long time ago while still living under the Liu''s roof. She had to thank the anime* for teaching her that. Who would have thought that Edward would set a similar trap for his room too? Her boyfriend wasn''t just a simple person.

    Scarlet was searching Edward''s room for anything that could give her a hint about his identity. Could he be a spy that the Wildes hired for her to keep tabs on her so that she wouldn''t get herself too involved with Anastasia? Ever since she started living with Edward, Scarlet had lesser opportunities to work on Anastasia''s case. She barely had enough time to talk to CEO Zhu and find out more information. The CEO should have finalised the names and investigations on his side by now but he still hasn''t contacted her about the showcase for Golden Frost collaboration.

    So far, Scarlet''s search had turned out futile. Sure, she found out that Edward had some clothing stashed away that she never seen him wear before. Most of them were sports attire and weird accessories. Scarlet didn''t exactly judge a person based on their wardrobes but Edward was strange for hiding it in the first place. She wouldn''t question him if he wore them but why did he feel the need to hide them behind the bed''s headboard? That was an odd place to be hiding any clothes.

    In addition, Scarlet didn''t know what to think about Edward''s love for hiding things in strange places. There was a false board underneath his bed where she found some questionable items. Scarlet found a small briefcase there that was locked with a passcode and a key that she didn''t know where it was. For Edward to go to such lengths to keep it a secret, she wouldn''t pry that much into it. However, it only made her more suspicious. Edward might truly be a person from the world that Elfie and Danny lived in. In that case, wouldn''t it be bad for her who was investigating Anastasia secretly?

    As Scarlet looked around, she tried to find a listening bug in Edward''s room but found none. If Claire placed bugs all over the house, why would there be none in Edward''s room? She couldn''t understand it. Wouldn''t that be the first room Claire placed bugs in if she trapped the entire apartment?

    She rummaged through his small side desk and found a bottle of something. The label was in Spanish and Scarlet couldn''t understand it so she opened the bottle to sniff it. It didn''t have any smell and Scarlet closed it back again. Edward seemed to be a hoarder of some beauty products as well because that drawer was full of cosmetic bottles with unknown liquids. The labels were all foreign and Scarlet found herself questioning the uses for some of them.

    "I wonder if it is to be drunk or applied."

    Edward didn''t know what was going through Scarlet''s mind as she looked through all the cosmetic bottles in his side drawer. He had been standing there for nearly ten minutes but the girl didn''t know. Those bottles weren''t cosmetics. He merely reused the cosmetic bottles to store the various types of antidotes he needed for poisons. Some of them were sleeping drugs as well and he didn''t want Scarlet getting too close to them. It was a good thing none of them was of lethal dosage or Scarlet might have been knocked out in just a whiff.

    "Neither, I''m afraid," he spoke up and scared Scarlet so badly she nearly dropped the bottle.

    "E-Edward? I can explain!"

    Amused by that line, Edward nodded. "I''m sure you can. So you decided to go a little overboard with spring cleaning while I''m not home and found out my secret stash of collectables in a minimalist life. I''m not going to try to defend myself. You must be disappointed."

    Scarlet blushed and looked down guiltily. Edward was still so collected even when he caught her red-handed. She only had more questions than answers now but she still couldn''t shake off the possibility that he might really be a spy sent by Wilmer to watch her. Or a spy sent by Elfie and Jasper who weren''t happy with her dangerous investigations.

    "Who are you?"

    Edward was nervous when he heard that. He knew that Scarlet was smart and that she was quick to notice things. He wasn''t careless but there really wasn''t any way he could completely be free of suspicions after living with her for an extended period of time under the same roof. Still, he was prepared for this day. It simply came sooner than he expected.

    "Looks like we have some talking to do," he laughed. "I''m sure you have lots of questions. How about we get some rosehip tea like what we did a few weeks ago?"

    Scarlet agreed and apologised for creating a mess. Edward didn''t mind. As long as that briefcase wasn''t opened, all was good. Besides, Scarlet hasn''t found out about the false double layer of his desk that hid his more important things. She only discovered what he was ready to risk and he had explanations ready.

    Once they settled down, Scarlet started throwing questions at Edward. The teen was amused that she was finally not holding herself back.

    "Why did you put a pencil lead on the top of your door hinge? Isn''t that something only paranoid people do in anime?"

    Edward smiled. "I''m highly paranoid and it''s just something I created to keep tabs on my father. It''s since become a habit by now. I''m surprised you noticed it."

    Scarlet blushed. "I think we learned the trick from the same anime."

    Edward laughed and agreed even though he didn''t really know about the anime she spoke off. He would check it out later.

    "Why do you hide clothes behind the headboard?"

    Edward nodded. "It''s weird, isn''t it? You don''t see me do sports or any kind or seem like a rich kid but I have all sorts of designer goods there. I don''t want to wear them but I cannot throw them out so that''s a good place to forget about them."

    Scarlet blinked. It was an odd reason but an understandable one. "Is your father a difficult person to handle? Is that why you had to keep so many things a secret in your room? What would he think if he saw how this apartment has become?"

    Edward made a face. "It''s not too much of a deal, I think. he wouldn''t be coming over because I told him about you. My mom talked to him too so we should be fine. Although I cannot throw anything that was originally here away. He will murder me."

    The next question was about the secretive briefcase and Edward shrugged. "That belongs to my dad. He just told me to hold onto it for him. Also, before you ask, those bottles are sent by him from overseas. I don''t use them but I don''t throw them away either so it''s in the side drawer. It''s a souvenir from where he worked and because he''s lazy, he just gets two of the same thing and sh.i.p.s one to my mother and one to me."

    Scarlet nodded. She wasn''t a huge fan of beauty products so she didn''t question any further. However, now came the serious questions.

    "Why do you have dual sim cards in your phone? I know one of it only has three numbers including mine, Elfie''s and your father. Also, what is your relationship with Elfie? He wouldn''t build you that kind of laptop for a friend. I know what he does for work so don''t lie to me. Also, you don''t work out but you have good reflexes and are strong. Who are you exactly? Why do you know so much about me when I barely know anything about you? At this point, I''m very inclined to think that my dad sent you. You probably figured out my entire family by now."

    The moment the words left her mouth, Scarlet wanted to take them back.

    "Is this how you truly see me?" he asked, his voice laced with hurt and his eyes sad. "I didn''t want to keep it from you but you didn''t tell me about it either. How could I easily ask if you were a celebrity when you tried so hard to hide it and live a normal life?"

    * That anime is Death Note. Watch Episode 8 where Light talks about it.

 Chapter 213 - Im Sorry

    "Is this how you truly see me?" he asked, his voice laced with hurt and his eyes sad. "I didn''t want to keep it from you but you didn''t tell me about it either. How could I easily ask if you were a celebrity when you tried so hard to hide it and live a normal life?"

    Scarlet''s jaw fell. Celebrity? So he did know!

    "How much do you know about me? Don''t hide it already. I-I just want to know the truth. Did you approach me because you already knew who I was? Is this what it is about? Is this why you''ve been nothing but nice to me?"

    Logically, Edward knew that Scarlet''s words were out of paranoia. She had crippling PTSD and depression. It didn''t help that the girl he fell for was a very vulnerable and hurt person behind the cameras. Her accusations were not false. Although he wasn''t sent by her father to spy on her, he was still a spy who was in cahoots with Elfie to keep her out of Anastasia''s business. If only Scarlet waited for a few more months, he could come clean with everything. Life was such a bitch sometimes.

    Her words still stung and cut deeply. Edward couldn''t deny that he felt angry and betrayed by her outburst even though she had every right to. She didn''t trust him and that was what hurt him the most. Even after all they''ve said and done together, she still couldn''t trust him fully. Then again, he wouldn''t trust himself either so he shouldn''t be expecting that from her.

    "Is that how you see me?" he asked before he could stop himself. "I''m very hurt, Scarlet. My feelings for you aren''t a lie even if everything else was."

    Scarlet held back her tears. Why did things have to turn out this way? She loved Edward too but there were simply too many secrets between them.

    "I don''t doubt your feelings for me. Never," she said. "I- for the longest time I''d always been afraid that you''d find out who I really was and you''ll leave me."

    Edward looked at her. "And now that you know that I already knew, does it change anything?"

    Scarlet shook her head. "Do you really know everything?"

    Edward sighed. "Scarlet Wilde, the second daughter of the Wilde Empire. If it wasn''t for your sister''s high profile in America, I would have never figured it out. Once I knew that you were Scarlet Wilde, figuring out the rest was easy. Liu Xiu Wen went on a hiatus after the Sweet Sixteen Gala''s announcement. The news was all over it. I didn''t know about your writing alter ego until recently when you told me about it. I didn''t know that the journal you keep leaving everywhere was a plot diary. However, Elfie did tell me that Lin Lin and you often collaborated together on albums. I didn''t have to ask to know who Lin Lin was. There is only one child music prodigy in the Special Class with that name. Once I knew who she was, finding out who she was producing for became easy. Alex, Jasper and you were once part of the popular teen band - Britannia. You continued a solo career after that. Did I get everything or is there something that I still don''t know?"

    Scarlet was in a state of shock. She thought that Edward would have figured out her acting and socialite personas but he even figured out the link between Britannia even if Elfie helped. There really wasn''t anything more that Edward didn''t know about. If he knew that she was a Wilde daughter, he would also know that she was the co-founder of Golden Frost.

    "Still not convinced?" Edward asked. "Those four bodyguards loitering outside of my apartment every day without fail must be sent by that older sister of yours. I''ve never heard of an older Wilde daughter but I think she''s not a true Wilde daughter. Your mother is Orita Wilde and I knew her when I saw her. Your father Wilmer Wilde is the CEO of the Wilde Enterprise who is currently working hard and according to Alex, both of you haven''t seen him in years. I know enough, Scarlet. I was waiting for you to tell me."

    "You... why?" Scarlet didn''t know how to get the words out of her mouth. Currently, she was confused. Edward clearly knew everything but she was the only one who thought that she left him in the dark. Could it be that she was the one in the wrong this time? Was Edward really not a spy sent by anyone? What about all the suspicious things she knew about him? Edward even knew about the four bodyguards Claire sent. How?

    "There are things that you don''t want to tell me and that''s alright with me. I''ll pretend not to know. There are things that I can''t tell you yet. Maybe not now, maybe not ever. Maybe one day you''ll find out, maybe you won''t. However, I cannot look the other way when you question my sincerity for you. If there was something you were dissatisfied about with me, you could have told me about it. We could have talked it out. There wasn''t a need for this. We''re in a relationship and while it feels like a bed of roses, it isn''t. There will always be obstacles but we need to work together to overcome them. Bottling up everything and not telling me things won''t make it better. Trying to come to your own conclusions and working it out by yourself without telling me anything isn''t going to work. I''m more observant than you think I am, Scarlet. I notice the smallest things about you so I know when you''re going through a rough patch. I admit, I''ve been busy lately and should have done this much earlier but I wasn''t mad you went through my things. Just so you know, you can go through all of my things and I wouldn''t even be mad. What hurt me the most was the lack of trust that I wouldn''t tell you the truth you wanted. You didn''t give me the chance to talk this out with you."

    "It''s as you''ve suspected," he said with a tired tone. "I know Elfie from way back and we''re the kind of friends who bonded over life and death. I can''t tell you my past but that should give you enough information about who I am. Scarlet, my job and my feelings for you are two separate matters just like your career and your personal life. There are too many things that make a relationship like ours fragile but I still want to make it work. I''m not sure about you. Can you still trust me now that you know? Does it change anything?"

    Scarlet reached out to Edward and held his hand. "I''m sorry. I''m sorry, Edward. I-I have no excuses for what I did. It doesn''t matter what I thought or how I felt, I was wrong. It changes a lot of things but I still want to make this work between us. I didn''t like you as a Wilde daughter. I didn''t like you as Liu Xiu Wen or Permanent Frost. I liked you as Edward Bayon, I liked you as myself. With you, I''m just Scarlet but there will be no doubt that my other lifestyle will come catching up with me and you will be implicated."

    Edward clasped his other hand over hers. "Then we will let the future worry for itself when it comes. Feelings alone won''t be strong enough to overcome adversities. Dedication will and I know I''m fully committed to you. Despite the risks, I still chose you because I believe that you''re the only person who can stand beside me. I might not be able to show you every side of me but I will try my best to do what I can. There are some things that you shouldn''t see or know about me because I don''t want to put you at risk but if that day comes, I would like you to still remember me as the person you know right now."

    "I don''t understand," Scarlet blinked. Why did Edward say such scary things? She was able to confirm now that he lived in a dangerous world like Elfie but why did he have to sound like he was going to do something that would make her regret her current decision? Was he... afraid? Afraid that her feelings for him wouldn''t be strong enough to keep their relationship alive when he fell like how she crumbled earlier.

    "You will when the time comes. I pray that it doesn''t but I''m not that lucky. Scarlet, it was chance that brought us together but whether or not we can make this work will depend on us. You and I are not ordinary people, I know. You''re not a normal student studying philosophy and I''m not aiming to be a psychologist. You could easily graduate with a degree if you wanted and I already know everything they have to teach until a master''s course. Yet here we are, pretending to be troubled over school reports. I know that there are demons chasing you and I have some of my own too. What I''m saying is that I''m not the nicest person to be around but I do my best to be my best with you. I hope that my fears of you looking at me with contempt one day wouldn''t come true. Like you, I''m also afraid and even though I know it in my head, the things you do can still hurt me."

    Scarlet nodded. "I''m sorry."

    He smiled and pinched her cheek. "Don''t be. I might be hurt but I''m not going to hate you. I just think that perhaps we need some time to cool down and be apart for a while. It would be best not to see or talk to each other for a bit until we get our thoughts and feelings back together. I love you, I still do. However, it''s a little hard for me right now to look at you and not recall the hurtful things said."

    Unable to do anything more, Scarlet agreed. She understood that he needed time and space to forgive her for what she did. Edward was kind, too kind and unbelievably good even though she had been so mean and unreasonable earlier because of her paranoia. She would never find another person this kind, accepting and understanding out there.

    "Don''t beat yourself up," Edward told her. "I''m still reachable by phone in the period that I''m gone and don''t worry, I will just be at Elfie''s. You can text him if you want updates. It''ll just be about a week, no longer than a week."

    Edward started to tidy his ransacked room and Scarlet helped in silence. She noticed how Edward was grabbing a bag and stuffing some clothes. "Will you be leaving now?" she asked sadly.

    Edward chuckled and gave her a tight hug. "I can stay for dinner but I will leave after. Sorry, princess. Please miss me and think of me lots because I know I will be thinking of you while I collect myself. When I return let''s make up by going on another date, shall we?"

    Scarlet agreed and she counted down to the time until she heard the door click shut. After she waved goodbye to him, she couldn''t help but let the tears finally fall.

    What had she done?

 Chapter 214 - Jilted

    Elfie opened the door to find a sullen Edward with his bag.

    "Why do you look like you''ve been jilted? What happened? Was it really bad? I thought you said you had it under control?"

    Edward came in and made himself home at Elfie''s place. It wasn''t his first time here and all the other things related to Anastasia''s trace were in Elfie''s apartment. Edward didn''t know how to cope with his feelings so the best option he could think of was to run away from them until they became numb.

    "Nothing," he said but Elfie wasn''t buying it. Edward had a self-destructive tendency to throw himself into work whenever he didn''t want to deal with something. It was one of the bad habits in his friend that he couldn''t help to change even after knowing him for so long. It didn''t take a genius to figure out what this was all about.

    "It''s Scarlet, isn''t it? What happened? I thought you were both doing well compared to Alex and Jasper."

    Edward threw his bag on the couch and made himself cosy, turning on his laptop and tuned Elfie out. He knew his friend was concerned but he didn''t want to talk about it.

    "Let''s start work. How''s the lead that I gave you? Have you started tracing them down and collecting evidence for prosecution?"

    Elfie sighed. It was no use trying to talk Edward out of it when he was in this self-destructive mode. The only difference now was that Edward was still here and willing to let someone work with him. If left alone, this spy might just overwork himself to the hospital if someone was lucky enough to find him before he dies.

    "I''ve hunted down a few of the smaller leads enough to damn them. However, I cannot find any discriminating evidence that points towards these companies working with Anastasia to nail him specifically. I think there are higher-ups in play that we don''t know about yet."

    Edward nodded. "Understood. You continue working on them and pass those evidence to the regular police. I will try to look through all the files you hacked to find something that we might have missed out. I want to settle this by this year. If we don''t put Anastasia away for good, I won''t be able to enjoy my life with Scarlet properly. This bastard has to go so that I can focus on her without distractions."

    Edward wasn''t someone who cussed a lot not because he didn''t know the vocabulary but because he was above using such uncreative words. When he used them, Elfie knew that Edward just couldn''t bother about his image any longer. It meant that the spy was dead serious and no longer in the mood to fool around. His patience had expired and people were going to pay for it. Usually, Elfie would be wary about Edward when he was pushed to this point. However, today he couldn''t help but be curious about what Scarlet did to push Edward so close to his breaking point that he had to take it out on Anastasia.

    "Bro, chill. How long will you be here? I don''t exactly have anything for another person to be living here for a long time."

    Edward nodded. "Not more than a week, I promised her I won''t be gone long."

    The hacker couldn''t understand it. He was clearly concerned about her so why did he leave? This doesn''t make sense. Then again, what would a single dog like him know about a lover''s quarrel? Scarlet wasn''t the type to fight to such an extent. Could this all be Edward''s doing? Suddenly, he didn''t know anymore.

    "You can take the couch and make yourself home. The spare keys are in the empty shoebox, you know where they are. Do you want me to help check in on Scarlet? The password to your home security system is still the same right?"

    Edward rolled his eyes. "You''re the hacker. Even if I changed them, what''s going to stop you? Do whatever you want."

    Elfie took that as a sign to do whatever he wanted and left Edward alone. The spy couldn''t be reasoned with when he was in one of these moods. Instead of asking his wall of a friend for the story, Elfie decided to do a little digging of his own. Perhaps observing Scarlet might give him some clues about why Edward was behaving like this. And if all else failed, he was calling Alex to ask the professional gossipmonger to find out more.

    While Elfie busied away, Edward turned his focus onto the millions of files waiting for his attention. Right now, he wanted to shut the hurtful words out. He knew that those weren''t Scarlet''s true words. He heard her loud and clear through her actions but somehow, the things that she said still affected him. Understanding the reason for her lack of trust did not make him feel better. Normally, he could reason himself out of a slump but when it concerned Scarlet, nothing worked.

    It might be a coward''s move to escape what he couldn''t deal with and Edward tried to tell himself that sometimes a tactical retreat was necessary. Yet he couldn''t even fool himself using that excuse. He didn''t mean for those words to come out back there but they did and now, he couldn''t face Scarlet, much less himself. If his father knew, that man would have laughed till he cried. The tough kid was finally acting like a wuss because of a girl, who wouldn''t find that hilarious?

    Scarlet had every reason to suspect him. He hadn''t exactly been cautious around her because he didn''t want to pretend in front of her. He just didn''t think that Scarlet would catch on so quickly to his other job. Sure, that laptop he used was a dead giveaway. In addition, Edward never paid any attention to his brain to mouth filter around her although he didn''t speak about anything classified. He didn''t even bother hiding his things properly. The reasons he gave her weren''t lies but they were flimsy half-truths that Scarlet didn''t question further. No matter how he saw it, Scarlet was desperately trying to find a reason back there to still believe in him despite his unworthiness. Yet, he could only emotionally blackmail her and made her feel bad about what she did because he wanted to hear from her mouth how she still chose him despite the mess they were in.

    Edward had never envied another person''s relationship so much but now, he wished that his relationship with Scarlet could be more fighting over trivial matters like an old married couple. That beautiful harmonious relationship he had with Scarlet came shattering so quickly and it could be considered their first real fight. First fights were seldom this serious. A normal first fight would be over something more trivial like lifestyle preferences or life choices, right? Although she apologised quickly and he forgave her, they still ended up drifting a little.

    "What am I going to do?" he asked nobody in particular and thought about his mother. He might have promised to send her snail mails but in a time like this, he was glad for technology.

    Elfie was busy with something, most likely spying on Scarlet and gossiping with Alex over their fight but Edward couldn''t care. He went to the bathroom and shut the door with his phone in his hand. He dialled the number that he remembered by heart and waited for the call to connect.

    "Mom?"

    Mrs Bayon was surprised to hear from her son but the call wasn''t unwelcomed. Ever since he started dating Scarlet, Edward had called her more times than he did the last few years. She didn''t have to see his expression to know that her darling was in some sort of slump. According to a mother''s intuition, her baby was hurting because of a relationship problem. Still, she let him explain.

    "My first fight with your father..." she tried to recall when Edward asked how she fought and how she patched things up with his father.

    "It was just before we got married that we had a major fight. I found out that your father intended to buy me a house in my name and pay for everything because he felt guilty about the work trips. I already knew that he was a busy man and a very important one. He couldn''t tell me anything about what he did and the only way I can remember how he looked like after spending more years apart than together is through photographs. For me, I wanted the house to be under both our names but your father refused and I heavily reconsidered my marriage to him."

    Edward cringed. Compared to his fight with Scarlet, his mom had it worse. "How did you settle it?"

    Mrs Bayon chuckled. "Your father came to me with a bouquet of roses and a badly written poem to apologise. He couldn''t tell me the reason why he didn''t put his name for the house but he told me something that made me understand everything."

    "What did he say?"

    Mrs Bayon eared up a little at the memory. "He said that Bayon wasn''t his real name. However, he said that he would make it his real name because it was a name that he wanted me to have as his wife. He said that even though he couldn''t register the house with his real name, he wished for the house to be registered under our name - Bayon. It became a new promise that we made. I never questioned him and he would send letters frequently to let me know that he still cared. When I had you, he was both devastated and overjoyed. Devastated that this little boy would grow up getting bullied by his classmates for having a father who wouldn''t come home and a mother who never saw her husband for more than once a year."

    Edward found himself curious about his mother''s story and his father''s romantic side. The more he listened to how they overcome their obstacles, the more he was ashamed of himself.

    "Mom, you''re a very strong woman. I don''t think dad or I could ever compete with your mental toughness. Scarlet chewed me out because she found out somethings that triggered her paranoia but I couldn''t even tell her anything about why I hid what I did from her. I made her cry, mom."

    Mrs Bayon smiled. Her boy was growing up to become a man. "A true man can make his woman cry and wipe those tears away to make her smile again more beautifully than before. Scarlet is a good girl, if you tell her why you couldn''t tell her, she would understand. As for everything else, open your heart to her and don''t put up walls. She must be dying to know about your flaws and insecurities too. How can you expect her to trust you when you don''t show her the bad, ugly and uncool parts of you? She''s been showing you vulnerable sides of her for a while now but you''ve never once opened up to her properly. I think both of you can take some time to reflect on the fight and grow. When you''re ready, talk to her again and listen to her instead of explaining. Stop using your brilliant brain for once and listen to the voice in her heart. What that little lady needs most now isn''t reasoning but assurance."

    Edward thanked his mother and ended the call. He didn''t think that his heart would feel a lot lighter with just a phone call but he no longer doubted it when people said mothers knew best. With a better attitude, Edward exited the bathroom and started planning his next move. He wouldn''t give it up, his career or his lover. He would have them both.

 Chapter 215 - Phone a Sister

    Scarlet didn''t know what to do after Edward left the house. She cried herself to sleep, went to school the next day, sent him texts that weren''t checked or replied. She didn''t meet up with Alicia and her gang but she asked around only to find out that he was skipping classes. He said that he wouldn''t be gone for longer than a week and it had only been a day, yet Scarlet found it unbearable.

    The memory of his hurt expression kept haunting her dreams and Scarlet didn''t know what to do or feel. He was still very kind to her even after finding out about what she did. Scarlet felt like the worst human on earth for doing that to him. She should have trusted him more. Why didn''t she just talk to him?

    Throughout the day, Scarlet was listless. Everyone noticed it but nobody spoke to her or checked on her. After all, everyone knew that one oddball in philosophy class who didn''t act like the rest of them. She was the quiet one who always left as soon as class was over. She didn''t attend any social events and didn''t visit the library. She spoke to nobody and was almost always glued to her phone or laptop screen. The only thing that they knew about her was that she was dating someone from the psychology school and that he was kind of handsome.

    Judging from her crestfallen look, a few older girls snickered. They didn''t need to ask to know that there was trouble in paradise. Scarlet wasn''t very well-liked in the class and nobody bothered to befriend her. After all, the university was just a place full of false friends who never contacted each other after graduation. Most of the university ''friends'' were only good to have around when project work was concerned. It was the same everywhere.

    Scarlet dragged her feet back. Other than school and back to the apartment that Edward was no longer at, there was nowhere else to go. The writer didn''t feel like going back even though classes had ended early for the day. Normally, she would be thrilled to have more time to work on her manuscript or go on an unplanned date with Edward. Anything that meant she could spend more time with him generally made her happy. Now, having extra time made Scarlet feel lost. She didn''t know how much Edward had changed her life until he was gone. It was only a day but she felt as if she hadn''t seen him in a month. The feeling was horrible and her heart had never felt emptier. Even when she was all alone with her biological parents neglecting her, Scarlet had never felt this lonely.

    Stopping in the middle of the street, her feet felt heavy at the thought of returning to Edward''s apartment., Scarlet didn''t know much about New York and realised that the only places she knew were the places that Edward had brought her around. For the first time, she felt like the pampered princess who didn''t know anything. Back then when she was younger, Alex was that spoiled and sheltered princess. Now, it was her turn to be the ignorant one.

    This won''t do. Scarlet decided that she could walk back instead of catching the bus. She wanted to explore a little more on the way back and maybe make a few plans to visit that old bookshop that they stumbled upon if she could find it again. Scarlet didn''t know why but she had the urge to revisit all the places Edward took her to on their first official date.

    "I must be going crazy," she shook her head. Missing Edward so much as to revisit the places they shared happier memories to relief her pain was something Scarlet never thought she''d do. When she was an actress she never truly understood why the broken hearted would do this but now, she did.

    Scarlet decided to shed her nerdy appearance after a long walk home. This wasn''t her at all. Now that Edward knew, there was no longer a need to pretend. She loved oversized hoodies and sneakers but the fake glasses were annoying. Scarlet threw that into her side drawer and left it there to be forgotten. She opted for a messy bun instead of a straight ponytail and looked for her backpack.

    The laptop was stuffed into the bag together with her phone, keys and wallet. There was a text from Alex and Scarlet blinked. She wanted to head out to forget the deafening silence in the apartment but Alex seemed to have an urgent request so she shelved her plans. Having something to do made Scarlet feel slightly better. If she was busy, it was easier to forget about what happened.

    "Hello? What''s going on? Why do you suddenly need me to meet up with you at Kiwi Cat Studio?"

    Alex didn''t answer immediately. The background was chaotic and she frowned. Jasper and Elfie had been arguing in the conference room for fifteen minutes now and Edward was with them, looking as if he was a corpse just there for decoration. The air around Scarlet''s boyfriend was so solemn that Alex couldn''t help but worry for her sister. Did something happen between them? She wasn''t allowed inside so Alex could only call the one person who might have a clue about what was going on.

    "It''s not an emergency but I want to ask... did something happen between you and Edward?"

    Normally, Scarlet would answer her sister honestly without hesitation. Hence, when she was silent for more than three seconds, Alex started to suspect that there was a link. Whatever happened between them must have been serious enough to put that expression on Edward and for her sister to be speechless.

    "Scarlet?"

    Scarlet couldn''t answer. She didn''t know what to tell her sister and sniffed. She had cried so much that her head hurt but at the mention of Edward''s name, the tears she thought had stopped were now back with full force.

    Alex panicked. Her sister was a mentally strong person who didn''t cry easily. For her to be crying over the phone at the mention of her boyfriend''s name, something earth-shattering must have happened. Edward didn''t look too good so the damage dealt to both parties must have been rather severe. She was worried for them but not as worried for Edward because he was with the boys. They could keep an eye on him for a few hours so he should be fine for now. On the other hand, Scarlet sounded like she was alone and as a dutiful sister, Alex couldn''t allow that.

    "Where are you? I''ll come over instead."

    Scarlet sniffed. "I''m at the apartment but I don''t want to be here... can we go somewhere else? I''ll text you the address."

    Alex agreed and ended the call. Scarlet sent the venue''s location as agreed and Alex wondered if it would be faster to call for a lift from Claire of hail a cab. In the end, she opted for an Uber lift after Rowan booked it for Alex who asked for advice.

    "Are you going to see Scarlet?" the perceptive sales representative asked.

    Alex nodded. She felt that Rowan could be spooky at times with his accurate guesses. He read people really well and Alex wondered if she was easy to read whenever she was talking with him. She wondered what he had to tell her this time.

    Rowan looked around and lowered his voice. "You might want to check if she''s eating and sleeping well. From their yelling in the meeting room, I heard that Edward hasn''t slept at all since the argument and he has switched his phone off. I''m afraid that Scarlet''s not doing so well either. Neither of them will speak about it and I''ve tried to check with Elfie. He only said that Edward looked like Scarlet had dumped him but those lips remain tight. Edwards insists that Scarlet wasn''t at fault and this was just him being stupid but I feel like you might want to get her story to get the full story."

    Impressed by his information gathering skills, Alex thanked Rowan and packed up to meet the uber driver downstairs. "Tell Jasper not to wait for me, depending on how tough Scarlet is, I might stay over with her."

    Waving goodbye to the Wilde princess, Rowan smiled. After Alex left, he peeked into the frosted glass door and tried to see what Edward was doing. Elfie and Jasper had stopped yelling at each other but they didn''t seem to be agreeing on anything yet. The programmer''s friend looked genuinely slumped but there was a strange passive fire burning in those eyes that made the sales representative slightly worried. He only wished that Scarlet wouldn''t trust this person so completely because Edward gave off a dangerous vibe that made Rowan feel very tense.

    Edward knew he was being watched but he couldn''t be bothered. Alex had left the place and the two teens before him were still arguing about the same thing. He didn''t spend his time digging out information without sleep for no reason. He wanted action, he needed results.

    "Are you done? Alex is gone, there is no need to continue the act. Let''s talk business now, shall we?"

    Coming back to reality, Elfie and Jasper composed themselves. It was the first time the CEO of Kiwi Cat studios was working with Edward but he was already on guard. Edward wasn''t a simple person but if Elfie claimed that they needed him to succeed, Jasper would give him the benefit of doubt and hear him out.

 Chapter 216 - Alex Distrusts

    The old lady with cataract wasn''t expecting anyone that afternoon. She was busy dusting her books as usual when the bell chimed, informing her that she had visitors.

    The visitor she received wasn''t like the other customers she had before. The blonde teenager looked very upper class and didn''t seem like someone to appreciate her sad drip coffee brew or yellowing books. In fact, this visitor''s sense of style was way too expensive to be found in a humble bookstore like hers. That bag alone was enough to pay rent for an entire month or more and the old lady trembled from the exertion at getting down from her step ladder to attend to this rich young lady.

    "How can I help you?" she asked and Alex removed her sunglasses. She looked around at the bookstore and at the hunchbacked old lady.

    "Is this Kat''s Book & Coffee?" she asked and the old lady nodded.

    "Indeed, it is. Are you looking for a book or coffee?"

    Alex smiled warmly. "I guess I''ll have a coffee, I''m actually here to wait for someone."

    The old lady hobbled to pass Alex a menu and Alex took her time to read everything twice. There wasn''t the usual thing she liked to order at Moonbucks so she decided to opt for tea, the safer option.

    "Can I have a cup of earl grey tea, please?" Alex ordered and checked her phone for Scarlet''s text. After giving her the location, her sister said nothing else and Alex wondered if grabbing an uber lift was an unnecessary thing. Scarlet didn''t say that she would be there quickly and she was still at Edward''s apartment when she texted. Alex might be a little too fast but she couldn''t be blamed. Anyone who heard Scarlet crying would have been anxious too!

    The old lady put a kettle on and Alex waited as she looked around. The shop was rather small and crammed with so many books that it was difficult to walk through some of the aisles. For some reason, she could understand why Scarlet liked this place. It was the same kind of feeling an artist gets when they are surrounded by nothing but art supplies. This must be ther.a.p.eutic for Scarlet.

    The writer arrived about ten minutes later. Alex was sipping on her tea and browsing through some of the books the old lady recommended without really reading them. If anything, she wondered if the old lady had art books lying around somewhere.

    "Sorry, Alex. I was caught in traffic."

    "It''s alright, how about we order you a drink first then we''ll talk?" the model suggested and Scarlet smiled with a shake of her head.

    "A black coffee please," she asked and the old lady nodded. She recognised this young lady even if she had an unclear vision.

    "It''s lovely to see you again," the old lady smiled and prepared Scarlet''s black coffee. Scarlet greeted her warmly even though her smile wasn''t as bright as when it was with Edward the last time she was here.

    Not wanting to rush her sister into talking, Alex focussed on making her feel comfortable. This tiny bookstore that sold coffee was like a safe haven for Scarlet and Alex remained silent while her sister conversed with the old lady. The one thing she did notice about Scarlet was the lack of nerdy accessories. That horrid glasses were gone and Scarlet had gone back to her usual messy bun instead of the straight ponytail.

    Once the coffee was served and Scarlet was settled in, Alex tried to broach the subject in a tactful and subtle manner.

    "It''s been a while since I last saw you," Alex commented. "You''ve decided on a new look?"

    Scarlet took a sip of the bitter liquid and sighed in appreciation. This was the taste she loved and it reminded her of another person who also shared the same liking for it. Unfortunately, that person wasn''t here today and her lifted mood fell back down once more.

    "No," she answered. "I just don''t have a need to hide anymore."

    Her answer only made Alex more curious. What was Scarlet hiding? Those glasses and change in hairstyle didn''t hide anything. Even if Scarlet wanted to go incognito, she had to wear sunglasses and a mask or something. Alex saw how her sister was wearing her hood up with sunglasses when she arrived. Other than that, everything else remained the same.

    "What do you mean? What are you hiding?"

    Scarlet looked at her sister. Perhaps it was because she knew Alex for a long time that she didn''t notice how stunning Alex''s true beauty actually was. She inherited her mother''s good genes and was very pretty. Anyone who didn''t know her could have guessed that she was a model even if they didn''t know her. It wasn''t hard for those who followed the entertainment news to put a name to this face. How had she not considered this before?

    "Say, are you easily recognisable by the average university student?"

    Alex blinked. That was a rather sudden question but she nodded. "Yes. I''m fairly popular at the campus because of all the social events I participate in."

    "No, that''s not what I meant. Do they know you as Alexandra Wilde the world-famous model and heiress of the Wilde Empire or as Alex the social butterfly on campus?"

    For some reason, that made Alex pause. "Now that you mention it... I don''t really know. Is there a difference? I''m still the same person, I just dress down in school."

    Scarlet was quiet for a long time and only drank her coffee while mulling over the information. For Alex, that might be true because her private life and public image were very closely related. Nobody at school really bothered her for an autograph but they did ask for pictures together and Alex loved the attention so she never denied them. The same could not be said for Scarlet.

    "Edward recognised you as the daughter of the Wilde Empire and the model. He found out about my celebrity identity even before I told him anything. We had an argument of sorts and I said some very hurtful things to him."

    Alex inhaled. She was determined to get the truth out of Scarlet but she wasn''t expecting it to drop like a bomb without warning. She was even prepared to painstakingly weasel it out in bits from Scarlet and coax her for hours. Who knew that it was easier to get Scarlet talking than Edward?

    Yet, this wasn''t what Alex was expecting for the couple to fight about. Edward''s reaction was rather unusual. If a normal person realised that the person they were dating was actually a celebrity, wouldn''t they be a little less composed? Edward looked as if this wasn''t anything special and Alex couldn''t help but feel suspicious about her sister''s boyfriend.

    "Tell me everything from the beginning," Alex demanded. "Don''t leave anything out, I want to know the full story. I saw how he looked with Jasper and Elfie and I feel like there''s something I''m not understanding here."

    Scarlet teared up but held them back as she confessed what she did. "I went through his things because I found listening bugs all around the house that are unfamiliar to me. Edward''s apartment is odd, Alex. He keeps funny clothes hidden behind his bed''s headboard and has a briefcase under a false board under his bed that his father told him to hold onto but there isn''t a key to it or at the very least, I haven''t found it. His actions were very confusing and I know he is hiding things from me. I couldn''t ask about it or tell him about it but I got caught trying to investigate. He has two phones, Alex. One with everyone''s number and the other that he keeps only three numbers and it''s that phone that he uses as Jedd77 to contact me previously."

    Alex listened to Scarlet retell the story about how Edward was hurt that she didn''t come to him to ask and talk about it before going through his things and accusing him of being the spy that their father sent. Alex cringed at that. She knew that her sister had a tendency to overthink and in the heat of panic she often made bad decisions. The words that she said to Edward couldn''t be taken back and the damage was done. She could now understand Edward''s listless attitude. However, when Scarlet talked about the things Edward said and did after that, she found it odd.

    "You mean he found out about your identity from the time he was at the old apartment in Brooklyn Heights?"

    Scarlet nodded. "He said he also knew that Claire wasn''t our real sister and did his research about the Wilde family. He knew everything from the beginning, Alex. He also knows that Claire sends four bodyguards to stake out on his apartment and follow me wherever I go."

    Alex was deep in thought. As someone who was in love, Scarlet might be too blind to see it fully because she wants to trust Edward. However, as her sister, Alex was sure of one thing. Edward was hiding many dangerous secrets even if his feelings for Scarlet were real. She didn''t know if she should support such a thing.

    Further investigations will be required before Alex could conclude if Edward was a threat.

 Chapter 217 - Who is Edward Bayon?

    Not wanting her sister to be all alone in such a dark period of her relationship, Alex called Jasper to check with him if she could bring Alex back to live with them for a few days. The CEO of Kiwi Cat didn''t mind so the girls paid for the drinks, thanked the old lady and returned to Edward''s apartment to pack what Scarlet needed for a sleepover.

    Compared to what she had at her boyfriend''s place, Scarlet barely had anything and Alex wondered if Jasper would mind if Scarlet simply brought everything over.

    "No," Scarlet told her sister. "If I do that and Edward comes home to see that everything is gone, he would be worried. I''ll just buy the toiletries that I need from a pharmacy near Jasper''s apartment. I don''t think I''d be there for long so I''ll only pack two sets of clothes for now."

    Alex looked unsure but she didn''t stop Scarlet. While her sister packed her sleepover things, Alex decided to take a look around. Compared to Jasper''s apartment, Edward''s apartment was smaller but it seemed a lot more spacious. For starters, there was enough room to walk around without bumping into something at the doorway.

    Scarlet was probably still crying in her room while packing but Alex didn''t call her out on that. She knew that her sister needed some alone time. After hearing Scarlet''s story, she could understand where her sister was coming from. To verify it, Alex went around looking for the listening bugs that Scarlet said she found and snapped a few photos, sending them to Claire to ask if the head maid planted them. Claire planted some listening bugs when she came over to Jasper''s apartment to help Alex unpack and Jasper didn''t know about them so Alex didn''t say anything about it because she understood the severity of the situation for Claire to resort to such means. However, the places that those listening bugs were at made Alex believe in Scarlet''s doubts. These bugs didn''t look like something Claire could easily install in that one visit. Besides, the design was different from the ones Claire used.

    Alex might not be a professional bodyguard but after living with Claire for long enough, she knew what to look out for in the first inspection of an apartment. Jasper''s apartment was not safety approved and Claire knew all the security flaws. It was the reason why Claire assigned guards to stake out in rotation at certain exits of the building while monitoring them using the building''s security system that she tapped into. Edward''s apartment wasn''t as secure as Jasper''s because it wasn''t a rich man''s condominium with security measures. Yet, Alex found no obvious flaws in the arrangement.

    The pathways were clear and there was always something to hide behind in case of a sudden attack. The exit ways were not obstructed and there were obstacles in between the attacker and the victim should someone break-in. If Scarlet wanted to nit-pick, she would find that there would always be a suitable household object within reach that she could use as a weapon. For instance, there was a heavy gold club set by the television that Scarlet said belonged to Edward''s father. The kitchen was full of potential weapons. The laundry and toilet had metal extendable poles that weren''t light that could easily be detached. Why would anyone use those poles indoors when there was a dryer? The more Alex looked around, the more suspicions she had about Edward Bayon.

    It was a mistake not to check into Edward''s background. He might be Elfie''s friend but Alex didn''t know him. Edward''s story during the interview was very convincing and his reactions were flawless. They didn''t suspect anything because he bought them over easily and understood their personalities very well. The model couldn''t believe that it took her this long to even think about checking Edward''s background.

    [Where did you find these?]

    Alex''s nagging fears were confirmed when she received Claire''s reply. Instead of telling Claire where she found them, she asked the head of security had done a background check on Edward Bayon.

    Claire''s reply was instantaneous and Alex found herself getting very worried.

    [Edward Bayon is just a regular student. Nothing stands out about him. The doc.u.ments we received tallied with the system. Why?]

    Alex texted back something that shocked Claire beyond belief. Then, she explained the things that Scarlet told her in a summarised form and asked Claire for her opinion on the matter. While there was no doubt about Edward and Scarlet''s feelings for each other, Alex found the secrets that Edward was keeping to be rather dangerous. If they were from an ordinary family, this might still be alright. However, they were from the high-profiled Wilde family and there were people targeting their lives. If Edward truly worked in that kind of world... Alex hated to say it but Scarlet might be better breaking up with him for her safety. She was already so deep into Anastasia''s case and the model feared for her sister''s life daily. If Edward also had a target painted on his back like Scarlet, Alex couldn''t imagine what she would do when their enemies caught up. She didn''t care about Edward as much as she cared for her sister and all the model ever wanted was for her family to be happy together as one.

    Wilmer hasn''t returned home in years because of Anastasia and Scarlet might be doing the same thing following in their father''s footsteps. Alex didn''t want to be like her mother, unable to do anything except waiting. She wanted to do what she could to avoid that from happening. It was the reason why Alex tried so hard to convince Scarlet to attend school and participate in more social activities like a regular university student. She was only sixteen but Scarlet didn''t know how to live willfully. Alex thought that it was a real shame and her heart ached for her sister who had suffered so much ever since they knew each other. She thought that Scarlet finally found her happiness with Edward and while that might be true, Alex feared that this happiness could be very short-lived.

    [Please find out more about Edward Bayon. I don''t think he is as simple as he lets us believe. Between Scarlet and Edward, I want to believe Scarlet more. She might sound paranoid but she has a point. None of these can be normal for a regular university student. Those listening bugs, even if they weren''t planted by Edward, must belong to his father. I just want Scarlet to be safe and not end up like our dad. Claire, you must find out the truth no matter how difficult it is! Elfie might have a hint but he won''t talk.]

    As Alex waited for Scarlet, she was also lost in her thoughts. Why did fate have to be so cruel to Scarlet? All the girl ever did was exist and all she ever asked for was a place to belong and people who loved her. It didn''t matter what she did, Alex watched her sister struggle in front of cameras, behind the scenes, at home and even in school. No matter what she did or how people adored her, there never truly was a place that Scarlet felt understood or wanted. It was why Scarlet constantly pushed herself to be better even though in Alex''s eyes, she was fine the way she was. The same wasn''t true for Scarlet and Alex knew because she peeked at Scarlet''s personal diary. The girl constantly felt insecure and unwanted if she wasn''t trying her best to be part of the family. She felt the need to contribute something in return for the love she was getting and that was just wrong.

    Edward was the only person who was able to break through Scarlet''s walls and make her accept the fact that she was loved no matter who she was or what she did. If this was just a regular argument about Scarlet''s acceptance issues, Alex knew that everything would turn out alright after they talked to each other. In fact, Alex was confident that after this week, Scarlet and Edward will soon be able to move forward with their relationship after clarifying matters. She wasn''t too worried about him finding out about her sister''s celebrity identity.

    What she did worry about was how Edward''s secret identity and connections will affect Scarlet in the future as they take the relationship to the next step. Edward knew about the four bodyguards that Claire sent to follow Scarlet. That already hinted that he was in a similar line of work. Normal people would not react so calmly to it. Besides, the bodyguards that Claire sent were professionals who wouldn''t be spotted so easily. For Edward to have known them for a while and was able to identify them individually, he wasn''t a simple university student.

    She didn''t trust Edward even if she knew his feelings for her sister was true. Who was Edward Bayon and what is it that he was hiding from Scarlet? Alex needed to know. She had to test him. If he wasn''t capable of protecting Scarlet, she would do everything in her power to tear them apart. She''d rather be hated by Scarlet than regret not trying to save her sister''s life. Unless Anastasia was gone for good and Wilmer was back with them, she couldn''t allow this couple to be together.

 Chapter 218 - A New Lead

    Unaware of the storm brewing back in his apartment, Edward was quite proud of himself for finding something that could get them yet another step closer to their end goal. The sleepless night he spent combing through the millions of numbers finally paid off. There was a name that struck him as suspicious and after digging deeper into it, he found a common connection to the list of names and subsidiary companies that CEO Zhu gave Scarlet.

    "These are the companies that have one common shareholder," Edward said and opened a file on his laptop, snapping quickly out of his pensive mood. He wanted to get everything done within a week so that he could go back and apologise to Scarlet or even tell her some of the things that he had been up to. Scarlet must be feeling miserable enough to call for Alex. The model usually didn''t leave this early according to Jasper. The text that she sent Jasper made Edward feel slightly relieved.

    "Is she staying with you?" he asked the young CEO and Jasper nodded. He didn''t think hiding anything from a crucial partner in their mission would do any good.

    "Alex is bringing her over for a few days. She''s still complaining about how Scarlet is too good for you. She didn''t want to pack everything over in case you went back to find it empty. Scarlet didn''t want you to worry."

    Edward felt his heart soften at that but slapped himself out of those thoughts. He was working now and he couldn''t afford to be distracted. No wonder his father chose to live separately from his mother even if they were both in love. It was difficult for any spy to focus on their mission if their minds were constantly occupied by thoughts and worries for their loved ones. Edward could understand now why many spies who found love chose to leave their spy lives behind and settle for something relatively normal.

    "Back to topic," he said and wiped any traces of emotions from his face. Elfie got serious too and Jasper put his phone away. Ever since Elfie introduced this teen at the pizza party, Jasper had always been curious about what Edward could do. Was he also a hacker? While he still had no answers, he could understand a little better.

    "The shareholder doesn''t come in an individual''s name so it took me a while to find out the missing link. After scouring through millions of files and records, I finally nailed a definite source for everything that happened. There were a few names that appeared in the transactions but they are all pointing to the same parent company. I still haven''t found the prime suspect and individual giving all these small fries so much confidence to act but we can be certain that two companies are involved in the crime - East-West China Airline and Diamond Containers."

    Edward brought up a spreadsheet that contained all the transactions between the various subsidiaries and the counterparts that they traded with. Edward switched tabs and matched those names to the financial report of the companies'' shares, highlighting the names of Diamond Containers and East-West China Airline. Jasper looked into the information and was stunned by the number of connections Edward managed to make based on Scarlet''s file. If it were left to him and Elfie to analyse, they might never have made that connection.

    "Who exactly are you?" Jasper couldn''t help but be impressed. Even if Danny and Wilmer had this information, he doubted that they could discover the link so quickly. Yet, this was only speculation from Edward, they had to find the evidence.

    Edward shook his head and Elfie smiled. "He can be trusted," the programmer told Jasper who looked slightly doubtful but nodded.

    Edward bowed. "It might be slightly late for the introduction but I''m Edward Bayon, an information specialist of sorts. I''m not good at hacking but I know a thing or two after working with Elfie for many years. I also know that Scarlet intends to take down Anastasia alone and I cannot allow her to do that because it''s too dangerous. Hence, I''m offering my expertise. I will find the evidence needed but please, help me keep Scarlet out of this."

    Needless to say, Jasper and Elfie agreed. They wanted to leave the sisters out of this matter simply because they were the most likely targets that Anastasia was looking for now that his attempts were proving to be futile against Danny and Wilmer.

    "How''s the situation with Danny and Wilmer?" Edward asked Elfie while Jasper looked through the findings.

    Elfie shook his head. "No clue on their side, no lead, I assume. However, Anastasia has gotten less patient. Recently he has started targeting the upper management. Danny is introducing more security measures but after so many years, everyone is tired of fighting. I don''t know who will cave first but Wilde Empire isn''t as strong as it used to be despite Jasper''s support with the VR and the games coming up. Anastasia''s son tried to approach us and offered to buy Kiwi Cat Studio for several billion but Jasper had been declining it."

    "Wait," Edward stopped his friend. "Anastasia sent his son?"

    Jasper paused and looked up. "Yes, he''s such a slimebag. It was a good thing Alex wasn''t here that day when he dropped by unannounced. I believe I have his business card somewhere, let me get it."

    The young CEO left the room and Elfie shook his head when Edward glared at him. "I didn''t know about it either! I only knew that EZ Express has been targeting Kiwi Cat Studio but they''ve always sent sales representatives. I swear I didn''t know about Julian''s visit, I''ve never seen the man before!"

    Edward cussed. If Lucian Anastasia was said to be the biggest menace that the Interpol couldn''t interfere with, Julian Anastasia was the biggest nuisance in the legal world. Every politician had some sort of connection to that man in some way and this was one of the reasons why the Interpol was finding it more and more difficult to pin Anastasia''s tail. He had a very capable son who was very good at covering tracks. Even if the Interpol had connections with every country, they couldn''t easily get hold of some confidential country secrets relating to trade or commerce. Julian has spies in just about every major country EZ Express had business in and Edward''s father couldn''t make progress on the case because it would offend too many big wigs if they dug too deeply.

    "What exactly do they want from Kiwi Cat Studios?" Edward asked. It didn''t seem like the shrewd businessman knew about Alex''s relationship with Jasper. Both sisters had been very quiet about their relationsh.i.p.s so Anastasia couldn''t possibly find out about it. Julian usually didn''t show up in person unless there was something he wanted desperately. Rumours said that nobody could deny Julian what he wanted when he paid them a visit personally.

    Before Elfie could tell him more, Jasper returned with the name card. It took him some time to dig it out from the mountain of papers on his desk. Alex was not a very good assistant so the table wasn''t tidied to the level that Jasper wanted. Of course, he couldn''t tell his girlfriend that. He was only thankful that Alex didn''t move his things all over the place in a way that Jasper couldn''t find the things he needed. It was high time Jasper looked into hiring a secretary.

    "This is the name card," Jasper said and passed it to Edward who snapped a picture of both sides with his phone. The name was Julian Anastasia and underneath the name was his position.

    "He is the CEO of EZ Express? What about Lucian Anastasia? Did he step down?" Edward asked and Jasper shrugged.

    "I declined a meeting with him, remember?"

    Elfie and Edward exchanged looks. While they were making good progress with Edward''s new lead and a direction that they could start looking into, it would be incredibly helpful if Jasper could do something on his end as well.

    Jasper felt a chill when both teens suddenly turned to him with smiles on their faces. Elfie placed a hand on his right shoulder and Edward placed a hand on his left shoulder, forcing him down onto a chair as they caged him in from both sides. There was nowhere to run and Jasper tried to shrink himself into the chair when those smiles looked more devilish than angelic.

    "W-what are you guys doing?" the young CEO asked and Edward flipped Julian''s name card.

    "We want you to contact him and make an appointment when we tell you to do it. Elfie and I will help you out, don''t look so nervous. Listen to us calmly and we might just be able to find the missing link that we need. Right now, we have the companies involved but it''s still too wide a scale to search for the culprit. Finding them is like looking for a needle in a haystack. If you talk to Julian, we can burn the candle on both ends. Do you have that resolve to help your girlfriend out? You''re going to paint a target on your back to remove the one on Alex and Scarlet''s."

    Hearing Edward phrase it this way made Jasper unable to refuse. The girls have been working hard all these years and it was time for him to do his part. The bait was finally getting bitten as Scarlet had suggested. Except, now Jasper was done being the bait, he was going to be the hook that Scarlet intended to be. He only hoped that the reel and rod called Edward and Elfie was strong enough to catch the shark called Anastasia. They only had one chance and failure was not an option.

    "I agree. This news doesn''t reach anyone else, take care of Claire''s guards, Alex and Scarlet for me. I don''t want them near me while I cast the bait to hook this man in."

    "Agreed," Edward shook Jasper''s hand to seal the deal and Elfie couldn''t help but feel nervous now that the plan they''ve been hatching all these years was finally going to happen.

 Chapter 219 - Angry Alex

    Scarlet was living with Alex and Jasper for two days. While the writer was slowly getting better and regaining her smile, her eyes remained hollow without news about Edward. Scarlet often heard second-hand news from Alex or Jasper about her boyfriend who still never checked his texts. Apparently, Edward was working on something important with Jasper and Elfie but he wouldn''t talk to her.

    "As I expected... he must still be angry at me. That''s why he doesn''t check my texts. How long has it been? Four days? Will he really come back after a week?"

    Alex looked up from her sketchbook with horror. Scarlet who had been lying upside down on the couch mumbled that to herself but Alex who had been focussed on her homework heard it all. She couldn''t say anything back to make her sister feel better.

    The grip on her pencil was so hard that Alex heard it make a cracking sound. Loosening her grip a little, Alex had to reel in her anger. Was he really that heartless? She hasn''t given him a piece of her mind because Alex was more concerned about her sister''s safety but this boy was being too much! He didn''t even call or reply to her text even after four days. Didn''t he know that Scarlet had chronic depression? How could he do this to her? What if Scarlet had a relapse?

    Furious, Alex couldn''t focus on her homework any longer. She wanted to take a few hours to practice figure sketching using Scarlet as her model but seeing as the mood wasn''t right, Alex changed her plans for the evening.

    "Sis, what do you want to eat for dinner? I''ve been dying to test out some new recipes. Won''t you help me out?"

    Scarlet looked up from her phone. "We aren''t allowed to cook, remember? Jasper said that. Edward also doesn''t want me alone in the kitchen."

    Alex rolled her eyes. "Jasper just doesn''t like it when there is the smell of food in his apartment. I''m also a decent cook, you won''t be alone in the kitchen with me. While you''re at it, you could also learn how to make a simple meal or two for yourself. How about it? I''m in the mood for Beef Gratin Pasta. You can help make the salad."

    Scarlet agreed and they searched up the recipe together before preparing the ingredients needed. While Scarlet was occupied, she wasn''t so focused on Edward and Alex secretly rejoiced at the small victory.

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on and check out their other works. <<

    Edward was close to dying as he toyed with his phone. Scarlet had both numbers. He only turned the phone off to stop Alicia from spamming his inbox because he had been cutting classes without giving her a good reason. He wanted to text Scarlet and call her to ask how she was doing but he was also afraid that it would break his resolve if he did that. They were in the middle of serious discussions with a plan to trap Julian and pull off a timed raid when Alex stormed into the meeting room, shocking all three boys.

    "Princess, what are you doing here? I thought I told you that I''ll be staying over tonight?" Jasper asked but sensed that something wasn''t right.

    Alex didn''t spare her boyfriend a glance. She knew that Jasper was working hard but she couldn''t understand Edward. Glaring at him with everything she had, the model stormed over in her heels and pulled the spy up by his shirt collar, startling Elfie. Jasper was also stunned that his girlfriend had enough strength to lift a man by the collar with only one hand. Secretly, he made a note to never make Alex this angry or he might have to pay for it with his health.

    "You''re coming with me," Alex growled and dragged Edward out of the meeting room. The spy stumbled along but couldn''t get Alex to let go of him. He didn''t exactly want to hit a woman so he went along with her. The office was deathly silent and everyone tried to hide their curious or horrified gazes as Alex dragged Edward away. Nobody knew what was going on but Samuel quickly reminded everyone that they had to move their hands if they didn''t want to do overtime today.

    Edward was dragged out in this manner all the way until he was thrown into the backseat of a black sedan with tinted windows. Alex slammed the door shut and went to the other side to take her seat. Once the doors were locked, Alex told the unknown driver to move off. Edward didn''t know if this counted as daylight kidnapping but he wasn''t in a favourable position to negotiate terms with an angry future sister-in-law.

    He kept silent throughout the ride and noticed that they were driving out of New York City to a more desolate place. It didn''t surprise him that Alex would take him to a more distant place but he was curious about what the rich young mistress had in mind. Other than the driver in the front seat who he didn''t know with that partition in the way and Ale beside him, they didn''t have anyone else.

    The car stopped in front of an abandoned school in a quiet neighbourhood and Edward wondered why they were here. Alex turned to him and Edward flinched. The model looked positively livid and he couldn''t remember what he did to offend her so badly.

    "Edward Bayon," Alex growled. "Who exactly are you?"

    Ah, so this was going about his identity? Edward relaxed a little in his mind when he knew where this conversation was going.

    "What do you mean?"

    Unable to keep her cool, Alex took out the evidence. It was a listening bug that Alex found in the kitchen when she was helping Scarlet pack previously.

    "I found this in the kitchen of your apartment when I went over to help Scarlet pack," Alex told him, not beating around the bush.

    Edward wasn''t fazed because he knew Alex was listening to his reactions more than his answer. Hence, he decided not to defend or deny it. Yet, he didn''t confirm or acknowledge it.

    "What are you trying to say? I believe you didn''t kidnap me to tell me this."

    Alex was enraged. This man could still play it cool in a situation like this and not admit that he was wrong? Fine. If Edward wanted to do this, then Alex didn''t need to hold back.

    "Break up with Scarlet. That''s the only choice I''m giving you now. You already know who we are so while I''m still being nice, break up with her. I won''t tell her that you''re a stalker or a spy sent to keep tabs on her. I won''t tell her the creep that you are, I''ll even pay you if you wanted to but make no mistake. Once you''ve broken up with her, you''re never allowed anywhere near her. I don''t want to see you anywhere near my sister in person or online or I will take actions against you."

    Edward couldn''t hear everything else that Alex was saying after she told him to break up with Scarlet. There was a faint sound of static at the back of his mind as if the last string had snapped. Alex saw a drastic change in Edward and faltered. she didn''t know what it was but she was suddenly afraid. This was a look of a crazy person ready to snap. Alex stopped talking and from the driver''s seat, Claire lowered the partition. She recognised that look and Alex was in danger.

    "Alex get down!" Claire shouted just in time before Edward launched at her with lightning-fast speed. Thankfully, the head maid came prepared. The taser to Edward''s neck made the teen spasm uncontrollably but it wasn''t enough to knock him out.

    Alex got out of the car and quickly called for the other guards in the vicinity for help as Claire and Edward grappled in the car. Edward couldn''t be put out by a normal taser and Claire refused to believe that this was part of his special natural constitution. Even that look that she saw was a look of someone who had been mentally conditioned. Edward was definitely a soldier of sorts like her, conditioned to be on the harshest battlefields. Now that he has snapped because something that Alex said earlier pulled his trigger, there was only one way to subdue him.

    The guards came quickly and Alex watched in horror as they pulled a cloth soaked in chloroform to force Edward to inhale it. The spy was smart and chose not to breathe it in while struggling against four grown men. Alex quickly went to Claire''s side when they got out of the car. The struggle lasted for nearly three minutes and Claire had to admit, whoever trained Edward did a good job. He was a very sturdy soldier and the head maid now knew that she had to uncover his identity no matter what. If he proved to be useful and loyal, he should stay by Scarlet''s side. If he was an enemy, she would dispose of him personally.

    "Good work," Claire nodded to the guards and pointed at one of them. "Escort the lady back. I will take it from here. Good work, Alex. Leave the rest to us."

    Alex couldn''t say anything as she was led away by a guard and escorted back to Jasper''s apartment.

    Claire looked at the unconscious teen that the guards tied up. "You, drive the car and meet us at the HQ. Both of you flank him. He''s dangerous if he wakes up. Prepare another dosage to keep him obedient until we get there and get a blindfold. He''s too smart for normal procedures."

    The guards quickly got into action and Claire drove back to her headquarters where she would interrogate Edward Bayon.

 Chapter 220 - Sentient Meets Cyborg

    Edward wasn''t expecting the rough treatment and his memory of what happened was hazy at best. He knew that he had a moment back there but he didn''t remember what happened. Something snapped in him when he heard the words "break-up with Scarlet". There shouldn''t be a switch there but for some reason, he lost it completely as if it had been pre-conditioned. What was going on?

    The world was dark but Edward knew it was just a blindfold. He was also restrained in ropes and cuffs. Whoever this person was, they knew their stuff and it wasn''t an ordinary kidnapping. The only person he could think of capable of pulling something like that was Claire. Alex was merely the bait, Claire was the true mastermind.

    Although he had only spoken to her that one time when she posed as the oldest sister, Edward knew her well enough. He did some digging into Claire''s background by abusing the level of access he had to confidential files with Elfie''s help. She was a very capable soldier who left because of personal beliefs. The army regretted letting her go but Claire couldn''t be stopped. Short of killing her, nobody could stop Cyborg from the special forces team Delphinium from leaving. Her most capable skill wasn''t her close quarter combat. It was her ability to single-handedly infiltrate the enemy''s base and destroy it from inside out. She was a brilliant strategist who was too young for her age back then with more guts than any men. Losing to someone like her wasn''t a bad feeling.

    Edward waited for what he counted to be twenty minutes before the door opened and he heard footsteps. He was still and didn''t move. If it wasn''t Claire, he still had a chance of fooling them into thinking he was still unconscious.

    Unfortunately, luck wasn''t on his side. The one who entered was Claire. She was flanked by two more guards but the head maid dismissed them after she saw that Edward was actually conscious. Edward wanted to sigh at his fate but for the sake of drawing out time, didn''t move until Claire called his bluff.

    "Stop pretending, you''re not fooling anyone."

    Edward smiled and raised his head from the uncomfortable position he was in on the chair. It wasn''t the most comfortable position and he eased the kinks out of his neck with a few stretches. Claire waited patiently and observed the teen in front of her who seemed unfazed. She was curious about his identity but she had a few guesses she wanted to confirm personally which was why she sent the others away.

    Once Edward was ready, Claire removed the blindfold and waited for Edward''s eyes to adjust to the dim light in the room. This interrogation room was something the guards quickly put together on Claire''s orders so it wasn''t perfect. However, the setup was very familiar to Edward. With the presence of light and the side effects of chloroform, Edward''s skull throbbed in pain.

    Claire felt slightly apologetic at the rough handling earlier. She had a feeling that Edward wasn''t an enemy but for formality, she couldn''t be impartial. She was lenient and warned Edward that he shouldn''t pull anything funny in front of her.

    "I''ll get straight to the point," she told him. "I have an idea who you are and what you do and I want you to be honest. Everything that happens in this room stays in this room, I give you my word. I''m a former special force agent, code name Cyborg from team Delphinium. What''s your code name and where are you from?"

    Edward blinked. He knew Claire''s identity but he wasn''t sure why she was being so honest with him. Nothing was scarier than getting told that things were going his way without even having to try. Life doesn''t just hand anything over on a silver platter and even backup plans often fail. Edward wasn''t a stranger to it. For discussions to be this civil and smooth, Edward grew suspicious.

    "Why are you telling me this?"

    Claire smiled. "Isn''t it because I know that you''re absolutely powerless at this moment? You''re not going to be able to break out of that in the next five minutes, I searched you for tools and took them all away. You''re currently looking for your hidden needle under your watch but I took the entire watch away so there''s really not much you can do other than talk with me. I would also advise against trying to pull a fast one on me, I might not be an agent now but I still have connections. Don''t underestimate the influence of the Wildes."

    Edward checked his ankles and found that what Claire said was true. He couldn''t feel his lock pick and frowned. The head maid had searched even his socks and Edward admitted defeat.

    "What are you going to do after I tell you my identity? Is there really a need? You''ve probably guessed it already."

    Claire nodded in agreement. "I have my guesses. Danny is a very helpful person and you being with Elfie was a huge giveaway to those who already knew of you. You didn''t even use a false name when you approached Scarlet so I''m giving you the benefit of doubt now. I didn''t dispose of you immediately but both you and I know that I can if I wanted to. The Wildes have many enemies and I''m in charge of cleaning the trash."

    Edward laughed along with Claire without humour. There was no chance of getting out of this if he didn''t play along to Claire''s rules. This wasn''t a good thing for him. Edward hated being at other people''s mercy but thinking about it from a different perspective, this was like gaining Scarlet''s older sister''s approval. If he thought about it like that, he was able to somehow collect himself and ignore his pride.

    "I''ll talk," he relented. "But you''ll never speak of this to anyone else. If the higher-ups know, I will be discharged from service before I can finish what I want to do."

    Claire gave him her word and Edward sighed.

    "My code name is Sentient. I believe there is no more need to clarify who I am now, special information specialist, youngest professional spy. I''ve been trained as a child spy by the academy and my father is the current General Secretariat of the Interpol."

    Claire wasn''t surprised by the revelation. "I thought the name Bayon sounded familiar. It''s an honour to meet you, Sentient. I have to ask about where your loyalties lie and what are your objectives for approaching Scarlet. Don''t be offended or threatened, I don''t want a repeat of what happened in the car. It''s just a standard operating procedure for me to screen all potential threats and give them a chance to come clean."

    Edward remained silent for a long while and Claire didn''t rush him. Edward seemed to be struggling with words and the head maid was understanding. According to Alex, there was no doubt that Edward loved Scarlet from the bottom of his heart but that didn''t mean he didn''t approach her without secondary objectives.

    "It was a favour Elfie asked from me. He was working on Anastasia''s case and wanted my help to crack the cold case. I was removed temporarily from service for reasons I''m not obliged to tell you. My job was to keep an eye on Scarlet and prevent her from involving herself too deeply with the case. In case you still have no clue, Elfie, Jasper and I are working separately from Wilmer and Danny. Scarlet was the one who got us the first major lead. I''ve only recently been able to find a new angle on the case that might give us a new lead. We''re also making plans to smoke them out by setting a trap. Alex doesn''t know much but she knows enough that Scarlet is too involved in dangerous things."

    Claire felt her heart race. "You''ve got a lead? Is it a reliable one?"

    Edward hesitated. "It''s reliable but we don''t have evidence yet. This isn''t something Danny or Wilmer should concern themselves with. If they continue to wear down Anastasia like how they always did, it gives us more space to worm our way around the other side. Jasper has been approached by Julian Anastasia, we want to use this as an opportunity to infiltrate deep. We might have more allies but nothing is confirmed yet. I don''t want Scarlet contacting that man even if he helped us."

    Claire was confused. "Who are you talking about?"

    Edward grimaced at the memory of Scarlet prettying herself up to meet that hateful CEO.

    "Who else?" he spat bitterly. "The pineapple CEO."

    Claire was amused. Was that jealousy she saw on the Sentient? Rumours really couldn''t be trusted. The cold-blooded and calculating Sentient was actually such a love-whipped puppy for their Scarlet. Although Scarlet and Alex''s suspicions were on point, after knowing the truth or what was part of the bigger truth, Claire could write Edward''s name off the list of potential threats.

    "Aren''t you going to release me?" Edward asked. "You have your answers."

    The head maid smirked. "And why would I do that? I still have a lot to talk about and you''ll have to entertain me until I''m satisfied. This is payback for ditching the guards I placed on Scarlet on your date."

    Edward paled. So this was the true face of Cyborg. For some reason, he felt that the name Cyborg was too mild for the killing machine. She should have been given the code name Devil instead.

 Chapter 221 - [Bonus] Edwards Failed Confession Letters

    To all those who missed Edward''s official confession letter in Chapter 191 - Scarlet''s Reply, this is the original version.

    ***

    Edward''s Confession Letter:

    To Scarlet the most beautiful and awkward person in this world,

    I fell in love with you twice before I realised that you were one and the same. I liked you as Frost with your honesty and strong sense of justice, standing up against the cyber bullies. I like your kindness when you gave the rule breakers a second chance. Then, I fell in love with you all over again as Scarlet when I found out that you liked black coffee too and debated over movies with me. Nobody else would watch movies the same way I do except you and I think I''ll be lonely without a movie partner for marathon nights.

    I know I was wrong to not tell you the truth but I was scared. Scared that you didn''t like me too. However, I''ve decided to put my fears away to let you know today how I truly feel. I''m done with being a coward so here goes nothing.

    I think I''m in love with you, Scarlet. Won''t you be my girlfriend?

    - Edward Bayon.

    ***

    Now, let''s have a look at the bloopers Edward wrote while trying to create that.

    >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxXTo Scarlet the most beautiful girl in the world

    I cannot think of anyone who has hair silkier than yours, eyes shinier than yours or a face that''s cuter than yours.

    You''re everything that drives me crazy and I never knew how much I could find a person attractive until I saw you. It''s crazy to think how much I''ve fallen for you even though we''ve only met. You''ve taken my heart away and now please accept my undying love and confession!

    - Edward Bayon.

    Elfie''s comment: Bro, you sound crazy. You didn''t even ask her to be your girlfriend. What''s the point of writing this letter?

    Draft #2:

    Dear Scarlet

    I love you so much that you''ve started appearing in my dreams every night. I''ve started seeing you more and more with Alicia lately and your smile is so radiant that it blinds me. Your presence alone is like holy water for my tainted soul.

    You have no idea how the green flames of jealousy burn inside of me whenever I think about how you got to meet Alicia first instead of me. When she showed me the wefie of you and her on your first day of school, I already liked you. When I found out that you were Frost, I knew that you were the one. I''ve liked you for a very long time so much that I imagined us going on dates, holding hands and eating ice cream in a park with nobody.

    When I found out that you were single, I couldn''t help myself and started to become greedier. I wanted to become not just a reliable friend but someone even closer to you.

    I might be unworthy but I promise that I will treat you right. Please be my girlfriend. I love you so damn much.

    -Edward Bayon.

    Elfie''s comment: Bro, you sound like a psychopath here. What''s with that delusional thought and that bipolar attitude? Before you can get her to say yes you''re going to scare her away! Her dad will come after you with a loaded revolver and the head of security will torture you after they catch you. Are you trying to make the Wilde family your enemy?

    Draft #3:

    To Scarlet the love of my life

    I didn''t mean to hurt you and I didn''t want to lie to you when I found out the truth. I was so afraid that you might not like me that''s why I took advantage of the second personality as Jedd77 to confess to you. I wanted to see your reaction to decide if I should confess my feelings for you as Edward Bayon.

    I didn''t intend for it to scare you so badly and I feel truly guilty for that. Please forgive me, it really wasn''t in my intention to do such a horrible thing to you. I know I wasn''t playing fair but my feelings for you remain true. I loved you as Jedd77 before I knew you in person. However, I also liked you as Scarlet when I first saw you with Alicia. Although both your personalities were very different, I still saw similarities that I fell for. Your kindness and your determination were the things that made me like you so much. As I spent more time discovering both sides of you, it was inevitable that I eventually found myself hopelessly in love with who you are.

    Scarlet, if you forgive me could you please give me another chance? I would like to be your boyfriend to love you and cherish you forever.

    -Edward Bayon.

    Elfie''s comment: Bro... I just don''t know what to say. Are you even seriously trying to write a romantic confession letter? This sounds like the kind of confession letter one writes before they kill themselves in a suicide war, get arrested and receive a life sentence or just give up on life in general. You''re messed up in the head, I wonder why anyone would even date you. Please don''t make me read any more of your crappy letters, I don''t think it will work. You didn''t even tell her the most important part about why you like her and why you want her to be your girlfriend. These things should come from your heart! I give up. Find someone else, I''m not reading them any more. You''re a lost cause.

    >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<<

    So that''s it for the drafts. Since Elfie stopped at three, I will as well. The rest of the story should be known already. Edward called his mother and read a sample of the letters his father sent her to draft his confession letter. All three letters in the draft were then finalised and reworded into the version that you see. I hope this satisfies your curiosity.

    Side note, I have a Youtube Channel where I talk about the behind the scenes of Love Journal writing process that I stream my writing on Twitch. Please follow me there as I will be uploading videos explaining the inspiration behind this book.

    That''s all from me, thank you for reading!

 Chapter 222 - Mission Double Date

    It took several hours before Edward was finally released from the headquarters and he was not expecting the headquarters to be at the Wilde mansion. Who would have imagined that there would be a bas.e.m.e.nt at the bottom of the mansion? Then again, the mansion was a remodelled castle that the family bought over in the outskirts of New York. Edward couldn''t believe he didn''t think of it.

    Claire excused herself and left the poor teen in the hands of Jenna. Edward wasn''t very familiar with the female butler but since he was in his girlfriend''s home, he couldn''t show any disrespect or refuse the sudden meeting with her mother. Orita Wilde wasn''t the simple person the media painted her to be and Edward did his research. Alexandra Wilde took after her mother in that aspect and Edward wondered why Orita wanted to talk to him. Surely she would have known about his interrogation with Claire and why the head maid had gone to such lengths to ''invite'' him over. A chit-chat session over some high-class tea wasn''t all that was going to happen.

    He couldn''t say that he made the best impression in this house or had the best experience. Everything was too extravagant even though it was in a classy manner. Edward was so afraid to leave fingerprints on the polished glass windows. He was also afraid of sitting on the few-thousand-dollar designer couch. The teen was so stiff that Jenna wondered if they should have moved the meeting to the sitting room instead of Orita''s private study.

    On the opposite end of the study, Orita was dressed in nothing but a white bathrobe. She was looking very comfortable and in her element after a lovely bath. Edward wondered why the heiress was doing this to him. It was difficult to look at his future mother-in-law wearing just a bathrobe. He wasn''t into older women and he certainly wasn''t going to be seduced by whatever Orita was trying to do. His heart was loyal only to Scarlet and compared to s.e.xy, he found cuteness to be the ultimate justice that this world needed.

    "Don''t look so tense," Orita laughed. This child was fun to tease. Now that Claire let him go, it meant that this boy''s loyalties can be trusted. He might be dangerous to others but Orita knew that a good knife, in the right hands, was a gem. Scarlet managed to hook a full-time bodyguard who wouldn''t hesitate to lay his life down for her and dedicate his existence for her happiness. What was there not to like about Edward? If anything, Orita wished that they could quickly tie the knot so that she could have her peace of mind.

    Orita told Jenna to bring up some refreshments to settle their guest in and the butler complied without giving Edward any chance to refute. Hospitality in the Wilde Family was not to be taken lightly and Edward had a bad feeling about it. With Claire in charge of housekeeping matters, surely she wouldn''t put any truth serum or poison into the refreshments served... right?

    In a timely fashion, the lady butler returned with a tray of earl grey tea and an assortment of muffins. Edward blinked. They looked rather ordinary and the only thing that unnerved him was the expensive porcelain tea set.

    Watching Orita lift a cup to her lips after Jenna poured the tea, Edward decided that it was safe enough to follow her example. They didn''t start talking until Orita watched Edward choose a muffin. While the heiress was enjoying seeing her daughter''s boyfriend have a mini mental breakdown at which flavour to choose, Edward was praying that his luck will guide him through this ordeal.

    Chocolate? No, it was too easy to disguise something into the dark colour without anyone noticing. Edward glanced to the chocolate chip-banana muffin and frowned. A rather safe choice but the baker could easily replace the chocolate ch.i.p.s on the inside with something else. Too risky. Edward passed quickly on the strange green muffin and settled on the remaining two choices. The first was blueberry and the second was banana. Both choices were relatively safe but Edward didn''t trust the blueberry one. Never trust the blueberry ones because many similar berries can replace it but are poisonous. With the only ''safe'' option left, Edward gambled and took it.

    Orita smiled serenely and waited for Edward to take a bite. She didn''t know what he was contemplating about for so long but she supposed Edward must really hate sweet treats because he chose the one with the least amount of sugar and flavour.

    "What do you think about living with Scarlet with a more permanent arrangement?" Orita asked pleasantly, making Edward choke.

    Of all the things that could happen, he wasn''t expecting Orita to be so bold and direct. Truth be told, Edward didn''t think that their current cohabitation could go on for very long. Living with Scarlet was comfortable but he didn''t know if it was appropriate. It hasn''t been all that long since they started dating and moving in within the first few months was something Edward didn''t think was possible. Not to mention, Scarlet was currently still a minor. They were also in the middle of their first big fight and have not made up. He felt slightly bad at the thought but he shouldn''t be thinking about it now. His future mother-in-law was grinning like a mischievous cat and Edward''s mental alarms went off. This lady was planning something and Edward wasn''t sure if he liked it.

    "I-I''m afraid I don''t understand," Edward replied. Yes, this should be the safer option.

    Orita laughed. "You don''t have to be so nervous. Of course, this isn''t something for you and Scarlet to decide. I need to talk to your parents about it if it becomes a more permanent arrangement. I''m sure you could already tell from the moment you entered the mansion but we''re not an average family. You''re also not an average boy. My daughter is constantly causing me to worry because of her reckless behaviour and her overly-kind heart. Hence, I will only feel relieved if someone was there beside her to be her shield and pillar that she can rely on. Of course, we will compensate you accordingly. I heard that you had a tiff?"

    Edward squirmed, his appetite gone. "I wouldn''t call it a tiff," he said and looked down. "She had every right to suspect me, I wasn''t being transparent with her. I shouldn''t have walked out like that but I don''t know how I can apologise now or what to do."

    Nodding in agreement, Orita snapped her fingers. Jenna came forward with something and Edward looked up. It was an envelope and Edward somehow felt a sense of deja vu. Why does everyone like to give envelopes when it concerns important things? Scarlet wanted a confession letter in an envelope. The information that CEO Zhu passed Scarlet was also in an envelope. Suddenly, Edward was scared. What could this possibly be? He didn''t feel like opening it here but Orita''s expectant look gave him no choice.

    Slowly but reluctantly like a man walking to the gallows, Edward received the envelope with both hands and opened it. Inside, there were some tickets and Edward wondered why there were four instead of two.

    "This is...?"

    Smiling like an angel, Orita clapped her hands in glee. "A way to make up with Scarlet! Isn''t it great? With this, you can ask Alex to plan a double date and you can be the surprise. It''s something fairly new that I learned about from some of my friends. They say it''s good for couples to get to know each other better."

    Edward studied the tickets. They didn''t look familiar to him so they weren''t movie tickets or plane tickets. It took him a while to read the details and Edward frowned.

    "What''s an escape room?"

    Jenna explained that it was a new activity similar to a haunted house of an amus.e.m.e.nt park but with perks.

    "Perks?" Edward was now curious. He wasn''t sure if Scarlet was good with scary things but he knew that Jasper wasn''t a fan of such things if he could do without them. Alex looked like the kind to scream and run away or panic and be the first to die in a zombie apocalypse but Edward doesn''t know how Scarlet would react. With PTSD, it could be more detrimental than helpful in patching their relationship. Edward didn''t know her PTSD triggers and he hesitated.

    "Is it not to your liking?" Orita asked when Edward hesitated for a long time.

    Edward quickly denied it and thanked them for the thoughtful gift. However, he couldn''t help but ask if it would truly be alright.

    "Scarlet has difficulties with certain issues that trigger her PTSD. I don''t know what they are... will playing in this escape room truly be alright?"

    Orita smiled. This boy was right for her daughter. "It''ll be alright because you''re there, aren''t you?"

    Edward didn''t answer and he was at a loss for words. There was both a warm acceptance and a cold dread that clashed against each other within him when he heard those words. While he was glad for the trust placed in him, Edward couldn''t help but doubt his capabilities to truly keep Scarlet safe. With the mission to lure Julian to their trap and find Anastasia''s link to Pineapple Group so close to the double date mission, Edward wondered if they would truly be alright.

 Chapter 223 - Growing Stronger Together

    Scarlet''s mood was at its lowest. Today marked the seventh day that she hasn''t seen or heard about Edward ever since their fight. In order to lift her spirits, Alex suggested that she met up with her after classes and the writer agreed.

    The location was slightly weird but Jasper said that he managed to clear his schedule for the day to give her a lift. Seeing as there was no reason to refuse, Scarlet agreed.

    It was a quarter to three when they arrived. Scarlet had completely no idea what her sister planned but everyone else, including the surprise guest, knew about it. Orita got everyone together to prepare the surprise but nobody was more nervous about this than Edward who was waiting by the entrance of the escape room lobby with a bouquet of flowers.

    He couldn''t understand how the blonde mother and daughter combo could spend hours arguing about the theme of the escape rooms when they both eventually settled for the worst kind that Edward pleaded them not to go for. What part of "please don''t choose anything with guns or confined spaces" did they not understand?

    He was very certain there were other more interesting themes such as a lost pyramid mystery trail, escape the nuclear facility and even the classic zombie apocalypse. Heck, Edward would have preferred it if they chose the boring puzzle room themes over this. Why did they have to choose a prison escape theme with a combined murder case to solve? Wasn''t this setting the bar too high for a bunch of rookies?

    The lobby receptionist smiled behind her monitor. Edward looked very nervous and that bouquet of flowers in his hand and she thought that it was cute. The bouquet of flowers wasn''t the usual kind for confessing because she spotted some lilies and tulips among the roses. If that wasn''t a bouquet for an apology, she would tender her resignation next week.

    Scarlet wasn''t prepared to see the person she''d been longing for all week when Alex opened the door for her. The writer was frozen outside in disbelief, happiness but also with some hesitation. It felt slightly awkward to see him after how they parted and she didn''t know what to say. There were simply so many things she planned to tell him but they left her brain the moment she saw him standing there, reflecting her expression of longing.

    "I missed you," the words unknowingly came out of Edward''s mouth. It was the voice from his heart. For one painfully long week, he dedicated his hateful self into work. If there was one thing he learned from being away from her, it was how much he hated it. He couldn''t understand how his father was able to leave his mother for years and only be content with exchanging snail mail. He doubted that he would ever be able to do that.

    Scarlet felt her eyes getting hot and Alex nudged Jasper in the background as her sister ran over to give Edward a jump hug. Edward welcomed her with open arms and carried her effortlessly even though the bouquet of flowers was still held tightly in one hand. The lovers embraced for a while and Scarlet sniffed, trying to minimise the stupid tears. It had only been a week but she was acting like she hasn''t seen him in a year.

    "I''m sorry," Edward whispered in a hushed tone hoping to soothe his distraught girlfriend. Elfie chewed him out enough about not contacting Scarlet and he was wrong for not listening to the hacker. If he''d known she would be so affected, he wouldn''t have wasted time sleeping at all so that he could get back to her side faster.

    Then again, if he did that, Edward would have missed out a lot. Claire''s interrogation brought Edward more good than bad. With someone understanding his situation better and the boys on the roll, he didn''t have to constantly worry about his back and if someone was targeting them. After meeting with Orita and agreeing to play this Escape Room game on a double date, Edward actually had a chance to talk to the Cyborg to improve security details.

    Scarlet shook her head slightly in his arms. "I''m sorry too. It''s mortifying to know how much trust I lack."

    From behind, Alex grinned. Her boyfriend was checking them in at the reception so the model decided to tease the couple that made up. "It''s alright, sis. This is why mom proposed that we went on a double date, to build back that trust and also to understand our boyfriends better. You''ve not seen Edward at his most charming, be prepared to be blown away today!"

    Edward swallowed when he heard that and refused to meet Scarlet''s eyes.

    "What did mom plan? Was playing an escape room game her idea or yours?" Scarlet couldn''t help but feel suspicious. She loved her family but sometimes... just sometimes she couldn''t help but feel as if she was a lamb they raised to push off a cliff.

    "Nothing?" Alex replied with a sly smile and a sing-song voice. Honestly? She couldn''t wait to see the action unfold. She knew that her darling would do swimmingly in the challenge but where would the fun be if they didn''t let Scarlet and Edward struggle a little? Edward might know about the double date and escape room theme but he didn''t have all the details that Alex and Orita had. They''d already bribed the game master for the roles in the game. Scarlet and Edward''s relationship will only grow stronger after this game. Absence made the heart grow fonder but adversities made it stronger.

    After the couples settled down and placed their belongings in the designated lockers, the game master took them to a briefing room to explain the rules of the game and introduce their company.

    "Welcome to the Escape Room! I''m Nook, the gamemaster and also an NPC actor for the game. Has anyone played anything similar before?"

    There were some head shakes and some blank stares but Nook wasn''t discouraged. If anything, he thought that his primary client was a great actress. Alex knew what was going to happen but she didn''t give anything away with that clueless look. Edward looked uneasy. He slowly reached for Scarlet''s hand to confirm that she was really there with him and did not feel uncomfortable with the idea. Scarlet blushed when she felt their hands touch but it wasn''t exactly unwelcomed as she returned the gesture and locked their hands together in between them while Nook introduced the company and game''s concept.

    "The theme is slightly more complicated, it''s an advanced game with a time-limit of 90 minutes. You will be split into two teams with one team getting locked together in handcuffs until the other team gets to them. The first part will be to solve a murder case and the second part would be to rescue the trapped couple in handcuffs. Here is how the game will go."

    Nook switched to a PowerPoint slide.

    Time Limit: 90 mins

    Teams: 2. Team A locked with handcuffs starting in the prison cell. Team B stuck in an elevator that is both the starting and ending point.

    Objectives:

    1. Solve all puzzles to gain clues to the murderer.

    2. Avoid getting caught by patrolling officer NPCs. If you are caught and have special "free-pass" items, you may proceed. If you get caught, you will be put in a special cell for a 5-minute time-out.

    3. Find the murderer & provide evidence to clear stage 1.

    4. Free and rescue the "wrongly accused" trapped couple and escape to the elevator without getting caught by patrolling officers to clear stage 2.

    Edward was slightly concerned when he saw that the "trapped" couple will be locked in a cell. Scarlet had many PTSD triggers and one of them might be claustrophobia when she was trapped in a janitor closet as a child with a broken leg while armed pursuers were searching for her. It''s a story Claire shared with him and Edward grimaced.

    "We will be Team B," he told Alex and Jasper. There was no room for negotiation. Alex didn''t object and Jasper simply went with the flow. Nook was satisfied that the couples decided on the teams quickly and hurriedly went through the slides to explain some basic rules before they got into positions to begin.

    "Some basic rules here are to always follow the instructions of the game master. We want to prevent any injuries during the game. No damaging the props, please. You may brisk walk but not run. All our staff including patrolling officer NPCs will be walking. We do not want anyone getting injured. You may talk to NPC actors but please exercise respect and follow their instructions for a good game experience. If you feel unwell at any point of the game and wish to rest, please inform any of our staff on standby. Any questions?"

    Nobody answered and Nooks clapped his hands with a smile.

    "Let''s begin. Team B, please follow me. Team A, please follow my staff to get into position. Remember, safety first, everything else second and good luck!"

 Chapter 224 - Trapped Together

    Alex was bouncing with every step as she followed the game staff. Jasper looked at his girlfriend strangely. The cheerful vibes didn''t suit the gloomy prison cell atmosphere. It was actually cold and the air-conditioning made him shiver. He didn''t often take her out for dates because of how busy he was. Their dates usually consisted of her coming over to the office for a visit and buying his employees coffee while tidying his desk or him just napping on her lap while she watched the latest movies at home. As a boyfriend, he didn''t do a good job of pleasing so he agreed to clear the day for a double date Alex planned. He should have known things were never as simple as they sounded when Alex went all out. He really wished his working dress code was not as casual as a thin t-shirt and some rugged jeans.

    Alex who was in high spirits looked back and saw her boyfriend rubbing his arms. She frowned for a bit before realising that he was cold. He was too thinly dressed and the air-conditioning was at full blast. Poor guy! Then again, her devious mind supplied that there was no better opportunity to snuggle up with him in their lovely prison cell. It didn''t matter how small or cramped a house was. Alex might always complain about how tiny his apartment was but honestly, she never cared too much about it. Anywhere could be home for her as long as she was with Jasper. Too bad he would never get to know about it. After all, she had to find some way to keep him motivated and catch up to her so that her father wouldn''t disapprove of handing her over to Jasper. Her mother might not mind the disparity in their social status but Alex knew it bothered Jasper a lot. Wilmer was also thinking of finding a successor for the Wilde Empire and Alex wanted her boyfriend to be ready for that role.

    "This is the holding area and the starting room for the game. Please hold out the hands you wish to be cuffed together. For most of the game, you will be cuffed so we advise you to discuss it among yourselves before we begin. It''s a light metal handcuff with rubber lining on the inside that can only be unlocked with the key that Team B finds. Does anyone wish to go to the washroom before we begin?"

    Jasper shook his head but Alex raised her hand. "Do you have a jacket or sweater or something? The air-conditioning is too strong."

    The staff lady looked slightly fl.u.s.tered and apologised. Then, she had an idea. "In that waiting room, there is a blanket. Although it is part of the prop I think you can use it. Any other questions?"

    With no more questions or request, Alex offered to be cuffed on her right and Jasper agreed to be cuffed on his left. This was a no-brainer decision as the artist was predominantly a left-hander although she was often seen signing autographs with her right hand in public. Jasper would know because he had been watching her since they were children. Alex drew and played tennis with her left hand but wrote with her right because some of her previous tutors preferred her to write with her right hand.

    Once they were cuffed together, the staff ushered them into a realistic-looking prison cell that only had a small blanket at a corner and a single mattress. There wasn''t anything else and Jasper leaned against the fake wall, closing his eyes.

    Alex looked over to her boyfriend and grinned. She eyed the blanket and snatched it before pushing the startled CEO down onto the mattress. Jasper who was resting yelped at the sudden aggressiveness. He knew that Alex was bold but he never thought she would be this bold to pounce on him in public. Sure, Alex would often initiate their romantic progress and Jasper usually went with the flow but this... this was too much!

    "Better?" she asked once they were both snuggled underneath the prop blanket on the mattress. The game hadn''t started but already they were sleeping. Jasper frowned. He wondered who taught Alex to be this cheeky and what the game master would think of them. Yet, he nodded it was warmer now. The blanket helped but the real reason was because of Alex being so close to him.

    From the elevator, the game master didn''t comment about Team A''s couple. They could sort themselves out. Instead, he was more focussed on Team B''s couple in front of him. They had a greater role in this escape room game because of how physically and mentally intensive it was.

    "Alright, are you ready? Team A is ready so we will start the briefing shortly. Does anyone need the washroom before we begin?"

    They shook their heads so Nook gave his staff the green light to start briefing Team A about their first mission while he explained what Team B needed to do.

    "Here is our first objective. The elevator is currently stuck so you have to find a way to escape it and open the door to your left to get to the mansion where the murder has taken place. Your identities here will be detectives undercover trying to clear the name of your framed clients. Your partners have tried and failed so they are currently in prison. They have gotten a map of the mansion''s layout and can communicate with you if you find a walkie talkie after you escape. They will also be able to advise you when there are patrol officers coming your way. Any questions?"

    Edward smirked. Escape an elevator? This should be simple. Scarlet could handle it.

    Seeing that Team B didn''t have questions, Nook wished them luck, took his leave and started the countdown. He observed both couples from the restricted staff room and gave everyone instructions to standby. The actors and stagehands were in position and the clock counted down with the lights dimming to make the game more realistic. Jasper heard the robotic voice count down and decided that they had plenty of time. He could afford a cat nap while Scarlet and Edward figured how to escape their elevator. He could leave getting the keys out of their cell to Alex.

    While Edward observed the play area, Scarlet was already forming plans in her head. The game seemed simple but also realistic. It made her excited but also slightly nervous. How would Alex and Jasper fare being handcuffed together throughout most of the game? What would happen if she took too long to get to them? Would she be able to successfully complete this game in 90 minutes?

    "Don''t worry, I''ll be right by your side," Edward said and his words calmed her down effectively. He already knew how to escape the elevator and if Scarlet still couldn''t figure it, he would assist her discreetly. It was always delightful to watch Scarlet hard at work.

    Alex yawned. This was too easy. Find the map, read a book and break out of the cell? Easy. Before they started Jasper already noticed the book and Alex accidentally discovered the hidden map beneath the mattress when they were messing around. Call her the Pea Princess because Alex instantly knew there was something beneath this mattress when she lied on it.

    The timer went off and Alex groaned. She was too lazy to get out of bed now that she was in it with Jasper.

    "Are you not going to start?" Jasper asked lazily. He didn''t feel like moving.

    "No, it''s too easy. I don''t feel like reading the journal and I already know where the map is."

    "You do?" Now that was a surprise. He knew the journal and how to get the key but not where the map was.

    Alex grinned. "Why? Impressed? Call me princess and I''ll tell you where it is."

    The young CEO rolled his eyes and kissed her on the nose. She just wanted him to call her princess. Normally, he did it out of sarcasm to mock her bratty attitude but today, he would indulge her. Going for the prince charming act, he pulled her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.

    "Won''t you tell me where the map is, princess?"

    Alex blushed when Jasper went all serious with the role play on her. She didn''t expect him to do it but her maiden heart was thrilled by the affection.

    "It''s underneath where we''re sleeping, my knight. How about you get the key and I read the book aloud. You should be used to multitasking by now."

    Jasper nodded, his bangs falling to a side, revealing his eyes. "We shouldn''t keep them waiting for too long. They might have gotten out by now while we''re lazing in bed. Do you think we can bring the bed and mattress along after we get out?"

    Alex laughed. "Might as well. They said no destroying of props. I don''t think relocating them counts as destroying."

    From the control room, the game master heard everything but he didn''t stop them. Team A had the right idea and he turned back to Team B. The couple was making little progress at finding a method to escape the trapped lift. The door shouldn''t be forced open and Scarlet sighed. The control panel was their only option but she didn''t know how to open it either.

    "There should be something to open this. We should search for a key," she told Edward who nodded.

    "I''ll search in this corner, you should try that corner. If I were the game master, I would hide the key under something sneaky to camouflage it."

    Nook choked on his water when he heard that. Was Team B''s boyfriend a mind reader?! He started sweating. Was this really the unbeatable escape game that many couples couldn''t finish within 90 minutes? The client requested for the hardest trial but neither teams appeared to be struggling much. The average time taken to figure out where the keys are and to get out of the first room was fifteen minutes. Not even two minutes had passed but they were already making significant progress.

 Chapter 225 - No Room Can Hold Us Back

    Scarlet ran her hands over the rubber mat surface of the elevator walls and listened to Edward''s advice. Judging from the size of the keyhole, the key she was looking for should be rather small. In fact, it didn''t have to be a key. Anything that was metal could be used to pick the lock.

    Feeling the surface of the rubber mats, Scarlet felt something beneath them and grinned at the easy victory. However, she was slightly hesitant. What if this counted as prop destruction?

    "Excuse me," she asked the staff hiding behind the walls. "Does this count as prop destruction if I peel back the wallpapers and mats to search?"

    Nook answered her through the announcement system that it wasn''t a violation so Scarlet peeled the rubber off without hesitation. Edward couldn''t keep the grin off his face when she did a little noise of happiness at the find. Being the courteous person that she was, Scarlet gently replaced the mat and tried the key on the locked control panel.

    "It won''t fit," she frowned after trying it for the fifth time.

    Edward was slightly surprised and walked over. He was close enough to be able to smell her shampoo and immediately hated it. This wasn''t Scarlet''s shampoo, her hair didn''t usually smell like that. Once they returned home, he was going to make her take a good long bath. He didn''t like the idea of Scarlet using her sister''s overly sharp floral fragrance shampoo. If anything, he still preferred the scent of Scarlet''s minty shampoo and milk body wash.

    "It''s not this key then," he told her. "Hold onto it, for now, we might come across another chance to use this at a later stage.

    Scarlet agreed and the couple worked quickly to find other keys or tools within the small room. Edward retrieved the key he spotted earlier on one of the higher walls and passed it to Scarlet who returned with a negative. It wasn''t that key either and after searching the walls twice, they stood before the control panel to think.

    Scarlet glanced at the edges of the wall near the door and realised something odd about the wall near the doors and the wall edges not near doors.

    "Edward, do you think they would hide it on the floor?"

    The spy looked at his feet and stomped on the ground. Scarlet was right. He hadn''t noticed it earlier because most of the floor was carpeted when they came in but the floor felt like it had a layer.

    "It''s worth a shot," he told her. "Search the sides for a way we can remove this."

    Together, Edward and Scarlet felt around the flooring and Nook looked at the timer. It had only taken them five minutes to figure out the trick. He watched with slight indigestion when Edward found the right key hidden in between the flooring and the rubber wall after they pried the sides. Scarlet wasted no time and opened the control panel, leaving Nook no choice but to give out instructions to the staff to get into position for the second stage.

    After the control panel door fell open, Scarlet and Edward were stopped by a second puzzle. This time, a staff member entered the room to explain the rules but Edward''s hands were faster. After seeing the circuit board and diagram, he knew what jumper wires should be connected, which should be disconnected and which switches to flip.

    Scarlet didn''t have any time to look and the staff didn''t have any time to explain before Edward told her to check it. Nook felt slightly anxious. That took less than a minute! However, he was still slightly hopeful. Even if Team B could progress quickly, Team A''s bottleneck would still slow them down. Without Team A''s ''eyes'' for the rest of the game, Team B is most likely unable to escape the frequently patrolling guards.

    Once the staff in the elevator confirmed that the puzzle was solved correctly, the door was unlocked for them to escape the elevator to the next stage. Scarlet went right up to the case file and read it while Edward searched the room for useful objects. They were in the ''secret office'' and the staff explained that once they left, they couldn''t come back unless they repeated the first stage of escaping the elevator. Edward pocketed a master key set and fiddled with the walkie talkie while Scarlet read the case file aloud. Nook quickly checked on the other couple seeing as Edward didn''t hear a reply from the walkie talkie.

    Jasper and Alex were also making quick progress. It wasn''t hard for Jasper to get them out of the cell. In fact, Alex and he found all the pieces, they just had to put them together and get the keys. The map was retrieved and placed aside. While Nook wasn''t watching them because of how quick Team B was, Alex found the piece of metal on the false window sill after retrieving the map and searched the place quickly with an expert eye. Once they collected everything they could, Jasper worked on getting the pole from outside his reach from their cell. The CEO didn''t hesitate to use the blanket as a whip to retrieve that pole. Then, he fashioned a clumsy hook so that they could retrieve the keys hidden outside of their cell in a corner to the left with it.

    After Jasper unlocked the door, he found that they were actually still rather trapped in the facility because the main cell block door was locked and can only be opened from the outside. On the other hand, everything within the facility including the room with CCTVs is free property.

    "Darling, give me a hand!" Alex whined. While Jasper was looking around, Alex had already decided what she wanted to do. The lights in the control room were brighter so she wanted to move the comfy mattress over to read the map and journal in luxury but her boyfriend was too busy plotting a breakout. Why would he even try to break out if they were still cuffed together? They''d get caught in no time.

    Jasper sighed and gave up. Alex would be Alex. Even in a jail breakout game, comfort was still the top of her priorities. He helped her move the mattress into the control room and rearranged some furniture so that it fits snugly while he worked. There were many controls that Jasper didn''t know how to use so Alex told him to figure out how to use the walkie talkie instead. The model had some experience with this thanks to Claire and after fiddling a few buttons to find out how to switch cameras and pull out the screens, she looked over to her lover.

    "Did you figure it out?"

    "Yeah," Jasper nodded. "Hold onto this when you want to talk then release it to cut the transmission. According to the journal and the guide we need to navigate Scarlet and Edward through their mission and help them avoid patrol officers."

    Alex pointed to a screen. "They''re currently here. I''m not good at maps so I''m going to need you to help them out for me. Use the map to plan a route for them according to the cameras. I''ve arranged them for you. If you need to rearrange anything or switch them you can drag it to this side panel and switch them out. Don''t touch anything else, it will exit this monitoring frame. Basically, you need to figure out a flow of which camera flow to which so we can have a better overview. There should be some sort of security camera location diagram normally to help with this but I guess this game isn''t as realistic as I thought it would be."

    Jasper didn''t know what to say. He thought the game was complicated enough but Alex was asking for more? Why couldn''t his girlfriend be satisfied with what they had? Sometimes, he didn''t really understand her. She wanted an easy life but she never took the easy path.

    All this happened while Scarlet and Edward were still finding the final key to escape the elevator. Nook hadn''t been paying attention to them but the other staff did. While the escape theme of Team A''s puzzle was easier, the figuring out of the control room setup was the real difficulty. Both teams had to work together to safely make their way around the game to complete the challenges within 90 minutes. Less than ten minutes had gone by but they''d already both cleared the first hurdle. Shouldn''t they struggle a little more? To make matters worse, Alex looked completely at home in the control room reading the journal and guide leisurely while Jasper worked. For some reason, Nook thought that it was an oddly domestic sight as if he was watching someone else''s private life.

    What use were these rooms in the first place? It might have been better if he placed staff to give them an introduction briefing before letting them go. That might have stalled these two couples for longer compared to the puzzles. Edward finally got the walkie talkie working and when he sent the first message over, Alex was the one to answer.

    "You guys managed to escape too? You''re slower than us," the model grinned.

    Scarlet took the walkie talkie from her boyfriend and replied, "It took a while because it was tricky but no room can hold us for long. What do you guys have on your end? We found everything we needed and read the case files. We have four suspects that we have to approach and talk to while avoiding the patrol guards. Which door should we take?"

    Alex nodded while Jasper worked on finding the right arrangement. He was about sixty percent done.

    "Jasper''s still working on arranging the cameras to the map we found. We''re going to be your eyes and guide you on where to go. Give us some time."

    Edward took Scarlet''s hand and spoke into the walkie talkie, leaning close enough that made Scarlet''s heart skip.

    "Don''t worry about where to go, give me a description of the map starting from the room that we are in. Tell me how many rooms after each door and which direction the doors are, I''ll memorise the layout. You just need to tell us where the patrol officers are to avoid them."

    Getting up from the mattress, Alex described the map to Edward while Jasper worked. From the control room, Nook couldn''t understand what he was seeing and hearing. Yet, he had a feeling that this game would be over sooner than expected.

 Chapter 226 - Solving Mr Rogers Murder (1)

    Scarlet was impressed with Edward''s ability to form a map in his head based on Alex''s description. They had been going on for a minute with no sign of stopping so she let him focus on that. Instead, she read up on the case files.

    The game master must have put in a lot of effort to craft the story and Scarlet found herself slowly slipping into sleuth mode as she read the file.

    Introduction:

    The party at the Roger Family''s ended with a horrible incident when a guest who had woken up in the middle of the night found Mr Roger''s body in the middle of the main room by the fireplace. The chief inspector found that he was poisoned to death with a glass of wine near him.

    Here are the four suspects that you must talk to in order to gain more clues and evidence to find the true murderer among them. The scene will change twice for you to talk to them in their respective rooms during the day and to find the required evidence in the evening when they have left their rooms. Throughout the undercover mission, you should try to avoid the patrol guards.

    When you meet the suspects, you may ask them questions with the guideline questions given to you on page three. Some of these questions will make them like you enough to change their answers for other questions while others will make them not want to speak to you. There is no limit to how many questions you may ask them during the day and you may revisit their rooms at any moment before the scene changes.

    In certain circ.u.mstances when a character allows you to search the room, you may gather the relevant evidence that will be tagged for further questioning. If a character does not allow you to search the room and you have tagged evidence that you need, please find a way to retrieve it without violating the rules.

    Once you have decided that you have all the information you need in the day, you may proceed to ask the lawyer/game master in the main room to progress you to the evening scene to search for clues and evidence. You may not revert time back to question suspects once the scene is over.

    To start the game, please find and talk to the lawyer/game master in the game room to begin.

    "Which door should we take?" she asked Edward who closed his eyes to take in all the information. She held onto the case file and waited.

    "The door to the right," he told her and held her by the hand, strolling towards it as if they were on a date instead of an escape room mission.

    "What''s the position of the patrol officers?" he asked through the walkie talkie before they left. The ring of master keys worked so Edward assumed that they would use this to get to the suspect''s room.

    "No patrols guards sighted yet, I think they will only appear after the game master officially begins the stage. Get to the main room, it''s two doors right and a left turn after that short corridor."

    Edward wasted no time and Scarlet followed quickly. As they walked, the couple shared information with each other.

    "I''ve read the file," she told him. "Four suspects, a list of scripted questions and many samples to look at with tags. We have to look out for them. Yellow means items that can be used in the game and blue means items that are meant to be collected only."

    Edward nodded and took a look at the mission file briefly with the profiles of each suspect and the questions they could ask. He memorised them all within the minute that they took to walk to the main room and Scarlet held onto the walkie talkie, looking out for patrol officers and admiring the interior decoration along the way.

    The four suspects were given a backstory and Edward raised a brow. He had his guesses on who the real mastermind was but he would wait to see Scarlet''s reaction to it. Besides, they didn''t have any evidence so he wouldn''t be too hasty about it.

    The first suspect was the chef. As all horror stories go, your worst nightmare is usually hidden in the kitchen. The chef would be an obvious suspect as well because Mr Roger''s death happened at a party and was killed by poison in the food or drinks. Even if he was innocent, he couldn''t be ruled out as a suspect.

    The second suspect was a maid. As someone who tended to Mr Roger''s needs daily and moved around the estate a lot, she would be the one with the most chances of killing him. There was nothing unusual about her backstory but there were some rather interesting question choices that he couldn''t wait to see how the game master scripted this.

    The third suspect was the dead man''s daughter. In so many cases of homicide, wives killed husbands for their inheritance, children killed parents for their inheritance, husbands killed wives and children or even siblings and relatives all for the sake of inheritance. If the game proceeded in such a manner, Edward would be very bored. Then again, he was already bored with the game. The only thing making him enjoy all these was Scarlet.

    The last suspect in Edward''s opinion was the least suspicious. It was just a guest from the party. Her backstory gave her a very unfamiliar and uninvolved vibe who just happened to be caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. This person was just here to confuse the players but Edward knew better. He didn''t think that Scarlet would be fooled either but they still had to prove her innocence to nail the culprit.

    With that, they approached the main room that reminded Scarlet a little about the penthouse back in Singapore. The furniture style was very similar and had a mid-nineteenth-century European style concept. The fireplace was obviously fake because it was just a gif playing on repeat on a huge screen. They really couldn''t afford to install a real fireplace in such a tiny room.

    Mr Roger was lying on the floor with his eyes closed. He was a very good actor but Scarlet knew better than to think he was actually dead or sleeping. The man was in his mid-thirties but was dressed to look like he was in his sixties.

    Like all crime scenes, a white chalk outline was drawn where Mr Roger''s dead body lay. There were some wine stains on the carpet. Scarlet had to give it to the stagehands for creating such a wonderful ambience that didn''t pale in comparison to movie sets. The person they were meant to meet was waiting for them and greeted them with a smile.

    "Good day, I am the lawyer as well as the game master. You may call me Nook."

    The writer laughed. "You don''t have to tell us that twice, Nook. We remember your face from ten minutes ago. So, what do we have to do to clear this new stage?"

    Nook couldn''t help but feel slightly bitter that it only took them ten minutes to settle one of the more complicated parts of the game. He only hoped that the second part of this game proved to be more mentally stimulating and challenging. With the overload of information going around, many people will falter and spend way too much time making sure that they didn''t miss anything before going to the next stage. The average time taken to clear this stage was forty minutes and the passing rate isn''t a lot. Ultimately, the game ends when the detectives fail to get the right murderer, fail to rescue their teammates or fail to return to the elevator on time and close the doors.

    "I assume you''ve read the mission file. Your job is to find the murder and gain clues during the day mission by talking to the suspects. Some items like the ones I will give you now will be tagged. Yellow for usable items and blue for collection only. This is a bag that you can use to place all your blue collectable items and evidence," he handed a small sling bag to Scarlet and showed them a fingerprint dusting kit.

    "There will be some places that will be marked out in red. Those are items that contain fingerprints and you have to use the dusting kit here to obtain them. I have an object here and will demonstrate it to you how to use it. This is the wine glass that Mr Roger was drinking from. You can match the obtained fingerprints to the suspects in the second scenario when dusting their room for personal items."

    Scarlet was fascinated by the fingerprint dusting kit but Edward grimaced at how sloppy Nook demonstrated it. The man was unprofessional and took way too long to get a single fingerprint. The way he blew on the powder made Edward cringe. Then, he used sticky tape to collect the dusted fingerprint and taped it to a clear plastic slot booklet that he handed to Scarlet or safekeeping.

    "This is how it is done," he told them proudly. "You can write on the clear slots the names of the identified fingerprints with a marker. Any questions? There is no further evidence in this room so if you have no questions you may start the game, we will resume the timer."

    Team B shook their head and Nook wished them luck and waved to them with a smile although he was crying inside his heart. This couple was simply too powerful and even the couple in the prison cell was too much! How could anyone be cuddled on the mattress under a blanket in this sort of situation? If he didn''t know they were watching the cameras, he would have thought it was date night.

    "Actors get into position, patrol guards, start patrolling. Stagehands, help me clear this room. I have a feeling we need to pull ourselves together, this couple works fast. Get the props needed for the evening scene."

 Chapter 227 - Solving Mr Rogers Murder (2)

    After memorising the map, Edward led the way easily while Jasper gave them directions to steer clear of the ten patrol officers they saw moving around. Their first suspect on the list to clear would be the easiest in Edward''s opinion. The lady guest didn''t seem to have many questions to ask so Scarlet thought that they should save some time and get them out of the way. Edward agreed as well and luckily for them, the guest''s room wasn''t hard to find. The only tricky part was finding the correct key for the doors each time they came across one.

    When they finally reached the room of their first suspect, Scarlet decided to exercise some basic courtesy even if this was a game and knocked on the door before announcing their presence in a polite tone.

    The guest actor was slightly surprised by how natural that sounded even if it wasn''t in the script.

    "Come in," she told them and Scarlet tried the door. It was unlocked unlike the other dummy doors in the twisting corridor maze. Edward was slowly piecing the information together and wondered if there was a patrol pattern for the ten patrol officers.

    "I''ll leave this to you," he told Scarlet and kissed her on the forehead. "Stay in this room until I come back, I''m going to scout the area."

    Scarlet didn''t know what Edward had in mind but she didn''t ask. Ever since the fight they had, Scarlet did some reflecting. Edward was someone with many secrets but he had never once let her down or do anything that betrayed her trust in him. Hence, this time, she wasn''t going to question him and simply nodded.

    Edward left swiftly and Scarlet turned to the first suspect for questioning. The suspect was an aristocratic guest wearing those puffy ball gowns she''s only seen in The Phantom of the Opera. It was a victorian dress that looked very stunning even if it was a stage costume. As an actress who had only acted in China and worn hanfu, Scarlet wanted to try that on but held herself back. The dress was made with stunning red fabric with black lace and looked very elegant on the actress who hid her amus.e.m.e.nt behind a feathered victorian fan.

    "Hello," Scarlet greeted the beautiful lady with brown hair. "Are you Miss Katherine?"

    "Indeed I am," the first suspect who was a guest of the party and the tutor of Mr Roger''s daughter smiled.

    Scarlet introduced herself according to the role they were given and the actor was rather impressed that Scarlet was taking the time to make her feel comfortable as if she was an actual person involved with the homicide case as a suspect. Nothing that Scarlet asked thus far was part of the script and the actress wondered if Scarlet knew how the game worked.

    "You must have been rather shocked to know that the host of the party had passed away during your stay," Scarlet started after ensuring that Miss Katherine was calm. She proceeded to ask questions like a professional and got into the mood quickly. "I would like to ask you some questions and I hope that you could cooperate with me as much as you can so that we can get to the bottom of the case. Could you let me know where you were last night from seven to nine in the evening?"

    The actress ''Katherine'' got into the mood and explained that she was mingling with other guests at the party after greeting the host and talking to his daughter Scarlet checked the alibi box and moved to the next question, asking about her relationship with Katherine and the kind of man she knew Mr Roger to be.

    "Miss Roger is a lovely pupil and even after I left to pursue my higher education, we often kept in touch through letters. Mr Roger is a nice man and many people might clock him as a little on the dumb side but I knew he loved his daughter very much even if he didn''t have the greatest relationship with his wife."

    Scarlet wrote that down quickly, her curiosity burning. "Could you explain a little more about Mr Roger''s relationship and his wife?"

    This wasn''t in the script but Katherine decided to play along and drop a little more hints about the plot of the murder story. She hid behind the fan and lowered her voice as if afraid of others overhearing.

    "Mr and Mrs Roger had an arranged marriage as it was normal of aristocratic nobles. They had an alright relationship but Mrs Roger was more interested in pursuing materialistic interests. She is currently expanding her perfumery business abroad and is often away for years at a time. Young Miss Roger grew up without her mother and Mr Roger had grown to be quite the overprotective father."

    Noting these down, Scarlet asked if Katherine knew about the father and daughter''s relationship and the tutor smiled.

    "It is as you''ve guessed, inspector. They didn''t share a very amicable relationship. I often exchanged letters with his daughter so I know all about it. She often rants to me about how he was always trying to take away her freedom and little things like that. However, recently, she told me something that made her terribly upset. Mr Roger disapproved of her current lover and was planning to arrange her marriage with the son of a viscount. As you''ve guessed it, this party was held by Mr Roger to introduce his daughter to potential candidates but my word, such a thing happened. I''m still trying to get over the shock myself when I learnt about it and I cannot imagine what young Miss Roger is going through right now learning about the death of her father."

    Seeing as Edward still wasn''t back, Scarlet ended up chatting with Katherine for a lot longer than she expected.

    In the meantime, Edward was making his way around and getting Team A to assist him. As he expected, the patrol officers were made to walk only in a certain pattern and Edward decided to unlock all the doors beforehand. Patrol officers couldn''t use those shortcut doors and now that Edward knew the entire layout of the area in fifteen minutes, the game was almost as good as won.

    He returned swiftly a whooping ten minutes later and thanked the lady for accompanying his girlfriend. Scarlet thanked Katerine and bade her goodbye before Edward updated her on what he found.

    "We''re going to take the shortcut from now on, stay close with me. It took me a while to find all eight doors to unlock them but thanks to that, I know where all the rooms are. Who do we need to see next?"

    Scarlet looked at her detective notes and Edward browsed through the point forms briefly. For some reason, he had a feeling Scarlet found out more than what was required. Just by putting all the information that Scarlet got from their first suspect, Edward already knew who the true murderer could be. He just needed to find more points and conclusive evidence but Scarlet should have no difficulty deriving at the same conclusion.

    "I think we should talk to the daughter next. I''ve got some rather interesting information from the guest who was the daughter''s tutor. Would you like to hear it?"

    Although Edward already knew the gist of it from the peek at Scarlet''s notes, he nodded. He liked hearing her babble and wished that they could take their time but the moment was cut short when the walkie talkie crackled to life.

    "Patrol officer passing by, stop flirting so much and complete the mission quickly. It''s cold and we''re bored!"

    Scarlet blushed when she heard her sister complain and immediately shut up. Edward grabbed the walkie talkie and shot back, "Says the ones actually having the luxury to snuggle up against each other with handcuffs in an isolated room without needing to do much work."

    Jasper was slightly startled. How did Edward know? They''d taken to just snuggling underneath the prop blanket on the mattress that Alex moved in. The chairs were pushed aside and they were simply watching the screens to tell Edward when they saw a patrol guard approaching.

    Alex snickered. "Jealous?" she quipped and Scarlet''s face exploded.

    Edward simply turned around to the nearest camera he saw and made a face before pulling Scarlet in for a kiss to flaunt his love to the couple watching them. His actions made Nook feel green with envy and disgust. How dare this couple flaunt their love in front of a single man like him? This escape game shouldn''t be an amus.e.m.e.nt park, why did neither of the couples struggle more? Also, the actress was a little too easily defeated. He didn''t know what they were talking about but if they solved the first stage in ten minutes again, he was going to quit.

    Once the parol guards left, Edward quickly pulled a stunned Scarlet along to the next door that he already unlocked. Scarlet decided to use the same approach and knock on the door before entering. Edward couldn''t help but be amused by how into the game Scarlet was. If Scarlet wasn''t a writer or an actress, she would make a cute assistant detective when he set up his private agency.

 Chapter 228 - Solving Mr Rogers Murder (3)

    Miss Roger was not as cooperative as Katherine and Scarlet couldn''t see the information gathering session going anywhere. The actress was rather young and stiff in her acting so she was probably sticking to her script instead of playing according to the situation like Katherine earlier.

    Still, Scarlet thanked the actress and noted that Katherine didn''t have an alibi at the time of the crime and had an argument with her father, confirming Katherine''s story. They left in three minutes and Scarlet sighed.

    "Why the heavy sigh? I think you did well. We got all the information we could ever get out of her."

    Scarlet frowned. "She wouldn''t tell us enough for me to write her off the list of guilty suspects. Her tutor told me more about her than what she told me about her. Still, who exactly is her lover? I bet she didn''t tell us her alibi because she was with her lover."

    Edward nodded. "Very possible," he said. "Still, don''t write it off yet. We need to find all evidence before coming to any conclusions."

    Scarlet agreed and they hurried off to the next place that was the kitchen.

    When they got to the kitchen, Edward had to laugh at what looked like a bad imitation of a French chef. He didn''t have the right accent catches that Edward knew he sometimes had when he wasn''t conscious of it. Sure, the man looked like a very serious serial killer that fit in with the profile when he carried a prop kitchen knife. He was olive-skinned, dark-haired and had those hooded eyes with a masculine jaw.

    "What do you want?" the chef demanded angrily, not happy to see guests.

    Scarlet swallowed. He looked angry and suddenly, she wasn''t sure if she would be able to get any answers from such a hostile and defensive character. Edward took it easy and walked around with a smile in front of Scarlet.

    "Just a few questions, sir. We''re investigating the murder case and you''re currently on the suspect list."

    Immediately, the chef became defensive. "I didn''t do it! The wine Mr Roger drank was the same, he didn''t die when he drank it last week!"

    Seeing that there was an opportunity for more questioning, Edward gave Scarlet a nod who quickly followed up on it.

    "Could you tell us more? Which was the bottle that you poured the wine from? When was it last opened and where was it bought from?"

    The chef seemed distraught at the questions and looked left and right nervously. Edward took the time to look around the kitchen and found the bottle of wine that was half open with a red tag on it. On the other side of the kitchen counter together with some of the vegetables was a lighter with a yellow tag. Those were items that he had to get but for that, he needed Scarlet to be more aggressive with the interrogation.

    Just as he was about to touch the wine bottle, the chef turned around and snapped for him not to touch it.

    "The lawyer said you cannot touch that!"

    Edward reeled back and daringly went for the lighter to which the chef told him not to touch it either. The lighter was something that belonged to the chef personally and Edward was now curious. They had to take that no matter what now.

    "Mr Moreau ," Scarlet asked again, getting the hint from Edward that he needed a diversion. "Could you tell me more about where you were between seven in the evening to midnight last night?"

    The chef glared at her. "I was sleeping after the party. Why do you care?"

    Scarlet wrote that down. "Was there anyone you saw before you went to bed?"

    "No. Nobody at all."

    "Who was the last person you saw before you left?"

    At this, the chef looked away and told her that he saw the maid. Picking up on the body language, Scarlet noted that the answer was most likely a lie that she had to confirm with the maid later.

    "Did anything happen when you met with her?"

    At this, Mr Moreau started to think a little more. Scarlet gave him time while Edward quickly pocketed the lighter and walked by Scarlet. She saw how her boyfriend gestured for the fingerprint kit behind the chef and Scarlet slowly removed her sling bag and pretended to adjust her case file for notes. Edward swiftly took the sling bag while the chef answered her previous query.

    "She told me to prepare wine for Mr Roger to take to him. I poured his usual glass before he went to bed. Normally Samantha takes it to him herself but that night she had a guest request so she told me to give it to the master. I swear it is not me who poisoned the wine!"

    Scarlet nodded. "So you''re saying that you went to bed soon after seeing the master? Why did you say that the last person you saw last night was Samantha? Did she appear later?"

    The chef stammered and started making excuses that his memory wasn''t good and Scarlet smelled a lie even though it was scripted.

    "Mr Moreau, please be honest with us. What really happened? You may leave out names if you wish to for now but we would like to know exactly what happened during the time seven to midnight in order to clear your name. If you served the wine just before Mr Roger''s death, it would be incredibly hard for us to think that you were not involved."

    The chef immediately sang to a different tune now that his lie had been exposed. Scarlet didn''t know if it was scripted but the man was a better actor than Mr Roger''s daughter even if he wasn''t as natural as the guest actress.

    "It Is true, inspectors, you must believe me! I did not kill the master, someone wants to frame me. Master and I do not have a good relationship because of personal reasons but I have no benefit of killing him."

    Edward, who had finished obtaining the fingerprint from the wine bottle, now came to assist Scarlet with the interrogation.

    "You say that your personal relationship with Mr Roger is bad. How can we rule out that you didn''t kill him from anger? As the chef, you had the most opportunity to slip poison into his meals without anyone knowing."

    At this, Mr Moreau broke down. "Promise not to tell anyone? I can tell you the truth but you cannot let the person I was with get into trouble."

    Scarlet agreed and the chef sighed in resignation, looking very sad. "Last night after serving wine, I left the kitchen to go to an empty guest room to meet up with my lover. She always leaves me secret letters there that I find to know when to meet her. Usually, we go after her father drinks his wine and goes to bed. However, the party ended late last night so I didn''t wait to go to my room first, I went to that empty guest room straightaway. I do not want to kill Mr Roger because it would make her sad."

    Scarlet blinked and Edward smirked. "Your lover was Miss Roger. If you were the murderer you wouldn''t have stayed. In fact, even after knowing that someone was trying to frame you, you remained because you knew the next person to be suspected for the murder would be her if you weren''t around."

    The chef nodded with nothing to say now that the truth was out. Scarlet was impressed that Edward managed to put together a story for the case even though the actors were following a script. Then, she asked one important question following the supplied questions. Now that they''ve become a lot closer to the suspect, she had a feeling that he would answer this bonus question.

    "How do you usually communicate with Miss Roger? Where can you find or read her secret letters?"

    Mr Moreau smiled. "She writes in citrus juice on a blank paper that is usually readied on the study table for guests. I normally hold the citrus-scented paper over a fire because heat will make the words appear. After I read the message, I burn the letter."

    Now that there were no more questions left to ask and Edward had gotten hold of all the evidence they needed in the room, they left. Scarlet added the chef''s fingerprint to the collection after Mr Roger''s and looked through her notes. She didn''t think that going back to talk to the daughter would be useful at this point. The chef had provided them evidence of his alibi so if they find evidence of what Mr Moreau said was true, they would be able to clear the star-crossed lovers'' names.

    "Where to now?" Scarlet asked. "I kind of want to go to the study room to ransack everything first then talk to the maid before going back to Miss Roger for the last time to confirm my lingering suspicions."

    Edward agreed. "We will do that then. The study room is further down nearer to the main room. I got the fingerprint but I think it will be trickier from here on. It''s been twenty minutes since we started the game so we should quickly wrap things up here."

    When Nook heard that from his control room as Team A assisted them to wiggle through the patrol officers, he felt light-headed. Indeed, it has only been twenty minutes yet they''ve managed to uncover two scenarios to the maximum level that''s usually impossible within one attempt. The guest and chef have no more scripts to tell and were simply loitering around while Team B bulldozes through the challenges easily. Whichever the case, Nook and his team might be seeing a new record with the monster couples playing today''s game. No wonder the client said to make this harder. Edward was too quick when he was collecting fingerprints and the game master felt ashamed at his earlier demonstration.

    It was as if Edward was the expert and him the rookie pretending to be an expert.

 Chapter 229 - Solving Mr Rogers Murder (4)

    The study room was something that made Scarlet''s heart flutter. If there was a desktop on that oak study desk, everything would be perfect! It would be her ideal home office but Scarlet didn''t have much time to appreciate it. Edward started working immediately and Scarlet looked around, not knowing where to start.

    Eventually, Scarlet just decided to look at the scripts and study where to find the doc.u.ments to support the evidence and story of the information they''d gotten from the actors. The first thing she wanted to confirm was the invitation list for the guests. If Miss Katherine''s name wasn''t there, Scarlet hoped to find a separate invitation letter elsewhere.

    As the writer went through the invitation list, Edward was working on something else. He was hoping to find a bonus list of names for the schedule of servants working because the murder suspect in his mind had never changed. He wasn''t expecting the game master to be so detailed to hide a schedule of servant rosters in the study with a pile of useless doc.u.ments. However, he was still pleased with the outcome.

    Nook grinned at last while the couple went through the study room and the doc.u.ments. This was the most time-consuming portion of the second stage simply because of the amount of distraction and unnecessary details that often confuse participants. He hoped that it would stall them for long enough to cross the twenty-minute mark but his hopes were crushed when Edward showed Scarlet what he found.

    "Nice work," she smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I found the invitation list for the party but Miss Katherine''s name isn''t on it. We still have to find the letter inviting her to clear her name."

    Edward agreed and picked up the journal that belonged to Mr Roger. Strangely, while all the information was useful, they were not tagged. Edward didn''t pay much attention and left reading the juicy information to Scarlet while the girl took down notes in her case file. He was looking only for potential items with tags when he found something that shouldn''t be revealed so early in the game.

    The picture frame on the wall could be moved and Edward froze. There was certainly something behind the picture frame and he looked back to see if Scarlet was watching. When she wasn''t watching, Edward shifted it to take a peek behind and smirked. Now, things were getting more interesting. The game master must really have taken his inspirations from classic detective movies. Nobody hides a safe behind their paintings nowadays. Besides, back in the Victorian days, people didn''t really have safes of this design. Still, he had to give it to the game master for trying. The one key and one knob design was victoria-ish but the magnetic mechanism behind the lock wasn''t. Antique safes used a complex locking mechanism and not electromagnets. Strangely, there were no tags yet so Edward didn''t bother with it.

    They didn''t stay too long in the room, only five minutes before they left. Without any tagged items, Edward deemed it a bust and a time-wasting trap that Scarlet agreed and quickly left to find the maid.

    Nook had mixed feelings as the couple left to find the last suspect. He hoped that the maid actress could stall them for a longer time than everyone else.

    The maid was an interesting character as Edward thought she would be. She had a poker face on the entire time they questioned her and the story matched what they learnt from the chef. She had indeed been the one to talk to the chef and asked him to pass the wine to the master of the house last night while attending to Miss Katherine. According to this timeline, there was no way she had any chances of poisoning the master. They also couldn''t find a suitable motive.

    "What do you think of Miss Roger and Mr Roger''s relationship? I think you''re aware of Mr Moreau''s relationship with Miss Roger."

    This was a trick question and Scarlet was hoping that the maid would take the bait to answer what she knew. Edward knew what his girlfriend was up to and supported the idea. Unfortunately for them, the maid was a more professional actress than even the guest actress and they couldn''t get her to talk more than what she was asked. Scarlet looked at her question cards, things were not doing good.

    Pulling Edward aside, she asked if they could demand to search her room because the maid didn''t seem like she had a favourable enough opinion of them to warrant such a thing. Edward thought about it and told her to leave it to him.

    "We found the roster of the staff in the study," Edward began. "We also spoke to the chef and there was something that didn''t match. Normally, maids were on a roster to aid Mr Roger with his nightly routine. However, according to the chef, you had been the one delivering his wine every night which meant that for a while now, you''ve been the sole person attending to Mr Roger''s nightly routine. Could you explain that to us?"

    The maid''s eyes widened for a fraction and Scarlet looked around the room in hopes to find something. The maid seemed a little apprehensive when she did that and Scarlet asked for permission to search the maid''s room based on that assumption that the maid was hiding something suspicious.

    "I have nothing to hide," the maid actress declared bravely and allowed the couple to search her room.

    Edward and Scarlet gave each other hi-fives and the maid actress shot a look of help to one of the cameras that she knew Nook was watching. It was probably the first time that someone had found the link between the useless staff schedule and the chef''s story. That was a bonus that they slipped in and wasn''t a huge part of this murder mystery storyline but the couple was simply too sharp and followed the clues like sharks after blood.

    After a minute of searching and flawless teamwork, Edward discovered a strange item although it wasn''t tagged. Why was there a man''s tie in a maid''s private quarters?

    Scarlet was slightly surprised at the turn of events. Surely this was not another romantic thing happening, right? According to the backstory that Katherine told her, the master''s wife was often away. This maid couldn''t possibly be his mistress, right?

    "Why do you have a man''s tie in your room? If I wasn''t mistaken, this is the same tie that the dead master wore. We saw him wearing something exactly the same earlier. Can you explain?"

    Finally, the maid''s expression changed into one of regret although Scarlet didn''t know if this was genuine regret or a faked expression of regret. Regardless, this actress was extremely convincing and Scarlet found herself doubting about who the true murderer was.

    "I cannot hide anything from you, inspector. You''re too smart so I shan''t withhold the truth. Yes, I know about Miss Roger and Mr Moreau''s illicit relationship and I am in no position to comment about it because I am in one myself with the late Mr Roger."

    Usually, there would be some kind of dramatic response at the revelation but neither Edward nor Scarlet reacted. Scarlet calmly took down notes and Edward carried on with the interrogation about the maid''s activities last night and the people she saw. They were currently no longer following the script and Scarlet wondered how the actress was able to keep up with Edward''s intensive questioning session. Even the things that she didn''t manage to think of, Edward did.

    "I see, so you''ve been romantically involved with Mr Roger for over three years now. Can I say that you''ve also taken over the routine of nightly duty and most aspects of his daily needs ever since you''ve gotten closer to each other?"

    The maid nodded and Edward smiled. "Does Miss Roger or Mrs Roger know about this?"

    Horrified, the maid shook her head. "They can never! Mr Roger told me that it was only a fling and that there would be benefits. He wasn''t an unfaithful man, he was simply a lonely one."

    That sounded horribly ironic to Scarlet but she didn''t comment on it. She kept her judgement to herself and continued taking notes despite feeling anger simmering beneath her calm surface. What a sc.u.m of a man! Even if this was a game, he deserved to die for cheating on his good wife.

    "What kind of benefits did he promise you?" Edward asked. "A stable job? A pay raise? Or the title of the mistress of this house?"

    At this, the maid decided not to answer and smiled bitterly. "Does it matter now? He''s dead."

    Scarlet just stared at the actress dumbly as Edward concluded the interview and thanked her. On their way out, Edward told Scarlet that there was no longer a need to talk to the daughter again.

    "Why?" she asked. They still had points that are uncovered, how could Edward be so confident? Once the scenario ended, it couldn''t be turned back. Scarlet was also considering going back to talk to the guest but Edward patted her on the head with a smile.

    "I''ll explain it to you after this while the stagehands work. I have a feeling we know who the murderer is already. Let''s end this for now, alright? Time is ticking and I know you want to be thorough but there really isn''t a need. The murderer has already exposed themselves."

    Scarlet looked at Edward then nodded. If he said that it was resolved, she would do her best to be patient and wait for him to talk.

 Chapter 230 - Solving Mr Rogers Murder (5)

    Nook''s heart fell. Team B only took thirty minutes to get to this point and Team A was overly comfortable in their little prison cell. He had never seen anyone strolling through the game arena like it was their home. Team A was too cosy and the handcuffs didn''t even hinder them. Team B took every opportunity when avoiding patrol officers to flirt. Nook regretted agreeing to a double date format.

    When Team B announced that they were ready to proceed to the next stage, the game master thanked them and called the stagehands and actors to prepare for the third scene with a heavy heart. How could any couple be this good? Were these kids regular university students? This was simply too unbelievable.

    "Will you tell me now?" Scarlet asked and Edward grinned. They were seated in the initial office after they escaped the elevator and Edward went through Scarlet''s notes again.

    "Let''s put aside the fact that Mr Roger is a cheating sc.u.m and think carefully about the maid''s reply to my questions. Although it wasn''t scripted, the actress handled it rather well. There''s just this one factor that made me very certain that she was the murderer."

    Scarlet thought back carefully. Edward wouldn''t make his guesses without evidence and the writer pushed her feelings aside to think it through.

    "Every murderer will have a motive. The one who murdered Mr Roger would probably be the beneficiary after his death or know the beneficiary."

    Edward smiled. He knew that his girlfriend was smart. She was only inexperienced but with him around, it was a joy watching her learn and grow.

    Slowly, Scarlet put the pieces together and pried them apart logically.

    "As of now, we have three very suspicious people. The daughter has no alibi, the guest wasn''t on the invitation list and the chef''s fingerprints on the wine bottle matched the wine glass indicating that he served it and might have poisoned it. However, I feel that this case would be too simply resolved."

    Edward nodded. Scarlet''s judgement was on point, In fact, it was because the maid''s alibi and support were too flawless that Edward had doubts. "Do you remember what the maid said last? She didn''t actually answer our question about why she was in a relationship with a married man."

    Scarlet frowned. "Regardless, she shouldn''t be in one in the first place! It''s still odd. I can understand if Mrs Roger doesn''t know about the relationship but does Miss Roger really not know about it? I mean, they live under the same roof. Also, why did she start a relationship with Mr Roger? She could easily lose her position if the daughter found out. No, that''s not right. The timing is too coincidental."

    Seeing that Scarlet had finally caught on, Edward grinned. "Right? Her reply to why she became his mistress struck me odd too despite the perfect alibi. She asked if there was any use now that he was dead. Normally if you were someone''s lover or in love with them, you would be saddened by their passing. I highly doubt that an illegitimate mistress has much to gain from the death of her master unless... she does."

    Nook couldn''t believe what he was hearing. Are these students discussing criminal psychology to come to their conclusion? This was ridiculous even if they were on the right track. He didn''t design the game to be played in such a way! It''s almost cheating but he couldn''t say it. All the game master could do was to bite his handkerchief in frustration and hope that they wouldn''t solve the case too easily.

    The stagehands were moving as quickly as they could behind the scene but for Nook, it wasn''t fast enough.

    "They blanked out our screens," Alex''s voice crackled over the walkie talkie.

    Edward raised a brow and looked at a nearby CCTV. Nook was really not going to let the other team watch the changing of the layout and scenes? Is this for real?

    "Do you have any other maps of the new layout?" he asked, hopeful.

    Jasper looked at the map and flipped it, shaking his head. "No new layout. However, I have something that might interest you. I have a new map about the later stage. It''s for the prison escape portion."

    With nothing better to do, Edward told him to read the map out for him so that Edward had a better idea of the map. According to Alex, it wasn''t the same side that they were in. He had a hunch that this was what lay on the other side of that elevator door. It was a very nice plan and Edward had to give it to the game master for coming up with such a detailed floor layout.

    Scarlet chose to look through her notes again. Now that they had a primary suspect, they had to find out what she used to murder Mr Roger and how she did it. They had to find evidence of the poison somehow. As for the others, they would only need to prove that they were innocent.

    Scarlet studied the chef''s story once more. It was very detailed and had many foreshadowing for what they should expect to find in the evening scene. Scarlet wanted to find that secret letter first because it would provide an alibi for Miss Roger''s movement during the time of the murder. At the same time, the chef''s words could be proven and give more credibility to his claims.

    As for Miss Katherine, Scarlet had to look for a letter that she claimed she exchanged with her ex-student. She might not be on the invitation list but Scarlet had no reason to doubt that her invitation was real. Miss Katherine was the least suspicious because she had little motive to kill Mr Roger.

    The trickiest name to clear would be Mr Moreau. He was in the least favourable circ.u.mstances with the direct accusation of murder to his name. He had indeed been the last person to serve Mr Roger wine that killed the host. In addition, he would have an objective for the murder. His romantic relationship with Miss Roger is one that might instigate him to kill Mr Roger so that he could marry Miss Roger instead of watching her get betrothed to another noble. Without evidence that Mr Moreau was innocent, he would most likely be the one charged for murder.

    Scarlet tapped her pen against the case file. How did they know that the wine was poisoned? Thinking back carefully, Scarlet tried to recall if Nook mentioned anything about poisoned wine. She flipped to the first page at the introduction and read it again.

    "The chief inspector found that he was poisoned to death with a glass of wine near him... they didn''t say that the poison was in the wine!" Scarlet''s eyes widened. They''d been misled this entire time from some tricky phrasing. From the very beginning, Nook never said that Mr Roger died from drinking poisoned wine! He merely said that Mr Roger died and a glass of wine was found near him.

    "Where could the poison come from?" Scarlet started to wonder. Now that she knew the truth, she could say for sure that the wine wasn''t poisoned. The storyline put the wine and poison together purposely to mislead them but thankfully, Scarlet was sharp.

    Now, they had a new problem - discovering the motive of the murderer and the method they used to kill Mr Roger.

    When the stagehands were almost ready, Nook made his way to the office where the Team B couple was. So far, the couple was making good progress in general and he hoped that finding the necessary evidence and combing every room for them would take the couple a longer time than they previously did. The number of fingerprints that needed dusting increased and they cleverly hid the most crucial evidence in the safe behind the painting. Most teams who played this game never found the safe and even if they did, many spent too long figuring out how to open that safe to escape in time.

    "Congratulations on making it this far," Nook began and Edward swiftly concluded his call with Jasper. He had gotten most information he needed about that map for the second part. Scarlet should also have derived to the same conclusion as him about what they needed to find and who the main suspect was.

    "For this stage, you need to find and gather the evidence needed to prove our suspects innocent or guilty. As usual, avoid the patrol guards. Red tags are for fingerprint collection. Bue tags are for collectable items useful for proving your case whether a suspect is innocent or guilty. Yellow tags are usable items. Any questions?"

    Edward raised his hand. "Can we work separately?"

    Nook smiled. "You could but you will only be given one torchlight to work with. For this evening scene stage, we will be turning the lights off. It makes patrol guards easier to spot but also easier for you to get caught."

    Looking smug at himself for thinking of this handicap, Nook presented the flashlight to the couple and wished them luck.

 Chapter 231 - Solving Mr Rogers Murder (6)

    "Which room would you like to start with?" Edward asked after Nook left.

    Scarlet wasn''t sure. According to Alex and Jasper, there were some minor changes to the entire layout. The spy asked for an overview and noted that there was indeed furniture movement although the room positions remained the same. Two doors in the corridor maze were removed to accommodate the extra furniture movement but that was about it. Edward wondered if they relocked all the doors, he would have to settle that but he didn''t know how well Scarlet could manage being alone in the dark.

    Scarlet studied the rough map outline that Edward sketched for her on the back of one of the notes. The closest room to the office was the main room but Scarlet didn''t think that they would find anything useful there. In fact, it was going to be the last place they would search for anything. Mr Roger''s body was no longer there and the place had been tidied up. She deemed it the least of their priorities.

    "I actually want to clear two names first but there will be too many places to search," she told Edward. "Maybe we should start from the end game and search backwards for the trail. How about the study room?"

    Edward approved. If he were the investigator, he would start with understanding the motive of the murderer to find their methods and apprehend them. His girlfriend really had good instincts as a detective and Edward highly entertained the dream of setting up a private office with her as his assistant. Every day at work would feel like a honeymoon and even jobs would feel like dates with her around.

    Not hearing a reply after a while, Scarlet looked up from her notes and blushed heatedly when she saw how Edward was looking at her. Although she was no stranger to be subjected to those looks of pure adoration from her filming experience, seeing someone else doing it out of a film set made her heart rate skyrocket. Thankfully, the light was dim and he couldn''t see the colour clearly on her face. Still, if he were to touch it, he might get scalded.

    Jasper and Alex watched the good show and the Wilde princess lamented that there wasn''t popcorn to go with this live-action rom-com. Scarlet and Edward were too preciously adorkable! How can anyone be so cute and awkward at the same time? They were mirroring each other''s expression now after they caught each other for staring too long. Scarlet''s arms and legs were moving in sync and Alex couldn''t hold back her laughter.

    Jasper only sighed at his girlfriend''s behaviour. Poor Scarlet teased about everything. Alex had no mercy when it came to teasing Scarlet. Their sister relationship had matured quite a lot ever since the time Alex pushed Scarlet down the stairs. Alex went through a jealous phase to a regretful phase that lasted quite a while before moving into this more realistic and natural sisterly relationship of teasing and bickering while emotionally supporting each other. He gently smacked her arm and told her to pipe down before he talked into the walkie talkie. As much as he wanted the other couple to sort things out at their own pace, there was a patrol officer coming their way.

    "Coming your way from the left."

    Edward didn''t bother replying and simply pulled Scarlet for a run. They were too distracted and he didn''t have time to check any doors to escape through the shortcut so his best bet was to make a turn and switch the flashlight they had off so that the patrol officer will walk past them without looking. The flashlight didn''t move so these patrol officers are told to only keep the flashlight straight while they walk.

    Scarlet''s heart was pounding for several reasons. Edward grabbed her hand too suddenly and they started running. She didn''t know where they were going because Edward held the flashlight and led the way but she heard that they were getting chased. The brief memory of running from stalkers gripped her but Scarlet forced the fear down and held onto Edward''s hand tighter. She wasn''t alone this time, Edward was here. She would be alright.

    Edward felt Scarlet''s grip on his hand tightened but there wasn''t time to check on her. They had to make it to the end of this corridor quickly. The interior decoration might come in handy this time. Edward looked around for potential hiding spots and quickly pulled open the heavy velvet tapestries hiding a solid wall.

    Switching the flashlight off, he pushed Scarlet in first before following after and closing the tapestry. He whispered for her to flatten herself against the wall as much as possible and Scarlet held her breath while trying to become one with the wall.

    From behind the thick curtain, the couple could see the flashlight getting brighter as the patrol officer came their way. Their hearts raced and Edward found himself getting ready for a sprint to distract the officer should they get caught. The rules didn''t say anything about having to get caught together, he could drop the walkie talkie and flashlight for Scarlet to continue.

    On the other hand, Scarlet trembled a little as she searched for Edward''s hand for support. Edward nearly jumped when icy cold fingers found his. How did Scarlet''s hands become so cold all of a sudden? They were holding hands earlier but he didn''t think her fingers were freezing despite the air-conditioning. He could hold them because his hands were occupied with a walkie talkie and a flashlight and he sorely regretted that. It''s always because of circ.u.mstances like this that made him fail her as a boyfriend and Edward suddenly found himself hating everything about his life. If he wasn''t a spy, he could love her whole-heartedly and freely. If he wasn''t holding so many things, he might be able to comfort her in her time of need.

    The officer passed them without noticing anything amiss and Edward immediately turned his attention to Scarlet, feeling apologetic that he let her suffer alone even if it was for a few seconds.

    "Are you alright?" he asked and felt stupid after the words left his mouth. Of course, she wasn''t alright! "Your hands are freezing."

    Scarlet who was on the verge of a panic attack calmed down when she heard Edward''s voice and felt him warming her hands up in the dark. They were still hidden and it was pitch black but she was no longer afraid. The blood started circulating again and slowly, her hands regained their warmth.

    "I''m alright now," she told him and Edward felt as if someone had stabbed him through the gut. If she was alright now, didn''t that mean she wasn''t alright earlier? He should''ve just let go of the flashlight and held her hand!

    "I''m so sorry!" he apologised with heavy regret in his voice as he blew warm air onto her icy hands.

    Scarlet chuckled and let the warmth of his love replace the suffocating fear she felt from earlier. Sometimes, Edward blamed himself too much. She might not have noticed it at first but after a week of not seeing him, things slowly became clear to her. Like her, Edward had many secrets to hide and while he respected her secrets and never let the lack of transparency bother him in their relationship, Scarlet was the lesser person between them. She couldn''t do the same and blindly give her trust to someone else. Perhaps it was her childhood, perhaps it was her line of work. Whichever the case, Scarlet did some heavy self-reflection. The things that Edward didn''t say, he spoke louder through his actions. If she didn''t believe his words, she should believe in his heart.

    "Thank you," she told him and that confused Edward a little. Scarlet couldn''t see but she felt him freeze in his actions. Her boyfriend could be so adorable at times.

    "Thank you for being so thoughtful, I''m fine now."

    Edward sulked. If Scarlet said it like this, he only felt worse for not being able to meet her expectations. "I should''ve just thrown the goddamn flashlight. I knew something was up with you. Did running and hiding in the dark bring back some bad memories?"

    Scarlet nodded. "Mm. However, I would be mad at you if you threw the flashlight and gave away our position just to hold my hand. I''m not a baby, I''m a seasoned warrior of life. All I really need is for you to welcome my home when I return from my battlefield and give me cuddles. You can''t fight my battles for me."

    Edward listened to her and lowered his head. Scarlet''s eyes adjusted well to the dark and seeing Edward hunch over like a dejected puppy made her laugh. She patted him on the head and planted a kiss.

    "Let''s split up," she told him. "I''ll search in the study and you can do whatever you need to do. I might not be a psychologist but I know you well enough. You were doing something in the earlier stage too, I guess you can take the flashlight, they have dim lights in the rooms."

    Edward thought about it for a while and made a face. He disagreed and wanted Scarlet to have the flashlight but Scarlet was stubborn. Knowing that he won''t win this one, they compromised. Edward would escort Scarlet to the study before he went to do what he needed to do with the other doors. Scarlet agreed and they checked for the patrol officer''s routes with Jasper before they left their hiding spot.

 Chapter 232 - Solving Mr Rogers Murder (7)

    Once they reached the study room, Edward told Scarlet what he discovered earlier in the day scene.

    "There''s a safe behind that painting, you might want to find a way to open that. The fingerprint kit is with you, there should be crucial evidence here. I''ll be back soon, don''t leave this room and if the officers pass by, hide."

    Scarlet nodded and wished Edward luck with a peck on the cheek before the door closed. She took a while to get accustomed to the dim lights. It wasn''t the most effective way to work but she would manage.

    Looking over the study room, Scarlet tried to remember what they saw during the earlier stage and compare it to the current stage. There were some objects that have been rearranged so Scarlet decided to check those first. If someone took the time to shuffle them, it would most likely mean that they were trying to hide something.

    The diary was still on the table and Scarlet decided to leave it. After reading the entry about Mr Roger''s fight with his daughter, the book didn''t serve any other purpose. The invitation list was where Scarlet had left them and none of the other doc.u.ments on the desk looked out of place. Scarlet decided to check the drawers in case something was out of place there. Nothing amiss there either and Scarlet looked around.

    The stagehands added a few more things to the room and Scarlet decided to take a look at those first. The safe could wait till Edward returned, she didn''t think that she would be capable of opening the safe herself. There would be some sort of code, key or puzzle waiting that might need two people to crack.

    The evening tray was left in the room and Scarlet found a teapot with some remaining tea leaves in it. The fragrance made Scarlet wonder if this was Darjeeling or Assam tea from the scent alone. It was hard to tell because of the dim light but Scarlet couldn''t help but frown. Something was off about this teapot. It smelled like tea and something else.

    She looked around the tea set to see if there were any tags and found one on the teapot but it was too dark to see the colour of the tag. Scarlet left it alone for now and was very careful not to touch the handle that was tagged. The newspaper that was rolled up beside the tea tray made Scarlet blink. This looked like a breakfast tray for the morning. The date of the newspaper was dated to the mid-nineteenth century so Scarlet couldn''t determine which day''s paper it was as the storyline didn''t indicate what day they were investigating. It was already evening, why was the tray not cleared? Earlier when they came to check on the suspects, it was the morning after the murder. This tray wasn''t here. Why would the tray be here in the evening after the suspects were sent away? The house should be cordoned off for only the investigators to search, the tea set looked out of place. Nobody should be serving anything after the master passed away.

    An explainable feeling made Scarlet grab the paper and she started flipping through it. So many questions were running through her head and she couldn''t understand why this would appear in the study room. Who would possibly do such a thing and why would they do this?

    Then, Scarlet paused. She flipped to the previous page and stared at it for a long time. Scarlet placed the newspaper on the floor and flipped between two pages. Where was the other half of this article? Scarlet glanced at the page numbers and realised that something was wrong. Her heart raced as she flipped through the newspaper checking every labelled page number from the beginning.

    Although all twenty-eight pages were present, some pages looked odd. The content didn''t match. Scarlet carefully disassembled the newspaper and picked out the pages that seemed strange. The realisation that someone slipped through pages of different newspapers into this was a huge red alert for Scarlet. Someone less observant might not notice it and find nothing odd with the newspaper but this was a massive clue! Scarlet wrote down the strange page numbers and the date of the newspaper because she couldn''t carry such a bulky thing around. She noted the article topic that was cut off and wrote down the page numbers that she was looking out for. The person who stole and replaced the page numbers of the newspaper must be the culprit.

    Scarlet went back to the teapot and decided to pour the tea dredges from the bottom of the teapot into a small paper envelope that came with the clue file. If she found the tea source, she might be able to confirm something else. It smelled strange and Scarlet didn''t know what else was in this tea. Something struck her as odd but she would tell Edward that later. It was too dark to see anything now. They would check the colour of that tag later. If it was blue, she would have already collected the needed evidence.

    With the newspaper and tea collected, Scarlet looked around for anything different but found nothing else. She didn''t see any tags so she looked at the painting on the wall. This was the last place that she was going to look at but seeing as Edward still wasn''t here, she would investigate it alone.

    The painting moved easily but Scarlet couldn''t take it down completely to reveal the hidden safe due to her height. It took her a while to move the chair over silently so that she could use it to get herself higher. A patrol officer passed by and Scarlet hid under the desk quickly until they passed. With a sigh of relief, she continued on her mission.

    The painting was removed and Scarlet took a while to find out there was a tag near the safe. She couldn''t make out the colour of the tag because the light was too dim so Scarlet had to wait for Edward to come by with the flashlight to proceed. Still, Scarlet couldn''t help but be curious about the strange tea dredges.

    She didn''t have to wait too long because she heard footsteps approaching and hid beneath the desk once more. This time, the door opened and Scarlet kept very still. The door closed silently and the footsteps walked towards the centre of the room, closer to where Scarlet was hiding.

    Edward worried for a second when he didn''t see Scarlet in the room before he remembered what he told her to do if she sensed someone coming. The spot felt slightly stupid for forgetting to announce his arrival after he told her to be cautious.

    "Scarlet, it''s me!" he whispered and waited.

    Sure enough, Scarlet was hiding as he told her to and Edward felt proud. If he was a patrol officer, he would not bother searching the place if he didn''t see anyone in the office.

    "How did everything go?" she asked and Edward gave her a thumbs-up.

    "We have more escape routes now. Did you find anything?" he handed her the flashlight and Scarlet nodded.

    "Funny tea leaves and smell, a newspaper with swapped pages. Someone was replacing pages that they stole. I don''t understand why the tea tray will be here but there''s a tag on the teapot. Why would anyone continue to serve tea to a dead master?"

    Edward thought about it. "I don''t think they were serving tea to a dead master," he said. "With the master gone, there could only be one person here taking over the duties as the head of the house."

    Scarlet thought about it and her eyes widened. Edward couldn''t see her expression with such dim lights but he saw her freeze.

    "Is the murderer attempting a second murder?"

    The spy nodded. "Possibly but we wouldn''t know for sure. Have you checked the safe?"

    Scarlet shook her head. "Not yet, I saw two tags but I can''t make out their colour. Now that you''re here, maybe we can do that together?"

    Edward agreed but told Scarlet to wait. "Let me check from outside what it looks like if you use the flashlight, we might have to barricade the door if we want to search this place for a long time. It''s probably the most important place to sieve through."

    Scarlet agreed. Edward checked if the coast was clear and left when Jas[er gave him the green light. Once the spy was outside, Scarlet flashed the flashlight and gave the door one knock like Edward requested. The spy noted that the carpeted floor blocked the light for them and that there was nothing to worry about. He knocked on the door once to let Scarlet know he was coming back in., Scarlet switched the flashlight off and waited for Edward to come back inside.

    "How was it?"

    "The carpet blocked it for us, there shouldn''t be a problem. I''m still locking this door just in case, let''s get working on those tags."

    Scarlet held the flashlight and Edward started dusting for fingerprints. Both tags were red so Scarlet wondered if they would find a match there. They already knew Mr Moreau''s fingerprints. She had a feeling one of them would belong to the daughter and the other to the maid but they had no way of knowing whose fingerprints these were.

    Nook watched the couple work in sync and fiddle with the safe after getting the fingerprints. He didn''t know what to think when he saw Scarlet collecting the tea dredges. The tea dredges and the newspaper missing page was meant to be an easter egg in the game that would give participants big hints to the murderer''s methods. He wasn''t expecting them to get it all in one try. Somehow, the game master had a feeling that this couple already had an idea about who the murderer was in their minds and was simply looking for the evidence to charge them.

    Alex and Jasper watched them from their prison cell. "Do you think they know who it was?" Alex asked.

    Jasper shrugged. "I can''t be sure but I''d say they''ve narrowed the list down a lot by now. Scarlet found something strange with that tea set. That might be a huge hint. Also, I don''t think they''d be able to open that safe, I don''t think they have the right key. Oh look, they''re leaving. They don''t have the right keys."

    Alex nodded. "Where do you think the game master will hide that key?"

    Jasper shrugged. "Wherever the culprit wants to frame the scapegoat or wherever is the safest. Hey, pass me the walkie talkie? They''re going to run into another officer."

    Alex passed the walkie talkie and zoomed in on another camera panel, helping to search for clues in the other rooms.

 Chapter 233 - Solving Mr Rogers Murder (8)

    Team B''s couple made it safely to the next location thanks to Team A''s cooperation and Nook chewed his thumb nervously. They were progressing too smoothly! He checked the timer and noted that only forty minutes had gone by. Most people who played this game wouldn''t make such quick progress. Who exactly were these people?!

    Scarlet and Edward went straight to the number one suspect''s room - the maid''s quarters. Scarlet suspected that the key to the safe would be found here and Edward agreed. If everything was as they suspected, they would find damning evidence here that would nail her crimes.

    Swiftly dodging two officers thanks to Jasper''s navigation, the couple made it safely to the maid''s room. Again, some things had been shifted and the couple decided to work separately even though they only had one flashlight. Edward wedged the flashlight on the cupboard so that they could act separately and save some time. He checked the desk and drawers while Scarlet went through the bed and clothing.

    Nook couldn''t believe how quickly the couple searched. Even with that speed, they didn''t miss a single spot. Edward found a blue tagged item in the drawer and Scarlet quickly confirmed that it was the missing newspaper page. The page was folded into an envelope with some dried tea leaves in it. They smelled funny again and Scarlet compared it to the tea leaves she had.

    Edward pulled out some older copies of newspapers found in the maid''s side desk drawer and found that certain pages were torn and missing. That was certainly odd. The spy also found a red tag on a pen in the maid''s desk and Scarlet passed him the fingerprint dusting kit. Her search on the maid''s bed and clothes proved futile. There was no safe key hidden anywhere. According to Edward, the Victorian safe design required a key and the right combination of turning on that knob to undo the complex mechanical lock. However, he didn''t think it was needed for the game because he checked the model of the safe and it was only modified to look like an antique safe. The safe used electromagnetic locks so if Scarlet and Edward fund the key, it wouldn''t be hard to unlock it.

    The key that Scarlet saved from the elevator didn''t work but they gave Scarlet a rough idea about the size of the key they were looking for. None of Edward''s master keys worked earlier and she was hoping to find something in the maid''s room but after rummaging through everything, she was dejected at not finding anything useful.

    "No keys," she told him.

    Edward frowned. "That''s strange. The fingerprint on the maid''s pen matched the one on the teapot but to the one on the safe. Also, now that I think about it, I think I recognise some strange things in that tea mix. It''s not pure tea."

    Scarlet''s eyes widened. "How do you know?"

    Edward grinned. "Why would someone hide a tea mix in newspaper wrapping if it was pure tea? Don''t tea leaves come in tins or boxes?"

    According to Scarlet''s knowledge, they usually came in tin cans. "Boxed tea leaves aren''t good quality tea. They absorb moisture too much and don''t seal the air in. Tea leaves lose freshness very quickly that way. Normally good loose leaves come in tins because they are usually airtight and cool. Sunlight damages tea so we usually store them in cool and dark places that are dry. Why would anyone store them in newspaper wrapping?"

    The question made Edward pause and re-examine the tea. Of the many kinds of poison that could be used, Edward wondered what kind of poison the murderer used. If it wasn''t in the food, it would be in the drinks. So far, that teapot and the tea struck him as the most suspicious. They didn''t check the kitchen yet but Edward thought about Scarlet''s question.

    "You said the tea smelled odd?"

    Scarlet nodded. "I can''t tell if it''s Darjeeling or Assam but it smells like neither. Usually, I would know for sure what sort of tea it is, we''ve been taught by Jenna to differentiate them. The tea smells stale and odd in a way I cannot describe. Something else was mixed in it."

    Edward didn''t know much about tea. "What will happen to tea stored in paper or newspaper? Do you think that would affect the smell?"

    Scarlet thought about it. "I guess it would affect the smell of tea a little but tea leaves should overpower the smell of ink or paper even if it was kept for a long time. The tea dredges smelled something closer to a bitterish sort of herb. Reminds me of Chinese medicinal tea from the time I was back in China."

    That''s it! Edward asked Scarlet to pour the tea out again. Many medicinal herbs were poisonous and if Edward was correct, they had to be stored in paper or newspapers to preserve the herb''s effectiveness because some herbs reacted with metal and couldn''t be stored together. Back in the nineteenth century, plastic wasn''t a common product.

    "I think we know what method the murderer used to kill Mr Roger," he smiled. "You''re a genius!"

    Scarlet blinked, not following Edward''s train of thought. Thankfully, Edward explained quickly.

    "Medicinal herbs! Some medicinal herbs are poisonous and can act as a slow-acting poison in small but consistent amounts. The one person capable of doing this is either the maid, chef or daughter. If we found this in the maid''s room, we can be 90% certain that the murderer is her. Let''s keep this as well," he told her and went through the possible herbs that could be used as poison. He thought that arsenic or mercury would be the materials used for poisoning but seeing as this was a game and it had to be made safe for the participants, the company wouldn''t use something so dangerous.

    "I have a feeling they used aconite here. A small amount is good for home remedy and often is used in tea in very small amounts as a relaxant. Overdose of this will kill a person and during the victorian era, not many people knew that this was poisonous. It''s a similar case of lead and mercury in the victorian face powders. Little people knew about it and those who knew about it used it to kill."

    Suddenly, things started to make sense for Scarlet. "If we can find the original tea somewhere, we might be able to prove that the tea served was tampered with and we can link it to the maid because we have matching fingerprints. Still, whose fingerprint is that on the safe? Did she have an accomplice?"

    Edward shrugged. "Only one way to find out," he told her. "We''re done here and getting closer to the truth but we don''t have enough evidence yet to know if she''s the only one behind the murder. Where do you want to go next?"

    Scarlet thought about it. "Where do you think we can find the key or the tea leaves?"

    Edward thought about it. Technically, the tea would be in the kitchen but he had no clue who was hiding the key. "Tea leaves should be kept in the kitchen but I don''t know who has the key. My best guess would be Miss Roger seeing that she is her father''s daughter. He wouldn''t give the key to her mistress and the fingerprint at the safe didn''t belong to the maid. No matter what Mr Roger did, I doubt that he would entrust the future of his family to a mistress."

    Scarlet agreed with it. "What if the daughter was the accomplice?"

    Edward shook his head. "I doubt it. She might have argued with her father about the arranged marriage but she wouldn''t plot to kill him. Besides, someone served tea with poison to her. I doubt they have the same objective. If she poisoned her father, she wouldn''t be drinking the tea she poisoned herself. Besides, the mixed tea was found in the maid''s room. If anyone was an accomplice, it would be her lover. If the maid and the chef plotted together to kill both father and daughter to swindle the inheritance before the overseas mother came back, I would believe it."

    Scarlet groaned. Why was this getting so complicated? Edward made sense. The chef could be lying too so unless they could prove the chef''s innocence, he was also high on the suspect list now.

    "Do you think Mr Moreau could be poisoning his lover if they were together? We''ve established that the one who stored and served the poison was the maid but the one who served the wine was the chef."

    Edward shook his head. "If they were together, she would be poisoned before it and not after. The timeline doesn''t match with the story. The maid usually doesn''t work after the master has gone to bed. In this case, she wouldn''t be able to poison anyone after bedtime and she would be able to clear the evidence of her poisoning before the next day. The fingerprint on the safe must be either the guest''s or Miss Roger''s who entered after the maid left because we''re investigating this in the evening. The guests are not here and the place is cordoned off. Assuming that the tea and morning papers were brought in and not cleared, I can estimate that they were chased away in the afternoon after our interrogation in the morning. Hence, the props placed by the game master must be in between the time after our interrogation and before our investigation. The culprit doesn''t have time to get rid of all the evidence and the ones trying to protect the evidence for us must have hidden it somewhere."

    Scarlet took some time to let the information sink in and Edward didn''t rush her. 90 minutes was more than enough time. Even without him helping Scarlet, he knew that his capable girlfriend would eventually link the dots together. He was simply guiding her not the right direction because he made some inspections briefly while he was unlocking doors.

    "Understood. Let''s head to the guest room to confirm if Mr Moreau''s story about meeting up with his lover is accurate. They usually leave each other secret letters so if he was truly in a relationship with her, we will be seeing her leave a letter for him in panic after she discovers the murderer''s motive. Assuming that she owns the key to the safe and doesn''t suspect her lover for being the murderer''s accomplice, that''s what she would do."

    Edward smiled and led the way, steering clear of the patrol officers.

 Chapter 234 - Solving Mr Rogers Murder (9)

    After entering the guest room, Scarlet immediately noticed that there was a nice citrus fragrance in the air. Edward wanted to laugh at how his girlfriend was sniffing at the air like a curious cat.

    Scarlet remembered what Mr Moreau said about the citrus writing and scanned the room for the paper he talked about. It wasn''t difficult to find what they had to do. With the flashlight, she easily found some tagged items. There were two wine glasses by the table side and one of the glasses had a red tag.

    "Darling, do you have that lighter with you? This paper smells the nicest, it might be the secret letter we''re looking for."

    Instead of giving her the lighter, Edward decided to hold the torch and flick the lighter on for her. He didn''t want her to get burned in the process. Scarlet thanked him and marvelled at how the invisible orange juice turned brownish on the paper when she brought it close to the lighter. It took them about a minute to get all the words to appear and Scarlet barely breathed the whole time, too afraid that it might disturb the steady flame and burn their only evidence. If Mr Moreau hadn''t read this and burned it, that meant he hasn''t been here yet. They were in luck.

    "There we go," Scarlet rejoiced and offered to help hold the flashlight while Edward dusted the glass for a new fingerprint. They worked separately with Edward getting new clues and Scarlet reading the letter aloud.

    "Maurice my love, after you read this letter, pack your things and come quickly to meet me at the place we said we would meet to elope. I fear that the longer I remain in this house, the shorter my lifespan will be. My father should be blamed for cheating on my mother and for his foolishness in trusting the wrong woman but now that his foolishness has caught up with him, she will come for me next. Today I found out the horrible truth and the identity of the murderer but luckily, she doesn''t know that I realised the truth. I made preparations to leave but we mustn''t be hasty or she will find out. Meet me with a bottle of wine after you place the key I hid in your secret storage in the kitchen inside the wine. I told the murderer to bring us two wine glasses because I would be meeting you tonight so that she doesn''t suspect anything. She will search my room when I''m gone so we should take this time to flee together! Whatever you do, please be safe! I love you."

    Edward got the fingerprint just in time and compared it to the booklet of confirmed suspects.

    "Guess we now have confirmation of who it was," he smiled and showed Scarlet the fingerprint obtained.

    Scarlet blinked. "So it really was her!"

    The spy laughed quietly. "Indeed. I guess it''s obvious where we''re going after this. If the letter was still unread, it means that we have the chance of finding that key. It''s the key that we need to open that safe. Also, we have to find evidence that the fingerprint on the safe belongs to Miss Roger."

    Scarlet was excited. Things were finally coming together. "You know, I don''t think Mr Moreau is an accomplice."

    Edward raised a brow. "What makes you think that?"

    Scarlet put a finger to his lip as the patrol officer walked by them. Then, she continued their conversation. "Think about it. If he was an accomplice, he would have known that the murderer''s next target would be Miss Roger. The person closest to Miss Roger is him. There would be plenty of chances for him to get to her."

    Edward disagreed. "People can work together for many different motives. Who is to say that the maid and the chef worked together to kill Mr Roger for different purposes at first then had a falling out when the maid wanted to kill Miss Roger? They could have a change of heart and backstab each other."

    The new angle made Scarlet more confused. "I still want to believe that the chef is innocent. Compared to the relationship that the maid had with Mr Roger and the relationship that the chef had with Miss Roger, it is very obvious who is in it for love and who is in it for materialistic gains. From the perspective of someone who is truly in love, no matter how horrible my future parent-in-law is, I could never harm them knowing that it would make my lover sad. They planned to elope if things go south so why would he participate in murder and break his lover''s heart? She obviously doesn''t want her father dead even if she couldn''t agree with him."

    Edward stopped walking. "Really?"

    Scarlet looked at him. "Why not? Would you murder my biological parents if I wasn''t adopted by the Wildes and if they didn''t agree with our relationship after mistreating me?"

    At the back of his mind, Edward had his answer but he couldn''t tell her the truth. In reality, he was capable of murder. The way he snapped when her sister told him to break up with Scarlet made him realise how different the worlds they lived in was. If Claire wasn''t there and didn''t knock him out, Alex would be dead by now.

    Taking Edward''s silence as a defeated agreement, Scarlet smiled and walked away. Edward didn''t want to correct her or explain his darker thoughts but now that she mentioned it, he wondered how sane or twisted the scriptwriter for this game really was. If they were anything as dark and twisted as he was, they would write a collaborated murder and a falling out. If they weren''t as twisted as him, they would simply go with the cliche Hollywood plot that Scarlet was expecting. For now, he would go along with Scarlet''s conjuncture instead of his personal feelings of what this would be if he was the chef.

    The kitchen was as messy as he remembered it to be but the couple didn''t spend too long in it. they had a murder to apprehend. Scarlet worked on finding the secret compartment and Edward started dusting for fingerprints that he found tagged on one of the wine glasses further to the back.

    "The secret compartment should be near the wine glasses seeing that the fingerprint is here," he told her and Scarlet got to work, carefully removing the wine glasses in the way, noting that two were missing.

    Edward compared the fingerprints after he got another one successfully. This fingerprint matched the one on the safe and although Edward couldn''t confirm the identity of this person, he highly doubted that this was the tutor. Now that his task was done, he searched the rest of the kitchen while Scarlet worked on getting to the secret compartment.

    Nook watched the couple breeze through the rooms quickly and looked at the timer. Not a lot of time had passed and he was starting to get nervous. Once they found the secret compartment and the key to the safe, it was as good as game over.

    Finding nothing of interest in the kitchen, Edward finally came over to help Scarlet find that secret compartment. With the limit of her short arms, Scarlet left the searching of the inner racks to Edward and offered to hold up the flashlight instead, much to Alex''s amus.e.m.e.nt from the prison cell.

    While searching for the secret compartment, Edward accidentally knocked over the condiment rack and the couple froze at the clatter. Edward was about to tell Scarlet to turn the flashlight off and hide for a little when he heard one of the cutest sounds in the world in the worst possible situation.

    Scarlet tried her best to hold her breath with the pepper getting to her nose but it was no use, the sneezes kept coming despite her best efforts to suppress them. Edward acted fast and opened an empty cabinet before telling Scarlet to get in, throwing her the flashlight and making a run for it. The patrol officers were close and Edward risked it.

    "Two men closing in on you from behind and one from the right!" Jasper hissed into the walkie talkie and Edward darted to a shortcut, slamming the door behind him to divert attention while he hid behind a thick curtain and turned the walkie talkie off for a while until the search party passed. He didn''t know how long the patrol officers spent looking for him in the same area before they finally left but he hoped Scarlet would be fine. If they locked the door in the kitchen without leaving, there was a chance for officers to wait for them outside the kitchen. There was no other exit and if they were both caught, it would be terrible news.

    Nook groaned when the patrol officers left the scene after not being able to find Edward who used the same trick twice in a row now. As the game master, he couldn''t interfere with the game but seriously, this hiding behind curtain trick was too ingenious. He made a mental note to have the curtains removed for subsequent games.

    Scarlet waited till the patrol officers dispersed before peeking from her hiding spot and holding her breath. The paper should have settled by now and Scarlet quickly got out, careful not to kick the spices up again or trip over the condiment bottles. Edward did the easy part and the hidden compartment was in sight. The only problem was her short arms and Scarlet held the flashlight in her mouth while climbing onto the counter to pull out the wooden box.

    Inside the box was a key and Scarlet put it safely in her small bag provided by the game master together with the fingerprint dusting kit that Edward left behind. They were split up right now so she didn''t know where he was but she turned to the camera that she hoped Alex was watching and started clicking the light on and off.

    Alex was confused at first why Scarlet was paying with the flashlight but after her brain kicked in, she started to pay more attention. Scarlet was communicating to her in morse and she told Japer to relay the message to Edward.

    "She says to meet her in Miss Roger''s room, she has the key."

    Jasper nodded and relayed the message to an unhappy Edward who grumbled a little but stealthily made his way over while distracting the guards from Scarlet so that she could make it safely to the daughter''s room with the help of Team A''s eagle eyes.

 Chapter 235 - Solving Mr Rogers Murder (10)

    He was sulking, she could tell. Scarlet didn''t know how to make it up to him and watched as he dusted for fingerprints after they found a red-tagged compact powder case that belonged to Miss Roger. He met up with her in the room with an unhappy face and didn''t return Scarlet''s greeting with enthusiasm. That fingerprint easily matched with the wine glass in the kitchen and the one from the safe to nobody''s surprise.

    The writer didn''t know what to say to her sulking boyfriend. She could guess why he wasn''t happy but there really wasn''t a need for him to worry. She made it through safely, didn''t she? Still, the writer searched Miss Roger''s room slowly, thinking of a way to cheer him up.

    Edward knew he was being childish as he worked. He wanted to scold Scarlet for taking off without him but held himself back. The one type of boyfriend that girls hated the most was an overly possessive one who didn''t give them the freedom to be who they were and do what they wanted. Edward didn''t want to become a detestable person and he didn''t want to give Scarlet any reasons to be unhappy with him. Above everything else, he would rather be unhappy secretly with her recklessness than tell her about it and risk a breakup text. His heart wouldn''t survive that.

    As he was too consumed in his thoughts, Edward didn''t see that Scarlet was slowly searching nearer and nearer to him until their elbows touched. The touch brought Edward back to reality and he turned, realising that Scarlet''s face was too close to his. Scarlet who had been prepared to surprise him with a kiss of apology froze when Edward turned her way. The courage that she slowly mustered ran away, leaving her in an awkward position.

    From the prison cell on the mattress, Alex cussed. "Dammit! Just kiss him already then spank him for being a sulky boy!"

    Jasper blinked at the coarse language Alex used. The lady of the Wilde house was never brought up knowing the existence of such language. Who was the one who taught his girlfriend all the obscene words? His princess used to be so pure, innocent and naive. What happened in the years that they spent apart?! Jasper was shocked but he thought about Wilmer. If her father knew just how crass his baby girl had become, he would cry blood rivers.

    Team A and Nook watched Scarlet and Edward act awkwardly after Scarlet''s failed attempt at kissing her boyfriend from the CCTVs and were rooting for different things. Alex was placing bets on how long the couple would take to finally erase that awkward atmosphere. Edward looked confused and his earlier sulkiness was gone. On the other hand, Nook was praying that they wouldn''t find the remaining evidence needed to conclude the innocence of the guest suspect. He told the actors specifically to leave out the link between the invitation and tea on purpose but this power couple was simply not leaving any stone unturned.

    Scarlet wanted to die from embarrassment. What kind of seduction technique was that?! She couldn''t even pull off a proper kiss to pacify her boyfriend, she was a terrible girlfriend! Then again, what she lacked the most was practice. Why was it so easy to do this in front of cameras and so hard to do this in a dark room with nobody else but Edward?

    Scarlet pulled open the drawer and paused. That''s not right. There were also cameras watching them here. In particular, Alex and Jasper were watching them. The second wave of embarrassment threatened to swallow her whole when Scarlet understood the consequences of her earlier bravado. The problem didn''t lie with practice, it was with her partner. The fact that she wasn''t acting made her very nervous. Then, a small voice at the back of her head reminded her that practising this with another person wasn''t an option. Edward wouldn''t allow it.

    With a heavy sigh, Scarlet shelved the thought for now. The sooner they solved this murder mystery, the faster she could have a proper talk with him to clear the misunderstanding. She didn''t leave the room recklessly, she had faith in her sister, Jasper and most importantly, him.

    "Oh?" she blinked. At the back of the drawer was a tin can cold to the touch. Scarlet pulled it out. It was a strange place for a tin can to be found so Scarlet immediately investigated the contents.

    The smell of fresh tea leaves exploded in the air when Scarlet pried the lid off. Edward stopped what he was doing and went around the table to where his girlfriend was. She pulled out the sample of tea dredges that she saved from earlier and Edward pulled the flashlight closer.

    Scarlet poured some tea leaves onto the table and the contents of the tea dredge beside it, careful to not mix them.

    "This is it," she whispered in excitement. Edward didn''t understand why she was so excited but after taking a closer look, he realised why Scarlet was so thrilled.

    The tea leaves from the tin were the original tea used in the teapot. The dredges contained something else other than tea leaves and while Edward didn''t know what ingredients were present, the addition of something else made to look similar to the black tea leaves were reasons for him to suspect that the new tea mix was poisonous. This was the evidence that they needed.

    "Take the whole tin, we can use this to prove the murder''s method of killing Mr Roger."

    Scarlet agreed and Edward went through the doc.u.ments in the daughter''s room. The stash of letters, in particular, was something he scrutinised carefully for contents that could prove Miss Katherine''s innocence.

    They spent the next two minutes pouring through letters after letters. Scarlet was impressed by how many ''love letters'' there were in the pile that matched with the story about Mr Roger finding a suitable candidate for his daughter''s hand in marriage. Still, none of those letters could compare to the one she received from Edward. They didn''t have an ounce of sincerity.

    "Found it," Edward said and brought the flashlight closer to read the letter written by Miss Katherine.

    "What did it say?"

    The spy grinned. "That tin that you found was a gift by Miss Katherine to Miss Roger. It''s meant to help with his inability to sleep at night. Also, she said that she accepted Miss Roger''s invitation to the party in this letter because she missed the RSVP deadline being overseas. The letter doesn''t have a tag but I think you should still add this to the case file and evidence. Let''s look for Miss Roger''s drafted reply just in case this isn''t enough to prove her innocence."

    Scarlet agreed and they quickly found that letter in the trash basket. The tag had fallen off but the couple was certain that this was what they needed. With nothing else proving useful in the room, Edward checked with the peeping toms if they were able to proceed.

    Alex was sulking so Jasper took over and replied that they were safe to exit the room. Nook glanced at the time and groaned in dismay. Forty-five minutes in and they were already very close to the final step. Once they used the key they found in the kitchen to open that safe in the study, it would be all over.

    Scarlet and Edward wasted no time and got to the study room quickly. Scarlet opened the safe and Edward held the flashlight. There were only two doc.u.ments in the large safe and Scarlet pulled everything out.

    "What is it?" Edward asked.

    Scarlet looked at it and blinked. "A will. An inheritance will for Mrs Roger and Miss Roger in case Mr Roger passed. The other doc.u.ment is an extension of the first will. It has the maid''s name on it but there''s something strange. It says that she can only gain a portion of the inheritance if she has a child who has the Roger blood. If she has no children of the Roger blood by the time Mr Roger passes, this portion of the will was void. Also, it wasn''t signed by Mr Roger. It was signed by Mrs Roger and Miss Roger. What does this mean?"

    Edward read through the lengthy terms and nodded. It wasn''t uncommon for the lady of the house to ''take care'' of a mistress that their husband doted on while he was alive especially if there was an illegitimate child in a noble house. However, something made the situation odd. Mr Roger was murdered by the maid and nothing was said about her having the illegitimate child. What would she benefit from trying to kill Miss Roger as well after killing Mr Roger? Unless...

    "I know now..." he smiled. "Her motive of the murder isn''t as simple as we were led to believe. In order for her plan to succeed, the head of the family and the heir of the family has to go. That''s why both Mr Roger and Miss Roger had to die."

    Edward whispered the rest to Scarlet and the writer snapped her fingers in enlightenment. Once they agreed on the story, they called for Nook to end the scene and pause the timer.

    Nook looked at the timer. Fifty minutes. With a resigned sigh, he paused the timer and told the actors to bring Team B back to the office to tell him their answer.

 Chapter 236 - Solving Mr Rogers Murder (11)

    Nook appeared a little while after Edward and Scarlet were brought back to the office room.

    "I see that you''ve gathered all the evidence you needed. Do you want to discuss answers and ask for opinions from your friends in the prison cell? We can give you some time to talk it through. The current time taken is fifty minutes, you''re making good progress."

    Edward smirked and Scarlet smiled pleasantly. The evidence was neatly arranged on the table and Scarlet agreed to let Edward do the talking.

    "There''s no need," the spy smirked. "We have the answers, game master."

    Nook felt uneasy but nodded. There was no use trying to drag on the inevitable. Scarlet gave her boyfriend a nod and Edward started with the easiest suspect to clear.

    "Miss Katherine is innocent. We have the evidence here about her late invitation with the letters we found in Miss Roger''s room. The tea that she sent was also harmless even though it will be crucial evidence used to prove the murderer''s methods later."

    Nook nodded. "Very well. What about the other three suspects? Who is the murderer?"

    Edward was confident. "The maid was the murderer."

    "What evidence did you have?"

    Scarlet knew that the question was coming so she brought out the first piece of evidence - the wills in the safe.

    "These are the wills of the late Mr Roger. In an ordinary case of Victorian era aristocrats, they left their wealth to their spouses and the title of inheritance to their first child, preferably legitimate. Mistresses are paid a sum by the lady of the house and sent away if they didn''t have children but those with children would be taken care of and the illegitimate child would be raised in a separate household in case something happens to the legitimate child."

    "And your point is?" Nook raised his brow.

    Edward grinned. "I''m saying that this is the proof that the maid who was in an illicit affair with Mr Roger had a motive for the murder of not just Mr Roger but Miss Roger too. These are the evidence Scarlet and I gathered. The secret letter used to communicate between the star-crossed lovers is evidence enough to suggest that the maid was after her life after she murdered her father."

    Not wanting to admit defeat, Nook didn''t buy this readily. "Alright, so you''ve proven the murderer''s motive. However, what method did the murderer use to commit the crime? How did you know the identity of the murderer?"

    Now that the question was asked, the tea dredges that Scarlet collected and the tin of tea sent by Miss Katherine to Miss Roger became useful. Edward went around to the table to pour out both contents while Scarlet flipped to the fingerprints they gathered.

    "In this tin, you will see the original tea that Miss Katherine sent. It''s a tea that we found in the teapot. This on the right, are the dredges in the teapot that were served and prepared by the maid. There''s something added to the tea which could be a slow-acting poison added by the maid, presumably aconite as it was common during that era."

    Nook wasn''t expecting them to figure out even the backstory and paled as Edward continued to describe the possible way how the maid planned her murder.

    "She bought aconite from the herb trader who packaged it in newspapers that we found in her room. The maid then prepared different portions of tea and aconite to be served as some sort of slow-acting poison to Mr Roger who didn''t die from poison in the wine. He died from aconite poisoning through the tea that his mistress served him daily. Apart from his mistress, nobody else tended to his daily needs."

    "The wine was a distraction that night of the party. She increased the aconite dosage to a deadly amount that acted slowly that day and had the chef to become her scapegoat. Sadly, her plans were not successful because Mr Roger made plans ahead of time."

    "Mr Roger knew of Mr Moreau and Miss Roger''s relationship from early on but he didn''t approve of them not because he didn''t like Mr Moreau as a person but because Mr Moreau wasn''t of noble birth with the power to inherit the family title. Hence, he was in a hurry to wed Miss Roger off and avoid the disaster. With his wife overseas and his mistress pregnant, Mr Roger knew that it would be only a matter of time before the cunning mistress took matters into her own hands to secure his child''s inheritance to the title and wealth."

    "Unfortunately, before Mr Roger could request help from the nobles at the party he died. Miss Roger was the next target who quickly found out about the truth in her father''s diary and the doc.u.ments in the safe. She tried to destroy and negate the second part of her father''s will secretly which made the maid become more anxious. Hence, the maid tried to kill Miss Roger using the same method of poisoned tea. Miss Roger must have realised that there was something wrong with the tea served because she kept the original tin of tea sent by Miss Katherine and was in charge of tasking the maid to serve her father some tea to help him sleep better at night. She must have tested her suspicions out by feeding some animal the tea served and watched it die. After realising the truth, she wrote the letter to her lover and hid the key away before the maid could find it in where she knew the safest place was - the kitchen."

    With a proud smirk, Edward looked at Nook and dropped the case file on the desk. "Did I get everything?"

    The staff and actors who were eavesdropping outside of the room couldn''t keep their excitement down. This was the most flawless answer they''ve heard so far. Most particip[ants couldn''t get to this stage and those that did couldn''t give such a complete answer. It was hard to believe that this couple didn''t help to create the game with how well-versed they were with the backstory. The research that Nook put into writing a victorian era murder couldn''t even make these kids stumble. Just who exactly were they?!

    "The first murder mystery portion is solved," Nook declared with defeat. "You''ve taken fifty-five minutes to get to this point. However, the game is far from over. Actors and stagehands, prepare for stage 2!"

    Shuffling could be heard from behind the scene but Edward, Scarlet and Nook remained in this room.

    "The second scene is a prison escape. I hope you''re both ready for this."

    Scarlet cheered and hugged Edward. "We did it!"

    Edward laughed. "Yes, we did." He was proud of them.

    Nook cleared his throat to get the serious atmosphere back. This couple couldn''t be underestimated so Nook decided to do something he hasn''t done in previous games. He was going to increase the difficulty of this escape.

    "The game scenario continues. Your police friends who have been wrongly accused are currently in jail for trying to find the murderer of Mr Roger''s case. Your job is to break them out because the murderer has twisted the facts and you''re all now wanted criminals. The second stage will begin on the other side of the elevator which will open once the second stage starts. Your mission is to infiltrate the prison, free your friends and bring them all back here safely to the elevator to clear the game within thirty-five minutes. There will be puzzles to solve but unlike the earlier stage, there will not be any tagged items. Also, if a prison guard catches you, the game is over. You may find items useful to you during the game that can be used to avoid capture but every item has limited uses. You will be given a paint gun that has six paint bullets and two sets of guard uniforms that you need to change into."

    Scarlet was excited but Edward looked at her nervously and offered to hold the gun instead. It might be a gun with pain bullets but the model looked rather realistic even if it was made of plastic. he didn'' want her to suffer bad memories from seeing or holding a gun, he only hoped that Scarlet''s PTSD wouldn''t be triggered if she saw any prison guards holding it.

    Scarlet left to get changed but Edward stayed back for a while and asked Nook if prion guards also had guns.

    "My girlfriend had a bad episode when she was younger with guns so I don''t want it to ruin the game."

    Nook blinked. "I''m sorry to hear that but don''t worry, the prison guards don''t have guns, only handcuffs similar to the ones your friends are wearing. It''s made of rubber and plastic, perfectly safe. The only gun would be the paint pistol you have."

    Edward nodded and thanked the game master before changing into the guard uniform quickly. While this happened, Alex and Jasper were getting a briefing from a staff member about the second stage of the game.

    "Finally!" Alex whooped. "Things are getting interesting. Shall we scan the area for them to help them out?"

    Jasper yawned. "Sure. I''ll join you later. Gonna take a nap."

    Alex rolled her eyes but studied the map and the new set of cameras that Jasper arranged for her during the briefing. There were more prison guards than patrolling officers in the first round and the artist chewed her thumb. How were they going to get past all these people after the alarm rang?

 Chapter 237 - Prison Escape (1)

    Team A changed into their uniforms quickly and Edward laughed at how oversized the clothes were on Scarlet. The pants were too long and they had to borrow some safety pins from the actors so that Scarlet could keep the hem up without tripping her. She blushed at how he compared her to a kid playing dress-up and smacked him playfully much to Nook''s chagrin. He didn''t want to see a couple flirting in front of him but still maintained a neutral expression as much as he could.

    Edward fit the holster for the paint gun snugly on the belt in a place that Scarlet would be least likely to see. He didn''t need help with the holster and looked like he was used to strapping such things which made Scarlet puzzled but she didn''t question.

    The couple was ready and spent the rest of their waiting time chatting with Alex and strategising. Again, Edward committed the layout of the map on the other side of the elevator door to memory and Nook took that as a sign to leave before his frustration showed. Normal people didn''t memorise the layout of the playing field!

    Scarlet was slightly lost and confused but she took note of the important rooms. Other than the maze of corridors, the next stage had normal lighting but an increased number of prison guards walking around. There were fewer places that they had to go to but it was going to be trickier avoiding all the patrol guards even after knowing their patrol routes.

    "The first two rooms closest to the elevator would be the janitor''s room and the supervisor''s office. There are also some access controls that you need to unlock in order to get to the cell blocks. We are in Cell Block B but you''ll need to find keys to our handcuffs and door before you come here. There''s also a cafeteria which is the biggest room, there should be some useful clues hidden there so don''t forget to search thoroughly. The prison guards don''t enter those rooms but they pass by the three cell blocks very frequently and go through the corridor maze regularly."

    Edward took down the key points and agreed. "How many doors are there in the maze?"

    Jasper took the map and counted it. "Five," he replied through the walkie talkie and Edward licked his lips, holding Scarlet''s hand tighter. Ten guards, five doors and three keys for the cells, one for the handcuffs to free the hostages... The objective of the second stage was more straightforward but trickier to pull off given the limited time.

    "We might have to split up to search," he told Scarlet and felt uneasy. One person had a walkie talkie and the other had a gun. This would be Edward''s best bet. He could remember the patrol schedules of these guards and could act alone but he was also worried that Scarlet might get caught in the middle of the search with only the walkie talkie with Alex and Jasper guiding her.

    Scarlet caught onto his unease and leaned on his shoulder. "I''ll follow what you have in mind. So the priority is to unlock all the doors in the maze while finding all three cell keys and the keys to the handcuffs to escape?"

    Edward thought hard. There were no hints about where they could find the cell keys or the handcuff keys so Edward was starting to suspect something. They were given an outfit change but what for? The second stage sounded trickier.

    "The game is beginning in five minutes," Nook announced. "Get into position and good luck! You have thirty-five minutes to clear the game."

    With the announcement, Scarlet and Jasper stepped into the holding bay and waited for the doors to open. At less than a minute mark, the countdown began and Edward paid close attention to the walkie talkie. His line of attack was to escort Scarlet to the supervisor office while he searched the janitor room.

    The doors slid open and Edward held onto Scarlet''s hand, giving out instructions for her to follow closely and run when he did. Nook watched the couple evade all the guards successfully and Edward seemed too much like a pro to this game as if he had done this thousand of times. His confidence and ability to make quick judgement saved them from many close calls in order to get to the supervisor office. Most participants usually headed to the janitor room first and this was the first time he saw someone heading for the strategic command centre with goodies to spoil.

    Scarlet did as she was told with a professionalism that she never thought she would show Edward. However, his seriousness made her match his pace and they took this game much more seriously than before. Perhaps it was adrenaline, perhaps it was the love hormones but Scarlet felt her heart racing for him. Edward was usually very gentle and considerate with her so she never thought there would be a day he would take over the lead in their dynamics so readily. He always waited until she was ready to do something and never pushed the boundaries until now.

    "Stay here," he told her after they entered the supervisor office. "Do not leave this room until I arrive, understood?"

    His emphasis on the word made Scarlet nod and Edward quickly scoured the desk to look for a few things he wanted. Scarlet took a fake ID card that Edward found in the drawer and an access card that Edward found. After Edward deemed that there wasn''t anything else important here, he told Scarlet to look around for anything that could help them understand the prison structure or system better as he went to scout the rest of the place and do the necessary things.

    Scarlet could only agree as Edward left in a hurry but not forgetting to remind her to stay in the room and hide if anyone passed by. He didn''t want a repeat of the kitchen incident again from earlier and Scarlet gave him her word.

    Once her worrywart boyfriend was gone, Scarlet started her search in the supervisor''s room. There should be something more than some passes and IDs, right? Not having tagged items in the second stage gave Scarlet a little more freedom to think about what would be useful for their objective and what wouldn''t.

    From the information she knew, there would be a cafeteria to explore that might hold crucial clues to the cell blocks. She didn''t know where the cell block keys were or where the handcuff keys were but Scarlet was willing to bet a clue would be hidden within this office. While Edward checked out the janitor''s room, it would be up to her to think of how to break Alex and Jasper out.

    The room was rather empty and didn''t have many things. The key that Edward found was only useful for unlocking the side drawer where he found their fake IDs and access card. The desk was rather clean and apart from the workers'' punch cards and some useless doc.u.ments, Scarlet eyed the laptop that was conveniently left on.

    "They wouldn''t leave this on if it was merely a prop right?" Scarlet reasoned and tried to access it. Unfortunately, it wasn''t as easy as she thought it would be. The laptop was locked by a password and when Scarlet clicked on the hint button, she spent a good minute staring at it.

    "A brand of tea?"

    Was this an easter egg? She only had three attempts to unlock this computer and now that she was here, Scarlet decided to look around the office for additional clues. Were they referring to the tea in the first stage or was it something else?

    The brand of tea in stage one would be Darjeeling but Scarlet didn''t think it was correct. The password only had eight letters and Scarlet sighed. As a tea person, Scarlet thought of the different brands she knew and looked around the office for props that might have a clue. Then, her eyes landed on an empty coffee mug by the side.

    Scarlet went back to the drawer and searched the cabinets. If there was a coffee mug, there should be some pantry records and supplies somewhere even if they didn''t have the actual coffee machine or tea. This was the supervisor''s office so some records should be seen.

    A good few minutes of digging proved useful and Scarlet found a box of Twinings tea.

    "One... two... three... eight letters! This is it!"

    Typing in the password, Scarlet whistled lowly as the computer allowed her access. This puzzle was too easy for her and while Edward wasn''t back yet, Scarlet would dig out everything she could.

    Nook groaned. Scarlet had already figured out the password and Edward was doing funny things near the elevator. He didn''t know how the boy thought to use the cleaning signs to block off certain paths but this was certainly going to throw the prison guards off and buy them time for their escape.

    Is there nothing that could stop this couple?

 Chapter 238 - Prison Escape (2)

    According to how the prison guards reacted to him, Edward realised that there were many loopholes that he could use in this game. The actors didn''t seem to know each other really well and often would check each other''s ID cards to ascertain if they were players or staff. Edward joined in confidently and showed them his ID when they passed. Using this method, he was able to get to the janitor''s room successfully.

    The janitor''s room was small and Edward looked around. There weren''t a lot of things but immediately his eyes landed on the pair of yellow cleaning signs and the janitor''s keys hanging nicely beside the janitor''s uniform. Edward considered it for a whole two seconds before he sprung into action and locked the doors.

    The spy quickly dumped his guard uniform into the cleaning pushcart and changed into his janitor uniform. The two yellow cleaning signs were loaded up and he brought some tools along to make his disguise perfect. The long mops will act as a good door blocker when they have to make their escape later.

    With the janitor''s key in his belt loop and the paint gun in the cart with his uniform hidden beneath trash bags, Edward pulled down the hat and hung up his fake janitor ID on the front pocket. After checking that he could still reach the walkie talkie under his right arm in his shirt, Edward opened the door and pushed the cart out.

    Nook who was paying attention to Scarlet missed out what Edward was doing and had a hard time finding out where the boy was until he saw a suspicious janitor placing down signs to block a certain doorway near the elevator. At this point, he could only sit back and be impressed by what the teen could do. Nobody had thought to use the janitor''s room and disguise themselves in the second stage even if it was an alternative. Edward was the first and Nook admitted that this was his defeat. If these kids completed the game within 90 minutes, they would be forever remembered in their company''s hall of fame.

    With his new identity, Edward effortlessly went around the prison and unlocked all doors with the janitor''s key. He passed by some prison guards and even greeted them as if he was one of the staff. Nook watched how Edward placed the long mops at some doors to block the entrance partially. Could he be preparing this as an obstacle to slow down the pursuers at a later stage?

    Edward moved around easily. All five doors were unlocked and Edward took some time to recce the canteen. He couldn''t help but notice that the patrolling guards each carried a set of keys.

    "These couldn''t be the keys to the cells and the handcuffs... right?" Edward paused and on impulse, he lifted a key from a guard he passed by just to confirm his theory.

    It has been ten minutes since Edward left and Scarlet couldn''t help but worry. She found something very important in the computer and wanted to relay the message to Edward but she didn''t have the walkie talkie. As she looked around, Scarlet found the CCTV and had an idea.

    Seeing as she had nothing but time till her boyfriend returned, Scarlet started writing her message on spare pieces of paper in the office and pasted them on the walls so that Alex and Jasper would spot them and tell Edward what she found. Nook was one very sneaky game master and Scarlet didn''t know how they could pull off the prison escape in thirty minutes.

    Alex was watching for the guards in Edward''s way when Jasper spotted something in Scarlet''s room.

    "Princess, could you zoom in to see what Scarlet has written on the walls? I think she wants to tell us something."

    Alex paused and zoomed in on the camera watching Scarlet. Edward would manage a minute by himself without their assistance, he seemed to know what he was doing.

    "What does it say?" Jasper asked. It wasn''t in English and Alex wanted to laugh. It had to be a lack of space that made Scarlet resort to writing in Chinese. Thankfully, Alex had been practising her Chinese enough to figure out what her sister was writing.

    "She says the keys are on the guards. Also, she must be really bored now because she''s making herself some tea with the cups and props."

    Jasper chuckled. He relayed the message to Edward who replied that he was already working on it.

    "Thanks, I''m already on it. I guess I shouldn''t be keeping her too long in that room. Everything is almost ready now. Two more keys to go and I''ll get her."

    Hearing that Edward will conclude his mission quickly, Jasper wondered how they were going to escape. He studied the map and marked out the places with his nail where Edward placed blockers. It would be the route that they were most likely going to follow. It would serve to slow down their pursuers and distract them for a while to buy time. The young CEO told his girlfriend about the plan and told her to hang onto the map to memorise what she could.

    Edward got hold of the last two keys quickly before making his way to the supervisor''s office with his cart.

    Scarlet was startled when someone entered the office as she enjoyed tea. The girl didn''t need to think twice and ducked underneath the desk. She waited until the door closed and wondered if this was Edward. The shoes looked the same.

    "It''s me," Edward announced and shoved the cleaning cart to a side. Scarlet slowly crawled out from under the desk while Edward studied the writing on the wall. He knew a little Chinese but he couldn''t understand the message entirely.

    "What''s this?" he asked and Scarlet told him about how the keys to the cuffs and cells were on the patrolling prison guards.

    "Oh, Edward grinned and pulled out a bunch of keys from the cleaning cart. Scarlet had many questions about how Edward managed to change his profession so quickly but held her tongue.

    "Are these...?"

    Edward grinned with a nod. "Keys. I took the liberty of changing the costume for the sake of convenience and placed some props along the way to make escape easier later. Right now, we need to go to the cafeteria to find clues. I''ll use that time to unlock all the cell block doors and pass Alex and Jasper the keys before changing into the prison guard uniform. It will take a while, there should be clues in the cafeteria for us to use as part of the escape plan."

    Scarlet agreed. "I saw the schedules for the guards on patrol, the routes and the break times. ''m guessing lunchtime would be the best time because some guards would be off duty and we can use those loopholes to sneak out."

    The couple discussed details a little more and filled Team A about their plan. Jasper listened attentively and Alex asked questions about the pairings for escaping after they distracted the guards.

    "I will remain in the command centre with the walkie talkie to be your eyes," Edward said with finality. "You and Jasper will take the lead with the map. Pass Scarlet the walkie talkie, she will act as the distraction because she is wearing the patrol guard uniform. If they catch up, split directions and get to the janitor''s room until they pass then dash to the lift. I will leave the control room and meet you at the elevator once you''ve gotten past the last corridor."

    Scarlet was slightly concerned with the plan. Edward was watching out for them during their escape but who will watch out for him on his escape? Alex had similar concerns and Edward told them not to worry.

    "I have a paint gun with six shots," he explained. "That''s more than enough for me to make it safely to the elevator. The number of prison guards on lunch duty patrol is only seven, I''ll be fine."

    Honestly, compared to some of the missions Edward took, this was a relatively easy one with minimal risks involved. He wouldn''t fail here.

    Scarlet still looked concerned so Edward chuckled and kissed her on the forehead. "Trust me," he told her. "We can do this. Are you ready? We''re going to the cafeteria, I''m leaving my walkie talkie with you to coordinate the meeting with them there before you escape."

    Scarlet nodded. Edward told the other couple to leave their walkie talkies behind in the command centre and meet up with Scarlet after Scarlet gives them the green light to proceed to the cafeteria for lunch. they would make their escape from there and Jasper knew the route.

    "Let''s start the prison escape," Edward grinned and left the supervisor room first with his cleaning cart to try the keys on the locks while Scarlet waited a minute before leaving the room, headed for the cafeteria.

    It''s about time to end the game with only twenty minutes left on the clock.

 Chapter 239 - Prison Escape (3)

    Twisting and winding expertly, Scarlet followed Alex and Jasper''s instructions to get to the cafeteria with little difficulty. She followed Edward''s instructions to act normal when she came across prison guards. If they asked, she just needed to show them their identity card and they would allow her to leave. The actress had no problem in acting naturally as she made her way to the cafeteria.

    Edward didn''t need help getting to the cell block gates. He unlocked them with ease using the keys and was able to distract the prison guards on patrol if needed. After all three gates were unlocked, Edward went into each cell block to find which was cell block B.

    Jasper and Alex were ready. Once the door was opened and Edward appeared in a janitor''s uniform, he got to work quickly. The cleaning cart was parked outside to block the route and divert guards to the corridor maze door instead so they could leave quickly if they wanted. In fact, Edward brought his guard uniform with him, hoping that it would fit Jasper.

    "Pass them over," Alex urged once she saw Edward. Now that all three doors were unlocked, they just needed to get the handcuff off to make their escape.

    Edward tried all ten keys and couldn''t believe none of them was the right match. He took the janitor keys out and tried them all but the sizes weren''t right. This key was small, much smaller than any of the keys they''ve used so far.

    "What now?" Alex asked.

    Edward froze. He tried to recall if he had seen a key this small and suddenly, he knew where he had seen it before.

    "Lend me the walkie talkie, it''s with Scarlet!"

    Jasper tossed the device over and Edward watched the cameras in the control room.

    "Scarlet, do you have the key you first found in the elevator? We need the keys, those might be the keys to the handcuffs!"

    Scarlet who was in the cafeteria and searching for clues froze. She felt in her pocket and replied that they were with her.

    "Where do I meet you?"

    Edward looked at Jasper and Alex briefly before making his decision. "I''ll go over, continue searching."

    Without another word, Edward started stripping the janitor uniform and tossed it to the handcuffed couple. "See if any of you can fit in that," he told them as he changed back into the prison guard uniform.

    The paint gun was pocketed and Edward passed back the walkie talkie. Jasper was able to fit into the janitor''s uniform and Edward grinned.

    "Here''s the plan," he told them. "I''ll find Scarlet and grab the key from her. There''s a cleaning cart outside that you can use. Alex should try and hide inside it and get to the lift as soon as you can. If the game master is smart enough, an alarm would be triggered as soon as the cell is empty. The actors might already know that one of us is disguised as a janitor and another is disguised as a prison guard. They would most likely pursue the janitor first after the alarm goes off so both of you should run for it using the route I planned and hide in the janitor''s room. There are no rules saying that we cannot be caught after reaching the elevator so I want to play it safe. Lock yourselves in if you have to, we will come to get you later."

    Alex was visibly excited but Jasper was hesitant. "How will you and Scarlet cope?"

    Edward chuckled. "Scarlet will escape first, I will join later. I''ll be back, hide the janitor uniform and try to do something about that camera, there should be blind spots."

    Alex nodded and Edward left quickly to meet up with Scarlet, leaving the walkie talkie behind. Jasper quickly removed the janitor uniform with Alex keeping watch on the camera in their room. The tall model dragged a chair over to a corner and shifted the mattress a little so that she could tilt the camera up a little making it seem like someone was always in the corner while another person was on the chair after the adjustment. This should buy Edward some time.

    Nook was too busy keeping an eye on Scarlet who was making huge movements in the cafeteria. The writer had found the meal schedules very quickly and the alarm panel to "free" certain prison cells. The most ideal cell block to free would be cell C but that wasn''t the cell that Alex and Jasper were in. Edward said that he would be here to get the keys from her so she would make herself useful by rearranging the props a little.

    Nook didn''t know if he should call that out as foul. Scarlet was literally dragging cafeteria chairs and tables towards the corridor to act as obstacle courses for the patrolling guards who frequented the cell block route. In fact, Scarlet had cleverly made a one-way maze that the actors could still pass but would waste a lot of time doing so. His cafeteria room was looking rather empty and he didn''t like how Scarlet would simply trigger different lunch bells at will just to see his actors shuffling in and out of the stage. She was such a great distraction that Nook completely missed the short interaction Edward had with the captives.

    Edward didn''t know what to say when he saw so many prison guards scurrying past him. He was speechless when he saw how the cafeteria tables and chairs were dragged out of the room to the wide corridor frequently patrolled near the cell blocks. He knew that he blocked certain routes with props for strategic reasons that wouldn''t seem too suspicious but this was... Where did Scarlet learn to be such a terrorist?

    Even getting to the cafeteria took time so Edward decided not to play by the rules of walking and parkoured over the furniture to get to the door.

    "Was that your doing?" he asked once he was in the room and Scarlet beamed.

    He caught the keys that she tossed midair and raised a brow. "Why are they scurrying everywhere?"

    His girlfriend threw him a mischievous grin. "I may or may not have played around with a few lunch alarms. I like Cell Block C the most because there are only six guards walking around when block C has their lunch."

    Edward couldn''t help but nod, impressed with her devilish ideas. The goody-two-shoes image of his girlfriend was now replaced by a very charming and adorable vixen with a pawful of tricks. They were slightly mean but never harmful.

    "I''ll deliver the keys," he told her. "Just continue doing what you''re doing now and keep the walkie talkie close. We''re breaking out. Do you still remember the way to the elevator?"

    She nodded. "I do. Am I to run at the signal?"

    Edward nodded. "That''s the gist. I''ll cover you, keep the walkie talkie close."

    With that, they parted and Scarlet went to the kitchen area, trying to decide if she should bring out the plates and cutleries as well just to make the prison guards panic a little about breaking props while on the chase. Either way, she started moving them around so that Nook will be focussed on her instead.

    Edward was quick. He used the shortcuts to get to the cell and tossed the keys into the cell for Alex and Jasper to work it out themselves. It wouldn''t take them too long to get rid of the handcuffs so Edward took a stroll around before returning.

    "We''re ready," Jasper told him. The spy saw Alex briefly hiding in the long fabric trash bag. Jasper covered her with a black garbage bag and passed Edward the walkie talkie before walking away. Edward removed his prison guard top and entered the room, sitting on the chair and monitoring the situation. Scarlet was still pressing buttons and alarms so the guards were in chaos but there was nothing they could do.

    Edward chuckled. His girlfriend had decided to spell something for Nook in the cafeteria that guards weren''t allowed to enter. S.O.S. looked like a very inappropriate message seeing as Scarlet wasn''t the one trapped.

    "Alright, they''ve made their escape. Make your way over to the elevator. If you don''t see them there, they''re hiding in the janitor''s room. Tell them to get out and sprint if they''re not already at the elevator."

    Taking that as a cue, Scarlet started collecting some spoons and casually ran with the walkie talkie in her other hand. These spoons wouldn''t break but they would cause confusion if she were ever pursued. Nobody would be expecting to catch spoons.

    Alex and Jasper made it safely past the confused guards who were arguing over which route to take with the flood of lunch alarm orders. Nook watched the chaos and listened to the complaints of his staff, directing them while Scarlet made a run for it. The game master didn''t realise it until a few minutes had passed then he turned back to the control room where the coupe was still there. the janitor was walking around and Nook simply assumed that Edward and Scarlet were still trying to find the handcuff keys.

    "I made it, they''re still on their way to the janitor''s room," Scarlet reported, sounding out of breath. On the way here, Scarlet had passed each prison guard she passed by a spoon and told them the wrong instructions to add fuel to the fire.

    Edward laughed. His lover was such a minx! Still, he got ready and put the prison guard top on and made a run for it using the shortcut, dodging the traps he set. He met a few guards on the way going towards the elevator so Edward took his paint pistol out to shoot them, rendering out of commission for the rest of the game.

    Nook was still sorting out the mess when someone reported that they were out of the game.

    "What? What do you mean you''re out of the game?"

    After some confusing explanation, Nook swerved back to the screens to see if there was still anyone in the prison cell.

    Nothing. They had escaped in the confusion and Nook paled. The distraction created was all part of their master plan and he''d fallen for them hook, line and sinker.

    Smashing the red alarm button, Nook yelled at every guard to pursue the escapees. He didn''t know where they were but they couldn''t have gone far. Little did he know, three of four players were already waiting in the elevator.

    Edward cussed when he heard the alarm go off. He was still around the supervisor''s office and was running through the path that he blocked with the cleaning signs. The footsteps behind him made Edward pick up speed. There were only a few more steps to end it all!

    Alex and Jasper figured out how to end the game and had shut most of the elevator door, leaving only a small gap for him to come into.

    "Quick!" Scarlet urged when he was finally in sight for the last stretch. Edward burst into speed and took a shot at the pursuers behind him, emptying the rest of the bullets and tossing the paint gun at them before diving into the gap just in time for Alex and Jasper to shut it.

    "Game over!" the announcement and bell signalled that they had succeeded.

    Nook looked at the time and felt boneless in his chair. One hour and fifteen minutes, these brats had made it.

 Chapter 240 - No Rest For The Busy

    One hour and fifteen minutes... When they heard that they cleared the game with fifteen minutes to spare, the girls were elated and the boys were simply relieved. Edward just sprawled out unglamorously on the floor with his limbs in an uncoordinated mess but Jasper flopped and let his knees give out on him, landing with a thud on his bum. The sisters screamed and jumped with joy as Alex hugged Scarlet tightly, squeezing most of the air out of the writer.

    Nook had mixed feelings. Both couples were incredible but they were also rather eccentric. Who would have thought to use the janitor''s cleaning cart to transport a person? Also, if he had to choose one person who was the MVP, he would say that it was Edward even though Scarlet was an extremely good attention grabber in the right ways. He didn''t suspect a thing about their plans until it was too late. While there had been many jailbreaking attempts in the past, there was nothing as dramatic as this.

    To sum it all, he never expected for six out of ten guards to be taken down. If Scarlet activated the lunch alarm for Cell Block C, Edward could have easily shot everyone down and they could have strolled away to freedom. Yet, they didn''t and their escape was the most dramatic thing Nook has witnessed. It was well-executed, well-timed, well-coordinated, communicated clearly and left no room for doubts even if it was crazy. He didn''t know who these kids were but they would have a very bright future ahead of them.

    As Nook and his staff prepared the prizes and montage of the group''s crazy escape and moments to be added to their company''s hall of fame, a staff informed Jasper that throughout the game, he had been receiving text messages and calls.

    Jasper excused himself from the graduation ceremony to deal with business and Alex sighed. She was happy that her sister made up with Edward but she couldn''t help but feel a little lonely with how busy Jasper was despite their date. She couldn''t stop him from going to work but she wished that things would not end up like her parents with Jasper working all the time and never coming home.

    After waiting for a good while, they were ushered to the lobby to retrieve their belongings. Scarlet and Alex got their bags back and were talking about the game but Edward had something else on his mind. The group chat that Elfie made for him and Jasper was finally active once more.

    Elfie: Julian came by again.

    Jasper: Received a call from Rowan informing me about it. When is a good time to arrange a meeting?

    Edward paused and looked at the girls. Things were finally progressing and he hoped that the Wilde daughters would remain out of harm''s way until they got the last missing link they needed from Julian''s side. After the meeting with Julian, they should be able to find out who that missing link between Pineapple Group and EZ Express was.

    Edward: Fix a day convenient for you and Wilmer. We''re bringing in Wilmer to put pressure on them so that Elfie and I can investigate the back end. I''ll let Claire know to increase security with the girls during those dates. There have been more flies around lately.

    Elfie: Got it. Enjoy your dates!

    The boys were brought back to the present when Nook requested for a picture. Scarlet looked uncomfortable and Alex felt uneasy at the mention of pictures. Jasper tried to decline but Nook was very forceful. He wanted to put their pictures and use their record as an advertis.e.m.e.nt for his escape room business but three people have declined. His only hope was for the MVP to agree and convince the rest for a group photo but to his surprise, Edward was the one who was most against the idea.

    "We came here to enjoy ourselves and that was just it. You won''t be able to afford to pay for our photographs," he told the game master honestly.

    Nook was confused when he heard what Edward had to say. When the girls started to put on their hats and sunglasses, it finally clicked. That tall blonde lady... he might have seen her before. Also, judging by her good figure, she must be some sort of celebrity. No wonder he said that!

    The two couples left quickly and decided to go to a restaurant that Jasper reserved under his name ahead of time. It was a rather upper-class restaurant known for their grill in Manhattan and they decided to book a cab to get there. Edward texted Claire their location so that the bodyguards tailing the sisters could follow.

    Scarlet could tell that her boyfriend was up to something with all that strange texting while they talked. However, she didn''t question him. The bodyguards were shuffling behind them and Scarlet noted that their numbers had increased. It made the writer start to think of the worst possibilities but she tried to remain calm. It must be all that adrenaline from playing the escape room earlier that was giving her funny thoughts.

    She was still having a hard time wrapping her head around how easily Edward was able to make plans, study floor layouts, change into disguises, find clues and fire accurately with a paint gun. He even wore the gun holster without help as if he had done it many times before. Slowly, the pieces were coming together. Edward might be someone who worked in a similar field as Claire but like Claire, Scarlet knew that his feelings for her were not related to his job. Even if Edward turned out to be someone employed by her family to keep her safe, Scarlet decided not to care about those trivialities. If he had a good reason for not telling her, Scarlet decided not to pry. Like the game, Edward had never once let her down. That was all the reason Scarlet needed to believe in him even if his texting made her feel uneasy on the inside.

    The restaurant that Jasper reserved was lovely and right up Alex''s alley. Not needing to diet for today, Alex demanded the menu right away and had trouble deciding what she wanted. Jasper simply let Alex choose whatever she wanted and told her that he didn''t mind sharing food with her. This prompted Scarlet to look at Edward.

    "What?"

    Scarlet smiled. "Are you a big eater?"

    Edward listened to all the things that Alex wanted to eat and shook his head. "Not as much as Alex. I''ll eat an upsized meal at a fast-food restaurant but that''s the maximum for me."

    The writer agreed and simply chose something light. Edward raised a brow at her choice.

    "Clam chowder and garlic bread only? Are you not feeling well?"

    Scarlet laughed. "I''ll have food handed over later. Alex is hell-bent on ordering everything on the menu so we can even have takeaways if we wanted. I suggest just ordering drinks, sides and desserts that you want, she''s in charge of the main course."

    Although Edward didn''t know why Scarlet was doing this, he decided to trust her judgement and ordered a pina colada mocktail.

    After ten minutes of ordering and discussing what was good, they finally had their orders.

    "Let me repeat your order," the waiter smiled. "A clam chowder with garlic bread, a pina colada mocktail, an iced tea, warm water, a fillet mignon medium-rare steak, a grilled cod with asparagus, a butter lobster risotto and grilled half chicken seasoned in rosemary and thyme. Is there anything else?"

    Scarlet thought about it and looked at her sister before they unanimously asked about ice cream. The waiter chuckled and flipped to a section that both girls spent time discussing in detail. Edward gave Jasper a look and mouthed the question if this happens often. The young CEO only gave him a resigned nod.

    "It''s going to be raspberry cheesecake flavour in the end," Jasper mouthed to Edward who raised a brow. Jasper shrugged. It was the only ice cream flavour that they would agree on. Alex liked chocolate and hazelnut but Scarlet preferred peppermint chocolate chip and for some reason, these girls wouldn''t eat desserts alone.

    "Darling," Edward called out. "You can order anything you want for dessert, I''ll share it with you if you can''t finish."

    Hearing Edward offering Scarlet an option, Alex quickly looked at her boyfriend who blinked.

    "Will you share with me too?"

    Jasper found it odd. "Have I ever rejected you?"

    Alex pouted. "You don''t like hazelnuts."

    Jasper grimaced. That was true. "We can eat something without hazelnuts then."

    Alex became whiny and Scarlet chuckled. Compared to her sister''s relationship, she was much luckier to have someone like Edward who humoured her whims. Thinking back about her actions, Scarlet felt really bad. She had no reason to be insecure over such a wonderful boyfriend, she was a fool but it won''t happen again. Scarlet was thankful for the double date surprise that Alex planned and decided to go along with her sister''s whims this once.

    "I''ll share it with you. Double chocolate and hazelnut please," she told the waiter who looked like he was tired of standing for so long.

    Alex was surprised but didn''t turn the offer down. It was very rare after all and the model wanted to maximise her non-diet day to eat everything that she normally couldn''t.

 Chapter 241 - Edward Undercover

    A week passed without incident for the girls but for the boys, it was like a time bomb ticking. Julian Anastasia was tenacious and it was becoming increasingly dangerous for Alex to visit the office so Edward and Jasper made plans for the sisters to go on a short trip with their mother with Claire and Jenna''s help while they arranged for a meeting with Julian. Wilmer''s schedule was rearranged and Danny took over all the important matters so that the Wilde CEO could meet the dangerous man with his future son-in-law.

    Elfie and Edward were finally contacted by Danny who told them he had a lead. Needless to say, with the green light given by Danny, they no longer had to sneak around with their investigations. Edward had Elfie dig up information on EZ Express'' headquarters and timed himself for an interview there. There were some strings pulled successfully so Edward will be an intern there for two weeks so that he could investigate the inner network that Elfie couldn''t get into.

    The plan was simple. Edward talked to Claire and Jenna about what they were going to do and requested that the lady butler propose a trip for all three ladies away from New York for a few days. It wasn''t hard for Orita to pull a few strings with her influence in the entertainment industry for a job featuring her daughters. A well-known magazine decided to respond to Orita''s last-minute request for an exclusive scoop about life with her two daughters who had been on hiatus from the peak of their careers for a few months now after Jenna proposed the idea of some family bonding time. The girls were immediately excused from classes and booked for a plane to The Bahamas. Jenna booked a yacht for the interview and a private island so that the girls can relax by the beach for a weekend.

    Once the details of the trip was confirmed, Wilmer and Jasper arranged a meeting date with Julian Anastasia. The sneaky CEO of EZ Express didn''t even pause to consider before accepting the date. Jasper proposed the meeting venue at a hotel''s private dining room that was secretly reserved under Wilmer''s name because the young CEO simply didn''t have that much money to spare so that Julian wouldn''t be at his office or try anything funny. Julian didn''t mind and accepted the invitation within the day. With that, the first stage of the plan was complete.

    Edward was nervous. He told Scarlet that he had recently gotten a part-time job and wouldn''t be able to meet up with her much so he told her to live with Alex for a while to keep her whiny sister company because Jasper was also recently working overtime a lot. The spy expected more questions but to his surprise, Scarlet was understanding and wished him all the best for his job. She even told him that she was going to travel for a short job herself with her sister at her mother''s request even though it was Edward''s suggestion.

    "Let''s go on another date after my job ends," he told her. "I should have saved enough for a grand date. Do you have a place in mind you want to go? We could try Disneyland."

    Scarlet laughed when she heard his proposed dating spot. Disneyland was the last place Scarlet wanted to go. It was crowded, full of long queues and rowdy kids with overly priced merchandise. Alex might be interested but she would demand VVIP treatment but not Scarlet. The writer was more interested in the wackier side of life to feed her adrenaline junkie side.

    "How about go-karts and horse-riding for a date? We''ll go with my plans when I get back," she grinned and Edward found himself falling in love with her all over again. He pegged her for the indoors and bookish kind of girl who has her heart in the city but she proved him wrong by suggesting an outdoor date. Who knew that the actress Liu Xiu Wen was secretly an adrenaline junkie?

    "Alright," he agreed. "I''ll prepare something for a picnic out as well, hopefully the weather will prevail. If it doesn''t we could go bowling and drop by the trampoline park instead."

    The couple spent two days together at Edward''s apartment planning their future date until Edward had to leave for the job he got and Scarlet had to move in with Jasper and Alex again for a few days.

    It was finally the day that Edward and Elfie got to see what went on behind the scenes of EZ Express. His interview was a success and he was notified that he would be working as an intern with the IT department thanks to his fake certification that Danny provided. Mr Bayon was informed about Edward''s involvement with the cold case and decided to bring his son back into action seeing as Edward was determined.

    The General Secretariat only had one advice for his son.

    "Don''t die. Think about the ones who will cry for your death. If you''re in danger, get out of there immediately. Your mother told me about your girlfriend and I won''t allow you to skip out on me with that father and son talk you owe me. How dare you start cohabiting without introducing her to me!"

    Needless to say, Edward''s actions and freedom were very tightly restricted. He would be monitored at all times when working as an intern even though the Interpol has readied everything so that nobody would suspect him as a spy. The previous spies that the Interpol planted within EZ Express had either been murdered or forced to run because of Anastasia''s influence in the underworld. They never thought about using a teen as a spy because of how risky it was but seeing that Edward and Elfie had gone ahead to make arrangements on their own, breaking multiple international laws to get their hands on a lead that nobody had been able to find before and grasping a new angle that the professionals weren''t able to get until Scarlet received some insider information... it was only fair to send Edward for the mission.

    Shutting away his emotions and weakness, Edward stepped into his spy mentality and wore the mask of a slightly lazy intern who was only doing the job for his grades. The contract was for two weeks and Edward met his temporary boss for the first time while listening to the ramblings about the organisational structure during the induction tour of the building.

    "So there are a few departments but you don''t have to know them all," said his new boss. "The list contains all the relevant people and their extension lines. Your job is to pick up calls and troubleshoot basic computer problems. Some things to note would be the meeting rooms. You''d be requested very frequently by the secretarial department to set up the projectors for presentations so take note of the calendar meetings."

    Edward nodded and walked around, surveying the number of cameras and exits as they moved along. The office looked ordinary from anyone''s perspective but Edward knew they would be hiding something within. He couldn''t tell who was a legitimate office drone and who was part of the mafia business planted into the legal business. Julian cleaned up rather well and Edward now understood why the Interpol''s spies were easily weeded. The company had many contract staff and those staff who worked there for too many years would either be given a golden handshake or forced to resign to protect its secrets.

    "Do I need to attend the server room if there''s a network problem?" Edward asked just to scope the feel of the environment. Interns were usually not allowed to do much but he wanted to push his luck and buy a cover story in case he had to meddle with the important security-related things.

    His boss looked at him strangely. "The server room isn''t here," he told Edward. "The management outsourced those to cut costs. If anything goes down, we simply call the service provider and send someone down to investigate. Usually, there isn''t a problem because the company spends good money for monthly maintenance but if there is a case, the number for the helpline could be found on your phone list in case none of us is available and there''s an emergency. Still, nothing should happen, you''re only here for two weeks."

    Edward blinked and looked at the number on his phone list. "That''s convenient to know," he smiled. "At least I don''t have much to do."

    The IT manager looked at Edward''s carefree smile and snorted. "You wish. By the end of two weeks, you''d be glad that you''re not working here permanently. We often have calls about the strangest things and virus attacks are one of the biggest problems we face especially when dealing with the upper management executives. I swear these folks need to learn how to not click on suspicious emails or go to suspicious websites! I don''t understand why the CEO doesn''t want us to blacklist those links and sites when we have them in our history. I guess they just want to see us run around and justify the pay we get."

    Edward raised a brow. "That''s dumb. Why won''t they put it in? Also, why can''t we use those logs to set a warning to the users who want to click in? There should be a filter even if they don''t want to block it with a firewall."

    The manager raised a brow. "For someone as unambitious as you, you''re rather bright."

    Edward shrugged, playing the role of his character. "I''m not paid enough to deal with more work. That''s your job, I''m only thinking of ways to make my job easier."

    Hearing that, the manager laughed. His impression of Edward changed drastically. Perhaps this intern could help him to solve some of the bigger issues they had. Those runner calls can be settled by the other long-timers.

 Chapter 242 - Intern Eddie

    By the third day of his internship, Edward had made a name for himself. Although the spy still hasn''t gotten a chance to get close to the inner workings of the company, he was able to gather more information than the other spies hadn''t. It wasn''t the ones at the top who knew all the dirty dealings that went under the table, it was the ones who worked on the ground who heard many things who gave Edward the most useful hints. Those on the ground often liked to gossip and through those gossips, Edward learned a few things.

    "You say that EZ Express doesn''t do most of its own shipping?"

    Edward''s boss nodded. "I didn''t know that at first but after you worked here for long enough, you hear things from the admin and logistic department. They work closely with several smaller companies but for a few years now, we''ve been using Pineapple Group''s partner."

    The spy thought for a while. Pineapple Group''s partner? "Are you talking about Diamond Containers and East-West China Airline?"

    Impressed, Randy, Edward''s boss praised him. "You sure pick up quick, Eddie! You got a bright future ahead of you if only you''re less lazy about things."

    Edward grimaced outwardly as an act but also to express distaste for this horrible alias that Elfie chose for him. He had to make sure Elfie never spoke a word about this to anyone else, the name was too horribly childish! He didn''t want Scarlet using this as an inspiration for a pet name either. He''d rather be known as ''Ed'' than ''Eddie''.

    Still, the information was starting to make sense. The server hosting was outsourced to scatter information. The shipping was outsourced and the admin does not know some of the items they place orders for, they just follow the information passed down by the top management.

    Still, Edward didn''t understand why they would work for both sides. "How did they get the contract? Diamond Containers and East-West China Airlines, I mean. Weren''t they the main contractors for Pineapple Group? The chinese usually don''t do business with the west without good reasons. EZ Express would have used an intermediate party even if they wanted to deal with China."

    Randy nodded. "Blame it on the family and personal affairs of the CEO. Before the son took over, the company worked in the way that you said. It wasn''t very effective at all and profits were heavily affected. However, after Julian Anastasia became the new CEO and succeeded his father, business boomed. Of course, they say that he is a man of many connections but the main reason for EZ Express'' success in recent years is because of that lady.

    "That lady?"

    Randy noded. "Messy story, I tell you. But it''s none of my business. Leah Yuan is the heiress to Crown Princess Hotel Group but she''s also a huge investor in Diamond Containers and East-West China Airline. Apparently Ms Yuan and our boss met at a party when she was accompanying her fiance Mr Zhu and fell for our boss. Ever since then, she has been lending EZ Express a hand using her influence within the Pineapple Group as well."

    Edward thought about it and Randy checked the time. It was almost lunch and the manager was about to leave when the phone rang. With a sigh, he answered it with a hint of annoyance.

    "Now? Got it. I''ll send the intern up in five minutes."

    Edward heard it but pretended to not know anything, keeping true to his lazy image. Randy sighed and smacked him lightly with a file.

    "Stop pretending you didn''t hear that!" he snapped half-heartedly. "The secretary of our CEO is calling. They need someone to bring up a bag and set up a spare laptop for him. Mr Anastasia is going to meet an important client so they want everything in place. She will pass you a thumb drive with the proposal that you should download into the spare laptop and set up a desktop shortcut. Don''t screw anything up, it''s an important deal that the boss has been trying to get for months now."

    Edward blinked. "Are you sure you should be sending someone like me for something so important? Also, why a spare laptop? Doesn''t he work from a laptop?"

    Randy deadpanned. "There''s no need for us to go and stop making up excuses! It''s a company policy to only use desktops here so spare laptops have to be configured for everyone else who doesn''t work in the sales department."

    Not giving up the golden opportunity to worm his way into the CEO''s office and digging out whatever he could, Edward readied the virus and listening bugs that he carried with him just in case he could find an opportunity to use them. While Randy grabbed the spare laptop and bag, Edward slipped the things he needed into his pocket and waited lazily with an extreme unwilling expression on his face.

    "Here you go, don''t mess this up."

    Edward sulked. "It''s going to eat into lunch..."

    Finding this intern ridiculous, Randy patted Edward''s shoulder. "Just do a good job and you can extend lunch by thirty minutes today. I''ll close an eye only for today."

    Beaming, Edward made the deal and took the laptop bag to the top floor where Julian''s secretary was waiting for him. The spy took the thumb drive from the strict lady who repeated her instructions twice just because she wasn''t sure if Edward was listening to her. While she nagged, Edward was surveying the security on the top floor. It was surprisingly relaxed but the spy wasn''t fooled. He wouldn''t lower his guard on enemy turf.

    "So I just need to copy over the powerpoint presentation, a few folders for the contract and a software that he would need for demonstration purpose and save them to the desktop,? Got it."

    The secretary was about to repeat it for the third time when Edward cut her off. Mutely, she passed Edward the thumb drive who sighed and went to the CEO''s room to copy out the required software from his desktop. He knew that the secretary had doubts if he was able to do the job well and that was exactly the reaction that Edward wanted. Julian wouldn''t suspect an intern being a spy.

    Once Edward was in the office, he quickly flipped open the laptop and pretended to turn it on and waited. In reality, Edward was installing the virus onto the desktop and network using Julian''s desktop. With an admin override password, Edward now had free access to all his backed up files. Edward texted Elfie and told his friend to work quickly.

    From outside the office, only the sound of tapping on the keyboard could be heard as Edward worked. The spy also took the opportunity to hide a listening bug underneath Julian''s chair in a spot that was difficult to find and worked on his actual task - setting the spare laptop up for the meeting. Randy said to set it up and leave everything with Julian''s secretary so Edward tried to hurry. She didn''t seem like she enjoyed working way into her lunch hours.

    Elfie: I''ve backed everything out. See if you can gather more information in hardcopy in his office in case we don''t find anything here.

    Edward: Will do. I''m going to leave for a bit, take care of the screen.

    The spy walked out and looked at the secretary.

    "Sorry, there are some setting issues with the spare laptop I''m trying to configure for the software now. It''s going to take a while and I don''t know how long it will take so I don''t want to hold you up from lunch. Once I''m done I will leave the spare laptop on your table if that''s alright with you."

    Relieved, the secretary agreed with Edward''s arrangement and left. Now that there wasn''t anyone else around, Edward informed Elfie to down the security footage and replace the clip so that he could start digging for doc.u.ments to make copies of.

    Elfie and Edward worked quickly in tandem and Edward took photographs of everything he could find. He was slightly surprised to find some loan agreements and contact numbers of politicians in Julian''s drawer but he wasn''t complaining. He needed Elfie to start digging into these people to trace and hack Julian''s personal phone and business phone for more damning evidence of his illegal involvement.

    Twenty minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Edward got the software installed and the files copied out just in time and left the spare laptop on the secretary''s desk, ensuring that there were no traces of him searching through Julain''s things. Elfie copied the video in the security footage to give Edward more credibility. Edward didn''t know what else he could do now that his primary objective was done. Elfie was now able to access the juicy inner network and all Edward had to do was wait for information tonight.

    Edward: Are you able to find the location of their servers?

    Elfie: Still working on it. Did you find anything about their working partners? Do we have a lead to hit up?

    Edward: Diamond Containers and East-West China Airline work with them because of Julian''s fiancee. Dig out what you can on the politicians I sent you and Leah Yuan. I doubt that CEO Zhu knows about her betrayal to his company.

    Elfie: Sounds like we have all our answers falling into place now. By the way, your dad told me to remind you about the priority. In fact, he wants you to get out of there asap.

    Edward snorted and texted back while he headed for lunch.

    Edward: Tell him to strap on his seat belt and wait for me because I''m bringing him what his best agents couldn''t. This company might be clean but Julian isn''t. As long as I can find his scent, we can track it back to their stinking hideout. When that time comes, I''m leaving it up to you and him to clean up this mess.

    Elfie: Whatever. Don''t take too long or do stupid things, your girlfriend misses you.

 Chapter 243 - Lunch with Julian Anastasia (1)

    The girls left for the Bahamas after Edward stated his internship while the boys were preparing to reel in the big shark called Julian. For the first time in years, Wilmer returned home for a quick reunion with his wife and daughters before they had to part again. Jasper readied what Wilmer required and told the CEO the plan that he created with the boys. Wilmer memorised it and went through the final round of preparations for the meeting with Carol and Claire.

    On the other hand, Elfie and Edward managed to infiltrate deeply into EZ Express'' inner networks and found all sorts of condemning evidence that they passed to the Interpol for further investigations. Mr Bayon was very pleased with his son''s success and told Edward to lie low now that his main objective has been achieved. If he could end his internship without a hitch, it would be their success. Julian''s bugged office was one of the biggest accomplishments and Edward was glad he didn''t bug the table or the flower pot like what other spies would have done. According to Mr Bayon, Julian swept through his office for bugs weekly but the one Edward planted remained well hidden. It was a race against time but Edward remained confident that he would be the most successful spy that ever infiltrated EZ Express.

    The day to meet Julian Anastasia finally arrived and Jasper was nervous. Beside him sat Wilmer who looked cool and calm. They decided to travel in fashion and called for the hotel limousine to pick them up. The room they booked was a private one that had been pre-tapped with security devices, cameras and listening bugs by Claire before she left. Danny will be monitoring their discussion closely to alarm the security if something should happen. Negotiations were going to break down but Wilmer''s job was to stall Julian for as long as possible so that Edward and Elfie could do one final sweep of EZ Express in Julian''s absence and sniff out those involved directly in Anastasia''s illegal business. The boys needed a little more time and Jasper was told to keep the man occupied for a good four hours.

    As hosts, they arrived fifteen minutes earlier and were ushered to their reserved room. The menu was chosen by Wilmer and Jasper prepared the presentation that he and his team put together to explain the VR games and technology Kiwi Cat Studio was working on. His job was to act as a neutral party who was trying to sell to the best customer. Wilmer was representing Wilde Inc.''s interest as a major investor in Kiwi Cat Studio.

    Jasper rubbed his hands on his pants while they sat, waiting. Wilmer noticed this and gave the teen a light slap on the back.

    "Straighten up and look confident even if that''s not how you feel on the inside. You''re a young wolf who will eventually surpass us. Once everything is over, you and I will be having a long talk, Mr Hopper. I heard from Orita that you''re finally dating my daughter."

    Jasper''s nervousness came back at full force when he heard that Wilmer knew about his relationship with Alex. They continued to chat about many things, mostly Wilmer asking about what he missed for the years he hadn''t been home. Jasper answered him and told the man things that he regretted missing like the days where both his daughters were part of the band Britannia that had disbanded. He also lamented how he wasn''t able to congratulate his daughters on turning sixteen on their Sweet Sixteen Gala that his wife planned.

    While they were chatting, Julian Anastasia finally made his appearance. Jasper and Wilmer stood u-up and exchanged pleasantries before sitting down again. From behind his long bangs, Jasper studied the son of Lucian Anastasia. He kept his rage down when he thought about how this man was partially responsible for keeping Wilmer away from his family for so many years.

    Julian Anastasia was a dashing man in his thirties that many women would swoon over. He had a high nose bridge, hooded eyes, hair swept back and held by gel with a clean shave that showed off his well-defined jawline. The suit he was wearing wasn''t less expensive than the one Wilmer wore and Jasper felt oddly out of place with his Golden Frost blazer being the only expensive thing that wasn''t even bought by him. Those converse sneakers, Levi jeans and printed graphic round-neck tee from somewhere were a very glaring contrast to the formal setting of the restaurant Wilmer helped to book. Back at Kiwi Cat Studio, this would have been considered formal wear but after looking at these two men, Jasper finally understood where he was lacking. Not to mention, his current hairstyle was highly unsuitable for work. Just the thought about having to cut it in the future made Jasper panic. He couldn''t cope with the social anxieties without hiding behind something even after so many years and he doubted that would change anytime soon.

    "Please to finally meet you," Julian smiled. "You''re an unexpectedly difficult man to see."

    Smiling at the sarcasm laced with a honeyed smile, Jasper laughed it off and took his hand back. Julian was shaking it for a little too long that was starting to make his skin crawl. Meeting the same level of hostility, Jasper smiled.

    "Sorry about that. You''re also a rather pleasantly persistent person when it comes to catching my attention. As the owner of a young start-up company, we are still lacking in many areas so I have to personally oversee most things which explain my lack of hospitality previously. Please forgive me for not entertaining you earlier."

    Wilmer was proud of how confidently and smoothly Jasper handled the first hurdle with ease and stood his ground. Indeed, he was a young wolf. Even if he disliked the idea of seeing his daughter getting married to anyone, Wilmer thought that it would be fine if Jasper was the one to join the Wilde family. The boy had guts, brains and loyalty.

    They exchanged small talk for a while and Jasper called the waiter to bring in the drinks and light appetisers while Julian took a look at the menu.

    "Are both of you not going to order?" Julian asked after seeing that he was the only one looking.

    Jasper laughed it off and shook his head. "No need, please take your time. Wilmer and I often come out for lunch here to talk about business. We know the menu at the back of our hands so we''ll just get the usual."

    While it sounded casual enough, Julian picked up on the hint that these two people had a close relationship. His expression clouded over for a moment but it quickly disappeared as the CEO of EZ Express replaced his mask flawlessly.

    "Is that so?" he grinned. "I guess it is important to maintain a good relationship with your future in-laws."

    That subtle hinting that Julian knew about Jasper''s relationship with the Wildes made the boy freeze for a moment. Thankfully, he had bangs covering his eyes and Julian didn''t have the chance to see his eyes widening in shock behind them. Wilmer quickly covered for Jasper and diverted Julian''s attention away from Jasper. This man wasn''t fooling around and if they made one mistake, he would swallow them whole.

    "I''m afraid we''ve gone slightly off-topic," Wilmer stated coldly. "Have you decided what you''d like for the main course?"

    Picking on the cue, Julian smirked and threw the menu down. "Give me a seasonal chef recommendation," he told the waiter without even checking with Wilmer or Jasper who was the host of the lunch meeting.

    Jasper swallowed when he heard that and became rigid. Thankfully, he wasn''t paying for this meal. It would have done him in with Julian literally eating him out of house and home. Seasonal menu items were expensive and the prices could fluctuate drastically. A meal here would easily cost Jasper one month''s worth of his office rent with Kiwi Cat Studio but the CEO of EZ Express didn''t seem to care that Jasper was only a boss of a small start-up company.

    Wilmer glared at Julian who smirked. The man even placed an order for a glass of 30-year-old Martell VSOP. Instead of telling the guest off, Wilmer called the waiter and ordered for an entire bottle.

    "As a gift from me to you, Mr Anastasia," Wilmer said and Jasper felt his heart almost bursting from his chest from all the money that they were burning just to spend four hours with their enemy. Scarlet wasn''t joking when she said Jasper needed to become rich and powerful enough to entice Anastasia for her plan to nab them. As the decoy, Jasper didn''t know if he was doing good enough. Thankfully, Wilmer was here to back him up and he wasn''t alone.

    Finding it a killjoy that Wilmer offered to pay for his expensive demands, Julian was no longer interested in trying to bankrupt the young boy. Instead, he decided to enjoy his time trying to ruffle the feathers of his father''s most hated person in the world - Wilmer Wilde.

 Chapter 244 - Lunch with Julian Anastasia (2)

    Their conversations flowed smoothly after Julian stopped trying to place expensive orders. Jasper tried to fish for more information about EZ Express while Julian tried to find out more about Jasper''s VR technology although neither party was too obvious about it. Wilmer sat there like an invisible wall, eating and listening to them talk. An hour passed easily in the comfortable discussion and the meal was done.

    There were still three more hours and Jasper checked the time discreetly.

    "So," Julian wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Shall we talk about business?"

    The table quickly cleaned and Julian brought out his laptop to prepare his presentation. He wasn''t confident in being able to entice the young CEO with Wilmer around so this was merely a formality. The real ace up his sleeve was reserved for later and Julian had to hide his excitement. He couldn''t wait to see their expressions once he revealed it.

    Wilmer and Jasper didn''t speak and waited patiently for Julian to set up his laptop. Jasper''s phone vibrated and he checked the caller. Wilmer and Julian glanced at the teen who quickly excused himself in a hurry. The number didn''t have a saved name but he knew who was calling. This would be Edward''s other number.

    Jasper scrambled to the bathroom and locked himself in a stall before accepting the call.

    "What is it? I''m still in a meeting with Julian and Wilmer. They''re alone now, I left for the bathroom so I could pick your call."

    Edward apologised on the other end. "I''m also calling from the bathroom, it was hard getting away from the boss but this is important! Julian''s not there to talk business, he''s there to spread dirt and threaten you with it. Wilmer''s participation was within his calculations, I just found out."

    Jasper cussed. He had a feeling he knew where this was going. Julian wasn''t very subtle about it earlier and Edward''s call confirmed his fears.

    "What do we do now?

    Edward sighed and thought about it for a while. "What do you want to do? My identity cannot be exposed. If it is exposed, I can no longer be with Scarlet for her safety."

    Jasper bit his lips. That was true. He wasn''t afraid of the scandal about himself and Alex but he was worried about the rumours of Scarlet and Edward. Julian might have already known about Scarlet''s identity as Liu Xiu Wen in China because of Leah Yuan and CEO Zhu.

    "I''m not afraid of trials in my relationship with Alex but both you and Scarlet will suffer if I declare war on EZ Express by not allying myself with them. Alternatively, I could play a time delaying tactic to sign an agreement with them. Do you think you can nab them all before I really have to sign a deal with them?"

    Edward exhaled. "I want to but this would be out of my control. My father has given me orders to lay off the case after the internship period ends. The Interpol will take over completely and how fast they act depends on how much they discover."

    With a heavy heart, Jasper thanked Edward for the tip-off and ended the call. From this point out, it would be up to him to shoulder the burden that everyone else had been carrying. To paint a target on his back and become the hook that can catch the Anastasia shark was proving to be more difficult than he thought. Scarlet and Alex made better hooks but it was too dangerous for the girls, especially Scarlet. Jasper had to find some other way to make Julian wary of him, enough to keep his eyes on Kiwi Cat Studio and Jasper so that his focus wouldn''t be on the girls.

    "Sorry, that took a while," Jasper apologised after he returned. He didn''t know what happened while he was gone but the tension in the room was so thick that Jasper felt suffocated.

    The smile on Julian''s face never wavered and the CEO of EZ Express invited Jasper to be seated once more so that they could begin with EZ Express'' formal proposal for the collaboration.

    While Julian talked about his company and the trends of markets these days, Wilmer couldn''t help but clench his fist under the table hard enough for his nails to cut into his palm. If Lucian Anastasia was like a slippery eel that cannot be caught, his son was like the shark that terrorised the waters. The combination of father and son was the very reason why Wilmer''s family isn''t safe.

    After Jasper left to receive an urgent call, Julian turned to him and started talking about his wife and daughters as if he was their neighbour who lived next door. He even talked about things that Wilmer didn''t know about until a few hours ago when Jasper filled him in. The fact that Julian was able to tell him all about his wife''s movement and habits within the Wilde mansion alarmed the CEO greatly. There was a spy nearby and Wilmer wanted nothing more than to use a steak knife to slash this man''s throat so that he stopped yapping. Yet, Wilmer had to restrain himself. He couldn''t afford to make Orita sad, not when they were so close to putting the Anastasias behind bars forever.

    Jasper paid attention to Julian''s presentation about his company structure and raised a brow. "Doesn''t EZ Express have dealings worldwide? Why isn''t China''s territory on your list? It''s one of the biggest destinations for orders, isn''t it?"

    Nodding and slightly impressed at the teen''s source of information, Julian agreed. "It is true that we have many deliveries to China. However, they aren''t handled by our company entirely. The shipping routes that we cover are mostly within America, Canada, South America and Europe. For the East to West transfer, we engage the help of another partner."

    Humming in thought, Jasper thanked Julian and let him continue on. The CEO of EZ Express noted Jasper''s doubt and Wilmer''s contemplation. He could tell that they were trying to fish for information but Julian wouldn''t let them have that satisfaction. If there was one weakness that the Wilde Empire had, it would be their lack of connections with the East. The one person who could bridge that gap for them would be Scarlet and her meddling with Pineapple Group''s CEO. Unfortunately for her, Julian wasn''t going to give her that chance. He was going to ruin the Wilde family completely if negotiations broke down today. Unlike his father, he wasn''t going to be soft-hearted about it. The law was beneath him and even if he plotted murder, he could stage their deaths and have his friends in high places to cover it up as an ''unfortunate accident''. Those people were always looking for new ways to line their pockets and Julian had just the thing for them.

    The rest of Julian''s presentation went smoothly and Jasper appeared to be interested while Wilmer looked like he''d eaten something foul. Throughout the thirty minutes of presenting, Wilmer listened half-heartedly but even so, he had to admit that Julian was good at what he did. He knew exactly what to say and present in order to capture the interest of his customers. If this wasn''t Julian Anastasia from EZ Express, Wilmer might be keen to work together on the project as a major investor of Kiwi Cat Studio. However, they were on different sides of the battlefield so the CEO perished the thought. No matter how good the presentation was, Wilmer wasn''t going to accept it.

    Jasper listened to the presentation while his mind was turning itself inside out trying to think of a way that would help him get out of the sticky situation. There was no doubt about it. Julian wasn''t the kind of person who would take ''no'' as an answer. The CEO was shameless and would resort to even the lowest of methods to get an agreement just like how he persisted until Jasper gave in and met up with him.

    Satisfied that he had at least shaken the teen up with his brilliant presentation, Julain was expecting a satisfactory answer.

    "Thank you," Jasper said. "I think the presentation was rather well done but I have a question. Why is EZ Express, a logistics company, interested in acquiring VR technology for gaming purposes? Kiwi Cat Studio is a young start-up and as I said earlier, we are lacking in many areas. What could you possibly gain from investing in us?"

    Julian was expecting the question. Jasper sounded like a very good businessman and even Wilmer wasn''t expecting Jasper to take this so seriously. Why were they still entertaining Julian seriously? Sure, they had to buy time but Jasper appeared to be genuinely interested or even curious.

    "Simple," the man replied. "I want to get my hands on VR technology because it will be very good for staff training. VR is a good way to cut on our training expenditure every year. Simulations will allow new employees to get accustomed to real-time situations in a safe environment. EZ Express is a very big company and apart from logistics, we also dabble in other fields such as warehousing and transportation. Every day we recruit new staff who do not work in the field so the human resource department has to train them from scratch. It''s very labour intensive and time-consuming. With VR, that changes everything."

    Jasper was surprised. Julian''s reason made a lot of sense and if they weren''t enemies, he would have been extremely interested to work together. Unfortunately, Jasper knew the truth. If VR technology was acquired, it would only be used to train new staff recruited for his illegal business.

    "It''s a noble idea," Jasper admitted. "Unfortunately, it''s a shame."

    Julian''s face changed when he heard that. "How so?"

    Jasper smiled. "It''s a shame that you''re not telling me the truth."

    At that, Julian''s polite facade disappeared and the friendly businessman disappeared, replaced by a dangerous mafia boss that made even Wilmer nervous. He looked over to Jasper who was slouched over in a relaxed pose.

    "Really?" Julian asked with an edge in his voice. "I would like to hear your opinion on this matter, Mr Hopper."

 Chapter 245 - Lunch with Julian Anastasia (3)

    He had a little over two hours left to stall Julian and Jasper had a strategy. He was going to play a mind game with this shark. If he was going to be the bait and a hook, he wasn''t going to make it too easy for Julian. The tougher a client was, the more Julian would put effort into the chase and this would, in turn, remove the targets from Alex and Scarlet''s backs.

    Wilmer didn''t know what Jasper was doing and felt nervous for them. Julian didn''t look pleased and his true colours were leaking after Jasper declared that Julian was lying even if the mafia boss'' reason for wanting to acquire VR technology was completely reasonable. Not wanting Jasper to get into more trouble, Wilmer stood up and pulled Jasper with him.

    "Sorry, Julian. I would like to have a private discussion with him for a bit if that''s alright with you."

    The smile was stiff and Julian smirked. It looks like Wilmer wasn''t as foolish as the teen. His father was right. Give them a little taste of blood and the Wildes will go scurrying back into their holes like the cowards they were. It was slightly annoying to smoke these rabbits out of their holes but Julian still enjoyed the taste of the power he had when they started running at the sight of danger. It was satisfactory so the CEO decided to give them time to talk things out. Jasper might be smart but he was still young and knew no fear because he hasn''t seen death yet.

    Once outside, Wilmer pulled Jasper aside. "What were you thinking, provoking him like this?! Didn''t I tell you that he isn''t an ordinary businessman!"

    Jasper sighed. He should have seen this coming. Sure, Julian wasn''t an ordinary businessman but the people Jasper was working with weren''t ordinary teenagers either.

    "I know," he told Wilmer. "Danny is aware of this too. I''m working with Elfie so leave this to me. I need to stall him for four hours here. Help me out."

    Wilmer sighed in vexation. Sometimes, kids grew up too quickly and the CEO could feel some regrets at not being there with these kids while they were growing up. Jasper sounded very sure and reliable now that gave Wilmer no choice but to believe in him.

    They returned to the room where Julian was waiting and sat down again. Wilmer ordered alcohol. He was going to need something if Jasper kept on walking on the tightrope deliberately. Julian decided to hear Jasper out and the teen didn''t disappoint.

    With a smile, Jasper pulled out his laptop and set it up to give his side of the story and Julian waited patiently. Wilmer seemed resigned and let Jasper do whatever he wanted. This made the mafia boss rather intrigued. Wasn''t Jasper the one following behind Wilmer''s direction? Could he be wrong about how Kiwi Cat Studio worked? Didn''t Jasper reject him multiple times because of Wilmer?

    The teen pulled up his notes and both CEOs became interested in the unique layout that Jasper had. For them, powerpoint was the thing that all professionals used in presentations but Jasper had prepared something more interesting. The slides were in the form of a mind map that had no fixed sequences and the teen even pulled up a doc.u.ment with video links to make his statement.

    "According to my marketing team, we''re not the only company dealing with VR technology. In fact, Kiwi Cat Studio doesn''t deal with VR technology in the education field, we are a gaming company with a social media chat platform side project. The VR technology is mostly used for research purposes to engage players and users in a safe online environment that could replicate the real world''s sense of sight and sound. Its main purpose is to give people separated by distance the option to gather in a realistic setting to socialise better."

    "If you''re looking for a cost-effective solution for your training and development needs, there''s a company working on something similar like an online platform one-stop solution called Aster Learning. They have something called a 360 learning approach where video simulations will be used in the training process that would suit your employee needs better. Hence, I think you''re not telling me the truth about why you chose us as a company you want to invest in. Our needs do not align."

    Wilmer looked at the video that Jasper played about Aster Learning''s marketing video and agreed. The boy had done his homework well and Wilmer was impressed. Likewise, Julian never expected Jasper to counter his proposal with such an angle. True, he didn''t consider the fact that there were competitors out there much better suited for the scenario he created. That was his mistake. Julian had too much confidence that these people would be swayed by the figures that he neglected in doing a competitor analysis that most serious buyers would have done.

    Jasper had him trapped and Julian had to think fast. The teen might be inexperienced in business negotiations but he definitely had something that was unique to only young start-ups. Neither Wilmer nor Julian could compare to Jasper when it came to creativity. Unlike the rigid structures of giant companies, start-ups like Kiwi Cat Studio worked very flexibly. Their staff were very talented and well-rounded due to the lack of job identification and organisational structures.

    Jasper was nervous. He pulled all these data out for demonstration because he wanted to confuse and trap Julian. While there were facts in this, he didn''t think that he would be using his internal competitor research data to attack Julian. Still, it came in handy and Jasper had to thank Rowan, Jake and Samuel for putting this together. They really needed to hire someone to handle the marketing analysis for them.

    "Indeed," Julian agreed. He couldn''t deny that Aster Learning was better suited for such needs. However, he still had to convince Jasper that working with him was more beneficial for Kiwi Cat Studios than working with Wilde Inc.

    "I understand that you have concerns and that you desire transparency if we were to work together. I''ll be honest. I wish to acquire Kiwi Cat Studios and not just invest in it. I see a lot of potential in this start-up and I don''t often buy start-ups unrelated to my company''s industry. Your VR technology is something that some of my other clients are interested in. It''s not just for training purposes but VR is useful for many other things."

    Wilmer frowned. "I think you''re forgetting that to buy over Kiwi Cat Studios, you''d have to also buy over the shares that belong to Wilde Inc. That is if I''m willing to let go of the shares to you."

    The threat and warning weren''t missed by Julian. Rather than feeling offended, the EZ Express CEO played it off casually and apologised for ''forgetting'' that Wilmer still had a huge investment in Kiwi Cat Studio. The acting was so obvious that Jasper wondered what Julian was up to.

    "I made a mistake. Let me rephrase that," the mafia boss looked at Jasper and Wilmer in the eyes. "I will be investing in Kiwi Cat Studios for now and buying it over completely when Wilde Inc. falls. No matter the price."

    That finality and cold tone that Julian used sent shivers up Jasper''s spine. That was a look of a man who had plotted the deaths of many of his rivals. This man should be in jail and Wilmer tensed up. Julian didn''t stop there, he continued.

    "Naturally, you can try to hold onto the shares you have," he told Wilmer. "However, I think it would be incredibly difficult for Jasper here to do business in the future without my assistance. You see, I happen to have a lot of connections in the business world and loyal clients who happen to be very influential. They come from all sorts of industries including finance and media. Wouldn''t it be a shame if someone started spreading stories about the unprofessional connection and relationship between the CEO of Kiwi Cat Studio and the CEO''s daughter of Wilde Inc.?"

    Wilmer''s face was so red from the anger he had been holding back but Jasper was deadly calm. Julian laughed when he saw how Wilmer was ready to pounce and tear him limb from limb. "Oh, did I forget? The adopted daughter was also seen having a relationship with the CEO of Pineapple Group. How sad, an illicit affair with a man who has already been engaged with another woman. I wonder what would happen to her acting career in China."

    When Jasper heard about who Julian thought Scarlet was dating, he couldn''t help but laugh internally. He was worried about what he was going to do if Julian knew the truth about Scarlet and Edward. He didn''t want to be the reason why they had to break up but seeing as the truth was still not discovered, Jasper decided to make good use of this and add a smokescreen to make Julian think that his information was accurate.

    "Alex and I have nothing to hide. You would only be making a loss by doing this. Any exposure to the media for Alex is always a good thing. The Wilde family will only thrive under the attention of any sort, unlike you. Scarlet is free to date whomever she pleases and we will stand by her decision if she ever intends to make it public. However, if you try to break up a happy couple, beware of retribution from the Pineapple Group."

    Julian barked in laughter hearing that. CEO Zhu was a timid man who couldn''t get anything done by himself. Retribution? Jasper must be living on a different planet. After getting cheated on by his longtime fiancee, the CEO of Pineapple Group was helpless as a puppet on a string, dancing to the tune of Anatasia''s men within his company.

    "I see where your loyalties lie now, Mr Hopper. You''re a promising young lad but you lack experience. The world isn''t as nice as the schools paint it to be. I''ll give you another chance in case you change your mind. When the Wilde empire falls, you will understand that you have no other choice than to come to me. Mark my words, I will be seeing you again. Also, as a token of my sincerity, I will prove to you that relationsh.i.p.s can be more fragile than you think."

    With that ominous parting word, Julian took his leave and Jasper checked the time. Three hours and twenty minutes. He quickly fired a text to Edward and Elfie in the group chat while Wilmer still remained dazed. They were both mentally exhausted after climbing into the limousine, Julian''s words still ringing in their ears like a bad prophecy.

 Chapter 246 - Bahamas Work Holiday (1)

    Everything happened so suddenly. First, Wilmer came home. Then, they were told that school was cancelled for a few days and there was a job for them in the Bahamas. Alex and Scarlet were taken back to start packing for the working holiday to the Caribbean and Claire planned an entire entourage of security to follow them. The girls weren''t given details because Orita spent that few days with Wilmer. Their mother cried buckets and the girls could only watch from afar how she hogged their father all to herself. Alex and Scarlet didn''t intrude on the couple''s reunion because they knew that there would be plenty of chances in the future.

    Scarlet had a feeling this was related to Anastasia''s movement but she couldn''t confirm it because there were so many things to prepare for the impromptu trip. Scarlet made sure to pack her laptop so that she could still do her school assignments while she was there. She was missing a few classes but that didn''t really matter. Scarlet was way ahead of the curriculum.

    "Make sure to pack one for the red carpet and one glamorous beachwear!" Orita reminded. "Don''t forget care products, makeup and styling tools. We don''t have stylists there to help with anything but the cameraman won''t care about that so bring everything."

    Alex followed her mother''s instructions and Scarlet panicked. Unlike her sister, Scarlet didn''t have much to wear for the beach because her work didn''t require her to be a swimsuit model. Hence, she was dragged shopping by Alex who hunted for the best swimsuit within New York City for her shy sister who couldn''t look at a regular bikini without turning into a mortifying shade of red.

    After many rejections and several objections, Scarlet and Alex settled on a similar type of swimsuit in black just so that the photographs would see them as sisters from the same family but different personalities. Even for a family interview, Alex didn''t want to give the media any openings to attack Scarlet and question her belonging to the Wilde family.

    They opted for a round-neck sleeveless top designed one-piece swimsuit. Scarlet''s choice looked more modest with the sheer black fabric covering her chest and abdomen areas even though it brought out a slightly suggestive charm to her teenage innocent look. On the other hand, Alex''s choice looked more risque. The swimsuit followed the same concept but where Scarlet''s swimsuit was full coverage, Alex''s swimsuit left nothing to the imagination where it was exposed. Her cleavage was spilling from the centre and the sides of her waist were there for all to see her hourglass figure.

    After shopping for a good swimwear, the girls packed up and were on a private plane all the way to the Bahamas. Orita was thrilled to spend some quality time with daughters even if she was reluctant to part with her husband so soon. Still, the heiress understood why this was necessary. Wilmer''s return home could mean one of two things. He was coming home because Anastasia was targeting them or he was coming home because Anastasia had been dealt with. From the lack of news, Orita could only guess that it was the former. Her husband had a war to fight and she didn''t want to become his baggage. It was why she didn''t question it when Jenna and Claire came with such a sudden proposal and arranged for a trip to the Bahamas with an exclusive interview on a yacht with her daughters.

    It wasn''t a very long flight and the girls decided to play a game of Uno with Orita and Claire. Jenna was exhausted after making so many plans so she decided to take a short nap. Orita found herself triple reversing Alex while Scarlet was the first to call ''uno''. Claire wasn''t doing so well with more than twenty cards on her hand. The head maid wasn''t too good at deciding what card to use so she kept drawing cards at every turn whenever someone threw a draw function.

    The holiday plan was simple. After touching down, the girls were going to check into their hotel. Jenna had reserved an entire resort just for them to relax on a private beach for the night. The interview will happen the next day on a yacht while the girls had a day off by the sea. As far as Claire and Jenna were concerned, the trip might be extended depending on the lunch talks that Jasper had scheduled with Wilmer. They would know about it two days later and the lady butler hoped that things would turn out well so that the girls wouldn''t be suspicious.

    "Uno!" Alex called and Scarlet who had won earlier congratulated her sister. Now, it was up to Orita and Claire to finish first before the loser was determined. To spice up the game, Orita proposed a deal with Claire and her daughter.

    "If anyone loses, they have to accompany me for a full day of spa and shopping!"

    Scarlet was thankful she already won when she heard her mother say that. Alex didn''t mind. She was already winning and accompanying her mother for spa and shopping wasn''t torture for her. Claire grit her teeth. She had over thirty cards on hand and hated the idea of spa and shopping.

    "If anyone loses, they have to accompany me for a day of extreme sports including bungee jumping, cliff diving and diving with sharks."

    At this, both Alex and Orita shuddered in fear but Scarlet slightly regretted not being in the game. The activities that Claire proposed sounded like fun. As an actress, one of the joys of acting in historical dramas were the wire ropes and stunts. Scarlet enjoyed the gymnastic and martial art classes she was signed up for in preparation for the films more than the time she spent in the makeup rooms.

    With their free time on the line, the mother and daughter combo worked hard to win against Claire while the head maid was catching up quickly after Scarlet helped her out by explaining the tips and tricks she could use. Claire didn''t understand the rules of uno very well because nobody explained anything to her in the beginning. However, after she knew what could be done, both mother and daughter were sitting at the edges of their seats.

    After being made to draw fourteen cards in a row, Claire and Orita now had the same number of cards at hand while Alex won her game. Relieved that she was now safe, Alex joined Scarlet to enjoy their mother and Claire''s battle.

    Both ladies were engrossed with the current battle, trying to read each other''s minds. Scarlet held her breath after taking a peek at both their cards. Claire was going to win at this rate and Scarlet didn''t know how her mother was going to survive an extreme sports adventure with Claire if Orita lost.

    "Draw four," Orita threw her card down.

    Claire rejected that offer."Draw four more plus give me yellow."

    Alex and Scarlet swallowed when Orita added two more to that number, making it ten. Claire wasn''t going to back down and threw all her draw cards on top of that making it sixteen in total. It was a gamble but Scarlet knew that it was a pay off since Orita only had three more cards.

    Orita screamed in frustration when she was given sixteen cards by a very apologetic Alex. Now, Claire had the upper hand and Orita was desperate to clear her hand. Alex watched as Claire started to dominate the playing field nearing the end of the game. Scarlet shuffled the playing cards because they were running out of new cards to draw and Orita wanted to scream. Why didn''t she have any green coloured cards?!

    Claire knew that Orita didn''t have any green cards so she quickly took the opportunity to skip all of Orita''s turn to get rid of her remaining power cards while she planned for her victory. Alex and Scarlet held their breaths when Claire said uno. Right now, Orita had two choices. She could play her wild card and demand a colour to hope that Claire didn''t have that colour as her last card or play a green card that she finally drew.

    Claire was nervous but kept it from showing on her face. After playing so many green cards and taking a huge gamble, she hoped that Orita was at least psychologically affected to think that her last card was also green and change the card instead of continuing the green streak. Alex and Scarlet were excited to see that the last card was yellow.

    Orita made up her mind. That green card might save her now but who knows about the later turns? If she messed up now and let Claire win because she threw her only green card, she was going to regret this. There was no way she would willingly accompany her head maid for an extreme sports vacation. She didn''t want to get tanned and Orita didn''t like to sweat.

    "Wild card. Give me yellow!" Orita said with finality as she threw the card down. Alex took a peek at her mother''s cards and realised that two-thirds of them were yellow. Scarlet groaned when Claire smirked and threw her last card down, declaring herself a victor.

    Orita screamed in regret and Alex patted her mother on the back when that happened. Claire cackled madly and told them to clean up because the plane would be landing soon. Seeing the look of despair on Orita''s face, Scarlet asked Claire if she could replace her mother and accompany her for the extreme sports instead.

    Hearing that her daughter wanted to substitute her, Orita quickly jumped at the opportunity and Alex tried to have nothing to do with it.

    "If I cannot get out of this, Alex will have to come with me!"

    Hearing the heiress dragging her into the mess, Alex quickly tried to convince Claire to let her mother off the hook since Scarlet offered. The actress giggled at the chaos and the head maid sighed, giving in to her employer.

    "Alright, alright... If Scarlet comes with me, both of you can indulge in the spa and shopping as you wanted."

    Cheers were heard and the girls packed up quickly before the pilot announced that they should buckle up for the landing.

 Chapter 247 - Bahamas Work Holiday (2)

    As it was Alex and Scarlet''s first time in the Bahamas, they decided to spend that day checking out the new country and the beach after checking into the hotel. Claire assigned six men to follow them just in case something happened and immediately got into work mode when they touched down. Orita started to call the magazine to find out who was coming to interview them and Jenna talked to the concierge for an arrangement of transportation while making reservations for the recreational activities that the ladies wanted to do during their stay.

    Everyone went their separate ways and decided to gather back around seven in the evening for dinner. The sisters left the hotel and Alex snapped pictures everywhere she went with Scarlet to upload to their social media accounts. The pictures were uploaded in a specific pattern to introduce spoilers for tomorrow''s interview and Scarlet had to give credit to Alex''s marketing sense.

    "Do you think dad sent us here because something happened at work? It''s too sudden."

    Alex added the last hashtag and uploaded her photo before turning to her sister. "Are you afraid?"

    Scarlet shook her head. Yet, she still couldn''t help but wonder if there was anything she could do to help. It has to be related to Anastasia and it was frustrating that she was now too far away to assist in any manner. The Bahamas wasn''t in America and Scarlet had absolutely no contacts in such a remote island, not to mention, it was a less developed country. The writer wondered if this was why they were here. Anastasia might have control over the more advanced countries but for less developed countries, he would have difficulty tracing them.

    The private island was rather small and while the resort was cosy with a swimming pool and room enough for a hundred guests with facilities, there was only one way to get on and off it. During the low tide, the road will appear for jeeps to drive across and it closes when the tide starts to come in so that road was only open for a few hours at most. The waters around the island could be very turbulent which made it difficult for small boats to dock. Luckily for the Wildes, they came via helicopters that they transferred to from the airport.

    On the front side of the resort with clear waters and a sandy beach. Behind the resort was a dense forest where the resort hosted some of their activities such as bungee jumping across a lagoon and cliff diving. Scarlet could see the tip of the cliff face by the sea where huge waves crashed against the rock face. The writer wondered if it would be safe to jump from so high up. She hasn''t seen the lagoon yet but she hoped it wasn''t as intimidating as jumping from a cliff without any safety device.

    Alex and Scarlet explored the rest of the small island within an hour and decided to spend the rest of their time just lounging by the pool to listen to the waves and sunbathe in the lazy afternoon. Claire was nowhere to be found and Orita decided to join the girls after she finalised the details with the magazine journalist who was going to meet them on the main island. Jenna took over the rest of the communications after Orita gave her the contact details of the journalist they were meeting so that the heiress could have some quality time with her busy daughters.

    "How do you like this work holiday?" Orita asked and called for an attendant to help her apply the sunblock lotion on her back.

    Alex yawned and said that it was something she wished happened more often while Scarlet expressed her nervousness about tomorrow''s interview.

    Orita smiled."Don''t worry, sweetie. You can say whatever you want in the interview. If there is negative feedback, we will take care of it. Just be yourselves and have fun. Also, you can keep who you''re dating a secret if you don''t want the world to know. You may be a celebrity but even celebrities are entitled to their private lives."

    Hearing that, Scarlet felt more at ease. Alex snorted. "It''s not needed for me to hide anything. Everyone knows that I''m dating Jasper, we don''t even bother hiding it like Edward and Scarlet. I''m just going to be upfront about it if they asked. If Jasper even used social media, he would be tagged in 90% of my posts. A pity I needed official news coverage to make this announcement. The other girls should lay their hands off my man after I announce it."

    Scarlet blinked. "Did someone try to steal him away from you?"

    Orita seemed interested too and Alex scowled horribly. "Tell me about it... ever since Kiwi Cat Studio had gained attention, many people have been talking about it online about how they wanted to marry him as one of the youngest CEOs with a promising future. I don''t know who started the online rumour about Jasper and his dreamy eyes behind his bangs but those girls don''t know anything! Also, Jasper won''t wear the things I give him! That''s the real reason why girls won''t leave him alone!"

    The heiress couldn''t help but laugh as her daughter complained about Jasper rejecting her gifts that she customised for him using Golden Frost''s name. Scarlet giggled. "He probably thinks that you''re trying to make him the male model and face for our company. You should know by now how much Jasper hates public attention. Wearing flashy jewellery is only going to make people stare."

    Orita agreed and Alex sulked. "You''re so lucky that Edward doesn''t attract as much attention as Jasper does."

    At that, Scarlet paused and tried to think about it. Edward was rather low-key about his involvement with social activities and his devotion to their relationship gave her nothing to worry about even though he had many secrets to keep from her. Blushing, Scarlet looked away and Orita decided to tease her other daughter about her relationship.

    "Don''t you think Edward is a great catch? He is smart, polite and good-looking. Is he popular in school too?"

    Scarlet sulked when her mother said that and Alex took that as a chance to add fuel to the fire. "Comparing him to the other boys at Kiwi Cat Studio, I think he''s rather good looking. I think if Vicky or Crystal were slightly younger, they would have asked him out. They got along rather well at the pizza party."

    Logically, Scarlet knew that it wasn''t true but after hearing that, she couldn''t help but feel slightly unhappy at the idea that other people liked Edward too.

    "Too bad for them," she spat. "He already has a girlfriend and that is me. Even if they liked him, they don''t have a chance."

    Orita and Alex couldn''t help but laugh at Scarlet''s sulky tone. Sadly, they didn''t have their phones with them to record that or they would have sent it to Edward. The poor teen has probably never seen his girlfriend jealous before and it was adorable how Scarlet denied it with a frown on her face.

    The afternoon passed with the girls deciding to take a dip in the pool and Orita heading for the jacuzzi. Claire found them splashing around in the pool after her work was done and decided to join Orita in the jacuzzi with Jenna who was exhausted.

    By the time dinner came around, they were adequately tired from playing. The family ate in harmony with a few witty jabs at each other. Then, they decided to turn in. Scarlet and Jenna decided to room together while Alex spent it with her mother because the two ladies had long nightly beauty routines.

    "I''m going to turn in first," Jenna told Scarlet."Don''t forget that you have to wake up by nine for breakfast before the yacht comes. Good night!"

    Scarlet smiled and bade the lady butler good night and moved to the common room with her laptop to work on her blog. She used writing as an excuse to stay up but in truth, Scarlet was just waiting for Edward to respond to her text. It had been a few days since Edward left for his part-time job call and the couple had barely any time to talk because Edward was so busy.

    It was half-past-ten when Edward finally replied.

    Edward: Sorry, darling. It was a busy day on site today, everyone was preparing for the big day and I got roped into working overtime. How is the Bahamas?

    Scarlet: That''s alright. Take time to rest early. Have you eaten? Also, the Bahamas is warmer than I thought it would be. We landed by helicopter because the road was covered during high tide. The waters here are violent but I''m going cliff diving with Claire.

    Edward: Sounds dangerous. Don''t overdo it, alright? You might be travelling for work but remember that it is also a vacation. Don''t forget to enjoy yourself on my behalf too.

    Scarlet giggled. Edward was cute sometimes and she quickly told him about the concern she had because she didn''t want to keep him up for too long after a hard day at work.

    Scarlet: I will. Just a question before I send you to bed with kisses... the interview tomorrow would most likely cover the topic about my love life. How do you want me to answer it?

    Edward: It''s alright to lie to them if you have to. I won''t get mad if you told them you were dating CEO Zhu or someone else just as a cover. Actually, I prefer it that way just so that we can continue our peaceful lives at school when you come back.

    Scarlet blinked.

    Scarlet: Are you not going to get jealous?

    Edward: I will. However, I have trust in you that you''re not going to cheat on me for real. To the rest of the world, you''re Liu Xiu Wen and Scarlet Wilde. This is the price to pay or fame. However, when you''re with me, you''re just my beloved Scarlet.

    Reading the last line over and over again, Scarlet felt her heart warm and she made her decision.

    Scarlet: Thank you. I love you. Please sleep early tonight, I''ll text you again tomorrow. xoxo

    Edward: I love you more. All the best for the interview, I promise I won''t be mad no matter what you say.

    Satisfied and reassured, Scarlet shut down the laptop and headed to bed. She was going to declare her love to the world instead of weaving a web of lies. As much as it made sense to create a cover story, Scarlet didn''t want to betray her love for Edward by lying about it.

    She was a lady in love and such a thing should be shouted out loud at the top of her lungs on the top of her world. There was no greater blessing than a lady who was truly loved by her man.

 Chapter 248 - Bahamas Work Holiday (3)

    The journalist that came was someone both Scarlet and Alex were familiar with. Scarlet remembered this lady who attended the Sweet Sixteen Gala and sat down to interview them with their mother. Alex was more familiar and greeted the lady with a hug and kissed her on both cheeks.

    "It''s good to see you again, Lucy!" Alex greeted enthusiastically.

    Unlike the other journalists and reporters, Lucy was something like a family friend. She was often the one that Orita called in for a favour when they had a private party that needed coverage or a charity event. Unlike the other reporters, Lucy had a gentle and understanding nature who only wrote good articles about the Wilde family in a gentle light instead of the drama thirsty scandals that most other journalists spin for attention. It was the reason why Lucy was their go-to-girl for many years.

    Orita and her girls got changed while Lucy entertained herself with a refreshing drink onboard the yacht. It was quite a luxurious sitting room despite the choppy waters that the captain had to sail out of. It wasn''t Lucy''s first time on a yacht but the Wildes sense of hospitality was very different from the other celebrities and socialites who requested for yacht interviews. If Lucy had to put a word to the feeling, the Wildes gave a very homey feel despite the luxury.

    It took the ladies an hour to get their hair and makeup done. Lucy proposed to Orita that they started with a photoshoot to get that out of the way while the sun was still up. The girls could then change into something more comfortable for an informal interview session over lunch on the deck when the yacht reached calmer waters. Needless to say, Orita was very pleased with the idea.

    When the Wilde daughters appeared, Lucy had already rearranged some furniture for a few good spots for the photoshoot. The sun was perfect and the scenery was breathtaking where the captain anchored the yacht. The waters were calmer now and the cliff in the distance made a beautiful natural backdrop. She didn''t know if the girls would be willing to take a fun shot by diving into the water but she knew she had to ask. It would be incredible to catch them in their candid moments having fun like true sisters would to kill the rumours of how the sisters weren''t close.

    "Hello ladies," Lucy smiled after Scarlet and Alex changed into their swimsuits with their hair and makeup done. "Are we ready for the mini photoshoot? I''ve prepared the deck for our shooting area. Please feel free to use anything that makes you comfortable and look at the camera. We shall start with Alex first seeing as you''re a professional model. Don''t worry too much about looking great, just have fun, alright?"

    Alex found the instruction strange but complied to the best of her ability and stepped onto the sunny deck where there were sun chairs. The model looked around for a while and went to retrieve her sunglasses that she perched on top of her head and pulled her hair back into a high ponytail. Orita watched as Alex discussed the kind of feeling Lucy wanted to get from her.

    "Is this alright?" Alex asked and stretched almost lazily on the sun chair and propped herself up on her elbows to tilt her head up towards the sun. One knee was bent and Alex threw her head back completely to seem as if she was enjoying the feel of the sun on her face with a relaxed smile and closed eyes.

    Lucy quickly put her camera to work to capture the moment as Alex changed poses naturally to one that was seated on the sun chair. Alex was mindful not to block too much of the landscape behind her and posed in a manner that her shadow from the strong sunlight wouldn''t cover her face as she played with her hair that was flowing in the wind.

    The next pose that Alex chose was a relaxed one leaning against the rail of the deck and looking at the camera with a flirtatious smile, a hand propping her chin up with the sun working in her favour and the wind sweeping her hair backwards. Lucy was impressed that Alex was a natural model at the age of only sixteen. No wonder she was considered a supermodel with many brands fighting to endorse her. Initially, the journalist thought that Alex''s fame was thanks to her name but after working with the teenage model, she knew better. Alex made her name through her own abilities and Lucy noted that down.

    Scarlet was nervous. Alex breezed through the photoshoot easily and the writer wondered if she was a little too underdressed for the occasion. Her swimsuit might look mature on the mannequin but on her, Scarlet looked like a tween doll. She wasn''t as well-endowed as Alex and her makeup style was very plain compared to her sister''s. Alex looked like she was in her twenties and Scarlet looked like she was only fourteen at most even though Scarlet was slightly older than Alex. Seeing how her sister professionally completed the shoot, Scarlet felt her self-confidence take a huge dip.

    "Wonderful!" Lucy announced after going through the photos she took. Alex was a natural and very little editing was required. She turned to Scarlet who looked very small all of a sudden in the shade.

    "It''s your turn, Scarlet," Lucy smiled and encouraged the girl to loosen up because she appeared very stiff and awkward in front of the camera.

    "Don''t worry about the camera," Lucy said when she noticed how conscious Scarlet was of the camera. The smile looked forced and the girl appeared uncomfortable at how much skin she was showing so Lucy paused the session.

    "Say, do you feel uncomfortable wearing this? You could change into something more comfortable for the photo shoot."

    Scarlet paused and apologised. "I-I don''t have any other swimsuit and I don''t know how to pose like Alex or do my makeup to look older."

    Hearing that, Lucy patted Scarlet on the head. "I see. Do you happen to be mindful about how you appear because of your height?"

    Scarlet sulked. "Not just my height. Looking at Alex, I don''t know what went wrong with my genes during puberty. I didn''t grow much and I still look like a child."

    Alex snickered from behind. "That''s because you don''t know how to use your womanly charms."

    Orita smacked Alex lightly and pulled the meddlesome model away so that Lucy could have a moment to coach Scarlet and ease her up. It was no secret that Scarlet disliked how she appeared not because it reminded her about her adoption but because it reminded her about her past when Mrs Liu would put her in pretty but uncomfortable clothes just to show her off. It was the reason why Scarlet decided not to become a model of any kind if she could. She didn''t want to become somebody else''s doll.

    Lucy scratched her head. Scarlet was very quiet and it was trickier to work with the girl who wouldn''t open her heart up to her. Orita brought Alex away and Lucy was thankful for that. Sometimes, it was harder to talk about things with family as compared to a stranger. Scarlet might not be comfortable enough to say what''s wrong in the presence of her family because she didn''t want to be judged by them but now that they were gone, Lucy could try a different approach.

    "Would you like to start with an interview first instead? I think the photoshoot session could wait for a little longer until you''re feeling better."

    Scarlet was presently surprised and didn''t disagree when Lucy brought her indoors and poured her a drink. Scarlet accepted it gratefully and took a sip to calm her nerves. Lucy observed her client and noted that unlike Alex ho was an outgoing person, Scarlet appeared to be quite the introvert despite being a big-screen name in China.

    "Say, do you actually not like fame and attention?" Lucy asked and Scarlet flinched.

    The writer looked away and the journalist smiled. "Don''t worry," Lucy assured her. "I won''t pry into the things you don''t wish to share.

    Scarlet sighed. "I don''t want to be seen or treated like a kid but it''s difficult with a face and body like mine. Also, I don''t have Alex''s confidence to pose and wear such provocative swimsuits. I don''t think I''m suitable to become a model."

    Lucy chuckled. Scarlet was too adorable. The young girl doesn''t seem to know her personal charms but Lucy was going to change that.

    "Have you heard of the saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder? Let''s try and bring out that hidden womanly charm inside of you, shall we? Are you dating anyone currently or like someone?"

    Scarlet blushed at that question and Lucy didn''t need any other confirmation. It was good to be young.

 Chapter 249 - Bahamas Work Holiday (4)

    "There are many different kinds of beauty. You don''t have to be the same kind of beauty that all the other girls have, you are your own kind of beauty, remember that."

    Lucy made Scarlet move things around for her on the deck and snapped the camera away, telling Scarlet to forget about the snapping sounds as they were all test shots made to get her accustomed to the lens.

    "Alright," the journalist declared. "Shall we start the informal interview? Think of this as just a friendly chat. I heard from Orita that I get to ask about your love lives today. How about telling me a thing or two about the person you''re seeing. Is he good looking?"

    Scarlet was seated on the sun chair and crossed an arm over her stomach bashfully with her legs crossed when Lucy brought up the topic of her dating life. Immediately, her cheeks were flushed when she thought about Edward. Was he good looking? Of course, he was!

    Not wanting to miss the opportunity to catch Scarlet''s natural expression, Lucy snapped away and smiled. Scarlet looked slightly awkward but that pouting blush and her eyes lowered in embarrassment made her look very adorable. Her shy posture only added to the charm and the highlight of this look was how the sunlight created a soft lighting effect like a halo with the actress'' hair that was blowing in the sea breeze making it look like an angel had descended on earth. The look was a mix of s.e.xy, cute and innocent, something that was almost ethereal with a little editing.

    Knowing what she wanted to capture from this promising young lady before her, Lucy decided to work on that natural air of innocence and child-like charms that Scarlet had. It made people naturally want to protect her when they saw such a defenceless lady and Lucy wanted to project that in the photographs. Scarlet was an angel, nobody could change her mind.

    "Alright, how about we enjoy some drinks with the breeze at the edge of the deck?" Lucy suggested and handed Scarlet a glass of tropical fruit juice prepared by the chef on board.

    Scarlet accepted the drink with thanks and played with the ice for a little while Lucy ushered her into a position that best captured the scenery behind her in a distance. Scarlet was told to face her back to the railing and look at the camera while taking a sip of her drink. Lucy tested a few shots but felt that her model was still too stiff. She wondered what would make Scarlet act more natural and waited for a while.

    As if heaven heard her prayers, a sudden gust of strong wind came and messed up Scarlet''s hair, prompting the girl to close one eye while reaching up with another hand to push her long flowing strands back. The action was so graceful that Lucy set the camera to a burst shot, trying not to miss any frames until the squall died down.

    Scarlet was startled by the sudden wind and didn''t have much time to pay attention to the wind until Lucy started checking through the photograph. Curious, Scarlet walked over to peek at the burst shots.

    They reviewed the photos together until Lucy was satisfied with one. The photo captured Scarlet''s cat-like charms with her fingers tangled in her own hair, an eye shut from the wind that made her look playful and a glass of juice in her hand with the straw in her mouth. The photojournalist decided to crop out the bottom half of this photo and deemed that the second picture was selected.

    "So easily?" Scarlet couldn''t believe how easy the modelling process was. That shot was taken by accident while she wasn''t prepared but somehow, it turned out great.

    "Sometimes, all a model needs to look the prettiest is to be in the moment. Not all models work well under the pressure of a lens. Alex is a very different kind of model and a rare kind who thrives naturally under attention. The more attention she is given, the brighter she shines. On the other hand, you''re a natural beauty when you''re not trying to be. Just like you, your charms are a little shy and won''t show well under the pressure of the lens. It''s when you''re at your most relaxed that they start appearing."

    Understanding it a little better, Scarlet decided to ease up and stop thinking about good poses. She just went with the flow and did what Lucy suggested. The next pose Lucy wanted was a pose of Scarlet having fun. The writer found it a little difficult to smile so Lucy gave her a reason to smile. She called Alex out and told the girls to have fun at the jacuzzi.

    Not one to refuse a dip in the jacuzzi, the girls raced to the small pool and tried to shove each other into it, dodging each other like lithe kittens as they skimmed the edges. Scarlet decided to bend down and splash some water at her unsuspecting sister who yelled with a huge grin on her face. It didn''t take long for them to completely forget about the camera as they kicked water at each other until Scarlet tackled Alex into the pool, creating a huge splash as they both fell into it.

    Lucy grinned and turned to Orita who was waiting at the side. She gave the mother a thumbs up and it was now Orita''s turn to pose for a few pictures that the experienced socialite competed in ten minutes. Lucy was very satisfied with the photos she managed to capture, especially the smiles of the two beautiful teens. Oita was blessed to have such wonderful children and Lucy requested for one last photo of the family together.

    This picture wasn''t difficult to take now that Alex and Scarlet worked the tension out of their systems with the playing earlier. Orita decided to enjoy the jacuzzi with her daughters and invited Lucy to soak with them. The journalist didn''t refuse and joined them but kept her camera close, capturing some moments she thought was good when she saw it.

    The final picture selected was one where Scarlet was pointing into the distance talking about the cliff she would most likely be jumping off with Claire while Alex raised a hand over her eyes to have a better look. Orita was relaxing in the tub and craned her neck behind to get a glance of the cliff when Lucy snapped the shutter. With that, the photoshoot was finally finished.

    "All done?" Orita asked after they decided to shower and prepare for lunch.

    "All done," Lucy confirmed and thanked the girls for their cooperation.

    Lunch was prepared swiftly and the photojournalist couldn''t help but salivate at the fresh smoked salmon with lemon drizzle. Scarlet was the first to finish her shower and joined Lucy in the living room while they waited for Orita and Alex.

    "How was that photoshoot? Not nearly as bad as you thought it would be, right?"

    Scarlet laughed, feeling more comfortable with Lucy now that the worst was over. "Indeed. Back in China I hated modelling for the poster of the movies the most because I was often told to correct the angle of my poses and hold it there for an insane amount of time until all my muscles were aching."

    Lucy winced, feeling sorry for Scarlet. "Do you regret becoming an actress?"

    Scarlet smiled and shook her head, towelling dry her hair while they spoke. "Not at all. I actually learned a lot but I do enjoy the training behind the scenes more than the shooting on set. The gymnastic and martial art classes they made all actors attend was by far the most interesting part about the entire filming process in my opinion. Stunts are always fun for me although not all takes were done right. The risk of getting hurt is rather high but I trust the safety team behind me whenever I have to make a jump or hang from the third floor from a crane for certain scenes."

    Lucy became more interested and wrote that down. "Were there any scenes that you didn''t really like or were afraid to do?"

    Scarlet thought about it. "Mm, I didn''t like the scene where they put me in a small cell. I think I''m slightly claustrophobic and I don''t like scenes that use a lot of guns or fireworks. Other than that, I think the rest of the scenes were manageable."

    "Even the water scene?"

    Scarlet was slightly surprised. "Oh? You watched my movies?"

    Lucy grinned. "I''m a diligent reporter, I do my homework. I know there was a scene where you had to wear heavy clothes and remain underwater for a long time. Was that difficult for you? The wig must have weighed so much I don''t know how you could lift your head."

    Scarlet laughed and she remembered the scene that Lucy was referring to. "That scene was actually not as difficult as people thought it would be. I was actually being held up by wires underneath my costume and given a plastic tube where I can inhale oxygen when needed. The more challenging part was getting my hair and costume into perfect position for that scenic shot so I think I spent a good thirty minutes underwater like that. Of course, throughout that thirty minutes, I had been raised up and moved around quite a bit by those wires but thanks to them, I didn''t have to drag myself up and carry the horrible weight of soaked wigs and costumes."

    The two chatted more in detail about some of Scarlet''s work in China until Orita and Alex were ready. Hearing her stomach growl, Scarlet blushed and Lucy suggested that they ate first before continuing the interview. Scarlet couldn''t think of a better idea and they dug into their meals eagerly.

 Chapter 250 - Bahamas Work Holiday (5)

    After a satisfying lunch and getting to know more about Alex''s work, Lucy decided to carry out the second part of her interview with the family with Orita''s consent. The girls sat down and talked a little bit about their family relationship that everyone must be dying to know.

    "May I know if you''re comfortable sharing a little bit about your past with us before you were adopted into the Wilde family?" Lucy asked and immediately, Scarlet stiffened.

    "It''s alright," Orita told her. "You don''t have to share what you don''t want to."

    Alex also nodded at her sister and Lucy felt that mother and daughter were very protective of Scarlet, not that she couldn''t understand why. The actress was an absolute angel to be with.

    "I-I was a doll without a personality before I joined the Wilde family. I wasn''t mistreated but I was neglected. Eventually, I outlived my usefulness and became a transaction so that my biological parents could retire comfortably with their ideal life. Becoming a Wilde has been the second-best thing that happened in my life."

    "Second-best?" Orita couldn''t help but be surprised. Alex was confused as well but when Scarlet looked away, they smirked.

    "You sly girl!" Alex tackled her sister on the sofa and Orita laughed. Indeed, they were the second-best thing now ever since Scarlet met the love of her life. Orita had to admit. Before she met Wilmer, she thought that her life was complete too.

    Lucy was puzzled by the reaction and Orita shook her head, waiting for her girls to calm down. "A woman''s greatest joy is meeting her future husband and knowing that he is the one. Both my girls have finally found a place to call their home so my nest is currently feeling a little empty now."

    The photojournalist wasn''t expecting the exclusive interview to cover the topic of the Wilde''s private life including the hot topic that has been making everyone curious.

    "Is it really alright to tell me this?" she asked.

    The heiress nodded. "I wouldn''t call it an exclusive interview if we weren''t ready to share. I''m leaving it to you to phrase this as best as you can to create the biggest splash you''ve ever seen in your life."

    Alex gave Lucy a victory grin after calming down beside Scarlet who was exhausted from the tickle attack. The family gave off a very harmonious vibe, something that was relatable to most families from the working class. It was very different from what Lucy had observed in the upper crust where they prided image over intimacy. Compared to them, the Wilde family was very normal if one ignored all the price tags around them.

    "I''m dating Jasper Hopper," Alex told Lucy outrightly. There was no use beating around the bush and the model started complaining about how she couldn''t tag him in any of her photos on her social media simply because her boyfriend didn''t own one.

    "Don''t you find it strange? He works with Kiwi Cat Studio and they''re known for that chatroom app that''s become the latest craze but the CEO of the company doesn''t own social media. Heck, he''s so busy that he doesn''t even pay attention to what he wears. I have to pick his outfit which is the only reason why the men''s vogue will include him in the rankings of fashionable young CEOs."

    Lucy laughed. "I suppose that explains why he would be seen wearing so many Golden Frost clothing. Does he also help out with the business of your apparel brand?"

    Orita let the girls talk about their brand and Alex explained how the business was run by the sisters with Alex spearheading fashion designs and trends while Scarlet took care of the more business side.

    "I take care of marketing and that''s why my social media is super active. Scarlet''s social media is normally dead if nobody manages it for her. She often forgets her own password too because that''s how seldom she touches it. It''s only been active lately after she found her sweetheart. In any case, Scarlet mostly works with our suppliers and negotiates on Golden Frost''s behalf. You might have heard how we''re talking about moving our production and shipping operations to the East. Scarlet found a good business partner to work with while she was working in China."

    "Is that CEO Zhu from Pineapple Group? Am I right to assume that Scarlet has a rather close working relationship with CEO Zhu? There were many pictures for the last few months when Scarlet was seen with him. Some people speculate that Scarlet and CEO Zhu shared a little more than a professional working relationship especially after the collaboration. Could you tell us more about what''s going on?"

    Scarlet felt nervous about it. She didn''t want to make it sound too serious and thought about Edward''s words. Instead of denying it, Scarlet smiled.

    "I won''t confirm or deny anything about my relationship with CEO Zhu. However, I will say that as the one managing Golden Frost''s collaboration with Golden Pineapple, we have started to see many favourable results from the partnership. At this point, I''m still waiting for the opportunity to go over to check out the factories and warehouses in person but we''re both very busy people so it might take a while before I can get to that."

    Lucy noted how Scarlet was talking more about the work aspiration she has with the company and was a completely different person from earlier during the photo shoot. This side of Scarlet intrigued Lucy a lot. Unlike the soft and loveable image that Scarlet had earlier, this businesswoman side of Scarlet was strong, sharp and deadly. If anyone doubted her claim to the Wilde name, they would think twice after meeting Scarlet when she was in her working mode.

    After twenty minutes of answering work-related questions, Lucy couldn''t wait to get to the highlight of their interview.

    "Does your lover know that you have two sides to yourself? I''m getting two very different vibes from you from the photoshoot and the interview. You can be endearingly awkward but also a strong and sharp businesswoman who knows what she wants. It''s a very drastic contrast, which is the real you?"

    Scarlet blinked. "I believe they are aware that I have such a side to myself. In fact, they told me that they liked it when I worked. It''s one of my redeeming qualities despite being a complete domestic failure."

    Orita and Alex had to laugh when Scarlet admitted that she managed to burn water and how her very tactful lover liked to keep her out of his kitchen. They often ate out or he would cook because she was a walking culinary disaster.

    "The thing that makes him different from all the other people I''ve met, is his acceptance," Scarlet smiled and Lucy paused in her note-taking.

    "They didn''t know who I was right off the bat but even after finding out the real me, they never ran away or changed their attitude. In fact, they started to become more attentive and understanding about the things I couldn''t tell them. More than their love, I think their trust was what captivated me."

    When Lucy heard that, she couldn''t help but take that down, This was a true love confession and while she still didn''t know who this lucky person was, she felt happy or Scarlet. Many celebrity relationsh.i.p.s fail but she had a feeling Scarlet''s relationship would work out. The two most important things for a relationship to work more than love was communication and trust. This girl and her lover had both.

    "How did the both of you meet?"

    Scarlet tried to recall. Between Edward and her, their history was slightly complicated seeing as how they met on two separate timelines. They knew each other without knowing each other for the first time online and when they met in real life, Edward was the first to find out. They restarted their first meeting formally when Edward asked her out with the confession letter and Scarlet didn''t know how to answer this simply.

    "By a chance planned by fate?"

    Luy laughed. "That''s a very vague answer. I''m curious. What do you mean by that?"

    Scarlet blushed. "We met each other before we knew each other and the shock of finding out each other''s real-life identity was almost too much that the relationship almost failed before it could start. Thankfully, both of us were stubborn enough which is the only reason why we''re still going strong. It started online but it only became official over a meal."

    Scarlet tried to keep her answers vague because she didn''t want any of her fans to find out who her lover was and start harassing him. Edward had enough to deal with on his plate so she wanted to protect his privacy while declaring that he was hers.

    "Have you ever fought before? Even about small things like what to eat."

    Alex had so many stories to tell and complain about Jasper, amusing Lucy a lot at the young couple''s struggles. Jasper didn''t understand the mentality of a rich young miss and Alex couldn''t understand the need for frugality.

    "I mean, he''s making a lot of money now but he doesn''t spend much of it. I don''t understand but I try to respect it. Those differences I could live with. The one thing I cannot agree on is his unhealthy work-life balance. There is no balance. He works at work and he works when he is home. We always argue about this."

    When it was Scarlet''s turn, Lucy was surprised to hear that Scarlet only ever had one argument with her mysterious lover.

    "I hid my celebrity identity from him and he hid many other things from me related to what he did for work. Initially, both of us just tried to pretend to be any other ordinary couple but once reality starts interfering like how he was constantly texting, making private calls and working odd hours on his computer, I knew something was up. For my case, I was paranoid because I was faced with stalker issues bad enough that I had to move. It took the suspicions piling up to explode on my end before we had our first real and big fight that almost ended our relationship."

    Lucy held her breath and Scarlet explained the pain she went through but also kept explaining that it wasn''t her lover''s fault because up until the end, he had been a gentleman.

    "He actually knew who I was but he didn''t call me out on it and treated me no different from before. I didn''t know he had been dealing with so many other things for me without my knowledge like the stalkers. Of course, we made up with Alex''s help and we''re very happy now."

    Sensing that the interview was concluded, Lucy thanked them for the time. As gracious hosts, the Wildes offered Lucy to stay till dinner before the yacht returned. With a few more hours at sea on a private yacht, Scarlet and Alex decided to go swimming while Orita and Lucy sat in the jacuzzi and engaged the onboard spa treatment package paid by Orita as a thank you gesture.

    "I hope that you can take care of Scarlet''s image, the girl has been through a lot and unlike Alex and Jasper, it wasn''t easy for her to be this happy. Alex might fight a lot with Jasper but they''ve been like this ever since they were children. Scarlet and her lover worry me more than it should simply because they keep too many secrets between them."

    Lucy sighed. "I understand. It''s not easy to find a good man and as much as I love my job, I hate the way the entertainment world works. I only hope that Scarlet''s lover is strong enough to protect her from the celebrity life and lash back from her fans after the interview is published. This might affect her career adversely. Do you really want to publish everything that has been said? I can still remove it."

    Orita looked serious. "To sink or swim, it will be their choices to make and not mine. I didn''t raise them to only depend on the family name. They''re both very intelligent children and have a good education. Even without this celebrity lifestyle, I have faith that they''ll still thrive. Just a fun fact, I didn''t spend a single cent on Golden Frost for them. Their father had no idea about it until the company started hitting the runways. That brand is built solely based on the efforts of two very talented girls."

    Impressed, Lucy decided to weave in this little fact into the exclusive interview. Hearing the joyful screams from the girls, the photojournalist had a feeling that the younger generation will be able to carry the burdens of the older generation and forge a path of their own with their capabilities. The future of the Wilde family was as bright as the sun glowing from the horizon.

 Chapter 251 - Extended Work Holiday

    They returned from the yacht feeling fulfilled and relaxed but also exhausted. Scarlet didn''t know if it was a good idea to accompany Claire for cliff diving tomorrow during their free day. Instead, the writer was starting to wish she could take the day off and just relax at the spa with her mother and sister.

    They showered quickly and Scarlet started her laptop to check if there were any class assignments that she missed. Although they were on a holiday and working, her lessons were still in session. Apart from her attendance being the only exception, Scarlet was still expected to turn in homework on time.

    Halfway through her assignment for the day, Scarlet overheard her mother on the phone. It didn''t take a genius to figure out who her mother was talking to. She would only call one person ''darling'' with that tone.

    "The negotiations have broken down," Wilmer sighed, not wanting to tell his wife everything but he had to ensure their safety. "Could you extend your stay in the Bahamas with the girls for another week?"

    Orita didn''t say anything for a while, still trying to take in the news about her husband''s negotiations with EZ Express. She thought that after Lucian stepped down, they might have a chance to talk it out with Julian but she was wrong. If negotiations failed, she had to assume the worst. Wilmer and Jasper were now in danger too.

    "I see," her tone was neutral and Wilmer worried that his wife was displeased. She might have been unhappy but it would never be due to his lack of capability. All she wanted was for her family to be whole again but she understood certain things couldn''t be rushed.

    "Let us know when we can return. If it drags for too long I might arrange for us to go to another country or a short cruise trip. The girls can take it easy for a few more days in the Bahamas but there really isn''t much here for them.

    Wilmer understood what his wife was saying. "Would it help if we got photographers over? I think Alex wanted to work on a new summer project for Golden Frost. I heard it from Jasper."

    "That''s actually not a bad idea," Orita agreed. "I''ll check with the girls later. Please stay safe."

    "I will," Wilmer promised.

    Right after the call ended, Orita left to find Jenna and Claire to inform them about the change of plans. Scarlet who heard half of the conversation couldn''t help but be curious. What was going on with Wilmer and Jasper? For them to work together on a project that not even Alex heard about... the writer couldn''t help but feel as if there was something more. Edward was suddenly called in for a two-week job and she wondered if that wasn''t a coincidence. Maybe the boys were just collaborating so that they could send the girls away for some reason. She might not know the details but Scarlet wasn''t pleased. If they told her their problems, Scarlet was certain that the girls of the Wilde family won''t just sit back doing nothing.

    Despite being unhappy and tired, Scarlet actually managed to complete her online homework before Alex finished her bath. They had some supper after that and Scarlet appreciated the sweet treat. Jenna''s ice-cream crepes were delicious and it lifted her mood magically.

    "Girls, I had a call from you father," Orita announced and at once, they paused to give her their full attention. Orita pulled some strings and Jenna called all the available photographers that Alex previously worked with. Claire also helped with the planning and they decided to drag the work holiday for a little longer.

    "We''re going to extend our stay for a bit until your father and Jasper have gotten an agreement on that important business deal. They need to invite clients over so to prevent getting in the way of their work, I agreed to lengthen our stay in the Bahamas."

    It was too sudden that Alex and Scarlet didn''t know how to react. The sisters exchanged a look. Something was definitely up but they didn''t have a say in what to do because Jenna was already informing them the plans for the coming week.

    "Tomorrow we have arranged a spa and beauty treatment for half a day so that you can take the pressure from today''s interview off," the lady butler explained and Claire told Scarlet that their extreme sports adventure would be postponed until further notice.

    "We cannot have you looking all tanned and tired before the photographers arrive."

    Confused, Alex asked what they were referring to.

    Orita exchanged looks with Jenna and Claire pretended not to know until the girls demanded answers. Deciding to shift the blame to Jasper, Orita laughed and told her daughters that Jasper sent some photographers over to help them with their newest Golden Frost Summer launch.

    "Don''t be angry with him," the heiress tried to pacify Alex who was fuming about having to work during the holidays. Yet, she had to admit the idea wasn''t bad.

    "Did you purposely set this up in the Bahamas as a surprise? I mean, We''ve been talking about some outdoor shoot but this seemed a little too convenient," Scarlet chimed in before Alex could throw a hissy fit. The writer had to give her mother the benefit of doubt because while the trip was planned in a very sudden manner that coincided with the important business meeting that Jasper had while Edward and Elfie were away on a job, Scarlet wanted to keep her sister out of everything for as long as possible. She didn''t know how much Orita knew about Anastasia and the plans to take him down but she hoped her mother would not interfere as much.

    Sensing that there was a way out to shift Alex''s focus, Orita quickly agreed and somewhere in New York, Jasper sneezed thrice.

    "I mean, we didn''t expect an extended stay but I meant it when I said this was a work holiday. It''s a great opportunity to temporarily get back into the fashion world while you''re on a holiday, nobody would be suspecting it!"

    It was a flimsy reason but Alex decided to let it go. What''s done was done and there was no use getting angry over things like that. Sure, the model might be missing a few interesting social events and classes at the campus but that wasn''t a very big issue. It was a shame that she had to miss one live-sketching session that she had been looking forward to. She didn''t have her sketchpad for figure-sketching and that was Alex''s biggest regret.

    "I''m missing out on a lot of classes, mom. Please don''t ever do this again. I don''t mind missing the social events but missing a live-sketching session is bad. I don''t even have my sketchbook now to practice on this island because I was told it''ll only be for an extended weekend and not a week."

    Scarlet felt bad for her sister and Orita apologised.

    "Sorry darling, I won''t do it again. However, if it is a sketchbook and art materials that you want, we can buy some from the main Bahamas island or have them shipped over by tomorrow. Why don''t you let Jenna know the list of things you need for practising? Also, we can take this opportunity to bring over some of the new collection clothing that you want to model for. We will settle this by next Wednesday."

    Claire discreetly left while the girls discussed the things they needed for work and school with their mother while Jenna noted everything down into her PDA. The head maid had to make an urgent call to Edward and update him about the situation. So far, Raven and the rest of her guards had secured the island. There were also cameras hidden all over the private island to ensure that no intruders would go unnoticed. However, there was one thing that was beyond her control.

    "What is it? I heard that there was an extension for their stay in the Bahamas."

    "That''s what I wanted to talk to you about," Claire said. "The photographers and the extra hands coming, could you screen them for me? I want to also mix in a few of our security personnel to smuggle some tools just in case. Have you found out the inner workings of the power supporting Anastasia?"

    At this, the spy sighed. "Not much help as of now, I found all the legal complications and evidence that we can use to cripple EZ Express and Julian but it isn''t enough. He has too many friends in high places and he covered his father''s tracks too well. Elfie is trying to hack into their bank accounts but they are very cautious and have been changing accounts using many different names, we cannot track them all."

    "How long do you need? Scarlet and Alex cannot be kept here for too long, they have to return to New York by the end of next week."

    Edward bit his lips. "I''ll do my best, just hold on a little longer and don''t leave their sides. Orita might be a target as well, it''s best if all three of them can stick together. I cannot stop Alex and Scarlet from attending school but you can hire some people to slip into the school just in case. Julian is getting impatient, he will start planning something big after that exclusive interview is launched. I don''t want them to get in contact with CEO Zhu either so do what you can to prevent them from contacting each other. They spy on his side is too close, I don''t want them endangered."

    Claire agreed. The cut the call short after finalising some last details and Claire got to work immediately, visiting the cellar that was remodelled to their security room. None of the girls knew about this and Claire wanted to keep it this way. If Anastasia started a raid at the Wilde mansion, this would be a safe place to hide them for a while even though it would be better if they had no need to resort to this in the first place.

 Chapter 252 - Seduce the CEO

    Two weeks was a very short time for some and a very long time for others. For Edward, he didn''t know to call it long or short. While he was finding it incredibly short because of his lack of progress trying to get enough dirt on the Anastasia family, he was finding it long from his time away from Scarlet.

    "Work came first," he reminded himself as he fixed yet another stupid minor problem on some admin girl''s desktop. This was the third time she had called him that week and Edward hated her.

    The girl was obviously not an idiot and the attempt to strike up a conversation to invite him out was a very glaring attempt at trying to flirt. Edward didn''t like her for obvious reasons. He already told her that he had a girlfriend but this dumb chick didn''t take a hint and continued to doll herself up, each time with thicker make-up and perfume than before.

    "It''s done," he told her coldly and glared at her when she touched his arm. "The next time you have another IT problem, try and google it before calling us. We''re busy."

    With a pout, the admin girl watched ''Eddie'' leave and sulked. From the other tables, some girls laughed and teased her for another failed attempt and Edward shook his head, rolling his eyes in the lift, not really looking at who was present.

    "Why the terrible expression?" the man beside him laughed and Edward groaned. Yet another bored person in this comp[any. Seriously, how did EZ Express make so much money by hiring incompetent people? Then again, Edward knew better how they did it, he just wasn''t able to find the evidence to prove that they were doing this illegally. Perhaps this was why the company kept so many stupid people.

    "Sorry, it was nothing," Edward apologised and looked up. His heart stopped for a moment. This was bad! He accidentally made contact with the target.

    Julian Anastasia smiled. He had just returned from the lunch meeting with Kiwi Cat Studio and was in a foul mood when he spotted someone else in a worse mood than he was. That instantly made him feel better. Upon closer inspection, this face was new but pleasant to look at. Although he was sloppily dressed and had a rather unrefined attitude, he was Julian''s type with the way he suddenly froze in shock at realising who he was speaking to.

    "I uh... h-how was the meeting, sir? Was there anything wrong with the laptop?" Edward swallowed and acted nervously, playing the fool''s card and hoping his simple-minded act will make Julian lower his guard. His father was going to have a field day if he succeeded in finding a crucial clue to Julian''s operations by talking to the suspect in person.

    Cute. Julian smirked. So this was the intern that set his laptop up. No wonder he hadn''t seen him around before. It''s a pity that this cutie would be here for only another week or so. Still, he could afford to have some fun before he has to leave, right?

    Exaggerating a sigh, Julian gave him the side-eye. "Now that you mentioned it, there were some technical issues. I suppose I''d have to visit the IT department later to ask for the one responsible for setting it up. It isn''t the first time that Randy has screwed up, I guess it''s high time to replace him."

    Acting panicked and guilty, Edward hesitated for two moments before admitting that it was actually his fault and begged Julian not to fire Randy.

    "Please sir, I-I was the one who dealt with that laptop. Randy has nothing to do with it! I reformatted the whole thing and set-up everything including installing the software you needed and copying the presentation that I received from your secretary... There were some issues on that day that took longer because I was unfamiliar with the software so I might have accidentally done something wrong during the troubleshooting process. It''s not Randy''s fault, it was mine."

    Seeing the intern act so meek, Julian felt the fire grow in his loins and his pupils darkened in excitement watching this boy tremble. How long has it been since he met such a wonderfully innocent boy? Julian couldn''t help but take advantage of the situation. It was almost at the floor that Edward was meant to get off so Julian made a decision quickly.

    "If you''re truly sorry, you will come to my office at five later to apologise. I want to hear the full story."

    The lift stopped and Edward looked at Julian disbelievingly to make his act convincing. He pretended to be slightly stunned and stumbled over his words before excusing himself and running away once the lift doors opened.

    Julian smirked. Who would have thought that there would be such an interesting person in his boring workplace? Most of his bed partners were hardened men from the mafia or experienced gigolos who leeched onto him for money. If it wasn''t because of his deal with his father, he would never have agreed to run such a boring company. Compared to intimidating people with words in business negotiations, Julian much preferred the cold-blooded murder and physical torture he often dealt with after office hours. Nothing turned him on more than hearing people begging him earnestly and looking at him with fear in their eyes.

    After the lift door closed, Edward quickly turned to the nearest washroom and locked himself in a stall. What in the nine hells just happened?

    "No, calm down, Edward... That''s not right... he was simply taking interest in a new face. That wasn''t seduction, right?"

    No matter how the spy tried to justify it, he would never mistake that hungry look. As a man, he understood what that was. Besides, that tent that suddenly grew in those tight black slacks could never be mistaken as something else.

    Hands trembling, Edward wondered what he was going to do. He might not be innocent in the bedroom because of his job but he definitely kept his cherry boy status for his back entrance. Was he really going to have to use this in exchange for finding Anastasia''s weak point? Sure, he would do anything for Scarlet but he didn''t know if he was mentally prepared for such a thing. Worse still, Edward didn''t know if Scarlet would ever forgive him if she found out what he did. Probably not.

    Deeply distressed, Edward called the only person he knew he could discuss this with and hoped that Elfie would have a good solution to this. While it was a tangled situation, this was also a good opportunity for Edward to get underneath the pristine glossy corporate surface that EZ Express maintained under Julian''s tight control.

    "Did you find something good?" Elfie asked when the call was connected.

    "Yes and no," Edward told him and proceeded to explain the entire elevator situation before asking the hacker what he should do.

    "Wow. Just wow... Who would have thought that Julian Anastasia was gay? No wonder none of the secretaries sent worked. The Interpol should have just sent Julian a male secretary instead! Also, I cannot believe that you''re somebody''s type. What did you do to seduce him?"

    Edward hissed. "I didn''t seduce him! The only person I''ll ever seduce is Scarlet!"

    Highly amused by Edward''s anger, Elfie had to tape down their phone conversation. As embarrassed as Edward was, they finally figured out a good way to work around the barrier called Julian Anastasia. Once Edward ended his internship, it was the Interpol''s time to shine. Although Elfie thought that he made a great team with Edward, this operation''s scale was far too large for two individuals to handle even with Jasper and Wilmer''s help. All they could do at this point was to pave the way for the tanks and big guns to come in blazing. Edward was doing a great job of finding out the opening to Julian''s network even by accident.

    "Hey listen," he told Edward who was rambling away in what sounded like a panic attack. "That''s a very huge clue. I don''t think you have enough time to really seduce everything out of Julian but here''s what you can do. If you can bug Julian''s personal phone, I can tap into everything that he does illegally on it. Once that is done, you can pack up and disappear forever and leave the rest to your father. I''m going to inform Danny about this information so they can make preparations. It''s a very huge and useful clue, probably the only thing left that we need after finding out the identity of the spy from CEO Zhu''s side."

    Edward took several deep breaths to calm himself down and locked away all his emotions. Slowly, his rationality kicked in and Edward checked the time. His meeting with Julian was at five, there was still an hour left.

    "Alright," Edward agreed. "Tell me how to bug his phone. I won''t sell myself for the mission, I''ll just do the bare basics and get my ass out of there. As much as I want to work on this case after getting so close to the answer, I don''t want to betray Scarlet''s trust in me more than I already have."

    Elfie approved of his friend''s resolution and calmly told Edward what he needed to do.

    "Exchange contacts with him on his personal phone using the Bluetooth function and the virus will automatically be sent. I don''t know if he will give you his private number but you have to find out and convince him somehow. We already have his company number that I''m sending you in now so compare them carefully. He might also have more than one phone, I don''t know."

    Edward studied it. "Is there another way to transfer that virus?" he asked. "I can somehow access the company''s intranet and Wi-Fi. I bet everyone connects to this at work."

    Elfie groaned. "It is possible but we don''t know whose phone is going to be bugged and there will be thousands of IP to trace! There''s no guarantee that Julian will use his company'' network with his personal phone either."

    Edward smirked. "I have a feeling he will. I''ve been hearing things from the IT department and I picked out a few executives who might suspiciously belong to the other operation team under Julian''s command. There were too many viruses and phishing emails. I''ve also shortlisted the names that frequently give unknown sales and purchase orders to the admin and logistic teams. I just couldn''t confirm the items being delivered but they might be what we''re looking for. Diamond Containers and East-West China Airlines handle those orders. I need more manpower to investigate those leads."

    Overjoyed that they made so much progress in just a week, Elfie told Edward to continue being careful. "I will send you the program for you to upload to the intranet and wi-fi. Please don''t die, Scarlet would be heartbroken."

    "I won''t" Edward promised and waited for the program to be sent before he uploaded it to the company''s network and waited for the bug to be downloaded.

    He checked the time and swallowed. Only forty more minutes before five, how was he going to explain this to Randy? With a reluctant sigh, Edward left the bathroom.

 Chapter 253 - A Dangerous Date

    Five in the evening swung by quickly and Edward was waiting in Julian''s office, ushered in by the secretary who gave him an odd look. Edward didn''t know why she was being so nice to him and felt slightly uncomfortable when she served him coffee. Shouldn''t an intern who was on the lowest hierarchy be doing that?

    He had been sipping on coffee and waiting for a good ten minutes with nobody coming in to check on him. When Randy heard about how Julian had called to his office, the IT manager simply gave Edward a pt on the shoulder and wished him luck. Edward didn''t know if the fact that this CEO was gay was made known to all his employees. It would be odd that the Interpol spies didn''t know about this when they''ve been working here for a long time.

    The sun was starting to set and Edward was briefly reminded that his girlfriend was in the Bahamas. Would Scarlet be watching the same sunset as well? He was never one for trivialities but watching the golden rays spreading far and wide over the city from the top floor of a skyscr.a.p.er made Edward drop his guard for a bit. His eyes softened and he relaxed his stance.

    That was how Julian saw Edward when he first returned from a long and exhausting meeting with his useless executive managers. Honestly, he wanted to just tell the HR to fire the whole lot. He was so sick of dealing with petty people trying to sit on the position for as long as possible because of the fat pay cheques. He needed competent people to work for the company but because of the things he had to hide, Julian employed the most useless management team he could afford and only planted a few of his men within their ranks to make things work out.

    The CEO had almost completely forgotten about the intern he met in the elevator until he reached his office thirty minutes later than the time he told him to come in. The coffee cup that the intern was holding was almost empty and his gaze was soft as he admired the scenery from his window. The golden light made his brown hair and eyes look orange and Julian was stunned for a brief moment, his interest in this teen increasing. Seeing him was like finding an oasis in this hell hole and Julian wondered if the intern was willing to be his side thing for a while.

    "You''re here," he composed himself and said in a dominant voice, snapping the teen out from his trance.

    Edward was genuinely startled because he had been so lost in thoughts that he didn''t realise someone had entered. The shock made him jump backwards and lose grip on the coffee cup. The cup left his hands and Edward yelped, scrambling to catch it before it hit the ground in vain.

    The carpeted floor wasn''t the only thing stained with coffee but Edward''s shirt and jeans were also caught in the disaster, much to the spy''s embarrassment. His cheeks flushed and Julian had to hide a smirk when the teen picked up the cup and apologised profusely, trying to get the coffee stain off the carpet.

    "Leave it," he told the boy. He could get the cleaning team to remove the stain tomorrow. For today, he dismissed his secretary early. He wanted some alone time with this boy to destress after the meeting with those fools.

    Edward awkwardly placed the cup down on the table and stood beside the huge desk by the window, waiting to be punished for his mistake. His heart was racing in his chest just by being in close proximity with the target and Edward berated himself for letting his guard down while on a mission. He hoped that it hadn''t blown his cover yet. He finally understood why spies with lovers usually quit the service. Edward''s respect for his father increased. How could his father work so efficiently without thinking about his mother at all while working?

    Julian looked at the stained clothes and decided to use this opportunity to charm this boy into becoming his dinner date. Leah was getting annoying and her usefulness was starting to become meaningless now that they were so close in being able to ruin the Wildes.

    "You, do you have anything important to attend to this evening?"

    Edward shook his head, slightly surprised at where this was going. What did Julian really want from him? After calling him up to his office and making him wait for a long time, Edward was almost certain that Julian wanted to threaten him or blackmail him into sleeping with him. Heck, Edward even considered the possibility that Julian had already suspected him as a spy because of the laptop malfunction so he played it cool.

    "Good," Julian smirked. "I''ll forgive you for the slip up if you accompany this evening."

    "A-Accompany?"

    The CEO walked up to Edward and the teen realised that this man was actually half a head taller than him. Julian smelled of smoke and coffee but Edward didn''t recognise that smell of cigarettes. Mentally, Edward ran through several scenarios and a series of actions he could use to take down the CEO if he suddenly launched an attack. He also made several reaction plans within a few seconds just in case Julian decided to put his hands on somewhere inappropriate. He had to protect his chastity no matter what!

    "Yes, accompany," Julian leaned in a little and lowered his voice. Edward moved back slightly when Julian approached and breached his personal space. The silent approaching and retreating happened with each step and Julian successfully cornered Edward against the glass window when Edward felt the cool surface on his back. With nowhere else to escape, the spy looked into Julian''s dark hooded eyes. He didn''t want to blow his cover as a spy so quickly but his safety was a top priority for this mission.

    Julian smirked at the panic creeping into Edward''s eyes. This teen wasn''t as dull as he thought he would be, after all, it was interesting. Yet, Edward didn''t appear to swing the same way he did. Such a shame...

    "I have a fianc¨¦e and she''s rather annoying. As you could probably tell by now, I''m gay."

    Blinking at the sudden coming out, Edward couldn''t understand what was going through Julian''s mind.

    "Pardon me, sir," he stated politely. "I don''t swing that way. I have a girlfriend and love her very much."

    Julian laughed. "Was that why you were so pissed off earlier? The admin girls must have tried something with you."

    Edward blinked. "Was it obvious?"

    With a smirk, Julius stepped backwards and shrugged his jacket off, tossing it on his chair. "As the CEO, I wouldn''t be blind to what goes on in my company. It''s a shame you''re just an intern. Would you be keen on working for me after you graduate? I can open up a position for you anytime. Of course, first, you''ll have to pay back the debt of causing the technical difficulties for today''s important deal and spilling coffee on my carpet."

    Edward grimaced at the reminder. Julius had him where he wanted and the spy grit his teeth, unable to refuse. "What would you like me to do, sir? I don''t have money to compensate for your loss."

    The CEO raised one finger. "One date with me tonight. I''ll buy everything and we can forget this ever happened. You''re quite the looker so I want you to pretend to be a gay escort for tonight. My fianc¨¦e has set some private investigators on me so I want to let her have reasons to call the deal off. It''s not in my favour to end the relationship with her so I want her to do it herself."

    By fianc¨¦e, Edward knew that he was referring to Leah Yuan. It looks like the collaboration between EZ Express and Pineapple Group''s subsidiaries wasn''t a harmonious one. Edward filed that information away. He was right to tell Elfie to dig deeper into Leah Yuan. Now that they had a name, it would be easy to break the link and weaken EZ Express.

    "Will I be in any danger? Your fianc¨¦e sounds like an insane person, I don''t want to get stabbed by a jealous woman."

    Laughing at the blunt remark and finding the suspicious eyes cute, Julian gave Edward his word. "If something happens, call me on this number. I''ll send someone to rescue you from her." Edward couldn''t believe it. This was Julian''s private number. Why would the mafia boss give him his personal phone number? Still, Edward didn''t refuse it. He simply played along and kept up his act.

    "How do I know that I can trust you? I might be just an intern here but I still value my life more than a future job prospect."

    Julian raised a brow. "Try calling that number then. If it rings, you''d know that it''s my phone. Just so you know, I don''t care about you and what you want. You owe me. Of course, if you refuse, I''ll just have to get my legal team to press charges. The choice is in your hands. Either you go out on a date with me or prepare to be in life-long debt."

    GIven ''no choice'', Edward accepted much to Julian''s delight. The teen let himself be dragged away to prepare for their date while saving the CEO''s personal phone number and letting Elfie know his progress. Soon, very soon... he will return the favour by bringing down EZ Express and putting this man behind bars.

 Chapter 254 - Infuriating Leah Yuan

    The first thing that made Edward want to back away from his decision was walking beside Julian to the car park and looking at that sleek black Lamborghini.

    "Get in," the CEO ordered and Edward felt oddly out of place with what he was wearing. However, as they were quickly attracting stares from the employees on their way home, Edward didn''t spend too long hesitating.

    Julian smirked at the obvious reluctance on Edward''s face. According to HR, this intern was underaged so there wouldn''t be any bedroom actions. He wasn''t a saint but he wasn''t a fan of sleeping with minors. There were still things he wouldn''t do and r.a.p.e was one of those things even though human trafficking, drugs and weapon trading were things he had to qualms about.

    Edward strapped the seat belt on and waited for Julian to slam his side of the door shut. The CEO behaved like a deserving gentleman and Edward had to give him credit. If the spy didn''t already know that this cruel man was a mafia boss, he would have believed that Julian was simply a shrewd but successful businessman.

    They drove to a high-end shopping mall in Manhattan and Julian walked Edward around, entering stores with price tags that Edward knew only the Wildes could afford. As a commoner, Edward didn''t know how to react to the ''gifts'' for their date night. He tried to talk Julian out of it because of the guilt but Julian was having none of it.

    "If I don''t buy you something more expensive than what I buy her, how can we make her jealous?"

    Edward''s brain stalled for a moment while it tried to process what Julian was saying. The CEO merely glanced outside the window and Edward turned around to have a look. Indeed, there was someone acting suspiciously sitting on a bench at the other side of the shopping centre reading a newspaper. Seriously, who does that nowadays? Everyone uses their phones to read, newspapers were only popular on the subways with nothing better to do.

    Looking back at the clothes Julian chose or him, Edward had an idea.

    Julian was curious to see what else the intern was up to. He wasn''t disappointed when Edward acted spoiled and threw the expensive clothes onto the floor.

    "I don''t like these," he frowned and glared at the shop assistant who was stunned by the sudden change in attitude. Wasn''t this customer just refusing all the expensive items earlier? What made them act so arrogantly?

    A glance at the person who held the black card made the shop assistant quickly apologise and rush to bring out the exclusive items.

    "Not bad," Julian smirked when he turned his back on the private investigator. "I guess you''d be able to write off your debt in just one date."

    Edward''s eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. "I thought you said that I only needed to go on one date with you."

    Too naive. Julian smirked. "Do you think you''re in any bargaining position? I have your phone number, boy. Even if you leave my company and end your internship smoothly, I can still make your life difficult. Your only option now is to satisfy me by doing your part perfectly. Keep this up and I might even tip you."

    Edward swallowed. It was a really good thing the Interpol gave him a brand new identity and a new disposable phone number. He couldn''t fool around or treat Julian too lightly. The CEO was sharp and Edward did his best to balance between a meek intern and a snarky brat. Julian somehow knew that he wasn''t the fool he presented himself to be and Edward decided to keep the mystery to keep Julian intrigued but at a safe distance.

    Besides, if Julian truly wanted to, he would hear all about Edward''s ''true character'' from Randy and the HR.

    The restaurant that Julian reserved for them was one that Edward had only heard about but never had the chance to visit because of the exclusive customer list. He didn''t know if the Wildes had access but Edward wondered if Scarlet would appreciate it here.

    The restaurant was a famous three Michelin star french seafood restaurant. This restaurant only served thirty customers a day and every customer had to book reservations months in advance with the exception of a few VVIP rooms that only accepted patrons could have access to.

    They were in one of those VVIP rooms now and Edward couldn''t help but feel nervous at the luxuries he was looking at. He could never understand why people spent money on wasteful things but more importantly, the room was so quiet without any servers. Anything could happen and nobody would know.

    "Why are we here? Don''t we need to put up a show for your fianc¨¦e?"

    Julian simply ordered a glass of wine for himself and a mocktail he thought the teen would enjoy seeing as minors shouldn''t be drinking.

    "Leah doesn''t need to confirm the date, she just needs to hear about the venue to be furious."

    Edward didn''t follow and Julian was in a generous mood so he told Edward a little more about his history with the girl. The alcohol and the company must have loosened his tongue a little more because Edward wasn''t really expecting to find out anything useful from this date.

    "That girl has been pestering me to bring her here for months now but I''ve never bothered. She doesn''t know that I have special privileges either but I guess now she will. Oh, I think she made reservations here once but I stood her up because of business. She must be furious by now."

    Furious? If Julian thought that Leah would only be furious, he was dead wrong. Edward paled when he realised what kind of target he has now become. Julian paid no attention and simply passed him a menu, telling him to order whatever he liked.

    Edward''s mind wasn''t focussed on the menu and after ten minutes, he still hadn''t decided anything when the waiter came to take their orders.

    "S-sorry," he apologised to the waiter. "Can you recommend something? I don''t know what to order."

    Julian raised a brow. The menu had English translations and it should be simple enough. Was this teen too afraid to spend money? The CEO snorted and snatched the menu away, handing it back to the waiter and ordering on Edward''s behalf.

    At first, Edward thought that Julian was just going to order one thing for him but as he listened to the long names of multiple dishes, he quickly interrupted the man.

    "Are you crazy? How are you going to finish so many things?" Edward hissed and swore that the CEO just listed about ten items casually.

    The waiter looked lost and Julian raised a brow, taking time to explain. "It''s normal. This is a French restaurant, they don''t serve you kid meals or combo sets like the fast-food restaurants. Everything comes in a set, I''m merely customising it as any ordinary VVIP customer would. In normal circ.u.mstances, you wouldn''t even get a menu. They serve you something the chef makes and you pay for it without regard to what you like or dislike."

    Edward blinked dumbly, unsure of how to react. The Wildes were not even this wasteful and Edward finally understood the class difference between those ''rich'' people he encountered from his previous work experiences and the truly ''filthy rich'' like Julian.

    After Julian was done reciting the menu, the waiter left with their orders and Edward sat their mutely, watching Julian drink his wine.

    "You seem a little stressed," the CEO commented and Edward squirmed in his chair. This man knew how to make people uncomfortable and Edward wanted out of here. Mission or not, opportunity or not, Edward didn''t like Julian.

    "Anyone would be stressed in my situation."

    Julian chuckled and agreed. He might have gone a little overboard but he truly wanted to get Leah off his back. This teen was merely a victim in his plans but it would be alright. After all, he didn''t expect to see the intern again after this. Leah would find a way to kill this poor lad after news about their luxurious date reached her. Julian was simply having fun with this side fling and getting rid of the girl. It was the best of both worlds for him, too bad this young thing didn''t know what was coming.

    "Enjoy it while you can," Julian said. "It''s probably not going to happen again in your life unless someone rich favours you."

    Edward blinked and couldn''t help but retort. "Someone like you?"

    Mirthlessly, Julian stared at Edward. "Don''t count on it. I might be gay and have a thing for pretty young things like you but at the end of the day, it''s business that matters. You screwed up my deal and you''re simply compensating for it."

    Edward felt slightly better hearing that Julian was not truly interested in him but for his uses. Whatever it was between Leah and Julian, Edward now knew that EZ Express wouldn''t help Leah out if she was ever in trouble. They would cut the rope and let her take the fall for them. This wasn''t enough, they needed more concrete evidence.

    The rest of the ''date'' went smoothly and Edward insisted that he should be dropped off at the nearest alley from the subway station because he didn''t want to attract unwanted attention. Julian didn''t refuse, In fact, it was a good chance for him. Leah''s men would probably take care of the poor lad, he might not see him ever again but that was fine by him. The poor teen might never even have the chance to use the phone number he gave him.

    Edward stood in the shadows of the dark alley and watched the black Lamborghini go. He sent a text to Elfie and waited for the men following him to appear. This was it, Eddie the intern was officially making an exit from EZ Express but they had a lot more work to do if they wanted to put the Anastasias away for good.

 Chapter 255 - Sentient Retires

    Edward was calm. They didn''t send too many pursuers and he could make use of the situation to his advantage. Unlike Anastasia, Leah was merely a rich heiress with no connections to the underworld. The men she employed were mostly mercenaries. Edward could use his connections with the Interpol to buy their loyalties.

    A black sedan arrived in less than fifteen seconds after Julian drove away. Edward wasn''t trying to escape them so he waited to save these guys the trouble of planning an ambush.

    At once, four men got out of the car, including the driver and Edward scrutinized them from head to toe. While they looked like they were decent mercenaries for hire, they were still amateurs in Edward''s eyes. If he were to fight them seriously, none of them would hold for more than ten seconds. Yet, that wasn''t his objective today.

    "Are you the one that Leah Yuan hired?" he got straight to the point. There was no merit in beating around the bush with them, he was pressed for time to make his disappearance from the scene.

    The leader stiffened and Edward sighed. Giving in to provocation was as good as a confirmation. How amateur-like. These mercenaries were no cause for concern. He didn''t even have to bargain with them, he just needed to threaten them to do what he wanted.

    "Listen up, I''m not in the mood to discuss things with you. You just tell your employer that you''ve taken care of me and accidentally killed me but the body has been dumped into the ocean with weights and we''ll both part on amicable terms. Alright?"

    In Edward''s opinion, it wasn''t a bad trade. However, things never went smoothly when concerning people with lesser brain cells.

    "What did you say? I think you''re asking for it. Boss, let''s give it to him good!"

    Edward rolled his eyes when four grown men came charging at him. In ten seconds, there were four dull thuds and only the sound of groaning and coughing in the alley. Leah must have been a really desperate person to pay absurd amounts of money for trash like them. He was wrong about them being mercenaries, these men were just small-time hired thugs. Edward didn''t even bother being polite with them, he simply pulled out a phone, snapped a picture of their faces and showed them his Interpol ID.

    "Just so you know, you don''t do as I said, all of you will find yourselves in jail. I have no time to deal with you so begone before I change my mind."

    Whimpering and shaking with fear, Edward made them call and report to Leah what he wanted them to say. Thankfully, the leader was a good enough actor whose voice didn''t shake while his goons looked like they were going to pee in their pants. After the call, Edward socked them in the face once each for good measure and threatened to appear before them if things went wrong. The men scrambled and crawled away like bugs and Edward watched them reverse into the narrow wall in fear before driving the car away.

    Satisfied, the spy smirked. His job was done and the spy sent a text to HQ and his father. At the same time, he checked for Elfie''s reply about the phone number. This was one side he never wanted Scarlet to see, hear or know about. He wanted to always be that reliable and gentle person in her eyes and not this cold-blooded spy who was capable of sacrificing lives in order to complete his mission.

    Edward: Did you get inside his phone?

    Elfie: Yes, it''s full of glorious dirt! We have numbers, names, location and history. He must have really wanted you to die tonight that''s why he was so confident in giving you something precious.

    Edward: If you have everything, I''m heading back to work on the rest of the data. After today, Eddie is no more and this number is going to be shredded. Don''t contact me here again and let Danny know the outcome.

    Elfie: Got it. Also, your girlfriend and her sister are going to pose for some pictures for their new product launch. Do you want me to steal some photos for you?

    Edward was walking down the stairs to the train platform and tripped slightly when he read that last message. Thankfully, he had good reflexes and caught himself on time before rolling all the way to the bottom.

    One side of his mind wanted the pictures no matter what to get him through the remaining days he had to spend apart from her. He missed her like crazy and now that the mission was officially over, he could afford to dedicate 90% of his waking time to thinking about her.

    Before he reached home, Edward made a quick detour to get rid of his work phone after closing down the bank account and erasing his history. He sat outside a convenience store for about an hour until the HQ resolved everything before he received a call from his father on his personal phone.

    "Ed?"

    "Yes, dad?"

    "Well done, you''re officially off the case."

    Edward blinked. Off the case?

    "What are you talking about? This is only the beginning! We haven''t gotten to the bottom of it all where they hide their base of operations and what they are dealing with in the warehouses! I''ve only gotten the name of their partner and not much evidence of the shady business, I can''t stop now! I still have one more week, I can-"

    "Edward. Your mother told me that you have a girlfriend. If you''re serious about her, you should start thinking about your future as Edward Bayon and not Agent Sentient. There is a reason why spies retire, it''s a blessing for those who work in this line."

    Edward felt bitter at that. "But you''re still working in the field, how''s that fair? If I didn''t seek you out so desperately, would you have never returned home to see me or my mother again? Why do you get to keep the best of both worlds and tell me that I can only choose one?!"

    Mr Bayon didn''t speak for a while and let his son vent it all out. Edward was still as emotional as ever. It was one of the reasons why he was given the code name Sentient. His son might be an excellent spy but unlike other spies who had killed their hearts to function no different from a tool for the nation in the name of justice, Edward still had opinions and followed his own set of justice. The Sentient was one agent everyone hoped would retire because he carried all their feelings, hopes and dreams of what resembled a regular life.

    "My orders still remain unchanged. As for the matter with your mother, she understood that some secrets were not meant to be told. That was why I chose her, a selfish woman who was able to continue clinging onto the hope and fantasy of a family. She wanted a child to remember me by and pour her love to so that she can complete her dream of having a family so that was what I did. Don''t misunderstand, it isn''t as if I married her without love. I just thought that through her I could find my heart. Unlike you, Sentient, we don''t have opinions, only orders and duty."

    Covering his face with one hand while holding his phone to his ear, Edward bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. The orders didn''t change but he knew his father had the right idea. Unlike others, his name was Sentient because he was that one dark horse in every mission. Nobody could predict his actions or work with him in a team because he had a tendency to run with his heart more than his head although he was smart and talented.

    When a spy can no longer abandon a person''s life, they must retire in order to not jeopardise the success of the team''s mission. Unlike his father who could abandon him and his mother at any moment if required, Edward couldn''t do that to Scarlet. If she needed him, he would be there for her. He knew that he had to retire, his time as a spy was over.

    "Yes, sir..." he forced the words out painfully as if walking on blades.

    Mr Bayon didn''t say much and merely thanked him for his efforts before telling Edward to report to the usual lookout point to turn in his ID by the end of the month. There would no longer be a need for Sentient in this world and with that, Edward was finally free to live his life the way he wanted it to be.

    Feeling hollow and numb for the rest of his journey back, Edward wondered what he was going to do now that he no longer had an identity and a purpose. Subconsciously, he looked at his screensaver wallpaper of him and Scarlet on their very first date. He wondered what Scarlet was going to do after her revenge on Anastasia was over. Was she going to be lost like him or did she already have something in her sights? Was there a place for him in her future?

 Chapter 256 - 20 Year Feud

    Elfie worked overtime and was given orders from above not to include Edward in any follow-up information. He didn''t know what went on between Edward and the higher-ups but the hacker had a feeling he would be in big trouble if he spilled any confidential information about the case to Edward or Jasper. Stranger still, Edward wasn''t contacting him at all. He only asked for the exclusive pictures, thanked Elfie and ghosted.

    After working with Elfie for so long, it was difficult for the hacker to not discuss work with the spy. In times like this, he could really use Edward''s brain to analyse the mountain of information together. Edward''s eyes were fresher and his brain faster than Elfie''s and he wasn''t as rigid in thinking like the Interpol and their stifling SOPs. The hacker found himself missing his friend but he tried his best to chin up. They were now very close to nailing Anastasia, they already had crippling evidence about Leah to use.

    "It''s ok, you can do this," Elfie told himself and settled down with his third cup of coffee for the night. Danny was working with Wilmer to increase security around Kiwi Cat after Jasper turned Julian down. They were now waiting for Lucy to publish her exclusive interview that Orita arranged. This should help to redirect Julian and Anastasia''s aim. Julian will use the company to continue pressuring Kiwi Cat into submission while Anastasia would start to move silently to get to the girls. The Interpol anticipated the pincer strategy and were on standby to start a crackdown on the suspicious list of names Edward managed to obtain for Elfie before he was told to leave the mission.

    Edward was right about Julian using his company''s intranet and Wi-fi with his private phone. After getting the phone number from Edward, Elfie confirmed its IP address by hacking the cellular network providers to search for a matching device. Once he had the location on lock, the hacker didn''t need to spend too much time disabling the firewall at the CEO''s home. In less than ten minutes, Elfie was already sieving through everything Julian owned on his personal phone and computer.

    With the virus planted in the phone, Elfie was now able to multiply the program into all the other devices using the shared network. He wondered why Julian didn''t invest in better security but remembered that not everyone was very IT savvy. Even politicians didn''t invest enough in a hacker-proof system which was why it was so easy for scandals to leak. Only important people like the president who had a team managing his interest was at a lower risk of cyberattacks. No matter how much money Julian had, his mistake was not spending it on capable talent to safeguard his online secrets.

    Once Elfie got into the phone, he was able to retrieve the contact list to forward to the Interpol''s intelligence department for further investigation while backing out all the conversation records for evidence of their illegal business. After that, the hacker quickly sieved through the personal computer that had been left on and running. After running a discreet check on the laptop, Elfie hacked the device to turn on the front camera which wasn''t blocked. He grinned at the small victory.

    Using the camera to determine when Julian wasn''t working on his laptop, Elfie slowly but surely manipulated the computer to make a transfer of everything out into Elfie''s storage system. It was a slow and painful process that took a whole night but Julian wasn''t very bright when it came to technology. The man left his laptop running and unattended to go for a shower without logging out. Who was Elfie to deny such a golden opportunity to plant a program into that computer?

    Quickly, Elfie copied over the program he created and waited for it to be latched onto some background running app. To buy time to pour out the massive gold mine of damning information, the hacker also installed a fake windows update to keep the laptop running for a long time before it shut down. Of course, Julian wouldn''t know that and knowing that some window update patches were bigger than others, Julian would most likely not pay attention to it and head to bed with the laptop running, assuming that it would shut down by itself once it was complete.

    True to what he expected, Julian didn''t really bother about waiting for the fake window update to be completed to turn the power off. Elfie was excited. It would be his win by the end of the download. The Interpol was going to be able to start working on solid leads for the first time in nearly two decades. It''s not every day that the Interpol does some major crackdown on powerful mafia families. However, Elfie strongly believed that the time had finally come.

    It was five in the morning and Elfie was snoozing on the chair when his alarm rang. It was a sign that the download was finally complete.

    Bleary-eyed, the hacker looked at his screen for two minutes before the words were finally clear enough for him to read. Apart from the download completion, Elfie saw something in his private network''s inbox. This was his usual communication channel with Danny and the Interpol or his clients. Who could it be this time and what did they want? He was busy!

    As it turned out, the mail was from the Interpol and not even Danny had an opinion about the orders received. Elfie couldn''t believe his eyes. He had sent the data over less than an hour ago and now the higher-ups want to kick him out? What was going on? Was this what happened to Edward too?

    Furious and unable to accept the suddenness of this order, Elfie rang Danny. He didn''t particularly care about the time he was calling, this was unfair! After all the work that they did, the Interpol is simply going to take their labour and pass it off as their own credit? Where was the justice in this world?! Unacceptable!

    "What is it?" Danny groaned. "It''s five in the morning."

    "Dad! You can''t just let them do this to me, I''ve worked very hard on this case with Edward, we should be the ones in charge. Why is the Interpol benching us? My access has been banned completely from their side, I can''t get through to the classified section!"

    Danny didn''t need all his brain cells to function in order to figure out what happened and what his son was referring to. The informant sighed.

    "It''s not just you and Edward. We''re keeping an eye on Jasper too. You''re only children, let us a.d.u.l.ts handle the rest now, you''ve done enough. Don''t put yourselves in any more danger, this is an a.d.u.l.t''s game with guns and weapons. Also, the Interpol may have banned you from working on this case in particular but it doesn''t mean you cannot do anything more. The most important thing now is to protect the Wilde family, especially the girls. Wilmer has constantly been a target for the last six years and we had some close calls. These people are part of the mafia. They''re not beneath using underhand methods to get rid of competition, we didn''t tell Orita about it but in those six years, Wilmer had two close death encounters. The assassination attempt almost succeeded twice but you can imagine how many more we''ve thwarted. If you and Edward have time to be angry about this, use that energy to protect what Wilmer and I have been working hard to protect."

    Elfie felt frustrated by how the Interpol and Danny were so quick to shut him out but he knew that his adoptive father spoke the truth. They were only children. From behind the scenes, they could do many things but when it came to blazing in with big guns and watching people lay down their lives in a crossfire, Elfie didn''t want to bring Scarlet or Alex into it. He had seen enough in the Syrian war with Edward gunning down enemies from the rear while he encrypted intercepted communications.

    "I understand," he sniffed, tears running down hot and fast. "If... if something goes wrong, please don''t stop me. I''m going to use all of my ability to assist Edward in this case. This time, I don''t need you to cover up for me, I will take full responsibility. Scarlet and Alex are my friends, I cannot stop and do nothing. Julian and Lucian are planning to make big moves, try and keep tabs on Leah. They''re going to make use of her and dispose of her once their transfer is complete."

    Danny was wide awake now. His son might be talented and smart but he was still rather awkward about social matters. Yet, as an adoptive father who had been the worst parent any child could ask for, he felt slightly proud that Elfie was finally making progress at learning how to trust others and befriending people.

    "Don''t overdo it," was what he told Elfie before ending the call. Seeing as it was rather pointless to go back to sleep, Danny decided to start his day early and talk to the important decision-makers in the Interpol.

    They had the upper hand now, these boys and girls worked hard. After so many failed infiltration, the fact that a bunch of kids managed to accomplish what professionals had failed to do made him feel both worried and proud. He swore on his son''s name that they would not fail them. After coming this far, the last step was up to the a.d.u.l.ts to end the twenty-year-long feud.

 Chapter 257 - Pier 22 Meeting

    Somewhere in the shadier boroughs of New York, a group of powerful and dangerous individuals gathered in a remodelled warehouse by the docks. During the day, it was a regular warehouse that held the precious cargos of big companies. It was usually a bustling location full of shouts, yells and even singing while employees shifted boxes and containers after boxes and containers of goods onto sh.i.p.s or trucks. However, after nightfall, the area was desolated with only some security on patrol or drunken thugs who chose this as a place for their petty fights.

    For Lucian Anastasia, this was his kingdom. After nightfall, the entire pier 22 turned into a mafia turf where million-dollar transactions took place. From drug peddlers to illegal fight rings and casino managers, pier 22 was the place that everyone within the network knew about. The poor who were desperate would come flocking to pier 22 after hearing it from hoodlums about money-laundering services. The hookers who wanted to make fast bucks offered themselves to pimps. The addicts who could no longer afford regular rates came to pier 22 for handouts and acted as mules. Here, Lucian Anastasia ruled and there was absolutely nothing the regular police could do. After all, the highest authority in the city was a man who belonged to Anastasia.

    "Good evening gentleman," the aged first don of the Anastasia family smiled. He was an elderly gentleman who looked like a kind grandpa who would often feed pigeons at Times Square and read a daily paper to pass his retirement days. The mafia boss had a chubby stature with a receding hairline full of grey strands. He had the same hooked nose that his son had and would have been handsome in his younger days with a square chiselled jawline. Yet, nobody dared to offend this kind-looking gentleman.

    Across the table were three other men. They were his long-time business partners who had only seen Lucian Anastasia a handful of times.

    "Why have you gathered us here today?" a bald man in his late fifties asked. The man was severely thin and only had a grey well-trimmed moustache that gave his face a personality. He was a sun-weathered elderly man with wrinkles everywhere, a proof that he spent most of his days working underneath the sun. Still, he looked perfectly fit for a man in his late fifties, a huge contrast to the other men in the room.

    Lucian smiled and poured them tea. "Relax, Adrian. It''s been a while since everyone gathered, let''s start with some good news, shall we?"

    Adrian humphed and crossed his arms. As the warehousing manager and sole distributor for EZ Express, he preferred talking to Julian instead of Lucian. The younger man showed more respect to him and he hated Lucian''s unfazed calmness to everything as if he was looking at the world with a condescending attitude. To Lucian, all his allies were nothing more than ants in an ant farm jar within his hands. Those who agreed and did as told by Anastasia lived a life of luxury paved by Anastasia and those who disagreed or showed doubts would be killed and dumped at the bottom for pier 22. Still, after being long-time business partners, Adrian decided to give Lucian some respect despite the last-minute invitations.

    "Would you like some sugar with your tea?" Lucian asked the man to his right. The man looked every inch like a law-abiding citizen and was the face of New York City''s justice posters that children worshipped, a complete opposite of what he actually did.

    Judas had humble beginnings and was a small lieutenant two decades ago. He was a young boy with an ambition that Lucian picked up and groomed under his tutelage. Now, Judas was the Commissioner of New York City and the Anastasia Family''s go-to guy for any hiccups.

    "No thank you," Judas said and Lucian smiled, pouring him a cup that the man offered. He was the youngest man in tonight''s secret meeting, only in his forties.

    The man to the left of Anastasia was also another prominent figure in New York City. He was the main reason why Lucian''s plans never fell apart for the last two decades.

    "Mayor Underhill, it''s been a while since I last saw you. How''s your wife?" Lucian asked and offered the man a cup.

    Underhill looked slightly tired and Lucian couldn''t blame him. It wasn''t easy to become the mayor of America''s most important city. Even with Lucian''s support and rigging the political elections, it was still a difficult job.

    "She''s feeling a lot better now thanks to you," the mayor admitted. After his wife was diagnosed with cancer, the medical expenses had been burdening him. However, thanks to the many years of being friends with Lucian, the mafia boss decided to give the mayor a hand and took care of his wife''s needs, including treatment and upgraded her to a VIP ward in the best hospital within the city.

    Now that the small talk was over, Lucian decided to bring up the subject about why he called these three men to his personal warehouse tonight.

    "As you''ve all probably heard from here and there, the Wilde family are at it again and the Interpol are stepping up their game."

    Lucian sighed with an Oscar-winning act of looking like the most maligned old man who had been bullied by the world. None of his associates blinked, too used to the man''s dramatic sense of humour.

    Getting serious, Lucian''s eyes hardened. "Do you know what I heard lately? Leah told me that my son wasn''t cooperating with our plans because of a certain someone."

    With a harsh toss, the magazine was tossed onto the table. It was the magazine that had been a trending hot topic ever since it was released. On the front, the tagline of ''exclusive interview with the Wildes'' screamed at them and taunted them with the beautiful picture of two daughters. Nobody spoke and Lucian growled. The friendly old man was nowhere to be seen and this was the mafia boss'' true personality that these men knew.

    "Wilmer and his wife had decided to refuse a deal proposed by my son. They stole Kiwi Cat Studio and now they try to buy influence using the media with this exclusive interview. Did you know what the interview said?"

    Underhill who read about it sighed. "Whatever relationship they had with Kiwi Cat Studio''s young director and the CEO of Pineapple Group shouldn''t affect our business. Nothing changes."

    Lucian glared at the mayor who clamped up at once.

    "Won''t affect our business, you say? Do you have any idea how many sales deals we had lost because of the confirmation of their relationship status? Our loyal clients from the legitimate business have been pulling out and not extending their business contracts with us once they heard that Scarlet Wilde was potentially dating CEO Zhu. Not to mention, Leah complained that Julian was seen with male hookers again. Without that china heiress'' support, do you think EZ Express will be able to sustain itself? All the dirty money that we made is properly hidden in the legal account books because of the company. We still require legitimate sales to keep it from collapsing because of the size. How will you account for this?"

    Judas sighed. "It''s not easy for me to warrant arrests without a proper case. Besides, Leah and Julian''s affairs are out of my reach unless someone files a police report. I cannot interfere with what the china lady wants because it was your idea for them to play family. I can only place men around Julian if you file for a restraining order."

    Adrian shrank when Lucian glared at him. "What about you? How could you not have alternative vendors for our shipments? Are Diamond Containers and East-West China Airlines our only options?"

    The warehouse manager swallowed. "Sir, you were the one who said not to give contracts to unreliable companies. We only used them because of Leah''s influence so that the Chinese customs will not check the goods. They have a reputation that we needed, other freight forwarders do not have what they have."

    Angered, the teacup was flung towards a wall, shattering into pieces as if mocking the hopes and dreams of the old mafia boss. For years, he plotted his way to the top starting as a small dealer to becoming a consigliere within five years. Then, he assassinated the Capo and started his own family in New York.

    The fight between factions and gangs in New York City was a bloody one but Lucian didn''t bow to the top dogs. He crawled the ranks, established his turf and wiped out enemies. Attacking weak businesses to expand his financial resources was something that most other families didn''t do. They prefer to establish their own businesses but Lucian had a different vision. He didn''t just want to be rich and powerful, he also wanted an extensive network.

    Hence, the plan to take over one of the wealthiest New York families happened twenty years ago after his financial success became stagnant. His target back then was the Wilde Empire who had been owned by Orita''s father.

    Lucian didn''t target the Wilde family for no reason. He was a careful man who did his research well. The Wilde Empire started off as a factory in Germany, building computers and radios. It thrived after the end of the second world war and built its riches on their superior technology selling it to the military. Then, the founder of the Wilde empire, Orita''s grandfather left the family business to his son who decided to bring the business to America.

    Once in America, Orita''s father forgot all about their humble beginnings and started to invest heavily in other fields such as transportation, arts and property. He started to play actively in the stock market but he didn''t always make a profit. Back then, Orita was still a young girl who didn''t know any better. On some days, her father would spend lavishly and on other days, he would bed creditors to delay his payment for a few more weeks. Lucian saw that as an opportunity and approached Orita''s father to strike a deal, pretending to be a well-known broker who would trade on the man''s behalf in exchange for split profits.

    Needless to say, this was how Lucian managed to secure a huge capital to expand his business. For years, he did this until the Y2K crisis hit all major companies. The Wilde Empire wasn''t prepared and lost millions of dollars. Desperate for funds, Orita''s father tried to withdraw the money he invested with Lucian but the mafia boss who was struggling to keep his position as a new top dog had no time to deal with it. With an order, he ordered for someone to put a hit on him.

    The death of the Wilde CEO shocked the world and Orita was just a young lady reaching twenty-one. She had to shoulder the burden of the company on her own and dropped out of university because of it. Shareholders tried to covet her family''s wealth and Lucian saw it as an opportunity. He instigated most of the shareholders to buy up shares and killed them to receive the rights. This way, the influence of the Wilde family fell drastically and they were close to bankruptcy when Wilmer appeared.

    Wilmer was the man Lucian both respected and hated. Hailed as a business prodigy, he single-handedly rescued the dying giant and revived it even with the Great Depression in the late 2000s. After the company was stabilised, he married Orita and took over the responsibility of bringing Wilde Inc. back to its former glory. It was around this time that Lucian started to resort to underhand means and buy people over to his side, determined to bring the company down but Wilmer was having none of that. The man almost caused his ruin by collaborating with the Interpol who raided his drug manufacturing plants in California and crippled the Anastasia family for many years.

    Lucian struggled hard to get back on his feet fighting both the Interpol and Wilmer until his son took over as Capo and had the brilliant idea of going legal to hide their dirty money. The plan worked but now, everything was going to fall apart again because of the new generation. Regardless of whether the girls meant harm intentionally or coincidentally, their connections to the subsidiaries and business that Julian wanted was making Lucian impatient.

    "Julian won''t be able to handle this and the Interpol are tightening their nooses. Seeing as we''re all in this together with a harmonious working relationship for many years, I hope you gentlemen won''t fail me now."

    Pointing at the girls on the magazine cover, the mafia don declared. "I want these girls and Leah to sign over their company rights. As for their parents, kill them. Do whatever it takes, I don''t want to delay this any longer. It will be too late if the Interpol steps in, neither you nor you will be able to cover it up."

    Mayor Underhill and Judas nodded. As the two people in the highest places involved with the dirty deed, they knew they had no choice but to do as Lucian said. As for Adrian, the warehouse manager prepared to dirty his hands once more. Lucian wasn''t a forgiving boss and with this seriousness, it would be his death if he failed. This time, he would have to act personally.

 Chapter 258 - Conglomerate Alliances

    When Julian Anastasia was in a foul mood, everyone knew. Nobody was spared from the tyrant CEO.

    It all started with an innocent morning routine. The CEO woke up like a clockwork and was having a good start when the first bad news hit him.

    On the daily paper, a huge cover article about EZ Express'' bankruptcy and improper business methods was featured on the front page of the business times. While they were rumours, it still affected the company''s reputation a lot. Didn''t he buy over all the major media companies? Why did this make it to the printing house? What were his men doing?

    Furious, Julian picked up the phone to find out more when he was attacked by a flurry of notifications. Most of them were urgent company mails and some of them were from their partners. Overwhelmed by the avalanche of work first thing in the morning, Julian had to skip breakfast. On the way to work, he was constantly dealing with phone calls, reassuring his partners and answering questions from concerned shareholders who read the rumours.

    Once he reached his office, there were six resignation letters on his desk, all from his senior management team. Needless to say, Julian didn''t bother reading them and shredded everything. These useless fools who chickened out on just a rumour didn''t need to stay. His HR manager was one of the people resigning and Julian marked down every single one of their names. He wouldn''t make life easy for them after they left. With his influence, he would see that they never get another job within America.

    After opening his mailbox, Julian lost it officially.

    From outside, his secretary heard a crashing sound. It wasn''t the first time this happened but it was still as terrifying as the first time it did. On the surface in public, Julian was often a civil gentleman who looked like nothing could faze him. However, every once in a while, the unruffled CEO would explode like a dormant volcano. His fits of violence couldn''t be concealed despite closed doors and expensive clothes. The rumours about him being part of the underworld weren''t confirmed but many people believed it.

    Today was one of those days where Julian abused company assets to vent his anger. His secretary jumped and hurried to hush everyone who thought about arranging a meeting with their boss. More directors were showing up to turn in their resignation letters but at the sound of a smashed laptop and glass breaking, they changed their minds, leaving their letters on the secretary''s table.

    Julian looked at his pristine office that was now a chaotic mess. The chair didn''t manage to break his strong office glass window but it certainly left a huge crack. The glass coffee table was shattered into a million pieces lying on the floor and his doc.u.ments were ripped up. The company laptop was smashed completely, Julian didn''t even bother checking if the information inside it was alright.

    Feeling slightly better now, he slicked his hair backwards and wiped away some sweat with the back of his hand before reaching into his back pocket for a cigarette and a lighter. The nicotine did little to soothe his bad mood but it was better than nothing. His knuckles were bleeding, probably from punching glass but Julian only chuckled mirthlessly. If only his problems could be blown away in a similar manner, this world would be a very pleasant place to live in.

    Initially, he thought that he had the upper hand, finding out the secret between Jasper and Alex Wilde. In fact, the juicier gossip should have been between Liu Xiu Wen and CEO Zhu. Scarlet Wilde wasn''t very well-known by her Chinese stage name in America but imagine if everyone knew how the Wilde family was attempting to unite both the East and the West through their relationsh.i.p.s... It would have been a field day for the media.

    In fact, he wasn''t wrong. It was a field day for the media. They were sucking up every last gossip revolving around the Wildes. Many media companies sang to a different tune quickly after the release of the first exclusive interview in years. The Wilde might be a very high-profile family but they very seldom talked about their private lives. The timing of this news couldn''t be worse when the powerful daughters followed it up by a sneak peek of their holiday in the Bahamas with a tag hinting at a new product launch with Golden Frost.

    Now, the rumours about the GOlden Pineapple collaboration exceeded EZ Express'' fame and to make matters worse, CEO Zhu was invited to attend a huge press conference held by Wilde Inc. Rumours about the future-in-laws meeting up swayed many people to align themselves with the right interests. This included many of EZ Express'' legal clients whose contracts were expiring. With Pineapple Group''s logistic contact and Wilde Inc.''s technology, they were going to become the world''s newest conglomerate alliance. They were going to be unstoppable and it would spell the end of EZ Express.

    "No, I cannot let this happen."

    Thinking about this rationally, Julian checked the text he received from his father. Leah was also being a huge pain in the ass now ever since her mercenaries disposed of that unfortunate intern. Too bad for that intern, he actually did like him better than that bitch. However, he never called him so Julian couldn''t save him. Despite that, his father was still telling him to console the jealous hotel heiress to secure deals for them. Didn''t that old man know that those deals meant nothing to them now? EZ Express was in a more dire situation than just a lack of business contracts. Their employees were resigning one by one after the rumour and their partners aren''t happy with the shipment delay and order mess up. How could anyone mess up a shipment from Germany to Laos?

    The huge lawsuit coming up because of this mistake would put EZ Express'' finance down by a good few hundred million and even if the clerk who scheduled the goods wrongly was fired, it did nothing to resolve the crisis. The money could be recovered easily with a new drug deal but the reputation that Julian painstakingly built and managed was not something that could be recovered after being hit by so many scandals.

    The cigarette butt was crushed beneath his Louis Vuitton shoes and it made a stain in the carpet. Julian''s mind was finally cleared after three cigarettes. He shouldn''t lose his temper too early, the battle might be lost but the war was far from over.

    "Father? It''s me. I have a better solution than what you have in mind."

    Lucian was watering his bonsai when Julian called. He read the papers and heard the news, things were not sunny for them but the mafia boss knew that his more intelligent son would be able to come up with something. For now, all the precautionary measures were taken. He started shifting their base of operations in case the Interpol comes down again. Pier 22 was also put on auction to the buyers interested. All Julian needed to do was rebuild their image and secure their trade routes. He couldn''t afford to screw the deal with China, the triads were not easy opponents to deal with and the Russians wouldn''t hesitate to send their best assassins with high bounties on their heads if they messed up the upcoming deal.

    "Are you going to finally get serious with your act and pursue that girl''s heart? The Wildes have already made important connections, you should use that to your advantage too now that we''re in such a situation. I had a tip-off that the Interpol is on the move again, Pier 22 is getting sold. We need to find a new base of operations and close down all the factories in the southern borders."

    Julian felt his eye twitch. He hated it whenever his father spoke about his s.e.x.u.a.lity in such a manner. Why would he pursue the heart of a female seriously? Leah was only a tool, he wasn''t going to sleep with her because of business. That disgusting woman kept persisting and tried so hard to climb into his bed. That was the only thing he wasn''t going to do. He was gay and proud of the fact that he would only get hard for men.

    "No, I won''t do it your way. I will settle this my way but I need to borrow some of your men, disposable and skilled."

    Slightly surprised that his son would move the pawns from the shadows, Lucian wanted to know more. His private army was not something Lucian wanted to sacrifice so easily. It was very difficult to gather talent of their calibre and if he wasn''t sure about Julian''s chances of success, he would never give him the green light to borrow those men.

    "Wilmer seems to think that he has the upper hand now that everything is going badly for us. We will let him think that way. I''m going to request for formal help from their company as a distraction. I need some men to attack the main Wilde mansion to threaten their security and stall them there. As for the other group, I''m going to let Leah know that her engaged lover was meeting his mistress behind her back. The Wilde daughters are meeting CEO Zhu for a press conference about Golden Pineapple''s collaboration. Send some gunners to terrorise the place, kill some people for effect. I want the ransom situation broadcasted live for the Interpol and the Wildes to know who they are messing with. Use that chance to frame the Delphonse family. Once Wilmer transfers his assets over, I will send the word. Kill his daughters and set some snipers on Wilmer. Get some demolition experts to set up explosives at the Wilde mansion, we''re ending this once and for all."

    After listening to the plan, Lucian Anastasia felt twenty years younger. Finally, the long feud was going to be over. He was mistaken to think that his son wasn''t cold-blooded enough to inherit his legacy as a mafia boss but now, he was certain that his son''s s.e.x.u.a.lity did not affect that trait. His only regret was the lack of successors after Julian because of his orientation but that was a worry for after the Wildes were taken care of.

 Chapter 259 - Dragon Guardian

    "The both of you too?" Jasper couldn''t believe it. After the girls returned from the Bahamas, the boys decided to get together to discuss the progress on their individual ends.

    Edward was silent and Elfie was glum. "Yes, the Interpol laid us off the case. We''re not able to access any information now."

    The CEO groaned. What were they going to do now? After causing so much ruckus, their hands were now tied. Julian was just a step away from destruction and the a.d.u.l.ts decided to ruin the good morale. Wilmer and Danny were being a lot stricter on him now and Jasper didn''t know what to think of the additional security tagged to him.

    The two men in black suits sitting at the table beside them were the additional security sent by Claire on Wilmer''s orders to follow him around for his safety. Now, Jasper understood how Alex and Scarlet felt with four or six guards tailing them all the time.

    It was annoying.

    As they sipped on milkshakes, Elfie didn''t know if it was a good time to be discussing their next step with two snitches watching their every move. He wasn''t going to sit back and do nothing after hearing the conversation that Julian had with his father. The Anastasias had a cruel plan and Elfie was so glad that he made himself backdoor access to the information he already hacked into before the Interpol sent someone to confiscate everything. His laptop was under hostage right now and Edward was in a similar position. He told Edward about it but hadn''t received any reply while Jasper still remained ignorant about the development.

    Sure, the Interpol would do something about the situation and not allow anyone to be harmed after tapping into Julian''s plans. However, Elfie didn''t like the idea of using the Wildes as baits to lure Anastasia out of hiding. It was too dangerous and his friends'' lives were on the line even if it was in the name of justice. These higher-ups never prioritised civilian lives in the name of national interest. Both Elfie and Edward knew how they worked. They had to find a way to be involved somehow.

    "Hey," Edward looked at Jasper''s bodyguards and frowned. "How long will you be sticking around?"

    The guards exchanged a look and shook their heads. "Ma''am says that as long as the next shift doesn''t arrive, we''re sticking around whenever Jasper isn''t home.

    "And if he is home?"

    The leader of the two grinned. "Then we''ll guard him from a distance outside. Sorry about it but this is a precautionary measure until everything blows over."

    Elfie knew what Edward was thinking and quickly finished his drink. "I see. Then I guess a change of environment is needed/ Seeing two big bulks of muscles listening to us and following Jasper even to the washroom is a huge turn-off. Your boss wouldn''t have an issue if we gathered at his place, right?"

    Not reacting to the provocation, the guards didn''t acknowledge or deny that claim so Jasper took it as an approval. These boys must have something important to tell him that they wanted privacy.

    The trio squeezed at the back of the car that the bodyguards drove and quickly rushed into Jasper''s apartment. The CEO was puzzled when both boys started searching every nook and corner, bending down to look underneath tables and behind chairs. They were turning his place into a mess and the CEO was about to go into a fit when Elfie and Edward declared that it was safe.

    "Was that really necessary?" vexed, Jasper groaned and fell onto his couch. First, it was Alex and her messiness. Now, it was these two teens. Would it kill for him to have a neat and tidy living space? Why was everyone so hell-bent on messing his apartment up? Was it a sin to like cleanliness and tidiness?

    "Yes it was necessary," Edward explained. "If Claire can set men to you, she can also tape your home. We''re just getting rid of that possibility before talking about the more important stuff."

    Understanding a little better, Jasper forgave them but not before asking them to put everything back into place. The boys were also hired as free labourers to do a little spring cleaning. Edward took the vacuum while Elfie grabbed the mop while Jasper wiped down surfaces. They worked up a sweat for two hours scrubbing down everything until Jasper was satisfied.

    "Can we talk now?" Elfie groaned and crumbled onto the floor in an ungraceful heap.

    Edward was tired but it was a good workout. At least he didn''t have to think too much about the things he didn''t want to while his hands worked. Still, this was going to be the first and last time he helped anyone clean their house.

    "Yes, sorry and thank you. Would you like some lemon barley tea? Alex made it."

    The boys didn''t decline and were thankful that Alex had good cooking skills. Now that they were rested, Elfie brought up the topic about the plans Julian had.

    "I overheard it from his phone call to Lucian. As much as I trust the Interpol, I also don''t trust them."

    Edward agreed. "We want to ask you if you have any contacts with people who work in the security team. Actually, it might be better if you can buy us passes for the press conference to sneak in. The girls are in too much danger and they wouldn''t hesitate to shoot people. Someone should also stick by Wilmer''s side on that day just in case Julian tries something funny."

    Hearing that the Anastasia family was a mafia group who traded guns, drugs and kidnapped people, Jasper wasn''t feeling very confident. He rejected the son of a mafia boss with Wilmer. He must be lucky to survive that private meeting with such guts.

    Looking at the young CEO who looked greenish, Elfie felt slightly sorry. Jasper didn''t live in the same world he and Edward did so they might have been a little too harsh with their revelation. Yet, it didn''t change the fact that both teens wanted to be part of the operation. They had to help Scarlet and Alex because the Interpol didn''t prioritise civilian lives when it involved a big mission.

    It took a while but Jasper finally let the information sink in. Putting aside his stress and worries for now, he told them that there was someone he knew who might be able to help.

    "Elfie, do you remember Dragon from the E.C. Class?"

    The hacker took a while to recall but nodded. "He took part in the SEA Games and won, right?"

    Jasper grinned. "That''s him! Other than participating actively in martial art tournaments, Dragon managed to establish his own martial art academy and a security agency where he trains talents. I heard that he recently has a contract to train police cadets because of how good he is. The world has dubbed him the new Bruce Lee and he works as a stunt double occasionally."

    Edward raised a brow. "Can he fight against someone armed with a gun?"

    Jasper smirked and showed them a video.

    "How come I''ve never seen this?" Elfie demanded to know. He was the administrator of their class'' group chatroom, he should have known about it!

    The CEO rolled his eyes. "You were swamped with work. Most of us have seen it but Edward doesn''t know Dragon. This video is enough to speak for itself about Dragon''s abilities. I don''t know the capabilities of his students but I know that he''s the man for the job."

    They crowded over Jasper''s phone as Jasper hit the play button.

    The video was only ten seconds long but Edward couldn''t stop replaying it in slow motion. The video shows someone reaching out for a gun and Dragon flying over to disarm them with one precise wrist lock before sweeping them off balance and pinning them to the ground, subduing them before they could even react. The distance was about five metres but the martial artist didn''t even need two seconds to lay the armed assailant flat on the ground.

    Judging by his abilities, if Dragon stood beside Wilmer when that happened, he wouldn''t even need two seconds to stop Julian if he pulled something funny. The one thing that Jasper was afraid of was the possibilities of a sniper aiming for Wilmer. His windows were not bulletproof and even if they were, a bazooka will still kill everyone.

    "Dragon is a good guard for Wilmer," Edward admitted. "However, we need to change the location of that meeting. No windows. There is a risk for hied snipers if Julian is serious. I''m assuming Claire will be guarding the main Wilde mansion?"

    Jasper nodded. "So a Dragon Guardian for Wilmer, a Head Maid Guard for Orita... are the both of you going to be enough to stop the press conference if something goes wrong?"

    Elfie shook his head and corrected the young CEO. "I''m just going to be the uploader for the live situation to manipulate them and land these guys for an arrest. I''m not part of the action, you gotta ask Edward that."

    Edward gave Jasper a look that made him nervous. "I''m going to need you to buy me a gun and approach some people for a fake identity. You''re also going to use your influence to pull some strings so that I can attend it as a reporter."

    The look in Edward''s eyes was so serious and sincere that Jasper gave in. He didn''t know what kind of shady business he was going to involve himself in with these lawless teens but he was also worried for Alex. As a helpless boyfriend, this was the least he could do to ensure her safety and even if it meant he was going to go to jail or lose a limb for her, he wouldn''t regret it.

    "I understand," he said. "When should we start?"

 Chapter 260 - Cold-Blooded Partnership

    From halfway across the world, a certain hotel heiress was enjoying her lemonade while scrolling through her phone on a sunchair when she screamed.

    "Liu. Xiu. Wen. That bitch! Zhao-er! Prepare my private jet, we''re going to America!"

    Leah''s personal attendant didn''t question her mistress'' source of anger. It was all over the internet in China that Scarlet Wilde, better known as Liu Xiu Wen, was rumoured to have a relationship with her fianc¨¦. Although Leah wasn''t in love with CEO Zhu Ming Yang, she was still a proud woman who couldn''t allow the men within her grasp to be taken away by other women.

    If Leah was going to America, there was only one person she would be seeing. That would be Mr Julian Anastasia, the rich CEO of EZ Express who had recently been Leah''s favourite man. However, after seeing him getting chummy and treating an intern in his company better than he treated her, the partners had a slight falling out.

    Leah cut off the contract to supply EZ Express with their logistic and warehousing services based on personal interest because Julian wouldn''t admit that he had been cheating on her with a teenage boy that she had to dispose of. She knew that Julian and his father dabbled in illegal businesses on the side but that had never bothered her. Business was business, love was love and money was still everything to the hotel heiress.

    Back in New York City, Julian received an unexpected text from Leah. She was finally coming to see him. Perhaps that exclusive interview did some good after all. Knowing how shallow and narrow-minded Leah was, Julian might not have to dirty his hands to get rid of the competition. All he needed to do was entice and nudge Leah a little in the right direction and wait for results.

    They say that hell has no fury like a woman scorned and Leah was no exception.

    In two days, Leah was in Julian''s office. The woman simply waltzed into it like she owned the building but nobody stopped her. The employees were simply too used to this.

    Leah stormed up to the top floor and demanded to see Julian, threatening to fire the poor secretary even if she wasn''t the person signing her payslip. The secretary didn''t back down or react to the threat. It wasn''t the first time the unreasonable woman did something like that and it most certainly wouldn''t be the last. Given how things were progressing, the secretary thought that it might be a blessing if she was really laid off from her job.

    "Mr Anastasia is having an important meeting with the shareholders now. Please take a seat for him in the office, I will inform him about your arrival."

    With a harrumph, Leah stormed away and slammed the door shut.

    Julian''s phone rang while he was in the meeting and it was his secretary. Judging from the timing, Leah must be here.

    The shareholders weren''t very impressed or pleased when Julian checked his phone in the middle of their discussion. EZ Express was in such a terrible state at the moment, how can the CEO still afford to smile?

    "Excuse me, gentlemen. I believe this discussion is over for today. I have a very important partner to attend to. About your investments, I will assure you that the stock prices will return within a month. As for my methods, that''s for me to know and manage. Your jobs are to sit tight and await the good news."

    With that, Julian left the meeting room with many confused investors. Some shook their heads hopelessly. The CEO has officially lost his mind. Others were hopeful. It wasn''t right for Julian to be so confident if he didn''t have a plan and they decided to give the man one more chance to prove his worth. As it currently was, they weren''t able to do anything more because Julian and Lucian held most of the company shares. Even if the remaining shareholders somehow managed to come to a consensus to remove Julian from the board of directors, the resolution wouldn''t pass.

    Leah helped herself to everything in Julian''s office and the CEO couldn''t help but feel slightly irritated with Leah''s meddling. Thankfully, this was merely his work desktop at the company and not his personal laptop. Once everything was over, he was going to dump this bitch in the Hudson River.

    "What a surprise to see you here. I thought you didn''t want to have anything to do with me anymore."

    Leah''s eyes were cold and her tone was freezing. "Cheating on me was your fault. Don''t think that I''ve forgiven you just yet. I just happen to know that you have something I want. In exchange, we can revise the terms of our business interests."

    Julian smirked, not bothering with pleasing this woman. If his father thought that she could be pleased with just some trinkets, he was wrong. Ever since their first encounter, he had always known this woman''s true colours. She was a terrifying money-sucking machine who didn''t mind using anybody and everybody around her to get higher. She could sleep with anyone for a contract, kiss and tell the world about her scandals for fame and discard anyone who had fallen out of favour with the high society at the drop of a hat without blinking twice. The image that Leah painted to Lucian was very different from the one she had with Julian. Leah''s mask finally cracked when her seduction failed time after time, wounding her pride.

    "I don''t think you understand the situation you''re in right now," Julian casually lit a cigarette. "You''re in America, in my building, under my control. You''re in no position to be making any demands after the stunt you pulled on me. I don''t need your partnership for anything."

    Naturally, this was a bluff but Julian was confident that Leah didn''t know about it. After all, there was nobody on her side working under him. Julian was a careful man and what he wanted, he would have.

    Normally, the CEO would disguise all his ruffian tones with a gentlemanly behaviour but after seeing how different he was acting after their falling out, Leah couldn''t help but feel slightly afraid. She had almost forgotten how dangerous this wolf was underneath the sheepskin but this was exactly what she wanted. He was perfect for her revenge plan.

    Pretending that she wasn''t affected by his not-so-subtle threat, Leah leaned against his desk and looked Julian in the eye.

    "In that case, you''re the perfect person I need. America is not my territory, I don''t know anyone reliable that I can use without causing trouble for myself back in the mainland. IN return for help from your side business, I will sign the new contract for EZ Express and the companies under my care. Pineapple Group and the Wilde family cannot collaborate. I want that girl Liu Xiu Wen gone."

    Julian let out a puff. "Just gone?"

    For a moment, Leah didn''t know what he was referring to until Julian raised his brow and pushed his jacket to a side, revealing his hidden holster and pistol.

    "We have a more permanent solution."

    With a wicked smile, Leah shook hands with Julian. "As long as this doesn''t come back to me, consider yourself a deal done. My assistant will send you the new contract with terms you will find favourable. In return, send me your best men, I want to watch this happen personally as I get rid of that snobbish child."

    Julian frowned. It would be pointless to kill just the adopted girl. Blood is thicker than water, it would be more effective to have the Wildes act obediently if he had their biological daughter too.

    "Are you sure you just want personal revenge? How about listening to my plans and you can consider the profits. The Wildes are much wealthier than you think they are. If you can also get the other girl, I can get the contract from them for their assets. We will split the spoils of war and you can get Pineapple Group''s portion entirely once they have been crippled. Without the Wildes backing your pathetic fianc¨¦, Mr Zhu cannot remain in his position for much longer. As one of the biggest shareholders in Pineapple Group, it''s up to you who you want to nominate for the vacant position."

    Leah stopped by the door, her hand on the handle but she didn''t leave the room just yet as if considering the offer. It was tempting, very much so.

    "I will call you after I consider it. Your father is a disagreeable old fart, I hope that you can keep your word once this is over and marry me instead. I''m not interested in the other men flocking around me and it''s getting annoying."

    Julian waited for the door to close before stubbing the cigarette out. What a cold-hearted woman. But that was exactly what he liked about her when she wasn''t pretending to be that whiny bitch. Too bad, he was still going to dispose of her when the deed was done. The only thing he wanted was her money, he really wasn''t interested in girls.

 Chapter 261 - Wilmer and Edward

    School life resumed for everyone. Elfie had to leave his office and Jasper was almost crazy from the constant watch he was placed under. Orita returned to her mansion briefly and met up with Wilmer.

    "Do you really have to go again?" she asked, unhappy about it. They haven''t seen each other for years but her husband had to go again.

    "I''ll be back in a few months, everything should be quickly resolved by then. For now, please listen to Claire and follow her instructions. We should tighten our security while we can. Anastasia still hasn''t caught up to what we''re planning. Jasper is off limits and the kids are well-protected in school. You''re the one most vulnerable, I don''t wish for anything to happen to you so you should leave the country tonight, there will be someone from the Interpol sent to act as you to lure them out from hiding. I''m going to China for a little business trip, nothing to worry about. CEO Zhu is a reliable man."

    With a heavy heart, the loving couple shared their last kiss before Wilmer left through the door.

    "My lady, we should get going now. the car is ready," Jenna bowed. As Wilmer said, the people from the Interpol were already working hard to add all sorts of precautionary measures around their compound. It was finally happening but Orita couldn''t help but feel more worried about it than all the years she lived apart from her husband.

    "It''s alright, Danny is with him. The Interpol is going all out on this case, we just have to bid our time at the Bahamas and wait for the good news to return," Claire assured and escorted Orita to the car waiting for them.

    Wilmer didn''t look back after he left the mansion. His eyes hardened. With his wife safely away in the Bahamas, there was only his daughter left to worry about. The Interpol wanted to use them as baits and while Wilmer wasn''t keen on the idea, there was nothing he could do. Danny informed him that Elfie was off the case so they could only rely on the Interpol''s judgement.

    "Preparations are ready, both your daughters have trained agents assigned to them. There is no reason to worry, the one most vulnerable is you. As such, they rearranged your office location to a safer space for temporary measures."

    Wilmer didn''t answer Danny. His mind was still reeling when Danny told him about Edward, Scarlet''s boyfriend and his involvement with the case. By far, Elfie and Edward''s contributions were the greatest, making it possible to reopen the cold case from before. This was something none of the a.d.u.l.t spies managed but the two teens were the first to break that pattern. As a father, he had mixed feelings about having a spy son-in-law. He might not have been the most responsible parent in the world to Scarlet but he definitely cared for her.

    According to everyone, Scarlet was a lot happier ever since she met Edward but Wilmer couldn''t help but worry. What if Edward only got close to Scarlet in order to gain some clues? Now that the Anastasias were going to be put behind bars, was Edward going to disappear from his daughter''s life and break her heart? This wouldn''t do.

    "Change of plans," he told Danny. "Let''s visit Edward."

    Danny was puzzled. Isn''t Edward in school? Why did Wilmer want to meet him all of a sudden?

    Contrary to Danny''s belief, Edward wasn''t actually in school. He was sulking with Elfie and Jasper at a cafe. The boys were playing hooky from school and work when Wilmer and Danny caught them red-handed.

    Needless to say, Elfie was dragged out of the cafe by an enraged Danny who excused himself from work for a while to discipline his child. Jasper saw Wilmer, bowed and sneakily made an excuse to escape, leaving Edward all alone.

    The teen wasn''t in the best of moods but he was still polite when he saw Wilmer. It was a good location to talk and not look out of place so Wilmer ordered them some fries to go with new cups of iced coffee.

    Edward looked so dejected that Wilmer thought it might have been Scarlet who ditched him instead of his fears of the boy leaving his daughter.

    "Why the glum face?" he couldn''t help but ask.

    Edward didn''t reply at once. What should he say? That he was a spy who had recently been asked to retire? That he was lost in life and didn''t know what he wanted to do now that he was a free man again?

    "I don''t know. I always thought that my life was planned out for me and all I had to do was walk the path made for me. I never thought that an earthquake would come to shake everything up so you can say that I''m feeling a little lost and unsure of what to do."

    Wilmer blinked. That''s right. Danny did mention that both Elfie and Edward were banned from further investigations. He didn''t know the specifics but he guessed that Edward was feeling lost because of this. He worked so hard to chase after a criminal but now the Interpol has dismissed him from the case. This part of the youth made Wilmer smile. Many years back when he just knew Orita, he felt the same thing. He dropped the bright future he had to be with her in her darkest times and it was a decision he never regretted making.

    "You know, I was once like you. I had a path and a very bright future but I threw everything away because of my wife. Back then, we weren''t married and had barely known each other. But somehow, I felt that if I didn''t abandon everything to pursue her, she would disappear from my life forever and I would hate myself for it. I didn''t necessarily know what I wanted to do back then but I knew what I had to do. I had to become a man worthy of standing beside her to support her burdens and share her dream. I hope that it''s the same case with you and my daughter. If your feelings for Scarlet aren''t at least as strong as my feelings for Orita then you should leave before you do her more harm."

    The straightforward message made Edward nod. "I couldn''t help her, she doesn''t really need me. What else can I do? I''ve done everything I can but it''s not enough. Scarlet''s constantly running ahead of me, I''m afraid that I''ll lose her like that. You might not know it because you''ve been away for so many years but Scarlet isn''t a damsel in distress. She''s a warrior through and through who adorns dresses as armour and confidence as her weapon."

    Wilmer smiled. That sounds like the small girl who ran despite having a broken leg with the evidence and hid in a closet just to help his company find the rat so many years ago. Scarlet hasn''t changed at all and the CEO chuckled.

    "No, you''re absolutely right about Scarlet. It looks like you know her well, she''s very much like a more stubborn and proactive version of Orita which is why we worry about her a lot more than we worry about Alex. Scarlet dashes headfirst into danger and she runs fast. I was initially worried about the relationship she shares with you because I thought you approached her due to your job. I''ve been mistaken, please accept my apology."

    Stunned, Edward didn''t know how to react to Wilmer bowing to him in apology. As a father who loved his daughters very much, Edward was sorry that he couldn''t be a better boyfriend for his precious daughter.

    "No sir, I should be the one in your care. I admit that I first approached Scarlet because of my work which I''m assuming you must have already heard from some of your trusted sources. They are true but I''ve been recently dismissed from my job. I''ve been fired so now I''m just another ordinary teenager. However, I assure you that my feelings for Scarlet aren''t a lie. If they were, I wouldn''t be forced to leave the job I thought I was destined for."

    Wilmer blinked. That revelation made him feel complicated on the inside. He had been right, this dog had approached his daughter because of his work. However, the second part of the revelation made Wilmer feel sorry for the informant. According to Danny and looking at Elfie, those who worked in that line often are prepared to lay down their lives at any moment''s notice. Edward must be no exception. Suddenly finding himself a freeman from that prison of responsibility was like a bird caged all its life discovering that the world outside of the cage was so much wider. He must be feeling even more lost in life than Wilmer did back then.

    "Why don''t you focus on graduating first? You can decide what you want to do with Scarlet bit by bit."

    At that, Edward bit his straw. "I don''t know if I have a place in her future. You might not know this but we had a major fight that both of us are trying very hard to forget. Because of what I do and who she was, we had to build many walls to hide our secrets. I don''t know if I can ever tell her all my secrets in this life and they say that there should be no secrets between lovers. She must be disappointed in me."

    Who was this lost puppy? The Edward that Claire and Danny described to him wasn''t this pathetic in Wilmer''s head. Angry that the talented teen let himself get defeated by love, he smacked the teen on the shoulder.

    "Chin up. You''re still young. Just know that you have both Orita and my approval, think of us as your second parents. Whatever you want to do in the future, we will give you our support. You''re the main reason why this war with Anastasia can finally be over and why Scarlet has never been happier in her life. Take all the time you need, this is my business card."

    Edward took the card and Wilmer paid the bill before reminding Edward to think about it before he left the cafe.

    Alone at the table, Edward stared at the name card for a very long time before pocketing it.

 Chapter 262 - Fighting Dragon

    The girls slowly but surely adjusted back to their regular lives after the trip to the Bahamas. However, they were also incredibly busy after school. Alex was busy meeting new people and Scarlet was taking care of the Golden Frost''s marketing activities.

    Orita silently left the country but nobody knew. The Interpol was busy focusing on the Anastasia family but nobody paid attention to the lone China hotel heiress who was in town. CEO Zhu was scheduled to land in New York next week for the official press conference and Scarlet was still sulking at not being able to visit the warehouse before the press conference.

    Edward, Elfie and Jasper were busy making their own arrangements because they didn''t trust the a.d.u.l.ts to handle the matter smoothly. Dragon was also in town and called his contacts from Chinatown, bringing some men from Hong Kong as additional manpower.

    "You look like a thug," Elfie commented and Dragon showed off his huge dragon tattoo on his right bicep.

    "No, I look tough!" he said and Edward blinked. This flashy street thug was going to be Scarlet and Alex''s extra guard? Was Elfie and Jasper for real now?

    "I don''t know if this is going to be a good idea. Scarlet and Alex are trained by Claire. They will be able to floor a thug like him in a minute. We''re not playing children games and scuffles, we''re guarding against armed assailants and professional assassins."

    Triggered by Edward''s belittling comment, Dragon jumped over the table in Jasper''s meeting room to pin Edward.

    On reflex, Edward responded to defend himself but Dragon was fast, too fast for his eyes to keep up. Within five seconds, Edward lost miserably and his hand was locked painfully behind his back. Dragon wasn''t gentle, he used just enough force to not make it pop out of the socket but held Edward down firmly without even breaking a sweat. He breathed normally as if strolling in a park and not taking someone down.

    "Children games and scuffles? I think not. There is a Chinese saying to never judge a man by their looks and the equivalent in America should be not to judge a book by its cover. Learn a thing or two from them before you talk and make a fool of yourself."

    Hearing that Dragon was actually using big words, Jasper and Elfie applauded, looking very proud.

    "Oh gosh! You''ve really grown up!" Elfie commented. "I remember how you used to be unable to remember multiplication tables. You''re actually speaking in proverbs now, I''m so proud of you!"

    Jasper nodded. "I''m so glad you passed the final examinations legitimately and didn''t actually threaten the examiners to look the other way after they gave you the answer sheet to copy from!"

    Hearing their teasing remarks and insincere praises mocking his intelligence, Dragon blushed.

    "Shut up! I was stupid back then, I''m a lot smarter now. Rebecca said that I cannot marry her if I don''t memorise my wedding vows right. Also, as a man, I cannot let my woman defend me. The pen is mightier than the sword in today''s world. I had to learn how to slap people with words."

    Dragon finally released Edward and Elfie smirked.

    "What''s four times four?"

    "Eighteen?" the confused martial artist answered and both boys burst out in laughter. As expected, this was still the same musclehead they knew.

    Embarrassed by his lack of mathematical skills, Dragon demanded them to be silenced but not even a noogie will make the laughter cease. Edward watched as Dragon roared in rage when the boys continued to tease him. Somehow, he felt slightly bad for judging him without knowing. He had to apologise later. Dragon was going to be putting his life on the line to keep the sisters safe and the least Edward could do was offer him respect. Maybe even a Math supplementary class.

    After calming down and settling down, the boys got down to serious business. Edward and Jasper wrote down Alex and Scarlet''s schedule for the coming week and Elfie pulled out Claire''s arranged security details. Dragon looked them over and told them the men he had under his charge.

    "Not everyone is trained for disarming armed assailants. If we''re talking about good ones professionally trained to deal with assassination threats, I have only five men, excluding myself. Someone has to coordinate movements on both sides for each person. We cannot let the Wilde private security arrangements be moved, I''m sure the Interpool sent people to watch as well."

    Edward agreed with everything Dragon said. Despite being a martial artist and stunt ctor, Dragon was actually good at high-risk security detail arrangement.

    "Do you work for the government?" Edward couldn''t help but ask. "Secret service and things like that," he clarified.

    Dragon raised a brow. "We are cleaners and contractors for specific jobs but I don''t work for them. Think of us as professional freelancers. I help them in return for rights to operate my side business."

    Jasper was confused when Elfie shook his head. "Fight clubs. You don''t talk about it."

    Dragon grinned. "Don''t tell my future wife. I will quit that life when I have children but for now, I want to achieve greater heights. This body can still be stronger but you cannot find many strong men to fight with on the job."

    Impressed, Edward finally noticed the strange wounds on Dragon''s arm that he covered up really well with tattoos. He simply assumed that they were earned during a stunt accident but looking at it closer, some of those cuts were really deep and clean as if someone had professionally cut him at an angle too coincidental to be a fall.

    This man might be the right person for the job. He wanted him in the raid team instead of the guard team.

    "Can your men handle the ground situation?" Edward asked and Elfie looked up.

    "I want you on the raid team," Edward explained and Elfie hissed.

    "Stop that! I told you we''re not doing raids! You''re no longer part of the Interpol! You have no rights to interfere, don''t do this. I have to report you to the higher-ups if I know anything."

    Edward gave Elfie a cold glare. "Fine. It won''t stop me from doing what I need to do. I have until the end of the month to turn in my pass. While I''m still holding onto it, it still has legitimate uses. The a.d.u.l.ts don''t know what they''re dealing with, I do. Leah is in New York, I''m simply taking care of business from the angle that they always fail to look at. You and I both know how missions normally end up without me on the ground. Prevention is better than cure, I''ll bear the consequences. Just don''t get in my way."

    Elfie pulled at his hair, frustrated and Jasper looked conflicted. Although his working partners didn''t tell him a lot, he knew that they were working on confidential information that borderline the legal and illegal side of the law. As a neutral party who didn''t know the full story, Jasper thought that Edward had a point. It was better to be safe than sorry. However, he also knew Elfie''s concern.

    "Why don''t we leave this to Dragon instead. He can investigate on behalf and you don''t need to risk getting into trouble. Edward, you should stay with Scarlet. Unlike Alex, Scarlet doesn''t have that many security details when she is at Golden Frost''s office. The building isn''t assassin-proof. You should also stop her from meeting CEO Zhu in private to prevent giving Leah an excuse for calling her out."

    Edward listened to Jasper''s suggestion and with a little urging from Elfie, he gave in. "Deal. However, I want everything about Leah to be investigated. CEO Zhu too. The link between Anastasia and CEO Zhu is Leah, she''s not innocent in this deal."

    Dragon studied the profiles of the targets he had to investigate and accepted the job.

    "Alright, since I''m doing you a favour, I expect it to be paid in full. Jasper, I''m sending you the expenses for my wedding. Elfie, you''re in charge of finding out the engagement ring that Rebecca wants. I need to buy that thing in secret and propose to her by the end of the year. I''ve waited too long to graduate, I''m not waiting any longer to marry her. Lately, there have been too many flies hovering around her thinking that they have a chance."

    Elfie agreed and Jasper nodded, promising to also take care of Dragon''s engagement party expenses if he did well as a bonus. The martial artist took the files and left. Edward was unusually silent so Jasper decided to call it a day. The poor ex-agent must have a lot on his mind now. Not too long ago, Edward had a meeting with Wilmer. Now, he had to sit back and do nothing because of his early retirement. If he was Edward, he would be equally frustrated.

    "Go home and rest, Edward. Scarlet enjoys broccoli pancakes and roasted chicken with herbs. It''s a long day for her," Jasper smiled.

    Edward got the hint and packed up before leaving. He looked like a lost puppy and Elfie didn''t say anything until he was sure Edward had left for real.

    "It''s not going to be easy for him."

    Jasper agreed. "I would offer him a job with Kiwi Cat but I don''t think this is what he wants to do."

    They sat in silence and thought deeply about their future. Once Anastasia was caught and justice was served, what were they going to do? They could laugh at Edward''s situation now but very soon, all three of them would be in a similar boat.

    Growing up was a scary thing.

 Chapter 263 - Hired Hitman

    "This is the talent you recommend?" Leah eyed the gentleman that Julian introduced.

    He looked like a stockbroker working for the New York Exchange in Wall Street. The man was thin and tall, very fair as if he doesn''t usually go under the sun. He wore framed glasses and carried a suitcase like all successful businessmen in the city. Even his watch was made of gold. Nothing about this man looked like a hitman and Leah was having second thoughts.

    Julian smiled. Indeed, nothing about this man looked like a hitman and that was why he was the best. It wasn''t easy to shake the Interpol dogs off his tail but he managed to ditch them and introduce his best hitman to Leah. He wanted the deal done without a hitch and could only trust this person to pull off a double hit perfectly after Julian got what he wanted.

    "Just do as he says and you''ll find yourself the richest lady in China. Nobody can stand in your way once the Wildes are gone. All the shipping routes and influences that they have will be ours and you can gather your allies to kick CEO Zhu out. That engagement with him can go to the shredder and what you finally desire will be yours."

    Leah smirked and raised her champagne flute and Julian mirrored her action to accept her toast for a smooth partnership. Leah was too easy to influence, he didn''t need coercing and it was a shame he wouldn''t be able to get her sticky paws off him any time soon. This woman was dumb but shrewd when it came to finances. As long as she wasn''t willing to sign the papers with him, Julian hasn''t won yet. In the worst circ.u.mstances, he would buy her signature and have someone forge it then put a hit on her and stage her death to inherit everything. Heck, he would even adopt a child and fake the registration papers to make the story believable for the media if he had to.

    But first, Wilmer had to go. His wife and mansion might be heavily guarded but his daughters were like free-range chickens even if he placed many guard dogs around. For a hunter like his hitman, they were as good as dead. In fact, why keep both when he only needed one? The Asian girl would be a good warning after they secured the blonde one.

    "Send feelers and prepare a team. I don''t want anyone messing up the operation. Kill the Asian girl and make sure they send word back after you get the blonde one. Also, if Leah gets out of control, you have the right to get rough with her."

    "Yes, young master."

    Now that the ball was rolling, all Julian had to do was wait for his old man to set things up with his long-time partners. The new contract that Leah gave him after a little consideration wasn''t a bad deal but it could be better. He knew that most of Pineapple Group''s subsidiaries were already under that woman''s thumb and while having easy access to all the warehouses was a huge advantage, he wanted a place to hide their peddlers and mules. Firearm business with the Russians may be lucrative but the one that pays better were drugs. Fortunately, Leah had many properties under her name that they could borrow for transactions.

    On his way back, Julian kept scrolling through his phone. How should he sweeten the deal? Women were truly ugly creatures. Just seeing a girl clinging onto the arms of her man can make Leah insane enough to want her dead. The paparazzi he hired to take all sorts of pictures did his job well. Some of these shots were good enough for some photoshopping.

    "Hello? I need you to do some editing work for me and release it to the press. How fast can you do it?"

    The man on the other end of the line groaned. "So soon? Who are you ruining this time?"

    Julian smirked. "Scarlet Wilde and CEO Zhu. I need it before the conference meeting for the Golden Pineapple collaboration announcement. Also, do nudes of Alexandra Wilde and circulate them in the usual places. The dirtier, the better. Then get someone to write an article about their steamy escapades in the Bahamas. I want the media all over them."

    The other party laughed. "You want to mess with the Wildes in New York? Are you not afraid of death? I''m not doing it."

    Julian wasn''t smiling. "I''m sorry. Did you think this was a request? If you don''t take this job, you can expect to see your daughter''s life support suddenly malfunctioning at any point in time. Should I remind you that nobody in New York City will investigate us because we own them?"

    The line was silent but not cut off. Julian waited. He hated to kill such a talented man but he would do what he had to. In this world, there wasn''t anything that money and power couldn''t give him what he wanted.

    Reluctantly, the man committed to the new job and Julian smirked. Yes, this was how things should be. The weak shouldn''t have opinions, they should stay obedient and work for him until they die. Once he had the assets of two huge empires, he would force his old man into retirement. Of course, if he disagreed, Julian could always make it seem like his father''s weak heart had acted up in the moment of rage when he insisted on coming out of the closet publically. Nobody would know better.

    "Patience, Julian..." he told himself and smoked a cigarette, flicking the ash out of the window. The night scenery of New York City never changed and Julian wondered when he could become the true owner of this wonderful place. All the sparkling lights and dazzling colours made him excited. It reminded him of the dazzling attention actors received on stage and for Julian, this city was his stage.

    "Soon, the final act will come and when it does, I hope they''re ready for a major plot twist."

 Chapter 264 - No Connection

    Claire was horrified when she saw the news. It was a good thing Orita still hasn''t discovered it. The head maid was told the horrible news by a frazzled butler. Anastasia was playing dirty and Claire wanted to storm in with her guns blazing to get revenge even if it wasn''t the smartest thing to do.

    It was a very obvious trap and they couldn''t afford to ruin their meticulous plans now because of such a simple ploy.

    "Keep this from Orita," she told Jenna. "I need to oversee this personally. I''m going back to New York. Also, cut the wire for the internet and jam the signals. Do not let her find out until everything is over. I will contact you. Don''t let her out of the villa and don''t pick up any calls. It''s over once they get our location, everything will be for naught."

    Jenna nodded. "The girls must be very terrified now and the situation must be horrible. Please keep them safe!"

    Claire didn''t need long to pack her things. She brought with her three guards and left the rest to resume their duty as usual. Jenna quickly cut the internet line with a pair of scissors and switched on the signal jamming device. The lady butler also gave strict orders for the rest of the guards and coordinated their stories so that Orita wouldn''t be suspicious.

    Still, Jenna was badly shaken. The girls were only sixteen. Even if those photos were clearly edited, it was an extremely harsh thing to do to two teenage girls who were innocent in the fight between a.d.u.l.ts. Scarlet was called a man-stealing whore in a photoshopped image of her seducing CEO Zhu in a hotel room. Alex had photoshopped nudes published all over popular p.o.r.nographic sites and was called a s.l.u.t. The media''s attention to the news didn''t improve the situation and Jenna could only imagine the chaos the city was in.

    Claire was not dealing with the shocking news any better. She thought that she had taken care of everything before she left. Who knew that Anastasia would resort to such a dirty trick. She hated to admit it but when it came to playing foul, the mafia lord was better than them. The Interpol would be unable to control the situation and Wilmer''s hands were tied. This was well-planned and Anastasia''s intentions were obvious. How long had they been waiting for this day to arrive? She was careless.

    Claire bit her nail until her finger bled but the head maid was too angry to care about the pain. Her thought kept going back to Scarlet and Alex. Were the girls living separately and trapped in their own apartment? How were the boys coping with such news? Although the flight was a short one, Claire felt as if they were travelling too slowly. Edward and Jasper have been oddly quiet, Elfie couldn''t be contacted. What was going on? She could understand that Wilmer and Danny''s phones were flooded but the kids... why was she receiving nothing but radio silence?

    "Dammit!" she cussed, scaring her subordinates. "Can''t this damned plane go any faster?"

    Raven deadpanned. "Ma''am, it''s going at the speed it possibly can go at. I know that you''re anxious to check on the situation on home ground but we need you to remain level-headed like how you normally are. The mistresses are strong, they won''t be so easily defeated. Take a look at this, it''s in morse. The Interpol just sent it."

    Glaring at Raven half-heartedly., Claire snatched the transmission and decoded it quickly.

    [Hitman caught, spies identified. Girls missing, sending extra men to track them down. Agent Sentient reinstated for the case. CEO Zhu hospitalised from a car crash. Brake wires found cut. Leah Yuan suspected. Julian on the run. Lucian caught. Hackers activated, tracking a location. Bombing foiled on Wilde mansion. Wilmer secured.]

    Claire re-read this several times and slumped onto the chair.

    "What did it say?" Raven asked urgently. Claire was ashen and none of her subordinates had ever seen the Cyborg look so fearful.

    Raven read it quickly and broke the bad news to his colleagues. Claire was right, this plane was not fast enough.

    The atmosphere was so dark on the private jet that the stewardess serving them on board didn''t dare to wish them a good day when they left. All four bodyguards resembled grim reapers, dressed in black with murder in their eyes. The customs officers didn''t bother checking their bags and let them pass when Claire flashed them her government pass.

    With no time to waste, they hailed a taxi to Kiwi Cat Studio where Jasper, Edward and Elfie were already working on the case. Edward just sent Claire a file that Elfie encrypted. It showed her a video of Dragon and his brothers valiantly protecting the girls against six men armed with guns. The assailants were disarmed and four were knocked unconscious but the two remaining gunmen had backup pistols. They shot Dragon in the chest and made a run for it with Alex and Scarlet roughly knocked out with a solid punch to the gut.

    The van''s license plate was caught on tape and Elfie had already located it but the kidnappers changed vehicles to one that wasn''t registered. They lost all traces of where the girls were taken to and Edward sent a message following that video clip.

    "Cyborg, I need your help. Scarlet trusted me, I cannot fail her. We have to get Julian and leave the rescue to the Interpol."

    Claire was only five minutes away from Kiwi Cat Studio. She had to make up her mind quick to assist Edward in a two-man raid to apprehend the criminal on the run and leave rescuing the girls to an incompetent team or rescue the girls and let Julian escape, failing their expectations completely.

    It was a tough decision but Claire could imagine Scarlet and Alex''s tears of frustration if they knew they let this chance slip away. Everything was a mess. Nobody was prepared for the large-scale war the Anastasia Family had put up. The Interpol had to arrest not only the mayor of New York but also the Chief Commissioner to get the situation under control. They couldn''t bring in the army but they brought in the riot police to keep the crowd away and bury the truth of the situation.

    With one more minute ETA, Claire replied Edward. "Do you have a plan?"

    His reply was short but resolute.

    "Not yet. But failure is not an option."

    Claire liked his answer. Looking over to the three most capable guards, Claire gave them what might be her final orders.

    "Secure the ladies and work with Elfie. Raven, you''re in charge in my absence. Gather the men we have all over New York and abandon the mansion. Lock the escape paths and leave only one. Ambush the kidnappers there and rescue our princesses. I''m going on a solo mission, don''t wait for my return. It has been a joy working with all of you for many years, please continue guarding the Wilde Family with your full devotion."

    Raven didn''t like the sound of it. Claire was giving them a farewell speech and when he saw Edward waiting for them at the taxi stand beneath the office building, he somehow understood.

    "Yes, ma''am! Please come back safely," he told her even if she told them not to wait for her. Without waiting for her reply, he quickly got out of the car, not wanting to hear anything that might change his mind about their mission''s success rate.

    They were a family, it wouldn''t be complete with anyone missing.

 Chapter 265 - A Fathers Intuition

    Quiet. Danny was too quiet. They were in a hotel room and Wilmer was told to work from it as if he was going on an overseas business trip. That was what the Interpol told Danny to tell his employees anyway.

    They were meant to take it easy now that everything was in place. Orita was safe, the girls were being watched closely and they would nab the mafia boss and his entire operation during the press release next week.

    So why was Danny so distracted? Everything should be preparing smoothly, right? Also, the man had been acting strangely since earlier. He didn''t allow Wilmer to check his phone or touch his laptop even if there were work-related matters. From morning till now, Danny had been dragging him around for breakfast, a massage, an eighteen-hole golf course activity that was dragged on for hours and finally to lunch.

    Something was going on. Something related to his girls was going on, Wilmer knew that feeling too well.

    He placed down his fork and knife before letting Danny know that he was going to the gents for a while, secretly pocketing his phone. Danny was too distracted to notice that small action and nodded without suspecting anything. Wilmer made his escape as naturally as he possibly could. Internally, he was anxious and his organs were bunched up in a twisted mess. He had an extremely terrible feeling about it.

    Locking himself in the handicap stall, Wilmer quickly retrieved his phone and checked the messages. There weren''t many messages but the one he received immediately made his blood boil.

    The pictures were clearly fake. He might not have seen his girls in years but he knew at once those images weren''t his daughters'' bodies. Scarlet didn''t have a full bosom, she was flat. Alex didn''t have tanned skin, she was fair like her mother no matter how much tanning she does. Alex also has freckles that are very light on her shoulders and back ever since she was very young. This wasn''t her but it didn''t change the fact that someone was trying to sully both his daughters'' reputation.

    The words ''s.l.u.t'' and ''whore'' with their names made Wilmer ready for murder. There was no mistaking it, this was Anastasia''s work. The man had gone too far this time and Wilmer finally understood why Danny refused to let him come into contact with anything relating to the internet. The advisor was right but Wilmer didn''t care. As the father of his girls, he had the right to know.

    Storming out of the gents, he had no plans in his head. Anger rushed to his brain and all Wilmer could think of was to grab his heaviest golf club and storm to EZ Express'' headquarters. If he couldn''t get to Lucian, he would get to his bastard of a son for revenge.

    The moment he saw Wilmer coming out of the gents, Danny knew that something went terribly wrong. He didn''t even try to talk to Wilmer who glared daggers at him. Instead, the advisor called for backup with his hidden microphone. The six guards pretending to be hotel staff and other customers stood up and surrounded Wilmer who glared at them and tried to run.

    Danny anticipated this, he just hoped that he could keep this from Wilmer for at least a day until they found where Julian was hiding. At the same time, he was waiting for a message from the Interpol. The last update told him that Sentient and Cyborg were collaborating on a two-man mission to recover the hostages and subdue the prime suspect Leah who should be with them. Danny still hasn''t heard anything from Elfie who was coordinating movements of the three teams so he was equally anxious. However, Wilmer''s recklessness wasn''t going to make anything easier for them. As it is, the Interpol were already shorthanded.

    "Wilmer, listen to me..." Danny tried to reason with the CEO struggling wildly as two trained bodyguards restrained him.

    "Let me go! I''m going to kill that f.u.c.ker!" he roared, his voice hoarse and eyes red from unshed tears of anger.

    "Don''t stop me! I''m going to KILL HIM!!!"

    Danny shook his head with a frown and gave the guards a sign. Thankfully, he prepared strong tranquilizers for a situation like this. The guard injected something into Wilmer''s arm and within seconds, the man became limp.

    "What do we do now, sir?" the guard asked. Danny looked at the men sent by the Interpol and tried to pick out someone of similar size and looks to the CEO.

    "You," he singled out a blond man in his early thirties. "Swap clothing with him and continue roaming around the resort. Two of you follow me, the rest of you continue as planned. We''re going to try baiting the rest. They cannot get to Orita, they got the girls but Wilmer isn''t picking up the phone and is currently off-grid. Julian must be panicking by now. Keep it up. He is going to send men over personally."

    The Interpol guards nodded and informed the HQ of the change in plans. The sniper on the roof changed locations, some spies changed their uniforms to suit the new plan. Danny watched all of that unfold and told two of the guards to carry Wilmer to the car. They were going to hide in the safest place in the resort and he needed the CEO to be asleep throughout.

    "Bring him to the games room and get the teen actors to make a ruckus. Don''t forget to watch the door and give him another dosage an hour before the current one wears out."

    The guards bowed and drove the car away, ready to stage a new cover for the trap. Danny was nervous. Although the entire resort was filled with the Interpol''s spies and none of the guests were real customers, he still couldn''t help but worry. They had linked up a new command centre in one of the staff break rooms in case the mafia boss targeted the security room first but he still had an uneasy feeling. Leah''s kidnapping was too well-planned. Anastasia must be helping that girl and nobody knew if both girls were still unharmed.

    The mafia lord was ruthless, he could kill one girl at any moment''s notice just to send a warning if things weren''t going his way. Danny didn''t know who he was going to kill but he prayed to all the Gods he didn''t normally believe in that neither of them would be harmed. This family deserved their happiness.

 Chapter 266 - The Kidnapping

    It happened so suddenly. Scarlet and Alex met up to talk about Golden Frost''s development last night. The writer was very nervous about it simply because she didn''t hear much from CEO Zhu who was having a lot of strange ''accidents'' in his country that made it difficult for him to confirm the date of his arrival.

    Apparently, Anastasia was starting to make a move on him when he knew that the Wildes were going to finalise their partnership with Pineapple Group. Scarlet didn''t know what to tell her sister but she wanted to come up with an excuse to push the press conference date behind with so many things going on.

    Alex wasn''t a fool. She noticed that the number of stalkers had increased but she wasn''t sure who was on her side and who wasn''t. Something big was coming up and the boys were constantly sticking near them whenever they weren''t plotting away in the office or making excuses to stay overnight. CEO Zhu has also been texting Scarlet a lot and there was news about a rival heiress in town, hosting a huge party in a few days and spending big money everywhere. As one of the most influential socialites, it was interesting how Alex didn''t receive any invitation. The model did some digging of her own and found out that Leah Yuan, the troublemaker in town, was the fianc¨¦e of CEO Zhu. Somebody must be seeing green which would explain all the strange attention she was trying to garner.

    Well, that sounded like a problem for Leah to deal with. Alex couldn''t be bothered by childish princess tantrums, she was a busy woman with a business deal to clinch and money to make.

    They decided to meet Dragon in a restaurant at Chinatown after their work ended for the day upon Edward''s suggestion. While the timing of Dragon''s appearance was a little too coincidental, Scarlet didn''t think too much about it. She was just happy to see a familiar face that wasn''t trying to keep her away from them.

    Alex and Scarlet remembered eating and drinking oolong tea while updating Dragon about their university life. The martial artist had been very proud to let them know his intentions of marrying Rebecca over dinner when a group of men with ski masks on their faces came in with guns.

    Scarlet immediately froze up and became unable to react when the sound of gunshots echoed. Alex''s screams only added to the terror that was replaying in Scarlet''s mind. The writer didn''t know what happened but she remembered hearing a lot of shouts, destruction and finally the scent of rusted iron after she witnessed someone getting shot. She didn''t know who got shot but the crimson liquid quickly spread from the clothes to the floor without end, inching closer to Scarlet in a pool while she stared at everything happening around her without comprehending what was going on until darkness took over.

    The first thing that Alex saw when the gunners entered was how Dragon and the brothers he wanted to introduce to them sprung into action. It was as if she was watching a live-action movie but the sound effects were too real.

    Hands were everywhere and Alex screamed when triggers were pulled. She watched a bulb shatter when the assailant misfired his intended shot. The ''brother''s'' that Dragon had with him turned out to be expert martial artists. She couldn''t fully register who was doing what in the room with someone shouting at her to get under the table to take cover. Glass crashed and shattered everywhere, Alex didn''t know what she was doing but she saw Scarlet in a very quiet state under the table that felt out of place in such a chaotic scene.

    She had never been so scared in her entire life but Alex didn''t fear the gunners or the chaos during that moment. The one thing she feared more than anything else was losing Scarlet. Her sister looked soulless and Alex desperately tried to reach out to her. Scarlet had always been trying to protect her and the family while supporting the weight of the world on her small shoulders. Now, she looked very small under that table as if she would disappear with the wind if nobody held onto her.

    Alex struggled and crawled through the shards of broken glass, not caring if they tore into her clothes or cut her. The model didn''t even care about how this would affect her future career. She didn''t know when it started but her vision started to blur and something was leaking. Alex tried to get rid of the water only to realise it was coming from her eyes.

    A body fell on the table they were underneath and Alex screamed when she heard more gunshots. By now, the attackers were mostly subdued and Dragon had the situation under control so Alex bravely kicked one man in the shin from beneath the table. However, her moment of bravery cost her dearly when the man grabbed her by the ankle and dragged her out.

    "Don''t move or I''ll shoot her!" the gunman threatened and with that, the assailants had the upper hand. The stalemate was bad so Dragon took the risk and made the first move. He was the only one who would be able to pull it off fast enough to disarm that man which he did.

    However, there was a deadly miscalculation on his end. A downed assailant on the other side of the room that nobody paid attention to regained his consciousness in the nick of time and pulled out a spare pistol. It might be a light pistol but at such close proximity, it did its job.

    Dragon didn''t feel it at first when he disarmed the man and threw Alex out of harm''s way but the sound alerted his brothers who quickly tried to take that man down.

    The man fired his gun at the martial artists who got hit in several places. None of those were life-threatening wounds but the bullets crippled the team of experts put together by Dragon, slowing their chase down when the one able-bodied gunman knocked Alex out and dragged Scarlet from beneath the table to do the same.

    The men didn''t manage to chase them to the car and with Dragon unconscious from blood loss on the floor, they had to prioritise saving their boss and reporting the situation to their allies. The kidnappers had just left. If they could pull up footage, they could still track them and alert the police for help.

    There was still hope, or so they thought.

 Chapter 267 - Bitch Fight

    Alex was the first to wake up. Memories hit her like a truck and the model bit the insides of her cheek so hard to muffle her voice while coping with the pain. They were in a moving vehicle from the smell of gasoline and the low humming of the engine. There were at least two men with them in the vehicle talking in low voices. She couldn''t hear what they were saying but Alex quickly tried to test the strength of her restraints. Thankfully, Claire taught them enough to cope with such a situation. Alex didn''t know what she would do if she hadn''t the basics pounded into her. Although, it was quite worrying to not know where she was or where Scarlet was.

    As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Alex saw that there was a crack with some faint lights and an airflow. She wriggled herself closer and felt something soft and warm near her. Shocked initially, Alex wanted to scream but held it in. It took her a while to realise that it was a human leg but not any ordinary human''s leg. That leg belonged to Scarlet. Her sister was here with her! It was a good thing she recognised the smell of Scarlet''s shampoo that could never be washed away no matter what Scarlet did. Herbal shampoos had a rather strong smell and Alex never really liked that stuff even if Scarlet swore by it.

    With that small gap, Alex was finally able to figure out where she was. They were in the car boot and the model started to move and feel about. Her hands were bound behind her so it was going to be tricky to undo the plastic wire-tie that these men used to restrain them. Alex decided to find anything she could get her hands on in the boot that might act as a weapon or a cutter to cut the plastic wire-tie. Anything sharp that has friction would do.

    The model tried to work as fast as she could and found that while none of the tools in the car was useful, Alex noticed that the kidnappers underestimated them. Although their phones were taken, Alex still had all her accessories.

    Thanking Elfie for the good thinking, Alex worked hard to reach her ankle. There was a tracking bug hidden in the anklet that could be activated manually if Alex managed to press it for long enough. The bound hands and feet made it impossible for Alex to reach her ankles and the boot had a height limit so the model gave up for now when the car stopped. She quickly pretended to still be unconscious but listened closely to where they were and tried to steal a peek at the city landscape to try to identify where they were.

    The men got out of the car and started to transfer the girls from the boot to another car but this time, they were thrown in the backseat instead of the boot. The car''s windows were very tinted so nobody would be able to see anything from the outside.

    The second part of their journey was so long that Alex had a hard time remaining still now that the two men in the front seat were able to see if they woke up from the rear mirror. Alex never stopped trying to reach for the button to activate the tracking device in her anklet and she eventually succeeded by using the bottom of the car seat in front of her. With the signal supposedly activated, Alex could only pray that help arrived soon. She would do her best to stall for enough time. Scarlet was extremely vulnerable now, it was up to Alex to take one for the team like what Scarlet did many years before.

    When they finally arrived at the destination of what appeared to be a town in New Jersey, Alex recognised the hotel that they stopped by. Wasn''t this a branch of the hotels Leah owned? Alex was slightly confused. Leah was a dumb bitch, she wouldn''t be clever enough to pull this off. How did she manage to get them both and hire professional gunners? Unless...

    If Leah proved to have a connection with Anastasia, Alex was going to make this bitch pay for it. If this was simply nasty revenge for Scarlet''s closeness with her betrothed, Alex could settle the score separately. However, if she was working with Anastasia, Alex will do her damnedest to put this psycho behind bars too.

    The hotel was devoid of people and the two men didn''t even bother covering their tracks, casually walking through the back entrance with two unconscious girls who had their hands and feet wire-tied. Alex took a peek and counted the people in the building. Twelve men armed with guns on the first level and two at the back entrance when they first entered. There was no way she was going to be able to run with so much security.

    As they went up in the lift, Alex didn''t need to peek to know they were heading for the top floor. Leah was a shallow person, such a thing was predictable. They were taken to the president suite and Alex wanted to see what the heiress would do if they refused to wake up. Perhaps this was the best method to buy time. If they didn''t wake up and the kidnappers didn''t force them to wake up, all Alex had to do was wait for help to arrive.

    Unfortunately for her, Leah was in a talking mood.

    As soon as the men threw the girls onto the bed, Leah ordered them to leave. Alex waited to see what the lady would do and she wasn''t entirely surprised that ice-cold water was poured onto her face. This bitch didn''t even use normal water, she took a bottle of mineral water from the mini-fridge to do this. How much of a grudge does this lady have with them?

    Alex spluttered awake rudely and Scarlet coughed, water getting into her windpipe at the shocking welcome back to reality.

    Leah smirked at her work but wrinkled her nose. The girls stank badly. Perhaps she should have asked the men to throw them into the bathtub instead of on the bed.

    "Whatever," Leah smiled. "Now that you''re both awake, let''s talk."

    Alex glared at her. "I have no business with you, bitch."

    Leah was offended but she tried to not let it show. Alex might have a tongue on her but Leah was going to teach this pretty face how to use it correctly.

    A resounding slap snapped Scarlet from her bewildered state. Alex felt her cheek sting and tasted blood in her mouth. She had definitely bitten her tongue from that unexpected slap but the model didn''t back down. She laughed coldly.

    "Bitch," she repeated it once again and smirked. Then, to infuriate Leah further, she translated that into Chinese. Thankfully, it was one of the few words in that language she knew.

 Chapter 268 - Abandoning Beauty

    Scarlet was still dazed, not processing what was happening and still shell shocked from the sight of someone getting shot and bleeding out in front of her. None of what Leah said or did was registered in her brain even when Alex was getting slapped by Leah. Her eyes were dull and her behaviour unusually calm as if her soul wasn''t present.

    Both Leah and Alex noticed this about Scarlet after a while and Alex growled when Leah asked Scarlet if she was mute.

    "I was talking to you, answer me you s.l.u.t!"

    The hotel heiress raised her hand to strike Scarlet but Alex was faster. The model swung her bound legs towards Leah''s face when she came closer. Alex''s heels made contact with Leah''s chin and there was a sickening cracking sound as Leah was flung backwards from the force.

    Unlike them, Leah wasn''t the type to practise martial arts or work out. That one kick from a well-trained model sent her unconscious and Alex checked on Scarlet. Her sister was still dazed but the only person watching over them was now unconscious. Alex didn''t waste time, she quickly tried to free herself from the wire-ties.

    Bringing them to a presidential suite was a terrible miscalculation on Anastasia''s part. Alex was extremely familiar with the things they had and her eyes fell on the weapon of her choice.

    It might be difficult to stand with her hands bound behind her and her ankles tied together but Alex didn''t give up. She wriggled like a worm, abandoning all her beauty, grace and dignity. The distance between freedom and her was only a few hops away from the bed. The wine glass by the counter could be grabbed with her teeth and Alex knew that the bathroom floor was made of hard tiles. She could break it there and lock herself inside to work on getting out of her restraints.

    After ten long minutes, the wire-tie behind her hands were finally broken. Alex had never been happier and quickly checked the device on her anklet. It was still working so Alex quickly cut the wire-tie on her ankle and ran towards Scarlet on the bed to cut the wire-ties.

    "Scarlet, nod if you can understand me."

    There was no response from Scarlet and Alex inhaled. For now, it would be better for Scarlet to not do anything. Her sister wasn''t in a good mental state and if triggered, Scarlet might completely lose it, becoming a danger to her escape mission.

    The model quickly searched Leah for possessions and found a phone. The phone was locked with a passcode and Alex cussed until she noticed that there was also fingerprint access. She bound Leah with some shredded pillowcase fabric and stuffed her mouth with a face towel provided by the hotel before borrowing the unconscious heiress'' finger to unlock the phone.

    For convenience''s sake, Alex reset the password on the phone to something she could remember and dragged Leah into the wardrobe to shut her there. For safety precaution, Alex tied the door handles together and checked on the main door using the peephole.

    There were guards in front of the door who didn''t look interested in anything that was happening inside. Alex swallowed hesitantly as she touched the lock on the door nervously. Since there was no way of escaping from here, it would be safer to lock the door and block it off completely to buy time for them. Alex spent a nerve-wracking minute locking the door and latching it slowly before she pulled over a heavy couch to block it entirely.

    Once she secured the area, Alex went back to the bedroom and started working on contacting someone to let them know where they were. According to the room directory card near the service phone, Alex knew that they were in Princess Crown Hotel in New Jersey. The only number she could remember by heart without her mobile phone happened to be Claire''s simply because they''ve been working together for years and Alex often didn''t have her phone with her on shoots so she had to borrow other people''s phones to call her manager.

    The call didn''t connect immediately but when it did, Alex shivered. She had never heard Claire so cold or dangerous before. She had obviously called at a wrong timing and even if she was afraid of the head maid, there was nobody else she could reach.

    "C-Claire? It''s me, Alex!"

    In the car, Claire was surprised and Edward raised a brow when the head maid grabbed his wrist with an urgent look in her eyes. She mouthed to him to trace that call and Edward immediately got the hint, grabbing his phone to coordinate with Elfie.

    "Alex, where are you? How did you get the phone?" Claire asked then forgot all about it. That wasn''t important.

    "Nevermind about that, are you and Scarlet injured?"

    Alex dismissed the injuries they had. "Minor ones, not life-threatening but we cannot escape. I figured out that we''re currently in the presidential suite of Princess Crown Hotel in New Jersey. This is Leah Yuan''s phone I''m calling from. Scarlet... Scarlet is... unharmed bu..."

    Hearing that Alex talk about Scarlet, Edward froze. He tuned out to what Elfie was asking about and waited for Claire to confirm the details.

    "What''s wrong with Scarlet?"

    Alex looked over to her doll-like sister and lowered her voice. "She''s gone back to the way we first found her after the Liu''s kept her under house arrest and sold her off to us for a blank cheque. Just like a doll without expression. She doesn''t even move from where she was and didn''t react when Leah tried to hit her earlier."

    Edward felt his heart stop and the phone fell from his hands. That was a sign of emotional numbing. Scarlet''s PTSD must have caused her huge mental damage that she no longer wishes to deal with the world. She was currently in the most vulnerable state, not caring if she was hurt or dying.

    Edward grabbed the phone from Claire and the head maid didn''t stop him. Instead, she bent over to pick up Edward''s phone that had fallen to continue communicating with Elfie. They were a few hours too late but ever since Alex''s emergency signal flared, the Interpol started moving.

    It would only be a matter of time before everything was wrapped up. However, the one thing that Claire was afraid of wasn''t the safety of the girls but their mental well-being. Scarlet, in particular, was in quite a worrying state given Edward''s reaction.

 Chapter 269 - Crackdown (1)

    Ever since he received information from his son and his hacker friend, Mr Bayon started moving his chess pieces. This game with Anastasia had gone on long enough and too many people had suffered. It was almost time to bring down the menace and they finally had all the cards in their hands.

    The number of raids needed in this operation is going to be the biggest New York City has ever seen in twenty years. He had to plan it well, nothing can go wrong or the citizens and economy will be severely affected.

    Prioritising several individuals to protect, Mr Bayon gave his word to send some guards and spies for Danny to manage. Two squadrons are sent to prepare a trap for Julian with Wilmer acting as their bait. The entire resort was full of Interpol officers and he told the technical team to let news about Wilmer''s secret whereabouts leak through a credible informant.

    Once that was done, Mr Bayon gave ex-agent Cyborg command of two squads to set up a trap at the Wilde mansion where a spy will disguise as Orita and act like her while the actual heiress moved out of the country. With that, both directly involved parties of the long-standing conflict were secured.

    Next, Mr Bayon paid attention to the daughters. These teens were a little trickier to handle. Although the boys didn''t disclose their source of information, he had a feeling one of the girls was behind it. The one in direct contact with CEO Zhu had the opportunity to scope out what the Interpol couldn''t. Mr Bayon didn''t understand why Edward would mix work and pleasure. Yet, this didn''t concern him. His foolish son had to sort this out after it was over.

    With Wilmer and Orita separated and tightly guarded, it wouldn''t be easy for Julian to approach them. Lucian was also busy contacting allies from outside and Mr Bayon made two plans for the following stages.

    The Interpol might be able to protect the two girls but that would only make it harder for them to catch the snake''s tail. If they wanted Lucian and Julian to completely fall into their trap, first, he had to give them some sort of insurance that their plans would work. He needed them to be too involved to be unable to leave when the Interpol finally rounded them up.

    Scarlet and Alex were personally trained by Cyborg and Edward would be with them. Elfie was also a resourceful boy so the best he could do was to leave protection arrangements to this capable younger generation. Hence, to make the enemy less guarded, he dismissed Edward and Elfie from his resources. Mr Bayon was no fool. Anastasia had spies within his office and by doing this, it would give them more reason to plot an ace.

    There was no doubt about this, Anastasia would try to secure the girls using whatever means possible. Security was still tight around the girls with many men by the Wilde''s private sources and the Interpol. In addition, Edward and Elfie were starting to make personal plans. It wouldn''t be easy for anyone to approach them with so many eyes watching so Mr Bayon waited until Anastasia borrowed the strength of his allies.

    Pier 22''s meeting didn''t go unnoticed by Mr Bayon and his spies. However, the Interpol remained silent and continued to allow the Mayor and NYC Chief Commissioner to proceed as planned. The only problem they had was the lack of knowledge about EZ Express'' supporters. Ms Leah Yuan was in China and without the cooperation from the Chinese government, it would be impossible to interfere with the country''s home affairs.

    When the kids tried to initiate their own trap to bring Anastasia out of hiding by scheduling a press conference for the official announcement of Golden Pineapple collaboration, Mr Bayon felt proud. With such a threatening power to EZ Express'' already collapsing business, it wouldn''t be long before the other side pulled out big guns of their own to fight back.

    Needless to say. CEO Zhu became targeted in China because the mob boss wasn''t able to do anything to the Wilde sisters and their huge army of supporters. The guards were very diligent even though the sisters were very busy and constantly on the move. Hence, the scandal happened.

    Mr Bayon had to admit, Anastasia was very harsh on two sixteen-year-old girls with such a scandal even if it was obviously photoshopped. It was going to be very heart-breaking for the Wildes who had to be kept away for the sake of the operation but he wasn''t going to give concessions.

    At this point, Leah Yuan had stepped onto America in a rage, meeting up with Julian. This was the moment Mr Bayon had been waiting for. Lucian thought that his moment was here and ordered for the Mayor to arrange a new order for emergency road closures for street repairs at a certain hour just so that he could start making use of Ms Yuan''s new contract for their business deals.

    Mr Bayon finally understood how Anastasia was able to move bases so quickly before raids. He had connections in high places for many years that nobody suspected and all the little things started to add up. Pier 22 was put up for auction to someone completely unrelated to the mafia boss and incompetent people were hired for the deal so that the Interpol couldn''t find anything useful from them. If they didn''t know about EZ Express and the relationship it had with Leah from the tip-off the teens found, the Interpol might still be running in circles until today.

    Now that they knew better, it was time to lay some traps.

    Mr Bayon ordered for some higher-ranked officials to investigate and oversee the operations of the NYC police department, crippling Lucian''s legal side. He also arranged for the Mayor''s scandals to reach the publishing houses. With the loss of credibility in their mayor, there would be protests and riots in the city, making it difficult for the goods to move. Pier 22''s auction was also secured by an Interpol''s spy so they now had the legal rights to stop anyone from entering and exiting after the deed was signed.

    Now, the only issue was letting Julian Anastasia go. Mr Bayon frowned. After he let Julian go, the sisters were kidnapped. He didn''t understand how Lucian was so easily captured but after the interrogation of the mafia boss and his henchmen, Mr Bayon now understood that Julian had betrayed the group. The businessman readily threw his father and family under the bus. As it was, he had no attachments for all the illegal activities done by his father and under the law, he was an innocent man.

    Julian was hiding but he was still giving out commands. The Wilde daughters'' kidnapping and the shooting incident at Chinatown was no coincidence. Thankfully, he had men nearby who managed to save the young martial artist''s life even though he received a bullet to his chest. Mr Bayon decided to cover all the brave warriors'' medical expenses under the Interpol''s budget. Because of them, they bought enough time for the Interpol to prepare a raid and track them down to Princess Crown Hotel in New Jersey.

    He had to thank Elfie for being such an efficient worker. The kids planned well and now, it was time for the a.d.u.l.ts to take care of the rest. Edward and Claire were on their way but they wouldn''t be enough to take out a building full of Julian''s men armed with semi-automatics.

    "Send in the choppers and ready the snipers. We''re going in with a full raid, prioritise the hostages and capture Leah Yuan."

    Once Mr Bayon gave his word, he left the office. It was time to see his son''s future wife.

 Chapter 270 - Crackdown (2)

    Edward and Claire reached the hotel and were dazed when Edward was interrupted by a call.

    "Turn it off," Claire said but Edward shook his head. "I can''t. It''s from my father."

    With a sigh, Claire told Edward to quickly answer it while she surveyed the building but was also stopped when a number she hadn''t seen in years called her.

    They picked up their phones and received a similar set of orders from two different people.

    "Change of plans," Claire said and Edward was surprised.

    "You too?"

    The head maid nodded. "The Interpol is bringing in four squadrons for a full raid. This is the building where they keep most of their illegal goods until further notice. Julian is still not found, there is a high chance he is lurking inside or nearby. Our job is to follow the squadron into the building to the presidential suite. Alex and Scarlet are there. Once we secure the girls we should meet up on the roof, there will be choppers waiting for evacuation."

    Edward was slightly surprised. When his father told him they were going all out, he didn''t expect to be seeing helicopters.

    "Understood. I''m told that the building is heavily guarded and might be wired to go kaboom. My mission is to look for signs and alert the bomb squad to disarm it. Also, you might want to watch the windows. The area has just been found and they''ve combed it only ten minutes ago. There might still be snipers outside."

    Claire nodded and they reached a tacit agreement. Edward was going to get Scarlet and Claire was going to get Alex. They decided to take different routes and follow different teams while keeping their communication channels open.

    With Claire''s knowledge about battle tactics and her superior combat skills, the head maid borrowed weapons from her temporary special squad and geared up. After wearing a bulletproof vest, carrying two spare pistols and armed with a sniper rifle with a scope of her choice, Claire listened to the leader''s mission brief. It has been a long time since she was in the field but Claire felt like home again.

    On the other hand, Edward followed behind the main team and dressed like one of them. His job was to get the girls to safety so he wasn''t part of the suppression force. As soon as he got into the building, he would act separately. It would be best if he could find something to make himself look like one of Anastasia''s men. That way, it was easier for him to gather information and pass the job to the relevant department.

    According to the mission briefing, the Interpol has gathered a total of 103 hostile and armed men inside. Edward''s focus was on the two guarding the presidential suite. In addition, there were several men Edward prioritised to take out before the main team sweeps in to cripple the enemy forces. intelligence was the key to warfare and it just happened to be his speciality.

    "What frequency are you using?" he asked the commander who looked at the teen oddly.

    "The standard for all A ranked importance missions," he said. Was this teen really a top spy? He didn''t look like it and the commander decided to dismiss Edward when the spy told everyone to change the frequency they used.

    "Change it to 162 MHz for this mission. I''m going to jam their systems and down their communication so until further notice, remain on this frequency. Bomb squad, be on alert and scatter to the various exit points of the building to await my signal to enter. Colonel, please carry on."

    With an air of confidence, Edward grabbed a walkie-talkie from a soldier and walked away while ''borrowing'' a pistol from a member of the scout team before running towards the hotel''s loading bay.

    Stunned and humiliated that a teen could walk all over him and give commands, the colonel barked orders to the dumbfounded soldiers.

    "Hurry up and get into position!"

    As Edward ran, he texted Claire about the frequency he was using. The head maid was quick to connect to his special frequency and Edward tested it at once.

    "Agent Sentient checking in. What''s the situation?"

    Claire, who was with the special squad had already cleared stairwell E all the way till the seventeenth floor and took control of the power circuit, bringing down a good part of the hotel''s left-wing so that they could run swiftly without any cameras spying on them.

    "Stairwell E has been cleared to floor nineteen now, the left-wing of the hotel''s power has been disabled to avoid cameras. We''re heading to the upper floor to find a good place to pick off snipers lurking. You?"

    Edward groaned and had to stop in the middle of his choice of entry to reply to Claire. "Making my way up with a different... route!" he groaned and Claire frowned. Where was Edward? He sounded so tired.

    "Where are you?"

    Edward pulled himself up to a spot that allowed him to wedge his feet nicely and replied, "Laundry chute. I''m going to get the control rooms first. If you clear the snipers, please take care of the girls for me. There should be one on the second floor, seventeenth floor and thirty-first floor so I''m getting those rooms first. I''m almost at the second floor now, will let you know when I''m done."

    Claire checked the number and bashed in another skull with the butt of her gun. They were on the twenty-third floor now and it was still a long way to the thirty-fifth floor.

    "Understood. Be careful," she told him. "I won''t be leaving without you so if you''re late, I''ll come and assist you."

    Edward held his breath. He was finally at the second floor, it was a long climb from below.

    "Thanks, I''m cutting the signal now. Gonna call you back once I take out the guards in the control room."

    Claire didn''t reply and Edward took a deep breath, wiping the sweat from his brow. In order to get to the control room, he was going to need to get outside of the building and walk around a pool to get to the control room hidden away beside the gym.

    He might be lucky to not meet anyone in the kitchen earlier so he was able to visit the laundry room and get to the second floor using an unconventional method. However, once he got out, there would be guards who were armed and patrolling. Edward listened carefully for another minute before leaving the narrow exit.

    There shouldn''t be many guards on this level. Most guards should be by the function room on the level above him guarding the goods and by the exits that the main team should take care of. Edward''s job was to secure the building''s safety for the main team to take care of the doc.u.menting hassle. His secondary objective was to get the girls to safety and his mission bonus was to find out news about Julian Anastasia who was still unfound.

    With a track record of never failing his missions, Edward wasn''t going to let this be his first. If he was going to retire, he was going to do so with pride and leave behind a legacy while he did it.

 Chapter 271 - Cornered

    F.u.c.k! F.u.c.k ! F.u.c.k!

    This wasn''t what was supposed to happen... Julian still couldn''t believe it. A bunch of kids... they were just a bunch of kids. Why did six professional kidnappers who have killed people in the double digits fail this simple job?

    Not only were they now reduced to two men, but they also didn''t manage to make a clean getaway. Cops were chasing them all the way to Hell''s Kitchen and they almost didn''t make the swap in time. The borders out of New York closed soon after and Julian was stuck in the city. He was meant to meet Leah after the heiress called once the girls reached her hotel but now, it was going to be difficult.

    How did things end up like this?

    To make matters worse, everyone that he tried to contact was unavailable. His father had been arrested so Julian ditched him. The mayor was caught in a huge scandal and rioters were starting to gather in the streets. The police that he thought he had under his control now tell him they couldn''t help him because some big wigs were running the place, for the time being, an order from the higher-ups.

    After so much meticulous planning, the CEO of EZ Express still could not understand why all this was happening so suddenly. He tried to call Wilmer but the man simply wasn''t picking up. At some point, he was also blocked. Even if Leah successfully got the kidnapped girls into her hotel, it would be useless unless Wilmer knew that his daughters were in their hands.

    The men sent to place explosives at the Wilde mansion were not responding, Wilmer feared the worst. Nobody was doing what they should be doing and Julian was pissed. Even Adrian had run away the moment Pier 22 was sold. That sly weasel... he knew that there was something fishy about this distributor! His father just refused to believe him. Somebody had been tipping the Interpol off and Julian had been careful enough to get rid of spies from his company, staying as far as he possibly could from his father''s underground business to maintain a pristine record.

    Where did it go wrong?

    Hiding in a discreet live music bar in Manhattan, Julian couldn''t help but feel miserable. It was close to two in the morning and his phone was deathly silent. The soothing blues music did nothing to improve his mood. If he knew things were going to be this bad, he would''ve gone to a gay bar instead.

    As if knowing that he was feeling down and lonely, someone sent him a text.

    Julian went to check the message and found that it was from an unknown number.

    [Hello, Julian. I bet it must be really lonely for you to be drinking all alone at the bar alone while your world falls apart. Want some company?]

    With a scowl, Julian wondered if he should block this number or reply to it. However, before he could decide, a new text came in.

    [Don''t worry about my identity. You won''t find out even after everything is over. I bet you''re very curious about who the spy with your circle is. I''ll give you a hint. They have your personal number. It''s also how I could trace you down so easily.]

    [The police are on their way and you have no escape even if you tried to run. Aren''t you curious why Wilmer didn''t respond to your calls or react to the news about his daughters'' scandals? How about the foiled plot about bombing the Wilde mansion?]

    Julian thought about it. If this mysterious person already knew his number and was hacking into it to find his location, there really would be no escape even if Julian tried. The entire New York City was on lockdown, there were rioters outside and nobody who should be responding was responding.

    He took a huge gulp of whisky and laughed bitterly. That was right. At the very least before he never saw the light of day again, he wanted to know who it was and how they did it. It was a checkmate and he was the felon waiting for the executioner to bring the guillotine down. He was aware of the things he''d done and judging by the tone of this mysterious person, they just wanted to stall him for long enough so that it would be easier for the authorities to find him, not that he there was any hope of escaping.

    [Sure. Might as well let me know before I''m gone forever. How did you find out?]

    From Kiwi Cat Studio''s office, Elfie and Jasper looked at the hacker''s laptop. Julian really replied.

    "Are you sure we should tell him?" Jasper asked. "The police will be there in another five minutes."

    Elfie smiled. "Think of it as kindness on my end. After all, we don''t want him plotting revenge. I don''t believe that the Interpol can clean up their operations immediately. EZ Express is one huge company. The arrest of their CEO will send them into a panic. I just want to give you a better chance of expanding your business. If you want to marry Alex, you need a huge dowry."

    Jasper frowned. "It''s usually the girl who brings the dowry and not the man."

    Elfie looked at the CEO cheekily. "Seeing as how you''re not in the right position of power, you have to match her. Also, speaking of Alex... I think you''d need to baby her and treat her super nice for a while. The kidnapping isn''t something to sneeze at. Both girls might be tougher than they look but there will always be some sort of trauma and mental damage. I don''t know details but they survived a gunfight and were kidnapped by people who had weapons. Edward says that something similar happened to Scarlet when she was younger?"

    Jasper nodded. "I''m more worried about how Scarlet is coping. Alex will be fine, she is prepared for something like that. Claire didn''t go easy on Alex when it came to training for such a situation. Scarlet was away in China so she didn''t have training."

    Elfie nodded. "Anyway, I''m going to reply. The man has got to know that he''s downfall was only because he messed with the wrong kids."

    At the bar, Julian read as the mysterious texter gave him pieces of the puzzle to put together. It took Julian a while to understand that there was actually a team working behind this and to make matters worse, he knew the one spy he failed to guard against.

    "So it turned out to be him... I should have known that interns were bad investments. No wonder he didn''t call me that night and didn''t appear the next day. It was simply too convenient. What a shame... he was such a pretty thing. Too bad he has his heart on another girl now."

    Thinking about Liu Xiu Wen, he could finally understand a fraction of what Leah felt. That girl was simply too blessed. Too many people cared for her and Julian sometimes wondered why his life was as such. Perhaps if he had a fraction of the love Scarlet Wilde received, he wouldn''t be this cynical.

    "What a hateful girl," he smiled as the doors were slammed open with police rushing in to apprehend him.

    Finishing the rest of his whisky, Julian took out all the money he had in his wallet and put it on the counter. It was way too much for the drink and the tip that the startled bartender wanted to refuse but Julian paid him no attention. What use was money and power now?

    "Julian Anastasia, you are under arrest on the grounds of involvement with kidnapping, drug and arms dealing and illegal business transactions. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. Please put your hands behind your back and come with us peacefully."

    Julian didn''t say anything. He merely put his hands up then slowly turned around to let the officers cuff him. The stunned bartender and patrons of the establishment simply watched the police take the gentleman away, not knowing what to believe.

 Chapter 272 - Rescued

    It took them thirty minutes to secure the building entirely and clear the surroundings. Claire picked out two snipers from the roof and waited for the Interpol to give her the green light to approach the girls. The two men outside the presidential suite had been long knocked out. Now, they were waiting for Edward to get the control rooms and give them a vision status of the girls.

    Edward took a hit to the side during a scuffle but other than a bruised rib, the spy wasn''t out of touch. He secured all the control rooms using the vents to travel and the sides of the walls to avoid heavily guarded areas. With his accomplishment, the main force couldn''t blame him for wanting them to change their operation radiofrequency. Edward''s signal jamming strategy was nasty and the enemy was in chaos after getting cut from the coordinator. The spy even messed around with their orders to split them up into smaller groups.

    The chopper had landed and Claire was waiting on the roof with the pilot. The head maid was going to pilot it after negotiating with the general. It would be easier for Claire to take the girls to the hospital that the Wilde family always visited rather than back to the apartment that was still swarmed with paparazzi.

    Orita and Wilmer were still not aware of what was happening. According to Jenna, the heiress went to bed and according to Danny, Wilmer was still drugged and asleep. The girls have been up all night and the operation took longer than expected. It was coming to five in the morning when Claire heard the first ''good'' news all day.

    "Agent Sentient reporting! We''ve secured Alex and Scarlet, ready to evacuate. Conditions of both girls are not great but it isn''t life-threatening. I''m leaving Leah to the officers in the main team. Coming up now."

    Claire felt relieved and started the helicopter''s engine while she waited for Edward to bring the girls up.

    What she didn''t expect was for Edward to come up with Scarlet in his arms and Alex on a scout''s back. Alex looked worse physically with her swollen face and cut hands but what scared Claire more was how lifeless Scarlet looked. Her eyes were open and unseeing and she didn''t react to anything around her.

    They boarded the helicopter and Alex groaned when she was placed down. Her ankle was definitely twisted from trying to kick the armed scouts earlier. Edward wasn''t with them and Alex didn''t know if they were friend or foe so she went all out on them. Naturally, the model didn''t do very well against professionals. Yet, they were impressed by her ferociousness until they understood why Alex was hissing at them like a feral cat. Alex was doing it out of fear because Scarlet was very vulnerable behind her.

    Things got better when Edward came onto the scene to explain the situation and what Alex had to do. The model kept it brief and told the additional manpower that Leah was locked in the wardrobe. She also asked about the situation at the restaurant they were in before they were kidnapped.

    Edward smiled. "The boys are fine, they are hurt but they will live, all of them. Dragon was the worst of the lot but the bullet missed his heart even if it went through his lungs cleanly. The doctors performed an operation and it was a success. You can visit him later once you''re patched up. As a model, how could you let them hit your face?"

    Alex rolled her eyes. "I value my life more than my beauty. Besides, you don''t get a say in this. You''re not the one who is going to marry me and have to put up with this ugly thing for the rest of your life."

    The mood was a lot less tense ever since Edward showed up and once Alex let her guard down, the model simply didn''t have any strength left to stand, much less walk. As the adrenaline faded, the model also found herself hurting in a lot more places than she originally thought.

    Claire wasted no time. Once everyone got onto the helicopter and was strapped in, she revved the engine and took to the skies. Alex''s injuries need checking out. Edward might look fine but she knew better. She caught him taking better care of his left side and winced when putting Scarlet down. He was definitely hurt. On the other hand, the head maid didn''t know what she should be doing about Scarlet''s situation. This was a thing more for Edward than her.

    Mr Bayon was informed of the evacuation and smiled. His foolish son had finally done it. Now that Julian was also found and arrested, the case was finally over. The bad guys will receive punishment and the civilians can continue their peaceful lives.

    Still, he wondered what his son was going to do. Perhaps he should hold onto his word to retract Agent Sentient''s service. Edward might not know it but he could make a good psychologist for the spies. His mental stability throughout the chaotic mission proved to be a valuable asset to the raid operation. Even knowing that Scarlet was in danger, he didn''t lose his composure and proceeded in a manner that the enemy wasn''t expecting.

    His son had always been gifted at knowing how to deal with people. From a young age, his talent shone through and not even trained spies were able to charm people they met with so much ease. Edward often wore masks and his alter-egos were often just an amplified version of himself. The true mission''s success rested on Edward''s ability to get close to Julian for the finishing blow for Elfie to get all the evidence needed to prosecute the businessman.

    While Edward made a terrible spy now that he had personal attachments to his life outside of work, he was still very much a talent that Mr Bayon wanted to keep. Edward would make a good informant too if he wanted it but the nature of that job was still riskier than a civilian office job. Scarlet was also a very high-profile person, making this harder for both of them.

    With a sigh, Mr Bayon left the commanding position to his men on the ground. He was going to have a talk with his son and his girlfriend now that the fuss was over.

 Chapter 273 - The Price of Love

    Everyone was tired. Edward was no exception. After the mission was over, the teen felt as if he aged a hundred years. Claire was sleeping on a chair beside Alex and Scarlet was still staring at blank space.

    Edward watched his girlfriend worriedly. The doctors said that other than some bruises, Scarlet was unharmed physically. However, due to the trauma she suffered, there could be some complications. A psychiatrist will be coming to take a look at her first thing in the morning. They had about three hours of shut-eye before that but Scarlet refused to sleep or move. Edward couldn''t do a thing about it and decided that he would accompany her after lying her down on the bed.

    The teen dragged a chair over and held Scarlet''s hand by her bedside. He didn''t feel like talking and he was tired. If he was back at the apartment, he would have started to clean and bathe thoroughly. There was nothing more sickening than feeling filthy after a mission. Edward had a terrible urge to wash off the mission-related matters with a good long bath but his lover''s condition worried him too much for him to leave her even for a brief moment.

    It was soft but Edward heard them clearly. Someone was approaching their room so he sat up straight. His instincts to kill and protect were still not over completely.

    Mr Bayon entered the room like a shadow. Claire woke up immediately and attacked the intruder from her place closest to the door but Mr Bayon took a quick step back and raised his arms to indicate that he wasn''t a threat. He didn''t blame Agent Cyborg for reacting in such a manner. In fact, he was anticipating it. With Edward and Claire in the room, these girls couldn''t be safer.

    "Relax, I''m here to talk to my son."

    Claire didn''t recognise this man but Edward did.

    "Sorry, this is my father. He''s also the person backing the Interpol''s operation tonight. Meet the General Secretariat - Victor Bayon."

    Claire blinked and looked at father and son.

    "I understand," she bowed. "I will wait outside if you need to speak privately."

    Victor smiled and shook his head. "It''s alright, this is something that concerns Scarlet as well so it would be best if you can listen."

    Claire was as puzzled as Edward but nodded and gathered around Scarlet''s bed when Victor walked over to look at Scarlet.

    As expected, Scarlet didn''t respond. Victor wasn''t surprised. Anyone who had been through something so traumatic would be mentally disturbed. Alex wasn''t the normal one here if she acted as if everything was alright. However, there was a huge chance that Alex''s reaction would be delayed because the model was still in a fight or flight mode even as she slept. Her instincts to protect her sister powered over her fears and it was obvious how the model unconsciously had her body turned towards Scarlet even in her sleep.

    "Has the psychologist talked to them before they slept?"

    Edward shook his head. "We dropped off from the helipad and they were sent for treatment immediately. Nobody had the chance to talk to them and Scarlet isn''t responsive. She''s managed to completely shut herself out from the world."

    Victor raised his brow. Normal people wouldn''t react like this, especially to their first shooting incident. This girl must have undergone abuse over a long period of time to have this sort of reaction. The Wilde family didn''t seem like the kind who would abuse their children so that left the unknown history of Scarlet''s earlier life.

    "Has this happened before?" he asked the head maid who didn''t reply at once.

    "It hasn''t happened with us but we know she has done this before she officially came under our wing as a Wilde."

    Edward felt his heart hurt. Scarlet shared with him about her past and he knew how severely this had affected her. To make matters worse, there was a shoot out at the restaurant just before they were kidnapped. Alex said that Scarlet woke up in the hotel room dazed like this but Edward had a feeling the sight and sound of guns triggered her PTSD so badly that Scarlet chose to shut it out completely and reside into herself. It was a stage of emotional numbing and a defence mechanism to cope with the things she couldn''t control outside of her.

    There was only one way to coax Scarlet out of her protective shell but for that to happen, Edward needed Scarlet to feel safe. He might know all of Scarlet''s triggers and fears but he didn''t know what Scarlet liked. She barely spoke about the things she liked or preferred and Edward was realising this a little too late now. How could he make her a safe haven if he didn''t know what made her feel safe?

    Victor looked at the deep look of hurt in his son''s eyes. He knew that look and seen it one too many times by the close family of victims in his job. However, he couldn''t relate. If Edward could make this kind of expression and feel this kind of thing, he must retire. He was already too emotionally involved and putting him on the mission earlier was a huge gamble. Luckily, it paid off and Edward was still able to separate work and personal issues.

    "Edward," Victor said and the teen looked up.

    "Retire as an agent. You''re not cut out for the job anymore."

    Edward didn''t protest. He looked at Scarlet and knew at once that his father was right. Still, it didn''t make him feel any better. Wilmer told him that it was alright to feel lost in life but for Edward, the only thing he could see now was Scarlet. He thought that she was like a kite flying high in the sky and that he should act as her burden. However, after today, he learned that it might not be the case. If Scarlet was a ship at sea, Edward was her anchor just like how she was currently his anchor. If she wasn''t here, Edward would simply not think that he had another purpose in his life. It was Scarlet who taught him that he was more than just a weapon or tool for the government. She taught him how to be human and Edward agreed with his father. He wasn''t suitable to be a spy.

    Victor was expecting some resistance but was met with none. Had Edward accepted it so easily?

    "I understand. I''ll hand in all the doc.u.ments tomorrow and move out of the apartment," Edward told his father who had a contemplating look.

    "Do you have a place to go or a job in mind after graduation?"

    Edward looked at Scarlet, his grip on her hand tightened. "No. I''ll figure something out."

    Claire was about to offer the teen to live with them for the time being when Victor shook his head.

    "In that case, you should continue living in the apartment. I''ll have someone clean out the things you no longer need. Scarlet might need that place more than you think. It''s been home for the both of you for a while now so you should take care of her properly. As for jobs... I was thinking that it would be a waste for you to work with civilians. Once Scarlet has recovered, why don''t you work as a psychotherapist for the Interpol and evaluate the spies? You can even work as an informant on the side like Danny."

    Edward considered it. That was a very tempting offer. However, he rejected it. "I can''t take such a dangerous job. Scarlet... Scarlet needs me."

    Claire interrupted. "Don''t worry about that. Liu Xiu Wen only existed because she wanted to get closer to Anastasia. Now that everything is over, I think Scarlet is more comfortable staying hidden away from the rest of the world. That girl had always dreamed about becoming a full-time author. The actress side of her is not something she wanted. You can do your job and leave worrying about her safety to us after she recovers."

    Surprised that Scarlet actually wasn''t a fan of the screen, he thought about his father''s proposal but couldn''t give him an answer.

    "Don''t worry about it," Victor said after seeing that his son was very conflicted. "Don''t rush to give me a reply. I''ll just get someone to clean out the apartment. You can continue using it until you graduate. In the meantime, please take good care of your girlfriend. Your mother likes her a lot and I have a feeling she wants to meet her soon."

    Edward was confused. Why was his father suddenly acting like this? Normally, the man was very cold and business-like.

    "Why are you suddenly pretending to be a father?" Edward couldn''t stop the words from leaving his mouth.

    Victor stopped. His door was already on the handle but he turned back to look at his son. Indeed. Why was he acting like a father now?

    "Who knows? Perhaps this is the price of love. You often make sacrifices for it. Your mother isn''t an indispensable woman but she is still special to me. Like many spies, I am unable to experience such a profound romance. Since you''ve decided on this path, don''t look back."

    Edward watched his father leave and looked at Scarlet who was finally asleep. The sun was starting to rise and the sky started to change colour. Finally, the night was over and as Edward watched the birth of a new day, the heavyweight on his shoulder was finally lifted.

    The future might still be uncertain but there was one thing he knew for sure. He was finally liberated.

 Chapter 274 - Thank You. I Love You.

    After the kidnapping incident, Wilmer and Orita took drastic measures. They dictated that the girls would no longer live on their own. Everyone had to come back to the Wilde mansion to live together, including Wilmer.

    That meant that Edward temporarily moved into the Wilde mansion for three months while he helped Scarlet recuperate from her trauma. Claire was impressed. Edward might make a very good psychotherapist in the future if he decided to pursue that career option. Under Edward''s gentle and nurturing care, Scarlet slowly came out of her shell.

    She revealed that she watched someone getting shot and bleeding out in front of her while she hid under the table. The guilt that Scarlet felt for not being able to do anything and self-hate escalated so quickly that took Edward by surprise. He knew that Scarlet had always been a sensitive person but he never thought that she was the kind to blame herself for everything that went wrong.

    It took the combined efforts of Claire, Edward, Alex and the man who got shot to console her. Dragon was still hospitalised when that happened and Rebecca visited the Wildes when Dragon told her about Scarlet''s distress.

    After a long heart to heart talk with Rebecca, Scarlet eventually accepted the fact that it was an unfortunate turn of events but was also glad that nobody died during the shooting. To take Scarlet''s mind off from Dragon''s injury and prevent the girl from taking it on herself to care for her boyfriend during his hospital stay, Rebecca suggested that Scarlet helped to plan a recovery party for Dragon at the Wilde mansion.

    Scarlet and Alex agreed to that so they''ve been busy attending school and catching up on classes they missed for two weeks while getting over the kidnapping incident. Edward and Scarlet also had the talk about their future. Edward was finally able to tell Scarlet about his previous profession now that he wasn''t a spy and he was given permission by his father to disclose non-confidential parts of who he was and what he did. At the end of it all, Scarlet simply told Edward to do what he liked doing.

    "It doesn''t matter if you''re a spy, a psychotherapist, a counsellor pretending to be a teacher or an informant and hacker. As long as you''re by my side, I''ll be more than happy to support you and your dreams."

    Edward teared up when he heard that. Scarlet then confessed to him that she had plans to gradually fade out from the glamorous celebrity world that she lived in.

    "As it is, I made more than enough money to live a comfortable ordinary life with you. Liu Xiu Wen is just a screen name. I think I would like to go back to working on books with Alex under the name Permanent Frost."

    Naturally, Alex didn''t disagree with working on a new project with her sister. Claire wasn''t surprised at Scarlet''s decision to abandon her acting career and pursue a writing one. Everyone in the Wilde mansion saw that coming and the person happiest to hear that Scarlet was returning as Permanent Frost was Debbie.

    While things were slowly picking themselves back, Elfie and Jasper were the only ones who caught no breaks. During the three months that Alex and Scarlet spent recovering in the Wilde mansion both physically and emotionally, the young CEO spent most of his days working until Alex couldn''t take it any longer.

    Both boys didn''t tell anyone what they were doing and Wilmer was completely in the dark. The only person who had a clue about what they wanted to do was Danny. However, the informant kept his mouth shut. Wilmer was in for a surprise when he returned to work fully.

    EZ Express was close to bankruptcy when the world learned about a new young and powerful CEO by the name of Jasper Hopper who bought it and revamped the company''s structure from the inside out. Financial experts were shocked at the decision to buy over such a scandalous company with poor internal controls and shady dealings.

    Jasper didn''t pay attention to the criticism he received. Instead, he fired every staff working for the company and held onto the assets it had. Together with newly recruited employees, Jasper built the company back up from scratch and renamed it to Hopper Inc. As promised, Jasper reserved spots in the management for the E.C. Class and the Special Class if they wanted.

    In two months, Jasper implemented new systems and transformed the inefficient system within the new company into one that was mostly automated with Elfie''s help. Together with Kiwi Cat Studio''s vision, Hopper Inc. became the biggest company in America doing distributions of goods and offering comprehensive logistic services with the existing warehouses EZ Express used to own.

    In addition, Jasper started an entertainment company to support his girlfriend''s activities. GOlden Frost and Hopper Inc. ended up partnering and some of the most talented entertainment industry''s individuals joined.

    Lin Lin named herself the Chief Composer and Creative Director. The Lopez girls signed up with Jasper to start their new dance studio with the company. Jin Si-Han and Tom Makino ended up changing entertainment companies once Hopper Inc. was up. They chose to debut as a duo and took on multiple acting gigs on the side for publicity. Jasper also leaked the news of Britannia''s possible coming back with the company to propel its popularity even further and sat back to watch the share prices increase.

    The face of the company was definitely Jeff Kumar who became a popular comedian online after signing with Hopper Inc. However, as he was still pursuing his education, Jasper put his activities for tours on hold. Khalid on the other hand finally settled down with an entertainment company after hearing that Jasper was in charge. The popular DJ signed the contract and boosted the company''s value even further.

    The last two people to join Hopper Inc. were Jean and Jun Le but when they finally did, Jasper felt that he was finally ready to make his announcement to the world. Jun Le was named the managing director in charge of Hopper Inc''s operations while Jean decided to work from wherever she was to translate doc.u.ments for Jasper''s international dealing.

    CEO Zhu was impressed with Golden Frost''s newest partner that they formed a new alliance that sent the media in a frenzy. Many thought that this was a joint-venture based on personal interest with Scarlet dating CEO Zhu and Alex dating Jasper Hopper.

    Jasper admitted that he was indeed dating Alex but he dropped the bomb when he told them he intended to propose to her after receiving her father''s blessing. On the other hand, Scarlet denied the rumour of her dating with CEO Zhu.

    The world and Wilmer were not prepared for such news. Naturally, the follow up to the rumours was a confession in the form of an uploaded photo of Scarlet and Edward who had his lower face censored on her social media account. Nobody knew who the mysterious person was but Scarlet simply told them his name was Edward and her fans should respect her privacy. Scarlet also took that opportunity to make an announcement that she was going to be releasing her first book in a long while and admitted to her pen name as Permanent Frost where she works with her sister who was the artist.

    Needless to say, the world was given new reasons to obsess over the rich, beautiful, kind and talented Wilde family. They were such a hot topic that the news of Julian and Lucian Anastasia''s arrest and sentence became completely overshadowed. Everyone forgot about the corrupted police commissioner and the mayor of NYC. The disgusting photoshopped images of Scarlet and Alex resurfaced and many fans slammed the person who did it, leading into the artist''s arrest and the bankruptcy of several media companies who allowed it to circulate.

    Despite everything chaotic happening in the world, one thing remained steady as Scarlet sat in the car with Edward beside her.

    "Hey Edward," she called to get his attention. It had been three months since the incident and it felt like it was finally behind her.

    "Yes?"

    Scarlet smiled and looked into his hazel eyes. "Thank you. I love you."

    Author''s Note: This is the official ending of Love Journal. However, there will still be more bonus chapters and scenes coming up as well as an Epilogue so stay tuned!

    All in all, Love Journal has been quite the journey and I''m glad it is finally over. If you liked my works and writing style, please check out the other works I have on ! I will also write outside of so do check my website and social media profiles for news and latest updates. There will be a special video for the doc.u.mentary of writing Love Journal on Youtube so remember to subscribe!

    With that, this is it from me, Destiny Aitsuji. I hope you enjoyed this story, it wasn''t easy for me to write this.

 Chapter 275 - Epilogue: Recovery Party

    Once again, the Wilde mansion was lively. It took Dragon half a year to fully recover and when he did, the man demanded a recovery party and compulsory attendance from all his friends.

    Naturally, nobody objected. This time, even Wilmer and Danny would be attending. Debbie and her husband decided to attend as well and Scarlet was overjoyed to learn that her editor would now permanently reside in America with her husband who was determined to work for Jasper and assist the young entrepreneur with his new company.

    Everyone who attended knew the Wilde sisters except for two special guests that Edward didn''t tell his girlfriend about. Scarlet and Alex were busy attending to their guests and had to explain to CEO Zhu that Jin Si-Han was a male and not a female. The poor CEO had been flirting with Si-Han for the longest time but the shy actor didn''t reply until Scarlet stepped in to help him out.

    The atmosphere was slightly awkward but soon recovered its jovial cheer when Jeff decided to do an impromptu comedy show. Khalid was once again in charge of music and everyone felt their stomachs grumble when Vivian worked his skills at the barbecue.

    The girls and the boys knew about the recovery party and why it was so important. Dragon suddenly vanished from the party halfway together with a few of the boys and the girls did their best to occupy Rebecca until Dragon was ready. The horseriding athlete didn''t suspect a thing and enjoyed herself with Lin Lin hosting a bikini competition by the pool.

    Dragon returned wearing a tuxedo unbecoming of the casual atmosphere and Scarlet told Jenna to quickly work the camera. They filmed it from a planned location as Dragon got down on one knee to propose to Rebecca who was stunned and speechless until he popped the question.

    "Rebecca, I love you. Will you marry me?"

    Everyone cheered when the girl nodded through her tears and hugged Dragon. The young couple shared a kiss and Orita felt an arm wrap around her waist. Her husband nuzzled up to her and watched as the teens partied and congratulated the couple. Champagne showers and loud music came on to reflect the happy moment and people danced, not caring who they were dancing with.

    Scarlet looked at CEO Zhu and Si-Han. There was something going on in that corner but she didn''t have much time to pay attention to them. Claire informed them of two new guests.

    "I''ll be right back," she told Edward. Alex was busy ordering servants to bring out more chairs so Scarlet went to greet the guests. As far as she remembered, all the guests were here. Did they miss someone out?

    "Hello!" Scarlet greeted and paused at the unfamiliar faces. "Can I help you?" she asked after an awkward moment.

    At that moment, Edward appeared behind her and the look of surprise on his face mirrored Scarlet''s.

    "Mom? Dad? What are you doing here? Wait, how did you find th- nevermind. Come in, please."

    Scarlet quickly informed Jenna of the identity of the two new special guests. At one, Orita and Wilmer made arrangements to meet Edward'' parents even if they attended without notice. Orita, in particular, was most excited about meeting Edward''s parents. She had spoken briefly with Mrs Bayon once over the phone and couldn''t wait to meet the lovely lady.

    Away from the loud music and the action of the recovery party, Jenna ushered the future in-laws into the sitting room and brought tea over. Orita got along very well with Edward''s mother fairly quickly but for Wilmer and Victor, there was an awkward tension. Scarlet was nervous and kept her head down the hold time. Edward wasn''t feeling any better and held her hand while they sat in silence waiting for something to happen.

    "I hope you pardon our sudden visit," Victor smiled and Wilmer nodded.

    "It''s not an issue. I assume that you''re not here for the recovery party?"

    The ladies piped down once the men started talking and Scarlet could feel her heart racing as she tightened her hold on Edward''s hands. Edward made a decision there and then. He was going to side with Scarlet. If his parents give him the ultimatum, he was willing to throw away his identity and what he had to be with her. After being with the Wildes for a while, there was one thing he now understood. They liked taking in strays.

    "No we are not," Victor admitted and his wife smiled. "We are here to ask for your forgiveness in advance."

    This surprised the Wildes and even Edward.

    Mrs Bayon pulled out a small box that looked like it was for jewellery and opened it up. In that box were couple rings. Edward recognised them. It was something that his mother and father used to wear. Why were they giving this away?

    "This is a family heirloom," Mrs Bayon explained. "My husband and I wore this for many years as an agreement between us. Our marriage has been a rather complicated one and Edward left my care at a very young age to be with his father for many years. You can say that we married out of convenience and there were very little feelings between us, not that we didn''t get along. I just want these rings to have happier owners. I hope that you can also accept our son as your future son-in-law even if this might be a little too early to be discussing such matters. I would like to put this off for a few more years as well but there are certain circ.u.mstances beyond our control that makes it impossible to wait."

    Edward was confused. Then, things started becoming clear. His mother wore a cap indoors and she looked very frail despite only being in her fifties. She was too thin and lacked vigour.

    "I have final stage cancer," she smiled and Scarlet felt Edward''s hand tighten in hers. "We didn''t tell Edward that because he was busy doing important things on the side. However, now that he has recently left the job, I thought it would be nice to introduce myself to his possible future in-laws while I still can."

    "Mom..."

    Mrs Bayon laughed at her son who looked like a lost and small boy all of a sudden. "It''s ok. I''ve had a very happy and fulfilling life. You''ve grown up well and handsome just like your father! Also, Scarlet is a lot prettier now that I can finally see her. Your description didn''t do her any justice. You could have just taken a picture to send it to me!"

    The a.d.u.l.ts laughed as Mrs Bayon scolded Edward lovingly to ease his mood. The Wildes accepted the rings and promised to keep in touch with the Bayons but Victor looked uncomfortable.

    "No, please don''t. We only came by on a whim and we will disappear like the wind after this. If possible, please do not let anyone know about us. Edward is an orphan from today onwards as written on his new identification papers. He grew up in an orphanage in Paris and left it very early on to pursue what he wanted in America with a foster family who recently passed away. As of now, he is a free man."

    Orita was confused but Wilmer was quick to understand. After working with Danny for many years, things like this weren''t unfamiliar to him. It was just a sudden surprise but Wilmer agreed and accepted the rings.

    "I understand. Please take care and don''t worry. We will treat Edward like one of us."

    Mr and Mrs Bayon smiled and left as quickly as they came. Wilmer told the young couple to continue to enjoy the party while he talked to Orita who was extremely confused.

    When they returned, Scarlet got Edward a drink. "How does it feel like to suddenly become an orphan?"

    Edward chuckled. Scarlet still had a whacked sense of humour but he felt better. "Not as lonely as I would have been since I''m surrounded by all these people partying. Most importantly, did your parents give us their blessing? Does this mean I can propose now? I actually have rings."

    Scarlet blushed madly and smacked her boyfriend on the arm! Don''t you dare! I want to be the star of the party when you propose alone under the night sky with nobody around to ruin the moment!"

    Edward laughed and kissed Scarlet into silence.

    "Understood. I''ll propose to you after we graduate. We''ll get a quiet apartment just nice for two people and a cat. You''ll write books and I''ll do whatever I do then we come home to cook together and have dinner. I swear I''ll make you happy but I hope you won''t grow bored with me."

    Scarlet kissed him back. "Never. Not as long as we both live. I''ll even write a journal to doc.u.ment the things I love about you every single day. I''m going to call it the Love Journal. We''re going to make everyone sick just be reading it. I''m also going to teach our future children how to read just so they can read the doc.u.mentary of our journey together. How about it?"

    Edward laughed. He seriously couldn''t think of another person crazier than Scarlet. Yet, this was why they were perfect together.

    "I''d love that," he told her and grinned. "Je t''aime."

    Author''s Note: Please stay tuned, bonus chapters and a special announcement for Love Journal''s song parody made by yours truly coming up! Feel free to give me bonus scene suggestions that you want to see me write!

 Chapter 276 - Marshmallow

    Si-Han looked at his phone. As an artiste, he was busy. How was it that a CEO of a large consortium was less busy than him? Didn''t CEO Zhu have millions of people to manage and huge projects to oversee?

    Sugar Daddy: Hey, baby boy! I heard that you were coming to China for a tour. Can I be your city guide?

    Conflicted, the pop idol stared at his phone. While Si-Han had his fair share of crazy fanatics because of his pretty face and quiet nature, it was the first time he had been so confused. Wasn''t CEO Zhu dating Scarlet? He didn''t think that the man was gay. He even had a fiancee even if she was a criminal. Why would CEO Zhu ask him out and flirt with him?

    "Tom," Si-Han called out to his partner.

    "What is it?" Tom groaned as he removed the make-up from his face. That interview was hell. He wanted to throw up when the interviewer batted her lashes at him, reeking of perfume.

    Si-Han hesitated. Tom was the lady charmer and an expert at social relationsh.i.p.s but Si-Han didn''t know if he knew what to do when it came to dating men. After all, Tom was 100% straight and didn''t look like he would ever bend for another male.

    Deciding against it, Si-Han shook his head. If there was someone he could ask for more information about the CEO, it should be Scarlet.

    Edward blinked when Scarlet''s phone buzzed. Ever since Hopper Inc. was founded, his girlfriend hardly had any time to rest, much less go on dates with him. It made Edward slightly lonely but there wasn''t much he could do. Scarlet''s friends and family were important to her and retiring from the showbiz takes time.

    Still, whoever it was, he didn''t expect the Korean idol to text her.

    "Scarlet! You have a text from the pretty boy!"

    Scarlet who was editing her blog looked up and reached for the phone. Edward passed it to her and peered over her shoulder, resting his chin on it like a needy puppy. She felt bad for him. Edward had been rather patient and quiet for the past three hours while she worked on her writing. He only disrupted her concentration because of a text.

    "Si-Han? That''s rare..."

    Edward made a noise to agree and blinked when Scarlet opened the message.

    Si-Han: What kind of man is CEO Zhu?

    Scarlet stared at the message and re-read it. Then, she shared a look with Edward.

    "He was checking pretty boy out at the party. You shouldn''t be surprised that the snake is finally making his move. A man who has someone in his sights won''t just let it be. They''ll hunt and chase their targets down."

    Scarlet raised her brow. "Jasper didn''t pursue Alex," she reminded and Edward shrugged.

    "He did. It just wasn''t obvious. If he wasn''t interested in her, would he work so hard to quickly catch up to her family status? It''s obvious that he wants Wilmer''s approval more than Alex''s. Besides, your sister is very forward with her affections. There wasn''t a need for Jasper to feed that fire. She only has eyes for him anyway."

    Scarlet laughed. Indeed, that was true. CEO Zhu wasn''t a bad person in Scarlet''s books. However, she wasn''t sure if she wanted to support the relationship between CEO Zhu and Jin Si-Han. The CEO was in a tight spot because of the scandal with his fiancee and Si-Han was only starting to gain popularity in his career. Getting involved in a relationship with CEO Zhu would only affect them both terribly.

    "What is going on in that pretty head of yours?" Edward asked when the frown on Scarlet''s face became deeper.

    "Should I support this ship or discourage Si-Han from accepting CEO Zhu''s advances? Neither of them is in a good spot now for a high-profile relationship."

    Edward shrugged. "It''s up to them. They''re both grown-ups who are more than capable of making their own decisions. I guess what pretty boy wants to know is if CEO Zhu was going to be worth his time. Apart from you and Alex, I doubt anybody else knows him better."

    Scarlet hummed. Indeed, this wasn''t her decision to make. CEO Zhu did help her with the Anastasia case and she was indebted to him. Si-Han was her friend and she wanted him to be happy even if the road that he was about to choose might be a difficult one. If they really ended up together, she would give them both her full support.

    As Scarlet composed her reply, Edward decided to act a little more spoiled. His girlfriend was way too busy and he needed his fix. Snuggling into her small back, Edward inhaled the scent of her shampoo and closed his eyes. Now that he wasn''t a spy, he was still finding it difficult to get accustomed to the life of a regular student. He might take on small jobs on the side as an informant contact but that was nothing compared to when he had to invade mafia territory.

    >> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on and check out their other works. <<

    Si-Han didn''t know what kind of magic Hopper Inc. pulled but after his brief chat with Scarlet about two weeks ago, the manager in charge of their promotional activities cleared a week for him and Tom.

    Tom was more than happy to finally get some time to tour China with local guides. He was definitely going to pick up chicks even if he didn''t speak the language and Si-Han decided to stay out of his partner''s way. In fact, CEO Zhu found out about his schedule from unnamed sources and kept his word to act as Si-Han''s private personal guide.

    "Thank you for accepting my offer," the CEO smiled as Si-Han got into his car. For some reason, the CEO was dressed to look younger and Si-Han felt slightly shy. The man was a lot older than he was and Si-Han still couldn''t understand why this man insisted on flirting with him.

    "Why are you so interested in me? Apart from offering to be my private tour guide, my sugar daddy and my sponsor, what would you gain from this? I''m a male, I cannot marry you or give you heirs."

    CEO Zhu chuckled. "Do you always think that far ahead on first dates?"

    Si-Han blushed and looked away. After a while, he admitted that he never dated before and CEO Zhu grinned.

    "Glad to be your first date," the CEO smiled.

    Si-Han was an interesting soul. Although quiet and often expressionless, he didn''t seem to be affected by many things. It was as if his mind was separated from the world and Si-Han was only watching it from a third party''s perspective. CEO Zhu found him very different from Scarlet who tried to be strong and wore her heart on her sleeve to those who knew her well enough. Si-Han caught his eye at the Recovery Party and CEO Zhu has been trying to figure out what goes on behind the mind of this pretty face. He mistook this pop idol for a lady at first and that was when it all started. His offer to bring him out on dates, sponsor him and be his sugar daddy was just a way to kill time and find out what makes Si-Han tick. Yet, as they spent more time talking, CEO Zhu couldn''t help but feel more drawn towards Si-Han as an individual.

    The date was simple. Si-Han didn''t want to go anywhere crowded. Despite his status as an up and coming pop star, he was still very much an introvert. Si-Han didn''t have many interests and getting him to give CEO Zhu a list of things he would like to try while in China took a long time. Thankfully, Scarlet was a good cupid who knew her friend well enough to suggest something Si-Han might enjoy.

    They stopped outside somewhere that looked like a warehouse and Si-Han paused. Was this how rich Chinese tycoons treat their lovers? This looked shady as hell and Si-Han wondered what his sugar daddy had in mind. When he said that he didn''t like crowded places, he didn''t mean take him to a deserted industrial warehouse where bodies could possibly be stored without anyone knowing any better.

    CEO Zhu gestured for Si-Han to enter first as he held the door and Si-Han wasn''t expecting whatever he saw inside.

    "What''s this?" he asked, stumped by the grand interior decor. There were at least ten people lined up to greet him and the pop idol wanted to back out of it.

    "Hm? Oh, just some special venue I booked for a private dining experience. I heard that you missed Korean cuisine ever since you signed a contract with Hopper Inc. Here are some of the best Korean cuisine chefs I invited from Korea to prepare you a course meal."

    Unable to react to the scale of this date, Si-Han allowed CEO Zhu to take the lead. He mirrored the man''s actions and couldn''t help but look at the amount of money this man was throwing just to make a first date memorable.

    The food was great and Si-Han found himself enjoying it despite the awkward silence on occasion. He didn''t know what was going through this man''s mind but CEO Zhu was interesting. He must be really bored if he went all the way out to plan such a thing. Their conversations were also a tug of war between getting to know the other person and anticipating their next move. It was weird but not unwelcomed.

    CEO Zhu took a sip of the rice wine and smiled to himself. Si-Han was exactly like what Scarlet described. He was like a marshmallow, plain on the outside but soft and slightly sweet. Compared to his disgusting ex-fiance, this pop idol was nice. He wasn''t arrogant, vain or narrow-minded. In fact, his disinterest towards the wealth and status that CEO Zhu had made the man more interested. It was very rare to find someone unaffected by everything that he had and owned.

    "Thank you for the meal," Si-Han said once they got into the car.

    CEO Zhu smirked. "It''s still too early to thank me. Did you think this would be the end of the date?"

    Si-Han raised a brow. "We''re not heading back to the city?"

    CEO Zhu laughed. "No. You said that you wanted to see some pandas in your interview so I arranged a trip to the panda conservatory."

    Si-Han''s eyes widened slightly and there was a slight boyish expression on his face as he became excited at the thought of seeing live pandas. CEO Zhu felt the corners of his lips curve upwards when he was rewarded with that cute expression. If Si-Han continued to remain so unguarded around him, CEO Zhu would have to apologise to Scarlet. He wouldn''t be able to keep his distance from the pop idol even if it meant that the media was going to try and ruin them.

    At the other side of the world, Scarlet sneezed. It was past midnight and Edward frowned.

    "Time to sleep," he told her. "You''re going to fall ill if you don''t rest."

    Scarlet sighed and looked over to her doc.u.ment. "I need another three more chapters to complete today''s word target."

    Not listening to her, Edward shut the laptop screen and looked at her firmly. "Brush your teeth and head to bed. This can continue tomorrow."

    Reluctantly, Scarlet did as she was told. As she snuggled into bed with Edward, Scarlet kissed her boyfriend. She wasn''t lying about needing three more chapters. The progress of her new book wasn''t going very well but at the very least, her Love Journal was gaining viewership rapidly as she embarked on a new chapter of her life with him.

    Author''s Note: The special song parody for Love Journal is finally up on my Youtube. Please search [Love Journal] Want You Now - A Lady Antebellum Parody. Also, don''t forget to like it and follow my social media for updates about my upcoming books! Any amount of donation to my [email protected]+re0n is also very encouraged <3

 Chapter 277 - Youre Next

    The girls were excited. Rebecca and Dragon finally tied the knot and they were the first couple in the E.C. Class to do so. Everyone thought that Edward and Scarlet or Alex and Jasper would tie the knot first but the athletic couple beat them to it.

    Everyone was invited to the rather private wedding reception and the girls fought to be Rebecca''s bridesmaids but eventually, they decided to select the candidates through a competition that Scarlet tried very hard to forget. She couldn''t believe that she agreed to a culinary competition and won the title of the worst cook to become Rebecca''s last bridesmaid. Alex wasn''t even mad that she lost and Scarlet refused to let Edward know how she was selected to be one of the five bridesmaids. She''d put in her heart and soul into learning from him how to make simple things but none of whatever he prepared her turned up during the selection test and Scarlet was forced to innovate.

    The vows that Rebecca and Dragon exchanged made everyone laugh. Dragon co-wrote his vows with Jasper''s help because he was still bad with languages despite graduating from a University of his choice. It might be due to the grading weightage of the university. Dragon scored so well with his practical assessments and only needed the bare minimum to pass his written tests. Still, it was an accomplishment. Nobody thought that he would be able to do it, not even Dragon himself.

    "I promise to hold back when fighting with you, give you the keys to the house in case I forget them and also make sure that you never have milk in your coffee for as long as we''re both married."

    There were chuckles from all directions as Rebecca rolled her eyes. Yet, the cheesiness of his declaration didn''t erase the smile on her face. Her vows weren''t anything less cheesy and her friends cheered when she took the microphone.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #''re-next_50490753553592660 for visiting.

    "As your wife, I will promise to help you defend your title as the world''s best martial artist. I''ll be the weight you need to do when you push up, the motivation behind your chin-ups and the nurse for your sprained back when you get old."

    The boys hooted and Dragon flexed his muscles when Rebecca said that. They were quickly declared husband and wife by Khalid who couldn''t wait to get to the second part of the wedding. This was simply a formality and the real fun begins after the exchange of rings.

    "Alright!" Khalid cheered. As the emcee of the joyous event, he quickly urged everyone into action. "For the newly wedded bride and groom, as per popular request, we have to play the shoe game! Shoes off and you can appoint a couple to play the game if you get all the matches correct for the questions!"

    Scarlet was excited. The shoe game was her idea. It made couples grow closer and it was highly entertaining.

    "First question," Khalid grinned. The questions were provided by their classmates and the newly wedded couple can only answer by raising only one shoe at a time to represent the bride or groom. "Who is in charge of cleaning the toilets in our new home?"

    Immediately, Rebecca raised Dragon''s shoe and Dragon hesitated for a while before he raised his shoe with a defeated sigh. The girls laughed and clapped. A house husband indeed. For those who didn''t know them better, they would assume Rebecca was the one taking care of the home. In reality, Dragon was more particular because he trains at home a lot while Rebecca spends most of her time in the fields or stables.

    "Next question, who is more likely to name your first child?"

    At this, Rebecca raised her shoe and Dragon raised his, causing waves of giggles when from the crowd. Dragon looked up and frowned.

    "Hey! I said I was going to name our first kid Long Shao!"

    Rebecca rolled her eyes. "You can''t do that to a girl!"

    Dragon shot back that he also had a female name in mind if it ever tuned out to be a daughter. However, his defence was that there were only boys as first born in his family tree and there was no need to consider a female name for now.

    "Ok, moving on!" Khalid laughed as the couple squabbled. "Someone is going to sleep on the floor tonight," the DJ teased and Scarlet couldn''t help but laugh at Dragon''s suddenly timid expression.

    The games and events were fun. Scarlet did her job as a bridesmaid to ensure that the logistics of the party went smoothly. Edward helped out mostly to make sure Scarlet remembered to eat while she ensured everyone else ate.

    The girls took many pictures and Scarlet posed with them. However, once the bride and groom parted, it was time for yet another iconic scene. The bridesmaids were lined up and Rebecca grinned. It was time to toss the bouquet and almost everyone already knew who it was going to.

    "Get into position!" Rebecca yelled and turned around. Her bridesmaids quickly scrambled to get into the best position just for show. However, Scarlet didn''t notice this as she was shoved around. On the count of three, the equestrian threw the bouquet and the girls screamed, pushing Scarlet right in the way of the bouquet.

    Startled, the writer caught it dumbly and looked at the flowers in her arms. She looked blankly at them and back to Rebecca who grinned proudly. Her friends who were busy trying to snatch the flowers earlier backed off and clapped loudly. Edward was surrounded by the boys and brought to the front as Rebecca declared, "You''re next!".

    Edward felt his heart in his hands. He knew that he enlisted the help of Scarlet''s classmates to make his proposal possible but now that it was up to him to pop her the question, the words wouldn''t come out even if he was already on one knee with the box in his hand.

    Scarlet didn''t know how to react with the flowers still in her arms. However, she understood what was happening and was going to say yes when she sneezed loudly.

    Alex who was leaning against Jasper from the side blinked. "Oh shit! I forgot she has mild pollen allergy!"

    Edward couldn''t help but laugh when Scarlet sneezed harshly again, blowing off some petals from the bouquet in her arms. The E.C. Class and Special Class couldn''t help themselves. Leave it to the flowers to ruin a perfect moment.

    Alex quickly came in to rescue Scarlet from the pollen and when Scarlet''s allergy finally calmed down enough, Edward regained his confidence and proposed again, this time with more success.

    "Scarlet Wilde, won''t you marry me?"

    The bright smile on Scarlet''s face despite her red nose and teary eyes from the pollen earlier made Edward''s heart swell with happiness when she nodded. Everyone cheered as he placed that ring onto her finger and kissed it.

    "Congratulations!" Alex cheered then looked over to Jasper who sighed.

    "Soon," he told the inpatient model and Alex sulked. "How come Scarlet gets proposed to before me?"

    Jasper deadpanned. "The kind of proposal you want isn''t easy to prepare," he told her. "You wanted black diamond, a rented out cruise and a choir in the background. Scarlet''s proposal only takes a bouquet of flowers, some pollen allergy and a group of friends for witness. Unless you can settle for cheese rings, I can''t magically propose to you."

    Alex pouted them sighed. "Alright, I''ll wait. But yu better do it before they get married!"

    Jasper nodded, resigning to fate but smiled secretly as his girlfriend bounced over to congratulate her sister and threaten the ex-spy with a flimsy plastic knife.

    Author''s Note: Thank you for reading Love Journal! This is truly the end. I hope you enjoyed it. If you liked my writing style, do check out my other works on my website, subscribe to my social media and everything and look out for my new work in 2021! Also, any amount of financial support in the form of donations on my [email protected]+re0n is highly appreciated.