"What if they cause trouble again?" the staff asked."They won't unless they intend to be kicked out of Solaria!" Esparza told his staff in a gruff voice. Esparza would not spare these people for making a mess in his bar anyway. Whether Lucas would punish them or not was another story. Meanwhile, outside the bar. "I'll take you home now," Lucas said. Coco trembled in his arms as he carried her into the car and put her into the passenger seat. Coco sat in the car, still in a daze. After a short silence, she gave a small nod, answering Lucas.Lucas said nothing at her reaction. He drove the car toward Coco's home in silence.It was a quiet ride. Coco kept her head down the whole time, her mind replaying other, older memories. How the men had kicked the restroom door earlier reminded her of the time she had gotten constantly bullied in university.Many people in the school believed Loke's words and assumed she was manipulative and scheming. Once, she had been locked in the restroo
Coco hesitated for a moment, then decided to step into the elevator. Lucas followed and helped her to press the floor button.When the door shut before her, Coco suddenly stiffened, her face growing pale again."C-Can I hold your hand?" Coco whispered, barely managing her anxiety. She really needed to feel some warmth with her and to block her thoughts of the fear from the incident earlier.Looking back at Coco, he could see the color had drained from her face and the tears forming in her eyes. There was also fear and yearning in her eyes.What was she hoping for? Was she longing to hold his hand?Ever since falling in love with Serenity, Lucas had been uncomfortable with other women's touch, including Coco's. He would only touch Coco to put on an act in front of Serenity.No one was watching them now. He had no reason to act, and he could simply reject her. Still, this fear and longing in her eyes reminded him of himself. When he was younger, he must have felt the same when he a
Lucas thought it was rare to find someone like Coco, and her answer made him laugh. Was she that kind? Or just stupid? "I'll get you some warm water. It'll help ease your mind," Lucas said and stood up."I'll do it myself," she hurriedly said."Have a seat. You're still shaking. You might end up spilling all the water in your current state," Lucas said.Coco glanced down and saw the trembling of her fingers. She saw the way her hands were still shaking and stopped insisting.Lucas went to the kitchen to grab a glass of warm water. Meanwhile, Coco plopped onto the sofa and forced a smile on her face.She thought she had recovered from the nightmares of her university days, but she never realized it lingered in the back of her mind the whole time. One similar situation was all it took to bring out all the shadows from the past.Coco stared blankly at her left hand. She was desperate and scared, but the moment she held his hand, everything went away. He saved her and kept the desp
Coco thought she would have a hard time sleeping after the shocking incident in the restroom. Instead, she slept through the night. She only woke up in the morning to her studio assistant's phone call The assistant could not find Coco in the studio and thought something had happened to her. It turned out Coco had just overslept. After the call, Coco quickly rose from her bed and got ready for work.She remembered going into the house holding Lucas' hand tightly. Lucas said he would get her a glass of warm water, so she had waited in the living room.Coco thought she had probably fallen asleep while waiting on the sofa. Did Lucas carry her to bed? Coco's face reddened at the thought of this. She hoped she had not done anything strange to him or said something weird while sleeping! Coco stood in front of the mirror and saw her red cheeks and some kind of emotion glittering in her eyes. She vaguely remembered a gentle voice speaking to her in her sleep. It had helped her to sleep
"Just do as I say! I'm on my way now. We'll talk later!" Minnie urged, panic in her voice. Coco dropped everything and told her assistant to go home. Before leaving, she shut down her computer and locked the studio door. While heading to the main entrance of the building, she saw a group of people stopped by the guards. The people were either holding cameras or microphones. In the crowd noise, she heard someone talking about Studio Alice and her name. Were these people after her? Coco thought, momentarily dumbfounded.Coco quickly turned away and got to the side entrance. Not long after she exited the building, she heard the people shouting her name from behind. The people followed her and surrounded her."You must be Alice Souza. Is that your pen name? Is your real name Coco Souza? The author of 'I See You'? I heard you were a bully victim in school. Is that true?" Coco came face-to-face with a crowd of reporters and stiffened at the series of questions."I heard you were bulli
Loke had seen the news too, and a frown twisted his face. The bullying incident in university was brought up by the news again, his name blatantly omitted, and all the focus was turned to Coco's name.Why had this story come out? Who had brought up the news again?!Although the incident had happened in the university, only a small group of students were involved in the actual bullying. Most of the students were only watching, not knowing the cause of the incident. Someone had exposed the story without missing any details. Only a few knew the matter well. Were the abusers the ones who had shared the story? Were they jealous of Coco's latest success and planning to ruin everything?Who could it be? Who was behind this?Loke's mind was still on the names of those involved in this matter when his phone rang. "Hello?""Loke!" His best friend Mason's voice came over the phone. "Have you seen the latest video about Coco? It's all over the internet!""No, not yet. What happened?" Uneas
Coco's boyfriend looked like a typical rich kid who came from money. Could it be him?Loke wondered if Coco's boyfriend was helping Coco with money. Was he just playing around with Coco? Or was it something more?Suddenly, Loke panicked. Was Coco's boyfriend serious about her? If he was, could Loke still start over with Coco? Or maybe he would never get the chance again.Coco did not end up staying in Minnie's place. Instead, Minnie found a service apartment on the internet and rented it for her.The serviced apartment was further away from the city but with strong security. All visitors and tenants required an access card to enter or exit the building. "You should stay here for the next few days. I'll bring you food every day," Minnie said, but Coco suddenly let out a laugh."How could you laugh in a time like this?" Minnie said. "I suddenly feel like a fugitive on the run from the public. Are you going to sneak around? Secretly bring me food every day? Maybe someone might be
"It's alright," Coco refused. "The news has been taken down, anyway. Besides, I'm not a celebrity. It's not like everyone knows my face. I'll get dinner for myself or order takeaway. You don't have to travel so far to send me food."It was an hour and a half drive from here to Minnie's place."Okay, then. Take care of yourself," Minnie sighed. "Call me if you need anything. I'll talk to the director. Perhaps you can go back to the set in a few days." "Alright," Coco responded.After her best friend left, Coco was left alone in the 40-square-foot apartment. A sense of loneliness surrounded her.Coco grabbed her phone and searched for Lucas' name in her contacts. After hesitating shortly, she made the call.The call connected, and there was a low voice on the other end of the phone. "Hey." Feeling nervous, Coco involuntarily tightened her grip on the phone. "Hey… I don't know if you know, but the story about my past was on the news.""Yeah, I know," Lucas replied, his voice pra