Peter was sitting on the couch and smoking, looking melancholy.Kisa glanced at him, then went and poured herself a glass of water. Holding the glass of water, she sat down on the other end of the couch and sipped on the water, with no intention of speaking first.Peter puffed out a ring of smoke and asked, "Where is Jolina?"His tone of voice was anything but polite, like that of a debt collector. 'There is no wonder Jolina is avoiding him every time,' Kisa thought to herself and then said, "I have no idea.""You have no idea?" Peter sneered. "If you have no idea, then why the f*ck are you at her house?""Should I necessarily know where she is just because I'm at her house?"Her reply dumbfounded him. He suddenly kicked the coffee table. "Where the hell is Jolina? Are you going to tell me?"Looking at the man's angry face, Kisa said absently, "She has left home since six o'clock.""Since six o'clock?" Peter frowned. "What was she doing going out since six o'clock? Is she seein
Kisa found a magazine and was leaning back on the couch to read it when a sudden roar from outside the door shocked her. She stretched her neck to peek out at them but only saw a little spark of fire flickering on and off.Jolina's voice was so soft that Kisa could hardly hear what she was saying. All that she could hear was Peter growling incessantly, as if not afraid to wake up the neighbors."I warn you not to avoid me again, otherwise..." Peter did not finish his sentence, but the threat in his voice was obvious.Kisa did not hear Jolina answer, nor did Peter make another sound. It was quiet all of a sudden. Just when Kisa wondered if Peter had left, his voice suddenly sounded again, talking about her."Why is that woman in your house? Gilbert was looking high and low for her. I didn't know it was you who hid her.""I hope you will keep the whereabouts of Ms. Becker to yourself.""Why should I? I'm going to tell Gilbert.""Peter!" Jolina raised her voice and then softened ag
Kisa smiled at her. "What's wrong? Is it because it is not inconvenient?""No." Jolina quickly shook her head. "It is just... It is just... Where are you going? Can you take me with you?"Kisa was startled for a moment. "Don't you have a part-time job at night?""I left without permission while on duty, so my boss got angry and fired me," Jolina said, lowering her head. "But it is okay if you don't feel convenient taking me with you. I—""Of course, it is convenient. It couldn't have been better; we can take turns driving, as it is a long journey." Kisa had no doubt that Jolina wanted to make this trip with her purely to avoid Peter.In the study, Gilbert leaned back in his chair, his eyes closed, seemingly asleep. Madalyn walked quietly over to him, placed a bowl of chicken gnocchi soup on the desk, and then called out softly to him. There was no response. Madalyn sighed silently, then hunched over to clean up the messy papers on the desk.Suddenly, a piece of paper partly obscu
Jolina still felt embarrassed when she was in the car. She asked Kisa, "I'm not interrupting your work by following, am I?""Of course not. Let's think of it as going on a driving tour."'Yeah, think of it as a trip. I can also just take a break and relieve my emotions. When we get to Hillsby, if the words of the two jailers match what the warden said, then there will be no more internal struggle and illusions," Kisa said in her mind.In the Kooper residence, Madalyn sat dumbfounded by Gilbert's bedside. She could never have imagined that her understanding grandson, who had always been willing to listen, would take such a large amount of sleeping pills. 'Did he want to kill himself?' she asked in her mind, covering her face, sobbing with grief.Kelvin stood by in sadness. He looked at Gilbert's lean face and struggled internally. After a long silence, he finally said, "Please leave Gilbert alone, Mrs. Kooper Sr."Madalyn shuddered and looked at him. "What did you say? Have I ever
Madalyn sobbed. "How could I be mistaken? Kelvin came to see you. He said you took a lot of sleeping pills, and if discovered any later, you might not have survived." Madalyn was still in perturbation.But Gilbert looked calm, even having an indifferent smile on his face. "I didn't kill myself. I just couldn't sleep and took a few sleeping pills. It was just that those sleeping pills weren't very effective, so I had a couple more by accident."He sounded as if it was not a big deal, but Madalyn's heart still twitched with perturbation. She held Gilbert's hand tightly and said, "Promise me you won't do this again. I'm terrified.""Don't worry, Grandma. I won't kill myself. I have to take care of you. I can't leave you alone in this world."Madalyn's heart ached to see his pale, smiling face. 'Is it true, as Kelvin has said, that I would drive him to his death?' She lowered her head slightly and rested her forehead against the back of his hand, feeling so bad. She was afraid that Gil
"We have a lot of empty rooms here. Why do you have to stay in this one? I told you that this room has problems. The shower head in the bathroom is broken, you...""Okay, okay. It is okay if you insist on staying in this one. Feel free to call the reception if you have any questions."Opening the door slightly ajar, Kisa saw the female receptionist, whom she had dealt with earlier, grinning from ear to ear as she counted a stack of $100 bills in her hands. Kisa figured that there must be some newly rich, so she looked to the side, but only saw the door of the room next door open and close, but did not get to see the person. She then came back in and closed the door behind her.Jolina looked at her in puzzlement. "What is wrong, Ms. Becker?"Kisa smiled at her. "Call me Kisa. Ms. Becker is too formal.""Okay." Jolina nodded. "Hello, Kisa.""That's more like it." Kisa let out a smile and then walked over. "I just thought the guest next door was a little weird. Why pay so much money
Jolina screamed and shook off the hand. The person came up and tried to hug her, looking lecherous. "Hey, beauty. Don't be afraid. I just want to have a drink with you. What is there to be afraid of?"Jolina's face turned pale in fright. Kisa pulled the man away, raising her hand to slap him. "Get the hell out of my sight!" Kisa hit him so hard that the punk crashed into the other two.It took the punk a few seconds before he knew what had happened. He then barked at his two underlings, "Go get the two chicks! I will teach them a lesson today.""Who do you want to teach a lesson to?" A deep, cold voice suddenly came from a direction.Kisa looked in surprise at the tall guy that appeared out of nowhere. 'Isn't that Peter?' He was standing there with a cigarette in his mouth, looking lackadaisical, but his aura was not to be messed with. He narrowed his eyes and stared at the three punks."Tell me whom you want to teach a lesson to."The three punks were just paper tigers—all talk
"Do you know how Gilbert's doing now?""I have nothing to do with him and I'm not interested to know about that either."Kisa said indifferently before she went into the room and shut the door.Peter stared at that closed door and laughed scornfully. "Women are such heartless creatures."He just wanted to tell her that Gilbert might have tried to end his life by taking sleeping pills.Peter gave up the idea of doing that since Kisa showed no interest in knowing about what happened to Gilbert.Jolina spaced out as she cooped up on the couch, looking a little sad.Kisa went toward her and grabbed her hand. Then, she asked softly, "What's wrong? Is it because of him?"Jolina looked at her with tears rolling in her eyes as if she had been trying to suppress her feelings for her a long time. Suddenly, she lay in Kisa's arms and started crying.Kisa patted her back lightly and consoled her, "It's okay. Don't worry. I'm here. I won't let him do anything to you.""I should've just le