Only after seeing Evan off did Jenny spot Alec's messages. She sent him some texts in response, but the next second, the man was already giving her a call."Had dinner yet?" Alec asked, exhaustion evident in his tone. He was still busy with work, it seemed.Jenny hummed in assent. "Mhm. What about you? You're not skipping meals again, are you?"Alec didn't dare answer. He did skip dinner; he'd forgotten about it due to work.Jenny sighed. "You need to take care of your health, Alec. Aren't you worried about dying young?"She didn't bother sugarcoating her words. She'd seen too many cases of people overworking themselves to the point of being hospitalized for passing out. Seeing Alec make the same mistake upset her."I wasn't worried back then. Now I am." Alec truly hadn't been worried before he met Jenny. He lived life alone then, after all. But now, the thought of never being with Jenny again only pained him.Jenny didn't get what he was implying, however. "Then regulate your w
Alec went right up to Jenny's apartment the moment he came up to his floor. "Come on in. Dinner's ready." Jenny stepped aside to let him in."Did you make these?" Alec asked in surprise, seeing the food on the table."No, no. These are the foods you ordered." Jenny didn't intend to lie. She had merely heated up the food Alec sent over.Alec frowned. "You haven't eaten?""I have." Jenny met his gaze, then looked away. "Evan came to visit after hearing I have my own place outside. We had dinner."Alec's expression instantly turned ugly. So that was why Jenny didn't reply to his texts."It was just dinner, nothing special. Don't overthink it," Jenny explained.Unfortunately, Alec was already on the jealousy train. "Really? What I'm concerned about is if you're the one underestimating things."He was sure Jenny knew the kind of expectations Evan held for her. Their dinner was most likely more special to him than Jenny thought.Jenny rolled her eyes. "Are you eating or not? I can
Jenny sighed. "Of course, I do. Everyone deserves respect no matter who or what kind of person they are. You can't just look down on someone because they're not as rich as you, right?" She didn't intend to convince Alec otherwise from his point of view. It was pretty expected for them to have different worldviews. After all, they grew up differently.Plus, it wasn't as if he was ever a bully to everyone. At most, he ignored certain people, choosing not to interact with them instead.Just as Jenny was ready to change the topic, Alec said, "Alright. I'll learn to be respectful to everyone from now on."Jenny shot him a curious look. "What? You don't need to—""Anything else I can improve on? Just let me know." Alec said, gazing at Jenny with a serious expression.Now Jenny really didn't know what to say. After a long period of silence, she finally said, "You don't need to change anything about yourself just because I say so, you know."If Alec changed everything about himself, he
It was nearly noon when Jenny called Stephanie again. This time someone answered, though, to her surprise, it wasn't Stephanie, but a stranger."Is this your phone? You can have it back for five hundy, or I'll toss it into the river." A man's voice came from the other end of the call.Jenny blinked in surprise but swiftly recovered. "Did you find the phone somewhere?""What'd you think? You're not gonna say I stole it, are you? I'm telling you, I didn't steal it. I just found it by the road." The man sounded worried as if he really might get in trouble.Now Jenny was worried. How did Stephanie's phone end up by the roadside?"Do you want it back or not?" "Yes. Send me a location. I'll come to meet you.""Nope. Just send me the money, and I'll have it posted back to you by courier."Jenny scoffed. "What difference would that make? If I wanted to report you to the police, I could track you down just from your bank account records.""You—""If you don't have what it takes, then
"What do I have to do for you to forgive me, Stephanie?!" A man yelled from the other end of the call, much to Jenny's surprise. She instantly recognized it to be Paul Wagner, currently pissed off, it seemed."Why should Steph forgive you? You can't expect a simple 'sorry' to make up for all the wrongs that you did, Paul Wagner," Jenny replied, hackles rising.Compared to Paul, Alec was a saint."Jenny? What—" Paul's tone calmed down the moment he heard it was Jenny. "Where's Stephanie? Hand her the phone. This is our personal business we need to settle.""Stephanie lost her phone. I got it back for her."Paul frowned. "Lost it? But I just saw her earlier. How could she have lost it so soon?"He was still at the place he met up with Stephanie, having grown so upset that he couldn't help but call her number again. Now it was Jenny's turn to frown. Something was wrong. "I'll head to her office right now."She then hung up the phone and went over, needing to make sure Stephanie w
There were no cameras at that corner, so Jenny wouldn't know what happened exactly based on the footage alone. She then left for that location, ready to find any clues leading her to figure out what happened.Unfortunately, she found nothing. There was nowhere to hide behind that corner, nor were there any signs of struggle. It was as if Stephanie disappeared into thin air. Jenny went back to the footage, determined to find some clues. Sure enough, she soon noticed a specific van leaving the area.It had stopped by the sidewalk just before Stephanie walked around the corner, then left a little after she disappeared down it. No other person or car has come or left from that corner since.Jenny sent the car plate number to Melissa, who quickly reported that the vehicle attached to the number had long been reported missing, so there were no available leads to track it down.But Jenny didn't plan on giving up. She returned to the footage, rewatching the van and memorizing its feature
Stephanie gradually woke up, finding herself in an unfamiliar place. Unbeknownst to her, she was being held hostage in a villa across the city.It looked like she'd been abducted.But why? Her family wasn't anyone special here in this city, nor were they rich.A man soon entered the room she was in, someone Stephanie had never seen in her life. "Who are you? Why did you bring me here?""Don't worry, Miss Walker. My master only means to have you with us for a brief while as a guest. We mean no harm," the old man explained.No harm?Why the hell would Stephanie believe that?!She didn't argue with the man, however. He was still maintaining a modicum of respect, so it was best to not piss him off right now. "May I know why I'm being 'invited' here as a 'guest' then?"The old man didn't seem to plan on answering. "Make yourself at home. You will soon be able to leave."He left a tray of food and drink for Stephanie before leaving the room, but not before Stephanie noticed the seve
She didn't expect the inside of the villa to appear so calm. There was little to no one inside the space as the butler led her through. The interior of the villa was far better than the exterior, too, like it had been under proper maintenance for a long time.There was a small mansion to the side, which appeared to look just as rundown, though Jenny guessed that was only a mask for its actual furnished interior. A room on the first floor of the mansion caught Jenny's attention, as it was surrounded by guards. Stephanie might be in there, Jenny thought. She hurriedly memorized the place in mind.The butler brought her into the mansion, where Jenny finally met the man orchestrating this whole charade—Zeke Faust."Have a seat, Miss Walter." The old man nodded at her, gesturing at a seat to the side. He was being more than courteous right now, so Jenny quietly went to take a seat.Silence ensued. The old man then asked, "Aren't you curious as to why I've asked you to come, Miss Wal