I glanced at him and caught his eye. Looking away casually, I went upstairs without a word.
Before I entered the bedroom, Anthony came after me and grabbed my wrist. “Why didn’t you pick up the phone? Who did you meet with today?” he asked quietly.
I was tired and drenched from the rain. “I met an old friend, and my phone was off,” I said blandly, without the intention of pursuing the conversation.
I shook off his grasp and headed into the bedroom to gather up my bathrobe. However, Anthony blocked me with his slender frame. “Sienna, we’ve talked about this. We can’t have arguments when you give me the silent treatment.”
“I got caught in the rain earlier. Can we talk about this after I have a shower?”
“Go on, then,” Anthony said after a pause.
Without another word, I entered and shut the door. The September rain was chilly, plus the night was colder than usual. I felt a headache coming after my shower. I was probably already falling sick.
As I exited the bathroom, Anthony stared at me like he expected us to talk about the day. I blew dry my hair and wiped my face but was feeling worse by the minute. When Anthony went in to brush his teeth, I promptly fell asleep without waiting for him.
In my drowsiness, I vaguely heard someone calling me, but I was too tired to respond.
When I awoke the following day, my cold intensified to the point where even my throat hurt. Anthony was nowhere to be seen.
I had planned to return to K City. After I got up and tidied up for a bit, I went to Murphy Corporation to meet Armond.
Nora called before I arrived there. “Sienna, are you free? Let’s have lunch!” she chattered.
“Sure, what’s up? Why the sudden invitation?”
“It’s Laurel. She wants to have lunch with us before everybody goes home for Harvest Festival.”
She was right, Harvest Festival is just around the corner.
“That’s a good idea. I will be going back to K City for Harvest Festival anyway; thus, I won’t have the time to meet you girls. Now is a perfect time.” I suddenly recalled the encounter with Danny.
“Nora,” I said after some hesitation. “Please be careful when you leave the house. I ran into Danny yesterday. He told me that Abe is in the country. We may not be safe!”
“What?” she exclaimed in shock. “How did Abe get in here? Grandpa said that the cops from A City and Venria had joined forces to apprehend him, but he was hidden in the mountains at the border. I can’t believe that he’s here at A City!”
I was startled at this piece of news. “Are you saying that Abe can’t survive in Venria anymore?”
“Yes. I didn’t manage to tell you this before. When we returned from Epea, I told Grandpa about this. He then contacted the cops from A City and Venria to arrest him for all the crimes that he had committed over the years. I think his good fortune is coming to an end.”
Nora’s news explained Danny’s disheveled appearance. It was tough being on the run from the law.
I ended the call with Nora and entered the building of Murphy Corporation.
I knocked on Armond’s door.
“Come in!” came his voice.
I pushed open the door and found him buried in some documents, his brow furrowed in concentration. At the sound of my footsteps, he looked up. “Weren’t you going to rest for a couple of days? What are you doing back here?”
I helped myself to the seat in front of him. “The Lavelian Village project is almost completed so far,” I reported. “We’re good to go with some last-minute inspections. As Harvest Festival is almost upon us, I would like to take off for a couple of days to return to K City.”
Armond nodded. “I was thinking of heading back there too. As for the inspection, you need to be there ahead of time with the third party. Bring someone from Featherstone Corporation if need be, to go over all the safety measures again. I’m worried that it’ll be too late to make any changes if the authorities suddenly show up and find something not in order. It will look better on us if we ascertain that everything is in order and report it as such.”
I nodded. The project’s most vulnerable points are its hidden dangers. If something were to happen over the holidays, the project would be delayed yet again. It would be wise to inspect it beforehand.
“Alright, I’ll notify Featherstone Corporation and the third party tomorrow to visit Lavelian Village and go over everything one more time,” I declared. “Oh, by the way. You’re heading back to K City for Harvest Festival?”
“Of course, I’m going back,” he said, turning around to glance at me. Speaking of which, you need to fulfill your promise and give me that sandalwood box when we get back to K City.”
I nodded. I had promised him back in Venria that I would give him the sandalwood box as a token of my gratitude if he was able to bring us back to the country. Due to work and other personal matters, I had put this off for quite some time now.
I recalled my encounter with Danny and was hesitant on telling Armond about it. In the end, I decided against it. “You should be careful when you leave the house. There’s a possibility that Abe is in A City being on the run from the law. I’m worried that he may exact vengeance on all of us.”
Armond, who was toying with his pen absentmindedly, froze at my words. “How did you know that he’s here in A City?” he demanded.
“You knew about it?” I said, startled.
He sat up straight to face me. “I used to be in a similar business,” he said with a laugh. “Of course, I would know.”
I nodded and said no more. He was a man surrounded by bodyguards. Abe wouldn’t risk it.
After saying what I came for, I had no reason to extend my stay. I returned to my office and tidied up. It was supposed to be a day of rest for me today. I came to the office just to inform Armond that I intended to return to K City.
Having done that, I packed my things and prepared to return to the villa.
I had planned to spend my day out and about today, but I couldn’t help feeling anxious with Abe lurking somewhere in the corners since running into Danny that day. Who knows what might happen at any given time?
I did not drive, and the lobby of the building was not ideal to hail a cab. Therefore, I had to walk a little further out to be able to get a cab.
A City was a city of extreme wealth inequality, probably caused by the high prices of property and low wages of workers. An apartment costs thirty thousand on average, and a worker brings home about three to five thousand. With the high prices of consumables, many living in the city were not able to afford an apartment, much less have any savings. They just lived one day at a time.
Despite all that, people were willing to fight for a spot here because of the four seasons and relatively fresh air.
Being a scatterbrain, I had walked further than I had originally planned. Soon, the roads began to look foreign to me, so I headed back.
“You ugly devil! You look like an illegal immigrant. You stink like the trash you belong in!” A chorus of jeering voices came from an alley nearby. Curious, I inched forward for a closer look.
I caught sight of a gang of delinquents surrounding a man on the floor. They looked to be dropouts, around fifteen or sixteen years of age.
One of them held up a bucket of unknown contents. “Make way, make way. The main course is here!” he yelled excitedly.
The boys scattered as the bucket-toting boy emptied its contents onto the man on the floor. In an instant, he was drenched from head to toe.
The boys shouted with laughter.
I frowned with disapproval. The man on the ground had his head between his knees. He looked to be of a strong build, but his clothes were torn and ripped. His most striking feature was the darkness of his skin.
He looked like a harmless, homeless man to me. The kids appeared to have more plans to drench him, so I yelled out “The cops are coming!”
They were children, after all. At the sound of my voice, they bolted.
When it was silent all around again, the man on the ground slowly looked up. His gaze was cold, but he gave no indication that he had been bullied.
I froze in shock when I recognized him. Danny again! How did he end up like this?
After a brief deliberation, I walked in to the alley.
At the sound of my footsteps, he turned to look and froze in surprise at the sight of me.
“Are… are you alright?” I asked as I don’t know what else to say.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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