“Alvin’s gone, off to find her, I bet. Nevermind, I’ll just send a quick message, and he’ll be back in no time.”
“The guy I hired—his head got split open; she really didn’t hold back. Next time, I’ll bring more people, let’s see it she can dodge us then!”
“Alvin totally believes me; when Ira asked to see the footage, he didn’t even bother. You should’ve seen her face then; I almost laughed on the spot.
Maria’s carefree complaints hit Alvin’s ears like thunder. Footage? Suddenly, he remembered what had happened before he left the bar, his whole body tensing up. Did something really happen before he arrived that night? His grip tightened, brow furrowing as anger and confusion took hold,
After a few more moments of laughter inside, silence returned, but Alvin’s mind was in turmoil. He didn’t even bother retrieving his keys left inside, racing down the stairs to hall a cab back to the bar
Under the guise of searching for a lost item, he managed to retrieve footage from a week earlier. The video showed Maria’s friends clearing everyone out of the restroom, then putting up an “Under Hepal sign after ira entered. Moments later, a man Maria had brought slipped into the restroom, taking advantage of the empty hallway. A few minutes later, fra came running out, panicked, slapping Maria, who was waiting at the door. Their conversation was recorded clearly.
with each line Maria spoke, Alvin’s face grew darker. The worst part was seeing footage from outside–two of Maria’s friends speeding on an electile scaster. slamming into tra and sending her flying out of camera tange.
2/2
He recalled the phone call from that night, plecing it together with Maria’s phone conversation just now, feeling as if his blood had frozen. Heart pounding like a drum, he tried sending Ira a message, but it didn’t go through. Did she.. delete him? The thought made his hands tremble as he tried calling her, only to hear the cold voice of an automated message: her number had blocked him.
Alvin’s throat tightened, making it hard to breathe. Unable to control himself any longer, he dashed out to flag acab back home. The moment he opened the door, the unfamiliar emptiness of the apartment struck him dumb. The display cabinet once filled with stuffed toys, the photos on the wall, the deskcluttered with sketches. Everywhere he looked, every trace of Ira was gone.
In a daze, he searched each room, but the office, bathroom, studio, bedroom–all were equally spotless. He turned the apartment upside down, finding nothing of hers, as if she had vanished into thin air. But she had no one in Califomia, nowhere to go without a word of goodbye. Where could she have gone?
Feeling hollow and lost, his gaze landed on a letter on the bedside table. Rushing over, he tore it open, freezing at the sight of the first line:
“Alvin, let’s breakup.”
he firm watch at his m
mother. His hands were sticky with
When Alvin’s call came through, Wade was reluctantly peeling lychees for his dear sister, under the fir juice, making it inconvenient to answer the phone, so he motioned for fra to take it
Astra picked up the phone and saw the caller ID, her cheerful expression froze for a moment before the returned to her usual composure
She tapped the answer button, holding the phone to Wade’s ear while the bit into a freshlyther
The juicy, jelly–like flesh burst in her mouth, filling her senses with sw
So sweet,
Alvin said something that made Wade frown and altumte fra with a strange expression thbothered, fra casually grabbed some issues to clean his hands before handing him the phone.
Just as Wade was about to ask her what was going on, the butler entered, bringing Barry along, seeing him, Tra’s mother quickly stood up to greet him. After a few polite exchanges, Darcy took a seat beside ita. With her future brother–in–law present, Wade couldn’t exactly continue his line of questioning, so he weril outside with the phone, finally letting loose.
“Alvin, what do you want with my sister? She’s busy and doesn’t have time to take your call.”
Is she really busy or just pretending? Alvin couldn’t tell, and his tone grew colder.
“How’s her injury? Is it serious?”
Wade’s eyes widened with surprise.
“So, you know she’s burt? Why didn’t you let me know earlier? I could’ve flown out to California to get her–we could’ve even had a drink or two.”
But Alvin’s mind was too occupied with why Ira had broken up with him to care about drinking. Pressing his fingers to his temples, he redirected the
conversation.
“Is she really busy? I need to talk to her about something. Is it really inconvenient?”
Hearing the odd edge in Alvin’s voice, Wade glanced back, catching sight of Darey handing a peeled lychee to Ira, making him break into a wide, amused smile. “She really is busy would I lie to you?”
The laughter in Wade’s voice only deepened the dread in Alvin’s already trantic heart. He could sense the words were likely an excuse. Wade had always doted on his sister, and it was clear that tra didn’t want to take the call, so Wade was covering for her. Desperate to reach her, Alvin tought to contain his frustration, deciding to book flight to New York
Before he could end the call, Wade’s voice broke through again, remembering something.
“Are you free next week? There’s a family celebration–care to come join us?”
Alvin, still looking for an excuse to visit, immediately set his mouse down, responding with a casual tone.
“When la it? (‘ll see if I can make It.”
“Next Friday. Free or not, make time for it otherwise, I’ll deal with you next time we meet!”
Five days away–not too long. Alvin agreed, and just before hanging up, he couldn’t help asking again. “Make sure tra calls me back
