Soon, they arrived at Linen Bay Residences. Instead of heading for the underground parking, Kevin drove straight into theplex and stopped right in front of Alicia’s building.
Charles got out of the car and looked up at Alicia’s apartment. The lights were still on upstairs.
He just stood there, staring up. The curtains weren’t drawn, and he could see her silhouette, intent on her painting.
He drank in the sight, unable to tear his eyes away for even a second.
At first, Kevin tried to copy Charles, staring up at the window too. But after a while, he got bored and went back to scrolling on his phone.
By 11:30 PM, Kevin nced over at Charles, who was still craning his neck at the window. Kevin couldn’t help but poke, “Mr. Yates, be careful your neck doesn’t get stuck like that. You’ve been staring up for over an hour!”
Charles finally tore his eyes away and gave Kevin a chilly look. Kevin immediately shut up about it. “Please go on. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
But Charles pulled out his phone and sent Alicia a WhatsApp message: [Head to bed early tonight and don’t stay up toote. Also, don’t spend all night hunched over your painting; it’s rough on your neck.]
Alicia was just about to pack up when her phone buzzed. She set aside her brush, grabbed her phone, checked the sender out of habit, and then walked over to the window to look down.
She caught sight of Charles instantly–tall, impossible to miss, craning his neck to gaze up at her window.
Alicia blinked, blinked again in disbelief, then snatched up her phone and dashed downstairs.
<b>‘</b><b>It’s </b>sote… Why is Charles here? Did something urgent happen?‘ Alicia wondered. ‘It’d be so awkward to invite him up thiste–forget it, I’ll just head down and see what’s going on.
Charles stared at the window where Alicia had just vanished, her reply nowhere in sight. She was gone, and his WhatsApp was left hanging.
His heart started pounding. ‘Did I say something wrong? Did I piss her off?‘ Charles panicked, mind racing through what he might’ve messed up.
He cleared his throat, about to ask Kevin for advice, when a voice sounded behind him. “Mr. Yates?”
Alicia was wearing nothing but a thin orange lounge set, her feet in a pair of cute bear slippers.
Standing at the entrance, she looked so fragile, like a breeze could blow her away.
Charles paused in surprise, then felt a burst of annoyance when he saw how lightly she was dressed. He quickly took off his jacket, strode over, and draped it around her shoulders. “Why did youe downstairs?”
he asked.
<b>20:54 </b><b>Mon</b><b>, </b><b>Oct </b>6
Alicia asked, “Why are you here sote? Is something important going on?”
‘Wait, is he here to kick me out?‘ Alicia thought, a flicker of worry crossing her mind. “That’s the worst thing about renting–you’re always scared thendlord will show up and toss you out!’
‘Is itme if I say I just wanted to see her?‘ Charles wondered, suddenly feeling awkward.
He honestly didn’t know what to say for a second.
Seeing him stay silent, Alicia just assumed he was too shy to spell it out. After all, he was the one who’d offered. her the ce in the first ce.
She gave him a sweet smile and said, “Does this ce need to be used for something else? It’s okay, <b>if </b>you need it urgently, I can move out tomorrow.”
Charles was speechless.
‘What’s going on inside that head of hers?‘ he thought, totally baffled.
When he still didn’t say anything, Alicia looked troubled. “No way… Don’t tell me I have to move out tonight?”
Seeing her unhappy look, Charles felt a sharp stab in his heart. ‘Is she really that insecure?‘ he wondered. ‘She never really had a home growing up, and things were rough with the Lawrence family. No wonder she’s always worried someone’s going to kick her out.‘
Charles blurted out, “How about I just put this ce in your name?”
“Huh?” Alicia blinked, totally thrown. “What did you just say, Mr. Yates?”
Charles instantly realized how out of the blue that sounded. He gave a sheepish smile and said, “Never mind. I just have a friend in the area and wanted to check in. You should get some rest.”
Alicia froze for a moment, a hint of embarrassment on her face. ‘Oh… I really thought he came for me,‘ she thought, feeling a little deted.
She forced an awkward smile. “I’ll just… head upstairs now.”
“Go on, get some rest,” Charles said with a softugh.
Alicia quickly dashed toward the elevator.
When Alicia got back upstairs, she finally realized she still had Charles’s jacket draped over her shoulders. Blushing, she dashed to the window for a peek–only to see his car had already driven off.
So she pulled out her phone and sent Charles a WhatsApp message: [Mr. Yates, you forgot your jacket.]
Charles replied: [I’ll pick it up next time. Get some sleep.]
Alicia: [Okay. Good night.]
When Charles saw those words pop up, he couldn’t help but curve his lips into a smile. At some point, he’d
01
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read a post from a rtionship guru about what certain everyday texts really meant.
ording to that guru, saying “Good night” was secretly another way to say “I love you.” <fnb236> Newest update provided by findnovel</fnb236>
‘So… does she mean that?‘ Charles wondered, his heart doing somersaults.
He broke into a silly grin, carefully typed out [I love you too], and actually had his finger hovering over the send button.
But just before he went through with it, he snapped out of his daydream, frantically deleted those words, and settled for something much safer: [Good night.]
Kevin habitually sneaked a nce at Charles through the rearview mirror. Lately, Charles had been smiling way more than usual, but tonight’s grin looked downright lovestruck–like he’d just won the jackpot in the romance department.
‘Nah, I’m definitely imagining things,’ Kevin thought, mentally rolling his eyes at himself for getting carried
away.
He hurriedly shifted his gaze back to the road, determined not to let his overactive imagination distract him from driving.
After Nora got expelled, Tiffany promised she’d help her transfer to another school, but she couldn’t find a single one in Riverdale that would take Nora in.
So that was it–Nora’s college days were over before they even started.
Nora tried to get in touch with Tiffany, but Tiffany wouldn’t see her. Meanwhile, Hugh sent someone to Frank and Lindsay and gave them 150 thousand dors–basically hush money—to make sure their daughter stayed quiet and didn’t cause any more trouble.
Frank and Lindsay had never seen so much money in their lives. Their family usually spent whatever they made–and most of the time, it still wasn’t enough. Now, all of a sudden, there were 150 thousand dors just sitting there in their hands.
They were thrilled. Lindsay tried tofort Nora, saying, “Nora, look, the Lawrences just gave us 150 thousand dors. Even if you finished college, you might nevernd a job or make this kind of money.
“Let’s just forget about school, all right? With this cash, you can dress well, eat well.
“You always loved those fancy cafes, right? I’ll buy you a shop, help you set it up. It’s your own path.”
Nora still wanted to keep studying, but she realized there was nothing she could do. She could never win against Tiffany. If she made a fuss, not only would they lose the money, but her family might not even be able to stay in Riverdale anymore.
In the end, she could only ept reality.
Once the dust finally settled, the forum went eerily quiet–like nothing had ever happened at all.
<b>20:54 </b><b>Mon</b><b>, </b><b>Oct </b><b>6 </b>
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Tiffany walked away without a scratch.
Sienna couldn’t help but vent, “After all that chaos, Tiffany’s totally fine! Expelling Nora is barely a p on the wrist for her. She’s got money to burn, and there’ll always be more Noras lining up to be her sidekicks.”
Alicia justughed softly. “Now that there’s a Nora as an example, anyone nning to help Tiffany will have to think real hard first–can they really handle whates next?”
Sienna nodded in agreement. “Yeah, true. Ugh, enough about all that bad luck. Let’s just bury ourselves in studying, graduate, and leave all this drama behind.”
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