CHAPTER 95: A FOOL

The rest of the walk was quiet, not the comfortable kind, but the "one of us is hiding something" kind.

Her heels clicked against the tiled corridor, echoing between the tall glass walls. Alex’s footsteps trailed a few paces behind, steady and calculated, like a bodyguard who hadn’t been officially assigned the role.

When they reached the elevator, she pressed the button and kept her eyes on it for an unreasonably long time.

Alex, of course, stared at her.

"What?" she asked, still staring at the button.

"Madam," he said with that maddeningly calm tone, "the elevator isn’t working. There’s no electricity here."

"I know," she replied. "Just trying. Who knows? It might open."

Alex tilted his head slightly. "That wouldn’t be possi—"

The elevator doors slid open with a cheerful ding.

Both of them took an instinctive step back.

Alex blinked. "Possible."

The two of them froze, eyes darting from the eerily open elevator doors back to each other.

"You saw that, right?" Daisy asked, her voice dropping to a whisper.

Alex’s brows pulled together. "Yes."

That was all she needed to hear. "Stairs," she muttered, and the next second, she hitched up her skirt and bolted toward the stairwell like the elevator had just whispered her name in a horror movie.

Alex sighed weakly before striding after her. "Madam, for someone who wore those heels by choice, you’re surprisingly fast."

"Adrenaline," she called over her shoulder, not slowing down. "And survival instincts. You should try it sometime."

They rounded the corner, the heavy stairwell door groaning open under her push, the air inside cooler and smelling faintly of dust and old concrete. She was halfway down the first flight before she glanced back, Alex was still right behind her, moving with the calm efficiency of someone who could run in a tuxedo without breaking a sweat.

Alex suddenly pressed a hand to his earpiece, his brow furrowing as he tried to catch the words crackling through the line. His pace slowed.

"What the hell did you guys do?" he muttered under his breath, gritting his teeth.

On the other end, the other bodyguard’s voice came through, sheepish. "We... uh... tried to turn on the elevator manually."

Alex’s voice dropped into a dangerous calm. "Why?"

There was a pause, followed by a hesitant explanation. "Because we didn’t expect the building to still have electricity. Thought maybe it was some kind of... backup power kicking in. We just wanted to see if it still worked."

Alex’s jaw tightened. "And you decided now was the perfect time for a science experiment?"

Daisy, still jogging down the steps, glanced over her shoulder. "What’s going on?"

"Nothing, madam," Alex replied, his tone firm but polite. "It would be better for us to leave the building now. It is not safe."

"Yeah, I think so too." She kept walking until they stepped out of the building. "That was quite a horror," she said with a small smile. "Oh, Alex... can I ask for your help?"

"Of course, madam." He closed the gap between them.

"Don’t tell Theo we came here."

Alex’s expression stiffened, and he blinked, unsure how to respond. It was already too late—Theo could hear everything through the same earpiece. He’d been listening since the moment Daisy stepped into the car back at the house.

"What? You can’t do that?" Daisy asked, frowning at his reaction.

"Just tell her you’ll keep it a secret," Theo’s voice came through the earpiece.

Alex shifted uncomfortably, glancing at Daisy before mumbling, "Sure... I’ll keep it a secret."

Daisy narrowed her eyes, suspicious. "You’re not lying, right? And make sure you don’t spill anything about what happened today, okay?" She held out her pinky, demanding a pinky swear.

Alex froze. He glanced around, as if looking for an escape, before reluctantly hooking his pinky with hers.

"Nice!" Daisy grinned. "Alright, next destination..."

From the earpiece, Theo’s low, flat voice cut in, every word dipped in warning. "Minus your year-end bonus... for touching her."

Alex froze. His pinky was still awkwardly hanging midair from that pinky swear. He slowly looked down, horror dawning on his face. ’What the hell did I just do?! My year-end bonus!’ He screamed internally.

Meanwhile, Daisy was already strolling toward the car, completely unaware. Alex, however, cast a pitiful glance toward the vehicle parked at the far end of the road, like a man staring at his own execution site.

The moment he slid into the driver’s seat, Daisy leaned forward from the back. "Can we stop at this dessert place—"

"Oh God!" Alex jolted so hard his seatbelt nearly strangled him. "Oh—oh, sorry, Madam. You just... uh... need to sit back and maintain... distance."

Daisy blinked, tilting her head. "Did I do something wrong?"

Alex’s gaze flicked to the rearview mirror, then quickly away, as if Theo’s ghost might materialize there. "No, no, there is nothing wrong, Madam. Everything is okay. It’s just..." He swallowed. "Some of us are trying to keep our jobs... and our bonuses... and maybe our lives."

The air inside the car grew heavy, and both of them sat in tense silence.

Daisy slowly narrowed her eyes. "Wait... something is wrong." She leaned forward, glaring sharply. "Is he here?"

At that moment, Theo’s voice crackled through the earpiece, low, clipped, and thoroughly irritated. "Dumb."

Without hesitation, Daisy yanked the earpiece from Alex’s ear. "Where are you?" she demanded.

She twisted in her seat, scanning the street with quick, sharp movements. Her gaze darted from one car to another until it landed on the black sedan parked at the far end of the road. Its tinted windows reflected nothing but shadows, but she could feel the weight of someone’s eyes on her.

Without a second thought, she swung open the car door and charged toward the vehicle, her heels clacking sharply against the pavement as anger surged through her.

Daisy knocked on the window, only for the driver to roll it down and it wasn’t Theo. She leaned forward, squinting at the passenger seat. "Was this your plan all along?" she demanded, her voice tight with disbelief. "To tail me and make me look like a fool?"