CHAPTER 142: A CLUE I NEVER NOTICED

We grabbed a quick dinner on the way home, just some burgers and soda. It wasn’t healthy at all, but when I’m stressed, food like that always makes me feel a little better.

"Mr. Mercer checked Helena’s belongings today," Lando suddenly said. We were eating our burgers in the parking lot while the driver smoked outside.

"Don’t worry, I asked Henry to watch him, so he won’t mess anything up," Lando added. "But more importantly, Mr. Mercer found something that might be useful for the investigation."

I slowly lowered the burger from my lips. His words made me curious, because I—who owned all those things—didn’t even find anything interesting in them.

"What did he find?" I asked, leaning a little closer without realizing it.

"Coupons," Lando replied.

I stared at him, completely confused. How could the coupons I collected ever help in an investigation? I didn’t even remember what kind of coupons I used to save back then.

As if he already knew his answer would confuse me, Lando opened his phone and showed the screen to me. "Just look at these."

I lowered my gaze, and saw piles of massage coupons, all neatly lined up on his screen. I had no idea when I even collected that many. It seemed like I never used them because the massage place was in Shellmere City, a coastal city filled with beautiful beaches.

Wait a second, where did I even get these coupons?

Damn it. How could I forget something this important? All of these coupons were from my manager, Jasper!

Back then, I honestly didn’t understand why a stingy guy like him kept giving me massage coupons at least once every two months, and that only started around a year before my downfall.

Of course, I never used those coupons because I was too busy. Jasper often told me to go, sometimes even pushing me a little, but I didn’t know why.

I completely forgot about those coupons because I always shoved them randomly into my bag, and then forgot about them entirely.

"What’s wrong with these coupons?" I asked, pretending to be clueless. "They’re just massage coupons."

Lando explained patiently, "These coupons weren’t freebies. Someone bought them." He zoomed in on the photo and pointed at the name printed on the side.

"All of these coupons were issued under Mr. Jasper Thorn, Helena’s former manager," Lando continued. "And Mr. Mercer found out Helena never visited this massage place even once. So we’re guessing Mr. Thorn really wanted her to go to this exact location."

The small lines on my forehead deepened. How on earth did the detective know I never stepped foot in "Calm Touch Massage" back then?

He didn’t spy on me in the past, right?!

Well, I guessed a private detective hired by Lando wouldn’t be low-level, so he must have many sources of information.

"Do you think there’s something weird in that place?" I asked curiously.

Lando shrugged. "I’m not sure yet, but Mr. Mercer will visit the place himself tomorrow." He paused, then added softly, "I’ll let you know if he finds anything useful."

Lando once told me he preferred to keep information to himself until he had a full picture of the situation.

However, since I started telling him about everything, he slowly developed a habit of talking to me about anything he found interesting too.

Just yesterday, he even sent me a random message because he saw news about an orange cat living with capybaras at the zoo.

It wasn’t that I disliked exchanging silly information because it was actually fun sometimes. I just never imagined that Lando, a man I once thought was stiff, cold, and honestly a bit boring, could be this warm and easy to talk to.

"You can also tell me if you find something useless," I said. "But... if it’s something bad and it might affect my emotions, you have to warn me first."

I just didn’t want a bad vibe to ruin my passion for acting, but I also didn’t want to be kept in the dark all alone. I mean, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I’m the main character of this case, yet I’m the one who knows the least.

"Okay. I’ll remember that," he said softly. "I’ll tell you everything."

We finished our food, tossed the wrappers into the trash, and headed home before it got too late. As much as I wanted to spend more time with Lando, I couldn’t.

I still had to practice my lines for the "My Boss’ Obsession" script reading tomorrow. Since I’m not the main character, I won’t be the center of attention tomorrow, but that’s exactly the problem!

If I wanted praise from the actors or the executives, I needed to stand out. At the very least, I had to make sure my acting wasn’t miles behind the senior actors, or maybe... even beat them.

Marissa had already told me who the main actors were, so I could more or less imagine their skill levels.

Even so, I still felt a little nervous. Yeah, I knew I shouldn’t feel this way since I wasn’t a real newcomer, but please, cut me some slack!

It had been so long since I last worked with senior actors. And after spending years around them, I knew something for sure: not all of them had bad personalities, some of them were already... dead inside.

[Penny advises you to take a rest early tonight, Host,] Penny suddenly spoke in my head. [You’ve been reading the script over and over for days. It’s better to rest your mind before the real event starts.]

"It’s easy for you to say that since you’re not the one doing the mission," I grumbled, throwing myself onto the bed. "I’ve completed so many missions, so I don’t want to get my first failure now."

Honestly, the only time I would ever sacrifice a mission was if it had something to do with Lando’s feelings. But other than that? No way. I refused to let myself fail.

[But you won’t perform your best tomorrow if you’re sleep-deprived, Host,] Penny said. [How about Penny sings you a lullaby?]

[SLEEP. SLEEP. HOST! GO SLEEP, HOST!]

I winced in pain as Penny’s "lullaby" blasted inside my head. A lullaby? More like a broken speaker. Her voice didn’t soothe anyone, but it felt like it could crack my skull open!

"Stop! Stop it!" I yelled, covering my ears even though it didn’t help. "Fine! I’ll sleep! Just stop singing!"