CHAPTER 112: DELULU

Last night had been a mess for Alice. As expected.

The chaos of the cinema, the fireworks, and Paula’s call hadn’t even been the end of it.

She had a dream. Again. A warm, unsettling dream where Hades called her "Princess." The word felt like a secret between them, a terrifying intimacy. As if the universe were mocking her, the second dream was a nightmare: Paula was strangled to death by Priscilla for making that secret call.

She woke up with a gasp, the fear cold and real. Yet, she couldn’t call back; she couldn’t risk it.

She got out of bed and her eyes fell on a note slipped under her door.

She sat up, her heart leaping into her throat, but then, a flicker of logic cut through the fear. Why was she in a panic? It was not like anyone in this house would send her a threatening note.

Right?

Cautiously, she went to the door, bent down, and picked it up. The paper was simple, the handwriting neat. And simple:

Keep the car. No bugs, no stalking.

Alice’s brows furrowed in disbelief. She slowly opened the door. A small, sleek gift bag sat on the floor, waiting. She looked up and down the empty hallway, then picked it up, retreating back into her room and shutting the door with a click. Inside, nestled in black tissue paper, was a single car key. The same one he had given her before. Beside it was a small card. Stuck to the card was another note, this one even more concise than the last. Get rid of it if you don’t want it.

Alice traced the lines of the car key with her finger, her mind a mess of conflicting thoughts. No bugs, no stalking. It was a statement of trust, an acknowledgment of her need for independence. Was he truly letting her do as she pleased now?

Especially the no stalking part? For a brief moment, the overwhelming reality of her situation felt a little lighter.

Then her eyes fell on the second note: Get rid of it if you don’t want it. It was a dare. A challenge. As if he knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t throw away such an opportunity.

A slow, wry smile spread across her face. Cute...

WHAT THE HELL! GET A GRIP. She shook her head. He was her sister’s husband. Not hers.

Then her eyes caught the logo on the gift bag, and she paused. The design was intricate and striking: a coiled serpent, its head forming a stylized ’S’, with an arrow piercing through its body. She had seen this logo before. The memory, faint but insistent, tugged at her mind.

She instantly reached for her phone. She had spent a long time looking at the photo from Paula, which she had deleted and hidden in a secret folder. She had been crazy worried, because she didn’t know how or where Paula got that image from. It seemed like she had snapped it from a printed picture, which was a risky move, as it meant it had come from Priscilla.

Now, with a few quick taps, she pulled up the photo again.

And just as she had guessed, it was the same logo. Not on the bag, but on a cufflink. The young man in the photo, the one Paula had identified as Priscilla’s son, was in a formal suit. He was captured in a candid side shot, talking to someone. His hand was resting on a table, and on his wrist, a polished silver cufflink gleamed. Etched into its surface was the unmistakable image of a coiled serpent pierced by an arrow.

Quietly, she took out her phone again and snapped a quick photo of the logo on the gift bag. She opened her browser and did a reverse image search. Within moments, the results flooded her screen. Serpentine Corp. The company was a major player in high-end accessories and custom-made gift items.

An article popped up on her feed, catching her attention: "Malay Corporation partners with Serpentine & Co. to launch equity and advocacy fund. The donation drive, spearheaded by Malay Corporation’s director Priscilla Malay, will support youth legal aid and crisis intervention through curated luxury merchandise collaborations."

Malay Corporation. There was indeed something.

She kept searching. It didn’t take long before she found his professional profile online. Full portrait now.

Nicholas Bach. Not Malay.

The photo was a professional headshot. He was smiling brightly. The accompanying article identified him as the "Director of the Month" for a top law journal, praising his work with Serpentine Corp. on a major legal merger with Malay corporation.

Alice’s hand trembled as she stared at the screen. The pieces of the puzzle were starting to click into place with a terrifying finality. This wasn’t a coincidence. This was a direct, undeniable link.

Priscilla was using her law firm to work with a company her secret son was involved with, all while keeping him hidden.

Was this... money laundering?

She looked at the car key in her hand. Was this a sign?

Maybe it was.

She was going to meet that Nicholas Bach guy today. If there was anyone to give her a lead on Aurora’s whereabouts, it had to be him.

Suddenly, she remembered what Suzy had said about a guy dragging her, a.k.a Aurora out during a school event. That wouldn’t be him, right? This young man looked... nice.

She shook her head.

Even the devil would smile like an angel in front of a camera. Take a look at Priscilla. She was not going to believe anyone.

*****

Gavin didn’t know how or why he had ended up here. One minute he was jogging back to Block C, fuming about Suzy’s pathetic meltdown on the path. The next, he was slamming a car door shut and practically dragging her to the estate’s high-end clinic. It was his first time in the sterile, pristine building, and he already hated the smell of disinfectant.

She was quiet now. A nurse had tended to the scraped skin on her knee and palms, but the damage was more emotional than physical. The doctor had just left them in the private room, saying she was free to go, but Suzy remained slumped in her seat, staring at a blank wall.

Gavin had told the doctor, in a low, cold voice, to give them "a bit more time." The doctor, recognizing the unmistakable look in Gavin’s eyes and probably not wanting to die yet, had agreed without a word.

Now, only the quiet hum of the air conditioning filled the room.

Suzy finally spoke, her voice barely a whisper. "Do you... do you think I’m a spoiled brat?"

His answer came immediately, without hesitation. "Yes."

She looked at him then, her tear-reddened eyes finally finding his. He met her gaze with an impassive stare.

"Do you know how inconvenient this was for me?" he asked, the edge in his voice sharp. "To be here. Because you couldn’t stop crying in public. Or you left your place looking like that." His expression darkened. "Why are you always in trouble whenever I’m around? Are you trying to test my patience?"

She thought about it. And he was right. The first time she was running from Derren, he had showed up. The time Derren caused a mess on the rooftop, he showed up. During the sports event, he showed up. And now today. It was a bizarre, undeniable pattern.

She looked up at him, a flicker of defiance in her gaze. "Then why do you still follow me about?"

Gavin paused. It was a good question. A valid one. She was smarter than he gave her credit for. He felt a spike of unease. Hades wouldn’t like this development. He kept his face carefully blank, but the gears were turning furiously in his mind.

Suzy mistook his silence for something else. "Why can’t you talk? You were talking so much just now... just because you were worried."

He looked at her like she was insane. "I was not—"

"You don’t need to sound nervous." Her voice softened, a strange, knowing look crossing her face. "I already know."

His voice was sharp, a hint of genuine alarm in his tone that slipped out without his permission. "Know what?" he asked. He wondered if she’d somehow figured out Hades’s orders, that he was supposed to be watching her.

"That..." She met his gaze squarely. "You have a crush on me," she stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

A very slow WTF moment crossed Gavin’s face, a look of complete and utter bewilderment at her absurd delusion.

She nodded slowly, confirming her own theory when she saw the stunned look on his face. "Yeah, I figured it out." A tiny, self-satisfied smile touched her lips. "And don’t worry, I’ll consider your feelings. Because... I like you too," she said with a shy smile and slowly blinked at the lost man.