“Nina, please don’t open the door halfway when I’m changing later, alright? Uncle Davin will be jealous if he finds out my beautiful body is exposed to the public.”
Nina nodded as she stood in the corner of the cubicle, waiting for Sheila to try on the clothes. Deep down inside, she was feeling like a cat on a hot tin roof trying to churn out a way to sneak off.
Sheila, who was pleased with the look Nina chose for her, purchased the clothes right away.
“Nina, why don’t you go and pick some new clothes for yourself too? Aunt Sheila will buy them for you.”
Nina shook her head at her. “My wardrobe is quite full at the moment. I think I will get some for Mommy instead.”
“Sounds good to me! Well, you may go ahead and pick anything you like then.”
Nina nodded. While she was selecting clothes for Nicole, she already had an escape plan ready which she intended to execute after getting Nicole’s clothes.
If she succeeded in her escape plan, it would be ages before she would choose something for her mother again. Thus, she was extra attentive and thoughtful this time.
“Mommy, I chose these few pieces for you because I think you will look good and younger in them. I’m sure people who see us together will assume we are sisters instead of mother and daughter!”
Just like all women who loved to be praised for having a youthful look, Nicole was walking on air because of Nina’s compliment.
“Nina, you’re such a sweet talker. You may go ahead and pick some for yourself too. Mommy will pay for them.”
“Mommy, why don’t you choose for me while I go to the restroom? I’ll try them on when I get back.”
“Sure!”
Nicole nodded. Watching Nina’s back as she was off to the restroom, she had a nagging feeling at the back of her head that kept telling her that trouble was looming ahead.
She turned around and spoke to Maya, “Maya, Aunt Sheila and Mommy are going to the restroom. You may stay here to choose some clothes for Nina and yourself.”
Eh, why are they all heading to the restroom at the same time?
“Sure, go ahead. I’ll be done when the three of you make it back later.”
Without further ado, Nicole and Sheila followed Nina to the restroom and waited outside for her.
Nina was still nowhere in sight after quite a long wait. Feeling ill at ease, Nicole said to Sheila, “Let me go and take a look inside.”
“Okay, I’ll wait here.”
A few minutes later, Nicole dashed out of the restroom, looking anxiety-ridden. “I checked all the cubicles, but Nina wasn’t inside any of them!”
“How could that be? We saw her entering the restroom with our own eyes just now!” Sheila looked puzzled and shocked at the same time.
Shortly after Sheila said that, she spotted a random woman walking out of the restroom wearing Nina’s clothes. Immediately, she ran over to block the woman’s way and gave her a once-over.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Feeling uneasy under Sheila’s stare, the woman confronted her in a resentful tone.
“Are you wearing your own clothes? I doubt that because they don’t fit you well,” Sheila commented.
“Of course I’m wearing my clothes.” The woman shot Sheila a glare that signaled her to piss off.
To avoid wasting time, Sheila fished out a stack of cash to the woman and demanded, “Tell me the truth!”
The woman hesitated. In the end, she was enticed by the money to come clean.
“I swapped my clothes with a girl in the restroom just now. By the way, the way she put on make-up on herself really puzzles me. Seriously, she could have looked a lot better without that make-up.”
As soon as the woman said that, it dawned upon Nicole and Sheila what just took place – Nina managed to sneak off right before them by changing her appearance!
“Nina! I can’t believe she did something so outrageous!” Looking horrified, Nicole sprinted off to look for Nina.
Sheila ran after her. At the same time, they phoned Davin and Evan to inform them of Nina’s disappearance. The news made them both worried and anxious.
“Say what? Nina ran away?” Davin leaped up to his feet from his chair like someone just stepped on his tail.
“Yes! She changed her appearance and disappeared so quickly that we couldn’t have done anything to stop her! What should we do now?”
“Don’t panic. I’ll send some of my men to look for her now,” Davin said.
Evan was aghast when Nicole told him what happened over the phone. “Nicole, please calm down first because I’m sure we’ll be able to track Nina down. John already dispatched the Hidden Masters to keep an eye on Chris before this. So, the four of them will know where Nina is if she is off to meet Chris. I’ll give them a call now.”
