On the front passenger seat, Everly’s emotions were not very stable. It was only until the car had been driven for a long distance that Heather realized her peculiarity.
Unable to understand Everly’s emotions, Heather frowned. Realizing that Heather was looking at her, Everly decided to calm herself down and hoped that Heather would not detect anything from her expression.
“Everly, did something happen to you in school?” Heather asked tentatively as she felt uneasy, worried that the ringleader could appear or that he had already made his presence.
“No.” She did not miss the unnatural expression on Everly’s face.
Seeing that Everly did not want to talk about school, Heather changed the topic. “Are you sure you haven’t seen that woman before?” She never expected that they wouldn’t have any leads to work with.
Everly lowered her head in regret. Heather was just trying to change the topic, but it actually triggered the guilt within Everly.
“Heather, I feel like I’m a failure who can’t get anything done well,” Everly spoke guiltily. She felt that she was using Heather and could not even help her with anything.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s fine if we can’t find any leads. I just want to see whether there are any hints or clues.” Heather did not want results; she merely wanted clues.
Everly shook her head. “That woman doesn’t seem to even exist. No one has seen her.” She had also been looking for the woman for the entire afternoon.
Heather did not expect to receive an answer with the worst perspective. However, she twitched her lips into a nonchalant smile, hoping that it would ease the tension between them both. If the atmosphere had remained such, she was worried that it would hurt Everly’s pride.
“Stop looking for her anymore.” With that, she took Everly’s phone and deleted that woman’s picture.
Everly looked at her in confusion. She did not expect that Heather would do such a thing and she could not figure out the reason.
“I think this image that I gave you might be wrong, so don’t spend your time on it anymore.” Heather immediately took the blame. As she could see the guilt in Everly’s eyes, she did not want that feeling of hers to intensify.
Since Heather had already said so, Everly had nothing else to say and the matter ended just like that. Nevertheless, she was still hesitant to give up. I just need to find a person. I can’t believe that I can’t even find her! I despise myself so much!
“It’s not early anymore. By the time we return, I bet they have already finished eating.” Heather tried to change the topic to food again, but she was not very good at doing so.
Everly gently hummed in agreement. She was still not used to being so close to Heather to the point where she could even smell the slight fragrance from her body. Yet, it made Everly even more nervous.
“I’ll bring you to a place with good food,” Heather suggested. In the past, she would always tell Myra this. Thinking of it now, Heather could feel a lump forming in her throat as she felt that everything had changed. As soon as she remembered that Myra was still in the ringleader’s hands, Heather felt a deep sense of helplessness and she could not count on anyone now.
After both Heather and Everly arrived at the familiar restaurant, she immediately brought Everly to her favorite private room. As Everly had not been here, everything was unfamiliar and she looked around with curiosity in her eyes.
“Heather, the atmosphere is excellent here,” she immediately commented the moment they sat down.
Heather smiled; she was glad that Everly liked this place. Even though Heather had many thoughts in her mind, she did not want to make the atmosphere tense, so she pretended as if nothing had happened. “I’m glad that you like it,” she replied.
“Heather, is there something on your mind?” Everly curiously asked. She had thought about asking this question a few times and finally brought herself to voice it out now.
However, Heather merely pursued the menu in her hands and lowered her head. Even after some time, she did not reply to Everly’s questions.
“Do you like fish, Everly?” Heather seemed like she didn’t hear Everly’s question and asked what Everly would like to eat instead.
Everly nodded. “Yes, my favorite fish is the halibut.” Fish was something delicious that not many people could reject.
“Alright. Let’s have the poached halibut then.” With that, she ticked a box on the menu. The food here was more suited to people from Bradfort City. Thinking that Everly’s taste would be similar to that of the general public, Heather brought her here.
Then, she ordered a few other dishes that Everly loved before passing the menu to Everly. “I’ve ordered five simple dishes. You can pick what you want for the rest.”
After taking the menu from Heather, Everly responded, “Heather, five dishes are enough for the both of us.” She did not want to place the order because she was worried that she would order something that would not suit Heather’s taste.
“Order a few more sides.” Thinking that it was not enough, Heather insisted that Everly ordered more.
Everly shot her a troubled look. “Heather, what are your preferences?” Ordering food was a skill. Hence, she thought it would be better for her to understand Heather’s taste.
“I’ve already ordered everything that I like just now. You just need to order what you like.” Heather did not expect that Everly was troubled by such a small thing.
Looking at her timidly, Everly thought for a long time before she decided to order something. If I continue to be so courteous, she might be unhappy about it. She repeatedly perused the menu. As she had never dined here before, she had no idea which dish was the tastiest and she did not see anything that she would like to eat.
Upon noticing that Heather was looking at her from the opposite seat, Everly felt that she could no longer delay, so she simply selected three dishes and passed the menu to Heather, who took a quick glance at what she ordered. The dishes are quite light on the taste buds. It seems like she prefers dishes that are not salty.
However, Heather preferred dishes that had a richer taste to them. Looking at the dishes she ordered earlier, she thought about changing her order. When she remembered that it was no longer early, there was not much time for them to delay their orders, so she just handed the menu to the waiter.
“That will be all. Please ask the chefs to quickly prepare them,” she informed the waiter, who took the menu away from her.
There was a pot of tea on the table, but Heather did not like the tea because the quality wasn’t good enough for her. Apart from that, since Everly did not fancy the tea leaves as well, the pot had remained untouched.
The process of waiting for the food to be served was a tough one. Both Heather and Everly quietly looked at each other. Heather thought of many possibilities for a conversation, but in reality, they had no words to say to each other. She tried to recall how Matthias used to initiate conversations in order to chat with Everly. However, nothing came to mind and she had no idea what to say to this cousin of hers.
At that moment, Everly was merely thinking about everything that happened earlier. She did not dare to speak too much for fear that she could accidentally reveal some secrets that she should not spill. She hated herself for being fooled by an outsider to treat her own family member that way. However, since she had already embarked on this path, there was no other way for her to return to the right path.
“Heather, do you like the way they renovated the place?” In the end, it was Everly who found the topic for small talk.
Looking around her, Heather realized that she had not taken notice of the renovation style. She merely thought it looked comfortable without thinking too much about it. “It’s average,” she replied honestly.
Everly gave a bright smile, yet her smile seemed forced. Heather could tell that Everly was forcing herself to smile, but she merely thought that Everly felt awkward in front of her. As a result, Heather did not think too much about it.
“It has a mixture of European style that seems to be quite popular recently. I like the traditional and modern elements of the renovation here,” Everly briefly commented about the restaurant. In fact, she fell in love with this place immediately after she saw it.
“I didn’t expect that you would notice so much.” Heather did not take note of these. It seems like Everly is not as simple and naive as she looks. She also has some personal observations and thoughts.
“Did I say something wrong? It’s just how I feel about the place. If it’s wrong, don’t laugh at me.” Everly gave a shy smile. I suddenly feel as though I’ve talked too much.
“You should voice out more of your opinions in our family,” Heather elaborated on this point. She felt that Everly had deliberately tried to hide herself within the Langston Family. Don’t tell me she really doesn’t want people to notice her?
“I won’t dare to do so,” Everly replied helplessly. Indeed, I’m afraid to be myself in the Langston Family.
“You have my support now. So, what are you afraid of?” Heather teased. She felt that Everly was someone who had potential. Now that they were facing many incidents, the Langston Family lacked a talented person. Hence, she already planned to groom Everly well.
“Don’t be kidding, Heather. I feel as though everything I said in the Langston Family is wrong and I don’t easily voice out my opinions. I just want to be invisible there.” Everly’s tone took a lighter turn as she did not forget to mock herself.
“Your position is different now, so your words carry a lot of weight in our family too. Don’t look down on yourself. I believe in your capabilities,” Heather emphasized that she believed in Everly once again. From a psychological point of view, it hinted at Everly’s subconscious and Heather was trying to build her confidence.
“Heather, thanks for your grooming, but I—”
Before Everly could even finish her sentence, Heather interrupted, “No buts. I believe in my judgement. So, please work hard instead of finding reasons to convince yourself that you can’t do it.”
When Everly heard Heather’s powerful words, her heart gave a jolt. She also felt a surge of passion and motivation within her. Heather’s words seemed to have cast a spell on Everly, who could not help believing that she could also do it.
After that, they casually chatted with each other as the dishes arrived at the table. Fortunately, Everly also liked dishes with rich flavors, so their taste buds matched each other quite well.
However, at such crucial moments, there was no time for them to experience family warmth at all. Before Heather could even dig into the dishes, the ringleader called her again.
“Miss Heather, do you really not care about Mrs. Hart’s death?” He suppressed his displeasure as he had something important to do at that moment.
“Stop with the crap and cut to the chase.” With Everly around, Heather felt that it was inappropriate to lash out on him.
The ringleader’s savage laughter rang on the other side of the phone for an entire minute. Heather felt that it was the most patient she had been while speaking to him.
“I wonder whether you have watched that important video, Miss Heather?” the ringleader spoke meaningfully. As he was speaking, she received an MMS with a video in it after she opened it.
