Early in the morning, Heather didn’t even bother to apply any serum and she went straight upstairs to talk to Everly. Luckily she went there early, as the latter was just about to leave the house.
Everly was in an exceptionally good mood and when she saw Heather, her lips curved into a smile as she greeted the other woman affectionately.
“Heather!” Everly didn’t sense Heather’s unusual behavior and she also didn’t notice the flash of anger in the latter’s eyes. Heather, on the other hand, studied Everly intently before asking, “Are you going out?” Everly’s all dressed-up right now. It’s so early in the morning, so where is she going?
“Yes.” Everly seemed to be in high spirits and she looked quite energetic at the moment. It looks like she must have had a good night’s sleep, Heather pondered over it and came to this insignificant conclusion. She felt regretful that she hadn’t noticed Everly’s change in behavior previously. Right now, she was quite sure that Everly was going out to meet her significant other. Who’s the guy? she mused to herself as she saw the glowing expression on the other woman’s face. Heather came to such a conclusion based on Everly’s unusual actions recently, and this was the very first time she paid attention to this current situation—previously, she had never really thought about this.
“Who are you meeting?” Heather pretended to ask with an innocent expression.
Just then, Everly, who was originally full of smiles, had a sudden change in demeanor and Heather managed to catch this slight detail. The latter focused her intent gaze on the former, which resulted in the former having no choice but to answer the question.
“Just a friend,” Everly reluctantly replied. However, Heather naturally didn’t believe her.
“Just an ordinary friend?” Heather persisted and her expression became sharper, which resulted in Everly being unable to meet her eyes.
Everly nodded and hummed, feeling quite helpless at the moment. Heather’s being so overbearing; this is so stressful!
“It looks like your friend must be quite special to you,” Heather muttered with a cold smile, which caused Everly to shiver out of fright.
“Just an ordinary friend of mine,” Everly insisted once again. At the moment, she felt as though Heather was her elder, and it made her feel inexplicably guilty.
Just then, Heather smiled and her whole demeanor softened. “Why are you so nervous?” In all honesty, she couldn’t quite understand why Everly was so nervous, and she came to the conclusion that the latter was keeping a big secret from her.
However, Everly then murmured with an abashed smile, “Nothing much. I’m running late for my appointment.”
As soon as Heather realized that, she stood aside and cleared a path for Everly while saying, “Hurry up, then. Don’t keep your friend waiting for too long.”
Everly had assumed that Heather would persist in asking questions but unexpectedly, the latter had willingly allowed her to go on her way. She, too, didn’t bother to consider the situation too much because she was rushing to go out.
In the end, Everly was so preoccupied when she left the room that she didn’t even realize Heather was still in her room. This further strengthened Heather’s deduction that there was something wrong with her cousin.
As soon as Everly left, Heather walked out of the room. Meanwhile, Everly had already made her way to the living room. As Heather looked on from upstairs, she suddenly came up with an idea.
Along the way, she carefully trailed after Everly, though she was worried that the latter would notice her presence. Right now, Heather drove the butler’s car—a commonly seen car on the streets—in order to mask her presence.
Meanwhile, Everly drove in an unsteady and frantic manner in the front, seeming to give off a different vibe than before. Heather maintained a distance and didn’t follow too closely behind as she was worried of being noticed.
Heather’s anxiety levels were off the charts and it stuck to her; after all, she wasn’t a professional private investigator and she was worried sick that Everly would realize that something was amiss. The cars on the road increased as time went by and Heather really wished she had a pair of binoculars as she was about to lose sight of Everly’s car.
Heather’s car was quite a distance away from Everly’s car when suddenly, the latter turned right at the traffic light. As a result, Heather ended up completely losing sight of her car. It was a pain to encounter traffic lights when trailing after someone and just then, Heather was stuck at the lights so she could only watch helplessly as Everly’s car drove further and further away.
She banged on her steering wheel angrily while her eyes remained fixated in the direction that Everly had gone off. However, she was not quite resigned to her luck just yet and wanted to continue with her pursuit.
And so, Heather hastily turned right in the same direction. Right now, she no longer had any qualms so she stepped on the accelerator to speed up. There were many cars in front of her and she could no longer identify Everly’s car from the crowd.
Everly usually kept a low-profile in the Langston Family and her car was also an inconspicuous one. Therefore, it wasn’t an easy job trying to identify her car from those on the road. Heather racked her brain to come up with a solution and knew that she must not lose sight of Everly. Right now, all I need is a bit of luck. Meanwhile, she decided to keep going and try her luck. She guessed that Everly was just in front of her and the road was quite a long one, so she hoped that she would be able to find her along the way.
Heather approached another traffic light but she still hadn’t found Everly’s car. She then narrowed her eyes and stared intently as she tried to figure out each vehicle registration plate.
Suddenly, a white shadow flashed across her eyes—it turned out to be Everly’s car that she had been searching for for so long. Heather felt her spirits lift and it looked like the Heavens were on her side as well.
She noticed Everly headed straight at the traffic light, so she hurriedly trailed behind her. The stretch of road that Everly took was quite long and Heather found herself driving along for about half an hour. Come to think of it, it seems that Everly is driving around in circles. There’s quite obviously a shorter and more direct route to take, so why is she taking the long route?
Heather’s heart skipped a beat upon realizing this; she was worried that Everly had realized her presence, so she didn’t dare to go any further and tried her best to keep a distance. Truth was, this trailing episode had used up all of Heather’s energy. Meanwhile, she wasn’t quite sure what Everly was trying to avoid. And so, she cautiously tagged along, all the way fervently praying for her cousin to get out of her car. If Everly kept this up, then they would have already spent almost an hour on the road.
Heather glanced at her wristwatch for the time and revealed an impatient look. Perhaps it was because she hadn’t expected this from Everly, so she boldly deduced that the other woman hadn’t noticed her trailing behind. This made Heather even more curious as to who Everly was trying to avoid.
It looks like the person she’s meeting is someone significant, Heather mused, suddenly feeling a burst of excitement as she couldn’t wait to see who the person was. Perhaps she would be able to get some of her answers by default after seeing the other party.
Along the way, Heather was lost in her thoughts of figuring out the interlinked relationship of each of the families in Bradfort City. However, there seemed to be a hidden, mysterious force that she still couldn’t quite figure out just yet. She had assumed that perhaps the person that Everly was meeting up with was the mysterious force, but she was wrong in her assumption.
The car in front stopped all of a sudden. Meanwhile, Heather could feel her palms wet with perspiration, as this was the moment of truth and some secrets would be revealed quite shortly.
She raised her head to look outside and noticed that Everly had stopped in front of an inn. And so, she gradually slowed down and waited for Everly to walk inside before stepping out of her car. Heather could see the inn in front of her but she hesitated slightly. She realized that she seemed to be suspicious of everything recently—be it her own family members or Matthias—and she showed no leniency at all.
However, just as the answer was about to be revealed, Heather hesitated all of a sudden and she wondered whether to enter the place or not. She wasn’t quite sure of how to disguise herself either, and was worried that she would be identified by Everly if she walked in directly.
Heather remembered seeing in television series and novels that it was quite common to put on a disguise first. Hence, she took out her phone and looked at her own face from the front-facing camera as she grumbled to herself, It can be a pain to have such distinctly exquisite features! No matter how hard she tried to disguise herself, there was no way she could disguise herself as an ordinary person among the crowd.
Heather caressed her face and racked her brain for a solution. Meanwhile, she cautiously peered inside but didn’t catch sight of Everly.
At the moment, Everly was most likely inside one of the private rooms upstairs, and Heather felt much emboldened with that thought. And so, she stepped out with her right foot and strode purposefully toward the entrance. Soon, a waiter made his way over to serve her and she smiled warmly at the waiter. Just then, she realized that there was an advantage in her looks and she planned to find out more information about Everly’s whereabouts from him.
“Hi there, madam,” he greeted politely.
From the outside, this place looked like an inn. However, the furnishings inside were of a minimalist style. Why is the furnishings so mixed up? Is this how people like things nowadays? Furthermore, even a mere waiter was suited in a tuxedo, and Heather nearly thought that she had entered into a high-end restaurant.
“This place is quite unique,” she forcefully came up with a comment.
Meanwhile, the waiter smiled upon hearing her words. His features were quite delicate, which caused her to glance at the other waiters, and she noticed that each of them were attractive young men too. The waiters of this inn were all exceptionally good-looking.
“Most of our customers have the same sentiments,” the waiter replied.
Just then, Heather contemplated on how to ask for information about Everly. After pondering over it for a moment, she asked, “Is there a private room?” She was quite sure that Everly must be in one of the private rooms.
“Yes, madam,” he replied politely.
And so, Heather came up with an excuse. “Could you introduce each of the rooms to me? I would like to pick one that suits me the most.”
However, the waiter gave her a pained look. “Madam, we have five private rooms here, but two of them are currently occupied,” He brought this up because he assumed that Heather wasn’t an unreasonable person.
“I understand. Then why don’t you lead me to the other three rooms to have a look? I would like to keep my options open,” she replied without missing a beat. Luckily, there are only two private rooms occupied at the moment so things will be much easier to handle.
The waiter did not suspect that something was off and he brought Heather upstairs. It’s quite rare to encounter someone like this, he thought to himself. This place was usually introduced by word of mouth and most people would directly ask for the private room they were after when they arrived. Hardly anyone would behave like Heather and request to pick her room personally.
Nonetheless, Heather’s face was too attractive and her smile was captivating, so the waiter found himself going along with her suggestions without even being able to think straight.
During the selection process, Heather tried to probe for more information about the occupants of the other two private rooms. She was told that the five individual rooms were designed according to the four seasons. The most unique room was the fifth one, and the futuristic concept behind it was known as “The Fifth Season”.
She then mentioned to the waiter, “I want to experience the charm of “The Fifth Season.”
However, he replied regretfully, “That’s our main star of the place and usually you’d have to book in advance to get that room. Besides, the room’s already occupied. I’m really sorry but it’s not available.”
As soon as Heather heard that, she portrayed a deep sense of interest and requested with a cajoling tone, “Please, I would really like to have a look at The Fifth Season. Could you please bring me in for a quick look?”
Based on Heather’s deduction, she suspected that Everly was inside The Fifth Season. After all, that was the star of the place. Moreover, even if the latter wasn’t in there, then she could cross that room off her list if she managed to go and have a peek.
Heather insistently requested to take a look at The Fifth Season and came up with a reasonable excuse. However, the waiter had a torn look on his face. “I’m really sorry, madam. I’m not allowed to bring you there because that would be disruptive to our other distinguished customers. I’ll get into deep trouble if I do so,” he replied with a somber look on his face. However, his expression was one that managed to instill fear.
