There wasn’t much time left for Heather; she couldn’t waste any more time on the kidnapper, and she must find Everly as soon as possible. She was probably at campus during this hour, so Heather couldn’t be bothered with anything else as she prepared to rush to Everly’s university to look for her.
Heather pulled on some clothes haphazardly; time was of the essence and she couldn’t waste a second. After rushing to the garage, she picked a black Jeep that was sturdy and could withstand crashes this time. In a flash, Heather drove away from the Langston Residence. Since it would take at least 20 minutes for Heather to reach Everly’s campus from the Langston Residence, she only had ten minutes to search for the latter.
At that moment, Heather couldn’t get any response no matter how many times she dialed Everly’s number.
Why won’t Everly pick up? Heather looked at her phone, worried.
The clock was still ticking, and Heather did her best to calm herself. With that being said, how she wished she could sprout some wings and fly to Everly. After all, they were different—her cousin was a weak girl. In other words, Everly would not be able to protect herself if she ran into anyone who wanted to harm her.
As she drove on, Heather kept praying that traffic wouldn’t be held up. With each passing minute, Heather’s heart tensed even more. Fortunately, even the heavens were helping Heather now, for her route to Everly’s campus was unimpeded. Heather kept speeding her way over, ignoring all sorts of traffic rules.
When Heather saw the gate to Everly’s university, she couldn’t control herself anymore. She quickly stopped her car on campus grounds and hastily got out.
Meanwhile, her arrival had drawn everyone’s attention. People all looked at her, and many of the girls whispered amongst each other as they stared at her. On the other hand, the boys looked at Heather with dumb, besotted looks on their faces.
As she surveyed the area, Heather did her best to recall the faces of Everly’s classmates; she had to find someone she knew from the crowd. Unfortunately, this wasn’t an easy feat. Heather’s gaze swept from face to face, but she didn’t find anyone who’d be of use.
As such, Heather quickly charged over to a different section of campus. The time limit chased after her relentlessly, and she only had eight minutes left. Needless to say, each minute and each second was precious beyond comparison.
A single face flashed past in the crowd at that moment, and Heather quickly registered that face. After blinking several times, she immediately chased after the girl and grabbed her arm. Since Heather had an unusually cold and eerie expression, the girl who had been stopped was unsure of what she should do. At the same time, she was also afraid of the powerful, imposing aura coming from Heather.
“Excuse me, do you know Everly Langston?” Although her tone was polite, Heather’s demeanor had a pressuring aura to it.
The girl eyed Heather nervously. Her voice seemed to have gotten stuck in her throat, for she was unable to talk even after a long while. All she could do was nod at Heather.
Heather realized that the way she currently looked was indeed scary, so she quickly changed her expression, putting on an endearing expression to make herself seem approachable.
“Do you know where Everly is now? I’m her older sister. I’ve been looking for her because something urgent came up.” Heather let go of the girl’s arm. This unremarkable girl before her was seemingly Heather’s lifeline at this moment.
The girl thought about it for a moment. Right now, Heather didn’t look as terrifying as before, so the girl wasn’t as timid. She did her best to remember where Everly had gone.
“I’m sorry, I’m not quite sure either,” the girl said apologetically. Not only that, she could clearly see the disappointment in Heather’s eyes.
Hence, she merely waved a hand and walked away immediately. Soon after that, the people around the girl began to whisper and whine after Heather had left. “Everly’s cousin is so rude.”
Indeed, there was a huge difference between Everly and Heather. Heather’s aura was simply overpowering; it made people respect and also fear her.
In the meantime, Heather continued to search for Everly. She believed that she could find her cousin because time wasn’t up yet. In fact, she felt like she still stood a chance.
At this moment, she hated herself for not paying more attention to Everly—she wouldn’t be so lost now because she didn’t even know who Everly’s classmates and friends were.
Heather didn’t have time to slowly conduct her search. All this while, she kept dialing Everly’s number. Then, she thought over her options and decided to do something that she absolutely wouldn’t do under normal circumstances.
“Hey, do any of you know Everly Langston?” Heather yelled at the crowd, uncaring of her image.
Soon, she got a response from someone in the crowd. After all, Everly was a famous figure on campus. Seeing that she had gotten a response, she immediately asked again, “Do you know where Everly is right now?”
This was the answer that Heather wanted the most. There wasn’t much time left, for 30 minutes wasn’t sufficient to locate someone.
The crowd, which initially had plenty of people answering her, fell quiet then. It seemed that no one knew where Everly was.
A dejected look came over Heather. She had gone this far, yet her search was fruitless. When she saw that time was ticking toward the deadline, Heather felt helpless. She hated herself for her powerlessness and being unable to protect the people around her.
Right now, Heather had already given up. One more minute, and the 30 minutes would be up. Even if Heather could fly, she would not be able to make it to Everly’s side in time.
As such, Heather could only wait for the kidnapper’s phone call. She still couldn’t get Everly to answer the phone, so she gave up on dialing Everly’s number. During the past half an hour, Heather had nearly blown up Everly’s phone with the number of calls she had made.
From time to time, people would point at her and whisper—after all, people always got curious whenever they saw a beautiful woman. Heather prepared to go home, for she had already embarrassed herself enough on campus.
“Heather.” A familiar girl’s voice called not too far away from where she was.
Heather followed the sound of the voice, and she saw Everly in her line of sight. The latter was clearly unharmed, and Heather looked at her with disbelief as a mocking smile appeared on her lips. Instantly, she realized the kidnapper’s plan.
Just then, her phone rang incessantly. When Heather answered it, the kidnapper’s familiar voice came over the speakers.
“My, my—I hadn’t expected you to be such a family woman. I have a video here that I’m going to send to you.” The kidnapper automatically taunted her.
Heather cut off the call with a blank face as Everly walked over to her. Even from a distance, Heather could make out the faint smile on her cousin’s face; that smile of hers was enough to mesmerize anyone.
At that moment, the kidnappers’ ringleader looked at his phone angrily because Heather had hung up on him abruptly. He immediately flung the phone to the ground.
“Heather, you b*tch,” the kidnapper spat out angrily. No one else ever dared to do such a thing. Why was Heather so brazen?
Meanwhile, Everly approached Heather with a faintly apologetic look on her face. “I’m sorry, I still haven’t been able to get the information that you wanted.”
Heather shook her head and reached out to pat Everly’s own head. “Don’t look into that anymore.” Heather didn’t want to see Everly in danger, so her investigation should come to an end!
Everly looked at Heather with an unblinking, stubborn gaze. Afraid that Everly would misunderstand her, she quickly explained, “I’ve made a mistake. Please don’t waste more time on this matter.”
At those words, Everly lowered her gaze and nodded at Heather. “Okay.” It was a faint reply, but there was a hint of reluctance.
“Do you still have any classes or activities here?” Heather asked Everly.
Everly shook her head. “No, I was about to go home.”
The people around them shot them curious glances from time to time. Everly was already a bright beacon, but now that Heather was here with her too, everyone’s attention was instantly drawn to them.
“I’ll send you home,” Heather volunteered. She was now more concerned toward her cousin.
“I drove to class too.” Everly felt a little embarrassed when she saw Heather suddenly being so gung-ho.
“Let’s go home together.” Heather was still worried that someone was watching Everly. For the time being, she had to protect the latter—she couldn’t let Everly leave her sight.
“Okay.” Everly didn’t continue to insist otherwise as she accepted Heather’s arrangement.
Then, Heather took Everly’s hand of her own volition, startling the latter. After all, she had never done such a thing; ever since she was a child, Heather had never been close to her other family members. Meanwhile, Heather felt rather odd now that she was suddenly holding her cousin’s hand. Nonetheless, it was a feeling that wasn’t exactly unpleasant.
“What’s up with you, Heather?” Everly could see that Heather had something on her mind. She couldn’t hold back her curiosity.
“Nothing. Remember to watch out for yourself.” Heather’s sudden reply made Everly even more puzzled.
“Okay.” Everly nodded her head in a docile manner.
Throughout the entire time, everyone looked at them curiously. The scene of two pretty girls holding hands as they made their way across campus was a beautiful sight to see, and a few people even secretly took pictures of this amazing sight with their phone.
Everly’s heart warmed. Heather’s recent behavior moved her, yet it also left her at a loss—she felt guilty about it. After all, she had secretly gone behind Heather’s back and done something to hurt her.
“Heather, will you always be like this to me?” Everly suddenly asked. She was scared that they wouldn’t be able to continue being cousins one day, and she suddenly craved Heather’s warmth.
“Yeah. I didn’t exactly care that much for you back then, but I will take care of you from now on,” Heather said in all sincerity. During that one moment, she truly regretted not treating Everly nicer in the past.
Heather’s words touched Everly down to the bottom of her heart. Her eyes prickled, and she had the urge to cry. Heather’s niceness was completely born from sincerity, and Everly was unable to face what she had done. Even when Everly chose to follow that person’s instructions, she had seen Heather call her over and over again; she even heard from others that Heather had searched for her like she had gone mad. Yet, Everly still did something to hurt Heather.
“Please don’t be so nice to me.” Everly nearly let her tears fall. It was too embarrassing for her to cry, especially here on campus.
Heather turned around and gave Everly an affectionate smile. “I was always distant and aloof toward my family ever since I was a child, but I now know that my actions were wrong. Grandpa’s right—I am part of the Langston Family, and I shouldn’t have rejected you all.”
Everly endeavored to hold back her tears; she couldn’t cry. Right now, she wished for nothing more than to confess everything to Heather, but there was no return for Everly now. She didn’t dare to speak, and she also didn’t want to lose this sudden sisterly connection.
It took a mere few minutes to get to Heather’s car. To Everly, it was like several centuries had passed. She could still feel the warmth of Heather’s hand in her palm.
“Hop in,” Heather said to her once she released her hand.
Just then, Everly snapped back to reality. She looked at Heather timidly as her mouth opened and closed. She wasn’t able to make a sound, whereas Heather had already gotten into the car by then.
