At that moment, more angry-looking security guards gathered around. With electric batons in their
hands, one of them yelled, “Hey! You over there! Stop playing deaf! Let go of her, this is your final
warning!”
Seeing the raging guards rapidly approaching him, Chassell frowned, and in the split second that he
was distracted, Winnie broke free of his grasp and got away from him.
Chassell wanted to pounce forward to grab his newly escaped prey. However, the guards were not very
happy about it as they seized him and snapped, “It’s you! You've been sneaking around here for days,
haven't you? What little scheme are you planning? Scram, scumbag!”
Chassell’s face was dark enough to give the gloomy day a run for its money. He snarled, “Do you know
who I am?”
“Fuck if I care! Scums like you disgust me to the core. You think that the world is spinning around you
just because you've got a few more pennies in your pocket! You’re just a beast dressed in fancy suits!”
“How dare…”
“Shut up you prick! Do us a favor and get the fuck outta here before we call the police!”
Chassell was outnumbered and being someone that he was, being detained by the police was the last
thing that he wanted. He fixed his collar, let out a cold ‘hmph’, and said to Winnie, “This ain’t over yet,
I’ll get you back one day.”
One of the guards raised his electric baton and swung at him. “Yeah, yeah, keep talking and the last
thing you see will be my baton smashing your head!”
Chassell shot them a menacing glare before slipping into the car and left.
After he left, the guards chatted among themselves before turning to Winnie and asked, “Are you
alright, miss?”
She shook her head and replied, “I’m alright, thank you.”
An older guard holstered his baton back and said, “No need to thank us, miss. Your boyfriend had
briefed us beforehand. Occasionally, he would also bring us some snacks and such, so we’re very
much in his debt.”
“Exactly. You don’t have to worry about that prick as long as we’re here. He won’t be able to step foot
into this area!”
Winnie was numb in place as she was trying her best to comprehend what the older guard just said
before responding, confused, “My…boyfriend?”
A guard replied, “Yeah. Last month, your boyfriend beat the ever-living hell out of him and made him
run away like a rat, haha!”
“Exactly, he had asked us to keep an eye out for that scumbag so that he won’t harass you anymore.
He sometimes brings us cigarettes, drinks, and some food, which we are very grateful for. Didn't he tell
you about this?”
Bewildered, Winnie struggled to find her words, “He…never told me about it.”
The older guard could not help but give her a thumbs up, “That’s a nice lad you have there, miss.
Nowadays, it’s getting harder and harder to find such a man like him, so you better cherish him with all
your heart! Also, quit your current job and find a new one if you can, I might add.”
“Exactly. Bosses like him make my blood boil. All they’re good at is bullying young ladies who have just
stepped into the society. What goes around comes around, though, so hopefully, one day that prick will
get what he fucking deserves!”
With a smile on her face, Winnie replied, “Thanks.”
With that little encounter out of the way, she no longer had the mood to go shopping anymore as she
turned around and headed back in.
The guards returned to their posts. They discussed among each other before deciding to give
Channing a call.
While they were able to chase that scumbag away, they certainly could not chase away her trauma
from having to deal with him. It would be better for her boyfriend to accompany her for now.
When she got back to her home, she took off her mask, went to the fridge and took out a bottle of cold
water. She chugged a few cups of cold water down before her heart could stop beating crazily.
She placed her cup down. As she returned to the living room, she saw some shirts scattered around on
the sofa. She then walked into the closet and started cleaning her house.
Halfway through the cleaning, Winnie heard her doorbell rang. She walked to the door and saw through
the doorbell camera that it was Channing, so she opened the door immediately.
Channing locked his eyes on Winnie’s body, scanning her for any injuries. After determining that she
was all fine and dandy, he said with a cold tone, “Did he come for you again?”
Winnie nodded and replied, “He’s already gone, I’m alright.”
Relieved, Channing’s lips curved upwards slightly, and just as he was about to leave, Winnie grabbed
him and asked, “Since you’re already here, why don’t you come help me tidy up my clothes? I need
help moving the boxes. They’re way too heavy for me to handle them.”
Channing stood in place, not knowing what to say.
Winnie added, “Seriously, you didn't come all the way here to ask me a question and then just leave,
right? It'll be wrong of me if I don’t at least treat you to a meal. But the clothes ain't gonna pack
themselves, so come on! We’ll eat after we finish cleaning.”
Seeing as Channing was still planted onto the ground, she dragged him inside the house. On their way
to the closet, she said, “You should do something useful with your strength and energy, young man.
Don’t go wasting them on meaningless stuff.”
There were several sizable boxes littered around in the closet.
Winnie commanded, “Help me bring all of these boxes to the living room. I’m running out of space
here.”
Surveying the room filled with mountains of clothes, Channing could not help but raise his eyebrows
slightly.
She weaved her way around the closet, continued cleaning up and said, “Hey now, don’t you give me
that look. My collection is considered relatively small, as I am an actress, too. Haven’t you seen how
large your sister’s closet is? Women would cry if they saw it, men would fall silent instead.”
Channing was rendered speechless.
He replied, “The house that she rented doesn’t have a closet but only a wardrobe.”
Winnie laughed and replied, “Do you know why? That’s because Mr. Conrad bought the house next to
hers to serve as her hilariously oversized closet.”
Channing fell silent for a short while and started moving boxes out of the closet without saying another
word.
Winnie continued moving stuff out from the closet and put them in an empty box at the side before
clapping her hands together and taking a breather.
The closet that was originally filled to the brim with all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff was then tidied
up and half-empty again, which was a sight for Winnie’s sore eyes.
Looking at the last box, Channing asked, “Is there anything else?”
“Nah. What do you wanna eat? I’ll order some food.”
“I’m fine with anything.”
As Winnie took out her phone, she replied, “Alright, then. I’ll order whatever I want.”
She was not sure on what he liked to eat, so she ended up ordering stuff randomly.
She got a bottle of water from the fridge for him and asked, “Are you tired?”
Channing shook his head and replied, “Nope.”
Winnie sat on the sofa and stretched her back. In stark contrast to him, she was exhausted, as she was
getting older after all, her stamina was not as good as it used to be.
Channing looked at the pile of boxes that were unceremoniously dumped at the entrance. He then
asked “So, how are you going to deal with those?”
“Some of my staff will be coming over tomorrow. They’ll deal with it.”
Channing did not say anything after that as he withdrew his eyes.
For a moment, the living room fell silent.
Awkwardness started seeping through and saturated the ambience around them.
Winnie cleared her throat as she started a new topic, “Sherry’s been quite well recently, so she should
be discharged from the hospital a few days down the line.”
Channing nodded, “I know.”
A few seconds later, Winnie asked again, “If I’m not mistaken, school’s about to start for you, right?”
“Two weeks later, yes.”
“Well, do you have any job arrangements before your school starts?”
“I do, up until the day I return to school.”
Winnie thought for a while before saying, “Can I ask you a question?”
Channing responded with a ‘Mhmm’.
Winnie followed up with, “Why…Why didn’t you go into Sherry’s ward today? I know that you were
giving me excuses before, but if you really found it inappropriate, you wouldn’t have stood there like a
mannequin.”
He put on a calm expression and replied, “If I don’t answer your question, will you get mad at me?”
This caught Winnie by surprise, as she took a moment to process it before saying, “Not really…”
“Ask me something else, then.”
Winnie clenched her hand, which was resting on the sofa and asked, “Will you answer my next
question, regardless of what it is?”
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