As soon as Erica heard the noise from the wall and saw two people running toward her, flashlights knifing through the gloom, she knew they were after her.
Time pressing, she grabbed her hand and began to run.
"Why are we running? You tick someone off?" The girl was confused. 'Or maybe she stole something? After all, she climbed over the wall, ' she thought.
At the Li family's house
Blair rang Gifford. "Hey, do you know where Chantel is? If not, go find her!" she yelled.
"Hey, hey. Slow down. You mean she's missing?" he asked in confusion.
"Today's Saturday. She should be here. She texted me she was going on a trip, but I haven't been able to get ahold of her since then. It's been six or seven hours, and I think she turned off her phone. It goes straight to voice mail," Blair said. Chantel usually stayed at the Li family's house on weekends to make sure Blair and Wesley were well taken care of. This was weird.
Knowing that things sometimes go wrong on trips, Blair just wanted to call to ask if she had arrived. Six or seven hours should be plenty of time to get somewhere and settle in.
"Where did she go? Maybe she's still on the plane," Gifford said. "Six or seven hours isn't that unusual if you're flying to another country. And you're not supposed to have your phone on then, anyway."
Blair shook her head. "Your father had someone look into it. She flew to Y City. That's only 2.5 hours by plane. She should be there by now. And why isn't she answering her phone?"
"I think you're overreacting, Mom. Tell you what: I'll call you as soon as I find her. Don't worry. She'll be fine."
"Okay."
Near a five-star hotel in Y City, two girls whispered to each other while taking turns checking out the entrance.
At first, Erica wanted to ask the girl beside her to go home, but she got to thinking—if she used her ID card to check in, Matthew would have no trouble finding her. She didn't feel like having that conversation.
So instead she urged the girl to check in for her. "I'll give you two thousand dollars. How about you book a room for me?"
"Two thousand?" The girl's mouth was wide open.
Puzzled, Erica looked up at the five-star hotel in front of her. Then she realized two thousand might not be enough. She raised her hand and showed the girl her five fingers. "Not enough? How about five? Sound good?"
The girl's mouth was agape. 'Does she really want to spend five thousand to book a hotel room?' "Why don't you check in on your own?" she asked. She'd better be on her guard.
"Because... I forgot to bring my ID card!" Erica lied, blinking her innocent eyes.
"All right! Just promise me one thing!" Chantel didn't have much money with her. She didn't want to dig into the money Wesley and Blair had given her.
"Name it!" As long as she could have a good night's sleep, she'd promise her anything.
Chantel cleared her throat and began, "This is my first time in Y City. I don't have a place to stay tonight. You're on your own, right? Let's get a room with two beds."
"Deal!" 'She looks younger than me, but I don't think she's smarter, ' Erica thought.
But she didn't have cash, and she wasn't about to power up her phone. As for Chantel, she'd lost her phone, so they couldn't book a hotel room at all. They needed a way to pay.
The two girls had to go to a bank first. When they passed a wonton shop, the pair smiled at each other and entered the shop at a quick clip.
Chantel ordered two bowls of wontons and two bottles of sparkling water.
Erica took a sip of hers, an orange-flavored one. 'Wow, this is awesome.' She hadn't had one of these since she married Matthew. She took a good look at Chantel and asked, "You're not from around here, huh?"
"No, I'm not. I'm from A Country," she said.
"Hey, me too! Who would have thought? You a college student or something?"
Erica's question came so fast that Chantel had to answer her question before she could marvel at the fact that they were both from A Country. "Yes, I'm an acting major. I want to be an actress."
"Acting? Nice! Maybe you'll be famous and I can say I knew you when." Obviously, Erica was very interested in her career choice.
Chantel nodded and took a sip of her drink. "Yeah. Not everyone makes it in this business, but I'll work hard!" If she became a star, she'd earn a lot of money and repay Wesley and Blair.
"I think you can do it!" Erica commented.
"Thank you!"
The friendship between the two girls came very quickly, like a tornado. They had only known each other a short time, but both of them clicked like old friends. And both of them blew into town like a storm.
"So, what about you? Why were you climbing that wall?"
Erica blinked her eyes and told a lie. She whispered in her ear, "I'm a man's mistress. I was trying to be unobtrusive. Was I?"
Chantel was stunned. She looked at Erica and didn't answer her question, because she didn't believe what Erica said. She didn't look like a mistress at all.
Instead, she looked like a wild child from a rich family.
"Then, I couldn't stand his morbid hobby, so I ran off!" Well, she was not lying that time.
When she heard what Erica said, Chantel was flabbergasted. After thinking about it and trying to poke holes in her story, she just broke down and accepted it.
"So do you think less of me?" Erica thought she should switch careers with Chantel. If she became an actress, she was sure to become famous. She knew how to lie and pretend with the best of them.
"Why would I do that?" Chantel asked, confused.
"Because I—"
A waiter brought the two bowls of wonton they'd ordered and interrupted her.
Seeing the delicious food, Erica didn't want to keep talking. "Thank God, I'm starved! Do you want chili sauce?"
"Yes!" Chantel nodded. "Food without chili sauce is like a person with no soul!"
If Erica could turn on her phone now, she would definitely friend Chantel on WeChat, because she really liked the girl.
More than ten minutes later, Erica entered the hotel with her head down and took the elevator to the 13th floor.
In the room, Chantel was still amazed at the luxurious decor. Erica breathed a sigh of relief and slumped onto the sofa. "I need a shower. You want to go first?"
"There are two bathrooms. We can take a shower at the same time!" When she saw Erica's dirty-minded grin, she clarified, "Not like that!" In order to make it convenient for the guests, there were two shower rooms and a bathtub in the suite.
"Okay!"
Erica had always been wild and free. In the dead of night, she hugged the pillow for comfort and gradually fell asleep.
Erica was roused from her sleep by someone knocking on the door. She didn't know how long she'd been asleep. She was still in a daze, and wanted to tell the person knocking to go away.
She got up from bed, holding onto a nightstand to steady herself, and put on her slippers. She woke up more and walked towards the door, completely forgetting where she was. She opened the door hard and shouted, "What the hell? Ahhh! Why are you here?" When she saw the person standing there, she immediately woke up.
Gifford rolled his eyes at her. "Get out of the way!"
"What? How did you know I was here?" Realizing she had asked a stupid question, she changed her tone and followed Gifford into the room. "Hey, did Matthew send you? Are you supposed to take me back with you?"
Standing in the middle of the room with arms akimbo, Gifford pointed at Chantel, who was also confused, and told Erica, "I'm not here for you. I'm looking for her. I'm sure Matthew will be here soon."