"Live with you?" Abi echoed, her eyes slightly widened in shock.
"You heard me," he replied, as a wry smile played on his face again. "Afraid now?"
"R-really? So we'll be like... newlyweds?" she blurted out that last word and instantly, Alexander was again rendered speechless.
What he said undeniably caused Abi's heart to skip a beat, but she thought that the more time they spent together, the higher the likelihood of her falling in love with him, right? Thus, she contemplated that perhaps this circumstance wasn't entirely negative, particularly considering the limited time she had.
As Abi was putting her phone in her bag, her attention was drawn to another bag beneath it.
"Ahh… Kelly!!" She let out a sudden exclamation as her memory rushed back to her friend.
"Don't worry about her. She's currently at the hospital," Alexander told her.
Panic immediately gripped her heart at what Alex said. What? Why was Kelly at the hospital? What happened to her? How did he know she was at the hospital?
"Stop panicking. She's with my friend. I'll drive you there now so sit back and put your seatbelt on." He spoke calmly as he started the engine and smoothly wound his way to the hospital.
Abi fell quiet but her mind was running a marathon. What could have happened to Kelly that she ended up at the hospital? How badly was she hurt? Did someone do something to her? I hope it's nothing too serious…
And with those thoughts, her mind brought her back to the bar with that disgusting man and she prayed with all her might that the same thing hadn't happened to her friend. No! Kelly is stronger than that. She wouldn't fall for such tricks. There had to be another reason.
The moment Alex parked up by the hospital entrance, Abi opened the door and scrambled out of the car.
"Are you not coming?" she asked when he didn't move.
"No."
"Oh. Okay. Well, thank you for the ride. I'll see you soon, Mr. Qinn." She waved her hand before hurriedly going inside the big building. She didn't think twice about leaving him this time because he already gave her his words and he even gave her his home address. Besides, Kelly was the most important right now!
Soon, Abi found herself in the hustle and bustle of the hospital emergency department. There were so many people running around that she didn't know where to start. She looked at the long line at the reception desk, intending to ask for information about Kelly but that would take too long.
So she looked around to see if she could see any sign of her friend. In the next moment, she saw a familiar face! Not wasting another second, she beelined her way to him and was about to ask him where her friend was when she heard her name being called out.
"Abi!"
Abi turned to the direction of the voice and she saw her friend on the bed, with one foot wrapped up in bandages.
"Kelly!!" she cried.
Completely forgetting about Mr. Black Leather Jacket, she ran to her friend and gave her a careful hug.
"What happened?!" Abi asked.
"I fell down a hole." Kelly looked a bit embarrassed but she laughed it off.
Abi's face turned blank. "Huh? Fell… down a hole?"
"Yeah, I know. Silly, right?"
Abi looked at her friend doubtfully. "How much did you have to drink?! And what were you doing outside?"
"Wha…? Ahem. I didn't have anything to drink cos I didn't make it to the bar! I just, uh, went outside for a bit to, uh, get some fresh air! Then I fell down a hole and luckily, Leather Jacket over there was around and helped me out. But enough about me! What about you? Are you okay? Nothing happened at the bar while I was gone, right?"
"Something did happen but Alexander Qinn came and saved me." Abi said succinctly. Seeing Kelly's expression, she sighed and then started to recount what had happened.
Kelly's expression darkened as she listened to Abi's story. She couldn't believe that this happened to her friend. She was so angry at that man for putting Abi through that! Argh!!! If that man isn't already beaten to a pulp, she would race to him and do it herself - broken ankle and all! What a piece of shit, asshole!
But, she wasn't just angry at that guy. She also scolded herself for forgetting to tell her friend those basic rules before they went inside the bar, for letting those men distract her and for leaving her alone to fend for herself. She felt so horrible at failing her friend and not being able to protect her that she wanted to beat herself!
"It's okay, Kelly. I wasn't hurt. Mr. Qinn saved me. I'm fine."
Kelly felt even worse to see her friend comforting her when it should be the other way around, so Kelly manned up and pushed her self-deprecating thoughts aside and focused on Abi.
"I'm sorry, Abi. I shouldn't have left you. Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yep. I swear." Abi smiled at her reassuringly.
Kelly nodded, finally relieved at the sight she saw in Abi's eyes. It seemed like there was at least something good that came out of this - Abi had found her hero, her dark knight.
...
Kai walked out of the hospital while Abi and Kelly were engrossed in conversation, making his way directly toward the black car parked not far away.
Kai slid into the passenger seat and immediately pestered Alex.
"So? Did you become the hero tonight, huh?" he grinned, but Alex's expression remained grave, more serious than ever, causing Kai's grin to quickly fade.
"Kai, go deal with those lurkers... I don't want a bloodbath tonight," he ordered, and Kai promptly followed Alex's line of sight. As soon as he saw what Alex was referring to, a dangerous glint entered Kai's eyes.
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That night, Kelly was soon discharged.
Mr. Black leather jacket was nowhere to be found so Kelly called someone from the Young residence to pick her up. Unfortunately, her mother also came the instant she heard that her daughter was hospitalized and she insisted on taking Kelly home to watch her closely until her ankle was healed.
Kelly and her mother spent a long time arguing over the matter but in the end, Kelly's mother won, of course.
With that, Mrs. Young arranged a chauffeur to send Abi back home. Just like Kelly, Mrs. Young adored Abi and the madam already knew the kind of girl Abi was, so she made sure that she would be sent back home safely. She even asked one of her female guards to go with her along with the driver.
"I'll come visit you soon, Kelly," Abi said as she held her friend's hand.
"Call me once you're home, okay? And don't even dare to do anything or go anywhere without telling me, understand?" she nagged and Abi just nodded. She carefully hugged her friend before they finally parted.
During the trip home, Abigail rested her head against the car window, her gaze fixed on the darkness outside. Everything that had happened that night replayed in her mind. Her thoughts were flooded with so much to process. She contemplated it throughout the entire journey home, yet still found everything overwhelmingly intense.
Upon finally arriving home, she expressed her gratitude to the chauffeur and the lady bodyguard before watching the car depart. Abi didn't go straight inside. She stood out there and just stared at the house.
As always, it was peaceful—so peaceful that merely gazing at it calmed her heart. This was her home, the place Alex had told her she belonged. Just by comparing the gentle, peaceful and soothing atmosphere of her home to the outside world, she couldn't help but acknowledge that her world really was different from what was out there.
She knew that she was blessed with having a loving and peaceful family. She knew she was blessed to have a home like this, a home that protected her heart and her smiles, a home that loved her. However, she had always felt this void in her heart. It wasn't that she didn't like the peace - in fact, she loved it and was thankful for it - she just wanted to feel more, to experience more, even if it meant getting hurt.
Abigail breathed deeply and finally entered the house.
Her father was still awake. He was there again, sitting by the window, looking at the moon - perhaps, thinking about his late wife.
Abigail walked closer to him.
"Dad," she called softly.
"Hmm? I thought you were going to sleep over at Kelly's."
"I came home to speak with you."
Andrew Lee, her father, was surprised. His daughter wasn't outspoken and he knew that she would only talk to him privately like this when she wanted something or to ask for his permission. He also knew that his daughter rarely asked for anything. In fact, the last time she spoke to him to ask for something was back when she was seventeen.
"Dad, I… I want to move out," she said and her father looked at her in surprise.
"Abi… what do you mean you want to move out?"
"I have decided to live with Kelly for a bit. I will still go to work and come back here on the weekends."
"Abi, you're sick."
"I'm still perfectly fine, Dad. And I will be fine. I'll only be away for a month."
"Abi…"
"Please, Dad. I want to experience life in the city, visit some beautiful places and go explore. I might not be able to go out anymore after this so… please let me go, Dad. Don't worry, I'll come back home safely."
Her father couldn't say anything further upon hearing her mention that she might not be able to go out anymore. He knew what was ahead of her and it was painful to think about it. His daughter was still so young. She was such a nice and sweet girl. She never caused any trouble for the family. She was that girl old people adored so much because she was always shining and smiling brightly despite everything, but Andrew knew that she was sometimes lonely. She was still just a girl and he knew she wanted to experience things outside her sheltered life, just like other girls her age.
The truth was, Andrew was waiting for his daughter to do this. He knew the risks but he understood. Life was unpredictable. No one knew when someone's time was up that was why he completely understood Abi's decision. As a father, he also wanted Abi to go and do whatever she wanted now because he knew she may never get to do them at all.
"Okay, but I have to remind you not to do anything dangerous, okay? Promise me, Abi."
Abi blinked in surprised. She had prepared herself to persuade her father but he actually agreed quite quickly!
"I promise, Dad."
In her room, Abi didn't waste any more time; she immediately began packing her belongings. While gathering items to place in her luggage, she stumbled upon a small notebook. Picking it up, a smile etched across her face.
'List of things I want to do' was written on the notebook's front page.
She put it inside her bag, finished her packing and eventually drifted off to sleep.
…
Not far from the house, a black car stayed there the entire night and only left at daybreak.
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