章 141: Chapter 42.3
Jason drove his car to the front Tiān Liàng Club before exiting with Alina and Alice. He allowed the chauffeur to drive the car into the indoor parking lot while he held Alice and entered the club. Tiān Liàng was a privately owned leisure club that several prestigious and notable people in the city of Sanctuary visited simply to socialize. It had everything you could want, a swimming pool with an indoor water park, a sauna, a sports hall with dedicated private pitches for baseball, football and soccer, a fitness and aerobics studio, a cafeteria, a dedicated bar and much more including a five-star hotel.
"Wow, this place is huuuge!" Alice said as she spun around, taking in the scenery of the lobby.
"Jason," Silvia, who was sitting on the lounge next Daria, gestured at the group and Jason took Alice's hand to make sure she didn't run off before walking to Silvia and Daria. "Alice, it's good to see you again. You as well, Alina. You look wonderful."
Alice nodded with a blush, behaving nicely once she saw Silvia. She still remembered her time with Silvia, how strict she was to her despite being gentle and nice.
"Hi, Mr. Sag - Jason," Daria said as well, her cheeks flushed. Silvia was avoiding the gaze Daria was sending Jason with discomfort, while the culprit himself shifted slightly under the former's complicated gaze.
"Silvie, Daria," Jason nodded before sitting down and planting Alice on his lap. His eyes were glued to his daughter with a gentle smile and Alina couldn't help but admire his firm attitude as she sat down next to him. She was also feeling awkward as Silvia was her teacher, but here they were socializing like friends.
"So . . ." Jason said to break the awkward silence that fell on the group. "What're we doing today? Oh, and we've already had brunch."
"I was thinking -" Silvia began speaking but stopped when she noticed someone approaching. Jason's smile faltered when he heard footsteps behind him; he had a sinking feeling he knew the person behind him. After all, those light footsteps were quite familiar.
"Excuse me, sir," a voice said softly. Turning around, Jason grimaced when he saw the woman smiling at him. "May I have a moment of your time?"
Yinying, with purple lips, stood in front of Jason. She was wearing a form fitting black qipao that was adorned with red flowers. Her pale arms and legs gathered almost every persons' eyes as the contrast between her fair limbs and dark colored dress only made her appear more gorgeous. She ignored the blatant stares she was receiving and gestured to a private room before smiling gracefully at the group. Jason turned to the others before nodding stiffly at Yinying and he stood up to follow her.
"What are you doing here?" Jason asked once she closed the door. His stance changed as soon as they were alone, becoming more aggressive and noble while his voice was echoing with uncontained authority.
"This . . . is our base of operations," Yinying explained slowly, her voice hesitant but firm.
"Ours?" Jason repeated quietly. His gaze contained his oppressive aura that was slowly suffocating her and Yinying took a deep breath before answering subserviently.
"The people serving here are students or descendants of your followers," Yinying replied while clutching her black jeweled necklace which seemed to calm her down. "Not all of them, but I gathered those who still follow you, are loyal to you, should you change your mind."
"Followers of my past incarnations," Jason corrected, his voice dangerously quiet as he approached her. "Of whom I know nothing of, nor trust. Is that why you interrupted me?"
"No m'lord," Yinying shook her head before presenting Jason a card. "It was for this."
Jason took the card from her hand and studied it. Most days, identification was in digital and chip form, connected to a person's device. Only a few exceptions were made and Jason could tell this card was meant to be a symbol of luxury, a quaint card meant for the rich to flaunt.
"It's the exclusive card for this club, m'lord," Yinying explained. "With it, all services are free and VIP resources will be exclusively available to you. I thought it would help you with your date."
Not on a date, Jason thought but didn't see the point in correcting Yinying. To him, she was just a passerby, someone he would have minimal contact with.
Jason considered Yinying's explanation. He agreed that it would make his life easier, especially since he noticed how Alice liked this area. And while money was not a problem for Jason, he didn't want to wait for services if it meant that Alice would be upset. And it wasn't in his nature to refuse a gift once offered.
"Thank you," Jason said while gesturing at the door. "As you were, Yinying."
"Yes, m'lord!" Yinying bowed her head ever so slightly and Jason failed to notice her lingering smile as he left.
"One more step closer, m'lord," Yinying murmured as shadows danced around her. Deep within the darkness of the shadow, a pair of vertical eyes, glowing yellow, appeared, its hand resting on Yinying's shoulder for the briefest moment before everything settled down and the shadow dissipated.
"Someone you know?" Alina asked when Jason returned. She heard from Silvia and Daria that the woman who approached Jason was, in fact, the general manager of the club. There were even rumors that she was the real owner of the club and that she simply masqueraded as a general manager.
"In a way, yeah," Jason answered, aware that Silvia and Daria were listening closely. "Turns out I'm a shareholder of this club, so she wanted to give me a VIP card."
Silvia took in a sharp breath before looking at Jason carefully. She realized that many of the waiters and Yinying herself, especially Yinying, emitted a dangerous vibe that threatened her. Of course, as a Council member, she knew that the city had already investigated this club but the reports indicated that nothing was wrong.
If it's connected to Jason, then it makes sense that they wouldn't find anything amiss, Silvia thought. There always was a rumour that he worked with a group, maybe it's related to this club? Could they be as perverted as he is in their strength? Or is he really related to Practitioners?
Doubts and conjectures swam through Silvia's mind as Jason simply waved his hands when he noticed Alina's stare that was mired in disbelief: she suspected that the general manager was probably an old flame of his. "Hey, it's not what you're thinking, alright."
"Can you blame me?" Alina asked and Jason raised his hands in protest.
"I'm not that bad! Well, I mean, not entirely," Jason replied sheepishly before turning to Alice in an effort to steer the conversation away. "So, kid, what do you wanna do?"
"Water park, I wanna go on the huge water slide!" Alice stretched her arms wide to empathize to the size of the slide.
"Sure kid, anything you want," Jason said while rubbing Alice's head. Silvia shook her head wryly when she noticed his attitude while Daria stared at Alice with envy.
Oh boy, Alina thought with a sigh as her eyes turned upwards. This is gonna be a long and painful day.
***
"Emily, the boss is calling you," a saleswoman called out to Emily as the latter was arranging jewelry in their cases.
"Coming," Emily said.
Right now, Emily was working at her regular job as a saleswoman for a small jewelry shop. Most times that she spent away from home was because she was working, but she kept it a secret from her friends and family, most of which assumed she was out late due to hanging out with friends.
Emily turned to her co-worker before gesturing at the glass display. "Can you help me finish this?"
"Sure thing," her co-worker answered. "The boss is in the office. You should head there before he starts yelling."
"Alright, thanks," Emily replied before hurrying to the office.
"C'min," a tired but firm voice said after Emily knocked. Entering, she saw a man past his prime sitting down and examining some jewelry. On his eye was a magnifying monocle which he used to observe and repair an expensive Rolex watch. He looked up once before gesturing at Emily.
"Have a seat. I'll be with you in a moment," he said before turning his attention back to the watch.
Emily nodded and waited patiently for him to finish but she kept tapping her foot, inadvertently revealing her nervousness. The shopkeeper, Mr. Frank, finished the watch repair and turned to look at her. He didn't say anything when he saw her dark eyes which were caked in a layer of foundation and sighed as he caught her a sense of her anxiety.
"Emily, how long have you been working here?" Frank asked slowly. He ran a hand through his thinning hair as he leaned back, his emotions in disarray.
"A year and eight months," Emily answered with bemusement.
"Hmm," Frank closed his eyes for a moment before opening his phone and swiping at a hologram that flew towards Emily. "This is your severance package, including your wages for this month."
"Mr. Fra-" Emily felt her head spin when she heard him and she fell into confusion, unable to understand what was happening.
"Emily," Frank said clearly when she saw her reaction. "You're fired."
Emily turned lifeless, unable to speak for some time before asking hoarsely. "Why?"
"This is the bin from the loo," Frank noticed that Emily was feeling aggrieved and answered calmly before showing Emily a trash can. Her heart leapt to her mouth as he gingerly pulled a syringe from the pile of garbage. He didn't need to say anything as Emily understood what this was about.
". . . I . . . understand," Emily said quietly before standing up and walking back to the door.
"Hey," Frank called out to Emily and she stopped but refused to look back. He understood that she didn't want him to see her tears and weakness, but he needed to tell her what was on his mind. "You ever quit . . . medicating, you can come back. The door's always open for you."
Emily nodded and left the office quietly as Frank sighed again. He wasn't sure if what he did was the right choice, but he needed to fire her to keep his business safe.
What now? Emily thought as she left the jewelry shop. Her eyes were puffy but she refused to let a single tear fall. I need money, but I don't know what to do . . .
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