บท 10: Young Fragile Girl
"So this is really your number. And why did you really check on me? Oh and who are you? By the way..."
Aldger watched as Ashton's brows furrowed even more. He can also hear a non stop chatter from the other side of the phone.
"Hey hey are you there?" Amber couldn't hear any reply from the other side.
"*sigh* Are you really this talkative?"
Ashton massaged the area between his brows as he asked.
"Because you're not replying."
"Ask questions one at a time, then maybe I can answer."
Aldger was agape, Ashton didn't drop the call at all. How can this be? Just who was the one on the other side of the call?
"This is your number?"
"Yes."
"Who are you?"
"Student Council President, Ashton."
"Woah, then you really are still young. And why did you check on me? Is it because of my exam?"
"Yes."
"Did I pass? Ah I think I did or else you wouldn't check. I also double checked them so I must have perfected it."
"You're a narcissist aren't you?"
"Oh you can tell? But are you really like that, checking on people who got a perfect score? What for?"
"Recruitment."
"To your company? Even though I'm just starting my university?"
"Just because you're just entering university doesn't mean you're at the same level as them."
"I like the way you think. Anyway, I can't be recruited."
"Oh, why is that?"
"Cause I'm going to build my own company."
Ashton was first taken a back before he gave a low chuckle. Aldger was once again shocked, he had long video call the other two and now they are in a conference.
Blake and Devon are equally shock, Ashton rarely stays on the phone. What more with someone who seemed to be so talkative. He even laughed?
"Then Ash, why don't I help you with the database defense? You know I really get easily bored, helping you out would ease that up. I think you can do better but too lazy to do it right? It's a win win situation, what do you think?"
'Ash?' he really didn't like other people calling him that especially those he didn't know.
"You-"
"Oh are you not used to being called Ash? But I like that, its easier. Don't mind the details now, so what do you think? Should I help?"
Ashton sighed in defeat, he really can't do anything to such kind of people.
"I'll think about it. Don't bother me for now, I have a meeting," with that he ended the call.
"Could that person be the one who perfected the entrance scholar examination?" Blake finally asked upon seeing him put down his phone.
"Yes."
"What happened?" Devon asked.
"I misjudged and ended up getting another Blake."
The other three looked at each other in the screen.
Aldger soon realized what was happening as he started laughing.
"Are you saying that he's another talkative and irritating person?"
"Hey, talkative is fine, why did you have to add irritating?" Blake complained upon hearing Aldger's description.
"She," instead it was Ashton who answered.
"Oh, now that's even more shocking. You actually allowed a girl to talk with you that long?"
Then he remembered the first thing Blake said after the phone call, "Could she be the one who breached your defense?"
"Yes, *sigh* she seemed to be the curious and narcissist type."
"Now, I'm getting even more curious about her. Tell me what does she look like?"
Blake and Devon looked at Ashton inquiringly as well. Even they became curious.
Ashton glanced at the monitor before giving a reply at the same time giving the unknown number a name.
"A doll."
Then at the phone, what was written was, "Narcissist Doll."
All three were left baffled upon hearing his reply. What does he mean by a doll?
It was still Aldger who asked, "She looks like a doll? Or her body looks like that of a doll?"
Her looks flashed through his mind, "She looks like a doll, even her dead eyes."
Before any of them could ask more, he closed the laptop cutting off the video call. He then leaned back on his chair as he fall into a deep thought.
He can still clearly remember it, despite it being just for a few seconds. What really caught his attention was her eyes. After opening it, her eyes reflected his own four years ago. The look of someone who had just lost someone important to them.
'What past is hiding behind that face and that voice?'
*****
Amber was staring at her phone, the name have changed to, Ash.
Before long she changed it once again to Ashton.
'His voice changed drastically after I called him Ash, oh well, better safe than never. Since he was the student council president sticking to him is a good option. School life wouldn't be too boring.'
She was indeed excited about going to school, but the thought of just sitting down on the classroom listening to the monotonous voice of the teacher for the whole day, she couldn't help but to dread over it.
A few seconds passed and she slapped her face with both hands leaving two visible red hand prints on her cheeks, 'I must not think this way. If I want to start a company that could match them, I can only do so by graduating and be elligible for starting her own company. I don't want any shadow ones at all.'
'That's right he didn't deny the fact that I perfected the exam, then I must have done so. Then I already am a university student. The first step is done.'
With a fist pump she happily smiled. She stood up and turned off the lights in her room, she then used the flash light on her phone to light up her pendant. Once again there on the wall an image was projected.
Looking at it, she couldn't help but to laugh bitterly.
"We all look so happy here. Who would have though that the beginning of everything was a stupid illness. I'm at the starting line now, mother, father. And I won't stop until I get them back for this."
The picture was a family of five. In the middle was a six year old girl. On both her sides were a 10 year old and a 12 year old boys. Behind them was a loving couple.
Each of them have jet black hair and dark brown eyes, with their fair skin. And their looks was a few levels higher than the others.
"Would you still accept me? When I return, would you forgive me?" she asked sadly as she looked at the two young boys.
"Would you still know me? I look different now," she sobbed as she touch her chestnut colored hair.
"I want to see you," she hugged her pillow as she started crying once again.
The girl who was just talking non stop with Ashton is gone, replaced with a young fragile girl who looks like she's about to break.
"I'm trying, I'm really trying to stay the same. But mother, father, it's really difficult. No matter how jolly I tried myself to be. My eyes won't change at all, they look so dead. What do I do?"
Once again, she cried herself to sleep. The harsh world was introduced to her at such a young age. And in just a few years, she was left alone to tackle everything on her own. No one would instantly get use to this.
*****
"Young master," Carl knock before entering the office.
"After checking deeper, she seemed to have come from a different country. There are no other records of her from the other cities."
After what had happened that morning, Ashton tasked Carl to look even deeper about Amber's background.
"There's another thing, on a remote road from the airport to this city. There seemed to have been an accident. They said they heard a loud explosion during the storm but only thought of it as lightning hitting something. Once the storm was over, they said that there was a spot where the tree was obviously hit hard and the road seemed to have encoutered an explosion."
"What do you mean seemed?" he asked upon noticing the key word of what Carl was reporting.
"That is, they didn't see anything out there."
Ashtone fell into deep thought, for such an explosion, surely it would have been a car. But why are there nothing?
He tapped gently on his table, 'Someone have deliberately removed it? Then what had happened for them to remove everything? Are they hiding the indentity of the one they killed?'
Carl didn't make another sound, Ashton's tapping means that he had fallen into a deep thought. Distracting him now, is not a good thing.
'For them to do it in secret and also removing evidences, surely they didn't want the leader of this country to know what they were doing.'
He stopped tapping and looked at Carl, "Check all flights and all those who arrived at this city, from june till july. I want a complete list, remember it is "I" who's giving you the order."
Upon hearing this Carl understood that what Ashton meant was his real identity, the one hiding behind the student council president.
'It seems that your identity is not as simple as you being a scholar. Then could you be related to my reason of being here as well?' he stood up and looked outside the window, it was a dark night with few stars peaking down on the city.
*DING*
FROM: MOM >>> The three years is almost up. Still no news? <<<
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