Chương 11: Proper investigation

"Get out."

Karina's jaw dropped at the coldness of his voice. Had she said something wrong to make him sound like that?

Pursing her lips, she nodded and climbed out of the car. She stood there, watching as the doors closed up slowly. As soon as he started the car, she remembered she had his jacket on.

"Wait! Your jacket..." She trailed off, frowning, as he drove away from there.

"What's his problem?" Karina muttered, wondering why he was behaving as if he was forced to do what he did. She was grateful he had come to her aid, but why was he suddenly acting like a jerk?

Ever since he came to Grimshigh, she had not interacted with him, not that she had any reason to. He was a bad guy, a rich, good-looking bad guy who all the ladies were fighting over. She wanted nothing to do with such a person or any boy for that matter.

"Rina?" Nori's voice echoed from behind her, pulling her from her thoughts and forcing her to turn around.

"Nori." She called out in relief, forgetting all about Veron as she rushed to engulf her sister in a hug. Barely an hour ago, she had thought she would not get to see Nori again. She couldn't describe how relieved she felt to be back here.

"Are you okay?" Nori asked, seeing the strange jacket Karina had on, the dried tear marks on her face, and the way she rushed to hug her.

"I am now," Karina uttered, then released Nori from the hug. She moved away slightly to look at Nori's face, smiling, but Nori had a frown on her face.

"I thought you left with Chloe. Why didn't you wait for me? And what are you wearing?" Nori asked in one breath, giving Karina a disapproving look.

"You asked her to take me along." Karina reminded Nori, but Nori didn't seem to remember.

"Huh? When did I do that? I haven't seen Chloe since I left for Victor's place." Nori related, and Karina frowned.

"You sent her a text, asking her to take me along and make sure I look presentable. You said you'd meet us there." Karina related, recalling the contents of the text message Chloe showed her.

"I never sent such a text, Rina." Nori disclosed, making Karina's frown deepen. She mentally went over the events of the past two hours, nodding when she realized she wasn't imagining what she just said.

"Are you sure? Maybe you should check your phone. You may have forgotten." Karina urged, feeling uneasy now as she didn't know what to make of what Nori was saying.

"I am very sure, Rina. I wouldn't forget something as important as that. She told you I sent her a text?"

"I saw it. She showed me the contents of the message." Karina said, then went ahead to relay everything that transpired between her and Chloe. After that, she told Nori about what happened at the club. All these she was saying as they walked back to their room.

"... And he just told me to get down, as if I offended him in some way. He didn't even bother to take back his jacket." She ended her tale, while Nori was looking at her incredulously.

"Veron did all that?" Nori asked when she finally found her tongue.

"I swear it. I'm still finding it hard to believe—"

"Rina? Oh my God... I'm so glad you're alright." Chloe's voice suddenly echoed around the room. Before Karina and Nori could fully turn in the direction of the door, Chloe had already rushed to hug Karina.

"Good lord... Don't do that again. You almost gave me a heart attack." Chloe's voice rang out again as she disengaged from the hug.

"Do you know how worried I was? I was almost calling the police to report a missing person." Chloe rambled on until Nori's voice interrupted her.

"You should call the police because you will need to explain why you lied to my sister just to take her to a club where she was almost abducted."

Chloe's jaw fell slack as she looked from Nori's serious face to Karina, who was also frowning at her without saying anything.

"What?" Chloe asked incredulously. "I lied to her? And she was almost abducted? What are you saying, Nori?" Chloe shifted her gaze back to Nori, waiting for an explanation to the accusations just leveled at her.

"When did I tell you to take her to the party?" Nori flared, glaring at Chloe, irritated at how boldly she was trying to play innocent.

"You sent me a text and now you are asking me when? How rude." Chloe huffed, annoyed.

"Can I see the text?" Nori asked, and Chloe dipped her hand into her bag to fetch her phone. Once she did, she scrolled to the said text before handing the phone to Nori.

"This is not my number. How can you claim I sent you this text when it's not even my number?"

Chloe gasped. "Not your number? I saved your number with your name, Nori. How can that be?"

"Are you asking me that? It's your phone, not mine." Nori asked, lifting her brows.

Meanwhile, Karina creased her brows, realizing the mistake she made. She had just checked the name and was satisfied when she saw it saved as Nori. If she had known, she would have checked the number as well. But then, with how quickly Chloe snatched the phone away, she wouldn't have been able to do that.

"This is strange even to me, Nori. I think someone tampered with my phone and switched the numbers. Someone is messing with us and trying to set me up." Chloe accused, making Nori fall silent.

"If that is the case, we should head to the police then. My sister was almost abducted and I won't let it slide. I want a proper investigation carried out." Nori said after a while, and Chloe panicked.

"What? Do you want to put me in trouble? Do you know what will happen to me if you involve the police in this? I don't want any trouble." Chloe cried out.

"Are you saying we should just let this go?"

"I'm saying that I don't want any trouble with the police. I only tried to help you, Nori, and now you are paying me back with a police case?"

"Both of you should stop. There's no need to involve the police just yet. We should inform the school authority before taking such drastic measures." Karina suggested, but two conflicting answers reached her ears almost instantly.

"No." Nori refused.

"Yes." Chloe agreed at the same time as Nori refused.