||Hardie Morrison||
"Don't you get? it's foolish keeping her here, she needs to go before she brings any suspicion." Lincoln glared at me. I blinked, this was never the Lincoln I trusted. He never for once raised his voice at me, talk more of glaring dagger at me."I know right, I just want to...""Don't try anything rash, please Hardie." He countered."Okay. Okay, I won't." I smirks."Good. I'll get her to some safe route, it almost dawn already." He pinched his brows."Can I go with you at least?" I asked still putting on my smirk.He glared at him before nodding. "Right, no rash actions.""Sure..."***"Why did you look like you don't wan' leave yet?" I twitched my neck towards the back seat, facing Arlington. Lincoln insist I sit at the front for his own self reason."I've got work to go, stupid." She huffed."Yeah, right." I nodded. "You're only leaving cause of your work, now I get it.""You talk too much, Mr imposter." She hissed under her breath. "The Hardie everyone knows barely talks and now you're claiming to be him, tch.""You've met with him once? Cause you talk like you're having a crush on him." I taunt her further."Arrgh! I've not met with him once and I don't know what he look like either. How can I be having a crush on a ghost?" She glared daggers at me."Does that mean you're crushing on me, huh?" I flirts. "Well, it worth it though since I'm good looking.""What are you saying?" She half yell as she burn red."Come on don't be shy, Arling. This might be your first and your last, you know." I smirks but she kept mute as she swallowed her breath. "You see, there's no hurt in accepting the fact that you're having a crush on me.""I- I don't get you." She was clearly embarrassed."Or you might be thinking of having me as a night stand, who knows?""Stop saying nonse..." Arlington was cut short by the sudden abrupt of the car."What was that?" I gawked at Jade."I made him to since you two won't stop talking, tsk." Lincoln said lazily as he lay back his head. "We're here, you should get down from here. You should get yourself home from here, I guess.""Yeah, Sure. Thanks." She flashed Lincoln a short awkward smile before stepping down. "Goodbye...""And me? I don't deserve a thank you too, even after saving you?" I put on a frown. "That hurts, you know."She twitched her lips before giving out a sweet smile. "Guess you deserve one too. Thank you." she said before running through the narrow lane.I held out my cell phone, dialled a number before speaking into it. "Make sure she's safe, do you get?" I cut the call without giving the guy on the other end the priviledge to speak.||Arlington Arlington||I sneakily entered the house, rushed upstairs and quickly get dressed in a new clothing not after having my bath. I hurriedly arrange my room to avoid any suspicion or to get mother worried."Arling, Darling." Mom called from down stairs."Coming, mom. I'll be there in minutes." I quickly yelled back. I picked my bag and hurried down stairs. "Morning, mom.""Hmm... Morning." She nodded slightly, stirring her coffee. "I came knocking on your door yester night, but you didn't reply. I decide not to pry in, thinking maybe you need some privacy. Are you okay?""Yeah. I'm good. I was just stressed out, that's why. I stayed out late cause of work." I smiled convincingly. "You don't need to worry mom, I'm doing just fine.""Just let me know, if you are facing any crisis. Okay?" She said. "I can't stand seeing you hurt.""Yeah, copy that." I smiled."Eat up, else you'll be late for work." She said. I nodded curtly and start digging in. I Don't want Jesse's trouble, at least not today. But little did I know there is more In store for me today...***I got to work few minutes late and Jesse won't stop ranting but I might end up doing something irrational, so I decide to keep my calm. But Jesse wasn't satisfied until she see me react, still I remain dumb.Just when I thought everything has died down, murmuring and side talks was all over the whole restaurant. Is something wrong? I waved it off and decide to face my stuffs.The chicken stew was almost done when Min Hung came in."Gosh, Arling. Guess who's here?" She squealed excited."Min Hung, you see I'm busy and I'm not good at guessing." I said with a hint of I'm not interested. "Besides, I don't want Jesse' trouble today.""Forget about Jesse for now. I guess Jesse is tongue tied by now." Min Hung pressed on. "Try guessing, please.""Hmm..." I tried thinking but nothing is coming. Whose name am I gon' mention anyway?"See, I can't really gu..." I couldn't complete my statement cause of how Jesse' barge. Min Hung quietly walked out."We are having a new customer and Arlington has to attend to them." Jesse said."Wait, I don't understand you." I crackled at her statement. "When is it my Job to attend to customers?""You don't ask me questions alright, just do what I asked of you. Okay?""But..." I wanted to protest but kept quiet, maybe this is another tactic of her of trouble. "I'll go take their order now.""Sure. Do." She scoffs. "They are both sitting at the end of the hall putting on whites with black caps on."'Fucking bitch...' I muttered under my breathe. I walked towards the new customers just as Jesse describes them.I sigh as I neared them. 'You can do this, Arling.' I told myself. The truth is I was offered the chance of being a waitress but I declined cause I don't know how to face people."Good day, sir." I was a little bit audible trying my best not to stutter. "Can I take your order please?""Yeah, sure." One of the men responded. The other guy glued his attention on his phone, his cap, covering his facial appearance. I was glad, at least. Order was placed and I quietly went in to serve it.I quickly served them their orders and was about when the guy on cap raised his head up. This can't be true cause he isn't the one, right?"Mr imposter...?" I frowned at him. What is he doing here anyways? I've never seen him around here before, so why now? Or am I just noticing?"Good to see you again." He said flashing a dark grin...[84]The sun dipped below the horizon as the fiery colours infused the sky above the sky above them, painting the perfect backdrop for the end of an era. As the crimson hues bled into the night, Lincoln couldn't help but admire the scene from the rooftop terrace if Hardie's lavish home.The cool breeze brush past them, bringing forth a scene of melancholy that mirrored the thoughts racing through Lincoln's mind. It was hard to believe that after all the hardship they had faced together, their journey was slowly screeching into a halt.Hardie, in his usual assertive manner, told Lincoln that he did not plan of letting him go anytime soon. Despite anticipation, the words slammed into Lincoln's chest like a brick wall, causing him to struggle for breath.Although, Lincoln had mentally prepared for such a confrontation, the reality was far more difficult to accept. Over the years, the two had become intertwined in a complex net of loyalty and betrayal, blurring the lines of their allianc
[83]"Isn't she the same with her?" I heard her asked all of a sudden, her voice was laced with outmost surprise or maybe shock.I raised my head up to the television's screen, trying to figure out what she was talking about. It was Ms. Roselle, that was her name, Hardie's mom. Why is she on the media all of a sudden? "She's the one, right?" She asked again, this time turning to me. "This is Hardie's mother." "Yeah." I nod in agreement, drawling my words. "I'm sure she is the one, she looks like her and the name too." "Why is she on the screen then?" Charlotte furthered, staring questioningly at me. I frowned at her question, we are both in the same room and she is the one who had informed me about this yet, she is asking me such a question? She's seriously unbelievable! "Were you not the one who just told me about it?" I return her question back to her. "And we are yet to listen to what she might have done." "You are right." She said sounding defeated but I did not really care.
[82] ||•Lincoln Shire•||"Welcome..." The hotel receptionist uttered, wearing a delightful expression as she smiled warmly at us.I'm not the type that smiles but I was kind enough to reciprocate it. Charlotte, on the other hand, just gave her a slight nod with a blank expression on her face. It's obvious that she's too tired for all of this, every thing about her tell it all."Two VIP..." I simply stated but the stare on her face tells otherwise, I need her not to say much before I understand her expression. "We'll just hop for any available rooms left, okay. As far as it's as comfortable as a home, we have no choice to it."She shook her head with an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry, Sir..." She muttered, avoiding eye contact with Charlotte and I. "It's just a room left, all other rooms are occupied for the night."Mere looking at Charlotte, she was not comfortable with herself as she scrunched her face tightly in displeasure. "Why...?" She requested with indifference
[81] ||•Lincoln Shire•||The day has been kind of hectic for Charlotte and I, tailing and spying on other lords just to get want we want from them.Well, as usual, Charlotte was used as the bait to get to them. I must commend how much she has done in the nick of time.She made every thing much easier for me since they are things I can do and places I can't penetrate as a male, yeah .Retiring for the day, we decided to lodge the night in one of the suites around till the next day.I would have vouch for a clubhouse instead because there, I would surely meet with new lords but Charlotte had insisted we get a proper night sleep instead.Well, I have no other choice to obliging. We will just find a suitable suite for us after we are done with our drinks. •••"I think I need a break after this." Charlotte muttered before chugging down her last cup of wine. "This is becoming much more challenging than it ever was.""What break —?" I asked with my brows raised in questioni
[80] ||Hardie Morrison||I speed up and in no time, we arrived at the park, the same park I brought her to couple of months ago. It was just few weeks after we met. Arlington was a little bit surprised, well, it reflected on her face."I guess I did not see this coming..." She countered with a soft chuckle after. "Why did you bring us here?"I ignored her question and helped her undo her seat belt. "Come on." I said instead and hopped down from the car.She hopped down immediately after I did before I was able to turn around. "I can always help myself with the door, you should stop worrying over little things." She said as she shut the car's door behind her."Little things also matters, Arling." I told her in reply and hold her hand, and intertwined it with mine. "What did you want?" "I want… that." She pointed at the cotton candy not to far from us, wearing a wide smile on her face. The smile of hers that I did not want to miss, not now or ever.I’ve done so much wrong
[79] ||Hardie Morrison||"Ms. Roselle is coming home with us." Arling suddenly announced which made Hardie stopped in his track."What...?!" I blurted out, almost choking on my own breathe. " think I heard wrong, yeah. What did you say?""What did I say?" She repeated my question with her brows deeply creased. "I said; Ms. Roselle would be coming with us, did I say some thing awful?"These days, ever since this fóxy human suddenly introduced herself to you, I see you enjoy getting on my nerves...” those were the words I wanted to reply her with but said some thing else instead.I know and I'm sure of it, this fóxy human is trying to cause a rift between Arlington and I the same way she did to Amelia and other people too.But then, I would never give in to such cheap plan she drafted. I'll just have to pretend I never heard Arling speaks about her or made mention of her name."Aren’t you tired of staying here?" I asked, diverting the topic else where. "You’ve been in the ho