❣️LOVE IN THE ELITES’ WORLD❣️
🌏🌏Her new world 🌎 🌏
📖📖CHAPTER FORTY THREE. 4️⃣3️⃣
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❣️❣️ imperfect disguise❣️❣️
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*
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HOLLAND HIGH^^^
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Paulina met Sage by the elevator when school dismissed later and she smiled upon seeing him.
They went to his car together, and he looked at her.
“Are you ok?” He asked, and she nodded.
“Sage, I know you have doubts about Mike with all those rumors and the engagement, but there is more to the story. I won’t ask you to trust him, and I won’t stop you from confessing either,”
“You assume too much. Can’t I worry about you as a friend? You look so weary, and I was worried,”
“Yeah… I was really stressed, with the mid-semester exam coming up, and the school teaching syllabus is different from the one I’m used to,”
“You need to relax, that will help you prepare for the coming exam. The students might look unserious, but their grades shouldn’t be taken for granted,” he said, and she chuckled.
“Thank you, Sage,”
“To the bus station, or straight home?”
“I’ll find my way from the bus station,”
“Why do you enjoy taking the bus?”
“It’s faster. Taking the bus is faster than a taxi or a private ride,”
“I doubt,”
“You’ve never tried it before, so shhh…” she teased, and he chuckled.
*
They arrived at the bus station, and she thanked him before alighting from his car.
She went to seat to wait for the next bus when a familiar face walked up to her. He looks familiar and also unfamiliar. She tried to figure out where she have seen the face and instantly realized that he is the ragged man —he was now looking clean, his breeds were properly shaved, and he wore freshen and glean clothes.
“Hi, little miss,” he said, and she looked at him in shock wondering why he was talking to her—he acted like she doesn’t exist the last time, and now he is suddenly being friendly. But she put all the thoughts away, and compared herself.
“Good afternoon, sir. Are you also taking the bus?” She asked, and he shook his head.
“I’m not taking the bus, neither do I live around the neighborhood you saw me the last time. Avoid being friendly to everyone, not everyone appears the way they look. Have a nice day,” with that he stopped a taxi and left.
“What’s that about?” She grumbled, staring at the taxi until a bus arrived.
*
She found herself alighting at the station closet to the noodle’s restaurant, and tried to reassure herself that she wasn’t going there for Steven.
“Their noodles is very tasty, why should I miss it because of him when I’ll get a free coupon soon,” she said, trying to reassure herself as she stopped a taxi.
She arrived at the noodles restaurant, and was surprised to meet it under construction.
“Am I at the wrong place?” She pounded, and saw the owner of the restaurant.
“Oh, Mr., Mr.,” she called waving at him, and he smiled upon seeing her.
He approached her with a smile, and she smiled back.
*
They both went in together, and he narrated the unfortunate event that happened to her —their restaurant caught fire, and before they help could arrive, a lot of faculties were already damaged.
“Oh… I’m so sorry about that,”
“It’s fine. I’m glad that you dropped by. A lot of regular customers have been coming around. But we will be back to business soon. I hope Steven has been good?”
“Steven? Isn’t he here,”
“He left the day before yesterday. It was a relief that he wasn’t around when the incident happened,”
“He didn’t come since he left?”
“No, he didn’t. He is just a part-time worker. He started working here recently. He is such a diligent lad, I don’t pay him much, he only receive a tip in addition to staying here. Even though it wasn’t convenient,”
“What? Steven lives here?”
“Yes. Aren’t you aware?”
“We recently became friends, so we haven’t exchanged that much information,”
“Oh… so you also know nothing about him,”
“I guess,”
“I believe he has some situation at home back then. He should have returned home by now. Finding a part-timer as diligent as him will be probably impossible,”
*
The man prepared noddles for her, and she ate before leaving, thinking about Steven.
“How could he disappear from the noodles restaurant as well?” She thought, and started wondering if those thugs went after him again after she left.
*
*
The week fly by so fast, during the days that passed, the students stop talking about Michael’s engagement and the rumors, and the groundless article who brought down. During those days, Steven has been absent and his friends were equally worried about him. They tried all means to reach out to him, but he seems to have disappeared completely.
Paulina found herself sending him a text on Saturday morning. She was unable to sleep well all night thinking about him and what we could have happened to him.
“It was my fault, I shouldn’t have left when he asked me to,” she thought, staring at her phone screen.
A message beeped in from Sage to enlighten her mood and she hurried out of bed to freshen up. He already invited her in advance to go fishing with his family that Saturday, and she was so excited about it. The thoughts of going fishing reminded her of the time she spent with her mother, and she started missing those moments again.
*
She went downstairs when Sage arrived, and he opened the car door for her.
“I’m sorry for delaying you,” she said, and he shook his head.
“I didn’t even wait a minute. You must’ve been excited,”
“I am,” she exclaimed, and he chuckled.
“Getting this excited over fishing is making me wonder if there is actually something fun about it. My mum and sister are equally excited over it,”
“Fishing is fun, especially when you catch something big,” she said, and they both laughed.
*
They arrived at the airport, and met his parents and sisters there.
“Lina,” Clara waved cheerfully, and Paulina waved back all smiles.
She exchanged greetings with his parents, and they left in their private jet.
“I didn’t know we are traveling this far to fish,” Paulina said, and Sage chuckled.
“This is the hassle we go through to fish. Mum never settle for any place close by,” he whispered, and she chuckled.
*
They arrived around an island, and Clara dragged Paulina with her to take pictures while sage and his father sat thier tent, and Mrs. Greenwood was settling their fishing tools.
“Hey, Clara, you will run out if energy if you keep running about like that,” Mr. Greenwood shouted, but they ignored him.
“They seem to be having a blast,” Sage muttered, and his father laughed.
“Hey, girls, time to start fishing,” Mrs. Greenwood announced and they both joined her
The men sat behind watching them as they put in efforts to catch fishes.
“Is she your girlfriend now?” Mr. Greenwood asked Sage, and he shook his head.
“I wish she would accept my feelings,”
“She rejected you?” He asked with widened eyes.
“I still have three trials left,”
“Why are you being so nice to her after she rejected you? You when made your mother adjust her fishing plans for you,”
“Dad… am I supposed to hate her because she rejected me?”
“I’m not advising you to, but can you watch her be with another man?” Mr. Greenwood asked.
“Dad… I still have three trials left. Wish me luck ahead,”
“Is this your string to make her accept you?”
“Bro, Lina caught a big fish!” Clara shouted, and Sage waved.
“She has been so stressed these days, and I know this would help her relive some stress. With the mid-semester exams coming up… this is just perfect,”
“But you hate fishing,”
“You blabber too much, dad,” Sage teased, and left to join the ladies.
*
They catch a lot of fishes, and prepared dishes with them.
“Wow, it’s so delicious,” Mr. Greenwood said.
“You love fish dishes but can’t even fish ,” Mrs. Greenwood teased.
“You don’t have to fish to enjoy these, we could just buy some at the market,” Sage defended.
“Then get your hands off that and go buy some at the market!” Clara blurted hitting his hands.
“Lina, you are really good at this,” Mrs. Greenwood said.
“I enjoy fishing,”
“Then I should always invite you whenever I’m going fishing,”
“With all pleasure, ma’am,”
“Mum, we aren’t going to fish after the mid-semester exams anymore, right?” Sage inquired.
“Was that why you made us come now? Do you’ve plans after the exams?”
“The break after the exam is very short, so here is nothing much to plan,”
“Mum, I’m going on a trip with Sally and Didi. Their uncle will take us, we are visiting thier grandpa’s farm,” Clara said.
“That’s a nice adventure for your age,” Mrs. Greenwood stated.
“Won’t that be too dangerous? If they are visiting a farm, then it would be unsafe for kids,”
Mr. Greenwood protested
“Dad…”
“That’s enough. We will ensure it’s safe before sending her there. Sage, you should also do something after your exams,” Mrs. Greenwood said.
“Lina, do you have plans?” Mr. Greenwood asked.
“I haven’t thought about anything yet, sir,” she muttered.
“Good! Then you can just make plans with Sage. You both can go to Europe together. It’s a short break, so you should take advantage of it,”
“Dad, why would we go to Europe together?” Sage snapped.
“You guys are friends, right? So, what’s bad with going on a short vacation with your friend?”
“Do friends do that these days?” Mrs. Greenwood teased.
“What? Shouod you go on a vacation with your enemy instead?” He blurted.
“Sage, I thought Lina is now your girlfriend,” Clara said, and Paulina looked at her.
“Shut your mouth, and eat up. And dad… no body said Lina and I will spend our break together,” Sage remarked, promoting Mr. Greenwood to raise his hands in surrender, and his wife shot him a sly wink.
The kids went to play around after eating, and Paulina took her time to teach Sage how to fish. After spending few hours at the island, they left.
Paulina instantly made up her mind about Sage while she was there. He is a cool guy, and she is always confused about her feelings because it seems like she has mutual feelings for him and Micheal, but she made up her mind to choose Micheal. He has it all, families, real friends, and true identity. Like an outcast, Micheal is emotionally alone, and she’s similarly adrift.
**
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IN AN UNKNOWN PLACE^^^
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Mr. Ethan blew out a heavy smoke when the door slugs open and Don walked in.
“Do you’ve news or you are just wandering?”
“Sir, I don’t know if this will worth your time, but I found out something,”
“Don’t leave me curious,”
“The man I mentioned the last time, his name is Jerry,”
“Is that the news?”
“He met with Mr. Packard’s daughter, and they had a little argument. I think they dated in the past, and he might likely have a thing on her that pose a threat to her election,”
“How valid is your claim?”
“I approached him. I tried to get him to our side as you requested, but he attacked me with a confusing question. He asked if I belonged to the opponent party and wanted to jeopardize her election,”
“And what was your response?”
“I was lost at first, but I told him we are on same side,”
“And?”
“He simply chuckled, and left,”
“It’s settled! We now have something against the Packard, but that’s not enough to send them to jail “
“What’s that, boss?”
“Can’t you put yours words together? If there was a relationship between that man and that Packard’s daughter in the past before the Packard’s sent him to jail, and whatever he had on her could jeopardize her election. What do you think that could be?”
“Her daughter…”
“We’re close! But revealing that won’t send them to jail, so we need another way,” he muttered.
“Sir, but we could still shake up the election even if they would cover it somehow, at least they would also be shaken,”
“Nah… I should hit it as hard as he did to me. Taking him off guard,” Mr. Ethan muttered ticking his fingers.
**
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Paulina hanged out with Sophia the following day, and they talked about her day with the Greenwood’s before they called it a day later in the evening and she dropped by at the noddles restaurant hoping they would be back in business soon, but they weren’t.
She boarded a taxi bavk, and she saw a familiar person engaged in a fight on her way. She asked the taxi to reverse, and she ran down when she confirmed that the person was likely Steven.
“Steven!” She shouted, and they all stopped to look at her.
Another person aimed at him to hit him unaware, but she was quick to hit the person with a stick she was nearby, and another person hit her to the ground
“Lina!” He shouted, as she groaned in pain.
He gathered his strength and knocked them off before going to her.
“Come on, let’s leave this place,” he said, helping her up.
“Who are they?” She asked.
“More are nearby,” he muttered, and she stood up in fear.
They ran off holding hands until they were far from the scene, trying to find a taxi in the dark.
“Why did you get involved? Didn’t I made myself clear the last time?” He yelled.
“Steven… you don’t look good,”
“What do you care? I asked you to avoid me,”
“Why? I thought we are friends,”
“But I cut that ties,”
“That’s not now easy it is to stop being friends. You didn’t build that friendship alone, so you can’t easily cut it,” she muttered, and he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.
“Don’t you get it. I’m a dangerous owdoam, and I’m on the run,” he said, and she flinched in fear but tried hard to hid it.
“On the run? What’s your crime?”
“Gosh! You blabber too much. Let’s just hope we get a taxi before they find us “
“Who are they?”
“They are murders. They could murder anyone, and they are on a kiss ok to catch me,” he said, and he’s heart raced in fear.
**
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CHAIRMAN RUSS’S MANSION^^^
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Micheal was busy all day in his study, and stepped out later to have dinner. The new chef set the table for him, and he dismissed everyone expect her.
“Why are you always avoiding eye contact with me?” He muttered, and she bowed her head lower.
“I’m following instructions, sir,”
“I doubt! If you were, you wouldn’t have over step your boundaries,” he muttered, and she fell on her knees immediately.
“Sir, I apologize for anyways I might have gone wrong, sir. I promise to make amends,”
“Why are you so frightened? I haven’t even talked much,”
“I’m so sorry, sir,”
He scoffed, and pushed the food away and it spreads all over the place.
“Clean that up,” he ordered, and she started gathering it together with her hands. “Is that as fast as you can go?” He blurted.
“I’m sorry, sir. I’ll go get a broom to clean it
“No, use your hands,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” she muttered, and continued cleaning.
He let out a sigh in frustration, and ran his fingers through his hair before looking at her.
“How long do you plan to keep this up?” He muttered.
“I’m going as fast as I can, sir,”
“Do you really think your disguise is perfect?” He muttered, and she froze immediately. “Mum,” he added, and she looked at him.
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TO BE CONTINUED…
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