"Force the issue? What does that mean?" Cherie asked, confused.
"Oh, just stop asking questions... For now, you just have to be my undercover agent over there. Remember, keep a close eye on her and report anything you find back to me immediately. Got it?" she said earnestly.
"I get i—" Before she could finish, the door was suddenly pushed open. "Cherie, what are you doing?"
Clara Grant appeared in the doorway. Startled, Cherie immediately hid her hands behind her back and turned to face her. "Nothing! This is a really nice balcony, heh heh."
Clara didn't think much of it. She walked over to her, squatted down, and smiled. "You like the balcony? You can play here every day from now on. Cherie, be a good girl and stay here with Grandma, okay? I have to go out for a bit."
She had just gotten a call. A classmate had gone out and forgotten their phone at school, and they needed her to bring it to them.
Cherie nodded. Clara stood up, took her hand, and led her out of the room.
Cherie secretly glanced at the watch phone on her wrist and breathed a sigh of relief. 'Good, Mom already hung up.'
...
Clara rode her electric scooter to the school first. Luckily, her home wasn't too far from the campus, so it only took about twenty minutes to get there.
The home she now shared with her mother had been purchased for her by Cedric Grant to congratulate her on getting into The Nymphaea. The deed was in her name.
After her mother divorced him, they had moved in here. Her pride had initially urged her to return the house, but she realized that she and her mother needed a place to live.
Besides, while she herself could handle it, her mother, though still young at just under fifty, had never been in good health. She couldn't let her mother suffer alongside her.
So, though she was reluctant, she had no other choice. Even a hero is helpless without a penny to their name.
When she reached the school gate, someone was already waiting there with the phone. Clara took it and rode off toward her destination.
It was now 8:30 PM. The traffic was light, and the ride was smooth. About forty minutes later, she arrived at the entrance of The Tuberose.
The Tuberose was the biggest entertainment venue in Novaria, bar none.
Clara had always thought the name, The Tuberose, was exceptionally clever. It was a play on the fragrant, night-blooming flower, yet it also carried the simple, poetic suggestion of a place one might "want to come to at night."
Following the directions in the text message, Clara went up to the third floor, found Private Room 305, knocked, and went inside.
Meanwhile, in Private Room 306 across the hall,
"...HAHAHA! Linden, you guys have no idea! When I heard what Seth said, I almost died laughing, okay? 'Her teeth are really straight'?! How the fuck is that a distinguishing feature? And even if it is, he expects Chase Childs to find the person based on that one useless feature? Isn't he just making things difficult for our Assistant Childs? Mmm, my deepest sympathies to our Assistant Childs."
The speaker was a handsome, dashing young man who was laughing boisterously as he spoke.
Linden Jennings, who was listening to him, also started snickering, though he wasn't laughing quite as wildly.
The man sitting in the very center of the room half-raised an eyebrow, shooting a warning glance at the two of them. Linden immediately stopped laughing, brought a fist to his mouth, and coughed twice, trying to signal River Sterling, who was still laughing uncontrollably.
River Sterling finally seemed to notice the murderous chill coming from Seth Quinn and, taking the hint, stopped laughing.
Seeing that the two of them had finally quieted down, Seth Quinn raised his eyes and cast a cold gaze toward Chase Childs, who was sitting some distance away.