"Uhm, then what we need to do is easy. Send Mr. Aiden a text from Archibald's phone and ask him to meet us. We need to act fast." Mark said.

Kieran nodded eagerly. "I agree."


"What about the one who escaped?" Vengo crossed his arms.

Michel turned to look at Charles and let out a long breath. "I'll let you and Kaylin handle this, okay?"

Kaylin and Charles both nodded.


---

After breakfast, Rosabella was sitting in Michel and Fanny's room, listening to her best friend as she rambled on about what happened the day before.


Fanny has said that they haven't been spending much time together lately and wants to make up for it, although Rosabella has a feeling that she wants to give something up.

However, pretending to be able to follow the conversation and show interest becomes much more difficult than she expected.

Rosabella repeatedly caught her drifting with her thoughts as images of yesterday's incident in her hotel room, then a conversation with Michel, and then with Charles kept flooding her mind.

"But you're right anyway. Kaylin really isn't half bad." Fanny giggled, shaking her head after telling her about the outing they shared the day before.

"However, Michel was quite angry that we left without telling him first." She added, looking at Rosabella who was staring at the bookshelf in front.

Frowning, Fanny inched closer to Rosabella on the couch and waved in front of her friend.

"Rosabella?"

Rosabella was startled by the sudden change in tone. Turning her head to look at her friend, she half-heartedly tried to piece together what she had just been told. "Huh?"

Fanny sucked in a breath and took a second to quietly sweep her down. Rosabella almost braced herself for an ocean of questions thrown at her, asking her why she was behaving so oddly.

Inwardly she cursed herself that she couldn't cover it up better and pulled her together. Though, she was soon proven wrong when Fanny said something of a completely different nature.

"I think I'll stay, Rosabella. I mean here."

Rosabella just continued to look at her blankly without any change in her expression.

Did Fanny think she didn't know? For her, this has been clear for quite some time.

"I know... Michel and I were just... I mean..."

"You calculate that much." Rosabella interrupted Fanny before she felt the need to ramble on as to why she wanted to do this.

Fanny's eyebrows immediately shot up in surprise. "You do?"

Rosabella nodded. "How about you stay too?" The little girl blurted out.

"What?"

"Please hear me out first. I know you want to leave as soon as this with Mr. Aiden is sorted, but will you stay? I mean, I know it's not the same, but either way. You can still be a nurse here and well, I'm here too and I really miss you, you know?"

Rosabella tried to hold back her tears as she looked down at her thighs. "Sure, I'll think about it." She mumbled, avoiding direct eye contact.

Fanny, not knowing what was going on with her best friend, instantly lit up internally.

"Oh my god! Really?" She couldn't believe how easily she got the desired answer.

Swallowing, Rosabella nodded. Because what else does she want to say? She couldn't exactly admit that she had to stay anyway because she needed protection more than ever and couldn't take off with the Phoenix member who watched her kill Archibald and Mr. Aiden most likely also knows about this by now.

No, for Rosabella, the situation changed overnight. As if on cue, Michel suddenly walked through the door, surprised to find Fanny not alone in their room but with Rosabella.

"I just came to inquire about your situation." He started, looking at Rosabella as she looked up at him from where she was sitting.

Michel quickly took the opportunity to tell her you were okay, to which she curtly replied with a nod.

The exchange was so subtle and quick that Fanny didn't notice it, but was just busy getting up and walking towards him. "What's up?"

Michel turned to her and licked his lips. "Mr. Aiden replied, Eddie and Carlos left to see him an hour ago. If this goes well, they'll bring him in soon."

Rosabella quickly felt a rush of nausea running through her body and made an excuse to leave the couple.

---

When Rosabella arrived at Charles's room, she didn't waste time opening the door to enter, her stomach churning in frustration at how empty it was.

"Charles just left. He'll be busy with Mr. Aiden right now."

Rosabella turned and saw Kaylin there, somehow wearing a strange expression on her face.

Rosabella wasn't quite sure but Kaylin almost looked as if she was nervous.

"I heard what happened."

Rosabella's stomach sank. Does she know? Did Charles tell her what happened? What about what Michel said? Does this mean Fanny knows too?

Spotting the panic, Kaylin immediately shook her head as she took a step forward. "It's not what you think. We just had a meeting and we all promised not to share it with anyone."

"Then why are you bringing it up." Rosabella's tone was shaky, clearly unable to contain her hurt feelings.

She's been struggling with what happened and now she won't even be able to keep the secret that brought her to a whirlpool.

"Next thing I know, Fanny will..."

"Are not." Kaylin reached out and grabbed her arm.

"No one is allowed. Michel has clarified that he doesn't want her to know."

"Then why?" Rosabella's eyes filled with tears. "Why do you mention it, Kaylin?" She pulled her hand away from Kaylin's and stepped back a few inches.

Kaylin's face softened at the defensive action Rosabella had taken. "Because I think I can help you. We can..."

"Just leave me alone, okay? The last thing I want is to focus on it and talk to it. Just pretend it never happened, ok. It never happened."

And with that, Rosabella stomped into Charles's room and slammed the door, leaving Kaylin alone in the hallway.