"Hey Cross since you don't have a job anymore, then why don't you accompany me to our graduation celebration next week?" she asked as she chopped the onions.
"Ah? Is this another one of your friend's scheme to embarrass the perpetually single people like you?"
"I am not perpetually single," she pouted and turned towards him only to see him already staring at her. For some reason, Cross avoided her gaze this time.
"I can't," he said.
"Hm?"
"I will be busy next week and stop assuming that I no longer have a job. I am so handsome and smart. How could they fire me?"
Sera let out a series of mocking coughed as she nodded. "Alright then… I can always come alone."
"Where is this place and what is the time? Let me see if I can squeeze it in my schedule."
"It will be a Harlton Hotel it will start at six in the evening for dinner in a private room. Then we are going to have some Karaoke. It's fine if you arrive late. Just pretend to be my boyfriend."
"Why? I thought you want to me come as your roommate again?" He squinted at her. "Is someone bothering you? Did they want to become your boyfriend?"
"Why are you asking as if it's such an impossible thing to happen?" This wouldn't be the first time that Cross would accompany her in gatherings like this. However, every time she would introduce him as a friend.
"It is! I really should commend this person for liking you!"
She made a face. "I already said no, and I told him I already have a boyfriend."
"You did?"
"Of course! Why else would I want you to come to this party and listen to my tone-deafness?" she rolled her eyes and went back to her onions. "I told him I am taken. So I need someone to pretend to be my boyfriend."
"What If I can't go?"
"It's fine. They already assume it was you, anyway." After a few minutes, Sera finally finished cooking, and the two had a sumptuous dinner before drinking some beers while watching movies. At the end of the night, Sera fell asleep in Cross' arms.
Cross could only sigh as he slowly lifted her up, carrying her into her room. This woman was really too trusting, too naive. Cross tucked her in and stared at her flushed face. She was never really good with her liquor, and yet she still dared to drink. "How irresponsible," he mused. After a few seconds of staring at her, Cross examined the bracelet that he gave her. Inside was a tracking device that would tell him where she was anytime.
This was the reason he dared to let her go to school with no guards. A smile surfaced on his face before he leaned and kissed her forehead.
When Sera woke up the next day, Cross was already gone. She opened her phone and saw a text from him saying that he needed to go back to work. Sera just smiled and replied alright. Cross was always like this, busy and always unavailable. Of course, there will be cases like him showing up every time she was sick or just not feeling well to take care of her.
But that is only because Uncle Yuan from downstairs would let him know once she showed up sick.
After a few minutes, Sera finished her bath and came back to a few missed calls from one of her friends.
"Hey, Je'er what's wrong? Did something happen?"
"Sera! You have to help us this time!"
"Hm?"
"I am currently working and I think I missed up something. Can you come here and help me? Don't worry, I will definitely pay you!"
"What kind of problem is it?"
"Sera, I know you are working on Cybersecurity and I really don't have a choice but to call you this time. It's my fault, I actually did something horrible, and now the entire system is a mess. My boss will fire me once he— "
Sera listened to her classmates mumbling before she sighed. Je'er was her classmate and one of her friends in college. The woman came from a rich family and is always using her money to achieve her goals. If Sera's guess was right, then this woman just paid her way to her job or used her family connections to get it. "You will pay me?"
"Of course! I already asked you to make a lot of things for me and I always pay you extra. I can always afford to pay!" In simple terms, Je'er always hired her to do her projects when they were still in college. In fact, Sera is confident to say that she was the reason this woman graduated college.
"Alright, as long as you pay me the right price. I can help you," she smiled.
"Good. Now, come to Quinn Media I will meet you at the— "
"Quinn Media?" she interrupted her. "Why are you in Quinn Media?"
"Sera… just come here. I will explain everything to you once we met. Hurry, alright?"
Sera let out another sigh. "Alright, I will. Wait for me." The thought of the scammer who tried to scam him resurfaced in her mind as she ended the call. That man should be some trafficker or maybe someone scamming young girls promising them marriage while asking for their money.
However, Sera found this really confusing. She had no money. She might have come from a rich family, but that family abandoned her years ago. Moreover, they live in another region far away from here. Unless they intentionally checked into her background then those people wouldn't know that she is from the Zhang Family from the Cone Lands in Saka Region.
Quinn Media.
The name reverberated inside her head like an echo. The company was the top media company and has over hundreds of artists. They are considered a giant company not just in Pane City but the whole Northern Region in Xu Country. With this in mind, Sera finished applying her makeup and wore her thick glasses before she grabbed her laptop and bag and rode a taxi towards the company.