I walked into Arabella's office and noticed Daisy and Vesta in there today talking with Arabella as usual. When Arabella noticed me, she waved and smiled at me. Daisy and Vesta also looked at me and smiled.
"Well!~ What brings you here today, my love?~" Arabella asked.
"Report: I have scanned an unknown faint signal of a system." Dearie reported.
"I was wondering if you know a man named Dane Lane?" I asked.
"Dane Lane..? Daisy?" Arabella asked.
Daisy shook her head. "Not a clue. I mean we know a Mia Lane..."
"Well Dane Lane is Mia's brother." I said.
"OHHH! That Dane? He's not a System Wielder, not from what I know anyway. He might be taken on how he stole your ex." Vesta said and crossed her arms.
"We'll look into it, my love. For now, just go out there and enjoy yourself, 'kay?~" Arabella said and smiled at me.
"Alright." I said and smiled.
I left her office and rode the elevator down to the first floor. "Strange...I wonder if he does actually have a System and if he does, I just don't want to attack him despite the policy."
"They are looking into the situation so we should be getting our answer soon. For now, we should see Mia. She's off now and this is a perfect time to go on a date with her. We should also get Vanessa to join too." Dearie said.
"Gotcha." I said.
________________
I made it to Golden Cafe and watched Mia and Vanessa walking out the store together. I walked toward them and they looked at me then smiled at me happily.
"Babe!~" Vanessa said and hurried toward me then hugged me.
"Hey Vee~" I chuckled, hugging her back.
Vanessa let go of me and stepped back. "What brings you here?~"
"Just wanting to see if you and Mia wanted to go out with me. It's a beautiful afternoon and such." I said.
Mia looked excited and smiled at me. "I would love to go! C'mon Vanny!~ I know you have to work in a few hours, but I'm sure it'll be fun~"
"Yeah I'll go, I just won't be able to stay for as long as I would like~" Vanessa said.
"We don't have to do anything extravagant. Maybe a little ice cream date and a little hangout?" I asked and smiled.
[Vanessa's Trust Increased.]
"Now that's my kind of date~" Vanessa giggled.
"Yeah that sounds great! I've been craving some yummy sweets!~" Mia said excitedly.
I smiled at them and chuckled softly. "Alright then, come on..~"
The three of us went over to my car and got in. I took them downtown. We made small talk as I drove to the ice cream shop that was downtown. Mia was naturally cheerful and really fun to talk to. Mia talked about her future plans of being a model. She had big dreams of making it big in the future and Vanessa fully supported her.
We made it to the ice cream shop and I parked my car. We got out and walked to the shop together then my phone beeped.
[Report: Faint H.D.S. Unit signal nearby.]
'Again..?' I thought to myself.
I looked around and noticed Dane talking with another woman. Dearie couldn't scan her because the woman already belonged to someone. I still didn't want to jump to any conclusions and decided to just ignore him.
I bought ice cream for Mia and Vanessa then we sat at a table together. The three of us chatted together about miscellaneous topics, but I was curious on why Mia signed up for Dearie Corps.
"So, why'd you sign up for Dearie Corps?" I asked.
"Well one reason is because some guys I've met gives me very very nice gifts and buys me lot of sweets!~ I do wonder what happened to Daniel because he suddenly disappeared, not that I mind. That guy was a real jerk!" Mia said.
"Oh yeah, I remember Daniel. I hope he's eating shit right now and your brother Dane can eat shit too." Vanessa said.
What Vanessa said really piqued my interest. It seemed to have piqued Dearie's interest as well.
"Why what did Dane do?" I asked.
"You didn't hear what happened? That jackass made Cassie cry today! He said some pretty nasty shit to her calling her a terrible sister and some other names I refuse to repeat. They got into an argument because of the fact that Hannah doesn't like Cassie basically dating you." Vanessa said.
"Oh yeah, I saw that. Dane is also connected to Dearie Corps as well. That's literally how he stole Hannah from you because she's a Darling." Mia said.
'Hannah was a Darling..? Since when..? I've been dating her since high school...When did she sign up and why..?' I thought to myself.
"Plus Dane isn't even that rich so how he's even keeping these women with him is a mystery." Mia said and slightly waved her spoon in a circle.
[Scanning for nearby systems...]
[Faint Signal Found...]
"But in the end, he doesn't have a system." Vanessa said and crossed on leg over the other. "If he did, he would be a VIP but he isn't."
"Nope nope!~" Mia said and smiled.
I smiled with them, but I was now in deep thought. Dane doesn't even have a system, but he did manage to steal Hannah away because she was a Darling, albeit a cheap one.
"What if someone else is paying for these women?" I asked.
"Then that's so sad." Vanessa laughed.
"I think he does. I know the job he works at and he honestly doesn't get paid much for his position to be renting out Darlings. This business is expensive!" Mia said.
Vanessa's alarm went off and she sighed. "Ugh I gotta go, Mia you better not be fucking late tomorrow or else I'll shove you in a box again."
Mia grunted and nodded quickly. "O-Okay! I'll be on time!"
"See you later Vee..~" I chuckled.
Vanessa kissed my cheek then left the shop. Mia and I continued to chat with one another for a bit longer. Soon, we decided to leave the shop and I took Mia home since she was getting tired. After taking Mia home, I drove off and called Daisy.
"I know you'd call me, Cloudy~" Daisy answered.
"So it seems that Dane doesn't have a System, but someone he's connected to does. Have you been able to find out who it is?" I asked.
"Nope, we're getting faint signals, but not a definite sign and we know why." Daisy said.
"Why?" I asked.
"A Program called Live Decoy. That program belongs to HDS Unit: Darling. What Dearie is sensing is a decoy unit and owner. The real Owner is named James Hilton. When we find him, we will send you his coordinates so you can take him out." Daisy said.
"Gotcha." I said.
"One more thing." Daisy said.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Come over to my house later, I want to give you something." Daisy said.
"Alright." I said.
"See you tonight~" Daisy said then hung up.
"Proposal: Check up on Cassie." Dearie said.
I nodded and began to drive to Cassie's apartment.
__________________
I made it to Cassie's apartment and parked my car. I got out then walked over to her door then rang the doorbell. Cassie opened the door and looked at me with a saddened smile, wiping her eyes. I gently stroked her hair and held her hand.
"You okay..?" I asked and stared at Cassie.
Cassie looked down and nodded. "Yeah...just sad that my sister hates you so much because of me...she literally chose Dane over me at this point and it saddens me..."
"Wanna go out so you can get your mid off it..?" I asked.
Cassie shook her head and kept holding my hand. "Can we just cuddle together and watch a movie..? I just wanna spend time with you..."
"Okay.." I said.
Cassie and I went inside and she took me over to her couch. I've never seen someone as cheerful as Cassie look so sad. Even her smile was sad and it hurt me on the inside.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to start this argument?" I asked.
Cassie leaned against me and sighed softly. "All I asked was for Hannah to be nicer to you because you didn't do anything wrong...all of a sudden she just blows up on me...She said some things...I said some things and Dane just jumps in and starts saying shit like I'm a terrible sister and how I'm a sorry excuse of a sister for dating you and everything. What he said didn't hurt me, but what Hannah did hurt me...or what she didn't do is what hurt me..."
"She didn't have your back..." I said.
"I swear it's like she secretly hates me..." Cassie said softly.
I looked at Cassie and held her close to me. "Don't worry about them...Hannah is really just mad that you're happy and she isn't truly happy. You honestly believe she's truly happy? I know she isn't..."
"She's not and that's why she acts the way she does. She's been cheating on you for months. All her regrets are eating her from the inside and it's showing." Cassie said.
"It serves her right. I'm not taking her back if she decides to run back to me. She reaps what she sows." I said and rubbed Cassie's leg gently.
Cassie nodded and gently pressed herself against me. "Yeah..."
I spent an hour with Cassie just making sure she felt better. Her mood ended up going back to normal and I left her home then called Bella.
"Hello?" Bella answered.
"Hey Bellz, you still need me to pick you up?" I asked.
"Nah, I took an Uber home since I knew you were gonna be with Cassie to cheer her up. Seriously Dane is a jerk...he has no right to say that shit to Cassie and Hannah is truly a bitch. You know what Hannah had the nerve to say afterwards? She told Cassie that she is a terrible sister for dating and having sex with you! Like what? You know it's bad when Anna isn't in the background with her instigating too!" Bella said.
"Dane has a lot of fucking nerve talking shit about you as well. He said you used to be a hoodlum and a trouble maker and that you shouldn't have lived through your accident! Like who says things like that?!" Bella said.
"That doesn't really bother me taken that many people even my own brother thinks I shouldn't have lived...but it's strange that Dane even knows about my past taken I don't even know who he is." I said and got in my car.
"Apparently Dane is associated with Ryan and his gang. That's how he knows about you. Someone needs to put that guy and his douchebag of a girlfriend in check." Bella said.
"Thanks for letting me know that. I'll call you back when I get home, okay?" I said.
"'Kay. Talk to you later." Bella said and hung up.
"Proposal: Find Dane." Dearie said.
"Why?" I asked.
"Hurting a Darling is against Policy whether it be physically or mentally. Proposal: Find Dane." Dearie said.
"Alright then." I said and shrugged. I started my car then drove off.
_______________
I parked my car at the park and stepped out of my car. I noticed Dane, Hannah, and some other guy talking with one another. There was another woman with them and my phone beeped.
The woman was beautiful having pale skin, black hair with yellow highlights, and pale green eyes. She had a thin but curvaceous body with medium sized breasts, wearing a black corset top, a black skirt with a skull belt around her waist, fishnet stockings and black boots. She wore a jacket but the sleeves hung off her shoulders.
[Report: New Darling Nearby.]
[Name: Isla Mori]
[Age: 22]
[Birthday: November 28th]
[Occupation: Retail Worker]
[Hobbies: Smoking Weed, Playing her guitar loudly, Causing trouble]
[Price: $700]
"That woman is connected to Bella. They are actually best friends, what is she doing with these guys?" Dearie asked.
"I recognize her..." I said and stared at Isla. "She really glew up. She and I used to hang out all the time back in high school. The fact that she's here...with these goons." I said.
[Report: Unit: Darling Nearby!]
"So that guy is James Hilton... Let's go." I said then walked toward the four.
Dane looked down with a cigarette in his mouth and sighed. "I knew those corrupt bitches would've gotten to Daniel sooner or later. And you're sure that they killed him?"
"Not a trace to be found. Ryan said that his system was deactivated." James said.
Isla noticed me walking up then looked at her phone. "I'm gonna go use the restroom."
"Aight." James said.
I noticed Isla walking off then walked toward the three. "Yo."
Dane looked back and noticed me and Dearie. "What the..."
I looked at James and crossed my arms then closed my eyes. "I'll deal with you later, James. Right now...my beef is with Dane."