Decision

That night, Kelly was soon discharged.

Mr. Black leather jacket was nowhere to be found so Kelly called someone from the Young residence to pick her up. Unfortunately, her mother also came the instant she heard that her daughter was hospitalized and she insisted on taking Kelly home to watch her closely until her ankle was healed.

Kelly and her mother spent a long time arguing over the matter but in the end, Kelly's mother won, of course.

With that, Mrs. Young arranged a chauffeur to send Abi back home. Just like Kelly, Mrs. Young adored Abi and the madam already knew the kind of girl Abi was, so she made sure that she would be sent back home safely. She even asked one of her female guards to go with her along with the driver.

"I'll come visit you soon, Kelly," Abi said as she held her friend's hand.

"Call me once you're home, okay? And don't even dare to do anything or go anywhere without telling me, understand?" she nagged and Abi just nodded. She carefully hugged her friend before they finally parted.

During the trip home, Abigail rested her head against the car window, her gaze fixed on the darkness outside. Everything that had happened that night replayed in her mind. Her thoughts were flooded with so much to process. She contemplated it throughout the entire journey home, yet still found everything overwhelmingly intense.

Upon finally arriving home, she expressed her gratitude to the chauffeur and the lady bodyguard before watching the car depart. Abi didn't go straight inside. She stood out there and just stared at the house.

As always, it was peaceful—so peaceful that merely gazing at it calmed her heart. This was her home, the place Alex had told her she belonged. Just by comparing the gentle, peaceful and soothing atmosphere of her home to the outside world, she couldn't help but acknowledge that her world really was different from what was out there.

She knew that she was blessed with having a loving and peaceful family. She knew she was blessed to have a home like this, a home that protected her heart and her smiles, a home that loved her. However, she had always felt this void in her heart. It wasn't that she didn't like the peace - in fact, she loved it and was thankful for it - she just wanted to feel more, to experience more, even if it meant getting hurt.

Abigail breathed deeply and finally entered the house.

Her father was still awake. He was there again, sitting by the window, looking at the moon - perhaps, thinking about his late wife.

Abigail walked closer to him.

"Dad," she called softly.

"Hmm? I thought you were going to sleep over at Kelly's."

"I came home to speak with you."

Andrew Lee, her father, was surprised. His daughter wasn't outspoken and he knew that she would only talk to him privately like this when she wanted something or to ask for his permission. He also knew that his daughter rarely asked for anything. In fact, the last time she spoke to him to ask for something was back when she was seventeen.

"Dad, I… I want to move out," she said and her father looked at her in surprise.

"Abi… what do you mean you want to move out?"

"I have decided to live with Kelly for a bit. I will still go to work and come back here on the weekends."

"Abi, you're sick."

"I'm still perfectly fine, Dad. And I will be fine. I'll only be away for a month."

"Abi…"

"Please, Dad. I want to experience life in the city, visit some beautiful places and go explore. I might not be able to go out anymore after this so… please let me go, Dad. Don't worry, I'll come back home safely."

Her father couldn't say anything further upon hearing her mention that she might not be able to go out anymore. He knew what was ahead of her and it was painful to think about it. His daughter was still so young. She was such a nice and sweet girl. She never caused any trouble for the family. She was that girl old people adored so much because she was always shining and smiling brightly despite everything, but Andrew knew that she was sometimes lonely. She was still just a girl and he knew she wanted to experience things outside her sheltered life, just like other girls her age.

The truth was, Andrew was waiting for his daughter to do this. He knew the risks but he understood. Life was unpredictable. No one knew when someone's time was up that was why he completely understood Abi's decision. As a father, he also wanted Abi to go and do whatever she wanted now because he knew she may never get to do them at all.

"Okay, but I have to remind you not to do anything dangerous, okay? Promise me, Abi."

Abi blinked in surprised. She had prepared herself to persuade her father but he actually agreed quite quickly!

"I promise, Dad." 

In her room, Abi didn't waste any more time; she immediately began packing her belongings. While gathering items to place in her luggage, she stumbled upon a small notebook. Picking it up, a smile etched across her face.

'List of things I want to do' was written on the notebook's front page.

She put it inside her bag, finished her packing and eventually drifted off to sleep.

…

Not far from the house, a black car stayed there the entire night and only left at daybreak.