34 SNEAKING AROUND

"What?!" shrieked Hailee in disbelief. "You're kidding, right? I just finished shopping with your mother!" Hailee raised her head and looked at Ramon who was still busy staring at his laptop screen.

"No," he replied simply.

"Ah, my leg hurts ..." complained Hailee, she couldn't believe that she had to do this tomorrow with Lexus again. "My body is sore."

This time, hearing Hailee continuous complaints, Ramon stopped typing on his laptop and glanced at the girl next to him.

Hailee was tilting her head on the pillow while muttering something indistinct. Her long hair was splayed around the pillow and on top of the documents Ramon had placed on the sofa.

"You better go back to your room right away," said Ramon who was annoyed. "Have you learned the thing I asked for this morning?"

"Studying what?" Hailee had completely forgotten what Ramon asked her to do.

Ramon then touched the area around the neck of the white T-shirt he was wearing while noticing the change in expression on Hailee's face.

Her eyes widened and her lips parted slightly when she finally squealed again. "Seriously! You know I've been out with your mom all day and you're still asking if I learned how to drape a tie?"

"Is something wrong with that?" Ramon raised his eyebrows defiantly, but this time Hailee didn't back down.

She sat on her knees on the sofa with both hands on her waist while staring fiercely at Ramon.

Even Hailee couldn't understand what had given her the courage to act like this toward Ramon. Maybe it was her tiredness that made her emotionally unstable or Ramon's question at the wrong time, which ticked off Hailee.

"Yes, something is definitely wrong," replied Hailee in a stern tone as she stared straight at Ramon.

Hearing Hailee's voice rising, the man then put away his laptop and turned his body until he was facing Hailee, then he casually propped his chin while staring at this angry young girl.

"You are beautiful," said Ramon suddenly.

Hailee frowned, unsure of what she was hearing. "What?"

"You're pretty when you're angry," explained Ramon.

Hearing this, Hailee face flushed red instantly. What is this guy?! Why was he saying something like that out of the blue?!"Then I'll just be angry all the time," she grumbled.

"Hm," murmured Ramon. "Please, I'm listening," he said with a serious expression on his face, as if waiting for Hailee's angry reaction.

But, how could Hailee get angry when Ramon said something like that?! This man was beyond expectations!

"No, I'm not getting angry!" snapped Hailee who then immediately got off the sofa. "I want to rest!" then the girl half ran toward her room on the second floor.

Her initial anger was gone and now she felt her face flushed and couldn't help but smile giddily.

Ugh!

The way Ramon looked at her earlier was really sexy! Hailee felt like she would pounce on the man if she didn't get away from him sooner.

Meanwhile Ramon stared at the back of the retreating girl with a small smile at the corner of his lips. It was so easy to get the girl to stop grumbling.

Then Ramon continued his pending work.

==============

It was still very dark, even the sun would not shine in a few hours from now, but Hailee had been awake for a while. She blinked her eyes continuously to get used to the darkness around her.

And when she felt the atmosphere in this house was very calm and after making sure that Ramon had entered his room, Hailee slowly got out of her bed and sneaked out of the room, closing the door carefully, as quietly as possible. Trying not to be too noisy.

Ramon's room which was located not far from hers was tightly closed and Hailee was very sure that the man had entered his room an hour ago and hadn't come out since, so it was certain that he had fallen asleep by now.

After that, Hailee descended the stairs one by one, toward the reading room where she saw a phone earlier.

Hailee had to call Ian to confirm something and tell her best friend about her current situation.

Maybe Ian couldn't help her much, but at least Hailee would get to let out her grievances and this could help her stay sane amid the troubles she had to face now.

After reaching the end of the stairs, the dark living room greeted Hailee and this made her shudder.

Hailee hoped that nothing strange would come out of it.

After passing through the living room and turning down several corridors, Hailee started cursing to herself because this house was so big and she only knew that one room with a telephone connection.

Hailee couldn't dare to contact Ian yesterday morning, because she knew Ian must have been asleep late at the night and it would be very troublesome if Ian called back to this house.

After Hailee got to the reading room, she opened the door which made a small squeak.

Then without wasting any time, the girl immediately went over to the telephone that was lying on the table and began dialing the numbers she had memorized by heart.

Ian made sure that Hailee memorized his number because she refused to buy a cell phone when she embarked on her journey and now Hailee didn't even have one communication device with her.

It occurred to Hailee to ask Ramon about this. Looks like it's okay… after all the price of a cellphone won't hurt his finances, right?

There was a dial tone from the telephone in her grasp and this made Hailee nervous because Ian didn't pick up his cell phone.

But, after the second try, a deep, hoarse voice, which Hailee knew very well, greeted her.

"Hello?" From the background voice behind Ian, Hailee could tell that he was still in the arena.

"Ian," said Hailee with relief as she exhaled slowly.

"Hailee?" called Ian, then the noise in the background slowly faded away, it seemed like he was moving to a quieter place to hear Hailee's voice better.

"Ian, do you know that Roland Dimatrio is still alive?" Hailee asked immediately. "I just saw the news this morning," Hailee reported.

"Yes, I know that he's not dead like you thought," Ian spoke hastily. "I found out that he was admitted to the hospital shortly after you left, and because I didn't know how to contact you, I couldn't pass on this information."

Hailee exhaled heavily, realizing her mistake for not calling Ian immediately while she was still in the hospital or not watching the news.

"Where are you now?" Ian asked worriedly.

"In town A," Hailee replied honestly.

"How come you are still in town A?" Ian then put away his cellphone and stared at the screen, there was a city code and indeed it was the city code belonging to city A.