Setting the Stage

Lilian woke up in high spirits.

It was going to be one of the finest Saturdays she had ever graced with and Audrey was coming over to set their plan in motion.

With excitement bubbling in her heart, she opened her laptop and gathered more information about Lucas.

"Ho, she is going to be shocked after learning more about this. Just wait Lucas, I will make you beg for what's coming for you. Ha-ha-ha-ha!" she chuckled to herself.

She went to her bathroom to do her morning routine and then went down to fix herself some oatmeal.

She was not keen to eat heavy breakfast unlike her parents and stirred down her oatmeal before putting bananas on top of it.

"Hm. I wonder when Audrey will get here," she mused as she glanced at the wall clock and smiled to herself.

"I hope she will arrive early. We have a lot more planning to do."

The clock slowly ticked and minutes passed by as Lilian waited for Audrey, her patience grew thin.

She had prepared everything they might need during the planning, yet Audrey was nowhere to be seen. 

She watched as the clock ticked by and noticed that it was already getting late.

"I told her to be here by eight. It's already ten! Where the fuck is she?"

She muttered and stomped off to grab her phone.

After reaching her room, she yanked open the door with such force that she felt her arm ache but she didn't care. 

After opening her messaging app, and clicking on Audrey's profile, she started typing her message asking her cousin where she was, only for her phone to ring.

She glanced at the caller ID and scoffed—Audrey. 

Swiping the green, she answered it before immediately placing it on her ear and snapped, "Where the hell are you? It's already ten, Audrey! I told you to come here by eight!"

She waited for the woman on the other side to answer, however all she could hear was a deep sigh.

And although she couldn't recognize the voice, she felt a shiver run down her spine.

"Who are you? Where is Audrey?" she demanded

Silence.

Lilian gulped nervously, her heart racing with a flood of thoughts, thinking of every scenario that might have happened to Audrey when she heard crackling noises on the other line before hearing her cousin's voice.

"Lilian, hey."

"Audrey! Oh my gosh! Are you okay? Where are you?"

Lilian could hear Audrey sigh before clearing her throat and answering.

"I am okay, Lilian. I am just…" Her voice trailed, followed by whoever she was in the room with. Concerned, Lilian bolted out of her room and immediately headed towards the security room.

She immediately went through the cameras to check if there was anything suspicious happening outside that she would need to be aware of.

But she saw nothing.

She then switched the cameras connected to Audrey's house, hoping that they would reveal something that her cousin couldn't say on the phone.

"...I don't think I can come today, Lilian," Audrey finally said.

Lilian stopped clicking the keyboard and focused on Audrey's voice. Her previous psychology professor had once told her that if she wanted to know if someone was trying to lie to her, she would need to focus on their tone.

Lilian once used it on one of her classmates back in college, and later, she found out that the woman was using Lilian's family name to get with all the guys at the university.

"Audrey, who is with you? Are you okay?"

Audrey sighed and seemed to hesitate before she fixed herself and answered.

"I need to go, Lilian. Talk to you later."

"Wait! Audrey—"

Before she could say anything more, the line went dead. Lilian groaned in frustration, her anger boiled over as she let out a scream.

Meanwhile, Joshua, who was about to enter the security room to check the footage from the previous night, heard the scream and froze in his tracks.

"What in the world are you screaming over there for? You're going to wake up every ghost that ever lived in the house. Are you okay?"

Lilian turned, glaring at him, her eyes brimming with angry tears, while her teeth were gritted.

"You have to come with me, Joshua. Audrey is in trouble."

She stood up from the swivel chair and stomped towards Joshua, making the tall man take a deep breath.

"Do you even know where she's at?"

Still fuming in anger, Lilian shot a glare at him, grabbed his wrist and dragged him toward the garage.

She snatched one of their car keys and unlocked the vehicle.

"Get inside, I will drive if you don't want to."

Joshua gulped and immediately took the keys from her. "No, let me drive. Just sit your ass down in the passenger seat and tell me where we are going."

Rolling her eyes, Lilian didn't say anything else and immediately slipped into the front passenger seat.

She was dressed casually, though clearly not something that she would choose to wear outside.

Joshua sighed again and entered the driver's seat before starting the engine. Glancing at her, he pondered as to what might have happened.

A moment later, he cleared his throat and asked, "So, where are we going?"

"To the Yang mansion."

Her voice was cold, and Joshua couldn't help but glance at her with slight concern. This was the first time he had ever seen Lilian like this.

Joshua looked back toward the gate and opened them before the car roared out of the garage and headed toward the Yang mansion, where Audrey was likely to be, according to Lilian.

"Hey, I know you are angry," he said, trying to calm her down. "But don't lash out at her and just listen to whatever she might have to say first."

Joshua tried, but no answer came from Lilian, so he decided to keep on driving and left alone with his thoughts.

'I wonder what might have happened?'

The whole ride was quiet. Joshua wondered what kind of trouble Audrey might have gotten into, while Lilian brooded over who could be behind it.

'It's not like she would go awol on me just because her father or her uncle told her to. There must be someone pushing her, forcing her to stay away from me.'

'And whoever it is, I will find you and make you pay for threatening my cousin.'