Novel Full 153 Just A Facade
Day Fifteen…
~~*****~~
[ Country F: Ramenx Crowne Hotel… ]
Stephen just got out of the bathroom when his doorbell rang. He looked at the wall clock and it was only 6:00 am. He wondered who his visitor was as early as this morning.
*Ding Dong! Ding Dong!*
He grabbed his bathrobe and put it on then wrapped his wet hair with a towel. The doorbell continued ringing.
‘Sigh. Who is this impatient person?!’ Stephen sighed deeply, tracing his steps towards the front door. Stephen took a peek at the peephole to see the person outside.
Stephen cocked his eyebrow as soon as he saw Aiden. This guy wanted to barge into his room too early. Since Stephen was a considerate man, he opened the door for Aiden, welcoming him.
“Bro Steph!” Aiden immediately pounced on him. Stephen tried to push him away. Aiden was acting so clingy again.
“What’s up? Why are you disturbing my peaceful morning?” Stephen closed the door and proceeded to the living area. Aiden followed him behind.
“Sigh. I need someone to cheer me up! Nate ditched me last night! And my cousin has not contacted me yet. I don’t know where she is right now!” Aiden ranted his concerns, sharing them with Stephen.
“Nathan ditched you and Kathleen hasn’t contacted you yet?” Stephen repeated his words, looking at him with disbelief.
Aiden just bobbed his head while pouting his lips.
“You should have searched for her, asking the help of Axel. And what about Nathan? What do you mean he ditched you last night?” Stephen frowned deeply. He came to Country F to relax but many bad things happened that they needed to handle and settle. Those incidents added to his stress.
Both Nathan and Abigail were attacked. And now Kathleen was missing! Would another problem transpire in the coming days? Would it be best to return to Country M?
“I waited for Nathan in the hotel lobby last night but he stood me up. We were supposed to go back to the hospital but he didn’t show up. I went to see him at his hotel suite but I couldn’t ring the doorbell as he put his room in a ‘Do-Not-Disturb’ mode.” Aiden explained to Stephen, waving his hands from left to right.
“What? He didn’t go back to the hospital? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!” Stephen facepalmed as his stress accumulated once again. What if Nathan’s wound got infected?
After a while, Stephen and Aiden met each other’s eyes as they came up with the same realization.
“Huh? Does it mean… Abigail and Nathan slept together inside his suite last night?” Aiden voiced out what was on his mind.
Stephen just fell silent and rubbed his chin, racking his brain. This was so unlikely for Nathan to sleep in a room together with another woman.
Aiden was also surprised beyond belief thinking that Nathan chose to stay in the hotel with Abigail, instead of going back to the hospital.
“Steph… about last night’s incident… don’t you find it strange?” Aiden opened up as he recalled something. Since Abigail had been mentioned, he wanted to discuss something with Stephen and get his views and opinions.
“Strange? What strange thing are you talking about?” Stephen asked him to clarify his statement.
“It’s about Abigail! I told you before that she was strong and she seemed so good at martial arts. She almost beat me during our first meeting, remember?”
Stephen nodded his head in agreement.
“No wonder she was able to beat her attacker last night during a one-on-one fight. I wondered how she managed to do that. The guy had a weapon and was taller than her. An ordinary woman would cry and shout for help. But she put up a fight!” Aiden shared what he had observed last night.
Since Stephen was a psychologist, Aiden believed that his friend noticed more details about Abigail’s strange behavior.
“What do you think, Steph?” Aiden asked, anticipating Stephen’s reply.
Stephen stayed silent for several seconds as he tried to analyze the situation last night.
“To tell you honestly, Abigail was a little bit suspicious the first time I saw her in Nathan’s Mansion. That’s why I was trying to get closer to her and decided to accompany them on this trip.” Stephen confessed to Aiden.
Aiden was surprised when he heard Stephen’s words. So his actions from the past few days trying to flirt with Abigail were part of his facade. He had a hidden motive.
‘Damn! I haven’t noticed it. Stephen is scary sometimes with his unexpected schemes.’ Aiden thought to himself.
“So were you pretending to be her admirer all this time?” Aiden asked him with intrigue.
Stephen simply nodded his head and said, “Yes.” He grinned playfully at him.
“Fuck! I almost believe you! I mean… you completely deceived me. I thought you finally got smitten by a woman!” Aiden punched Stephen on his shoulder.
Stephen just let out a soft chuckle. “Just keep it a secret for a while. Don’t tell Nathan as well. I’m doing this for his sake as well.”
“So you don’t trust Abigail Scarlett?” Aiden asked him again with his curious eyes.
Stephen bobbed his head once more. “Last night… I felt like she was lying. And she was trying to hide something. I could see it from her expression and her body gesture.”
“How did you know?” Aiden still couldn’t believe this. Stephen was truly observant and he could read people, as expected of his psychologist friend.
“Last night, instead of informing us about the culprit’s whereabouts, she tried to send us away. She was already acting weird at that time. Fortunately, Nathan also noticed that she was trying to hide something so he carried her back to the bathroom. That’s when we discover the unconscious culprit lying in the tub.”
“Her explanation didn’t match her action. I called the Police Department in this area. They didn’t receive any report about this incident. It only meant she lied about calling the police.”
Aiden gasped and his eyes went round when he heard that. “Do you think Abigail is a spy? So she intentionally approached Ethan to get closer to Nathan?”
Stephen just shrugged his shoulders and said, “I’m not sure. Nothing is certain yet. We need to observe further and monitor her every action for now.”