Chapter 653
654 The Fourth Call
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“Oh, right,” Jennie said after a beat, remembering. “A really pretty older sister dropped off a stuffed toy for you. I put it in the back of your bed.”
“Thanks,” Yunice replied.
Jennie kept brushing her mascara. “Don’t thank me… geez.”
Then she glanced over, teasing, “Seriously though, Yunice, what’s up with your family’s genes? Every older sister around you is drop–dead gorgeous. Your bloodline must’ve been kissed by the gods or something.”
She waited for a response, but none came.
Frowning, Jennie turned and saw Yunice sitting stiffly on her bed, holding the stuffed toy with a grim expression.
She didn’t look happy at all.
Knowing Yunice had firm boundaries, Jennie wisely kept her mouth shut. When she finished her makeup, she walked over to Yunice’s bed.
“I’m heading out for my date now. If you need anything, call me or Lena.”
Yunice nodded, grateful for the kindness.
After the door clicked shut, Yunice pulled her bed curtains closed, unzipped the hidden pocket on the back of the toy, and took out the recorder Laurie had hidden.
She put on her headphones.
No hesitation.
She pressed play.
Thirty minutes later.
The headphones were still on. The recorder was still in her hand.
Her phone, resting on her leg, suddenly buzzed. The name “Cooper” scrolled across the screen.
Yunice stared at it until the vibration stopped.
A pause .
Then Wyatt called again.
She didn’t answer.
Third call.
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654 The Fourth Call
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Still no answer.
Fourth-
This time, she picked up.
The moment the line connected, Wyatt’s impatient voice burst out, “Yunice?!”
“Something wrong?” she asked calmly.
He let out a heavy exhale. “If you hadn’t picked up this one, I was about to call your school and launch a full–scale search.”
Yunice ignored his dramatics. “So? What’s the emergency?”
“…Can’t I call you even if there isn’t one?”
“So do you have something to say, or not?”
Wyatt hesitated, then cautiously asked, “Did Laurie talk to you?”
“No.”
“…No?”
Wyatt hissed under his breath. “That damn Laurie, slacking again…”
“What?” Yunice caught part of it.
He quickly shifted. “Nothing. I got a call from the pottery studio. Our pieces are done. If you’re free, want to go pick them up?”
“You’re near the school? ”
“…Yeah.”
“I’ll meet you at the gate,” Yunice said, climbing down from her bed.
Wyatt’s voice tightened. “I checked your class schedule. Don’t you have a class right now?”
“I skipped it.”
With her small bag on her shoulder, Yunice jogged out through the campus gate.
It wasn’t a usual dismissal time, so there weren’t many people around.
She spotted the ultra–low–profile BYD right away and ran toward it. Just as she did, the passenger–side door opened.
Wyatt had put on a mask, but his tall frame still drew attention. A man like him stood out no matter where
he went.
Before she even reached him, he had already opened the passenger door.
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16:24 Tue , 5 Aug.
654 The Fourth Call
Yunice ducked slightly, glanced at his hand resting on the car door, and climbed inside.
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Her motion was quick and fluid, her hair brushing past Wyatt’s face in a faint, fleeting are as she passed.
He instinctively leaned forward–her scent still lingered in the air.
He walked around to the driver’s side, slid into his seat, and started the car.
“Why aren’t you in class?” he asked, glancing at her.
It wasn’t like her to skip.
“Didn’t feel well,” she murmured, fastening her seatbelt.
His eyes scanned her immediately. “Cramps?”
She leaned back against the seat and nodded weakly.
His frown deepened. Turning the wheel abruptly, he said, “Forget the pottery studio. I’m taking you back to the hotel.”
“I’m not that bad,” she said quietly.
“Not that bad‘ doesn’t mean ‘good.”
They went back to that same hotel. Wyatt even called the manager over and gave a few quiet instructions.
While he was distracted, Yunice leaned over to the front desk clerk and asked in a whisper, “Can you check if this room is booked for the month?”
“Yes, miss. It’s currently booked as a monthly rental”
Before she could ask more, Wyatt returned and took her hand, leading her toward the elevator.
He tried to carry her, but she refused. “Only if no one’s watching.”
Fine. Keep the distance.
He swiped the card and they entered the room.
As Yunice moved toward the bed, Wyatt followed behind. Just as her knees touched the mattress, he bent down and slipped off her shoes–one foot, then the other–clean and swift, before she could say a word.
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