Chapter 9

"Manager Mike, it seems like two guests over there are fighting, aren't you going to check it out?" "Where?" The manager, Mike, immediately turned around upon hearing that. He had not expected to find his hand empty as he did so. His phone had been taken. By the time he came to his senses, Sarah had already dialed that number. Manager Mike: "!!!" His eyes widened, "Little Peach, what on earth have you done?" Sarah responded calmly, "Just making a phone call for you." She had figured out that Manager Mike wasn't determined enough. If she didn't intervene, he would never make that call all by himself. She held back Manager Mike, who was trying to snatch his phone, "Wait, it might connect soon. Don't move." Upon hearing that the call might connect, Manager Mike gradually stilled his struggling hand. "How could you snatch my phone..." Though he complained, his eyes kept glancing at the phone screen. His expression was one of expectation. However, soon a voice of an emotionless automated female voice came from the phone, stating that the call was temporarily unanswered. The light in Manager Mike's eyes quickly dimmed, "Did they... change their number?" Sarah didn't speak but directly took out the cell phone she had assembled from her pocket, and dialed the number she had just seen. After pressing the call button, the other side answered especially quickly. In the receiver, a voice sounded impatient yet strangely familiar. He roared, "Disturbing people in the middle of the night, do you have no conscience?! Believe it or not, this young man will punch you tomorrow!'' Sarah couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. She never imagined that Manager Mike's son would be so... brazen. Surprisingly, Manager Mike, as a father, did not get angry when he heard his son speak like this. Instead, he smiled with relief. "Stinky boy, you're still so energetic." sarah: "..." After asking Manager Mike for his son's name, she cleared her throat and said: " Pete, right? This is the police station. We just received a report saying your father was hit by a car on the road, and his life is in danger. We need a family member to sign off on it. Can you come over now?" The inexplicably hit Mike Manager: "..." The air was silent for a long time, and it was Pete who sneered after a while: "How can my dad be on the road at this late hour? Liars are just improvising!" She said, "I'm not lying to you. Your father works at Black Mist Bar Bar, right?" "He was hit by a car when he went out to serve a customer during his shift. One of his legs was knocked off. If you have time, come and take one last look at him." This time, Pete's voice became noticeably anxious, stuttering as he spoke. "What, what, what, what are you doing? Call an ambulance, I'm not a doctor! What good would it do if I went!" "If calling a doctor was helpful, we would have done it already. The problem now is... Anyway, are you free now? This might be your last chance, think it over." Sarah intentionally didn’t speak clearly, indeed making the person on the other side flustered. But even at such a tricky time, he still yelled out, "That person is not my father, I don't plan to go see him, don't bother about him anymore, just let him die! After all, he deserves this!" Sarah didn't bother to argue any further, "Alright then, goodbye." She hung up quite abruptly, not even giving the other party a chance to react or reply. Manager Mike panicked, "Hey, Little Peach, why did you hang up? Just let me hear his voice a bit longer!" It had been so long that he nearly forgot how his own son's voice sounded. But all Sarah did was look at him and raise three fingers. "What does this mean?" He asked. After he spoke, Anderson Sarah bent down one finger, leaving two. She was counting down. Three, two, one... When the last finger was also put down, Manager Mike's phone suddenly rang. He looked down, overjoyed, and stood up excitedly. It's a call from his son! And the other party had initiated it! Manager Mike hadn't seen his son make a call to him in a long time. Faced with this sudden turn of events, he was somewhat stupefied. Just as he was going to hurriedly pick up the call, Sarah snatched the phone from his hand once again. Sarah simply hung up the call. Manager Mike’s eyes were glued to his cell phone. He exclaimed in shock, "Why did you hang up on me? I was about to answer it!" "If you answer the call now, wouldn't he know you're alright?" Sarah said, powering off the phone as she spoke. "Trust me, don’t you want to see your son come looking for you?" Of course, Manager Mike wanted to. Sarah nonchalantly said, "If I put it that way, he'll come to look for you soon. If he doesn't, you might as well not have such a heartless son." "But what if he comes and finds me standing here, perfectly fine? What should I explain?" Sarah, holding several bags she’d brought, walked towards the door and smirked: "I made the call. If he doesn't ask, you don't need to explain. If he does ask, just act surprised. Isn't that okay?" Manager Mike: ...... "Don’t worry," Sarah moved forward without looking back, "When he sees you, he'll only be overjoyed, not even having the mind to be upset. If he can't accept that, just shamelessly apologize to him. There's no lasting grudge between a father and son." This time, Manager Mike was genuinely persuaded by Sarah. He stared at the tightly shut doors of the bar, surprisingly birthing an air of expectancy. Sarah said she was leaving, but before leaving, she still made a round on the second floor, claiming to borrow the washroom. Now that everyone there knew her, no one stopped her. As she came out of the washroom, passing by the A-numbered private room, she slowed her pace, glanced at her shoes, gently moved her toes, and resumed her normal pace, descending the stairs. From any angle, this was a very normal action, nothing more than checking if her shoelaces were loose. No one would care about Sarah's pause, nor would anyone discover that after Sarah left, a small black electronic device slipped from her shoe bottom and was hidden in the soft rug at the door of the private room. With a twitch of her eyes, she sprightly hopped down the stairs. Exiting the bar, she noticed the bouncer on duty at the entrance was the same one who had called her 'Manager Mike' before, and was also the one who just went to buy her supper. She blinked, and her pale, slender fingers slid over her pocket, revealing eleven quid ( quid is a nickname for pound), which she placed in front of the bouncer. "Buy me barbecue tomorrow, remember that it's got to be extra, extra, extra, extra spicy!" Today's Hamburger wasn't enough to satisfy her, And it always seemed to lack flavor when she ate it. The bouncer's eyes lit up as he accepted, saying, "But the barbecue wouldn't cost this much." "The extra is your tip, from now on, buy it for me in this flavor." This little money, in exchange for always enjoying her meal in the future, Sarah felt it was worth it. She took all the things she bought and the money she earned that day and got back into the taxi that would take her back to the hospital. Returning to the hospital, Sarah found an uninhabited corner and switched back to the hospital gown she had taken off earlier in the morning. Then, puffing out her chest, she strutted her way back to her ward. No one noticed. After turning off the lights, Sarah looked out the window, thinking that it wasn't sustainable to continue sneaking in and out every day. Maybe she’ll get caught tomorrow. Anyway, she had a bit of money on hand now. Perhaps, she should just check out. And that was what she did. Discharging wasn’t as tedious as getting admitted. A few minutes later, the nurse returned her ID, "You can leave the hospital now, remember to take all your things." Before she left, she handed the borrowed phone back to the nurse. Sliding it a few times, the nurse wondered. Wasn't this an old, wrecked phone? But why did it feel smoother than her brand-new phone? Even the phone repairers couldn’t fix this, but how did it become so responsive after a few days in this girl’s hands? Meanwhile, in the distant mansion tucked away in the heart of Imperial City, the brilliant morning sun cast its golden light over the vast, meticulously manicured courtyard. Amidst the quid architecture of the mansion's imposing facade, with its ornate columns, intricate carvings, and rows of arched windows, a palpable sense of sophistication and history permeated the air. The cobblestone pathways, lined with neatly trimmed hedges and fragrant rose bushes, led past the stately mansion and into the lush, sprawling gardens, evoking a timeless blend of old-world charm and modern elegance. A handsome, tall man sat leisurely on the sofa, savoring the taste of the tea in his hand at his own pace. Just as he lifted his cup, his phone buzzed with the sound of a text message. He took a small sip of the tea in his hand, and his deep eyes finally turned to his cell phone. This was his personal number, which hardly received any text messages. At this moment, he lit up and discovered a message from Royal London's hospital. His emotions paused for a barely detectable second, then he quickly recalled. When he was returning to Imperial City, he seemed to have found a woman on the side of the road while leaving his estate and had sent her to the hospital. She was discharged today. Suddenly, an image flashed in his mind of that day, under the pouring rain, the woman was wearing a cheap dress soaked with blood, yet she was still grasping for something. Damien looked out the window, with a complex and cryptic smile on his lips. He turned to the butler who came in to deliver the report and ordered in a deep voice. "The last time in London, I saved a girl. Go and find out what she did after she was discharged from the hospital." The butler put down the report, his heart filled with nothing but astonishment, and even greater surprise. The young master saved a girl?! Even more importantly, the young master wanted to know what she did after leaving the hospital?! Oh, my God, this is the first time the young master has shown interest in a girl. Who could this woman be?! The butler's heart was overflowing with excitement, and he immediately agreed to the task. "Very well, Sir!"