Chapter 2 Hardly Remarkable

Sandra was on the verge of panic, trying to recall the identity of the person she had just been with.

Yet, the imminent arrival of Darryl meant she needed to leave quickly.

Surveying the room, her eyes landed on the window behind her. Compelled by urgency, she dashed toward it just as the door creaked open.

Fortunately, the Gale Mansion rose only five stories high. She escaped through the window on the top floor and deftly descended, using the ledges as her pathway.

Reaching the ground, she exhaled in relief, only then noticing the ache in her body. She hadn't anticipated that her first sexual encounter would be so painful.

However, she couldn't linger on these thoughts. She was contemplating a return to the Gale Mansion to confront Darryl and end their engagement when she was drawn to a disturbance nearby. A crowd had formed, their pleas for a doctor piercing the air. "Does anyone here have medical training? This man needs assistance!"

Sandra didn't hesitate to push through the crowd. There, an old man lay twitching on the pavement, hands gripped to his chest.

As she dialed for an ambulance, she instructed the bystanders, "Give him space; he needs air."

With the call placed, she swiftly tilted the man to a safer position and started CPR.

After several compressions, she checked for a heartbeat, her ear pressed to his chest, and felt a flicker of hope.

She then found a pill bottle in the man's coat, from which she took two pills, and sat beside him. She gently lifted his head, requesting water from the onlookers to aid him in taking the medicine.

When the ambulance arrived, the paramedics took over, and the old man was transported to the hospital. Sandra, now composed, made her way back to the Gale Mansion to confront Darryl.

This time, she entered with her head held high, handing a servant a token to signify her identity, and settled herself to wait in the grand hall.

Darryl stepped into the room as Sandra had left through the window.

His gaze swept the area. He even went up to the bathroom door to take a closer look. Everything appeared normal.

With a smile, he said, "Uncle Kristopher, grandfather's set up this blind date for you, and it's important. Please, honor his wishes and settle down soon. It'll ease his mind."

In the same room where he had earlier lifted Sandra and threw her onto the bed with ease, the man now sat in a wheelchair, looking pale and delicate.

Resting back, Kristopher Owen let out a soft cough and replied, "Given my health, wouldn't I just be a burden to others?"

Darryl's patience thinned after another unsuccessful search with his eyes.

"Grandfather has always wanted you to marry. See it as your duty as a son."

Kristopher agreed. "You have a point. I'll consider my options carefully. Have the prospective brides arrived for the blind date? Bryan, I need to change."

Darryl took it as his cue to leave. "Then we'll meet in the banquet hall."

With that, he departed.

The door had barely shut when Kristopher stood up from his wheelchair, scanning the room for any sign of a woman.

His face clouded over as he asked, "Where did she go?"

Baffled, his assistant Bryan Smith responded, "Sir? Who are you looking for?"

Kristopher rummaged through the room, even checking inside the wardrobe. No sign of the woman. Frustrated, he flung the bed sheets aside and was struck by a bright red stain.

He stared at the stark crimson mark, lost in thought. Recollections of their encounter flooded back, and he understood her naivety. It turned out it had been her first time.

As Kristopher was struggling to divert his attention from the blood stain, Bryan noticed a coin and a note by the bed.

He lifted them, reading out loud the message written on it. "Somewhat average. Hardly remarkable." Once he finished, he asked Kristopher, "What's this supposed to mean?"

A headache pulsed as Kristopher advanced, seizing the note, his scrutiny fixed on the script, with a single coin beside it.

The realization hit Kristopher!

That woman had the audacity to provoke him.

She had left a mere dollar and deemed him unremarkable?

Average? Hardly remarkable?

Was he truly unremarkable?

He clenched his jaw and sneered. "Search for this woman! Turn the world upside down if necessary."

Bryan caught on to the situation.

Yet, what astonished him more was the insinuation of the note. "No way, sir? Did you just have sex? This.... Is this the encounter Mr. Darryl set up for today?"

Holding the coin and note, Kristopher approached an incense burner, glancing at the residue of some kind of aphrodisiac before giving it to Bryan. "This pawn of his seems to be out of line, and Darryl is on her trail too. Find her before Darryl can, and resolve this promptly."

Accepting the incense burner, Bryan nodded, affirming, "Certainly! I'll get on with the search straight away!"