Chapter 25 - Suit and Glasses

Scarlet ate, slept and waited much like a princess in captivity. On the outside, it looked as if she was being obedient and repentant. On the inside, Scarlet was already starting the first step of her plan. She told Jasper and Alex to create a chatroom account so that they could communicate while she was still under house arrest.

Mr and Mrs Liu were suspicious when Scarlet was acting very plaint. She didn't act out of control or tried to run away. The Scarlet they knew would have broken down by now.

"Do you think she's been broken?" Mrs Liu asked her husband one night after checking in on their now sleeping daughter. Other than the unusually high amount of computer usage to read, watch videos and play games there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Mr Liu shrugged. he wanted to be done and over with the fuss so he could return to work. Working from home and receiving calls every day wasn't making his mood any better. A man like him should be out there accomplishing something great and not playing hide and seek with his disobedient daughter. His wife was overthinking again, Scarlet may be mischievous but she wasn't very capable. The Mensa score was merely a measure of her potential, not her abilities.

"Let's just observe for now. If things become worse, we can employ a caretaker to watch over her and give you daily reports or install cameras in the house."

Mrs Liu pursed her lips. Those were suggestions that her husband kept bringing up. She didn't want to do such things as her friends would only see it as being controlling. Scarlet was only good when she was capable and independent. If she had to resort to such tricks in order to keep her daughter on a leash at this age, wouldn't she become the world's biggest laughing stock?

"I'll think about it," she told her husband and brushed the idea aside. She didn't believe that it would be so easy to break Scarlet down this time. The girl was tenacious and it took a few weeks before Scarlet finally acknowledged her mistakes. While the girl wasn't doing anything wrong, she wasn't doing anything to make Mrs Liu convinced that she learnt her lesson. Could this be a form of silent rebellion?

While Mr and Mrs Liu headed for bed, Scarlet laid on the bed under the sheets with her eyes closed. She was waiting for the right time to get cracking on her computer. According to her observation, her father would usually sleep by midnight after nursing a glass of red wine and her mother would sleep at one in the morning after her nightly beauty routine while reading some financial magazines. Two in the morning was the golden time that Scarlet chose to strike. She was flexible and adapted quickly according to the situation. Her parents were creatures of habit so it wasn't difficult for her to adjust her body clock around it.

Scarlet would often wake up after her parents had fallen asleep and work till about seven in the morning when the sun is just beginning to rise. She would wake up to brunch at around eleven when her mother woke her up for breakfast before and showering then working all the way till dinner at half-past five. The curtains were always drawn shut and Scarlet made a small trap to alert her if anyone entered her room while she slept. From the looks of it, her mother has yet to figure out her trick.

In addition to these countermeasures, Scarlet was careful to always use VPNs and TOR to work on her actual plan with another browser open for games and reading. She always turned on videos or music to cover the sound of her rapid typing. This way, even Mr Liu, who was an expert in the IT field, became fooled. It was a blessing that her father looked down on her. She needed them to underestimate her abilities so that she had more room to manoeuvre.

Two days had gone by since Jenna's visit and Scarlet wondered how long it would take before the Wilde's can send help. That morale boost she received did wonders and Scarlet worked with twice the efficiency without the distraction of school. If there was one thing the girl was worried about, that would be getting pudgy from the lack of exercise.

Jasper and Alex attended school without change. The only exception was that they were now required to attend some classes instead of spending all their time in the science lab chatting with Scarlet. Jenna explained that it would create more suspicions and bad rumours if all three 'trouble' children were suddenly ditching classes. It could pose some trouble for the lawyer who was trying to win the Wilde's their ward.

The lawyer Jenna contacted was a young man in his mid-twenties. He had his hair gelled back stylishly and wore frameless glasses that gave him an intelligent look. Alex caught a glimpse of the lawyer when he visited them formally. The lawyer's name was Benjamin Chang but Jasper gave him the nickname Suit & Glasses.

According to information sources, Suit & Glasses was gearing up. Scarlet could barely sleep with all the excitement bubbling inside of her. By next week, there will be an opportunity to finally be free from her parents even if just for a few hours. Scarlet just wanted to get out of the house even if it was just for a little.

Two in the morning rolled by quickly and Scarlet hopped off the bed and tip goes to the door, locking it and stuffing her blanket at the bottom of the door so that light would not be seen from the crack below. She pulled the chair out gently and turned the computer on before logging into the chatroom.

Red Willow: Are you there?

Suit & Glasses: Yes I am. What are children doing up so late?

Red Willow: Plotting, what else?

Red Willow: Aren't you going to tell me when you're coming over? I've been waiting very patiently but I'm itching to get out for a nice stroll in the park under the trees and sky.

Suit & Glasses: Somewhere within a week, preparations are going smoothly but I still need to pull a few more strings.

Suit & Glasses: Octopus Queen says that you're not allowed to stay up so late. She is setting your curfew at ten.

Red Willow: How would she know that I'm not sleeping if you don't tell her?

Suit & Glasses: ... she is beside me right now.

[Red Willow has left the chatroom.]

Startled, Scarlet exited the room in a hurry. Why would Mrs Wilde be up so late and watching Benjamin chat with her? She shook her head and decided that it wasn't important. Nobody would find out that she wasn't sleeping if she didn't get online. Scarlet grinned and rubbed her hands gleefully.

Today she was finally going to attempt to write the first chapter of her book. How hard could it be? It's just an expanded essay, right?