Chapter 88 - Stalker

Things were starting to become strange back in the Wilde's penthouse. While Scarlet and Claire had started acting more normally around each other, a certain CEO was becoming more on the edge. The children noticed it but nobody commented about it. Alex brushed it off as age catching up with her handsome father but neither Scarlet not Jasper chose to comment.

The businessman was sometimes caught talking to himself in front of a mirror and smiling in a creepy manner. He also had a lot of random outburst of anger at flowers and paintings around the house. Tina and Sue often distracted the children whenever Wilmer slipped into one of his 'moods' however none of the children was fooled. There was clearly something big going on.

"Do you think we're going to be able to resume our internship soon?" Alex asked one day at lunch after class.

Not just Wilmer, but Danny also seemed out of it too. They'd noticed it a few days after Danny got that strange notification with a special tune. The homeroom teacher had excused himself to check the message, something he rarely ever did. Lessons with Danny became more monotonous as the teacher would often enter a monologue about nothing that was relevant to the lessons instead of adding value to it. Scarlet couldn't help but worry. Her book was progressing smoothly and was currently in the final stages of editing. Alex was also doing very well, showing huge improvements in her sketching techniques.

Jasper was gloomy. Why was he the only one not making any progress? Ever since the miraculous result of the topical test, the gardener's son tried very hard to keep up with the momentum to no avail. The ones who could study did well on their own. The ones who usually skipped lessons disappeared one by one. The ones who didn't do well before went back to their original scores of single digits. Was it because Jasper wasn't a good enough teacher? The boy blamed himself for it and stopped chewing, too deep in his thoughts.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Alex asked when her childhood friend didn't answer.

Jasper sighed and even Scarlet looked up. Of the three of them, Jasper was usually the easy-going one. For him to sigh this heavily, something must be bothering him greatly. Alex had been observing her childhood friend for quite a while but the boy didn't seem to take notice about anything around him anymore. It worried the artist and she wished that she could help. Now that they didn't have their internship, she had some free time in the afternoons. Perhaps there was something she could do to ease Jasper's worries.

"No, sorry. Just something on my mind. I'll find a way, don't worry."

Alex was sceptical but a look from Scarlet made her hold back her words. Her mother used to tell her that when men were troubled, the best way to help them is not to talk to them or try and understand them. Instead, a small kiss or a silent hug is all they need to feel better.

The writer wasn't mentally prepared for it when Alex walked over to cradle Jasper's head into her chest. While Scarlet had experienced her fair share of hugs, seeing one as intimate as this was a first for her. The young author turned bright red and tried to look elsewhere while her friends shared a moment. For the childhood friends, they didn't think anything was wrong about it and Jasper even wrapped his arms around Alex, closing his eyes and seeking comfort in her embrace.

"I don't know what I'm doing wrong," the boy admitted quietly and Scarlet took a few seconds to know what Jasper was referring to.

In all honesty, she didn't know what Jasper was doing wrong either. The young writer couldn't have done it better herself even if she wanted to. Teaching delinquents was simply something an uneducated teacher should not be doing. They needed the help of professionals but Scarlet didn't know anyone else they could call on for help. Regular teachers didn't like the delinquent class and Danny was extremely out of it to be reliable.

"We can accompany you for tutoring sessions on the days we don't have the internship," Scarlet suggested and Alex agreed.

Although she wasn't as advanced as Scarlet or Jasper academically, she had confidence in being able to cheer for everyone by the sidelines if needed. Then again, the Wilde heiress was honestly still afraid of the boys in the class even if Jasper was now their unofficial leader. First impressions die hard.

"Thanks," the young entrepreneur smiled.

Scarlet yawned and wondered what was going on back home. Wilmer and Danny have been seeing each other more and the girl couldn't help but be suspicious of their secret late-night rendezvous. She was positive that Mrs Wilde didn't know anything about it and if the girl hadn't been staying up to pick up snippets of their discussion, she would have jumped to the conclusion that Mr Wilde could be playing for the other team.

Danny often brought news and files that Wilmer would hide away in his home office under lock and key. Scarlet had a feeling she knew what those doc.u.ments were for. They had to be leverage against Collins as Mr Wilde prepared for his annual general meeting for the board of directors. It wasn't a coincidence that everything was falling into place just in time. Scarlet knew better than to believe in coincidences. Things happened for a reason and if it wasn't fated, it would be planned.

The young writer kept the news to herself and didn't share it with Jasper nor Alex. They were troubled enough as it was and the young writer thought that there was enough on their plate. The a.d.u.l.ts were more than capable of handling matters from now on but there was an unsettling feeling that had been bothering Scarlet for the past few days. She didn't know why but she felt as if there was someone constantly looking at them from a distance. Sometimes she would turn back and try to catch whoever it was in action but often there would be nobody present.

The feeling of being watched never left her even when she was in school. It briefly faded away whenever Claire was around but Scarlet chalked that up to her paranoia after the incident at the company when the men almost caught her with the stolen evidence. She didn't tell anyone about it, not wanting to cause a fuss but still, the girl stiffened as she felt that feeling once more. This time, Scarlet decided to try a different technique and reached for the sharpener in her pencil case, pretending to search for something. The blade on the sharpener acted as a mirror and Scarlet studied what was going on behind her outside the window.

Reflected on that blade, Scarlet couldn't be sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her but there was a small drone hovering near a tree on the opposite building. The young writer felt her hands and legs grow cold with dread.

Somebody was spying on her and Scarlet didn't know why.