Chapter 182 - Ambiguous Relationship

When Edward saw the scary head maid that Elfie warned him about pulling up at the foyer, Edward stiffened a little but tried to act natural as he waved goodbye to Scarlet. The moment the car drove off, the spy let out the breath he had been holding. That was way too scary! Thank goodness he did not agree to accept the lift from Scarlet's big sister. He convinced Scarlet that he would grab a cab back to his apartment that was 'not too far from the campus' to appease the worried girl.

Once the magic wore off, Edward was thrown back to reality and he looked at the dark skies. Although there wasn't any lightning now, it was still a considerable downpour. The closest bus stop was a five-minute walk and Edward had to hop on a bus that would journey for another ten minutes before he could sprint back to his apartment. His apartment was in no way near the campus considering how heavy the rain was. On a normal day, he could take half an hour to walk but if he were to do that in this weather, Edward knew he was going to fall sick.

"To take the bus or run for it? I don't think the bus will be coming anytime soon either. The bad weather and peak hour jam will take me an hour to get back..."

With a sigh, Edward checked for the important things in his bag and made a run for it. If he fell sick, he was going to make Elfie responsible.

The run back to Edward's apartment wasn't pleasant. No sane person would be walking without an umbrella much less run in it. The sky rumbled again and Edward cursed. His pants were already soaked and he grimaced at the uncomfortable feeling of water in his shoes as the thudding on the concrete pavement while squelching with every step.

Edward slowed down to jog and wiped the water that got into his eyes. He felt stupid now for giving Mandy his umbrella but in front of Scarlet, the only thing he could think about was looking reliable so he lost his brain cells. Come to think about it, Edward could have easily borrowed an umbrella from the student service centre and return it tomorrow. Why didn't he do that?

Well, he was reaching his apartment soon so there was no real point in going back to get the stupid umbrella when he was soaked to the bone. Lately, the spy felt as if his highly-praised intelligence was nowhere to be found. It was quite concerning. Perhaps he should see the psychologist again.

The first thing Edward did once he slammed his door shut was to check on the laptop. Thankfully, the machine was designed to be bulletproof and waterproof. The master hacker really had to be given credit for taking into so many things when designing the monstrous laptop. Edward heaved a sigh of relief when the thing powered on.

Knowing that his work wife was alright, Edward stripped and threw his clothes into the washing machine, including his shoes. If his mother knew what he did, she would probably scream his ears off. However, Edward didn't really care. He didn't have a lot of time to waste. Besides, why would it be called a washing machine if it couldn't wash everything that could fit in it? That made no sense.

Edward didn't bother with a shower even though he was shivering slightly. Instead, the spy put on some dry clothes and settled down with a mug of coffee as he looked through the files that Elfie sent him. The list of warehouses and companies that Scarlet got from CEO Zu was a lifesaver. With that information, the spy was able to quickly zoom into the areas he needed to check for discrepancies. While the work was monotonous and tedious, knowing that he was helping Scarlet by doing this made Edward bulldoze through the millions of spreadsheets.

The washing machine whirred in the background and Edward's tapping on the keyboard filled the silence that was occasionally broken by the sound of him sipping on coffee. One of Edward's best investments after becoming a university student was the coffee machine. It wasn't the expensive kind with a milk steamer for lattes. He wasn't a latte kind of person. Instead, it was a simple boil and brewed coffee with a filter function. The machine didn't cost him more than twenty dollars and it did its job proudly.

As Edward worked, he found himself wondering about what kind of coffee beans Scarlet would enjoy. Scarlet did say she indulged in the bitterness while she was filming so Edward was guessing she would prefer Robusta beans that have less acidity and lean towards a more chocolatey taste compared to Arabica beans that have a more distinct fragrance and richness with higher acidity. if Elfie's insider information still proved to be correct, Scarlet actually enjoys her sweets.

The spy toiled through the night and sorted through the copied data. Financial sheets, suspicious purchase order forms, and non-compliant doc.u.mentation control for delivery as well as movements of money transfers to a different subsidiary's account for no apparent reason surfaced when Edward knew where to look. Scarlet's source of information was genuine and if CEO Zhu was the one providing it, Edward wondered why he would do such a thing to his empire. 

There was definitely something more to their relationship than just a business collaboration. Edward felt his heart race and body heat up thinking about it. What would a man in his thirties with a fiancee want from Scarlet that he would willingly offer his own empire for it? Was CEO Zhu out of his mind or was this a trap so that he could win Scarlet over? Edward didn't know what CEO Zhu's relationship with EZ Express and Anastasia was so he remained wary of the CEO's motive.

Gradually, the sound of the washing machine stopped but Edward only became more heated up by the thoughts of CEO Zhu and Scarlet's unknown and ambiguous relationship. Were they really just work partners? Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to believe that. Scarlet prettied herself up for him and even entered a hotel alone with the man. She ignored Jedd77's messages and brushed him off when he called.

"Please tell me she's not actually in love with him!" Edward groaned and slammed the enter key a little too hard that it hurt his fingers. With the caffeine coursing through his veins, the spy was highly strung and his brain that was usually uncooperative started supplying him with more and more disturbing images of the CEO's illicit relationship with the innocent writer.

Unable to keep himself from going insane, Edward chose the first number on his speed dial. He didn't care if it was the ungodly hour of three in the morning, he just needed Elfie to confirm the facts so that he could focus on the right things.

"Bro... it's like three in the morning for normal people. Don't you have better things to do like school?" Elfie groaned and picked up the call after the twelfth ring. Edward was nothing but persistent when he wanted to be and if Elfie wasn't going to pick up, the spy would go over and drag the hacker out of bed.

"I need your help," Edward confirmed.

Elfie sighed. "At three in the morning? What's going on?"

Edward mumbled over the phone and Elfie growled. "If you're not going to speak human language I'm hanging up."

"Wait!" Edward panicked and swallowed his pride. Just for tonight, he told himself. "I need to know what kind of relationship Scarlet has with CEO Zhu. No matter how I try to reason it, something doesn't add up. Why would he give her information about his company to her? Especially when this information can cripple the Pineapple Group severely. Everything that I'm checking on based on the leads is hitting the jackpot. I can't help but feel uneasy. This is progressing too smoothly."

Elfie raised a brow. "Isn't that good news? We're finally gaining ground on this cold case that even your father hasn't been able to crack. Still, whatever your father and his group are doing is working well to our advantage. Wilmer and Danny are pressuring EZ Express so much that they've started to become shaky. Anastasia expanded too quickly and his empire's foundation couldn't keep up. It's easy to plant spies so the old snake is trying to weed them out one by one. Of course, that sneaky bastard has been planting people in Wilde Inc and recently has started sending strange people over to watch Kiwi Cat Studio and Golden Frost."

Edward bit on his thumb. "Do you have any idea what Scarlet did to get access to this information? How are we not informed about the methods and the kind of deals she made with CEO Zhu? It could be dangerous with her, I couldn't even get close to Scarlet the last time she met with him. Were you aware that they went to a hotel room, just the two of them? Scarlet has no sense of danger and I'm starting to have a bad feeling. What if the lead that Scarlet obtained for us is a trap by the CEO?"

Elfie felt slightly more awake after hearing it. "You know, I thought you were just lovesick at first but you're making a lot of sense for someone who is still awake at three in the morning. It could be a trap, I don't know yet. Just keep working on the names and the list, I will take it from there. Keep a closer eye on Scarlet and if possible, get personal with her. It doesn't matter if you have to meet her extended family, you should do it anyway. I'll help you out if you want."

"Extended family?"

Elfie grinned. "You don't know? Kiwi Cat Studio is mostly made up of the boys from the E.C. Class. We are her extended family. Alex has been coming by lately and I heard Scarlet will join too. A pizza party will be organised sometime next week. You should take the chance to join and stick with the sisters. If your hunch is accurate, we might need to watch out for CEO Zhu."

They discussed a little more about Edward's progress before Elfie yawned and announced that he had to go back to sleep. Edward hung up at four in the morning and sighed. He suddenly felt very sluggish and blamed it on the coffee running out. After brewing a new cup and tackling laundry, Edward went back to the laptop with renewed vigour even though he was constantly suppressing small coughs and sniffles.