Chapter 211 - Scarlet Suspects

The next few weeks passed peacefully. Scarlet received ample support from Edward regarding her writing career. In fact, Edward seemed to be cheering her on to pursue that path for some reason. He was her biggest fan and proofreader. However, something about his enthusiasm felt off to her.

For starters, Edward was busy. When she said busy, she meant busy. The teen was still very affectionate with her. However, he was always outside doing unknown stuff. Yes, he might tell Scarlet what he was dealing with or who he was with but Scarlet couldn't understand why a guy as inactive and introverted like Edward would suddenly have so many social appointments. Besides, Edward's alibi was unquestionable. What was he up to?

She knew that Edward was a friend of Elfie's but the question of how they met never popped up so glaringly until Scarlet casually asked about it over breakfast. Initially, she didn't think too much about his answer but now that she reflected, something sounded odd.

If Edward and Elfie were friends since they were children and Elfie had been travelling frequently because of what he did, under what kind of circ.u.mstances did they meet and how was Edward still in contact with the hacker? Apart from the Special Class and E.C. Class that kept in touch via the special chat room, Elfie never had friends outside of work. At least none that Scarlet knew about.

To make matters more complicated, Scarlet had discovered listening bugs around Edward's apartment. She thought that this might have been planted by Claire initially but now that she thought about it, Claire wouldn't have planted so many bugs in odd places. Scarlet found one in her room and she wasn't worried about it. Claire always taught her where to place the bugs in hotel rooms and the spot it was hidden in was one of those places Scarlet knew about. If she didn't want Claire to know about what she was doing, Scarlet could easily disable it. However, the ones she found recently under the kitchen sink, in the sole of a shoe that Edward hardly wore, behind the key hooks and under the movie rack made her wonder if those listening bugs were truly planted by Claire. Thankfully, she didn't find anything suspicious in the bathroom or she would have freaked out by now.

Edward was mindful of her privacy so Scarlet felt that she should respect his privacy too and had never been into Edward's room before. However, Edward was away from home very often nowadays and the curious side of her couldn't hold back for much longer. She was curious about what she would find there. Edward didn't seem to own many things but he did seem to have many secrets. The more Scarlet observed him, the more oddities she discovered. As a writer, it was second nature to notice things that were different about individuals compared to others. On the surface, Edward appeared normal but not even he could fool her.

Edward was a light sleeper, just like Scarlet. He would wake at the slightest noise or movement but he didn't wake up immediately. The first few times it happened, Scarlet didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. She once dropped a bowl and Edward was sleeping on the couch, passed out from exhaustion over finalising a report for submission. Edward didn't stir and she found it odd. It wasn't until something happened a second time.

Scarlet had been cleaning the floor after a movie that Edward had dozed off to halfway when she stumbled on him. It was dark and she couldn't see where she was going. Unlike the apartment, Scarlet was still not used to navigating her way around in the dark in Edward's apartment. It had only been about a month since she started living here. She didn't expect for Edward who had been snoring moments ago to have such quick reflexes to catch her and cushion her fall. When they trend on the lights, Scarlet forgot all about how quickly he had reacted even though he had been genuinely asleep before. The scare of almost getting blinded in one eye with the sharp edge of the coffee table so near her eye made her forget everything.

Now that she thought back about it, it was rather strange. For a recluse who didn't like working out or going out, Edward had surprisingly steady hands. If Scarlet was honest, she would define his muscles as lean and capable of lifting weights heavier than the average person. Although she wasn't sure if Edward was able to win Mike in an arm-wrestling match, she knew that Edward easily hoisted things that the athletic Scarlet couldn't lift. Scarlet knows this because she made the mistake when shopping for groceries to buy liquid detergent with a bag of rice. She tried to carry both of them back but not even a third through her journey, she had to call Edward for help. Her boyfriend rushed over and carried both purchases home with Scarlet toddling along, feeling exhausted. Maybe it was a guy thing but Edward was way stronger than he looked even though she had never seen her boyfriend work out.

The one thing that made Scarlet highly curious about Edward's secret was how he managed to convince Elfie to make him a laptop similar to his. No matter how Scarlet tried to get her head around it, there was only one person who would build such a laptop. Edward and Elfie's relationship went further than friends. Even if Elfie was good friends with the E.C. Class and Special Class, he wouldn't help them build such a laptop. That laptop was almost as good as a server farm. It was what Elfie used for work and Edward has ever maxed that beast out in terms of processing. Scarlet knew that because she heard those powerful cooling fans on turbo.

Edward never talked much about himself or the past with her even if she asked. The fact that one of his phone numbers had only three numbers in the contact list and the other phone number had hundreds made no sense to her. Elfie's number, her number and his father's number were the only three saved contacts in Edward's second phone contact card. Edward's phone had two sim cards and Scarlet found out his passcode once. Out of curiosity, she tried to access it in hopes of finding a nice photo of Edward in it so that she could send that to herself to add it into her personal collection. Instead, there was nothing there. All conversation traces for Edward's second phone had been erased completely and only the nonsense text messages from Alicia's group chat and various social groups were stored in Edward's more active phone number. She found that odd.

Lastly, Edward knew many things that were seemingly irrelevant to each other. Sometimes when he spoke, he would let it slip and use the technical jargon that she didn't understand. He didn't speak normally either when he wasn't in the socialising mood. Scarlet witnessed a few of those moments in the month that they lived together. Edward could get very focussed and lost in thoughts when he was working on something on that monster of a laptop. She tried to search those jargons up and they were commonly used in the police department or military department. For some reason, that alone gave her a ridiculous idea that she couldn't confirm. What if Elfie and Edward were friends because they worked together? That seemed slightly ridiculous but if Elfie was a hacker, why couldn't Edward be one too working for the Interpol? That would explain the long overseas trips that Edward's father had. If Edward's father was doing anything like Danny, everything would fall nicely into place.

Furthermore, if Scarlet were to include Edward's reaction to what she told him about herself, she couldn't help but feel uneasy and doubt the authenticity of his reactions. She didn't doubt his feelings for her but somehow, she had a feeling that he already knew who she was even before he told her. From when he was still Jedd77 till now, Edward seemed to know a lot about her and Scarlet still had no clue about him. When he revealed that he already knew who she was, she bought his reason. However, Edward seemed to also know of things she didn't remember ever telling him about.

For instance, Edward knew that Scarlet had a habit of not washing her hair on days that she didn't have to work out. He even knew the type of soap she preferred to use even though they changed brands so often. To make things scarier, he understood the types of sanitary pads to buy her when she freaked out in a public toilet when her period came and she didn't carry any pads. It was scary and Edward sometimes knew more about her than she knew about herself. He told her that selfies were better taken in natural light and Scarlet's better side was her left side. 

As a boyfriend, Edward was fantastic. In fact, she couldn't find flaws with him, he was perfect. However, if there was anything that was too good to be true, it usually was the case. Scarlet didn't believe that Edward wasn't hiding anything from her. He was too suspicious and the writer was now on a mission to uncover the truth. What sort of secrets was Edward hiding from her that he didn't want her to know?

Snooping was bad and Scarlet knew this. However, against the curiosity threatening to drive her insane? She was willing to grovel in an apology afterwards and satisfy her curiosity first.