“What’s wrong?” Patrick furrowed his brow slightly. Morton was always his most reliable henchman, and he wouldn’t contact Patrick at this time unless something had happened.
Morton’s voice sounded urgent on the other end of the phone, “Boss, it’s bad news. I sent someone to inquire about Queena in prison today and found out that she wasn’t there. She must have escaped!”
“What?!” Patrick immediately scowled and even sounded a little angry. He instinctively glanced at Jane before calming himself down and asking in a deep voice, “How long has she been gone?”
Morton didn’t know this would happen but answered truthfully, “I asked the guards I hired to keep an eye on her whereabouts three days ago. They said she disappeared then, and no one knows where Queena is now.”
Patrick’s eyes suddenly became cold and heavy as he spoke coldly, “No matter what method you use, send someone to find her right away! We must bring Queena back!”
Jane felt more uneasy as she listened on. After Patrick hung up the phone, she frowned and asked, “What happened? Did Queena disappear?”
Patrick exhaled heavily before nodding slowly, “Yes. Morton went to check on her in prison but found out that she had escaped three days ago.”
Hearing this news made Jane also frown with disbelief for a moment but soon calmed down.
Queena was just a pawn in Antony’s hands; since being sent to prison, if she wanted to escape, there was no way anyone could help her without risking their own lives. It would be impossible for her to get away by herself.
She looked at Patrick who seemed visibly agitated then tried comforting him by saying, “Don’t worry too much yet; Antony is still Queena’s only ally here in Guavo. Not forgetting that there are guards patrolling around-the-clock inside the jail cells too so if nobody helped her escape, then it’s unlikely for anyone else besides Antony who could’ve helped free her.”
Jane paused briefly before continuing with some suggestions, “Why don’t you ask Morton if anyone visited or contacted Queena recently or whether anything unusual happened prior to when we last knew of?”
Although these were good points raised by Jane, they both knew how cunning Antony could be. Besides him who else would want or need Queena enough so much as risk breaking out of jail? It all seemed very strange indeed…
Patrick had now calmed down and he thought that Jane was right. But the most important thing now was the design competition she was going to participate in, and he didn’t want her to be bothered by these things.
Patrick relaxed his brow and comforted Jane, “Okay, you don’t have to worry about these things. I’ve already asked Morton to find out where Queena is. Your top priority now is to rest well and participate in the design competition so that you can win a prize.”
Jane couldn’t help but laugh as she hugged Patrick. She said softly, “Okay okay, I know. You don’t have to worry about me.”
Patrick was pleased with this kind of coquettish tone from a woman. His impatience gradually subsided and he gently lifted Jane’s chin before giving her a light kiss on her lips. He then pinched her cheeks lightly.
“You’re my wife; who else should I care for if not you? Leave those troublesome matters to me; just enjoy your life from here on out.”
Jane lowered her eyes slightly but kept looking at Patrick all along before nodding eventually.
As Patrick looked at the woman in front of him, his emotions got the better of him again as he kissed her passionately.
This was Paris – where romance was worshipped by French people who could be uninhibited without caring about other people’s gazes when they were intimate with each other or kissing or doing anything that lovers would do together.
Just when they were entangled with each other passionately, Jane’s phone suddenly rang.
“Wait,” Jane pushed away from Patrick as if waking up from a dream while pretending not seeing his somewhat gloomy face expressionlessly before taking out her phone. Upon seeing Michelle’s number flashing across it she glanced at Patrick briefly.
“It’s Michelle,” she said into the phone after clicking accept button.
“Oh hi there!” A sweet yet lively voice came through on the line immediately after which belonged unmistakably to Michelle herself.
“Well… my dad wants me throw an evening party tomorrow night for my birthday celebration! And I’m wondering if both you guys are free? Why don’t you attend it together since we haven’t seen each other for ages? Besides my dad mentioned earlier that he kinda missed having Patrick around too.”
Michelle had started calling him directly by name already because Jane knew what Michelle really thought of him deep down inside. Hearing this invitation made her heart feel uncomfortable somehow.
She paused for a moment, just about to refuse, when she heard Michelle say, “You didn’t say anything, so I’ll take that as a yes. See you tomorrow night at 8 pm sharp~”
“Okay, we’ll be there on time.”
The phone hung up and Jane sighed helplessly. Patrick noticed her expression and asked curiously, “What’s wrong? Why did she call?”
“Michelle said it’s her birthday tomorrow night and Duckstein is throwing her a party. She wants us both to come.”
Everyone knew that the phone call was just an excuse.
Jane sighed again and looked at Patrick with a sudden pang of jealousy. She couldn’t help but tease him by saying, “It’s not about the party…”
Patrick knew she was being playful and wasn’t bothered at all. In fact, he liked it when Jane acted like this.
He walked over to her with a laugh and put his arm around her shoulder saying, “Jealous? Don’t worry; even if we go to the party, I’ll only have eyes for you.”
“Okay okay,” Jane blushed slightly from being caught out in front of Patrick. She playfully pushed him away saying, “Who told you that? Let’s go back now.”
At Duckstein’s house:
After hanging up the phone, Michelle’s smile slowly faded away as she lowered her head feeling somewhat uneasy inside. Although it was Michelle who invited Jane and Patrick to attend the birthday banquet, thinking about how they would show up together as a couple made Michelle feel sad inside.
Yes, Michelle had fallen in love with Patrick at first sight. She was sure of this.
But why did he have to be engaged to Jane?
Ever since meeting Patrick last time, Michelle couldn’t stop thinking about him. There were other exchange students in school but none of them were as handsome as him.