Your Guise Is Slipping, Miss Pearl

Inexplicable grief gripped Pearl. It weighed on her chest, making it hard to breathe. Lost in her tangled thoughts, she eventually drifted off to sleep.

When she opened her eyes, she felt a familiar coat draped over her, carrying the faint scent of orchids. It was unmistakably Richard's scent. Silas was no longer in sight, and Richard remained in the driver's seat, their car parked by the roadside.

She blinked away her drowsiness, realizing that they were already at her home. "Why didn't you wake me up?" She pushed Richard's coat aside and placed it on the seat next to her.

"I dropped him off first. I didn't wake you because we just arrived," Richard calmly explained.

Pearl thanked him politely but kept her tone distant, seemingly out of spite. "Thank you for the ride home."

"You're welcome. I won't do it again if this happens in the future," Richard replied coolly, his words holding a hint of cruelty.

Before leaving, Richard couldn't resist asking, "He's your boyfriend?"

Pearl retorted, "I'm sure it's none of your business, right, Mister Richard?"

realizing

got out of the car to avoid any more unsettling

out of sight, Richard

on

asked hesitantly,

all of them,"

of the call responded eagerly. "Alright, we'll begin demolishing all the nearby hotels as soon as possible." Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh

with the response, Richard

following morning, a phone call stirred Pearl from her

now. I've come to pick you up

voice and hastily got out of bed, heading to the nearby balcony. As she opened the curtain, she spotted Silas below, dressed in

clad only in her pajamas. She

more than ten minutes to prepare herself reluctantly, after which she made