Tessa had no good retort for that. Her face turned red with anger, and she frowned, ready to rebuke, but Laurel quickly stopped her, “Calm down, guys. Let’s talk this through. We don’t have to fight. It’s pointless. And we’re all safe and sound, and that’s a cause for celebration.”
Everyone fell silent, and Tessa stood up. “I’m full. You guys go ahead.” Then she went upstairs.
Tabitha and Nora said nothing, while Laurel looked at me and shifted the topic, “Are you going straight to A City after you go back, Scarlett?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I want to see my daughter.”
“You have a daughter?” She was surprised. “But you look so young. How old is your daughter now?”
“Five. Almost six, actually.”
They looked at one another, and Nora threw me a look of curiosity. “So you’re married? Does Armond know about it?”
That question was weird, but I nodded. “He does.”
“Huh?” The girls were stunned. “He knows you’re a married woman, but he’s still that nice to you? Is he sick in the head?”
“Didn’t know hotties like him love young MILFs.”
The conversation went in a weird direction, and I laughed. “Don’t think too much about it. He’s helping me out for something in return. I have something he needs, so this is nothing but a transaction.”
“Transaction?” Nora was surprised, and also flummoxed. “Is the thing he’s looking for worth the lives of five?”
“It’s a box my grandma gave me before she passed on. It’s a puzzle box. I have one, but the other one was auctioned off. He’s looking for this box, but I don’t know why.” I wasn’t sure who Armond was. His last name was Murphy, so I thought he was probably a part of the Murphys.
But if that was the case, why did he take the trouble to hold that auction in J City and sold off the box he had? If he wasn’t a part of the Murphys though, then why was he aiming for that box?
Nora rubbed her chin and nodded. “Rich guys like him like to waste their time on stuff we think are unnecessary.” She then looked at me. “Thank you, though. I’ll treat you to something good when we get back. You’re my friend now.”
I smiled, and Tabitha looked at me. “My wedding’s in October, but I don’t know if that’s going to change after what happened. You have to come if it’s proceeding as usual though.”
Laurel smiled. “Yeah, we’re besties now. Hey, I have an idea. Do you guys want to open a company?”
We were taken aback by that proposal, and Tabitha looked at her. “Don’t tell me you want us to be your partners.”
Laurel nodded incessantly. “I have been giving it some thought back in the glass room. I thought I’d open a company with you guys if I managed to get out alive, and I did get out in one piece. We’re going to work together for our whole life.”
Tabitha frowned. “You are so greedy! You just got saved from one hell, and now you want to bind all of us together?”
Laurel smiled. “I mean, we can do anything together after the hell we went through. We met by chance, and I want this friendship to go on. We come from different places, so we’re going to drift away if we have nothing to connect us. I don’t want that to happen.”
Nora found it amusing. “That so cheesy. That won’t happen. We can always chat online.”
“What kind of company do you have in mind?” I asked. “Any idea about where you’re going to establish it? What’s the company going to sell?”
Laurel gave it some thought. “I haven’t thought about that in detail. All I have is a rough idea, but I know where the company should be established— A City. Sure, it’s not the best city, but the infrastructure’s well established, and it’s developing well. It’s in a strategic location, and the weather’s perfect too.”
“I have an idea,” Nora said. “Why don’t you open up an inn or tea shop? We can gather round at any time for a little vacation.”
Tabitha nodded. “Good idea.” The girls kept on talking, while I looked at the second floor, and I went upstairs after some contemplation.
I knocked on Tessa’s door, but it took a while for her to open it. She was surprised to see me, then she asked, “Anything?”
“Let’s talk.”
She frowned and took a step back to let me in.
