After finishing his cigarette, Ken pressed the butt out on the coffee table. The smell of burning hit his nose, and then its smell was overwhelmed by the food that Faith was cooking in the kitchen. She was just finishing up. Kylie was setting the table and, before he knew it, it was time to eat.

Ken's eyes lit up when he saw everything that had been prepared, and Faith said, "Look at you. You must be very hungry. Ken nodded and said, "I am, and everything smells so good!"

​​

Faith put the food on the table, and when Ken sat down, he found that he was even hungrier than he'd realized. Everything looked delicious. The fragrance practically made his mouth drool, and it took a real act of will to wait until the women were seated before he started eating. Once they were finally seated, he set to the task with relish.

Suddenly Ken looked up shyly. His plate was empty, but the ladies had only taken a few bites. "Can I have some more," he wondered, and without a word, Faith took his plate and brought it into the kitchen. As soon as she was gone, Ken turned to Kylie and said, "It's very good, isn't it? It is a little bit salty, but very good nonetheless."

Kylie nudged him with her elbow and whispered, "Be thankful for what you've been given. There aren't too many wanted criminals that have it half as good as you do!"

When Faith returned with a second plate of food for Ken, she saw that he was rubbing his arm and glaring at Kylie. Even though she didn't know what had happened while she'd been gone, something about the scene amused her, and she couldn't help but smile. Without a word, she placed the food in front of Ken, and he thanked her meekly. By his tone, she could tell that Kylie had spoken to him about the right way to behave when you are in someone else's house.

After eating three plates, Ken turned to Kylie and said, "I'm going to ask you one question, and I don't want you to beat around the bush. Was Ethan Parker the one who set Khloe and me up?"

"What do you mean?" Kylie wondered.

"You know what I mean," Ken scoffed. "I meant what I said!"

Not wanting to be involved in the conversation, Faith cleared the table and began to wash the dishes in the kitchen sink. Even though she was in another room, she still paid attention to what was being said.

Ken reached for his cigarettes and found that the box was empty. Feeling annoyed, he threw the empty box at the wall, turned to Kylie, and said, "Don't fuck around. I know that Ethan has been trying to kill me. I don't know whether or not he was responsible for the incident at the hospital!"

Kylie laughed, and she said, "If he wanted to kill you, he could have found an easier way to do it. You are nothing but an ant to him. If he wanted to kill you, all he would have had to do is step on you."

Ken smiled, and he said, "You have misjudged me. I am not an ant. I am a cockroach. Cockroaches are much harder to kill."

Kylie thought about it for a minute and finally said, "You are barking up the wrong tree. Think about it; even if Ethan wanted to do something like this to you, it is very improbable that he would spring the trap at the hospital, in front of his parents."

Just then, Faith came out with more coffee. Ken looked at her and asked her, rudely, "Where's my room?"

Faith pointed to a room, and Ken, without saying anything, got up and went to it. Once inside, he closed the door and locked it. Faith stayed behind at the door for a long while, and when she turned back, Kylie saw tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Kylie wondered.

"Even now," Faith replied, "I am beautiful, but he still treats me as though I were hideous. It is not fair. I always wanted him to see me for who I was on the inside. Now my outside matches my inside, but he still doesn't see me. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him…"

Kylie sat down beside her and hugged her while she cried. Once she had settled a bit, Kylie whispered words of wisdom into her ear. "You need to let go of your bitterness and hate," she said. "These things can become cancerous if you don't treat them right away…"

Suddenly Kylie pulled away and checked the time on her phone. She turned to Faith and said, "I'm sorry to leave you like this, but I really need to go."

Ken left his room to go to the washroom at half-past ten and happened to cross paths with Faith, who was just leaving the washroom. She was wearing a housecoat, and her hair was in a towel, which told him that she'd just finished having a shower. As they passed each other, Faith stopped and said, "I put toiletries out for you in the bathroom. They're all new."

"I don't deserve your kindness," Ken replied, "but I do appreciate it."

***

By the time Kylie returned home, it was well past the witching hour. She hadn't had a good reason to leave Faith, but she'd felt overwhelmed suddenly, and even after she'd left, she'd driven aimlessly for hours with her windows open in an attempt to clear her mind.

Pupu greeted her at the door and jumped happily. "Did you miss me?" Kylie laughed. "I can tell you that you missed me."

There was a noise from upstairs, and when Kylie looked towards the stairs, she found Lucy there, rubbing her eyes. "Is it really you, ma'am?" Lucy wondered. "I didn't expect you home tonight…"

"I just came back to get some rest and take a shower," Kylie said. "Where's Ethan?"

"Lord Ethan is not home," Lucy replied.

"Not at home?" Kylie scowled. "Didn't he come home last night?"

Lucy shook her head and said, "Ethan hasn't been home since you last left together."

Kylie's brow furrowed, and she went into the living room to take a rest on the sofa. She had no reason to believe that anything was wrong, and yet, something in her gut said that there was something wrong. Her first thought was to run everything by Lucy. Lucy had been a friend to her, but she thought better of it and sent her back to bed.

Once Lucy was gone, Kylie took a shower, dressed, and climbed into bed. Before she fell asleep, she thought about calling Ethan. In the end, though, she decided not to. She had been trying lately to trust him. Every time she got jealous, it seemed to blow up in her face.

It was almost morning, but Kylie couldn't sleep for some reason, so she decided to check her emails. The first two emails were spam, and the third was from a stranger. She deleted the first two and opened the third. There was no message, but there was a video attached. Seeing it, her breathing nearly stopped, and her heart began to beat very fast. She looked up and stared at the ceiling; tried to hold back the tears.

After quite a long time, she forced a smile onto her face and turned to her dog. "Pupu," she said, "would you mind going back to your room? I'm tired, and I want to have a rest."

Pupu was very sensible. She got up, kissed Kylie on the face, and went back to her room.