In the middle of the night, there was someone who was trying his hardest not to freak out.

"Pick up, Master! Pick up the call!" An anxious voice rang out in the silent room.

The owner of that voice paced around in the darkroom that was illuminated only by the light coming through the window.

The moon outside shone brightly inside and revealed the figure that was anxiously striding in circles at the moment.

The constant beeps that indicated that the user was busy which were coming from the other side of the phone was enough to send him into a deep state of panic.

Stomping his feet on the ground like a tantrum-throwing toddler, the man grunted as he stopped before the window.

The bright moonlight was enough to let his features be visible for a quick second before he moved away.

Short spiked hair, a sparkling black diamond stud in his ear and an exceptionally beautiful face.

"Dammit! Things are not going according to Master's plans and I can't even reach him to let him know about it!" He menacingly spat those words out as he plopped on the couch.

*CREAK*

Even under the meager weight of his body, the couch made a loud creaking noise which made him grimace.

A look of annoyance flashed on his face but it quickly disappeared.

"I shouldn't have retorted to Old man Ping." He shook his head at the foolish mistake he made whose price he was still paying.

"He made me shift to this rundown side of the servant's block. What a petty man!" He clicked his tongue and looked around the room that was assigned to him by the Butler of the Yang family.

Though the room was spacious, it only had a bed, a wardrobe and this noisy couch that he sat on.

"But I can adjust anywhere as long as it is my Master's command!" He clenched his fists and his jaws while thinking of the main reason why he was here.

Trying one more time, the man cursed when the result was the same as the last few times.

"Though I don't like him, I can always call him at times like this!" He exclaimed and smiled which made two deep dimples appear on the sides of his face.

Dialing a new number he waited for a few seconds before it was answered.

"Oh… If it isn't Merc? What do you want from me?" A tired and sleepy voice rang out from the other side of the phone.

"It's Richy right now and not Merc!" The man hissed back to which he received a hearty chuckle.

"A snake-like you has many names but I don't have to bother about them. So let me ask this again… Why have you called me, Merc?" The voice through the phone scoffed and repeated his earlier question.

The man sitting on the noisy couch was none other than Richy, Mandy Rong's faithful servant.

But how faithful he really was, now that was something no one was aware of.

Richy growled when he was not taken seriously and then took a deep breath in because he was the one asking for a favor right now.

"I need to speak with the Master but I cannot get in touch with him. Can you tell me where he is?" Richy gritted his teeth as he tried to speak in a polite manner to the other man.

"Heh! Merc… I mean Richy or whatever. Even you know that the Master does not answer useless calls when he is busy. Just tell me what it is and I'll relay your message to him." The other guy mocked him yet offered to help him out.

Richy knew better than to argue about this matter and just decided to let him be the middleman.

"Tell the Master that the task he had given me is going to be harder because the event we were waiting for had some changes in them." His eyes blazed when he remembered the information he had received.

Richy had sent some of his spies to keep an eye on Mandy to make sure that everything went on smoothly but unfortunately, they did not.

"There are certain variables that have popped up which are making the situation a little bit stickier than what we had hoped for." He spoke in a vague manner but he was sure that the other person must have understood the meaning hidden behind his words.

The other person let out an exasperated sigh and then spoke up.

"A simple task and you can't even do that." He clicked his tongue at Richy's incompetence.

"Fine. I'll pass your message when the Master gets back but try to sort things out until then." He then hung up without giving Richy a chance to explain that it wasn't his fault.

Remembering the pictures that he had received from his men, Richy gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes.

"Miss Lina had so many powerful people with her, there was no way that I could act against all of them!" He muttered and then stood up from the creaking couch.

The pressure with which he was holding the phone increased as he strode towards the bed to get some much-needed rest.

___

The next morning, the early morning sun's rays penetrated into the room through the window.

"Mom, get up! You asked me to stay calm yesterday so now let me find dad and get a valid explanation for why he did that to us!" A loud and screechy voice made Lucille cover her ears with the fluffy pillow that was placed by her side.

"Ugh! Shut up!" She groaned and covered her body with warm blankets.

However, her attempt to fall back asleep was thwarted when her door was pushed open and she could hear shuffling noises from towards her.

'I should learn to lock that damn door the next time!' She cursed her lazy body for forgetting to do that and pretended to be asleep.

Mandy walked towards her mother who was huddled underneath the covers and shook her shoulders hard.

"Mom, wake up! We need to find dad!" She whined and continued to shake her mother awake.

'I would like to do the same thing!' Lucille grumbled in her heart yet did not open her eyes.

"Young miss, I think Madam Yang is still tired after last night's event." Richy meekly whispered in Mandy's ears which made her stop.

She then turned around and scowled at the man who had stood at such a close distance to her.

Feeling his warning gaze, he hurriedly took a few steps away from her and lowered his head as though he had realized his mistake.

Turning back to her mother, Mandy pulled the covers off of her and gasped at what she saw.

"What happened to you!?" She wondered as she observed the swollen face and red nose that she was greeted with.

Lucille felt the light hit her eyes and finally opened them up.

Turning to her daughter and the servant standing behind her, she sneered and then tried to sit up but failed.

Mandy hurriedly moved forward to help her mother sit straight and glanced at Richy who understood her wordless action and ran outside.

"What do you want, Mandy?" Lucille muttered but her voice was hoarse and her throat hurt after she was done.

She raised her hand to her throat and felt the soreness as she touched it.

"Mom, you look awful today!" Mandy made no effort to hide the disgust she felt as she stared at her mother's swollen and pitiful face.

Lucille touched her face and grimaced when she felt the heat radiating through her forehead.

"I am sick and my daughter mocks me rather than caring for me." She shook her head and fell back on the bed.

Mandy heard her mother's accusing words and quickly shook her head in her defense but before she could say anything, Richy had re-entered the room.

"Madam, please drink this. It would soothe your throat." He carefully handed over a cup to Lucille who once again sat up.

"Now tell me what exactly happened to you?" Mandy questioned after she watched Lucille gulp down the warm tea.

Lucille thought back to what had happened and then sighed.

She was supposed to meet that man yesterday but he had stood her up in such an unceremonious manner.

She looked up at her daughter and then smiled weakly.

"I was at the terrace garden for a little too long and I seem to have caught a cold. There's no need to worry about it." She raised her hand to pat Mandy's hand who flinched for a second.

'She's just sick, you won't catch it so easily! Tolerate it!' Mandy tried her best not to dodge her mother's hand and sat still.

Richy silently sneered when he saw how this lady was about to shy away from her own mother's touch.

"But why exactly were you at that place for so long! You know that it gets cold in the night!" Mandy lightly chided her mother and she scooted her butt to sit a little away from her.

If there was anything Mandy hated, then that would be getting sick or being around sick people.

She would feel an icky feeling in her entire body and would only wish to be miles away from that sick person.

However, now that it was her own mother, she had to suck it up and tolerate it.

Unknown to the feeling of disgust that Mandy was trying to put away, Lucille was glancing at her with eyes filled with pity.

'I was there because I was supposed to meet your father there.' She looked down at the now empty cup to avoid the gazes that were focused on her.

'Your real father…' She circled her finger over the cup as a bitter smile appeared on her face.

'But that man never bothered to show up and he did not give me a heads up about it!' Her bitter smile turned to gnashing teeth as she recalled this.

She had received a text to meet him there but when she arrived at that place, she met Lina and Reuben Ming sticking to each other.

After their encounter, she watched as they left and then waited for him to show up but he never did.

She had spent a good part of last night sitting at that stone-cold bench in hopes of meeting him but all in vain.

After hours of sitting alone, she finally received a text from that scary man.

*Too public. Next time, Lucy.*

That short text dashed all her thoughts and hopes of meeting him.