“Nothing important. They interviewed me for a magazine once but didn’t publish it despite their promise. I waited eagerly only to be disappointed. She’s just a bold rookie reporter from that magazine.”

“Is that all? Just say the word. I’ll have you featured as a cover model for a magazine I know.”

“Hohoho, really?”

Henrietta tugged at the middle-aged man’s sleeve while saying this. Their entourage quietly followed behind, and one of them deliberately bumped Gray’s shoulder as he passed without turning back or offering any apology.

Debbie watched Gray with a tense expression. He stood there for a long time, staring at Henrietta’s retreating figure without even glancing at her.

His shoulders looked so pitiful that Debbie wrinkled her nose bridge slightly and approached him. Though she had been annoyed with Gray all along, seeing him look so vulnerable awakened a maternal instinct she didn’t know she possessed.

People who act tough often have the most tender hearts—they just bark loudly on the outside. Gray seemed like a salt statue watching Henrietta’s retreating figure, looking ready to crumble at the slightest touch.

Swoosh!

Debbie linked her arm with his, almost like kidnapping him.

“Stand up straight.”

Gray turned his head in surprise at Debbie’s sudden action.

“You’ve done nothing wrong, so why are you standing like that?”

It angered her to see him standing there like a guilty person, unable to say a word when a complete stranger bumped his shoulder, just watching his ex-girlfriend walk away.

What a frustrating situation!

Why couldn’t he snap back at times like this instead of holding his tongue? Where was his usual sharp wit? Did he lose his eyes and mouth?

She couldn’t block their path and demand an apology when Gray himself let it slide. The longer they faced Henrietta, the more humiliated Gray would look.

Is it a crime to have unrequited love? Is it a crime to have loved and been rejected?

Why does someone usually so confident become so soft and vulnerable in situations like this?

Gray stood still until Debbie pulled his arm sharply, making him stumble slightly.

“Huh?”

Debbie frowned and said firmly, “Let’s go!”

But Gray couldn’t easily take a step forward.

‘What is Baron Barkran doing here?’

Baron Barkran was Count Shambali’s right-hand man, mainly handling dirty work. Gray had initially approached Henrietta because of Count Shambali, since she was the count’s mistress.

It seemed strange that Henrietta was walking around with Baron Barkran instead of Count Shambali.

Even if she were promiscuous, they wouldn’t meet in a public place like a theater where everyone could see them if they were having an affair. They would choose somewhere more private.

Moreover, Count Shambali was Marquis Clarence’s right-hand man, so Baron Barkran’s relationship with him wasn’t something to be displayed publicly. He shouldn’t be here.

Gray wondered what Marquis Clarence and Count Shambali would be doing at this time. He glanced at his wristwatch.

They should be in a cabinet meeting about the railway workers’ strike. Why were these people here?

Gray wanted to shake off Debbie and follow them, but she dragged him along forcefully.

“Wait, I need to use the restroom.”

Gray tried to pull his sleeve from Debbie’s grip, but he only heard the sound of fabric tearing.

“Where are you going? You said you’d accompany me!”

“That’s true, but I really need to go to the restroom…”

“You can go after the interview!”

The group was already out of sight. Gray resigned himself and started walking with Debbie.

When they reached the waiting room, Debbie was about to knock when she noticed the door was half-open and peeked inside.

She spotted a familiar face she had seen at the national festival after-party.

“Hello!”

Debbie was delighted to see her.

“What brings you here?”

The dancer sitting in a chair stood up quickly and approached.

“You can stay seated and rest. I hope I’m not disturbing you. Have you seen Lorraine by any chance?”

“Lorraine? She just went to meet Henrietta.”

“Henrietta? She was just leaving.”

“Then she might have gone to practice. Should we check the small auditorium? But why are you looking for her?”

“We had an interview scheduled. We were supposed to meet at the Voluptas waiting room, but they said she wasn’t there.”

“Ah… so you were the one for that interview? Lorraine often goes to the small auditorium when she wants to practice her vocals alone. But be careful, there’s construction going on there.”

When Debbie turned around to leave, she realized Gray had disappeared.

“Coming and going without a word…”

She was annoyed but had no choice.

Debbie headed to the small auditorium by herself. Despite being under construction, the small auditorium was noisy with the art prop team working.

“Oh…”

Whatever play they were preparing involved many mechanical devices. On one side, models of the sun and moon hung like pendulums from pulleys that moved up and down to the ceiling.

Colorful pigments were being painted onto wooden planks, while on another side, people were sawing wood like in a carpentry shop, sweating profusely.

Bang, bang, bang, bang.

Amidst the tremendous noise and scattered materials stood Lorraine alone.

Instead of practicing vocals as mentioned, she was pacing in place with a very confused expression, wringing her hands nervously.

“Lorraine!”

Lorraine looked up at Debbie’s call. For a moment, Debbie tilted her head in confusion. Lorraine didn’t look dressed for play rehearsal.

She wore what looked like a man’s duffle coat on the outside, and the clothes underneath were dirty and wrinkled, appearing she had been rolling on the ground.

But upon seeing Debbie, Lorraine’s face suddenly brightened and sparkled.

“Come here.”

Debbie felt almost apologetic for requesting the interview.

Her interview request was merely an excuse to spend personal time with Lorraine, not something she actually intended to publish.

“What’s wrong?”

Lorraine’s hair was disheveled. This wasn’t the appearance of an actress who needed to maintain perfection.

Lorraine’s eyes held a complex mix of emotions as she looked at Debbie.

Just then, a member of the art prop team crossed the stage carrying a large wooden panel on a cart and shouted:

“Move aside! Get out of the way!”

As soon as Debbie and Lorraine moved, another worker carrying boxes passed by from the opposite direction.

“I fell down.”

Lorraine answered in a somewhat hollow voice.

“And that caused all this? What happened to you? Your clothes and face—what’s going on? This won’t do. Let’s go back to Voluptas so you can wash up and change clothes.”

Lorraine shook her head at those words.

“No, there’s no time for that.”

“What’s so urgent?”

“I have my reasons.”

Seeing Lorraine’s anxious expression, Debbie voiced a suspicion.

“Did Henrietta do something to you? I heard you went to meet her.”

The moment Debbie said this, Lorraine hurriedly covered her mouth.

“You didn’t meet anyone. I just postponed the interview saying I was busy. Don’t try to find out more. I have private matters I don’t want others to know about.”

Debbie found Lorraine’s anxious expression troubling.

“Should I call the police? Is someone threatening you?”

At those words, Lorraine stared at Debbie for a moment, then wrapped the coat she had been wearing around Debbie’s shoulders.

“Don’t ever call the police. Return this to Mr. Fret. I’m asking because I don’t think I’ll be able to see him for a while.”

Debbie was confused by Lorraine’s unexpected behavior and tried to take off the coat to return it.

But when she held the coat in her hands, she realized there was something hard in the pocket.

“What is this…”

As Debbie frowned and was about to speak, Lorraine whispered in her ear:

“My bride, welcome back.”

“What?”

Lorraine smiled brightly at the confused Debbie. Despite her dirty and disheveled appearance, it was the clearest and purest smile she had ever shown.

“Debbie, I enjoyed meeting you. I’m afraid I’ll have to cancel the interview.”

Before Debbie could ask why, Lorraine ran to two men in suits who had just entered the small auditorium.

“I’ve been waiting. Let’s go.”

Lorraine’s face, as she looked back one last time, seemed to be telling Debbie not to follow.

Then Lorraine took each man’s arm and hurried away with them.

After walking a few steps, however, one of the men approached Debbie.

“Give me that coat.”

At that moment, Debbie saw Lorraine’s face turn pale. She instinctively realized that the hard object passed along with the coat was something extremely important.

Quickly, without letting the man notice, she slipped the object from the pocket and hid it in her sleeve while naturally handing over the coat, almost throwing it at him.

Lorraine rushed over and urgently pulled the man’s arm.

“Let’s go quickly. Leave her alone. Otherwise, I won’t go along quietly.”

Lorraine gave her a look. From Lorraine’s pale face, Debbie read traces of a serious crime.

‘I need to take Lorraine and run away right now.’

At that moment, Lorraine gestured toward the other art prop team workers nearby. Her expression seemed to suggest they were all part of the same group.

Debbie felt a chill down her spine, realizing she had walked right into a lion’s den.

“You got the coat back. Put it around my shoulders. If you don’t want to cause a scene and draw attention, leave my friend alone—she didn’t even have an appointment with me.”

They were in the small auditorium with many workers around during construction. While Lorraine stood firmly in place, Debbie backed away toward the exit.

Lorraine put the coat back on her shoulders. That was the last Debbie saw of her.

What Lorraine had secretly passed to her was a keyring.

There was no key, just a crude rectangular wooden ornament attached to a round ring.

The pattern carved into the wooden decoration was quite intricate, and its polished surface from handling suggested it had a story behind it.

Cursing the absent Gray, Debbie rushed to Voluptas as Lorraine had instructed, rather than to the police station.

She avoided going to the parking lot to look for Gray’s car, fearing she might encounter trouble, unable to distinguish between enemies and ordinary employees.

So Debbie ran far from Centum Theater, intending to take a carriage from the main road to Voluptas.

That would have been her plan, if someone hadn’t covered her mouth at that moment.

Ack!

A voice whispered in the ear of the startled Debbie.

“Go home now. That will keep you safe.”

Debbie trembled at the voice, unsure whether it was a threat or persuasion.

“Pretend you were never here.”

Strangely, the voice sounded familiar. Debbie’s heart sank. The voice belonged to the phantom thief with the white gloves.

She couldn’t tell whether he was an enemy or an ally.

“This may seem strange, but you shouldn’t get involved in this matter.”

Hearing those words, Debbie became furious.

“Lorraine has been kidnapped! I’m going to the police station!”

At that moment, everything went black before Debbie’s eyes.

* * *

“Aaahhh!”

Debbie woke up screaming. Finding herself in her own room was startling even as she screamed.

“Shut up!”

Someone from the next room yelled loudly.

“Let me sleep! You’re not the only one living here!”

The cheap multi-family building had poor soundproofing. Debbie stood up unsteadily, trying to calm her racing heart.

The situation felt so surreal that she touched and felt every object around her to confirm whether she was dreaming. Her hands were trembling.

Who on earth had brought her here?