BuzzNovel“Sorry, that information is confidential.” The receptionist pressed a small bell, and In no time, a tall man
emerged from a side door.
His presence was intimidating enough to make Illeana shrink back instinctively. She retreated two steps, slipping
out the door.
Without a word, the man shut the door firmly, shutting Ileana out-both physically and from any further answers.
Fuming in helpless frustration, lleana lashed out and kicked the heavy door. But after walking for over an hour,
her legs were already weak and sore. The kick only sent a jolt of pain up her own foot.
She let out a sharp scream right there on the sidewalk, drawing the attention of several passersby.
“What are you staring at?”
Her shout snapped everyone back to their own business, eyes quickly averting. Ileana looked around, eventually
picking a nearby coffee shop to sit and wait for
Alessia to cout.
“Who was just here?” Cole asked as he cdown the stairs.
“Probably just someone who got lost,” the receptionist replied. “She followed Miss Tate in, | think.”
Cole didn’t press for details. He simply turned and headed back upstairs. Meanwhile, Alessia was unfazed by the
earlier commotion, fully focused on her sparring match with her coach. The hour-long walk hadn't really tired her
out, but the back-and-forth of the bout had her drenched in sweat in less than thirty
minutes.
This wasn’t an ordinary gym-it was a private training stuowned by a friend of Cole's father, Parrish. The Tate
family didn’t see the point of girls learning self-defense, but Jade felt otherwise; she believed it was even more
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtimportant for girls to be able to protect themselves. After checking with Alessia, she made arrangements for her
to train here at least three times a week.
Since it was a members-only facility with limited coaches, sessions had to be booked in advance. They usually
didn’t accept young people, but Alessia and her friend were polite, talented, and Parrish had helped the owner
out ye. ago, so an exception was made.
Nearly two hours later, Alessia finally emerged alone. She'd changed clothes, and fresh bruises were visible on
her arms. Her face was unreadable as she set off for
her next destination.
Illeana spotted her and hurried after her.
This time, Alessia entered a music store. Ileana was relieved she wasn't left outside and watched as Alessia
slung a case over her shoulder and headed out again.
“What was that girl here for?” lleana asked.
“Oh, her? She cto pick up her violin. It’s been a long road for her-she’s only just now able to take it home...”
But Alessia was already turning the corner, and Ileana, not bothering to hear the rest of the clerk’s words,
dashed out in pursuit.
In lleana’s mind, she'd already decided Alessia must have been unable to pay for the violin until now. Whatever
else the clerk had to say didn’t matter to her anymore.
“What's going on?”
“A girl just asked what Miss Tate was taking with her.”
“Be careful what you say to strangers. Not just anyone can hire that maestro, and if
you
stir up trouble for Miss Tate, are you ready to deal with the consequences?”
“Sorry, manager... | didn’t think it through...”
Their conversation was muffled
behind a closed door. liana, om
meanwhe wpsfocteed solely on
chtdhing up, hardly noticing that dusk
had already begun to fall. The
content is on novelenglish.net! Read
the latest chapter there!
Luckily, Alessia didn't make any more
stops and started retragingiay steps.
The though of king backup the hil
nkafly broke Ileana, but she gritted
her teeth and kept following. The
content is on novelenglish.net! Read
the latest chapter there!
Climbing back up was brutal. By the
eighth tIleana nsiglered giving
P seit spon in her
tracks. The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
Ileana froze, too, but with nowhere to hide on the open road, she awkwardly
pretended her shoelace had cundone and crouched to tie it, buying herself stime.
“What are you carrying?” a voice called out.
“Are you blind?” Alessia shot back.
Illeana glanced up. She recognized the boy from her notes-Max Tate, Alessia’s
17.70
older brother. The way they bantered was so different from the stiff.
the Morton family.
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