Chapter 8

Every word from Bianca's was laced with calculation. Instantly, the hall went silent. Julian's face turned ghastly pale. He'd recognized the voice instantly. Every inflection and faint tremor was identical to Bianca's. "How is this possible..." His Adam's apple bobbed, and there was clear disbelief in his voice. Adrian stood next to him, dropping his playful attitude from earlier. His brows knitted together tightly, disbelief written across his face. Meanwhile, the other guys stood in stunned silence as well, exchanging bewildered glances amongst themselves. Their earlier excitement about watching Wendy make a fool of herself had completely evaporated in the face of this unexpected recording. Just then, Julian snapped back to his senses. As if remembering something, he spun around and grabbed the delivery man who hadn't gotten far yet. "You said Wendy asked you to deliver this. Where is she now? Where did she go?" The delivery man flinched at his intimidating presence and frantically shook his head. "Sir, I swear I don't know! I just delivered the package to the address provided. The sender only said to give it to you two and didn't leave any other information." With that, he yanked his arm free and quickly left the villa. Just then, one of the guys finally spoke up. He skeptically said, "What if Wendy deliberately faked this recording to frame Bianca? Bianca's the nicest person we know. Why would she ever do something like this?" Adrian grabbed onto that idea and took a deep breath, trying to shake off the unease. "You're right. This has to be one of Wendy's tricks. She's just doing it to get our attention." Under normal circumstances, Julian would have agreed that it was another one of Wendy's cunning moves, designed to provoke and test him. But for some reason, an uneasy sense of foreboding washed over him. It tightened around his heart with every breath. He couldn't shake the feeling that something important was slipping through his fingers. So, he pulled out his phone, scrolled to Wendy's contact, and dialed her number. He wanted to ask her himself what game she was playing. But this time, Wendy—who'd always answer his calls immediately—didn't pick up. All he heard was the mechanical voice, saying, "The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later." Julian called not once, but three times, and each time the same robotic voice answered. With every repetition, Julian's expression grew darker. Still, he refused to give up. He opened WhatsApp to message Wendy, only to see a red exclamation mark next to the input box. She'd blocked him. Julian was momentarily stunned. Then, he threw his phone onto the couch as anger flared in his chest. "If she wants to act out, she needs to learn her limits. Has she really gotten bold enough to block me?" he spat. Adrian also tried sending a message to Wendy, only to see the same red exclamation mark. He blew up on the spot and kicked the coffee table. "What the hell does she think she's doing? First, she forges a recording to frame Bianca, and now she blocks us? Is she deliberately trying to piss us off? "When I find her, I'll make her regret it." "Julian, do you think… she found out about our plan for tonight?" one of the guys hesitantly asked. An awkward silence followed his question. Julian was taken aback, and his fingers trembled slightly. He frowned and retorted, "No way. Only a few of us knew about the plan, and everything was kept under wraps. There was no way she could have found out." Even so, dread kept gnawing at him—especially with Wendy having blocked him and that voice recorder she'd left behind. Something about it all felt wrong. Adrian scoffed, leaning back onto the couch with a contemptuous sneer. "So what if Wendy found out? She's just being difficult. Does she really think she's special? "She's just a woman who was abandoned by her parents. Not to mention, she's an ex-inmate too. We're doing her a favor by letting her hang around us, and now, she has the nerve to give us attitude?" No matter what their guesses were, Wendy never showed up. Now, without the guest of honor, the carefully planned "surprise" had fallen flat, and the birthday party had lost all purpose. Julian stared at the empty doorway, a tight knot forming in his chest. Finally, he waved his hand in irritation and said, "Forget it. She didn't show up, so there's no point in keeping the party going. Let's just call it a night." Everyone exchanged uncertain glances but didn't dare to say more. They simply grabbed their jackets and left the villa. Soon, only Julian and Adrian remained in the living room. Julian took a deep breath and massaged his temples, trying to push back the rising panic. "Get someone to have the recording analyzed. We need to confirm whether it's fake," he said. Adrian looked confused. "Why are you doing this? You don't actually believe Wendy's trick and suspect Bianca, do you?" In his eyes, Bianca was the picture of innocence, while Wendy was the perpetual schemer. Julian said, "I'm not suspecting Bianca, but we need proof. If Wendy dared to use such underhanded tactics to frame Bianca, I won't let her get away with it." Even so, Bianca's voice from the recording kept echoing in his mind, leaving him unsettled. He paused before adding, "Until we get the results, no one says a word about this to anyone, especially not to Bianca. I don't want her to worry." Adrian reluctantly agreed. With that, Julian watched his brother's car disappear down the driveway. Then, he turned back into the villa. The spacious living room felt unusually silent. The noise from earlier was gone, and the untouched dishes and the half-eaten cake only made the space feel even emptier. He sank onto the couch and felt a dry sting rise up in his throat. Almost by instinct, the words left his lips. "Wendy, get me some water…" He stopped mid-sentence. The house was quiet, and the person who'd used to answer him wasn't there anymore. Julian let out a self-mocking smile. Then, he got up and walked to the kitchen, pulled out a bottle of cold water from the fridge, and poured it into a glass. The cold water stung as it went down his throat. Suddenly, he remembered how Wendy would always have lukewarm water ready whenever his throat was sore before. It was always at just the right temperature for him to drink. As Julian gripped the cold glass, that unsettling feeling surged back like a tide. The coldness in Wendy's eyes when she'd looked at him in the hospital suddenly flashed in his mind. Still, Julian shook his head, trying to shake off the strange surge of emotions. He told himself Wendy was his enemy, someone he was supposed to hate above all else. When he found her, he'd make sure she got the punishment she had coming. She needed to learn that there were consequences for walking out on him. Adrian had mentioned Wendy was good in bed. He'd always kept things cold and mechanical with her before and had never bothered to try anything different. But this time, when he found her, he'd make sure to really enjoy her this time.