Chapter 85. Where Are They Going?

Chapter 85: Chapter 85. Where Are They Going?

Chapter 85. Where Are They Going?

The question made Rosa flinch. She slowly turned her head to look at Mia.

"I’m sorry, what?" she asked.

Mia scoffed, keeping her eyes on the road. "Don’t play dumb with me. I asked what your plan is."

Rosa breathed out, pressing her head back against the headrest and gazing up at the roof of the car. "I don’t know. I’ve just been so confused thinking about it... bothered, overwhelmed, all of it."

Mia scoffed again and glanced ahead. "So if I hadn’t pressured you right now to say something, what was the plan? Were you just going to carry yourself over to Mrs. Lee and be like, ’Hey, I’m your cute little sacrifice’?" she said, pitching her voice into a high, cute cat voice.

Rosa turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. "This is not funny," she said.

"Well, it sure sounds funny coming from you," Mia countered. "Why can’t you, for once, learn to at least depend on people and let them help you? Especially people who are actually willing to help?" She made a gesture that made it obvious she was referring to herself.

Rosa gritted her teeth, trying to keep herself from laughing. She turned to look out her window and smiled. I’m really lucky to have such a good friend, she thought to herself. She turned back to look at Mia. "What do you suggest I do?" she asked.

Mia breathed out, squinting her eyes as she stared straight ahead. "I really do not want you to go, because from where I’m standing, this is all a trap. She is planning something big, and whatever it is, I don’t really know. She’s probably just trying to take advantage of your presence or something. I know people like that because of the power and authority they wield. Physical contact and communication make it all the more intense when they’re trying to force their point."

She drew another breath. "I am as confused as you are," she continued, but then stopped talking, smacking her lips together as she stared ahead, thinking about it.

Rosa looked at her expectantly, eyes wide.

"Hmm," Mia said, pressing her lips together as if an idea had suddenly struck her. "I think you should go."

The sentence felt like a bomb blast to Rosa. She blinked, her eyelids fluttering uncontrollably. "I’m sorry, what?" she asked.

Mia smirked. "I know it sounds absurd," she said, "but I think you should go."

Rosa sat up quickly, squinting at Mia in utter disbelief. "My ears must be itching right now. I did not just hear you say I should go," she said, her eyes wide.

Mia smirked, darted a nanosecond glance at her, and looked back at the road. "Yeah," she said simply. "Go ahead—but obviously, I’m coming with you."

Rosa gritted her teeth and scoffed. "Yeah, like that’s supposed to be a relief? Do you think she would even allow you to be in on the discussion or whatever the meeting is?"

Mia frowned, then chuckled. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Rosa leaned forward. "Why did you suggest that, Mia?"

"Because I feel like we should maybe actually get to see what her offer is," Mia explained. "I want to know what the offer could be. I’m a little bit inquisitive. What would have made her come up with the decision to threaten you with your school fees? She’s been taking care of you all this while and she has never threatened you with it before. Why now? Why all of a sudden? Why try to make it so obvious? Didn’t that occur to you, Rosa?"

Rosa looked ahead and to the side, thinking about it with a raised eyebrow. "Well, now that you mention it, that actually makes sense."

Mia chuckled. "Perfect, so I think it’s best for us to know what we are walking into."

"But wouldn’t that feel like stepping right into a trap?" Rosa hesitated, looking at her from the corner of her eyes, waiting for her to speak.

Mia looked back at her from the corner of her eyes, letting the question hang in the air.

Rosa slumped back against the chair, breathing out heavily as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Oh my god, this shit is fucking killing me," she murmured.

Mia chuckled. "I know it sounds stupid," she said, "but there’s a saying that goes, ’Know the enemy before you make your move.’"

Rosa looked at her with a grimace on her face. "I’ve never heard of that one before," she said.

Mia grinned. "I made it up just now."

Rosa scoffed out a laugh and rolled her eyes, looking back out the window. Mia smiled, beaming uncontrollably. "So what do you say?" she asked.

Rosa gritted her teeth. "It feels like we are walking into a trap, but at this point, I don’t feel like I have a choice because I don’t know what to do."

Mia then breathed out. "Are you going to let me claim you to counter this?"

Rosa froze. She blinked. "I’m sorry—claim me as what?" she asked.

Mia chuckled. "Stop acting dumb, Rosa. Claim ownership to be your legal guardian so she won’t use your school fees and college expenses to threaten you anymore. That’s still up for grabs."

Rosa stared at her in disbelief. "You meant that?" she asked.

Mia chuckled. "Did I sound like I was joking yesterday?"

Rosa smiled nervously. "Well, I don’t know. I assumed you had just spoken out of the heat of the moment. Maybe your anger got the better of you. I didn’t think that you actually meant it. But are you sure? Did you really think about what you are proposing?"

Mia shook her head, pressing her palm against her forehead. "Oh my goodness, I cannot believe you right now," she murmured.

Rosa chuckled. "Look, I understand you, okay? I understand your intentions, but you are literally trying to break the contract between me and Mrs. Lee and register yourself as my guardian. You are also a student, Mia. You know that, right? Do you think it’s going to work out well? It could backfire against you. Do you think you can handle that?"

Mia shrugged. "Well, I don’t know. I don’t see any problem with that as long as I’m older than you."

Rosa gave her a skeptical look, one eyebrow raised. "You are still a student, Mia," she repeated.

Mia pressed her lips together, smacking them as she squinted her eyes and tilted her head to the side. "Okay, now that you’ve mentioned that, I did not actually think about that scenario," she admitted. She scoffed and shook her head. "Yeah, maybe you’re right. Got lost in the heat of the moment and didn’t even bother to think."

Rosa breathed out and collapsed back against the seat. "Well, not that I don’t want you to help me. It would actually be nice, but I just don’t want you to do anything that would turn around against you without your parents understanding. I don’t want to get you in trouble with them."

Mia chuckled. She tilted her head slightly to look at Rosa, who was staring out the window. She smiled, shook her head, and looked back ahead of her.

Silence took over for the rest of the journey, with each of them lost in their own thoughts until they finally reached Mia’s apartment. Mia parked at the curb, and both of them made their way into the apartment building, completely unaware of the luxurious car parked directly across the road in front of the building.

Don sat in his car, resting his arm against the window edge as he finally turned off the ignition. He squinted at the building entrance. Okay, so this is Mia’s apartment. I’ll keep that in mind. He pulled out his phone and quickly typed down the address. Exhaling softly, he tapped his fingers lazily against the edge of the window, waiting.

What do I do now? I cannot just assume she is going to go anywhere, right? I cannot just step in either and begin questioning her. It’s going to sound weird.

He breathed out, ran his fingers through his hair, and shook his head. Maybe I will just have to wait. She is definitely going to have to go to school, right? If she goes to school, I’m going to know.

He flexed his shoulders and leaned back in the car, waiting patiently, staring ahead and glancing intermittently back at the building.

Several minutes later, he caught sight of Rosa’s familiar figure stepping out of the apartment building alongside Mia. He flinched and sat up, quickly pressing the button on the door panel beside him. His window slid up, closing until it left only a narrow slit. He squinted his eyes and watched.

He saw both of them step into Mia’s car. Something else caught his attention: the way they were dressed. They were wearing casual dresses rather than what they usually wore when going to school, and neither of them was carrying a backpack or any items for education.

He frowned, tilting his head to the side. Now where the hell are they going? he thought.