EPISODE-03 THE FIFTH MISS ALDRIDGE IN AN AFFAIR

Crescencia Aldridge quietly took a step back into the shadows, ensuring she remained completely hidden from view. Standing beside her, Kim Jiu watched her closely. Catching her friend's watchful gaze, Crescencia turned and offered a playful wink, her eyes crinkling with amusement.

Kim Jiu rolled her eyes in response.

"A cat playing with a mouse, she thought, a smirk tugging at her lips. I certainly like this trope."

"Then enjoy," Crescencia whispered smoothly.

Kim Jiu gave a subtle nod before turning her attention back to the hallway. In a low voice, she instructed, "Stay back."

A few paces away, Clara Lopez studied the visibly anxious woman standing before her.

"Miss Perkins, are you saying your brother was resting here?" Clara asked, her voice cool and measured.

Nayella Perkins turned to face her, her expression tight with worry.

"Miss Lopez, my brother had a little too much to drink and was resting here. But now... there's a woman inside?" She paused, her tone hardening with indignation. "Let me see who is trying to trick my brother and take advantage of him!"

But the moment the words left her mouth, Nayella abruptly fell silent, hesitating to continue.

Clara raised an eyebrow, her interest piqued.

"Why did you stop, Miss Perkins? Go on."

"It's... I don't know if I'm right or not, but when I left my brother here to rest, I think I saw Fifth Miss Aldridge. Is the woman inside..." She trailed off, leaving the question hanging heavily in the air.

Most of the guests had already left the hotel after giving their statements to the authorities, eager to escape the suffocating tension. Yet the human appetite for gossip could never be underestimated, and even these high-born elites were far from immune to its allure. A small crowd still lingered, hanging on every word.

Clara's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Mind your words, Miss Perkins. The Fifth Miss Aldridge only returned from the USA not long ago, and very few people have even seen her. So how are you so certain that you saw her?"

Nayella hastily waved her hands in defence, trying to dispel the sudden chill in the atmosphere.

"Miss Lopez, you're misunderstanding me. I mean no disrespect, nor am I pointing fingers at Fifth Miss Aldridge. As for how I recognised her... her elder sister, Charlotte, is a good friend of mine, so she once showed me her picture. That's how I recognised Fifth Miss Aldridge when I left my brother here to rest. But Geoffrey had a terrible stomachache, and I was in such a hurry to leave that I didn't have time to think much about it."

From her hidden vantage point, Crescencia watched the scene unfold with quiet amusement.

"So you're saying the Fifth Miss Aldridge is the woman inside the room with your brother?" Clara asked, tightening the trap.

Nayella straightened her back, adopting a righteous expression.

"I... I believe she would never stoop so low as to resort to such tactics just to win a gentleman's heart. She is a woman of noble character and grace. She would never commit such a shameless act as seducing a man in bed."

A soft laugh broke the tense silence.

Stepping out from behind Kim Jiu, Crescencia revealed herself to the gathered crowd.

"I never realised I had such a prestigious and noble reputation back in my homeland."

Nayella gasped, her face draining of colour.

"Fifth Miss... You are here? Then the person in the room—"

She instantly bit her tongue, cutting herself off.

Crescencia raised an eyebrow, a mocking smile playing on her lips.

"In the room? Miss Perkins, you seem awfully certain that it should be me in there. But weren't you just saying that you did not doubt my noble character?" She paused, her smile widening ever so slightly. "Or was that simply a lie?"

"Eh... no... It's not that..." Nayella stammered frantically, her eyes darting anxiously toward the closed door. "It was just a slip of the tongue. My apologies, Fifth Miss Aldridge."

Clara let out a derisive scoff, looking at Nayella with open disdain.

"There's only a service girl inside, attending to your brother while he rests, Miss Perkins. No one said anything, yet you rushed here and immediately began implying it was someone else. If it weren't your brother inside that room, people would think you were the one trying to frame him."

"I... I would never!" Nayella cried, her composure beginning to crack. "I wasn't accusing anyone. I was only speculating based on what I remembered because I was worried that my brother might fall victim to some scheming woman."

"But, Miss Perkins," Crescencia interjected gently, her eyes still curved into a warm smile despite the razor-sharp glint within them, "I never even set foot on the third floor tonight. So how exactly did you see me wandering around here?"

The question struck like a hammer.

Nayella choked on her words.

Her fingers tightened around the fabric of her dress as she lowered her head, unable to meet anyone's gaze.

"I... I must have been mistaken."

Kim Jiu gave an exaggerated scoff.

"Then perhaps you should stop mistaking random people and spinning stories inside your head."

"I... I didn't mean it like that," Nayella whispered, her face burning with humiliation.

Having seen enough, Clara waved a dismissive hand toward the nearby maids.

"Escort Miss Perkins out." Then, casting a cold glance toward the bedroom door, she added, "And have her bring her brother back as well."

The maids immediately bowed.

"Yes, Miss Lopez."

As though the unpleasant farce had never happened, Crescencia turned to Clara with a bright smile.

"Clara, hurry up. We're waiting for our feast."

Kim Jiu nodded in agreement.

"Exactly. Other than two glasses of wine, I haven't eaten a single thing."

She shot Crescencia a sidelong glance.

"Unlike Encia, who somehow managed to finish two whole sets of cakes."

Crescencia clicked her tongue dramatically.

"I offered you some. Don't tell me you're jealous now."

Kim Jiu folded her arms with a huff.

"I simply have better self-control than someone whose stomach is apparently bottomless."

Crescencia feigned shock, placing a hand over her heart.

"How cruel. You're attacking me over dessert."

Clara pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a weary sigh.

"Enough, both of you." Despite her exasperated tone, the corners of her lips twitched upward. "Go downstairs first. I'll join you in a moment."

Without another glance at Nayella, the two women walked away together, chatting and laughing as though the confrontation had been nothing more than a minor interruption.

Left standing alone in the hallway, Nayella watched their retreating figures until they disappeared around the corner.

The smiles on their faces only made the fury inside her burn hotter.

Damn it!

She screamed inwardly, her nails digging into her palms.

How can there be a call girl inside? Crescencia was supposed to be the one defiled by my brother tonight. How did everything go so terribly wrong all of a sudden?

First that killer. Then failed attack on Auristella Aldridge and now Crescencia.

Her entire body trembled with rage.

Grinding her teeth, Nayella shoved the bedroom door open and strode inside.

Her eyes immediately landed on the bed.

Jordan Perkins lay there half-naked, his face flushed as he writhed in obvious discomfort, suffering the consequences of the very scheme that had backfired on him.

Nayella stood over her brother, her jaw clenched so tightly it hurt.

Not a single word escaped her lips.

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