恶霸鲁尼 奖学金

"Are you really Monica\'s friend?" Nathan asked Abigail exasperatedly. "You are telling me a different thing."

Abigail rolled her eyes skyward. "Is your Monica the real Shining Star? I thought you knew Shining Star\'s character. Shining Star would certainly punch you on your first meeting, not throw herself into your arms! That\'s the Shining Star I know."

Abigail was hinting to Nathan that Monica might be an impostor. Though she didn\'t say it directly, she just hoped Nathan would doubt Monica\'s identity even just a little.

Nathan fell silent for a moment, trying to analyze the situation. Knowing the behavior and attitude of his playing buddy, Shining Star, Abigail had a point. Punching him to be her first reaction during their first meeting was feasible and reasonable.

But Monica surprisingly didn\'t act like that. She looked so happy and hugged Nathan immediately. Their first meeting was very awkward at first.

"Maybe after all those years, she had forgiven me already." Nathan reasoned out, justifying Monica\'s reaction.

"Hah!" Abigail laughed at him sarcastically. "As if your action could be easily forgiven. If I were her, I would ignore you for a whole month just to get even at you... for ghosting me!" Abigail spat back at Nathan, arching her eyebrow.

"I explained everything to her. I think she understood me and she didn\'t bear a grudge against me." Nathan said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders. He didn\'t want to argue further. He was respecting Abigail\'s opinion. Shining Star might have shared her real feelings with her friend, Abigail.

"BTW, when did you and Shining Star become friends? You are younger than her." Nathan realized the age gap between them. He wondered when Shining Star confided her feelings with Abigail.

Abigail had to pause for a moment to calculate their ages. She had to consider the real Abigail\'s age to coincide with her story, making it more believable. She was aware that they had six years gap.

"I was 14 when I met her. She became my mentor and taught me some skills. Shining Star is like a big sister to me."

Nathan stared at Abigail intently. He was still puzzled since Monica didn\'t mention any friends to him before. He had never heard of Cliste. And Monica had stopped playing computer games. She focused on dating Nathan. When she came back after she disappeared for three years, she already introduced Ethan to him as his son.

\'Yeah... Both of us had no time to talk about other people... We focused on Ethan and ourselves...\' Nathan thought to himself. This was the only explanation he had in mind.

"What kind of mentor she was?" Nathan continued asking Abigail. He would like to hear more information about Monica aka Shining Star. Through this, he was trying to cope with his longing for her. It felt so good to have someone to whom he could talk about the woman he loved.

"It looks like the two of you are having a serious conversation here. Care to share?" Stephen spoke up from behind, catching Nathan\'s and Abigail\'s attention. Cherry, Aiden, and Stephen finally joined them in the living room.

Seeing the three, Nathan leaned closer to Abigail and whispered, "Let\'s continue to talk about her some other time."

Abigail just nodded her head in agreement. Their gestures gained suspicious looks from their friends. But Abigail and Nathan ignored their reactions and just feigned innocence.

The topic of Shining Star was only between the two of them. Nathan didn\'t want Stephen and Aiden to know that he was asking Abigail about Monica. His two best friends always nagged him to move on and have a fresh start. Monica was the deep scar in Nathan\'s heart.

Cherry sat down beside Abigail. Aiden planned to sit in between Abigail and Nathan, but to his surprise, Nathan moved closer to Abigail, occupying the space between them. In the end, Aiden was forced to sit on another couch opposite Nathan and Abigail.

"Mr. Sparks... Stephen... Can I stay here tonight? I want to watch her over." Cherry asked their permission. She wished to be with Phantomflake all the time. "Can I also work here? If you have a task for me, Mr. Sparks, I can do it here. Just provide me with devices and equipment."

"Hey. Are you planning to live in this house?" Aiden butted in, not waiting for Nathan and Stephen to say a word. He intentionally interrupted the two men. Stephen was staying alone in this house aside from the two robots and the bodyguards outside. He couldn\'t imagine Cherry and Stephen alone in this house. They were like husband and wife.

"Nope. But as long as my sis is here, I will stay here and not leave her side. Why? Do you have any problem with that?" Cherry scowled at Aiden.

Aiden didn\'t know what to say. He just whispered to Stephen and requested, "Bro, do you mind transferring Phantomflake to my place? I will take good care of her... and Cherry."

"NO," Stephen promptly replied, rejecting Aiden\'s request. "She will stay here... in my residence."

Aiden could only heave a sigh of defeat. "Fine. But I\'m not going home tonight as well."

Cherry and Abigail gave Aiden a questioning look as soon as they heard his last statement. What was he planning to do here? He would just pester them, especially Cherry.

"Don\'t give me such a look. I seldom visit Stephen\'s house so I want to grab this opportunity to stay longer. This is just once in a blue moon!" Aiden defended himself.

The two ladies just shook their heads while eyeing Aiden with disbelief. \'What a shameless guy!\'

"How about you, Nate and Abi? Do you want to stay and bond with us tonight?" Stephen invited the two.

"Yes... Abi, you can accompany me here. I will take good care of you too. I want to spend time with you." Cherry tried to convince Abigail. She leaned closer to her and faced her with a puppy-eyed look.

Abigail just smiled sheepishly. Then she moved her gaze from Cherry to Nathan, asking him through their eye contact. She was worried about Little Ethan. He was expecting to see her at home after his class this afternoon.

"How about Ethan? He will be disappointed if he can\'t see me at the mansion."

Nathan was glad since Abigail was thinking about Ethan\'s feelings. He felt at ease that Abigail always considered what was best for Ethan and what could make him happy. He appreciated that kind and generous gesture from Abigail toward Little Ethan.

"No worries. I can ask the chauffeur to bring Ethan here after school," Nathan replied.

"Is Ethan allowed here?" Aiden asked his best friend. Phantomflake was there. If Little Ethan would come, this would be the first time Ethan would meet the woman who killed his mother. But of course, Nathan and others wouldn\'t tell Ethan that the patient in the house was the assassin.

Abigail also had this fear. She felt uneasy just thinking about Little Ethan meeting Phantomflake, her original body.

\'Nate doesn\'t know that his son knows the truth about Monica\'s death. Sigh. I\'m getting nervous. Does Ethan know who killed his mother? Is he aware of Phantomflake\'s existence... of my existence...?\'

"Ahem. I think it\'s best for us to go home, Nate. What if Ethan is not used to sleeping over at another house?" Abigail just wanted to prevent Ethan from meeting her real body. What if he knew that she was the culprit behind his mother\'s death, would Ethan hate her?

\'Definitely, Yes... Sigh...\' Abigail was feeling dejected.

"Don\'t worry. Little Ethan can stay here. It will be more fun having a smart adorable child with us. We will not allow him to enter the patient\'s ward," Stephen suggested.

"That\'s a brilliant idea! Yes! Yes! I want my charming godson to be here as well! I want to play with him." Aiden supported Stephen\'s suggestion.

Abigail glanced at Nathan once more. She was anxious. She didn\'t know why but she had a nagging feeling about this. The more they would restrict Ethan from seeing the patient, the more he would become curious.

"What\'s your decision, Abi?" Nathan consulted her. Of course, it was a surprise for Stephen and Aiden. They were not used to seeing Nathan being considerate of another woman, aside from Monica.

"Ahem, Nate\'s social skills are improving," Aiden whispered to Stephen, smirking broadly.

"Stop that. They can still hear you," Stephen mumbled, hitting Aiden\'s shoulder. Aiden just let out a soft chuckle, still eyeing Nathan with his glowing eyes.

"Please Abi. Stay with us," Cherry begged. "I want to talk to you about my sis..." she added in a low voice.

Abigail couldn\'t refuse Cherry. With that, she finally agreed to spend the whole night at Stephen\'s place. And Little Ethan would be joining them.

They were still talking when Nathan\'s phone resounded. Someone was calling him. When he saw the caller ID, Nathan\'s eyebrows were drawn together in a deep frown. Abigail took a peek and saw Veronica\'s name on Nathan\'s phone screen.

\'Sigh! Here comes the Witch. What does she want? Grrrr. I haven\'t avenged Black Rose yet for the slap she gave her. I swear... if I see Veronica, I will settle a score with her.\' A sly smile appeared on Abigail\'s lips.

"Nathan, why don\'t you invite Dr. Veronica as well? The more the merrier!" Abigail blurted out, surprising everyone.

Cherry: "..."

Stephen: "..."

Aiden: "..."

Everyone was aware of the commotion Veronica made in the hospital yesterday.  Even Nathan was wondering why Abigail wanted to invite Veronica to come over.