Meanwhile, at that very moment in the middle of the city, Anthony, slicked-back hair and sharp suit, stood with Mike in his shirt and tie, Jade in her nursing scrubs, and Ruby in a casual t-shirt and jeans. They were gathered right outside the building owned by Eric’s grandfather, the place where Eric used to live.

Anthony stepped up the stairs and stood right in front of the shop doors. He peered through the glass, searched around the frame for a doorbell, and even looked up at the security camera to give it a wave.

"Hello? Anyone in there?" Anthony called out.

Naturally, the door stayed shut. He only succeeded in making passing pedestrians turn around and give him bizarre looks. He tried knocking on the glass, but there was zero reaction; nobody came out to open up for him. Finally, he deflated, walking back down to stand with Mike, Jade, and Ruby.

"Are you absolutely sure this is the spot, Jade?" Anthony asked.

"Yeah... I got the address directly from my sister-in-law, Avery," Jade replied, holding up her screen to show her chat history.

"Caleb couldn’t get ahold of Eric either. Eric blocked his number yesterday, I was actually hanging out with Caleb when it happened," Mike added.

"Ugh... this is bad. Two days and absolutely zero progress. I’m going to get fired at this rate," Anthony said, looking completely stressed out as he ran a hand through his slicked hair.

"Um... is your company really trying to sign Eric and The Empress to a record label, Anthony?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah... my CEO assigned me to this personally. Is there any way you can get in touch with them?" Anthony asked Ruby.

Ruby didn’t say anything, but she shook her head as her answer. Anthony’s face twisted into an even deeper expression of stress. Mike stepped up and clapped a hand on Anthony’s shoulder.

"Take it easy, man. You’ll find a way to contact them," Mike offered reassuringly.

"Yeah... but where else am I supposed to look for them?" Anthony groaned.

"Look... those girls are starting school in a week, just like Ruby. You could probably just catch them at the school. What do you think?" Jade suggested.

"Yeah, that’s true. Our school opens up in four days for the new school year," Ruby added, trying to help convince him.

"Hmm... do they go to the same school as you?" Anthony asked Ruby.

"Yep... they’re at the exact same school, and we’re all in the same grade. Two days ago, I ran into them and Eric right on campus. Here’s proof," Ruby answered.

Ruby pulled up a social media post that was circulating a video of the incident—the clip showing Ruby crying, Emma slapping her to the ground, Eric standing by completely unfazed, Jade and Mike rushing to Ruby’s defense, and Eric walking away with the six girls. Spotting the video, a glimmer of hope instantly sparked in Anthony’s eyes.

"Alright, that works. I’ll report back to the CEO first to buy us a little more time until school starts. Thanks, Ruby," Anthony said.

"You’re welcome, Anthony," Ruby replied.

Jade turned her head to look at Ruby, who was sporting a faint smile with her head bowed. She noticed Ruby’s hands were tightly gripping each other down by her waist, nervously wringing them. Jade reached out and touched Ruby’s shoulder.

"If Eric’s girls try to bully you when you get back there... just let me or Mike know," Jade said.

"Okay," Ruby whispered back.

Watching the exchange, Mike just shook his head, looking completely checked out. It was blindingly obvious from his face that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with any of this drama.

"Whatever, let’s get moving. I need to get to the office and then head to class. You have to get to the nursing school too, right?" Mike urged, grabbing Jade by the arm.

"Yeah, and I’ll be home late again tonight. I’m heading over to an influencer friend’s place to learn the ropes of breaking into showbiz, got it?" Jade said, shooting a sideways glance at Mike.

"Do whatever you want," Mike muttered, clearly annoyed and unhappy with the situation.

"Whatever, let’s get out of here," Anthony urged.

With that, they immediately walked away from the front of Eric’s building. Anthony got into his own car, which he had parked by the curb, while Mike climbed into his car along with Jade and Ruby. Both vehicles pulled away and quickly vanished around the corner.

***

Three days later, Emma, Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura were busy cleaning up their respective rooms because their new beds had finally arrived. They had purchased three sets of new beds to replace the massive master beds in their rooms, moving one of the master beds into the guest room, which was now Eric’s bedroom.

On top of that, they were unpacking boxes filled with their clothes and personal belongings. They truly looked like roommates sharing two rooms with three girls in each. Eric had already finished setting up his own bedroom, as well as the workspace for his songwriting right next door.

He sat down on the couch to relax for a moment, but suddenly "ding," a text message popped up on his smartphone. He checked it and saw that Katie was contacting him:

"Eric, the investigators have found a lead. Can you come down to the station right now? Mr. Richard also dispatched me to go there,"

"Hmm... that was fast. Only four days and they already have a lead," Eric thought in his head before typing out his response. "Okay, I’m heading over now," Eric replied via text.

Eric immediately stood up and walked over to the neighboring master bedroom. He knocked on the door, and "click," Emma pulled it open, peeking out from behind it.

"What’s up? Do you want to go grab some food?" Emma asked with a smile.

"I need to head out for a bit to take care of something," Eric answered.

"Oh... where are you going?" Chloe asked, suddenly appearing right behind Emma.

"To the police station to meet with the investigators. They said they found a new lead," Eric replied.

"Oh... do you need me to come along?" Chloe asked.

"No need, I’ll handle it myself," Eric replied.

"Hmm... who else is going to be there?" Emma asked suspiciously, locking her eyes onto Eric’s face.

"Detective Norman Bates and the investigators," Eric lied, simply because he didn’t want the girls tagging along with him.

"Hmm... fine... that vixen from the law firm won’t be there, right?" Emma questioned.

"Yeah... the guy who called you was Norman, right?" Chloe chimed in, backing her up.

Eric could only sigh, looking at the two girls staring at him with heavy suspicion, both clearly itching to go with him.

"Nobody else is going to be there, just Norman. I’ll only be a minute, alright," Eric said firmly, leaving zero room for argument.

"Click," the adjacent door swung open. Monica, Priya, and Laura stepped out, effectively cornering Eric, while Heidi joined Emma and Chloe.

"We’re coming," the six of them said in unison.

"Don’t. You guys will just be bored. Over there, it’s just looking through case files in a tiny room, smelling stale, cheap coffee mixed with cheap cologne, surrounded by nothing but old guys," Eric said, trying his best to convince the six girls that they really shouldn’t tag along.

The six of them stared intently at Eric, their eyebrows knitting together in the center. They scrutinized his face, searching for any hint of awkwardness or a sign that he was lying, but Eric remained completely calm and expressionless.

Finally, the six girls just sighed. Monica, Priya, and Laura headed straight back to their room, while Heidi and Chloe stepped back inside as well to resume what they were doing, leaving only Emma standing in front of Eric.

"Alright then. Drive safe, and make sure to pick up some food on your way back," Emma said with a smile.

"Got it, I’ll grab some food later," Eric replied, feeling a wave of relief wash over him now that he had successfully convinced the girls not to tag along.

Emma stepped inside and closed the door behind her, and Eric walked back to his room to change. He threw on a hoodie and a pair of jeans, but when he walked back out, he froze.

Chloe was sitting on the couch, looking absolutely furious, clearly waiting for him. The moment she saw Eric come out, she stood straight up, marched over, and shoved her smartphone screen right in his face.

Eric’s expression completely dropped. It turned out Katie had sent the exact same text message to Chloe, and she had just checked it. Eric then noticed that Chloe was already dressed and ready to go. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

He stared at her face as she offered a smile, one that definitely didn’t look pleasant on her usually cold features.

"Let’s go... and don’t worry, I didn’t tell the others," she said coldly.

"Oh... okay, haha," Eric replied nervously.

They walked over to the elevator. Once they stepped inside, right before the doors slid shut, Chloe stood on her tiptoes and whispered in Eric’s ear.

"And I didn’t tell the others that you were trying to sneak off to meet that vixen behind our backs. But if you try anything funny with her, you’ll see what happens. I’m tagging along to keep an eye on you and that vixen, got it?" Chloe whispered coldly into Eric’s ear, sending a sharp shiver down his spine.

After that, Chloe stood quietly right next to Eric as if nothing had happened, while Eric, still feeling deeply unsettled, sneaked a glance at her. He started thinking hard in his head.

"I didn’t want them to come along because I didn’t want them starting a fight with Katie... besides, what are they even fighting over anyway? Aren’t we all just friends?" Eric thought in his head, trying to process everything that kept happening. Clearly, he couldn’t find an answer because he was looking at it from the completely wrong perspective.