Chapter 26

Nora hesitated at the entrance. Through the doors, she could see customers scattered around the sales office and employees in uniform crossing the floor.

She had never been anywhere like this. She caught Elise's arm before they went in.

“Elise, what are we doing here?”

They had already arrived; there seemed little point in keeping it from her now.

“Buying a home,” Elise said seriously.

It took Nora two seconds to produce a sound.

“...What?”

Had she heard that correctly? Did buying a home mean the same thing to Elise that it meant to everybody else?

Before she could work it out, Elise was walking through the doors. Nora hurried after her.

A scale model of the development stood in the middle of the room. Elise bent over it, studying the direction each building faced, then picked up a stack of floor plans from beside it and began to turn the pages.

The condos had only recently been finished, and they were close to school. If her adoptive parents lived here, she could go and see them whenever she missed them.

Watching her examine the plans so earnestly, Nora hardly dared breathe.

Was she really here to buy a home?

But Elise was poor. Where would the money come from? Perhaps she was bored and had come in to pretend to be a customer, just to see what it was like.

“Are you actually going to buy one?” Nora asked.

Surely she was joking. This was a girl who owned exactly one hair clip and had lunch brought from home so she wouldn't have to spend a cent in the cafeteria. How could that girl be buying property?

Elise glanced around. Everyone else was an adult, looking perfectly at home in a way that made the two high school girls stand out. She thought Nora must be uncomfortable.

“If you'd rather wait outside, you could find a shop to sit in. I'll come and get you afterward.”

“No!” Nora shook her head quickly. “I'll stay with you.”

Elise was her only friend in the class. How could she abandon her here? When the employees realized they were only looking around and politely showed them out, Elise would be left to face it alone.

Nora couldn't call herself a friend if she let that happen.

A saleswoman noticed Elise with the floor plans and approached with a smile.

“Hello. Is there anything I can help you with?”

Elise closed the booklet and smiled back. “Could you tell me a little about the development?”

The service was good. Nobody had dismissed her for being a high school student; perhaps the property would be well managed, too. She liked the place a little more already.

The woman showed them to a sofa, then went to get tea.

Nora kept a nervous hold on Elise's arm, half expecting the next thing an employee said to expose them and send them straight out. She watched their saleswoman pouring tea in the distance, then looked at Elise, who seemed entirely calm.

They had taken this much too far.

The saleswoman had just filled the cups when a female colleague hurried up beside her, looking delighted. She lowered her voice, though it did little to contain her excitement.

“That customer you just brought over. Did you see what she's wearing?”

The saleswoman turned, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“The hair clip!”

Oh. She remembered something sparkling in the girl's hair. She had barely glanced at it before looking away. That had been a hair clip?

Her colleague's makeup was immaculate. She loved dressing up and kept track of every fashionable accessory, including the ones she could only stare at enviously on a screen.

Seeing that she still hadn't explained herself, the other woman leaned closer.

“Do you know how much a single diamond on that clip costs?”

Now the saleswoman understood. Some of her colleague's excitement caught.

“How much?”

“I saw it in a magazine,” the woman whispered, almost squeaking. “At least fourteen thousand dollars. Each.”

The saleswoman stared at her.

For one diamond?

Her colleague gave her an eager little look.

“You'll be right next to her. Count them for me!”

The saleswoman had no answer to that. Her colleague really could get carried away, although she had to admit that she wanted to know, too.

She returned to the sofa with the tea and her new assignment. Before she had quite set Nora's cup down, Nora half rose to take it from her.

“Thank you! Sorry for the trouble.”

It was important to be polite. Then, when the time came to throw them out, perhaps the woman would be kind enough to spare them a little dignity.

The saleswoman let her gaze pass discreetly over Elise's hair. A quick count gave her at least ten diamonds, and even she could see that the stones and the workmanship were exceptional.

Somehow, she was the one feeling awkward now. The ease with which she had first approached the girls was gone.

What sort of wealthy family did this girl come from? Even the rich customers who bought homes here usually kept jewelry like that locked in a safe, bringing it out for important occasions. If she could wear it so casually, her family must have plenty more at home.

Their most expensive condo might not be worth as much as the clip on her head.

That was a slightly depressing thought. Still, she could surely make a sale here.

She pulled herself together and began explaining the development with all the enthusiasm she could muster.

Elise listened carefully. She wanted her adoptive parents to have a comfortable home, and that meant considering every detail. She was close to taking out a notebook.

Nora couldn't understand the woman's extraordinary eagerness. Did all the sales staff here treat customers like this? She looked at Elise as though she would happily do anything for her.

Nora held her cup and drank in silence, growing more uneasy with every question Elise asked. Elise wanted to know about everything. She sounded exactly like somebody who intended to buy.

A moment of silence for Nora, please. At this rate, there would be no patience left for either of them when the truth came out.

She was already trying to decide how to leave without looking utterly humiliated.

Once her questions had been answered, Elise made her choice without fuss. It was a two-bedroom condo with a living room, on a lower floor and facing a good direction. The interiors were finished, and the furniture and appliances were included. Everything was ready.

“This one,” she said.

“With the finishes, furniture, and appliances, the total is three hundred and forty thousand dollars.”

Elise nodded. “Yes. I'll take it.”

Nora sat bolt upright, her eyes round.

She was really buying it? A home that cost three hundred and forty thousand dollars?

The saleswoman was beaming, delighted by how quickly Elise had decided.

“Just a moment, please. I'll get the paperwork.”

As soon as she was out of earshot, Nora caught Elise's clothes.

“You're serious? You're really going to buy it?”

Did she have that kind of money? It was hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Elise looked amused by her reaction. “What else would I be doing?”

Nora fell silent.

Wait. Her desk partner was supposed to be a poor girl who brought lunch from home and only had one hair clip. How could that same poor girl actually be buying a home?

Had Nora misunderstood something?

The saleswoman returned with the contract and a card terminal.

Elise went through the paperwork briskly. The card held twenty-eight million dollars, and there was no daily transaction limit. She carefully entered her PIN, then watched the display until it showed that the payment had been approved.

Only then did she relax. She had finally taken care of buying a home for her adoptive parents.

A notification arrived on her phone. She counted the zeros in the remaining balance. Against twenty-eight million, the money she had just spent hardly seemed to make a difference.

Nora had watched every part of the payment. Three hundred and forty thousand dollars, and Elise hadn't even blinked. She had simply paid.

She had really bought it.

Her desk partner had gone out after school and bought a home.

Nora had thought her own family was well off. Apparently, her desk partner was richer. Much richer. Even Nora's family couldn't casually decide to buy a place that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

She sat motionless, looking at Elise with a confusion too profound to put into words.

The hair clip. The lunch. Had she got all of it wrong?

A clip that beautiful, food that delicious: in hindsight, both had been rather unusual. Expensive, even. What sort of hair clip did a person own only one of? Probably the sort Nora couldn't afford in the first place.

And she had been feeling sorry for Elise.

Now she felt sorry for herself. She couldn't even afford a hair clip.

She wanted to cry a little.

With one major worry settled, Elise felt wonderfully light. She picked up her schoolbag.

“Come on. There's still time. I'll go to the bookstore with you.”

When Nora didn't move, Elise frowned slightly.

“What's wrong?”

Nora stared ahead, looking as though she had left her body behind.

“Nothing. I just feel like crying.”

Elise looked at her in bewilderment.

Outside the sales office, Nora grew quiet. Elise's face had seemed familiar when they first met, but she hadn't been able to place her. Now that she thought about it, she had heard the name before, too.

Then it came to her. That girl who had been reunited with her wealthy family, the one everybody had talked about online. Hadn't her name been Elise Whitmore?

Nora tapped her forehead.

“No wonder you looked familiar! You're that Elise Whitmore?”

She didn't follow gossip much and rarely looked at X. She had only happened to hear somebody mention the story a while ago. When Elise suddenly transferred into her class, Nora had somehow assumed that, despite the similar name, she must be somebody else.

Elise saw no reason to hide it from a friend.

“Yes.”

She had expected people to recognize her before coming to school. The doxxing incident had attracted plenty of attention, and her photos had circulated online. Afterward, she had changed her X profile picture and hadn't logged in again. She had no idea what people were saying now.

Somebody was bound to recognize her in person. How had Nora missed it?

Elise took out her phone and opened X. After the incident, her follower count had reached five hundred thousand. Now it had gained another hundred thousand. Thousands of private messages were waiting, from Adrian's fans and from people who simply liked her.

She searched her own name.

The posts spreading rumors about her were gone. So were the photos that had been passed around. There were hardly any search results left, and the few posts she found were harmless remarks from casual users and fans. She couldn't find even one insulting her.

Elise frowned. What had happened?

She remembered how abruptly the trending topic had vanished during the doxxing incident. Her first thought was Julian.

Had he cleared away the photos, the false stories, even the insults?

Perhaps that explained why Nora had only thought her name sounded familiar, rather than connecting her with the girl online.

Elise turned to her.

“Do you believe any of the things people used to say about me?”

Nora thought for two seconds, then shook her head firmly.

“Of course I don't. You're nothing like they said.”

They had called Elise ugly and badly brought up. But she was beautiful, and so gentle. They couldn't have been more wrong.

Elise smiled at her, a quiet warmth spreading through her chest. Her first day at school, and she already had a friend.

They went to the bookstore together. When it was time to go home, Ethan came to collect Elise. Nora discovered that her friend even had a driver of her own, who came out especially to pick her up.

By then, she took it quite calmly.

Really.

She was only a little envious.

In the quiet study, the phone beside Julian vibrated.

He picked it up. A new friend request had appeared from someone whose display name was Ms. Parker.

Hello. Are you Elise Whitmore's parent or guardian? Could you accept my request, please?

Pulled out of his work, Julian tapped Accept.

When Elise transferred schools, there had been a space on the form for a parent or guardian contact. Their parents were gone. As her oldest brother, he had naturally put down his own name.

Ms. Parker: Hello, I'm Elise's homeroom adviser, Ms. Parker. Could you join our parent group?

Ms. Parker: I'll post important information there about exams, extra classes, and so on.

Julian frowned, then understood. Her teacher had gathered the class's families into a chat so she could notify them all at once.

But Vivian and Elise were in the same class. Why hadn't anybody asked him to join before?

He called Daniel at once.

The butler paused before remembering. When Vivian had enrolled, all four brothers had been busy. Since he took care of her school arrangements anyway, he had simply entered his own name as the contact.

This time, he had specifically asked Julian whose name to put on Elise's form. Julian had told him to use his.

Daniel knew that Julian generally left small matters like this to other people. Given who he was, his messaging details couldn't be passed around freely, either, and he could hardly be added to every group somebody happened to create.

“I'll speak to Ms. Parker,” Daniel said quickly. “We can change the contact to me.”

Julian considered it.

“No need.”

He put down the phone, then sent the teacher a reply.

Julian: All right.

Who handled Vivian's school matters hardly concerned him. Elise's parent contact had to be him. Who among his brothers had a better claim?

The thought left him in a remarkably good mood. He was the one responsible for Elise. Her parent, as far as school was concerned. Exactly right.

Ms. Parker sent an invitation. Once he joined, Julian held his phone and carefully examined the list of members.

Apart from the teacher, there were forty-some people, all using display names such as somebody's parent. He went through them one by one, even opening a few of their friends-only feeds out of curiosity.

What were other parents like?

This was his first time doing it himself. It felt rather strange.

After encountering quite a few photos of balding, sleazy-looking middle-aged men, he silently backed out.

He opened his own group profile and changed the display name to Elise Whitmore's parent.

A little later, somebody else joined.

Julian hadn't muted the chat. The alert appeared straightaway.

Ms. Parker: [puzzled emoji]

Ms. Parker: Why are there two people called Elise Whitmore's parent?

Ms. Parker: One representative per family would make the group easier to manage. Could one of you please leave? Thank you!

Just above her messages was the notice for the new member, whose display name was also Elise Whitmore's parent.

Julian frowned and opened the profile. The picture showed Adrian from the waist up, playing his bass.

He sent his brother a private message.

Julian: What are you doing in this group?

Adrian: ?

Adrian: I'm her parent.

Julian: How did you get in? Did Ms. Parker add you, too?

Adrian: Daniel gave me the QR code. [dancing emoji]

Julian took a deep breath. He had clearly been far too indulgent with Daniel. The car he had been considering as a year-end bonus could be forgotten.