"Carl, how long have you been with Ashton?" Amber asked after getting into the car.Carl"s hands momentarily stopped as he insert the key to start the car.
"Don"t be too on guard I"m just asking. I can see despite acting like the butler, you look so close to all of them," Amber explained as she looked out the window, looking outside as the car drove out of the parking lot.
"10 years."
"10 years? He looks like he"s on his mid twenties, 25 or 26? Let"s see, Ashton is eighteen. Then he was double Ashton"s age when he became his... hmmmm friend?"
"Say, what martial arts do you know?" she leaned closer and asked.
Carl glanced at her, he can see her curiosity through her eyes.
"There are three where I am proficient with."
"Hmmmm," she nodded as she moved back and leaned back.
"Well I have a few myself but I focused entirely on Aikido. With my current and past stature, together with my illness. In order to have a few self defense, I studied diligently, especially Aikido since what it uses was your opponents momentum."
As if remembering something, "Oh but what I used against those kidnappers were plainly my strength, though as Ma"am Liana told me, I had a few cracked bones in my knuckle."
She sheepishly smiled after saying this, even with martial arts, in the end, she was still a little thin girl, not all her attacks would actually bring such damage to the opponent.
"Am I talking too much?" she then asked.
"No, it is fine," Carl shook his head and replied.
"Rather than being shock by a doll who was completely silent then would suddenly move, I"d rather have you talk more," was what he added on his mind.
"I hope I can interact more with you people for your last year here. I feel somehow that the surrounding became much breathable than when you face all those two faced people. Oh but I know that all of you are two to three faced as well," she happily started chatting.
"Could this be her way of distracting herself?"
"How about miss Alissa and miss Hayley?" Carl decided to just go with her.
"Oh, of course I knew that they genuinely care. Sometimes it feels great to have people who worry over you. But there would be times that you"d rather have people not to ask if you are fine," was her reply as she prop her head on her hand that was leaning on the open window.
"But if you genuinely want to be their friend, why not tell this to them as well. Why not try to open more about you to them?"
"I"d rather not endanger them even more. By being acquainted with me, they could already be in danger. I have no strength nor power to protect them yet. I can only do so by leaving them in ignorance."
"If I may be bold to ask. If you think that way then why is it that you still stay with them? You already have the money to get your own place. Their place is already stable enough due to the other young master"s investment. So why still stay?"
Amber looked back at him through the rear view mirror, she then smiled with a defeated look on her face, "Because no matter what I say I am still a selfish person."
With her answer, Carl did not dare to ask her more.
They soon arrived at the hotel and he helped her with her crouch and her luggage. She had stayed in the mansion all these time so after the kidnapping, this was her first time returning to the hotel.
"Thank you, Carl," she thanked him with a smile.
Carl replied with a nod and smile before driving away. She watched the car move further and further away when a sudden weight came from behind.
"Waaaahhhh, how can this be fine? You are all in casts," Hayley wailed as she hug Amber from behind.
Amber could also see Alissa and Elloise coming from inside the hotel.
"That"s right, I am a selfish person. I didn"t want them to get involved but I didn"t want for this little warmth they gave me, to disappear as well. I am but a selfish person in the end."
"There, there Hayley, since I am in a crouch, shouldn"t you stop putting your weight on me? I can"t handle our weight like this," she smiled as she pat, Hayley"s arm around her waist.
"Come on now, get inside first. We have heard a few bits of the story but we still want to hear everything from you. For us to understand that you really are fine," Elloise pulled Hayley away from her before saying this.
Alissa hugged her lightly, "Welcome back."
"Thanks."
The group then returned inside.
"It seems that the help and the reason why Blake Thomas and Devon Parker have helped their hotel was due to that girl," one man said to the other who was beside him.
"No matter who she is, the fact that their stocks are rising at a fast rate compared to ours is a bad thing, I"ll try to make that man do some job," he replied.
These two men were actually the two major holder for Fire Empire Hotel, other than the owner himself.
*****
Amber was staring blankly at the three of them. Currently they are inside her room, sitting opposite each other.
"No," was her first word.
"No matter what you say we have made up our minds," Hayley replied.
"Do you understand what you are saying right now? Aunt Elloise, you have to stop them," she then looked at Elloise asking for help.
"I"m sorry dear, these two are stubborn, once they made up their minds, no one can stop them any longer," Elloise replied, for she too actually were cheering for her child and niece about their decision.
"No, you all don"t understand. If you get embroiled with me, the downfall of your family will be set in stone. You might even die," she tried her best to explain.
"We already know, we know how big your opponent is, how big the people you are going to face. We knew but we still chose to help you, in the first place if it weren"t for you then the hotel would have fallen already," Hayley replied, determination visible in her eyes.
"Don"t look too confused, when we set our minds to help you, the two young master"s have dissuaded us by telling us who your opponents will be. But we are still here," Alissa said upon seeing the confusion in Amber"s eyes.
"You might have an early death you know," Amber once again defended.
"We have already asked Aunt"s position regarding this. Other than her, we will lose nothing more. Plus our current lives were only thanks to you, if you didn"t arrive on time then surely all three of us would have died of hunger," Alissa replied.
She came here to help her aunt who never forgot them but her parents have actually died one and a half a year ago. Traffic accident, so currently there is only the three of them in the family.
"I... don"t know what to say," Amber said as she looked at them.
"Well, I"d rather have more enjoyment with my life rather than just aim to defeat my father"s clothing shops," Hayley said eagerly.
"This is life and death, you know," Amber helplessly replied after hearing Hayley.
"Indeed wouldn"t that be even more exciting?"
Amber looked at Elloise who only shrugged towards her.
"Are you really sure about this? I mean..."
"Maybe I"ll be even more at ease if I found out why they are after your life and why you chose to have revenge with them," Elloise replied with a warm smile.
"Thank you very much, really thank you..." was all she could say at first.
They were complete strangers, complete strangers who are both on the brink of having an end. Fate played its part and made them meet each other. The hotel will be closed if they didn"t receive the payment of the loan that day after that night.
While she just lost her parents. Both of them were what you"d call in complete despair and both met during such time.
Who would have thought that they would actually find a life long friend in each other?
"So, will you be telling us?" Elloise once again asked.
Amber wiped her tears, "Well I can"t tell you everything yet but I will tell you as much as I can. It would be a very long one as well."
"We have a whole week around us, to hear your story," Hayley answered.
The two of them have already left the part time job as well. Currently they are all in vacation mode.
Amber started her story the moment their family escaped the prison known as the Price Empire.
The three of them felt different emotions as they listen, until she reached the point of their arrival in Star Country, where she had finally lost her parents.