Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
Slowly, Justin let go of Flossie and looked at Halston coolly. “You’re right. It is pretty crowded here, so you should leave, Mr. Guajardo. After all, escape rooms are more suitable for couples.”
“Couple?” Halston scoffed disdainfully. “Can you two even call yourselves that?” Xavier had told him that Flossie and Justin were just dating, trying to see how things would go. Technically, they were not a couple yet, so Halston felt confident enough to ask.
“We…” For a moment, Justin was speechless. He didn’t know how to argue since he didn’t know what his current relationship with Flossie was. He wanted to say they were a couple, but Flossie hadn’t confirmed it yet. However, they had gone on dates, held hands, and hugged… So could they be considered friends? At the end of the day, the decision was Flossie’s.
“Phoenix, why don’t you tell Mr. Guajardo about our relationship, Justin said finally. He knew that even if he wanted to move their relationship forward, it was pointless. She might just see him as an ordinary friend, or at most, a companion.
“We…” Flossie started, then hesitated awkwardly.
“It’s okay. Just listen to your heart.” Justin tried to smile, but he knew he had lost. His tone was bitter as he said helplessly, “We’ve been dating each other for a while now. I always knew your thoughts but was too timid to ask you about them. Today, at least I’ll have the opportunity to know. If you still don’t feel that way about me, I can leave and never disturb you again.”
“It’s not the time to talk about that now.” Flossie glanced at her watch, then frowned and added, “The game will end in twenty minutes. Shouldn’t we finish the game first?”
“I agree!” Jeffrey blurted out, feeling uncomfortable in the tense atmosphere. He took a deep breath and added brightly, “Plus, I think this morgue is big enough for all of us; it isn’t crowded at all.”
Jeffrey’s words filled Flossie with relief, and she quickly chimed in, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I can even do somersaults in here. Just stay. We’ll be stronger with more people, and we need to finish this game soon!”
At that moment, the speaker above them boomed, “Players, you have twenty minutes left to finish the game. If you succeed, you’ll get a mystery gift. If you fail, you’ll get a horrible punishment. We hope you enjoy the game!”
After a brief pause, Halston said, “If that’s the case, let’s finish this. You two can eventually revisit this topic once this is over.”
Justin scowled in displeasure and demanded, “Hey, what do you mean? Do you think my relationship with Phoenix is just something casual?” He didn’t like the way Halston implied that his relationship with Flossie was barely progressing.
Justin wanted Halston to hear Flossie acknowledge their relationship. Right now, it looked like Halston wasn’t threatened because he felt Flossie and Justin were not deeply in love with each other.
“That’s enough, Haze. Stop making a scene. Why do you always insist on winning like a kid?” Flossie gripped Justin’s ear and rebuked him helplessly. “There’s no need to get affected by insignificant people, okay?”
“Okay, I’ll listen to you,” Justin said obediently, then shot Halston a triumphant smirk. “I’ll listen to whatever my baby says.”
“Mm, that’s good!” Flossie touched his head and smiled tenderly. Although Haze could sometimes be playful, he would listen when he had to. Flossie could easily control him, which she was very satisfied with.
Jeffrey nodded in approval. ‘Flossie, you behave like a kindergarten teacher.”
Flossie looked proud of herself as she added, “Yeah, and you’re my student too.”
The atmosphere became less tense… but Halston’s expression didn’t get better.
“Okay, tell us what clues you found. We have to hurry.” Flossie went back to the main topic and urged Justin.
“We found these in a secret compartment.” Justin fished out a stack of dusty documents. “Surprisingly, there’s a pregnancy report in here. It’s Jayla’s, and it says that she was two and a half months pregnant!”
“Jayla?” Flossie blinked in surprise. “Jayla was pregnant… Who was the father of the child?”
“Where did you find this report?’ Halston asked icily.
“In an office.” Justin looked solemn. “There were other strange documents there too. They were all young women’s check-up reports.”
“I see.” Halston looked cold. He opened his hand, revealing the iron hook. “Didn’t you want to know what this iron hook was used for?”
“Do you know?” Flossie asked, looking puzzled.
“If my guess is right, Jayla might have used this to abort her child… And her cause of death was severe blood loss or an infection after the botched abortion.” Halston sounded firm as he continued, “When she was sent here, the head of the hospital took advantage of her. She got pregnant and was locked up. But she loved her boyfriend deeply and couldn’t stand the thought of having her rapist’s child, so she used this iron hook to get rid of the child on her own.”
“What? Did she use the iron hook to…” Flossie looked horrified, and asked in disbelief, “How is that possible? Only you could come up with such a crazy idea!”
“Actually it’s possible.” Justin observed Jayla’s corpse and was shocked at the sight of flesh between her legs. I’ve read about such a thing in a book called Amenia Horror Stories. The heroine did it because she didn’t want to give birth to the villain’s child. I guess whoever came up with this theme was inspired by that scene.”
“How could there be such a thing?” Flossie’s eyes grew wide in shock. She didn’t know how someone could think of something so terrible.
“We’ll know if it’s true or not once we test the composition of the bloodstain on the iron hook and the pool of flesh. If they’re a match, then the theory is confirmed. While talking, Halston walked around the room in search of something.
“What are you looking for?” Flossie asked.
“If our guess is right, there has to be equipment somewhere to test it. If it isn’t here, it must be somewhere else. If the blood samples are a match, we’ll know the reason for Jayla’s death. We can also confirm the identity of the father of the child. Then, we’ll know who the murderer is and win the game,” Halston remarked calmly.
“Agreed!” Justin approved of Halston’s idea and started looking for the equipment.
“Are you sure?” Doubtful, Flossie watched Halston and Justin discuss with each other, then muttered, “You two sure are getting along well.” At first, she was worried that the arrogant heirs of the Baldwin and Guajardo families would fight, but it was nice to see that they had hit it off. If she did date Justin, it would be good if he and Halston got along, at least for her children’s sake. She started looking around for the machine with them, but they couldn’t find it.
‘Players, there are only ten minutes left. Please hurry up!” The speaker above them boomed.
At that moment, Xavier and Leia ran into the room. “Flossie, you guys are here! We found something!” Leia rushed into the morgue and hugged Flossie excitedly. They had only been apart for less than half an hour, but Leia felt as if she had just escaped death.
Xavier followed closely behind her. He had a piece of equipment with him as he announced, “We found this blood test equipment in the office of the deputy director upstairs. We had to complete a lot of tasks to get it. I don’t know whether it’s useful or not.”
“Yes, it’s useful!” Halston took the equipment and started following the steps written on it. He took blood samples from the iron hook and flesh before placing them in the equipment.
After five minutes, a green light flashed on the machine, confirming that the two substances were of the same composition.
‘It seems like our guess is right. The murderer who killed Jayla was the deputy director of the hospital!” Justin declared excitedly.
At that moment, the speaker sounded again. “Congratulations, players-you’ve won the game! Please come to the registration counter to get your mystery gift!”
“Yeah, we did it! We’re so smart!” Leia held Xavier’s hand and jumped up and down happily.
Flossie, however, still looked unsatisfied. “Is that all?” Although they had won the game, she found the plot too unrefined. The ending was too abrupt.
“You didn’t enjoy yourself?” Justin smiled at Flossie fondly and said, “Why don’t we come again another day? They have other themes that are pretty interesting too.”
“Forget it, I won’t come again. Maybe I’m getting old… I’m not suited for things like this.” Flossie chuckled.
“Well, what should we do next time then?’ Justin started planning their next date. After some contemplation, he suggested, “Why don’t we go to the forest for a paintball game?”
“That’s not suitable for her either,” Halston abruptly commented from behind them.
Flossie turned around and glanced at Halston disdainfully, then grabbed Justin’s arm. “Anything will do. Any game is interesting as long as I’m with you.”
“Ew, how cheesy!” Leia giggled, then added teasingly, “You two are getting more clingy every day, it must be love!” Xavier glanced at Halston worriedly, then scoffed, “No, it’s not. Didn’t you tell me yourself that they’re not in love? Well, I think love shouldn’t be forced. If you two don’t have feelings for each other even after so many dates, it means something is off. It might not work out.”
The atmosphere suddenly became tense, and everyone went silent.
“Shut up!” Leia glared at Xavier. “Do you have a death wish?”
They all exited the escape room quietly. The receptionist welcomed them back enthusiastically and told them that their prize was an expensive photography session.
Leia scoffed, “Tsk, what’s so great about taking photos? It’s boring.”
“Miss, don’t get upset. We have many interesting themes like traditional costumes, dramas, magic… Oh, we even have a wedding theme! You and your boyfriend look lovey-dovey, and I’m sure you guys will get married soon. You can try the wedding theme!”
“No need!” Embarrassed, Leia blushed. “I don’t want to marry a playboy like him.”
“The wedding theme is collective. Many of our players picked this theme and took group wedding photos, and most of them actually did get married after. Young people like this theme a lot.”
“We’ll take that!” Halston and Justin said in unison.