Chapter 192 - Status: In a Loving Relationship

When Liu Xiu Wen aka Scarlet Wilde changed her relationship status sneakily on her dormant social media, the world was set on fire.

Needless to say, Alex wasn't pleased to find out about Scarlet's relationship from social media. Orita was happy that Scarlet finally had a boyfriend but was also upset that she wasn't the first to know. Claire didn't show it but she was hurt that Scarlet didn't tell them first. Didn't family have dibs on this sort of thing? How could Scarlet feed the sharks out there and come back with scraps for them?

"We're not going to let Scarlet go until she spills everything about how it went. How could she tell the world before us about her relationship status? This is unacceptable," Alex fumed and for once, Claire didn't disagree with her.

"The question now should be what do we do about dinner? According to Chinese tradition, I should be making red eggs to celebrate a joyous occasion."

Alex looked horrified. "No, it's red rice and it's a Japanese tradition. Why are you making red eggs? That's only to celebrate the first month of a newborn. Claire, what would you do without me?"

The head maid felt her eye twitch at Alex's smugness and glared at the model. "You're helping me out. Go to the supermarket and buy some adzuki beans. Also, we don't have sticky rice. Will risotto rice be alright?"

Alex checked the kitchen's inventory and hummed. There will be a few other things she would need to grab to make a celebratory dinner for Scarlet tonight. Adzuki means and champagne were on the top of that list.

"I don't know how it will turn out but I suppose there's no harm trying to make risotto with adzuki beans. After all, red rice is a tradition of eating rice cooked with red beans for the occasion. Nobody said we had to use Japanese rice."

It made sense so Claire just went with it and Alex quickly changed to make a trip to the supermarket. The head of security didn't think much and let the girl go alone. After staying at Brooklyn Heights for a while, both girls were already familiar with the neighbourhood and didn't need an escort for something as trivial as going to a nearby supermarket. Alex was also travelling incognito so there shouldn't be much of a paparazzi problem.

Still, two guards walked after the Wilde princess and accompanied her to the supermarket. Alex didn't notice it at first but there were a few rather suspicious individuals around the neighbourhood that she hadn't met before. After living here for nearly three months, Alex had made friends with just about everyone that lived and worked here. Yet, she never saw that homeless person by the bakery or the postman collecting the post today. What's stranger was how the traffic officer issuing parking tickets was different.

"Hello, there!" Alex greeted the postman first. "Why isn't Lehmann here today? Did something happen?"

The postman was startled that Alex would strike up a conversation with him and left quickly without saying anything. Alex was stunned by the response. Usually, people would engage in some small talk before making an excuse to leave. Seeing the postman run from her was rather odd but Alex brushed that from her mind.

She wasn't deterred. Instead, she made her way to the new parking officer and grinned. "Hi, there. Busy day?"

The lady smiled. "Yes. Too many people who don't care about traffic rules. Is this your car?"

Sensing that the parking officer wasn't suspicious, Alex laughed. "No, I'm too young to be driving. Say, what happened to Jordan? Isn't this meant to be his district?"

The lady rolled her eyes. "That fool resigned about a week ago so I'm doubling up to cover for him until they find a replacement."

Alex raised her brows. "Resigned? I thought he said he was gonna stick to it till the year-end to save up for the wedding ring he was planning to buy?"

Taking interest in how Alex knew about that, the officer divulged more details. "I know right? It was so sudden even for us. I guess there's trouble in paradise. He clocked-in one day looking like he'd seen a ghost and begged the boss to let him resign. I don't know why but we never heard from him after that. Ryan, his best bud, tried to call him but the poor chap already changed his number."

Alex nodded. "Sounds scary. I do hope the poor fellow's alright. I'm Alex, what's your name?"

"Jasmine," the officer smiled. "Hope to see you around kiddo, I have to get back to issuing tickets before these people drive away."

Alex smiled. "Alright, I'll leave you to your job then. Have a great day!"

Once Alex was far enough, she eyed the homeless man who picked up his tin can and started walking away from her. Frowning, Alex signalled for the other guard following her at a distance to check on that homeless man. There was definitely something up and after following Claire for a few years, Alex knew a trick or two. Now that she was informed about Scarlet's involvement with Anastasia's business, she had her suspicions.

"Let' grab what we need and head back," she told her other guard. "Watch out for anyone else tailing us but be discreet. Also, don't let my sister find out anything and report the suspicious movement to Claire when you can."

"Yes, ma'am," the guard nodded and followed closer to Alex.

The supermarket staff greeted Alex when they saw her and the model socialised while grabbing what she needed. The guard helped to carry the grocery basket while remaining vigilant while Alex asked questions about strange people in the neighbourhood lately.

"Did you hear? Jordan resigned." Alex asked to see the grocer's reaction.

"Really?" the blonde teen raised her brow. "That's odd. I saw him in his uniform a few days ago in the area dropping by for a coffee."

Alex didn't let the chance go and probed for more information. "Where did he stop by?"

The girl thought about it. "I think it was by the bakery in the next street. Did he really resign?"

Alex shrugged and threw a head of fresh lettuce into the basket. "That's what I heard from Jasmine over there. I don't think she can be wrong but you'd never know."

Ending their conversation, Alex was now sure about the homeless man. He was too suspicious and Jordan's resignation was somehow involved. Not to mention, that suspicious postman was also someone who should be investigated.

"I suddenly feel like buying some sourdough bread for tomorrow. Let's stop by that bakery after this, shall we?"

Her guard couldn't refuse and only followed silently behind while the model filled the basket with two bottles of expensive champagne. Scarlet had finally found happiness and Alex was going to do what she could to make it last. She only hoped that whatever her boyfriend and Elfie were doing could be sped up.

After paying for the groceries, Alex met with the other guard who returned and shook his head. That was all the model needed to know that the homeless man had escaped. If that was truly a man sent by Anastasia, he would report it back and Alex would lose the trail they had. Thinking fast, Alex whipped her phone out and called Elfie.

"Yes? Is this about Scarlet's new relationship status? I'll say it's about time."

Alex laughed. "Well, it's true but I didn't call for that. There's something more important now. I came out to buy groceries for tonight's celebration but there were a few weird people in the neighbourhood that I don't recognise and they behaved oddly. One of my guards pursued one of them but they escaped. Can you check the surveillance camera? I think they finally made a move against us. Thankfully, Scarlet isn't here."

Elfie jolted up at the news and quickly switched his laptop tabs. "I'm on it. Give me the street address and a location of where you found them, I'll try to get the footage in the area. Where are you now?"

Alex walked into the bakery and let the shop assistant announce her location. "I've got to go, keep me informed."

One of the guards stood outside the bakery to keep watch and the other followed Alex in the shop. "Good afternoon," the model smiled. "Do you sell sourdough bread?"

The shop assistant smiled. "We actually do! How many pounds of it would you like?"

Alex hummed. "Just enough for my breakfast tomorrow. Say, what do you normally do with your leftover bread? Wouldn't they spoil if you can't sell them by the end of the day?"

The woman nodded. "They will and it would be a big waste to simply throw them away so we usually pack them in bags to give the homeless we see."

"That's very nice of you," Alex commented. "I'd hate to think that the man sitting outside of your bakery would starve. Thank goodness for kind-hearted souls like yourselves. Does he eat anything else other than the bread you give?"

The woman shrugged. "I don't know, I've only seen him yesterday and he refused the bread I wanted to give him so I gave it to some of the other homeless regulars I know. He wouldn't even talk or look me in the eye. I tried to give him some change but he didn't even say thank you and kept watching the people on the streets the whole time, sitting there. If he didn't move from my shop I would have called the police. There's just something off about him, you know?"

Alex nodded. "It's dangerous to be working alone in the shop with such a suspicious man outside. Are you really alright?"

The woman laughed. "Well, nothing's happened so far but if something does happen, I can tell you that these trays on the rack are pretty heavy. They'll make good weapons."

Alex laughed at that and gave the shop assistant a tip after paying for her sourdough bread. Now that she had the information, she had to inform Claire about it so that the head maid could improve the security details around Scarlet.