𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗘, nate archibald.

𝐢𝐯. 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 & 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥

Nate. That's right. Now that she thought about it, he disappeared at some point and never came back. It was pretty late at night, but she was too busy to deal with the Chuck situation to worry about Nate too.

"Angel's here too, you might have to share a bed with her, if that's alright. If not, I'll sacrifice myself and sleep with her instead."

Chuck shot her a teasing look, but he was met with Angelique's dismissive hand gesture.

"I'm leaving. I've had enough of you guys for tonight," she confessed, rising from her seat and grabbing a purse. "Don't forget your dad's holding a brunch tomorrow."

Chuck put his phone down to talk to her, but didn't end the phone call.

"Oh, come on! Why are you leaving?" He complained. "How long has it been since the last time you and I shared a bed together?"

"Not long enough," Angelique raised her tone right as she opened the front door, then waved him goodbye and left.

Chuck shook his head and took back the phone. "Looks like it's just you and me. Unless you wanna bring the party here. I wouldn't complain." A devilish smirk formed on his lips as he was pleased to find out the party wasn't over for him yet.

Tonight was exhausting for Angelique. On her ride back home, tonight's events started playing back in her head.

Any normal person would be more concerned about everything that's happening in her clique. It wasn't normal and it wasn't healthy either, but it was all she needed to survive. Out of everything that was going on in her life, her toxic group of rich and entitled friends was the last thing she needed to worry about.

Little did she know, but the real storm was just about the start.

She grabbed her driver's hand and got off the car. She was already sleepy when she opened the front door, so she didn't notice the mess in the main hall until she stepped on something that sounded like broken glass.

She glanced down and saw that it was indeed glass. Carefully, she moved her foot to the side and turned the lights on.

"What the—" she whispered to herself, confused by the sight in front of her.

Her house looked like a disaster. Almost as if there had been a hurricane inside.

"Miss! Please, be careful!" Zöe showed up and motioned towards the broken glass shards on the floor. "I didn't get to clean the entrance yet, my apologies."

Angelique nodded her head and moved to a clean spot. "What happened here?"

But the head maid didn't reply. "I think it's better if you talk to your mother instead—"

The sound of another glass item breaking interrupted both of them and caused Angelique to jump a little.

She bowed her head to the maid once, as if to wish her goodnight, then rushed to the source of the noise: her mother's office.

It was clear as the day that this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation, but she knew her mother well enough to know that she never allowed herself to react, to show any sign of emotion. This? This wasn't like her at all.

Angelique's body was tense as she stopped right in the door frame.

"Mom?" Her tone was low and cautious. She didn't want to have her mother's anger directed towards her.

When the woman turned around to face her, she did it slowly. Angelique noticed the smudged makeup on her face. She had been crying.

The young brunette took a deep breath and waited for a few more seconds before she stepped in the office and approached her.

Then, she realized something. Her mother made a lot of noise and woke up the whole house. But there was someone missing.

"Mom.." Angelique repeated, taking a look around, "where's dad?"

She could feel a lump forming in her throat as her mother shot her a look, instantly regretting asking that question.

Her mother inhaled deeply and wiped the smudged mascara from her face, then straightened her back. "He's in London."

Her answer made Angelique frown. When she left her house this afternoon, her father was there. When the hell did he leave and more importantly, why? As far as she knew, he had no reason to leave New York.

But she knew better than to ask any more questions. She nodded once, as if to let her mother know she acknowledged her answer.

"I'll see you at the Bass brunch tomorrow. Apply a cold compress to your eyes, they're puffy," she said, then turned around and left the office, heading straight to her room.

She dismissed Zöe for tonight by telling her she can take care of herself, then locked her room's door. She opened the balcony door and stepped outside, then she pressed both of her hands on the cold balcony railing and looked up at the sky.

She had a bad feeling about this and it was hard to shake it off. Not even the chilly weather and the clear sky could get to her anymore. There was something really wrong going on in the Evans household and as usual, her mother wanted to keep her in the dark.

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