Around midnight, Sumr Lancaster’s eyes snapped open. She glanced at Kenneth Yates sleeping soundly beside her, then quietly slipped out of bed. To avoid waking Kenneth, Sumr didn’t turn on the light. A mont later, there was the soft sound of a door opening and then closing.
Kenneth Yates’s eyes snapped open. He had known sothing was off. Sumr had been acting strangely today. Going out for a drink wasn’t her style, and tonight, she hadn’t even looked at her phone, just collapsed onto the bed. She seed to be faking sleep, but Kenneth could sense the tension radiating from her.
Sumr Lancaster tiptoed down the corridor and pushed open the door to a room at the corner.
"Mrs. Yates! Is sothing wrong? It’s so late." Eleanor Grant was processing so files. The dim room was lit only by the starlight filtering in. She wasn’t surprised to see Sumr; on the contrary, she was exceptionally calm. She had a feeling Sumr would co looking for her.
Sumr Lancaster nervously clasped her hands, avoiding Eleanor’s gaze as she slowly walked to her side.
"Can you tell about Asher? I feel like there’s sothing... sothing not right about him..." Sumr’s pleading gaze moved Eleanor. Closing her laptop, Eleanor put an arm around her and guided her to the sofa.
"Mrs. Yates, Asher, President Yates, and I all t while studying abroad. He should know Asher better than I do. You should really ask him."
"He won’t tell ," Sumr said, her voice laced with anxiety. ’That’s precisely why I ca to ask you. I knew Kenneth wouldn’t tell , which must an this involves sothing dangerous. I understand his reasoning—he just doesn’t want to put in harm’s way. But the more he tries to shield , the more I worry...’
"Please, just tell !" Sumr grabbed Eleanor’s hand, her pleading look making it clear how desperate she was to know their story.
Eleanor Grant pulled her hand free.
"Asher wasn’t like this back when we were studying abroad. He always brought joy to everyone around him. He was so positive and driven. Every day, he would show President Yates a stack of design sketches, but they always seed to fall short."
"And then what? Why is he like this now?" Sumr asked, impatient to hear the rest of the story.
"I don’t know what he hopes to gain by summoning President Yates here now, but I do know that whatever Asher wants, he always gets." Eleanor suddenly felt a pang of worry, but she kept her face a mask of composure.
’What does he want? Asher said it himself. He wants Heart’s Desire. The ring on my finger. The thing I treasure most.’
"Why does he always get what he wants? Is he more powerful than Kenneth?"
"No!" Eleanor turned, walked to the window, and pulled the fluttering curtains shut. The few specks of starlight vanished, and the room was plunged into total darkness.
"Then why?" Sumr sat up straight on the sofa, her panicked gaze fixed on Eleanor’s profile in the dark.
"Because he is cursed! The heirs of the Brown Family all die when they turn thirty. But before that, he will get anything he desires. Anything!" Eleanor’s expression was resolute, her voice certain.
’What?’ Sumr sat there, stunned and disbelieving. ’Are curses actually real? And it’s happening to soone I know? Why did we have to encounter sothing so terrifying? I wish Kenneth and I had never t Asher at all.’
Sumr stroked the ring on her finger. ’Does that an... this ring was destined to be soone else’s from the mont it was designed? Why did it have to be like this? I just want to live a normal life.’
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