Kaija was deep asleep when she felt a hand clamp tightly over her mouth and soone gently shaking her shoulders. Her eyes slowly opened, and when she did, she almost scread when she recognized the silhouette of Juho’s face in the dim light, but his hand had already silenced her.
Once she’d cald down, he whispered into her ear, his voice urgent, "Get changed now. Then co outside. I’ll be at the door. It’s ti for you to leave." Then he slipped out of the room without another word.
Kaija was stunned. Her heart was still pounding wildly in her chest. Had Juho finally gotten what he wanted from Charles? Was it because of that video from before?
Her gaze landed on the jeans and sweater from the first day she was captured, neatly folded at the corner of the bed. She quickly shook off her useless thoughts and got dressed. None of that mattered now. She’d better move fast before he changed his mind.
Juho led her down to the garage and put her in a modest black sedan, then settled into the driver’s seat. "You’ll have to put this on," Juho said, pulling out a black eye mask. "It’s for your own good."
She put it on without protest. She didn’t want to know more about him or his secrets than she already had, not when he was finally setting her free.
"Where are you taking ?" she asked.
"Back to KE," he said quickly. "I hope this little incident stays between us, as I’ll continue my duty at KE as your photographer for the rest of your training."
"Of course," she said, biting her lip. It wasn’t like she had a choice anyway. He’d already threatened her with her mom’s life.
"So Charles Kosonen gave you what you wanted?" she asked.
"No," Juho said curtly.
"Then why are you letting go?"
No answer ca. With the eye mask on, she couldn’t tell what expression Juho was making. For a while, there was nothing but the sound of the car key turning and the engine starting. She started to feel nervous.
"Juho?" she called out quietly.
When he spoke again, she could feel his breath pressing close to her ear, grazing her skin in a soft whisper. "If I keep you here, you won’t be safe. I can’t always stay around."
Kaija flinched slightly on instinct. "What do you an?" she asked, now even more confused.
"Gustav is a good dog. Unfortunately, I’m not his master."
She swallowed hard. Did that an Juho didn’t actually order them to beat her up? And more importantly, was there soone above Juho in this mansion?
Maybe she shouldn’t have been so surprised. The place was big enough for a clan, and she was sure Gustav had called Juho Young Master. That could only an the true master of this place was soone else.
The car sped off.
She kept her mouth shut the whole way. Juho didn’t say anything either. She could only tell he was driving fast. Too fast. Like he was in a rush. She nearly threw up a few tis from his sharp turns, even with her strong vestibular sense. After about an hour, the car finally stopped.
"You can take that off now," Juho said.
When she did, she realized they’d stopped at a hidden corner about five minutes’ walk from the back gate of the campus.
"I’m afraid you’ll have to walk from here," he added.
"It’s fine." She shrugged. "What should I tell Charles Kosonen then, if he asks?"
"Tell him you’ve convinced soone to help you and that person got you out."
"Alright, I guess I should thank you," she said curtly, tossing the eye mask aside and opening the door. There was no point in lingering any longer.
"Wait," Juho called after her. "Before you go, there’s sothing you should know."
"What?"
"Charles Kosonen chose to abandon you."
Sothing in her chest tightened. "Didn’t I tell you?" she muttered, stepping out of the car. "There’s nothing between and Charles Kosonen."
She slamd the door shut before Juho could say another word and hurried toward the gate. Why was he even telling her that? Was she supposed to feel sad and cry over it? She’d been glad Charles hadn’t lowered himself to Juho’s demands. She had no reason to feel anything now.
Still, that dull throb in her chest when Juho said it... maybe she was just too tired. She shoved the thoughts away and made her way back to the dorm blocks.
Only after she reached Building S did she realize — she’d completely forgotten about the bag Juho’s n had taken from her. She hadn’t even asked him for it back. Her key card, phone, and wallet were all inside. She couldn’t even call Esko or Camille now.
Luckily, so security guys were around, but they refused to let her into Building S without an ID card to prove her identity. She ended up spending the night in the security room instead. Not that she could sleep much. It was already almost 3 AM.
When the clock hit 6, a security guy woke her up. She asked him to reach Esko for her. He arrived fifteen minutes later as he was close, just within the dorm blocks.
Esko seed totally shocked when he saw her — maybe because of her new hair, maybe because she’d been gone for weeks. Either way, he showed no sign of knowing anything about her kidnapping this whole ti, just like everyone else.
"Kaija!" he cried, lunging at her and pulling her into a tight hug. "You have no idea how much I’ve missed you! Camille told you’d gone ho to deal with so family stuff. Is everything okay?"
Kaija quickly caught on. Charles must’ve used that excuse to explain her absence to everyone at KE.
"Yeah, everything’s fine now," Kaija said, playing along with the excuse. "But I lost my bag on the way back. Can you help get into the dance studio? I’ve got a class with Antony soon. I’ll need a new key card too."
Esko blinked at Antony’s na, his panic rising. "Of course! We can’t make you late for Antony’s class! Hurry up, Kaikai, get your ass up! Let’s go!"
Esko practically dragged her off at lightning speed. He even got her a boba tea as a welco-back gift. Luckily, she arrived before Antony, so she had so ti to enjoy the drink. The caffeine and sugar hitting her empty stomach and sleep-deprived brain felt unreal . She almost passed out from pure bliss.
If Antony walked in right now and told her to throw it away, she’d be ready to fight him. But given she was his only student in this beginner class and he didn’t even know that she was back, she wasn’t sure he’d show up at all.
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