Chapter 104: Golden Tickets and Handcuffs
Once everything wrapped up and the audience cleared out of the auditorium, Eric, a newly changed Emma, Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura walked out to Eric’s car parked in the lot. Emma kept staring down at the folder containing her certificate for winning the preliminary round, which earned her a spot in the semifinals next month. Naturally, Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura crowded around Emma to check out the folder too.
Before they could reach the car, "Hey!" a man called out from behind them. Eric and the others stopped and turned around to see Philip jogging to catch up. As Philip stood before them, he recognized the girls from The Empress as well and smiled. Eric was the first to speak.
"What’s up, Mr. Philip?" Eric asked.
"Well, seeing as you are all musicians, how about I recommend all of you for admission to the arts university next year? Coincidentally, I’m on the board of education there and run a federation that supports young musicians in pursuing their passions. Here, let me give you my business card." Philip said, pulling cards from his pocket and handing them out to everyone one by one.
Looking down at the card, Eric realized that Philip was actually a board member at Starwood Art Institute, the exact university he was targeting for next year. A smile crossed his face.
"Thank you, sir. I’ll definitely be in touch," Eric said with a smile.
"Excellent, I’ll be waiting to hear from you, and from the rest of you as well... Emma, you have a bright future as a famous pianist ahead of you," Philip said with a warm smile, looking at Emma.
"Thank you so much, sir!" Emma replied cheerfully.
"Alright then, I won’t hold you guys up any longer. Thanks for your time," Philip said.
"Likewise, sir, and thank you for the offer," Eric said.
"Yes, sir, thank you!" the six girls chimed in unison.
Philip turned around and walked back toward the music conservatory building. Eric and the girls watched his retreating figure, their hearts bursting with excitement. Eric looked down at Philip’s business card, took out his smartphone, and saved the phone number into his contacts.
"With this, the future is starting to look a little clearer," Eric said.
"Yep... absolutely! We’re all going to college together, hehehe," Emma said cheerfully.
"Totally! We’re going to stick together next year too, hehe," Chloe added.
"Man, now I just want to graduate as fast as possible, hehehe," Priya added.
"It’s going to be so much fun... going to college with all of you. We can commute together and head home together, hehehe," Heidi added, already picturing it in her mind.
"I’ll be right there with you guys too... it feels so amazing, hehehe," Monica chimed in.
"Yep... yep... exactly... I agree! I love music," Laura added.
"Alright, let’s head home," Eric suggested.
"Okay!" the girls cheered happily.
They all piled into the car to drive back to their apartment building. The entire ride home was completely lighthearted and carefree, even for Eric as he drove. But the moment they arrived at the apartment complex, they were caught completely off guard.
Three police cars were parked right in front of the Tower A lobby. Instead of heading straight down to the basement parking lot, Eric pulled into the surface lot, right next to his RV. Then, they walked over to the lobby and stepped inside.
Eric noticed someone he recognized standing in the lobby, waiting near elevator number one alongside two police officers. A building manager and a security guard were also keeping them company. Eric walked over to the man, who was wearing a long coat with both hands tucked into his pockets, followed closely by Chloe, who recognized him too.
"Hey, Detective Norman. What’s going on?" Eric asked.
"Oh... hi, Detective Norman," Chloe added.
Norman turned around and saw Eric. He immediately took his hand out of his pocket and extended it, and Eric shook it. After breaking the handshake, Norman filled them in.
"Hello, Mr. Eric, Ms. Chloe. I’m here with a warrant to arrest Owen and Brandon, who just got back from overseas. My men and my superior are already upstairs. I’m just down here waiting for them and securing the lobby," Norman explained.
"Oh... they’re getting arrested too?" Eric asked, surprised.
"Yes... after we busted their dads a while back, we launched a thorough investigation and interrogated them about everything he was covering up to protect his two sons. The results... were staggering. We also got affidavits from a few witnesses among their friends, along with statements from their victims ranging from traffic violations to kidnapping and illegal confinement," Norman answered, his expression turning a bit dark.
"Wait... kidnapping and confinement?" Chloe asked.
"I’m sorry, I can’t give you the specific details, but the charges they are facing are extensive. It’s enough to keep them behind bars for the rest of their lives," Norman replied.
"And this time, it’s safe to say no one’s going to bail them out," Eric remarked.
"Exactly... oh, by the way, Blake took a plea deal and confessed to everything just to get a lighter sentence, which obviously makes things a whole lot worse for Paul," Norman said.
"Good. Serves him right," Chloe said.
"Blake had been dealing with Paul for a very long time. In fact, Melissa only managed to get inside that office because Paul was planning to take Blake hostage... but anyway, it’s all over now," Norman said.
"Yes, Detective Norman, that’s absolutely true," Eric agreed.
"Ding."
The elevator doors slid open. Four police officers and a silver-haired female detective, it was hard to tell if it was her natural gray or if she had dyed it that way, stepped out. They were escorting Owen and Brandon, both in handcuffs. The two brothers looked completely lifeless, as if their souls had evaporated right out of their bodies, and their appearance was totally disheveled.
Even though they had only crossed paths with Eric once before, they seemed to shrink, looking incredibly small despite their actual physical build. Then, they turned their heads and noticed Eric, along with Chloe, who stepped closer to press against Eric’s side.
They also caught sight of Emma, Priya, Monica, Heidi, and Laura standing right behind them. They just stared at Eric and the rest of the group with zero hostility, zero resentment, and absolutely no emotion.
They looked exactly like two pieces of livestock that had completely given up on life, resigned to being led to the slaughterhouse. The silver-haired detective gave a brief nod of greeting to Eric, Chloe, and the girls behind them, and then kept walking, heading out with the four officers guarding Owen and Brandon.
"Alright, I’ll take my leave now. See you around, Mr. Eric, Ms. Chloe... everyone," Norman said with a polite smile as he said his goodbyes.
"Take care, Detective Norman, and thank you," Eric replied.
Norman left with his two remaining officers, while the building manager and the two security guards also excused themselves since their job was done. This left Eric, Chloe, Emma, Priya, Monica, Heidi, and Laura standing in complete silence, processing everything right in front of elevator number one.
"It’s all over, let’s head upstairs," Eric suggested.
"Yeah... what a relief, hehe," Chloe added, unconsciously wrapping her arm around Eric’s.
Knowing that Chloe was going through a rough patch, not a single girl commented on seeing her cling to Eric’s arm. They began walking over to elevator number two to wait for it to arrive, watching as the police cars outside turned around and drove out through the apartment gates.
"Oh... that’s right. You guys go on up ahead, I’ll catch up. I need to move the car down to the basement lot first," Eric said, gently disengaging his arm from Chloe’s grip.
"Okay... sounds good," Chloe replied.
"Yeah... go ahead, but get upstairs quick," Emma added.
"We’re all cooking together, so don’t be too long," Heidi chimed in.
"Oh... if you can, could you grab my wallet from the car? I think I left it behind," Monica added, checking through her bag as she spoke.
"And bring that bag of groceries we couldn’t finish, since they didn’t let us eat snacks inside the auditorium, only drinks," Priya said.
"Oh, right! We did leave that bag in the car. Thanks in advance, hehe," Laura added.
"Alright, alright... got it. You guys go ahead up," Eric said, turning around to walk out.
The elevator doors opened and the girls headed straight upstairs, while Eric stepped outside and pulled out his car keys. But as he was walking toward the outdoor parking lot, a red BMW cruised past him and pulled up right next to him, blocking his path.
The front passenger window rolled down. Eric’s jaw instantly clenched when he saw Ruby behind the wheel and a dolled-up Jade, who was also wearing oversized sunglasses, sitting in the passenger seat.
"Eric, can we talk for a second?" Jade asked in a quiet voice, peering up at Eric as he stood beside the car while pushing up her sunglasses.
Eric just rolled his eyes, looking completely drained at the prospect of dealing with the two girls inside the vehicle.
