Chapter 85

Suzy steadied her breathing, smoothing down the faint ripple of emotion in her chest before stepping forward and pulling the door open.

Outside, Thomas stood waiting.

His lips were pressed into a thin line as his gaze flicked over the two of them—lingering just long enough to catch the subtle awkwardness they hadn’t quite managed to hide.

"Finished talking?" he asked.

"We’re done," Suzy replied evenly. "Let’s head back."

After a quick farewell to Derek, she turned to leave with Thomas. Just before going, she tapped her phone and said, "Stay in touch."

Derek smiled brightly and nodded.

The two of them made their way back through the darkened stairwell, moving one after the other in silence.

Then Thomas suddenly spoke. "Is he your boyfriend?"

The question caught Suzy off guard for a split second, but she answered calmly, "No. He’s just a junior from school."

Thomas was one of her bonded targets, too. As a

proper

player, there was no way she’d lock herself into a relationship so early.

Besides, nothing had been officially defined between her and Derek anyway.

Thomas nodded slowly. "I see."

Out of her sight, he let out a quiet breath, the tension in his brows easing ever so slightly.

"Why do you ask?" Suzy tilted her head.

"No reason. Just... curious," he said, already picking up his pace.

Within moments, he had climbed several steps ahead of her.

Suzy had no choice but to quicken her pace to catch up. Soon, they reached the ground floor.

Leonard was already in the driver’s seat, a cigarette between his fingers, the car’s air conditioning humming steadily in the heat.

When he saw them, he waved. "Back already?"

He stubbed out the cigarette and opened the door.

Once they were inside, he started the engine.

"All sorted?" he asked.

Suzy nodded. "Yeah. I left him some supplies—he’ll be fine for a while."

Leonard glanced at her through the rearview mirror. "You’re pretty close with that junior, huh?"

"Yeah," Suzy said casually. "He helped me a lot back in school."

"He seems decent," Leonard added with a teasing note. "And pretty handsome, too."

Suzy just smiled, offering no reply.

Derek’s apartment complex was only a few minutes away. Before long, they were already driving back into their own neighborhood.

Compared to the surrounding darkness, their residential compound stood out starkly—one of the last places still lit, glowing like an island in the night.

They parked in the underground garage.

Each of them grabbed their things from the trunk.

Thomas said his goodbyes to Suzy and headed straight to his own building.

Suzy and Leonard took the elevator up together.

At the first floor, the elevator stopped again.

The doors slid open—and there she was again.

Julia.

She looked disheveled, empty-handed, her expression drained and sullen.

When she saw Suzy, she froze for a moment before lowering her head and stepping quickly inside.

In the mirrored walls of the elevator, her gaze turned sharp—watching them with a cold, unsettling intensity.

While Suzy had been delayed at Derek’s place, Julia had been making her way back as well. Their paths had simply crossed again.

Suzy noticed the look and felt a flicker of irritation.

She hadn’t done anything to this woman. All she’d done was refuse a favor—and now she was being stared at like an archenemy.

Fortunately, the elevator doors opened again soon. Suzy grabbed Leonard’s arm and stepped out.

As the doors slid shut, Julia was left alone inside. Only then did she finally snap.

"You bitch! It’s all your fault—yours!!"

Her voice shrieked through the confined space.

In her mind, everything that had gone wrong—the stolen supplies, her humiliation—had somehow become Suzy and Leonard’s fault.

If they had given her a ride... If they had helped her shop...

Would she have ended up like this?

It was their refusal, she convinced herself, that had ruined her.

The resentment twisted deeper and deeper inside her, especially when she thought of how clean and composed they had looked—while she had been left in such a miserable state.

A dark glint flickered in her eyes.

***

Back home, Suzy and Leonard immediately turned on the air conditioning.

Suzy took out chilled spirit-spring water from her storage, handing Leonard a glass before taking one herself.

The icy sweetness revived them almost instantly.

Then Suzy returned to her room and carefully focused inward, sensing the subtle changes in her body.

The system had been right.

Closeness really did make her stronger.

That single kiss with Derek had brought a tangible improvement—small, but undeniable.

She had been drinking spirit-spring water all this time, but she had begun to notice something:

There was a limit.

The water enhanced her foundation, strengthened her baseline—but after a point, the progress plateaued.

It made her better, yes—but in a vague, almost intangible way.

Only after that kiss had she truly

felt

the change.

A clear, measurable shift.

Suzy came to a realization:

The spirit-spring water expanded her

capacity

—like raising the cap on experience.

But her actual "experience points" hadn’t increased at all.

Until now.

That kiss had finally nudged the bar forward. And that was very good news.

She quickly checked Derek’s affection level.

After everything she’d done for him, it had to go up, right?

When she looked, it had increased by

eight points

.

Then she glanced at Thomas’s. To her surprise, his level had risen too—by three points, just from earlier.

She didn’t quite understand why.

But it was undeniably a good sign.

***

Three days later, just as Suzy had expected, the power went out. Not because the system failed, but because someone had deliberately sabotaged it.

The moment the blackout hit, the group chat exploded with complaints.

Even when Suzy went downstairs to collect water, the line was filled with grumbling voices.

It had only been half a day without electricity, yet people who were used to constant air conditioning were already struggling.

And now, with the elevators down, those living on higher floors would have to haul heavy buckets up the stairs.

Suzy scanned the crowd carefully.

Still no sign of Richard Stone.

Over the past three days, water deliveries had come every other day.

And not once had she seen him.

She even asked the staff.

The answer? He hadn’t come down even once.

Some of the property management staff were already beginning to wonder––had he... died inside his apartment?