Chapter 376: Chapter 376: Seeking Ashley Shaw at Midnight
The old neighborhood had few streetlights, and they were dim, while the headlights of Warren Prescott’s car were the brightest, like a sun in the dark night.
This wasn’t just any place; it was the neighborhood of Ariana Grant’s home.
He looked up at the building through the car window, then turned off the car, opened the door, and got out.
Once out of the car, he could see Ashley Shaw’s room window more clearly.
The light inside was off.
He checked the time; it was already past nine at night.
But a little past nine... it wasn’t time to sleep yet; why go to bed so early?
Or maybe she went out to play and hasn’t come back yet?
Random thoughts flashed through his mind, and the annoyance and resentment in his heart seemed to lessen.
He took out his phone and opened the chat with Ashley Shaw.
Out of sheer instinct, he typed a line: "Are you asleep?"
However, he deleted the message letter by letter before sending it.
If she was asleep, he didn’t want to disturb her.
The matter with Lars Prescott already disgusts him; why drag another person into this mess?
Yet, despite what happened with Lars, he still held hope for love and marriage.
Perhaps because he’s been hurt, he wouldn’t let anyone else suffer the same hurt from him.
He thought that if he and Ashley Shaw got married, no matter how bad things got between them, he would never fool around outside.
If he did, let the heavens punish him. He would curse himself with the most vicious oath.
But, the heavens wouldn’t get that chance.
The dim streetlight cast a long shadow in front of him.
Unsure if it was because of Lars’s influence, he suddenly followed the shadow and walked a few steps forward.
At that moment, a small incident from a few years ago suddenly came to mind.
It was after an evening self-study session in ninth grade.
Ashley Shaw came to the Prescott Family during their ninth year, and Claudia Jennings simply enrolled her in his junior high section.
The junior high was unlike the high school; it was close to the Prescott Family, so they walked home.
After the evening session that day, Ashley Shaw, much like now, followed him sneakily, stepping on his shadow as they walked.
After he noticed, he deliberately stopped.
Ashley Shaw, unprepared, bumped into his back.
He accused her first, asking, "What are you doing?"
The anger in Ashley’s eyes subsided, replaced with a guilty look: "I wasn’t doing anything..."
He pressed on, "Why are you stepping on my shadow? Haven’t you heard that stepping on someone’s shadow makes them not grow tall?"
Ashley murmured softly, "That’s not what we say back home."
He asked, "What’s your version?"
Ashley refused to answer, and with no friends from Riverton around him, to this day, he still didn’t know what Ashley’s version of stepping on shadows was.
In this moment, a strange curiosity filled his heart.
He suddenly remembered someone from Riverton in his senior high school class.
In the next moment, he dialed that person’s number.
After two seconds, the class monitor from Warren Prescott’s senior class answered the call, full of surprise, "Warren, are you looking for me?"
Warren Prescott rarely called him.
If there were any gatherings among them, they’d just say it directly in the group, rather than call individually.
The class monitor felt inexplicably apprehensive, wondering if he’d done something wrong.
The next second, he heard Warren ask, "I remember you’re from Riverton, right?"
The class monitor, puzzled, answered truthfully, "I can only be considered half from Riverton. My mom’s from Riverton; my dad’s from Westcroft."
"Are you familiar with that area?"
"Which aspect are you referring to? I only go back to Riverton with my mom during festivals. But I used to spend every summer holiday there..."
"Let me ask you." Warren interrupted his spiel, "What do people say about shadows there?"
"Shadows? Let me think..."
"Things like what happens if you step on someone’s shadow."
The class monitor slapped his forehead, "I do know one! If you walk stepping on someone’s shadow for more than eleven minutes, you’ll be with that person forever... hehe, but that’s something from our childhood. I did that during summer because I had a crush on a girl next door at my grandma’s..."
"Alright, got it. I’ll hang up now."
The class monitor hadn’t finished speaking before the call was already over, leaving him unable to hear Warren’s voice anymore.
The class monitor was left bewildered.
What was that about?
It’s past nine, and he calls just to ask about shadows?
Inexplicably, the class monitor thought of someone.
Ashley Shaw.
Ashley Shaw seemed to be from Riverton too.
Could it be that Ashley stepped on Warren’s shadow?
Aren’t the two of them supposedly indifferent to each other now, so what’s going on?
Did he miss some gossip over the summer?
....
Over on Warren’s side, after hanging up, a faint smile formed at the corner of his lips.
So that’s what it meant.
Every place really does have its own small customs.
But soon, he recalled the time before graduation when he went to the school canteen to buy a cola and overheard Ashley Shaw telling Ariana Grant that she no longer liked him.
The trace of a smile quickly vanished, leaving an indescribable heaviness in his heart.
"Hey! That person!"
A strong yet aged voice came from behind.
Warren instinctively turned his head.
The person said, "Yes! I’m talking about you!"
Warren turned around and recognized the security guard’s uniform on the caller.
It was the security guard from the neighborhood.
The elderly security guard walked toward Warren, speaking as he approached, "How many times have I told you, you can’t park by the flower bed? If you park here, tomorrow the whole neighborhood will..."
Halfway through his sentence, he stopped.
As he got closer, the guard recognized Warren.
It was the man who had been to Ariana Grant’s home.
The day Elder Prescott came with Warren to dine in the neighborhood, Elder Prescott and Ariana Grant brought out the fruit platter, and the two elderly, seemingly of similar age, had a short chat.
The security guard learned they were "family" with the two young women living there.
Upon seeing Warren, the guard was full of surprise.
"Why are you here?"
Warren hadn’t expected the security guard would recognize him. He had only been here a few times in total.
After the initial surprise, he slightly nodded, "I had something to discuss with them temporarily, but when I arrived, I received a call that it was resolved."
The surprise on the security guard’s face intensified.
Both now stood under the streetlight, close enough to see each other’s expressions clearly.
Warren, observing the guard’s shocked face, puzzled, asked, "What’s wrong? Why... that expression?"
The elderly guard asked, "Aren’t you family with those two young girls?"
Warren figured Elder Prescott probably said something, so he nodded, "Yes, I’m the brother of one of them."
The security guard was even more baffled.