Sarah looked panicked. She had been checking her closet for fifteen minutes, but came up empty-handed. The item she was looking for was nowhere to be found. She let out a tired sigh.
"Seriously, Nu, you don't have another pair of the same shoes?" Sarah opened the closet again. Maybe she'd find those white-and-turquoise shoes after all. "They're so comfortable. How can they just not be here?"
Banu, Sarah's assistant, didn't answer. His gaze was completely fixed on his phone screen. When he got this serious, Banu the graceful bachelor started acting a little more masculine. Banu used the term bachelor because he always claimed that despite being graceful and surrounded by the nightlife scene, not a single man had ever touched him.
Sarah didn't care whether Banu was in masculine mode. Not only was she not attracted to her assistant, she only needed her shoes. Not her assistant's masculinity!
Sarah rolled her eyes lazily.
"Nu, are you even listening?"
Banu remained transfixed. His phone slipped from his hand, and he quickly picked it up again. Every now and then, his fingers slid across the screen. He was far too serious for someone merely reading gossip before dawn.
"Nu."
Banu still didn't answer.
"What is it, Nu?" Sarah began paying attention to Banu, taking a break from her shoe-hunting mission. Apparently, the up-and-coming soap opera actress was curious about what Banu was looking at, too.
Sarah closed the closet, walked over, and sat beside Banu.
"What is it?" she asked curiously.
"There's some news," Banu replied without looking at Sarah.
"Which celebrity got caught up in a scandal this time?" Sarah leaned slightly toward Banu's phone, but the screen didn't show the text clearly enough.
Once she realized Banu was only looking at a news article, Sarah's curiosity evaporated. The article had to be reporting on some celebrity scandal. And sure enough, it was. Every day, someone got caught doing something. A celebrity cheating, getting arrested on drug charges, or, even worse, a celebrity involved in corruption.
"Let's focus, Nu. I want to go jogging in those shoes right now." Sarah huffed in annoyance. "BTW, where's Kia? I haven't been able to reach her since before dawn. I need the look info she can give me for tonight's awards show. Can you try calling her?" Sarah let out another annoyed sigh. "She must be asleep. When she sleeps, she looks like she's about to die!"
"She did die."
"Watch what you say!"
"She's really dead, Neng! Look at this." The assistant showed her the screen of his phone. "I've been reading this article."
An excerpt from an article titled: _Famous celebrities' go-to MUA found dead, murdered in her home. Victim was a second wife._
Sarah's mouth fell open.
"Kia?" she asked.
Banu nodded.
Oh my God, Sarah nearly fell off her feet. She hurried back over to Banu at the edge of the bed. The two of them simply stared at each other. Their mouths were still hanging open in perfect unison. A few seconds of silence stretched between them.
They were obviously shocked. Kia—the woman who had still been alive and standing in front of them just a few days ago—was gone. Neither of them had said a word, but their hands found each other and clasped tightly. Confusion overwhelmed them, leaving them unable to do anything else.
"Oh my God, I'm shocked," Sarah spoke first.
"When was the last time she contacted you?" Banu asked, placing a hand on Sarah's shoulder.
"Yesterday afternoon. Have you read the whole article? Is there any information about the killer?"
"Not yet. The investigation is still ongoing. It only happened last night."
Sarah's shoulders drooped slightly.
"So they haven't shared much information yet?" she asked.
"The article said Kia's phone was missing, but it's still under investigation."
"A robbery?" Sarah guessed.
Banu shook his head. "It's not certain yet. The strange thing is, the article says the jewelry Kia was wearing was untouched. Weird, right?"