Love in Danger

CHAPTER 1

Isabella let out a harsh sigh, then dropped the cigarette she failed to light onto the asphalt.

"I hate winter."

Not only because Isabella would have trouble lighting her cigarette, but also because winter was the season when she lost her best friend, the best person in her life, Alisa Horrison.

"Hey!"

Isabella turned around and stuffed both hands into the pockets of her black fur coat.

"Do you think you can do that?"

One of Isabella's eyebrows lifted when suddenly a man-who she didn't even know where he came from-walked toward her. Isabella observed him. He was tall and muscular, wearing a fur coat and a gray scarf with yellow polka dots. He was masculine and adorable at the same time.

"This." Suddenly, he picked up the cigarette butt Isabella had thrown away and showed it with a displeased look. "You can't just throw trash around like this. Plus, this is a campus area. A public place. A place where smoking is prohibited. I'm going to punish you."

"Are you a professor?"

"No."

"Then?"

"I'm Zach."

"I wasn't asking, anyway."

Zach adjusted his coat, then lifted his chin arrogantly. "I'm a teaching assistant here. I work with Mr. Brown. Nice to meet you, Naughty Girl." Zach offered the cigarette to Isabella. "Throw this in the trash, or you will-"

"Or I'll what?" Isabella interrupted.

Seeing Isabella's boldness, Zach got provoked. He pointed at her face, ready to bombard her with a thousand insults. But before he could, a voice from the other side interrupted their attention.

"Miss. Moore? Mr. Troll?"

Isabella and Zach both turned to the voice at the same time.

An older man with white hair stood there. He smiled and waved his hand before walking toward them. Up close, the man adjusted his glasses that had slipped down his nose. He was still smiling and said, "People these days really don't know manners. Shouldn't you be the ones approaching the elderly, not the other way around?" Isabella and Zach exchanged confused looks, suddenly being judged. The old man, Bennedict Cullan, quickly assessed the situation between them. "Ah, forget it. By the way... I'm Uncle Ben. Hi! Nice to meet you both."

Uncle Ben extended his hand, and Zach accepted it promptly, while Isabella just stared, not returning the handshake. This made Ben lower his hand, slightly disappointed and awkward.

"The snow will get heavier, you both should come inside with me."

Zach nodded. "Sure."

"Should I walk with this patrol guy?"

Isabella's words made Zach and Ben go silent. Ben tried to say something, but Zach quickly raised his hand to the air.

"He's a police-"

"What did you just say? Hey, you look younger than me, you should know better!"

Isabella took a step forward, looking defiant. She stared straight at Zach and replied, "Hey, 'the guy much older than me,' isn't minding other people's business also not a good thing?"

Zach's face turned red. He almost exploded.

But Ben quickly stopped him. "Excuse me, guys. We should go inside now or we'll really get drenched."

Zach looked up at the sky, confirming that Uncle Ben's words were true. He snorted and immediately walked into the four-story building in front of them. Uncle Ben raised one hand to give way for Isabella to follow.

The three of them entered the first floor of the building and stopped in front of a room labeled Alisa Harrison and Anne Hathaway.

"So, this is Alisa's room?" Zach asked Ben, who nodded firmly in response.

"As the news spread on social media, Alisa was found here. She... yeah, I don't need to explain any further."

Zach nodded, seeming to understand the direction of the conversation. Meanwhile, he just realized that Isabella was still standing next to him with a fixed expression. Her eyes were staring straight at the door, not budging at all.

Zach cleared his throat, trying to break the awkward silence between them.

"Excuse me, Miss." Isabella blinked, as if she had just woken from a dream. She turned to look at him. "You need to leave. This room is mine."

"Um, actually-" Ben suddenly spoke between them, causing both Zach and Isabella to look at him. Ben smiled and continued, "You'll be sharing a room with Miss. Moore."

Zach furrowed his brows. "What?"

"I'll share a room with this stiff guy?"

Zach shot Isabella a disapproving look. She really was a judgmental girl, always cursing. So annoying!

"Stiff guy?" Zach couldn't accept Isabella's words, so he protested to Ben. "Can you explain what you meant by that?"

Bennedict cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses again. Oh, really, he should buy a new pair of glasses with the hundreds of thousands of dollars he earned each month instead of keeping these worn-out ones. "You, and Miss. Moore, will stay in the same room until you both achieve your respective goals. This is a decision made by the NYPD leadership and Mr. Harrison. I can't change anything, and neither can you."

"But-"

"Sorry, Mr. Troll. I have to go now."

Bennedict hurried away as fast as he could, though it still looked slow. Zach grunted as he watched the CEO's secretary from Golden Group leave from where he stood. It took him a few seconds to process the situation, but suddenly Isabella walked past him and opened the door in front of them.

"Hey! Hey! What are you doing?! You shouldn't do that!"

Isabella turned around. Her face was expressionless. "Why?"

"Why? You're asking 'why'? Does it make sense to you to share a room with a stranger you've never met before?"

There was a pause, before Isabella shrugged and said, "We're just sharing a room, not a bed. It's not a problem for me. If it's a problem for you, you can leave. See you."

Zach snorted again, staring at Isabella as she entered the room with an unbelieving expression. "That girl is really crazy!" but also intriguing.