Chapter 8

Two months ago:

I had to admit that Bartholomew was acting a bit different from the book. Normally he should have stayed at the hospital and sent Bonnie alone but here he was following us closely. What did I change? I didn't really care because in the end we still had been kidnapped. The one thing I wanted to prevent didn't work. Now all I could do was sit back and wait for things to pass. Maybe I could go back to my world some day and if I couldn't, then I had to find out who I was here. If I was anyone.

However it was hard thinking when the main character was continuously staring at you. Even in the car I could feel his gaze on my face:

"Stop looking at me."

Bartholomew laughed:

"It seems the little kitten is shy."

I felt my hair stand on end and glared at him:

"I am not a kitten.

-If you say so."

He didn't seem convinced and continued smiling at me. What the hell was wrong with this guy? He was supposed to be a grumpy and mysterious billionaire. Not... This. What was he planning? Did he hit his head while he was shot? Did some poison get in his blood? What happened?

I ignored him for the rest of the way and Bonnie stayed silent too. We arrived at the mansion very quickly and were led to the dinner room by Bartholomew and his friends. Dinner had already been served and the food was still warm, waiting for us.

"Sit down. You should eat something first."

We sat down and Bartholomew extended his hand towards his friends:

"Let me introduce you first. These are my two best friends. Gardenia Mistyrose and Zadimus Malum."

They didn't seem very happy to meet us and didn't even look at us. Gardenia had been in love with Bartholomew for years and became jealous very easily when he paid attention to anyone else than her. I didn't like her. She was so annoying throughout the entire book. She was a gorgeous and smart young woman and was reduced to a puppy for no reason. And then when Bartholomew fell in love with Bonnie, she just got thrown aside like some garbage bag. That was when I started pitying her. She deserved way better than this and maybe I could try becoming friends with her. Might as well occupy myself as I could.

Zadimus on the other hand rarely talked. He was a puppy too and would have died for his friend. He never got abandoned but he never really got anything either. He was just there to fill space and everyone forgot about his existence very easily. Bartholomew's personality did eclipse others very easily but Zadimus had no personality at all. We didn't know anything about him. What food did he like? What was his favorite color? Nothing. Maybe I could become friends with him too. Bartholomew's friends weren't really bad people. They just never thought for themselves. I could work with that and I loved talking to shy people to force them out of their shell.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Bonnie Stein."

Bonnie was smiling brightly and that made me roll my eyes. How could she be so calm in this situation? She was the same throughout the whole manhwa and that wasn't okay. No one paid attention to her but she didn't seem at all hurt by that and started eating silently. Maybe she wasn't weird. Maybe she was just way too good at adapting. I had no idea anymore.

"And you?"

Everyone turned to me and waited for something. I didn't have anything to lose telling them my name. I needed to find out who I was in this world anyway.

"You can call me Aed."

Bartholomew repeated my name slowly for some reason. I turned away and started eating too because I felt famished.

"It seems the kitten was hungry."

I almost choked and when I looked up, Bartholomew was laughing. Bonnie looked at me with a frown and Bartholomew's friends were glaring at the latter completely lost. Everyone knew that the boss was acting weird. What the hell was wrong with him?

"I swear to everything that I hold dear, if you dare call me kitten one more time, I will hit you.

-Really?

-Why do you look interested?

-I am not."

I wanted to get closer to Gardenia and Zadimus but I didn't have to be nice to Bartholomew. I hated him so much that it would have been impossible anyway. One of the three was way more than enough for me to get access to their computer and run searches about my name in the system. I didn't need him to like me. Even if I did, it was the last thing I wanted.

"If you have finished eating, we should show you around the estate."

Bartholomew seemed in a very good mood and walked us around the mansion slowly. He took us to Bonnie's room and turned to her for the first time:

"This is where you are staying. Do you have anything to tell me?

-No.

-Then go in and don't come out before tomorrow."

Bonnie clenched her fists but didn't say anything. I, on the other hand, wasn't going to hold back:

"How dare you talk to her like that? She is not your dog. She is a human being."

Bartholomew looked at me and smiled:

"There, there, sweety. I will take you to your room soon.

-And are you going to lock me up there for the whole night?

-Of course not. Why would I lock up a guest? You are free to go wherever you want.

-This doesn't make any sense. Why are you being like this with Bonnie then?

-As I said, she knows things that I don't. I am intrigued.

-And you think it's okay to lock her up until she tells you everything?

-Yes."

He was so honest that I got taken aback.

"What about me then? I was there the second time too. I know everything Bonnie does. Why don't you lock me up too?

-Our little kitten would get mad if I locked him up."

Hearing the nickname I immediately slapped Bartholomew.

"I told you that I would hit you.

-That you did."

Bartholomew didn't seem mad at all and only smiled, going back to what he was doing:

"Get in there, Bonnie."

I was going to say something more but Bonnie shook her head:

"I'm okay."

And she went in.

"Now, let's go to your room, shall we?"

I followed Bartholomew to another room. Bonnie's room hadn't been small at all considering that this mansion only had huge rooms but it was nothing compared to mine. A whole team could play football in this room and I wasn't exaggerating.

"Do you like it?"

I didn't answer and tried closing the door but Bartholomew blocked it with his foot:

"Your room is right next to mine. If you need anything you just have to knock.

-No, thank you."

And he finally let me go. Once alone I immediately went to sleep. This day had felt like years and I really needed to take a huge break. I fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow and only woke up when the sun was high in the sky the next day. I was disappointed when I realized that I was still here but kind of knew that would happen.

Just as I woke up I heard someone knock on the door and went to open but regretted immediately seeing Bartholomew's smiling face:

"Good morning. You look adorable right after you wake up."

I closed the back the door and went to the bathroom while still hearing what Bartholomew was saying:

"Breakfast will be ready in five minutes. Come down when you want."

Was he staying for breakfast? In the story Bartholomew only stayed for dinner and would spend more time at home after he noticed Bonnie's feelings for him. But I did read the manhwa a long time ago so maybe I remembered wrong.