Paige exited the coffee shop and headed towards an escalator downstairs. Soon, the sound of high heels tapping urgently on the tiled floor followed behind.
"Molly?" Bryan looked bewildered as he watched Molly rush out.
Molly indeed didn't care about anything anymore. She was determined not to let that bitch escape. She had to catch her.
Hearing the footsteps behind her, Paige's lips curled into a sly smile. She quickened her pace.
Seeing this, Molly chased after her more urgently, reaching out to grab her shoulder, gasping desperately, "Paige, you're not getting away!"
"Sure, I'm not going anywhere," Paige replied with a smirk, withdrawing her foot from stepping onto the escalator, lightly tilting her shoulder.
Molly didn't expect her to suddenly stop. She stepped onto the escalator with one foot, missing her grasp, unable to steady herself, tumbling down the escalator.
"Ahhh-"
Many people were attracted by the scream and turned to look.
"Molly!" Bryan rushed over but was too late to catch her.
Paige stood innocently. "You should have seen it from that angle. I didn't touch her at all. Is your girlfriend trying to frame me?"
"Bang!"
Molly fell to the lower floor, lying on the cold ground, her face bruised, her skirt up to her thighs, covered in coffee stains, utterly disheveled.
More and more people gathered around, pointing and whispering about her.
Bryan looked at Molly in distress and wanted to go down. "She's just too agitated. Let's take her to the hospital."
"That's your business. Since you can testify it wasn't me who pushed her, I'm leaving," Paige didn't care whether Molly lived or died at this point, and she suspected Malik's people were likely on their way to capture her. Staying would be foolish.
With that, she started to leave. Bryan glanced at Molly, completely surrounded by the crowd below, torn between wanting to go down and the fear of Paige disappearing forever.
"Miss Lautner, can I get your contact information? My friend really resembles you, and I think there might be a connection between you two. I have a lot of questions," Bryan called out.
Paige didn't even turn her head. "Sorry, I didn't bring my phone."
"Next Saturday night at 8, it's my girlfriend's birthday. I'll be hosting a party for her, and I'd love for you to come. I'll meet you at the entrance," Bryan insisted.
Paige continued walking without saying a word, just raised her hand in a wave goodbye gesture and strode away.
"Please make sure to come!" Bryan shouted before hurriedly running downstairs, pushing through the crowd. He found Molly lying on the ground, desperately covering her face, semi-conscious. A silver-haired guy knelt beside her, anxiously pulling Molly's arm. "Molly, are you okay? Let me take you to the hospital. I'm your classmate, Nick."
Molly couldn't bring herself to get up. She knew many people were filming her with their phones, so she tried to cover her face as best as she could while still conscious.
Seeing this, Bryan quickly approached, lifting Molly up from the ground. "Please make way. I'm sorry, please move aside."
Upon hearing his voice, Molly immediately buried her entire head against his chest.
Nick followed them outside the mall, he kept up, seizing the moment to talk to his crush. "By the way, I saw you with that Joss just now. Do you know her?"
He was the college student who had delivered the fake ID to Paige and had seen Molly chasing after her afterward.
At the mention of Joss's name, Molly forgot about the pain for a moment. She let go of her face and looked up at Nick from Bryan's chest. "You know her?"
"She...," Nick hesitated, unsure how to explain. He couldn't say he had tried to hit on Joss and got beaten up. "She... asked me to do something. Yeah, she asked me to do something."
Molly froze for a moment, then suddenly realized, "I remember your family specializes in fake IDs, right?"
"Molly, you even know what my family does?" Nick was pleasantly surprised, but his smile quickly turned awkward. Dealing with fake IDs wasn't something to be proud of.
"So, she asked you to make a fake ID for her?" Molly widened her eyes.
Sure enough, this Joss Lautner was a made-up persona. She was Paige all along. Now that she thought about it, she remembered seeing a slight bulge under Paige's shirt sleeve, probably an electronic bracelet from the slums that wasn't easy to remove.
"Uh... yeah," Nick didn't know how to deceive her.
Bryan carried the injured Molly to his car. The waiting driver quickly came down to open the door. Nick tried to follow in stubbornly, but the driver stopped him. "Back off."
"I..." Nick stood outside the car in frustration.
Bryan gave him a cold glance and forcefully shut the door. The car started moving slowly, and Molly leaned against Bryan, sobbing softly.
Bryan patted her gently. "Does it hurt a lot?"
"My face is all bruised..." Molly whimpered.
Bryan held her tighter. Unable to resist, he asked, "What happened today? Why were you so agitated?"
Molly wanted to curse, but she held back, sobbing, "I thought she was Paige. We haven't seen each other in three years, and I miss her so much. We used to be best friends."
Bryan was skeptical. Was her behavior today really just because she missed Paige?
"You heard just now, she asked my classmate Nick to make a fake ID. She must be Paige... I know you miss her too. You don't need to accompany me to the hospital. Go find her and ask her why she doesn't want to acknowledge us. Otherwise, who knows when we'll see her again."