For You

Chapter 5

Frederick couldn't help but think - maybe his father wanted him dead.

After all, he was Douglass Mason—head of Mason's Furniture, Masonry, Designs, and Electronics. The Mason empire was the backbone of the West's real estate ecosystem, the "m in home."

Frederick knew he could be seen as a threat. Who would want a country bumpkin whose only experience with managing a business was the fish stall by the sea?

He remembered how he had scrubbed his skin under the shower until he wrinkled and bled, hoping and praying that the fishy smell ingrained in his fingertips and the nape of his neck would disappear. How foolish he had been.

He recalled the way he had rubbed his hands over and over on his clothes before shaking his fa... Mr. Mason's hand. The man had laughed at him, probably amused by Frederick's naive attempt to fit into his world.

And so, when he woke up from his slumber, for the first time, he was silent—just like how it had been before Darla had known him.

"You're awake!" Darla exclaimed with a smile. "I wasn't sure if... you would be okay."

Her fingers fidgeted as she looked down. "You must be mad at me for... knocking you out. I—I just wanted to take care of your leg."

Frederick followed her gaze to his pole-like feet, sandwiched between two sticks wrapped in layers of what appeared to be mud and bush. He flinched at her cold fingers against his forehead, his eyes tracing the bags under her eyes.

"You haven't gotten a fever," she observed.

"Don't help me. There's nothing to gain," he said, staring at the water crashing against the surface.

"I get a friend," she muttered, causing him to whip his head toward her.

She bowed her head, knowing he cracked a smile.