Underestimated Heiress

CHAPTER 22 - Trip to Nepal

Jess and Ethan were packed as per their itinerary. They were all excited to go on this family trip but only Jenna and Eric knew the hidden reason behind this holiday.

They all had a long journey to Kathmandu, Nepal. After arriving in Kathmandu they drove to Lukla, a small town near Kathmandu. As instructed by Eric, all of them were keeping a low profile. Therefore they stayed in a hotel preferred by most foreigners near the main market. They looked like any normal foreigners who came to trek and visit the Himalayas.

After settling down in the hotel, they didn't have much to do. It was a bright sunny afternoon, and the local market that Jess saw on the way looked very interesting. Jess decided to go on a stroll and visit the local market. She put on her hat and left the hotel room without informing anyone.

She walked for a while until she reached the local market. She was fascinated with the amount of things being sold in the market. Jess was not a fan of collecting jewels, but the jewels here looked different, more traditional. She had not seen such a work of art before. It looked very simple but perfect. She walked towards one of the stalls.

The shopkeeper looked happy when he saw a foreigner walking towards his stall. He quickly brought his best behaviour. Jess was happy to see the shopkeeper smiling at her. She greeted him and asked him all the questions to satisfy her curiosity, soon she saw the smile on the shopkeeper's face was fading. She thought she should buy something so she bought a necklace that pulled her towards the stall. Unknowingly, that was the most expensive jewel on that stall, this made the shopkeeper's smile reappear.

Jess continued exploring the local market completely unaware that she was being watched. She took her time to visit a few more stalls. After some time she headed back to the hotel. She was admiring the art on the jewel she bought while she was walking. She felt as if someone was following her, so she stopped and turned around to look. The ally she was in had few people but none of them looked suspicious. She assumed that she was overthinking but as soon as she was about to turn around she saw a shadow of the person hiding between a small gap in between 2 buildings. She pretended to be oblivious and continued walking. She was aware that she was at a loss if it came to engaging and fighting. It was time for her to act smart and rush back to the hotel and if possible try to lose them on the way. She continued walking with a steady pace but a little faster than before. Her way to the hotel was straight but she took a few quick turns so that she could lose the person who was following her.

After taking a few turns, she reached the back entrance of the hotel she was staying in. This entrance was for all the staff, she quickly turned around to check her tail and when she didn't see anyone she quickly entered the hotel. After taking a sigh of relief she rushed towards her room, entered and closed the door, double checking the lock.
She sat on the bed taking a few deep breaths, her face was red and she looked scared. The first thought that came to her mind was that maybe the kidnapers followed her here but she brushed it off quickly. She thought the possibility of someone following her because she is a foreigner was higher than the thought she had. She relaxed assuming it was just a local somebody curious about a foreigner. She felt tired and sleepy after taking a shower so she thought of taking a quick nap.

Jess directly woke up early the next morning, she was jet lagged. She checked her phone and slapped herself on the forehead when she saw multiple sms and missed calls from her parents.

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"As expected by any rich girl, she couldn't stop herself from going shopping. I told the master that its waste of time to test her, these privileged kids have no sense of responsibility."

"Shut up and do your job. We have to observe and report without judging. I don't think we are good enough to judge others, didn't you learn anything from all those lessons?"

"Ok. Look as expected she is going to the market. She must have seen it on her way to the hotel. Let's go, I will follow her and you wait for her in the market", Guna said to Tara.

Tara nodded and took a shortcut to the market and was waiting there for Jess, whereas Guna kept following Jess.

Both Tara and Guna were watching Jess from different angles, not only their angles but their perspectives were different. Guna was opting for Jess to fail whereas Tara was positive and she was hoping for Jess to succeed.

Tara and Gina watched as Jess went to the jewellery stall, Guna smirked whereas disappointment flashed on Tara's face. They both assumed that Jess would buy lots of jewellery as they were cheap but she only looked. This disappointed the stall owner but piqued the interest of these two people. "Was she not here to buy jewellery?", they both thought.

Finally, Jess bought the jewellery, Guna smiled when he met Tara's eyes. But Tara's expression didn't make him happy, it seemed Tara had seen something that he had missed.

As Tara was not siding with Jess to fail she could see the details that Guna had missed. She could understand why Jess bought the jewellery and that was the only piece which attracted her. Tara was able to see the jewellery closely from where she stood and observed that it was a very traditional art which belonged to a tribe who have been living near the bank of Himalayas for many generations. Tara was amazed by Jess, she thought Jess was different. For an outsider to understand the old tribe art was rare, and here she was a foreigner.

While Tara was lost in her thoughts of being amazed by Jess, Jess was on the move, she was on her way back to the hotel. Tara and Guna followed the same approach, Tara waited for Jess near the entrance of the hotel and Guna was following Jess. When suddenly Guna lost her, he couldn't find her, he hurried towards the hotel entrance where Tara was waiting, Tara confirmed that she didn't see Jess go in.

Guna was a trained follower and it was not easy for someone to trick him. Jess not only found out about him but she also managed to trick him. Guna was not willing to accept it, but Tara knew what he was thinking and she burst out in laughter.

"I didn't lose her, I only underestimated her. This doesn't mean that she is not a rich privileged girl." Guna said.

They both confirmed that Jess was in the hotel and she was safe before leaving.

On their way back, Guna put all his efforts to convince Tara against Jess but Tara was determined and didn't budge. She was now more sure than before and she knew Guna will also agree that Jess was an exceptional rich and privileged girl which makes her a more suitable candidate.