Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

It was still early in the night.
Alyssa and Jasper met up with Sean. After that, the three of them made their way back to Solana City as quickly as they could.
Along the way, Sean made endless attempts to call Tatiana. In the end, her phone was simply just shut off.
"Taty... Why aren't you picking up? Taty!" Sean mumbled to himself incoherently. He was a bundle of nerves.
"Everything will be alright, Sean."
Through the rearview mirror, Jasper could see that Sean's eyes had turned red. He continued in a warm voice, "I have already
asked Xavier to go to Taty's school to look for her. Solana City is also just half an hour away. We'll head straight to Solana Film
Academy."
In her uneasiness, Alyssa clenched her clothes tightly. Cold sweat had formed on her forehead. She stuttered, "Jasper, I really
regret it now. I shouldn't have blown up at Taty."
"Don't say that, Lyse."
Jasper pulled her in for a loving embrace. "Taty isn't such a wilful person. Moreover, the both of you grew up together. How
wouldn't she know how much you care for her? I'm sure she knows that you were just concerned for her."
"But Jasper. I'm still afraid."
"Don't be. I'm here. We'll look for her together," said Jasper as he gave her pats of comfort. Deep down, he was actually feeling
an array of emotions.

On one hand, he was very worried about losing touch with Tatiana all of a sudden. On the other hand, he was overwhelmed by
the feeling of being needed and relied on by Alyssa.
Alyssa was usually invincible. She was way more capable than a few competent men combined. Even so, he still looked forward
to the times when he could occasionally be the one she relied on.
He didn't mind hiding his identity and just being Alyssa's man behind the scenes.
He couldn't care less about how others mocked him. All he hoped for was to be helpful to her. He just wanted to do his best to be
a man worthy of her.
In order to avoid drawing attention, they stopped their car at the back gate of Solana Film Academy.
Soon enough, Xavier ran out to them. He was dripping with sweat.
"Mr. Beckett! Madam! We've combed through the entire school. We've also asked the manager of the female dorm to go to Ms.
Tatiana's dorm to look for her personally. But we weren't able to find her!"
Their hearts dropped.
"Also... I've checked the surveillance footage near the school. There was no sign of Ms. Tatiana at all!"
In other words, Tatiana had lied. She didn't come back to school at all. The seriousness of the matter escalated instantly!
Sean couldn't hold back anymore. "Call the cops, Ms. Alyssa!" he cried out in a shaky voice.
"But we can only make a report 48 hours after losing contact!" Xavier was also on pins and needles. Alyssa frowned. She made
a phone call to Cyrus immediately.

"What happened, Lyse?"
"Cyrus! We've lost touch with Taty. She has always answered our calls. She has never cut contact with us before. Are you able to
track her down?"
Alyssa knew that it wasn't time to make a report yet. However, she couldn't bother about that. She was worried about Tatiana.
"Lost touch with her? That's impossible!"
Cyrus was taken aback. He couldn't help but crack a joke, albeit at an inappropriate timing, "Then, who was the lady I met with
two hours ago? I haven't seen a ghost, have I?"
They were shocked. "You've seen Taty?"
"Yeah. Taty came to the station to see me."
Cyrus paused. In the end, he decided to fill them in," Lyse, Taty came to see me today because she wanted to make a report.
She wanted to file charges against David for a sexual assault attempt."
"What? Why didn't you say so earlier?" Alyssa felt faint.
Jasper and Sean had heard the conversation. Sean, in particular, tightened his fists nervously. He felt like his heart was in his
throat!
"Stay calm, Lyse!"
"How can I stay calm? She wanted to make a report, and you just let her be? What would happen if news about this got out?
What happens if the media makes nonsensical speculations? Or, what if she ends up being used by ill-intentioned people?"
Alyssa was fuming.
"Don't worry, Lyse. I was the one who attended to Taty when she came over to make her report. I only had a short conversation
with her. I've sent her back after taking her statement. This was just two hours ago.
"As for losing contact with her, I don't think that is the case. It was just a short while ago. Her phone could've just run out of
battery." Cyrus tried to comfort her with some optimism.