44 Chapter 44: Five Years Ago (1/2)
Five years before, when Ethan had first come home, Aiden's mother had visited Toprak Mansion with gifts, only to be chased away and bitten by Ethan's dog.
Ethan had never explained himself. It was the butler who had finally gone out and clarified that Lord Ethan forbade any woman from approaching Toprak Mansion.
”Director Johnson, someone's here for you,” a staff member called in a strange voice. All of a sudden, everyone was focused. There was a van parked by the roadside.
Two movers were taking out boxes. One of them said something to the director. Director Johnson nodded and allowed staff to distribute the things in the boxes.
The makeup artist held a cup of coffee, and approached Kylie with a smile, offering to touch up her face. ”Thank you for inviting us to have iced coffee.”
”Iced coffee?” Kylie didn't understand. She hadn't sipped water yet, herself. How could she invite others to have iced coffee? Moreover, this was a mountain area, and it was impossible to find a nearby cafe.
Just as Kylie was about to clarify, her phone beeped. It was a Facebook message.
”A little treat,” it read, followed by a coffee emoji. Kylie knew that it was from Star, as soon as she read the message.
She wore a faint smile and replied: ”Thank you. The coffee is delicious, but please don't do that again. It costs too much.”
Then her eyes fell on the coffee cup left behind by the makeup artist. She knew the logo; it was from a very famous shop in Seattle. How could he send coffee all that way without the ice melting?
”Coffee is way cheaper than five million dollars.” Kylie didn't know what to say to that. It was true, that if she'd borrowed five million from him, to fix that dress, she probably wouldn't have been able to pay it back during this lifetime.
The hot shooting location seemed a lot cooler after the iced coffee. On the contrary, the fruit juice that Aiden had brought was now mostly water, with fruit pulp on top, and juice on the bottom—since it had been left aside for a while, now that there was coffee.
”See, I told you. That coffee must have come from the big boss.” Khloe's eyes were now green with envy. Aiden unconsciously clenched his fist and walked towards a quiet place to make a call.
”Find out who the boss is behind Peak Pictures...” Before he could finish, the set was in action again. A man came straight to Kylie and handed her a box. ”Miss Kylie, please sign for this parcel.”
Kylie didn't know what had happened. Who had sent this?
She opened it. There was a rose inside. The makeup artist standing beside her yelled out in surprise, ”Oh my! Is this an ice sculpture?”
In the gold, velvety box, there lay a crystal-clear rose, shining brightly under the sun. Even the thorns on the stem were super sharp. Kylie's hands were shaking slightly, not because the rose inside the box froze her, but because a piece of paper stuck in the corner read: ”My arms are always open to you.”
She took a deep breath and looked up at the delivery man. ”Please take this away,” she said.
”Sorry, I'm only responsible for the delivery.” The man looked uneasy. Kylie smiled mildly and said: ”Even though you're just responsible for delivering, you still need to choose an appropriate place. Do you think this place is good?”
”Right,” the makeup artist nodded. ”We work late, and the weather is so hot. It would be a shame if it melted.”
”Well...”
”Please just help me find a safe place for it,” Kylie said, stopping the man. She was probably the only one who realized that this rose was made of diamond, and not a block of ice. The man looked around. It's true, and there were so many people... It would be a shame if such a valuable rose was lost.
”Then, we can help you store it in Citibank for now, and you can pick it up when you return to Seattle.”
”Thank you so much.” Kylie returned the box to the delivery man. The makeup artist was a little confused. Citibank was a famous international bank, but since when did it provide ice storage service?