235 Chapter 235: This Will Be Your Home Forever (1/2)

Tears came to Kylie's eyes as she looked up at the Finch House. She looked at Ethan and asked him why he would take her there. He met her eyes, smiled, and squeezed her hand. In a reassuring voice, he said, ”Trust me. I would never do anything to hurt you.”

After a moment, she nodded and followed him up the driveway. When they reached the fence, Kylie was surprised to find that the gate was ajar. She smiled, and she said, ”That bitch, Khloe, has always been way too careless.”

Ethan did not respond verbally. Instead, he clutched her hand tighter, pushed the gate open, walked straight up to the house, through the front door, and into the living room. Looking at the familiar furniture and decorations, Kylie couldn't help but cry. ”Since my mother died,” she said, ”this hasn't been my home. I still don't see why you've brought me here. There are so many bad memories…”

Ethan pressed his hands on her shoulders and, in a low voice, he said, ”From now on, this will be your home - forever.”

”What do you mean?” Kylie wondered.

”In order to buy more shares,” Ethan replied, ”Khloe had to sell off all the real estate under her and her mother's name at rock bottom prices. I purchased everything. Some of it I will sell off for profit, but this house and the property around it is for you. Consider it an early birthday present.”

”Ethan Parker!” Kylie exclaimed as she playfully punched his chest. She was very happy, but then a thought occurred to her, and she looked up quizzically. Her brow furrowed, and she began to look around the house like a woman gone mad. Ethan took a cinerary casket out of the closet and asked her, ”Are you looking for this?”

Kylie's face lit up, and she said, ”Ethan Parker, I love you so much! How did you know what I was looking for?”

Ethan smiled faintly, and he said, ”Kylie, I have known you for a long time. Of course, it was a slap in your face to have had your ancestral home stripped away from you. Knowing you, though, I had to know that what really bothered you the most was having your mother's ashes all but forgotten in the back of a closet.”

Kylie wrapped her arms around him, and she said, ”You know me so well. What would I do without you? I love you so much.”

Ethan returned her hug, and he said, ”I love you too, and I would give you the world if it were mine to give.”

Kylie snorted with laughter, and she said, ”I want to bite you.”

”Go ahead,” Ethan laughed. ”Bite me.”

Kylie smiled, lifted his hand, and bit him as hard as she could.

Kylie pulled his hand away and saw that little pools of blood had filled the indentations that her teeth had left, but he hadn't even flinched. She took his hand to her mouth again. At first, she only licked his blood, but once she got a taste for it, she began to suck greedily. Ethan moaned, and Kylie could feel his hand on her breast, squeezing the fatty tissue and pinching her nipples.

After a couple of minutes, Kylie let his hand go, and she said, ”Our love is bound by blood now. From now on, you're mine.”

Ethan smiled slyly, and he said, ”The bond is not complete unless I drink your blood too.”

Kylie offered him her hand, but she pushed it away. ”I will take your blood,” he said, ”but not from your hand…”

Kylie looked at Ethan, and she said, ”Not in front of my mother's ashes, okay?”

”I want to do it in front of your mother,” Ethan replied. ”I want her to know how much I love you.”

Ethan tried to kiss Kylie, but she pushed him away. ”Stop it,” she cried. ”I don't want to do it in front of my mother. I tell you, she would disapprove!”

”Fine,” Ethan laughed. He picked up the ashes and said, ”Before we do anything, let's find a place for your mother to rest. I will have Elliot take us to the cemetery.”

The staff at the cemetery were accommodating. They helped them find a plot, had someone bury the earnings right away, and they had an on-call priest to do an impromptu service – As Kylie said goodbye to her mother, she allowed herself to cry for the first time.

Ethan kneeled down on one knee and laid down a bundle of blue roses. Looking at the plaque that had been laid in place of a tombstone, he said, ”I am sorry that I didn't get to know you. I will take care of your daughter, though, and do my best to make her happy every day of her life.”

***

Once they arrived back at Garbo Palace, Kylie made herself comfortable and began to review her script. She was only a few pages in when she was struck with an idea: because she was expected to play the role of a blind person, she should try being blind in her real life.

Kylie pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and wrapped it on her head so that she couldn't see. Her first observation about the world of the dark was that it was a little scary. She stood up, took two steps, and immediately lost herself in the living room. She didn't know which way to go in order to get to the kitchen, bathroom, or even back to the couch!

She'd only been blind for a minute, and she was lost. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to be blind your whole life. Not only was it scary, but it was also lonely. She groped awkwardly in the dark with her arms stretched out.

She was trying to find the stairs when Steven called out to her in a voice that mimicked that of Ethan. ”What are you doing?” he wondered.