Chapter 49
Chapter 49
Chapter 49 That night, the three Ashbourne kids made their way back to Skyrim from Elmsworth. The two cities weren’t exactly a world apart, a less than two-hour drive if they blasted down the highway. Elmsworth was the economic heart of the country, blessed with resources and ripe with opportunities, a place that every high-profile family wanted a slice of. Skyrim, however, was a different story. The Ashbourne family had run the show in Skyrim for the past century. Their a**ets fed a third of Skyrim’s population, earning them the title of ‘uncrowned kings of Skyrim’. Without the Ashbourne family, Skyrim would have just been an average city, its economic growth nowhere near the speed it was at now. The kids found themselves at Starry Villa. “Miss Evadne! When did you get back?” The enthusiastic welcome came from the aging Mr. Louis, the caretaker of the place. He grew up playing with Emeric, so they were tight. Mr. Louis didn’t have any grand ambitions. Even though he’d heard about Emeric buying up three properties in Elmsworth over the years, he didn’t give a hoot. He was a bachelor, living alone and enjoying a life of leisure at Starry Villa. “Mr. Louis, how have you been? Is your leg still bothering you when it rains? How’s the breathing issue? Have you been taking the medicine I sent over?” Evadne asked, a smile on her face as she slipped her arm into Mr. Louis’s. “Good, good, all good, but it’s so good to have you back!” Mr. Louis couldn’t hold back his tears of joy. “I actually came back because I need a favor.” Evadne sighed and got to the point; “A friend gave me a gift, and I broke it. I’m afraid he’ll be upset if he finds out, so I thought I’d make an identical one.” “What is it?” Instead of answering Mr. Louis’s question, Evadne carefully pulled out a broken diamond bracelet from
her jewelry bag. “This bracelet is so delicately made, it’s a real shame it broke!” Mr. Louis winced at the sight of the broken bracelet. “I know it won’t be easy to recreate this bracelet, but I still want to try. I want to borrow your tools to fix it. Some diamonds are missing from the bracelet, and I remember you having a lot of diamonds here, Mr. Louis. I want them all so I can find ones that match the ones on the bracelet,” Evadne requested. Mr. Louis was taken aback and speechless for a moment.
Cas sius coughed awkwardly, and Arnold was ready to dial an emergency number on his phone. Evadne was always dropping bombshells like it was nothing. “No, no, no! You’re too young to fix such a delicate bracelet!” Mr. Louis exclaimed anxiously, looking like a mirror image of Emeric. Evadne’s eyes sparkled at the thought of punishing Elvis for not listening to her. She changed her plan: “Let’s put it under Elvis’s name. If he asks, just say I made him do it, and he has to pay double the compensation. He’s loaded anyway; he’s not going to miss it.” Mr. Louis clutched his chest, heartbroken. Cas sius and Arnold rushed to his side. The Ashbourne family had four gardens in Skyrim, named The Moon, The Cloud, The Mist, and The Star. The Star was a natural and simple garden that changed with every step a person took. It was the first one that caught the eye of the master sculptor, Patrick. But the loaded Emeric bought it for a hefty sum, almost driving Patrick to kick Mr. Louis out because they were good pals. Half a month later, on Patrick’s sixtieth birthday, Emeric gifted The Star to him, resolving the misunderstanding. It turned out Emeric had planned to give him The Star from the start and he just wanted to surprise him. Now, with Patrick gone, Mr. Louis had inherited Starry Villa. As Evadne followed Mr. Louis to the storage room to get the stuff, Cas sius and Arnold took a break. Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.
“Evadne cares so much about the Abernathy family that I’m getting jealous,” Arnold grumbled. “Mr. Hamiltion of the Abernathy family is our respected elder, and he’s always been fond of Evadne. Evadne is a grateful person. If Mr. Hamiltion is good to her, she will return the favor. I fully support her in this,” Cas sius murmured. “I bet you’d even support her if she ended up with Thaddeus!” “That’s fate and we can’t change it. That’s Evadne: the more the world is against them being together, the braver she is to love him,” Cas sius sighed. “It’s not fair; Thaddeus doesn’t deserve Evadne! My sister is so amazing, and yet she was treated horribly by Thaddeus!” Arnold complained, “But I guess it’s a good thing. Now that she’s had the worst man in the world, she won’t be fooled so easily by others.” Just then, Cas sius’s phone started buzzing on the table. He glanced at it, and sure enough, it was a call from Thaddeus. “Mr. Thaddeus.” Cas sius answered the call with a chilly tone. Arnold furrowed his brows, leaned away from the back of the chair, and pric ked up his ears. “President Ashbourne, I need to speak with Ilana.” Thadus’s voice was deep, and he sounded a bit frantic. “Ilana doesn’t have the time now.” “When will she have time, then?” “For you, she will never have the time.” Cas sius was usually gentle, but when he was angry, his words could cut like a knife. Arnold clenched his fist in excitement. That’s right! 12:40 Thaddeus on the other end was pretty pi ssed, but he couldn’t just lose his cool there and then. “Firstly, Ilana changed her number, which means she doesn’t want you contacting her. Even if you’re not officially divorced yet, respect her decision and stop bugging her. Secondly, I know everything that happened at the charity auction.” Thaddeus froze. It felt like his chest was covered in thorny vines, tightening with each pa**ing second.
Arnold felt a chill run down his spine. That was his big brother. Although he was usually gentle, he wasn’t incapable of getting angry. It’s just that most things in the world weren’t worth his anger, except for his family. “That incident.” “I don’t know what you can’t tolerate, but you’ve already done the thing I can’t stand the most.” Cas sius spoke coldly: “The thing I can’t stand the most is someone bullying Ilana. This is the last time I’m answering your call and the last time I’m warning you. Manage your fiancée and your family well, and make sure they stop causing trouble for Ilana. If it happens again, don’t blame me for not playing nice.” With that. Cas sius hung up the phone without hesitation. At that moment, in Windermere Estate Thaddeus was standing by the window, staring at the darkened screen. The phone in his hand tightened, as if his heart was being squeezed by an invisible hand. With the only person he could contact Ilana through, Cas sius, cutting him off, he felt an unprecedented sense of emptiness and even panic. This time, Ilana might truly disappear from his life. He might never be able to find her again. A sense of indescribable anxiety surged in Thaddeus’s heart. He quickly pulled out a pack of cigarettes from the deep recesses of the drawer. There were only two left. His fingers trembled as he put one cigarette between his lips. It took a few tries to light it. The flickering light of the flame reflected Thaddeus’s increasingly strange state. For his ex-wife, whom he didn’t love, he started smoking again after quitting for five years. In the wee hours of the morning, at Starry Villa’s studio. Evadne was alone, dressed in work clothes, busy with work, sweat dripping down her forehead. None of these were right! None of the diamonds here could match the one in her diamond bracelet! Evadne’s eyes reddened and she gritted her teeth and never stopped working.
All she wanted was to find a diamond identical to the one in her grandfather’s bracelet and fix the bracelet, or else she wouldn’t have the face to see her grandfather. Just then, a rumbling sound came from outside Starry Villa, causing the doors to tremble. But Evadne didn’t flinch; her mind was solely focused on fixing the diamond bracelet. Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and a gust of wind rushed in like a wild tide, forcing Evadne to squint. Under the thick night sky, a helicopter landed outside the door. The cabin door slowly opened, and a pair of long legs stepped out. The man’s black coat fluttered in the wind, his handsome face stern and cold. “Evadne! I’m back!”