'"Holy home truths and the pack of lies that ensue. Oh, honey, don't you ever learn?" One of the best quotes from the best movie ever made, well in my opinion at least. 'The Heartbreak Prince', the greatest film of all time. This particular line was actually said while our charmingly naive protagonist is about to get it on with 'some other guy' and then lo and behold... Surprise, male lead shows up and as they say, the rest is history, or rather the resolution of the film. I won't spoil the ending for you but every girl's got to have her favourite chick-lit, it's in the bible or something! In any case, they do say that two can keep a secret if one of them is dead. Well, my father is very much dead although, whether he is rolling in his grave or not, well, I'll never really know. However, what I do know is that he's never been one to indulge in small talk, and hence any opportunity for me to glean some extra information was just quite frankly, unavailable. Given how incredibly strained our conversations were, I had always assumed that that was just the way he was, quiet, reserved and didn't really care. From our few short conversations, there had never been any indication that anything was going on behind the scenes, not that my six-year-old self would even know that there were scenes to be behind in the first place. How naive, we can be when we are younger. Well, as they say, nothing buried ever stays there for long, in terms of secrets and dirty laundry of course, not in the physical sense. Hold on tight. Here come the holy home truths."
There was a heavy silence in the sleek, polished town car that was slowly suffocating the two women who sat at opposite sides of the long backseat. The driver remained unaffected, listening to the radio and banging his head along in a bobbing motion to whatever was playing in his own soundproofed part of the taxi. Zhao Yingyue sat on the left, staring determinately out of the lightly tinted windows at the speeding blur of green and grey, watching as her breath steamed the windows lightly. Her newly appointed provisional legal guardian, Elise Faulkner sat on the right, her blonde hair falling to obscure her face as she bent over, nearly doubled, squinting at something or other on her work tablet screen. There was an eerie glow that reflected off of the tablet that Yingyue tried to ignore. Although Yingyue was trying to sort out all the conflicting information that had been crammed into her brain in the past few days, she couldn't help her eyes being drawn to Elise, as her fingers tapped at a steady pace on the tablet screen. Yingyue couldn't help but be impressed that one woman was steering the entire ship that was her father's and now her company, from one tablet.
The longer the car drove, towards some seemingly unreachable destination, the tenser the atmosphere became in the stifling town car. You could cut it like butter with a hot knife.
After multiple twists and turns and several long stretches of motorway, the last part of the journey seemed to look rather familiar, it was only when the town car slowed to a halt and Yingyue stepped out into the weak sunshine and smooth sand-colored tiles that lead up to the wrought-iron gates of the grand entrance of her childhood home: Zhao Manor, at the heart of her father's estate in the outskirts in the city. There was a deep-rooted sense of familiarity that sent pangs of nostalgia stabbing into her heart. "Why are we here, Elise? I thought you were going to show me my father's secrets that he's hidden from me my whole life? He never lived here, he barely even stayed here for more than a few days a month."
"And the reason being that he came by to check on you without fail every month is to check the rosewood study while you slept. He was paranoid, your dad. I sometimes think it's the reason for his success, but also his greatest flaw."
"The rosewood study?" Yingyue asked, cocking an eyebrow as she dusted herself down and smoothed down her blouse and skirt. "Where's the rosewood study?"
"The one in the west wing, off of the sitting room in the front of the house."
"Oh, you mean the scarlet study? I've never been allowed in there, it was always bolted and biometrically locked as well as having a normal lock. I learned to pick it when I was about 5, was never tall enough to scan for the biometrics, I tried to stand on two chairs stacked on top of each other and ended up concussed for two weeks."
"You know, he changed the name when you came back from that summer camp in America all excited about Sherlock and spouting on about murders in "A Study in Scarlet". The day after, in fact. We all thought it for the best, after all, your dad was never going to win any awards for being the greatest parent in the world but he was certainly no Bluebeard." The corners of Elise's mouth lifted slightly as she dismissed the town car driver with a wave of her hand and a few muttered instructions.
"Can we go? Into the study I mean, I've never been," Yingyue asked in a mouse voice. It felt strange even standing on the grounds and marveling at how small everything had suddenly become.
"Of course, the biometrics your father had in place when you were younger and liable to go charging into the study have been disabled and you'll need to put your own set in when we leave though. I've got the keys here. It's high time that we let you into the spider's web." Elise laughed lightly and jingled the heavy key chain at Yingyue. As the double doors were flung open and they walked in, an elderly looking man in a suit walked, seemingly out of the wall behind the door, "Miss Elise, welcome back, and Miss Selena, it's been over eleven years, you've been missed sorely by everyone. Are you planning on staying?"
"You are?" Yingyue struggled for a short moment to remember the butler's name, "Mr. Felix!" She threw herself into the old man's arms for a hug, I've missed you, and your hot chocolates, they were legendary!"
He gently detangled himself from his young mistress and smiled, "what do you mean, were? They still are, young lady. I don't think I'll be making any for you, you cheeky child."
"Felix, we're here on business just now, perhaps we can stop by some other time for a catch-up." Elise reminded the pair and Yingyue's face fell.
"Of course Miss Elise, you go on, Miss Selena, I'll see you later, no hot chocolate for you!"
The butler left in the blink of an eye as if he had just vanished into thin air and Elise lead Yingyue further into the house where they eventually turned to face the rosewood study. "You ready?" Elise asked in a hesitant whisper.
"As I'll ever be."
She slotted the key into the keyhole and turned the lock.