The next morning, Aelia woke up feeling a little tired. Throughout the night she had kept tossing and turning thinking about the mysterious sender of the gown. Though she had tried to dismiss her thoughts as a prank played on his brother by one of his friends, she kept feeling that the sender really meant what he wrote on the birthday card. She wondered if the sender of the gift had really meant it, then what did the person mean by 'soon'?
'Soon, as in a week, a month, a year or...or...is it today?'
Aelia felt frustrated by her own thoughts and decidedly put an end to them.
'Nothing would come out of thinking haphazardly like this.'
She felt ridiculous for feeling so restless about a stranger's gift.
'In any case, I would just wear the gown given by brother. If the sender comes to my birthday party in the evening, I'll get to know his identity. Even if he doesn't attend the party, since brother already knows about the person's identity, I can later ask him about the details.'
Having thought it through, she dismissed her crazy thoughts and went about her day.
After coming down the stairs, she saw Mrs Wilson and Reine sitting in the drawing-room, talking with her brother.
Her brother had a cold look on his face and gave short replies to their questions. When Azrael saw Aelia, he gave a warm smile to her and said, "Are you going out?"
Aelia gave a brief glance at the mother and daughter and nodded, "Yes! I have some matters to handle! Brother, are you going out too?"
Azriel nodded in agreement and said, "If that's the case, I'll drop you off."
Saying this he got up from the sofa and went out the door with Aelia.
Mrs Sandra Wilson and her daughter Reine looked at the back of the two siblings, with a dark expression.
Mrs Wilson said, "Reine, have you made the necessary preparations for today's party?"
Reine replied with a dark chuckle, "Of course, mom! How can I just let the arrogant bitch enjoy her birthday party? Just wait and see, mom! Today, she'll face so much humiliation that she would not be able to show her face in front of Phillon's socialites again!"
...
After getting in the car, Azrael asked his sister, "Why are you up and about so early in the morning of your birthday? You should have rested longer. Today, you have a long day ahead of you!"
Aelia looked at him and said, "Brother, it's already 8:30 in the morning! It's no longer early! Besides, I usually get up at 7:30 in the morning. So, it's not like I haven't rested enough!"
"Ok! Ok! You haven't had your breakfast yet, right? Let's make a stop at Kenville's Restaurant! You are not in a hurry, are you?"
Aelia shook her head.
When they entered the restaurant, many customers looked at them and sighed in admiration. The two siblings were indeed attractive enough to draw everyone's attention. Though the people couldn't help but admire the beauty of the two siblings, noticing the unique temperament of the two, none of them had enough courage to approach them for a conversation.
The Romanov siblings had long gotten used to such stares and did not pay any extra attention to the other customers who were surreptitiously sneaking glances at them. Azriel asked for a private booth to the receptionist and a waiter came forward to show them the way.
Just as they were about to enter the booth, they heard a female voice, "Aelia, good morning! Oh my! Azrael is that you?"
The two siblings turned and saw a girl dressed in a yellow sundress coming towards them.
"Aelia, happy birthday! Ah! It's really you, Azrael!"
Seeing how the girl had approached the handsome man without batting an eyelid, the other women in the restaurant felt jealous. However, seeing the branded clothes of the lady and her elegant demeanour, they concluded that she too belonged to the same circle as the two siblings. They could only sigh and watch them from a distance.
Azrael glanced at the newly arrived girl and turned towards Aelia, "Your friend?"
Hearing this Aelia scrunched her nose and shaking her head gave a curt reply, "Nope, she's not!"
Aelia, in fact, knew the girl. She was Natalie Jameson, one of her cousin, Leila's close friends. She had along with Reine and Leila, often came to pick fights with her whenever they saw her. Aelia knew that Natalie was now greeting her warmly, only so that she could introduce herself to her brother. Aelia didn't believe in acting graciously to her opponents, so she did not give her any face in front of her brother.
When Natalie heard Aelia's reply, the smile on her face froze. She looked at Azrael and said in a honeyed voice, "Az, don't you remember me?"
Hearing the obnoxious voice of the girl, Azriel felt disgusted and coldly glared at her. He remembered her as the girl who had bullied his sister on her tenth birthday. He knew that the girl had ulterior motives and thus refused to acknowledge her.
After giving a curt "no", Azrael opened the door to the private booth, bringing in Aelia and shutting the door on Natalie's face.
Seeing this, the other guests who had initially thought that the three were close associates snickered at the shameless act of the girl.
One of them said in a mocking tone, "Nowadays, after just putting on a branded dress, some people think that they can belong to the elite class. They think that wealth can hide their shameless faces!"
Hearing this, the other customers too started pointing at Natalie and loudly discussed her shameless behaviour.
Hearing the mockings of the other guests, Natalie felt extremely embarrassed and quickly walked out of the restaurant. She thought to herself, "Bitch! How dare you act so arrogantly! Just wait for the evening's party! You'll get to know what humiliation truly means! Hmph!"
Natalie had heard about Reine's plans for the party and she felt extremely delighted when she pictured Aelia's humiliation in her mind.