In the private booth, Azriel and Aelia ordered an English breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, grilled bacon slices, sausage patties, black pudding, hash browns, grilled mushroom and buttered toast. While Azrael ordered a cup of Black tea, Aelia ordered a cappuccino.
Seeing his sister ordering a creamy and sweet drink, Azrael revealed a small smile on his lips.
"Your tastes haven't changed much in the last ten years. You still like to drink sweet stuff!"
Aelia replied a little self-consciously, "What's wrong with my choice? Everyone has their own tastes, don't they?"
Azrael replied with a chuckle, "Of course! It's just that no one would believe that my little sister who acts so cold and mature, has an obsession with sweets and furry animals!"
Hearing this, Aelia's cheeks blushed a little. She mumbled, "Brother, don't tease me!"
She couldn't deny it though. She loved adorable, furry creatures and even her bedroom still had a lot of soft toys. If her father did not have an allergy to animals, she would have adopted a dog long ago. She thought that it truly was one of the regrettable things in her life.
As they were having breakfast, Azrael asked, "So, where are you going? I'll drop you off on my way!"
"Yesterday, Aylin gave me her newly finished designs. I'm going to the company to have a meeting about the designs with the executives. They had been badgering Aylin non-stop about giving new jewellery designs." She sighed and continued in a subdued voice, "You know, after mom's death this is the first time she started designing again."
Azrael opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind. He said after a short pause, "Aelia, trust me everything would be alright! Hmm?"
Aelia gave a sad smile and nodded. She knew that despite her mother's death, she had to move on. Her mother would definitely not have wanted her to be unhappy day after day. That was why, she tried to move on, even though sometimes it felt like a heavy boulder was crushing her heart.
Sensing the unhappy mood of his sister, Azrael sighed. He knew that among the three siblings, it was Aelia who was closest to their mother. It was not like their mother, Amelia Romanov favoured her over Azrael and Aylin; it was just that since young Aelia had a closer bond with their mother as their thoughts and personality were very similar.
Azrael tried to distract his sister, "Alright! I'll drop you off in front of the company. Meanwhile, I'll go and investigate those fake DNA results."
Having their breakfast, Azrael patted Aelia's shoulder and both of them got up from their seats.
...
Aelia returned in the afternoon. As her birthday party was meant to start at five in the evening, she started getting ready at three in the afternoon.
Aelia and Aylin, both had their personal makeup artists who helped them with their makeup for any occasion. As they were putting on her makeup and doing her hair, Aelia silently sat in front of her dressing table.
Her thoughts once again meandered to the mysterious sender of the dress. She also kept feeling a little anxious, as if something unusual was about to happen.
Her thoughts went something like this, 'Who sent me that dress? It must be one of brother's acquaintance. But what was the purpose behind the gift? A simple birthday greeting? But then what does "see you soon" imply? That the person would visit me? When? Today? In any case, the person's choice in fashion is definitely better than brother's! Could it be some lady who likes my brother and so she sent me the gift, to make him happy? That would explain why brother was possibly embarrassed to tell me about her identity. But then, I don't think what brother felt was embarrassment but it was more like anger!
He possibly doesn't reciprocate her feelings and was angry to be associated with her!"
Being accustomed to vividly sense other's emotions, Aelia felt a bit confused about his brother's action. She felt that his anger was not directed towards something related to himself, but something related to her.
She mused, 'Could it be that he disdains the sender so much, that he didn't want that person to come in contact with me? And that's why he even refused to say his name?'
As Aelia kept thinking, a knock sounded on the door and Aylin walked in. She was wearing a white dress with a bandage bardot bodice and a skater skirt. Her straight silver ash hair was left down to her waist.
"Sis, it's already twenty minutes past four. You haven't got ready yet?"
"Don't worry! I'm almost done. I just have to put on my dress."
Aylin clicked her tongue and went to bring the dress out of the package. As she brought the dress out, she suddenly gave a sharp cry.
Aelia turned to see that the skirt of the gown had a long diagonal tear across it.
Seeing this, all the people in the room sighed. The initially beautiful dress had been so completely ruined that it was impossible for Aelia to wear it to the party.
Aylin anxiously stated, "Sister, what do we do now? It's definitely the work of that conniving bitch."
Aelia too knew that it was Reine's doing. She had already predicted that Reine would do something like this. So she had instructed the head maid to inform the other maids to not let anyone into her room in her absence, except Aylin and Azrael. So she wondered who had helped Reine with this petty trick.
After thinking for a moment, Aelia calmly said, "There's nothing we can do now about this dress! I'll just wear the one sent to me previously. It's just that brother would feel disappointed!"
As soon as Aylin heard this, her worries were dispelled.
"Don't worry, sis! Brother will definitely understand! Speaking of which, we can't deny that this dress is actually better than the one brother gifted you!" said Aylin while taking out the dress from Aelia's closet.
Seeing the beautiful dress, everyone in the room agreed.
Aelia too thought the same, but was extremely angry with Reine for ruining the dress gifted by her brother. She decided to deal with Reine after the party.
After Aelia put on the dress, everyone sighed in admiration. Aylin clapped in glee and said with admiration, "Sis, you look beautiful like a princess! What you just need is a tiara!"
Aelia looked at herself in the full-length mirror and felt pleased. The dress hugged her upper body with a skirt that flared from the waist. Her exposed shoulders did not look risque, but added to her elegance.
She once again thought that this dress was more to her taste. Actually, as she had never told Azrael about her choices in fashion and just wore whatever he sent her, Azrael had no idea that his sister's preference in fashion differed from his.