Half a month later, after finishing her last class on Friday, Victoria Garcia received a birthday gift.
The gift was a dazzling diamond necklace, with a rare pink diamond pendant. Underneath the pink diamond, there were two papers, one of which contained information about a pink diamond mine in Zone Country and its mining rights.
The three words on the mining rights were so obvious: Turner Brown.
Once, this name belonged to her maternal grandfather's brother, her sisters' great uncle. Now, he was just a dead man, who, before he died, didn't forget to frame her mother one last time.
Looking at the birthday gift in front of her, some unsolved mysteries were beckoning her. She had to admit, she liked this birthday present very much.
She was determined to make those who had hurt them pay in blood.
Written on the other paper were the location of Arnold Johnson's private plane's airfield and the time of their meeting.
The day after celebrating her twenty-first birthday with her sisters, Victoria boarded a private plane from Metropolis to Zone Country.
Unsurprisingly, the first person she saw when she entered the cabin was Arnold Johnson. He looked at her as if he had been waiting for this moment, waiting for her to come to him.
Victoria sized up Arnold for a moment, noting his dark blue knitted sweater and matching casual pants. Even in such simple attire, he exuded an air that was uniquely his own.
She sat down across from Arnold and greeted him, "Mr. Johnson, long time no see."
Arnold's eyebrows furrowed for a moment before returning to normal. He felt it was necessary to talk about titles at some point. But he really liked the last four words she said, because it had only been ten days since they last saw each other, yet she said, "long time no see."
"It takes at least eight hours to fly from Metropolis to Zone Country. You should eat something first," Arnold said in a low, hoarse voice, laced with a hint of warmth.
Victoria instinctively replied, "No need."
Her tone was just like how she used to refuse any man who wanted to get close to her.
The already intimate space became eerily quiet after her refusal. It didn't take long for Victoria to come to her senses.
"Join me for a bite," Arnold said simply.
She knew the saying "eating from someone's hand makes one beholden to them."
This time, Victoria obediently responded, "Okay."
Arnold was about to ring the bell, only to realize that besides bringing her, he only had two pilots on board.
He stood up and said to Victoria, "I forgot to bring a flight attendant. If you want something to eat, you'll have to wait a bit."
Victoria said to his retreating back, "It's okay."
Victoria waited for a while but didn't see Arnold returning. She thought that maybe he was preparing a lot of food and didn't give it much thought. She stood up and walked in the direction he left to see if he needed help.
As she followed where he had gone, she heard a faint banging sound. She quickly walked over and found Arnold was using a wine bottle to pound on some beef on a cutting board.
When Victoria saw the scene, her heart skipped a beat, making a sound similar to the pounding of the beef by the wine bottle.
Little did she know that Arnold would cook.
What she knew even less was that this was the first time Arnold had cooked for a woman.