Leaving the incident at Solstice behind, Mirage decided to just go home.
" I thought you were starving? " Chloe said while linking arms with Mirage who doesn't mind her at all.
" We can eat at home. " Mirage said softly.
" Just tell the chef what you wanted to eat. " Nicolo added calmly.
" Hmmm... I crave... Italian food. Ah! pasta! " Chloe beamed happily. She's so childish at times. Mirage finds her adorable and sweet but then she remembers how she dragged her here and then leaves her alone, she quickly changes her mind.
' She's definitely a troublemaker '
They went home through Chloe's car. And they found Euphemia still fast asleep.
" See? She doesn't even know that you're gone for JUST 3 HOURS! " Chloe said while rolling her eyes.
" Whatever. " Mirage answered.
Chloe gets the pasta that she craved for. They're in the middle of indulging the food when Dr. Travis walks through the door.
" Hey! That looks good. " Travis greeted.
" Come on, son. Join us. " Don Augustus asked the helper to prepare the dish for Travis.
Travis nodded and sat down next to Chloe whom he gave a kiss on her cheek. And she was flustered.
' Now, that's a rare thing to see. '
Mirage thought.
The dinner was pleasant with everyone chatting and laughing together.
After dinner, they decided to stay in the living room while drinking some tea. They talked about what happened at Solstice.
" So how did things end up? " Dr. Travis asked as he sipped on his cup.
" She just let them go unscathed. How boring. " Chloe said without even looking at him.
Dr. Travis chuckled.
" It sounds like there's someone else who's more disappointed than you do, Mirage. " He mumbled before taking another sip from his cup.
" You're only saying that because you weren't there. " Nicolo suggested.
" Oh. You too, Nick? " Dr. Travis can't help but to be surprised.
" You have no idea. " Mirage muttered under her breath. But Dr. Travis heard that.
Don Augustus scoffed.
" If I was there, I'd surely call the security to throw them out. Huh! How dare they! "
Mirage grimace. She could clearly sense the graveness underlying the old man's words. She could also sense the same thing about Nicolo's behavior earlier. He seems calm and relaxed, he's even smiling.
But she could tell that he's dangerously calm and relaxed. And that he's dead serious even when he's smiling. He must have a hard time keeping it from her. If she would only believe what she sees rather than what she felt, she may have actually believed that Nicolo is a forgiving human.
" Move on, people. "
Mirage simply said as she sipped on her cup showing that she's completely unfazed.
" Oh, come on, Mir. You're just trying to act tough but you're really soft. " Chloe stated matter of fact
Mirage couldn't deny that her face turned red when she realized that they saw right through her. But she didn't say anything about that and continued drinking her cup.
Dr. Travis gave a sigh. He took one last glance at Nicolo before focusing back at Mirage.
" Alright! So what do you plan to do now? "
Nicolo and the old man shared a look before giving each other a slight nod and looked straight at Dr. Travis.
" About what? " Mirage said, sounding indifferent.
" Your identity, of course. " Dr. Travis answered monotonously.
Mirage paused. She never really has given thought about it. But thinking back, she really needs to make some things straightened out.
The tragedy happened in the middle of August. She's been out for a week. Then when she woke up, she had the whole month of September at the hospital and the whole October at the mansion. Then the mishap happened again and she spent the whole November in a comatose state. Now it's December and she still doesn't have a solid identity since she can't remember. She's trying to be as normal as possible but there were really times that she would be caught thinking about who she really is. Afraid that she might fall into an endless unconsciousness, she's trying hard not to think of anything at all about her and she just diverted all her attention to Euphemia.
But just like how the sun sets every afternoon, she would constantly end her day with the question...
` Who am I? `
Her name is Mirage. But who Mirage really is?
She's supposed to be the dead daughter of Alfonse and Miranda.
She's the granddaughter of the business tycoon Augustus Esquibel.
She's the cousin of Nicolo and Travis.
She's the mother of Euphemia.
She's the wife of....?
And her head will start to throb that will cause her to panic inside. She will try everything to forget that thought over again. To save herself.
She sighed after a long time of contemplating.
" I want to know everything about me before the tragedy... except, of course, anything about my husband. "
Everyone heaved a deep sigh. Unable to hide their sadness and frustration towards the unfair situation.
" Your name is Belle. Arabelle Vernon. "
Nicolo said while carefully looking at Mirage's face to analyze her reactions.
" Doesn't it ring a bell? "
" Nah. "
Nicolo cleared his throat before continuing.
" You have a small boutique after you resigned from being a coordinator of a small clothing company. "
" Clothing line? But why don't I like shopping at all? " Mirage commented.
Nicolo just shrugged and continued.
" You don't have a college diploma because you work a lot of part time to help your foster Mom and sister... "
There's nothing about her foster mom and sister that came through her senses. Instead there's a different idea that popped out inside her. Since she's a heiress, she needs to learn a lot about everything.
" Can I go to college? "
Don Augustus smiles widely.
" Of course! Of course! Whatever you wanted my dear. "
Mirage smiles back at him.
" Thanks Grandpa. "
" That's nothing, my dear. Anything for you. "
" I'll set everything up, don't worry. " Nicolo said and he sipped the last gulp from his tea cup.
" Send me the schedule when you're done, Nick. I'll sync my own schedule so I can check up on her. The lessons may have stressed her. " Dr. Travis said the last part jokingly.
Mirage couldn't help herself. She chuckled. The others started laughing, too.
It felt...nice to laugh.
It felt nice to smile.
It feels nice to be around people who genuinely care about you.
She felt at home.
She felt... happy.