Cherry slumped on her bed, remembering that painting, she found herself smiling. She would have taken a picture, if not for the fact that all phone were confiscated before they were granted entrance, in fact no one was permitted to take a thing inside, not even a notebook. She could bet all her savings on the picture of that boy that he was the young master of the NOVA WORLD. It was just a pity she didn't get a clear look of his face, cause his long hair covered his face.
Getting up to take a shower, she heard her door open and coming through the door was her mother. She nearly forget that her mother had something to discuss with her.
"Mum" she chuckles
"I see you got home before everyone else."
Lola envelopes her in a hug.
"Yes, we finished by 5:00pm,driving us back took at least thirty minutes, found a place to eat dinner with Jiang and Stella."
"Jiang!" Lola was a bit shocked, not so shocked though, cause she knew John wouldn't mind disclosing his daughter's whereabouts, just so he could strike a deal with him. But she didn't expect him to be so desperate.
"Yes, Jiang, when I opened the door to leave, I saw him right there about to knock."
"Oh"
"Yep, I met Stella at the restroom, she came alone, so I asked her to join us, you know, I just didn't feel comfortable around Jiang."
Lola sat on the bed, while Cherry took the chair at the dressing table, sitting right in front of her mother.
"So mum, did you go on a tour with dad?"
"Tour? We went for lunch with Mr Anderson and his wife."
"Mr Anderson? I don't think I know him."
"You can't possibly know everyone."
"You are right."
"Why don't you tell me about your tour."
Cherry's face quickly brightened up, there was plenty to say, and she had been waiting to share her experience with someone.
"Oh, just where do I start."
She was almost jumping on her seat.
"Just start from the beginning." said Lola, smiling, she was so happy to see her daughter happy.
"You see mum, we only visited a place and it was worth it."
"Just a place, it must be a special place."
"Very special, it's a mansion he dedicated to his mother."
The smile on her face disappeared for a second as she remembered that his mother was late.
"Before we could enter, the securities there made us all hand in our bags and conducted a search on each and every one of us." she stops for a second "Guess what?"
"What?" came her mother's impatient voice.
"A young lady with earrings also attended the tour."
"Ain't that a normal thing?"
"Of course, it's a normal thing, but she was a reporter, and her earrings had a camera in them."
"For real."
"Yep, the earrings were seized and she had to go through a thorough search before she was granted entrance."
Cherry went on like a chatter box and told the story of the diamond masked man that was told to them.
"Then we all went around looking at paintings made by his mother, but you see mom, we were told a secret."
"A secret?"
"Yes, the tour guide led us to a glass box, in the box was a drawing book, he said the book contained all the woman's paintings we were seeing, the book was the brain behind those works, according to him, the woman only made a sketch with a pencil and wrote the colors in the drawings, while all the paintings we saw was made by her son. "
" What! "
Her mouth were left hanging, while Cherry was nodding her head non stop.
" The diamond masked man made those paintings, he is so talented mom. "she was now sitting on the bed, holding or rather squeezing her mother's hands.
" You sound like a fan."
" A fan? I'm in love mom. Wake up in the morning, just to see him by the window with his materials, walking up to him just to find out he made a painting of me while I was asleep."
She had blurted out these words before realizing she wasn't talking to her best friend 'Lara' nor was it her new friend 'Stella', but her mother.
She clears her throat and looks away, rubbing her palms together.
Lola smiles at her, while raising Cherry's chin up to have their gaze meet.
"It's normal to be in love, okay, especially someone like him."
Cherry found herself blushing before looking away.
"Cherry,do you love Jiang?"
"Love? Jiang?" there was a hint of annoyance in her voice, even her face showed she was angry "I was never in love with him, why would you ask that."
Lola felt relieved after hearing her answer
"Your father thinks you do, and would do anything within his reach to make sure you end up on Jiang's bed. Trust me Cherry, I don't mean to badmouth your father, but that's the truth."
"So what am I to do?"
"Move in with Hermia."