章 13: Chapter 13: Kylie Is My Wife
On leaving the Finch house, Kylie casually took a stick of gum from her bag and stuffed it into her mouth.
There was a black car parked on the side of the road, about two hundred meters from the Finch house.
When she walked closer, Elliot got out of the car and opened the door. "Ma'am, Lord Ethan sent me to drive you home."
"Was he stalking me?" Kylie asked, a little ill at ease.
Elliot didn't explain any further, but simply opened the door, and gestured inside. "Please get in the car."
Kylie didn't think too much of it and bent over to get inside the vehicle.
As soon as she sat down, Pupu jumped towards her and sat beside her, wagging his tail. "Pupu, do you want some gum?"
Pupu barked in response, and Elliot didn't say anything.
Of course, Kylie didn't actually feed Pupu her gum, but the dog kept moving closer and closer to her mouth, smelling the sweet aroma.
The car switched to the fast lane. As Kylie stared into the rearview mirror and watched the Finch house becoming vaguer and vaguer, her heart began to ache. Every time she returned to her old home, she had to put up a fierce fight. It made her exhausted.
"Handsome, please slow down a little—I'm getting somewhat dizzy."
Although it helped that Ethan wasn't in the car, Kylie felt more at ease, and Pupu was more active. Kylie kicked off her shoes and lay down, taking over the whole backseat. Pupu was happy to be used as a pillow.
"Ma'am, you can just call me Elliot."
"Ok," Kylie hummed, her eyes closed. She wasn't exactly car-sick, but she felt a little dizzy due to the smell of smoke.
Actually, she had lied to Ethan about smoking. She never smoked; she just felt obligated to do things her father hated. Hence, every time she went home, she had to smoke one in front of him.
If Laurence were to pay the slightest bit of attention, he would discover that she exhales all the smoke, and barely inhales. However, in his mind, his daughter was addicted to nicotine and alcohol.
Elliot slowed down to 50 mph, glancing at Kylie and Pupu in the mirror. Though labradors were usually docile and faithful dogs, Pupu was the exception—he wasn't usually a friendly dog.
He was an old dog who had lived for years at the villa. Ethan was the only one who'd been able to gain his trust. So, when he left home, he'd taken Pupu with him.
Elliot was confused and thought: the driver who picked Pupu up yesterday said he was alert the entire way, and that nobody could approach him. But he was so docile when he was with this woman. There was a feeling of apprehension in Elliot's heart.
He saw Kylie reach over and stroke Pupu. Knowing that she was still awake, he asked tentatively: "Ma'am, have you ever had a dog?"
Kylie opened her eyes and stared at the roof of the car. After a while, she answered: "I had one when I was young. But we lost it."
Pupu whimpered and turned to look at her. He pawed her head, as though trying to comfort her.
Kylie gently pinched his paws, then his ears. She snuggled against Pupu's belly and remembered something.
The night she had left home, she had met a stray dog on the street. They had both been homeless, so she had kept it. Her father had cut her off financially, to try and force her to return home and apologize. But Kylie had decided that she would rather be a child laborer, than return home.
At that time, so long as she had enough food, the dog would not go hungry. But as the year progressed, she couldn't even support herself, let alone her new dog.
She didn't have a friend to help her look after the dog, so she had been forced to chase it away with a stick. The dog had finally left, and she had cried for a long time.
It was around that time that Star had first contacted her.
She had wept, and told him what happened, after which Star had offered to help her with her school and living expenses. With this backing, she had gone out in search of her dog but had been unable to find it.
If her dog was still alive, it would be about the same age as Pupu.
Kylie looked up at Pupu: his eyes were bright, and she could make out the guilty expression in her eyes, reflected against his brown pupils.
The car slowly came to a stop. Elliot softly interrupted her train of thought: "Ma'am, here we are."
Platinum Mansion.
Now that Ethan was back at home, the couple sat at the dining table, in preparation for dinner.
A big deal that the Century Group had been trying to wrap up for three years had just been settled by Ethan on his arrival home. Old Mr. Parker could not be happier; he knew it had been the right decision to call Ethan back home, to take over the business.
Though Matthew was also often praised by his father, he was obviously not happy with the way things had turned out.
Finally, the conversation fell back to Ethan. The theme was clear: career was important, but the family was of the utmost importance.
Old Mr. Parker spoke: "I haven't been this happy for a long time! When can we add another set of tableware at the table?"
Old Mr. Parker's second wife, Mrs. Parker, added: "I've suffered from insomnia these past weeks, and always dream that someone new would call me granny!"
"You can't sleep at night because you're too busy thinking about that!" replied Mr. Parker.
Ethan waved the servant over: "Bring them what they want; add an extra plate beside me."
"Ethan, don't joke about me..." Mrs. Parker seized Mr. Parker's hand in excitement.
Nicole Parker drew her chair forward and turned to Mrs. Parker. "My pretty granny, you don't know yet...but today Uncle Ethan..."
"Shut up!" Matthew rebuked his daughter in a low voice. "The elder was speaking... don't you dare interject!"
His wife, Taylor, looked unhappy, and whispered in a strange tone: "Nicole did not say anything wrong, so why would you yell at her?"
"Yeah, why can't I say..." Nicole echoed. But, raising her head, she noticed Kylie walking into the room. She stood up in a rush. "Kylie Finch? Why are you allowed to be here?"
At the banquet, Nicole had been frightened of her Uncle Ethan's anger and hadn't said too much. But, judging from their conversation just now, she assumed that her uncle had not said anything about Kylie to either of his parents. The bit about another grandchild had simply been a joke on Mrs. Parker's part.
On seeing Kylie, old Mr. Parker's face darkened. He had heard stories about her.
Noticing that Mr. Parker was not happy with her appearance, Taylor stealthily chuckled. She stared at Kylie with severity and disdain, and said: "Kylie Finch, are you shameless? My son just abandoned you for your sister, and now you're pestering my brother-in-law. Is it fun?"
Aiden and Nicole glanced at Kylie with disgust. But Kylie continued to smile sweetly and look firmly in Ethan's direction.
Ethan pulled out the chair beside him, all the while resting his arm on the back of the chair. He spoke in a habitually cold voice: "It seems that somebody didn't listen to my words today."
He looked at everyone in the room, in turn, with a serious expression. "From this day onwards, Kylie is my wife. I hope she can gain your respect. If anybody attacks her with those terrible words again, don't blame me for being rude."
When he finished his lecture, he turned his head and looked at her. "Come sit down."
Kylie walked towards the table with natural grace. As soon as she sat down, she noticed that her hand had been caught; her fingertips were suddenly very cold. She looked down to realize that Ethan was putting a diamond ring on her finger.
With a slight shock, she looked up at him. He parted his lips and smiled at the corners of his mouth. "Do you like it?" he asked.
"It's such a big diamond; who could say no?" Kylie muttered in a heartfelt manner. But they weren't really married, she thought, and this seemed like such an expensive prop. After all, most truly married women didn't have such a big diamond.
She raised her hand and showed it off to Aiden. "How gorgeous it is..."
Then she leaned against Ethan. "Although the love between a man and a woman cannot be fully expressed with money, this diamond can at least remind you of the weight of my heart."
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