The night was getting late when Lilia stepped outside the Haven Bar, but the number of pedestrians around the streets had just increased. She followed Claire and Andrew into the car, then immediately drove back to her hotel.
In the car, Lilia touched her face that had been feeling hot as if she had a fever. She took out her cell phone and used the camera of the phone as a mirror. As expected, Lilia's cheeks were flushed from the alcoholic drink she drank earlier.
She felt a little guilty about getting drunk, even though Jean had repeatedly warned her to be careful. If that man were here, he would definitely scold Lilia for breaking her promise. Lilia closed her eyes and tried to take her mind off Jean so she wouldn't miss him even more.
But the harder she tried, the more she thought about Jean. She wondered what her husband was doing now. Did Jean already go to his bed? Or did the man immerse himself in his work late into the night?
While thinking about that, Lilia unconsciously fell asleep. She just woke up when Claire gently shook her shoulder.
"Lilia, sorry to wake you up, but we've arrived at your hotel." Claire said with an apologetic smile.
Lilia checked her watch. It was already a little past eleven at night. She thanked Claire for waking her up. Before getting out of the car, Lilia took out the present she had prepared beforehand and gave it to Claire.
"Sister Claire, this is for you." Lilia said with a big smile, "I hope you like it."
Claire looked at Lilia in surprise. She just stared at the small box in Lilia's hand without taking it for a moment, "What is that? When did you buy it? Haven't we been together since earlier?" Asked Claire in surprise.
The woman seemed to suspect that Lilia had slipped away without Claire's knowledge to buy a present when they left tonight.
Lilia laughed and put the gift box in Claire's hand, "It's not like that. I've prepared it from Surabaya. I'm sure this gift will suit you, Sister Claire."
As Claire's attention focused on opening the box, Lilia opened the car door and stepped out. Then, she turned and bent over to look at the husband and wife.
"Thank you for showing me around tonight." Lilia said sincerely, "Be careful on the road. I'll go in first."
"Ah, Lilia ..."
Before Claire could say anything about the gift, Lilia had closed the car door and walked away. Claire could only stare at the figure of the beautiful woman stepping into the hotel lobby.
"This kid really ..." Claire sighed, "Who could have thought that she would buy me a present?"
Andrew, held the steering wheel with one hand and turned to the back seat when he heard Claire's words. He raised his eyebrows and said, "There is no one else in this car but us right now. Why don't you move beside me like usual?"
Claire detected the irritation in Andrew's voice and decided that the man's patience was running low. She got out of the car before moving into the front seat at Andrew's request.
After sitting down, Claire's attention was caught again by the gift box. She slowly opened it and revealed a pair of earrings made of jade. Claire's eyes widened in surprise.
"Ah, aren't these the earrings in your uncle's auction, Andrew?" Claire looked up and looked at her husband.
The Austin family didn't just own a jade mine offshore. They also had shops in the gem and jewelry business. In recent times, high-quality jade had become increasingly rare and difficult to find. That's why Claire was surprised to see the quality of these jade earrings, which could be considered high-quality items.
"Just accept the gift." Andrew calmly suggested, "I'm sure Lilia would be much happier if you happily accepted her gift."
Claire rubbed the pair of earrings before sighing, "I really like Lilia. She is always true to herself and generous. I sometimes think that it would be better if Lilia was my little sister instead of that cold-hearted child." She said half joking, "But no matter what, I'm happy to be a family with a woman as good as Lilia."
Andrew glanced at Claire with a smile. He started running the car jokingly, "I can see that you like Lilia so much that you left your job just to show her around. So far, she was the first to make you do that."
'Not even her husband could make this stubborn woman leave her job.' Andrew added to his praise but didn't word it out. Lilia also made him a private driver this whole night. Andrew was determined to hold Claire responsible and spend more time alone with him than usual.
*****
When Lilia stepped into her royal suite, she was immediately greeted with a shocking sight.
Merry was sitting cross-legged on the sofa. A box of tissues perched on her lap, while her tears flowed endlessly.
"Merry?!" Lilia immediately dropped her handbag and ran to the young woman's side, "What's wrong? Why are you crying? Are you alright?" She asked worriedly.
She always thought of Merry as an innocent little sister who needed protection. Who dared to make this little sister cry?!
"Sob ... sob ... Sis Lilia ... you ... sob ... are back ...!" Merry said, sobbing.
Lilia took a tissue from the box on Merry's lap and began to use it to wipe the assistant's face. "No, don't cry. Tell me, what happened?" She asked.
Merry took another tissue to dry her eyes before pointing to the television screen in front of her. "The romantic scene in the music video that you recorded back in the day is really touching!" She said before wiping her nose with a tissue.
"…Huh?"
Lilia took a moment to process Merry's words. She slowly turned her head towards the large television screen. It so happened that the scene that appeared on television was the moment when she and Ryan met on the campus' front yard. Lilia returned her gaze to Merry, who was again starting to shed tears.
"… So you are crying just from watching this music video?" Lilia asked in disbelief.
Merry wiped her tears again before giving a strong nod, "Your acting really hits my heart, Sis! I can imagine myself in your position easily! I feel very, very touched…!"
Lilia sighed and stopped asking Merry. She had learned that she couldn't understand what was on fans' minds, especially those who were so obsessed toward her.
She left Merry who was still busy watching the music video and went to take a shower. After freshening up, Lilia threw herself onto the bed and immediately accessed the internet. If it weren't for Merry's silly cry earlier, she wouldn't have remembered that today was Ryan's newest album release.
As expected, the whole internet was talking about Ryan Fever's latest album. Not only that, they also offended Lilia, who was dubbed the girl idol of the whole campus. Lilia ignored the discussion forum and found a post from the Lyra Music Company official website regarding the music album.
[Lilia]: "@Ryan, I hope your album will be sold out!"
After leaving that comment, Lilia returned to the discussion forum that discussed herself.
[User1060]: "This is Lilia Pangestu's first music video! She really is very talented at acting!"
[User2739]: "I wonder how many piles of bricks are under Ryan's feet to match Lilia's height in the scene where they stare at each other?"
[User1912]: "For some reason, I get the feeling that Ryan looks like a little dog who follows his owner (Lilia) around!"
[User3782]: "Lilia Pangestu looks like a talented actress. I will be her fan starting today!"
[User2083]: "@ User3782, Just fans? For me, Lilia Pangestu is my college idol starting today!"
[User1912]: "@ User2083, won't you turn 46 this year? Needless to say, I know your private information."
Lilia couldn't help herself and laughed out loud reading all those comments. Ever since she entered the entertainment world, Lilia had never cared about her reputation in cyberspace. Even if her fans left comments on her social media accounts, Lilia would only read them briefly without replying to their comments.
Around half past twelve in the evening, Lilia tried to send a message via the Other app to Jean.
[Lilia]: "Are you sleeping?"
Lilia looked anxiously at her cell phone's screen.. It wasn't until a minute later that her cell phone rang.
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