Ethan leaned forward, kissed Kylie"s forehead, and then he took her hand and leaned back on the bench. For a while, neither of them said anything until Kylie finally broke the silence. She said, "My good friend, Stars, will be here soon. It would mean a lot to me if you would agree to meet him. He is like a brother to me. He is helping me several times since my younger days,""Is he the one who put you through school," Ethan wondered with a mischievous tone to his voice.
Kylie sensed that there was something wrong the way he talked. She sat up quickly and asked Ethan if he"d been Stars all along. Ethan stared blankly at Kylie. He knew Kylie was desperate to know the truth. "What do you think?" Ethan asked her in a voice that gave nothing away.
"I would never have thought so," Kylie replied, "but now I don"t know… If you weren"t Stars, how would you know that Stars supported me through school? If my guess is right then, I would be grateful to you for the rest of my life,"
Ethan quickly answered, "I"ve told you before how I"ve observed you for the last fifteen years. I know everything about you. Tell me, though, how did you and Stars meet?"
Kylie sighed and said, "It is crazy, but if it weren"t for you, I never would have met Stars. I don"t know; honestly, I wanted to know the truth,"
"Is this somehow connected to that time I rescued you?" Ethan asked her. "I know that you fell in love with me right there and then, and then you went to the radio station to profess your love for me – but what does any of this have to do with Stars?"
"First of all," Kylie replied, "I did not go to the radio station to profess my love for you. In truth, I went there to complain. Sometimes, even after all this time that we"ve been together, your overinflated ego still catches me by surprise. Husband, your confidence makes you sound arrogant,"
Kylie was just about to go on and explain what any of this had to do with Stars when, from out of nowhere, Stephen appeared. He had a brown envelope in his hands.
"Lord Ethan," he gasped as he handed the envelope over, "you need to look at this as soon as possible. I was led to believe that it is very important."
Kylie looked at Ethan and then at Stephen. "I should give the two of you some privacy," she said as she stood up.
As soon as Kylie was gone, Stephen said, "I"ve also received news that Michael Cole is being released from prison. Ethan scanned the doc.u.ment, and once he was done, he looked up to Stephen and asked him how long he"d known about its contents. When Stephen refused to answer, he put the doc.u.ments in his hands and said, "Never mind – it doesn"t matter. What happened had already happened, and I am still your employer,"
"I need you to investigate Michael Cole," Ethan continued. "I want to know who he has been talking to, in and out of prison. I want to see all of the doc.u.ments pertaining to his stay in prison, and where he is most likely to go once he is released. While you are at it, see what you can find about Kylie"s friend, Stars. If there is any connection between Cole and Stars, it is imperative that you figure it out before Cole is released. Lastly, I want daily updates. Know this, the first day that you don"t have an update for me will be your last day of employment here."
Stephen swallowed his own saliva when he heard what Ethan and told him because he knew he always does what he said, "I understand. I bear that in my mind,"
From Kylie"s bedroom window, she could see Ethan and Stephen talking. Her face was red with anger and embarra.s.sment. She felt like crying, but she refused to do it. Even if she had control of nothing else, she would retain control of her body. When she"d stood up and offered to leave, she"d a.s.sumed that Ethan would say something along the lines of, "Please, stay. Anything that he has to say to me can be said in front of you."
She had f.u.c.ked it up though and, in doing so, could only a.s.sume that in some way, they were talking about her. She thought that her husband would never hide anything because they"ve agreed on it before he returns to him. She was p.i.s.sed off the way Ethan acted.
While Kylie was nursing her wounds, she received a text message from Stars. It said, "I have been watching Trailblazers. You should be very proud of yourself. The show is definitely better than anything else on the telly these days. I can"t wait to see where you go from here. Things are definitely looking up for you. Congratulations!"
She quickly typed a reply to him, "Thank you so much, you"ve been so good to me, and I am grateful on it,"
Stars didn"t reply back to her message until she decided to take a nap.
***
Kylie was doing some work at her desk when Ethan snuck up behind her and placed a large gift box in front of her. She looked at it and sarcastically said, "Thanks. This is exactly what I need; more clothes."
Ethan touched her shoulder and said, "This dress is special and one of a kind. It is for your night at the Oscars."
Kylie opened the box and immediately recognized the work of Rainer Alexander. It was in the traditional Chinese gown style, but it also had a touch of the modern to it. For example, it came with extra lift and support for her large b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and it had to plunge cleavage that no seventeenth-century Chinese girl would have ever dared to be seen in.
Kylie put the lid on and said, "Thanks. You can put the box on my bed. I will try it later. As you can see, I am swamped right now."