"Yo, you seemed to really be fine already," Brian Cooper, nephew of Luis Cooper, slap Ashton on the shoulder as they entered."We told you, that person has come and supported him unconditionally. Carl must be happy for this young master of his right now," Blake placed his arm around Brian"s shoulder.
"Ho, we really want to meet her somehow," Harvey Carter, younger brother of the next master, commented.
"Are you planning on letting everyone know that you all are here and we are gathering?" Ashton ignored their teasing and asked as he left them in the door.
"So where is she? The person you are barricading over the phone," Xander asked as he followed first.
Among this group, Ashton, Blake, Devon, Aldger and Xander were of the same age, 25 years old.
Timothy, Brian, Harvey and Mathew Hughes, cousin of the next master, were of the same age, 27 years old.
Upon entry all of them were welcomed with a very delicious scent. The dining table was also filled with food.
"What"s this? You cooked all of these?" Mathew asked.
Among them he was the most glutton, as compared to Harvey whose family business was restaurants. Mathew loved eating even more.
"Do you really think I would cook for you?" Ashton asked in an indifferent tone.
"Since it"s lunch, I think you all must be hungry now," they heard another voice.
Amber just came out of the kitchen with the last dish. She was wearing her silver mask and a smile was on her lips.
The other five guys stared at her, she walked out with an aura of dominance. An aura they have never seen before, like a... queen?
They would only see this kind of aura when their grandfathers were on meetings and official family gathering.
But somehow this girl was exuding it without trying to do so.
Ashton stood in front of her when they remained staring at her. Amber became curious with such reaction from them.
"Is there something wrong with me?" she asked as she peeked from Ashton"s back.
Those who met her for the first time looked at Ashton and the others.
"Don"t tell us you didn"t feel what we just had?" Harvey looked at them seriously and asked.
"What of it?"
Ashton asked as if what they had just asked was not something important.
There are only a few people who can exude such aura and sometimes that is also the reason on how the next masters of the royal families are chosen.
An aura that could only be exuded by someone who can carry such authority.
Amber furrowed her brows, they were talking about her right? Then why does she not understand what was going on?
"Is that why you sticked with her?" this time it was Brian who asked.
"Of course not, this girl only started exuding it when we met her again. We didn"t feel it at all back when we spent time with her," Blake shrugged.
But when he and Devon looked at Ashton they felt something else.
"You have noticed it from back then?" Devon asked him.
Well Aldger despite seeing her through the monitor. It was still through the monitor, he couldn"t possibly feel what they have just felt.
"I have an inkling," Ashton replied with a shrug.
"They are talking about me right?" Amber thought as she looked back and forth from all the men in front of her.
They all looked at Ashton and Amber in awe.
Ashton looked down and saw that she is starting to get irritated. His eyes turned gentle, to the shock of the others.
Since when did he last showed this kinds of eyes? Blake and the others last saw this with Madison.
But he was still young back then and he was not yet as tainted as he is now.
Amber in turn glared at him, "Is there something on my face? Or my clothes?"
Amber looked down she was wearing a white blouse with beige jeans, matching it with a doll shoes. She was really not that fond of heels after all.
"Is everything ready? Let"s go and just eat shall we? Let these guys be."
Having said that he went ahead and sat down.
Amber frowned but put on a smile and looekd at all of them.
"I am Amber Wood, just arrived here and I am pleased to meet you."
They stared at her for a good few minutes before introducing themselves and welcoming her.
Xander and Timothy felt a tug but didn"t try to think too deeply of it.
And soon all of them started eating and compliments flowed towards her.
Blake, Devon and Aldger are watching her closely especially when she interacts with Xander and Timothy.
"Both of you cook so well, you can be comparable with the chefs in our restaurants," Harvey commented.
They"ve also tasted Ashton"s cooking before.
"Then why not bring my sister in your restaurant? She was into culinary currently after all," Ashton replied.
Amber looked at him, she haven"t heard of this yet.
"So the brat was actually into culinary? Never thought of that, maybe I should meet up with her when we have the time."
"You do know how much my parents would nag at me if I invite her right? Our family maybe fine compared to the Price but rivalry is still rivalry," Harvey replied with a shake of his head.
"Hey don"t include us there now," Xander retorted with a laugh.
"Well shouldn"t you be happy you still have your parents to get mad at you? At least they haven"t abandoned you for themselves," Timothy followed after.
Even Xander looked at him with shock, why the sudden outburst?
Didn"t they usually talk about this like normal?
Timothy seemed to have realized what he had said and scratched the back of his head, "Hmmm? Seems I have woken up on the wrong side of the bed."
"Come on man, this is a meet up for Ashton and the others, let"s not make it depressing even more," Brian replied.
"That"s right, by the way we have heard of it. Jacob was still kneeling in front of his grave," Mathew added trying to steer the talk away from their parents.
All of these young men have heard of how amazing Nathan Price was. But they also couldn"t help but to sympathize with Xander and Timothy.
They were after all left alone to fend for themselves within the Price Empire. Without any proper explanation at that.
"Oh yes, that was actually all thanks to Amber here. Though even the three of us still have no idea how she did it so well," Devon answered trying also to change the subject.
But compared to Mathew, he was doing it for Amber. They didn"t see that much reaction from her when Timothy spoke after all.
"Oh, you did? And my uncle didn"t even bother with it? How did you do that?" Brian looked at her and awe was visible in his eyes.
Amber smiled, "Hmmm maybe some other time? At the same time, if it won"t be too much. As I have heard the hatred in your voice."
The table went silent when she suddenly spoke of such things. They didn"t expect for her to actually be the one who would want to stick to this topic.
Even Ashton couldn"t help but to give her a side glance.
"This may be out of line for me, but if I were to hate. I would have to hate the reason behind their abandonment."
She gave them a smile, "That"s just an opinion from an outsider in your point of view, I just want to say it."
She took a deep breath and stood up, "I guess I"ll prepare some coffee for all of you then."
"Go on and help her, Aldger. Among us you can make coffee the best," Ashton added.
Aldger didn"t comment and just followed her inside the kitchen.
"I"m sorry about this, I might look like I am not affected but my hands would stop a few inches away from the coffee maker. Carl had that most memory on me, coffee making that is."
Amber said as she hand him the coffee granules to Aldger.
"Why did you have to go and say that? We tried to divert it away," Aldger went ahead and asked her.
"I am not someone who would rather stay silent and just accept what they want. I"d rather have them hate the reason rather than keep hating those who are already in rest."
"Why not just drop a hint that they are already gone?" Aldger kept asking.
"Those two, I can feel that the reason they kept going and improving themselves was because they wanted to prove to our parents that they shouldn"t have abandoned them."
"If they found that out, they might lsoe their reasons."
Aldger didn"t try to ask more, he couldn"t understand. If she had just told them that their parents were killed by those who her brother"s are respetful of.
"My brother"s have been abandoned, I have no right to get them involved to this."
Was what Amber added in her mind after seeing the look in Aldger"s face.