Chapter 99: Gift
Jennifer glanced down. Aurora was wearing a long skirt today that hid the wound on her leg. Aurora smoothed her skirt, her smile somewhat unnatural as she said, "Sorry about the other day, making Francis take me to the hospital and keeping him there for so long. You two didn't fight over it, did you?" She was obviously trying to mess with Jennifer, but unfortunately for her, Jennifer had already moved past this incident.
Jennifer shook her head and said calmly, "No, he explained everything to me. You're just friends. But what about you - when will that wound on your leg heal? You need to be careful these days, don't let it get infected and leave a scar." Jennifer could sense Aurora's hostility, so her tone became less polite too.
"Thanks for your concern, I definitely won't have a scar," Aurora said through gritted teeth. Realizing she wasn't winning this conversation, she handed in her design draft and quickly left. Jennifer only caught a glimpse that she had designed a crown.
After submitting her design draft, Jennifer went to the studio to organize the guest list for the opening day. To show sincerity, she personally called each guest to invite them. After talking all afternoon, her voice was getting a bit hoarse. Just as she finished inviting an industry veteran, Francis called, "I've prepared a gift for you, it'll be delivered soon."
Jennifer was a bit surprised, "What did you buy me this time? I can't even wear all those clothes and bags you've gotten me." Although she loved beauty too, she really felt this was too wasteful.
Francis noticed her voice was a bit hoarse and asked with concern, "What's wrong with your voice? Did I make you scream too much last night?" Images of last night's intimate moments flashed through his mind - Jennifer begging for mercy beneath him. She got embarrassed easily, even keeping her voice down during sex, biting her lip to stay quiet unless she really couldn't help it. He loved teasing her wickedly, pushing her until she couldn't help but cry out, tears spilling from the corners of her eyes as she begged him.
Jennifer nervously glanced outside the office. The studio had just been renovated a few days ago, and she hadn't closed the door. Fortunately, there was no one outside to overhear. But she still turned to the side guiltily and lowered her voice to answer, "Francis, in broad daylight, what are you talking about? I just made a lot of phone calls this afternoon, my throat is just tired."
"Oh, that's why. Well, rest up and stop talking," Francis said a few more caring words before hanging up. But then he ordered hot chicken soup delivery for Jennifer, rush delivery right to her hands, to soothe her throat discomfort.
Francis's mysterious gift arrived first - a small, beautifully packaged box. Clearly not clothing, could it be jewelry? Jennifer opened the package curiously to find a meteorite fragment suspended in a vacuum glass case, with an authentication certificate and a delicate card underneath. The certificate stated that this meteorite fragment reached Earth on October 2, 2004 - which happened to be Jennifer's birthday. Jennifer's fingers paused, her eyes blinked in disbelief, and she read the date again. Yes, that's right, this meteorite had arrived on Earth the same day as Jennifer.
Jennifer couldn't help but smile, then picked up the small card, which read, "To me, you're like a shooting star falling from the sky - a wonderful surprise." Her smile grew even brighter and sweeter as she held the meteor fragment to her chest. Francis was truly charming. When he was good to someone, he was incredibly gentle and thoughtful, generous with money, sexually satisfying, and so romantic! Jennifer couldn't help but feel her heart race for him. Although she knew these sweet words were just to charm her, she loved hearing them.
Jennifer found a spot on her desk and set up the vacuum glass case. This way she could see it every day when she came to work. A meteor fragment might not be expensive, but it represented Francis's thoughtfulness. He was willing to put thought into things for her, not just throw money at problems. For a rich person like him, thoughtfulness was worth much more than money. Before Jennifer could recover from this touching moment, the chicken soup delivery arrived. She immediately guessed Francis had ordered it and sent him a message of thanks with joy. Drinking the delicious chicken soup, her throat felt much better, and her heart felt as sweet as honey.
Francis's reply came quickly, "Jennifer, if you want to thank me, you can't just use words."
Jennifer nearly choked on her soup. She covered her chest to catch her breath, then boldly replied, "Whatever you want to try tonight, I'll go along with it." Francis had always wanted to try new things, but Jennifer was traditional and conservative, and had been stubbornly refusing these past few days. Now that he'd made her happy, she wanted to try to make him happy too.
Francis, who was in a meeting, saw this reply and his breathing suddenly quickened. Casey, who was taking meeting notes beside him, stopped and looked at him, seemingly waiting for his instructions. The executive who was presenting also tensed up - was Francis dissatisfied with his work? Others also looked cautiously at Francis, and the atmosphere in the entire conference room became tense.
Francis raised an eyebrow and waved his hand, "It's nothing, continue. A 23% growth in performance last quarter, not bad."
The executive pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead, saying with a flattering smile, "It's all thanks to your excellent leadership, Mr. Carter!"
...
Meanwhile, Aurora was drinking at a quiet private bar. Sitting across from her was a handsome, refined man - Alex. Alex added an ice ball to his whiskey, swirled it three times before taking a sip. Aurora took a small sip of her cocktail and set the glass on the table. She said naturally, "After all these years, your drinking habits haven't changed."
Alex stared at her for a while - her delicate nose, charming eyes, and cold gaze were more mature and alluring than years ago. He raised his glass and took a big gulp, the ice ball making pleasant crisp sounds against the glass, "Aurora, you never used to ask me out alone."
Aurora showed a bitter smile, resting her chin on one hand, her proud eyes carrying some sadness, "Yeah, we used to always hang out as three people. But now is different from before - Francis won't even take my calls!" She bit her lower lip lightly, then suddenly reached out to grab Alex's left hand on the table edge, looking at him pleadingly, "Alex, you're the only one who can help me now."
"Aurora, Francis has changed. Are you still going to hold on to him? Why can't you move on like he did and give someone else a chance?" Alex looked at her with very complicated eyes, full of longing and restraint, and pity for her. Seeing Aurora, such a proud woman, humble herself like this for Francis - it really hurt his heart!