“Nina, Nina. It’s Maya. Open the door!”
Nina did not reply after Maya’s constant calling. Anxiety flooded Nicole’s heart; she was worried Nina would not be able to take it after a bucket of cold water was poured on her passionate heart.
“Nina, listen to Mommy. Don’t do anything silly. You have more chances in the future.”
Maya took a peek at Nicole’s anxious look and yelled, “Nina, Mommy’s worried about you. Open the door! At least say something, or else I’ll break the damn door down.”
Hearing the constant shouts outside the room, Nina abruptly roared, “Can’t you leave me alone?”
The two outside the room fell silent.
Nicole was fine giving Nina space, as long as her daughter was safe and sound.
“Mommy, go ahead and rest. I’ll try to talk to her,” Maya consoled.
“Okay.”
The woman nodded before she gloomily headed to her bedroom.
Staring at the shut door, Maya muttered, “Nina, I’ll keep you company outside the door. Call me whenever you need me.”
Her sister kept quiet. All she did was stare at the recipe and ingredients on the table in a daze.
An hour later, Nina took out her favorite storage box and carefully kept the things from the table into it. “I’ll take good care of you.”
In those bottles and jars were her efforts of countless months. She had hoped for them to appear in public under the eye-catching bright lights. Yet, she never expected them to never see the light because of her. The mere thought of them never making it out of her bedroom made it hard for her to breathe.
She sat down, embracing the box in her arms as crystal clear tears landed on the box. It was as if her tears were her parting gift to them.
The moment Evan returned to Imperial Garden at night, Nicole hurried to him. When she saw his grave expression, her heart skipped a beat.
“Have you settled the press conference’s issue?” she whispered the question in a worried tone.
He nodded. “Yes. You don’t need to worry about it anymore.”
Curious, she queried, “How did you settle it?”
The man froze for a second before saying, “I handed it to John and Davin. In a few days, when the public is less concerned about this matter, we’ll have another press conference to give the public an explanation. Furthermore, the company will launch a new electronic product on the day of the press conference. We’ll sell it at a cheap price. I’m sure this will cover up Nina’s incident.”
Nicole was silent after she heard his words.
She sighed quietly, hoping that Nina would learn from this incident.
“Where’s Nina?” Evan queried.
“She’s upstairs. She locked herself in her bedroom after she came home, and she refuses to open the door. I’m afraid she might do something silly.”
At that, Evan went upstairs.
Outside Nina’s room, Maya was sitting on a chair she brought over and trying to persuade her sister. “Nina, you know all that glitters is not gold. Daddy and Mommy want the best for you. Nina, I know you know that. Think about it in this way—it’s not time for your products to be revealed to the public yet. After a while, it’ll be their time. Your efforts won’t go to waste.”
“Maya, what are you mumbling about outside my room? Even if your mouth isn’t tired, my ears are. Can’t you shut up?”
Maya broke out into a relieved smile when she heard Nina’s response. Nina had a proud character, and Maya was afraid that the former might do something silly.
“Nina, I’m trying to be nice. I’m only telling you this because we’re sisters. I’m ranked first among my school’s public speakers. I’m spending a lot of my time talking to you, so you should give me something in return. If you were someone else, I wouldn’t even bother talking to you even if you paid me for it.”
