Chapter hundred and four

Oliver

In the Kang household, forgetting about a celebration is a highly punishable offence. Birthdays, Weddings, award celebration, my family always finds a reason to pop a champagne. Even though, the celebratory spirit has dulled a lot over the years, it's still there.

It was what my parents used to make up for not being present in my life. But after my father's death, Suzy tried everything to bring back the spirit. She succeeded, but everyone knows to exclude me from their celebrations. I've not celebrated mine or anyone's birthday in years, except Dallas's.

I was only present at my mother's birthday last year because she decided to hold the party in my house. Obviously to find a bride for me then. But I've attended all of Suzy's weddings and endured the ridiculously long ceremonies. Except this one that I had seem to forget.

My eyes darted to the gift bag lying on the passenger seat and I sighed. I could see the gates of her house from a distance. I decided to get her a gift and deliver it personally. It was meant to make up for forgetting her wedding which was now in six days.

Not like anyone is thrilled about the wedding. Ethan has been moping about it the whole time. He'd thrown himself into work and was doing exactly what he accused Xavier of doing.

I couldn't blame him. I couldn't imagine watching my mother getting married almost every year. According to him, Suzy was convinced her current fiance is ‘the one’. But I can feel he was extremely bothered about her current relationship than he has been about her previous ones.

Unlike mine, Ethan's father was very much alive, but I don't think either of them remembers anything about the other.

All I remember was that he was American and was once married to Suzy. There are no pictures of him around and no one seem to bother about looking for him. Ethan still uses his last name ‘Hart’. But he doesn't seem to be curious about his father's whereabouts. The topic of Ethan's father was a sore subject in the family.

I drove through the gates of Suzy's mansion and parked my car in front of the main house.

I hadn't told her I was coming by but I knew she was home. I had Ethan confirm for me. I thought the surprise would lessen without verdict she gave me for forgetting her wedding.

I strolled further into the house, gift bag in hand. She wasn't in the living room and there were surprisingly no servants around I could ask. I headed upstairs to check out the balcony. It was one of her favorite spots as it gives the perfect view of her garden.

Suzy's house wasn't as big as mine or my mum's house, but it was still considerably large. And filled with so many luxurious and absolutely unnecessary things.

Pieces of luxurious arts, sculptures, several historical pieces lined the hallways. They were mostly from Korea. She is very traditional and also the quite opposite of my mum who is a minimalist.

Suzy loves collecting things. Beautiful, shiny, historical things. She doesn't care about prices as much as she loves collecting. Ethan wasn't in anyway similar to his mother. Aside from being a total fuck boy and having a carefree personality, Ethan prefers leading a simple, normal life. He rarely gets associated with the Kang name in public.

“You do realize they're only six days until the wedding, right? It's rather late to start looking for a new venue.”

I could hear Suzy's voice as I approached the balcony. It seems she was on the phone with someone.

“Yes, I know it's a little mishap, but what if it turns into a big problem on the wedding day? I don't want anything to go wrong.”

She paused seemingly listening to what the other person is saying. I stood a few feet away from her and watched. As I presumed, she was sitting on one of the chairs at the balcony, leaning back, a bottle of wine on the small table beside her. She held a phone to her ears. She hadn't noticed me yet so I decided not to interrupt her phone call.

“I don't care if it's just one pipe that broke. You should have checked thoroughly before booking the venue. What are you going to do if other pipes burst and the whole place floods right before the wedding?” She half yelled.

A long pause before she said,

“I don't care. Fix it.” She hung up and drew a long hiss.

“Such incompetence.” She mumbled.

She set her phone down and took a long sip of the wine in the glass. She finally lifted her head and noticed me standing a few feet away from her.

“Oliver?” She called, her tone coated with surprise.

I trudged forward, trying and failing to muster a smile. The last time I saw her was when she barged into my home office with Mum. We hadn't spoken since then. I wasn't sure how to approach her.

“Oh my Gosh, my sweet Moonpie!!!” she rushed towards me but stopped a few feet away and blew kisses at me.

Guess she didn't know I was okay with touching now. Maybe I shouldn't tell her that yet.

“I have missed you so much.” She gushed. “It's been a long while since I last saw you.”

I refrained from pointing out that I only lived thirty minutes away and she could have visited me.

“Yeah, it's been long.” I said instead, unsure of how to approach the main reason I was here.

Old me wouldn't have cared that I forgot her wedding. I was certain she wouldn't expect me to remember either. But a lot of things has changed in me ever since my relationship with Dallas started. It was like I cared more about how people around me felt than I used to.

“What brought you here?” She asked as we walked back to the seats. She settled back in her previous seat and I sunk in the other available one.

I stretched the gift bag out to her, she collected it from me, her brows knitted in confusion. She brought out the small jewelry box inside the bag and opened.

A slight gasp escaped her lips as she beheld the content of the box. It was a five hundred thousand necklace I had picked up on my way here.

She brought it out and held it, the reflection of the sun cascading on the piece of jewelry. It shone brightly.

“It's beautiful.” She was still examining the necklace.

I knew she would love it. Suzy was a huge fan of expensive jewelry. Which made it the perfect gift.

“You're so sweet, Moonpie. Thank you.” she purred.

I had no idea what to say to that so I flashed her a smile and nodded.

A long silence descended between us. It was uncomfortable and full of tension. I was used to this kind of atmosphere sir I'm around my mum, not Suzy.

There was never silence between Suzy and I, usually because she has an excellent way of carrying on conversation while sparing me the burden of actually participating in the conversation. Something was off. Maybe it was because of what happened the last time we saw each other. Or maybe my aunt and I have become so distant over the past few months for some reasons.

“What brings you here? I’m certain it's not because you wanted to deliver a gift for me.”

“Would that be so unbelievable if that's the only reason I'm here?” I smirked. I made my tone light, an attempt to ease the palpable tension.

There was no possible way I was going to tell her that the gift was a bribe for forgetting her wedding.

“Did Ethan send you here?” She asked. The words seem to fall out of her unconsciously. A note of confusion washed over me as I stared at her.

“No. Why would Ethan send me?”

She must have noticed the confusion and realized what she had said because she quickly masked he expression with a smile.

“So you really did come to visit me? That's so sweet of you.”

I could sense she was hiding something but she didn't want to share. I didn't probe further but I made a mental note to talk to Ethan.

“Yeah, and to ask about your wedding preparations. And ask why I haven't gotten an invite yet.”

Her brows knitted as she stared at me, “the invitations have been sent to your assistant. Didn't you get them?”

Well, shit. Even my assistant knew about the wedding and didn't think to remind me. I was going to kill Tabitha.

Suzy drew a long sigh.
“I was hoping you would come.”

“Of course. Why wouldn't I?”

*After what happened with your mother the other day, I wasn't sure you'd come.” she sighed.

I kept quiet, partly because I didn't know how to respond to that.

“I know she was quite mean that day, but you should understand her by now. Regina doesn't mean half of what she says when she's angry.”

I refrained from reminding her that it wasn't the first time she'd blame me for father's death indirectly. It was just the first time she'd come close to admitting it. She hadn't even apologized for that day.

“i should have apologized to you on her behalf, but I had been so caught up with…other things that it'd skip my mind.” She paused as if contemplating her next words.

“You're not a monster, Oliver. And it wasn't your fault.” She said as she had told me several years ago when the self loathing started, when mum went into her ghost mode, or when she lashed out at me. And as always, I gave her a nod.

“It's okay.” I offer a smile with the hope it would convey my thoughts. “How are preparations for the wedding?”

Thankfully, she gave me a nod that suggested she understood I didn't want to talk about it anymore.

“Well, for now, it's been a disaster.”

“Disaster?” I repeated confused.

“I could use your help in securing a venue.”

I nodded, not bothering to ask what happened to the venue they had planned.
“What venue?”

A sinister smile spread on her lips and I almost regretted offering my help.