Grace calmly watched the couple go into the mansion, her smiling expression unruffled, then turned to the black-haired woman beside her:
"Leyna, where is Alex?"
The question made the younger woman directly turn to her phone and make a call as she replied:
"I will ask Mark."
"Aunt Grace!!!"
The two women turned to see a white Rolls Royce SUV arriving, and the source of the shout just now. It came from a young woman who was happily waving at them from the back of the car as her hair gleamed bright under the sun and danced in the wind. As the car slowed down and came to stop behind the two sedans that had yet to move, Leyna smiled and said softly:
"Jenny is back."
Grace also smiled, with affection this time, as the young woman jumped down from the car and ran past Leyna to jump into her embrace. Her fluttering blue dress calmed down, as she closed her eyes to lose herself in the hand that was stroking her chestnut hair.
Grace let Jenny enjoy the care for a moment, tidied up the hair that had been messed by the wind, then asked softly:
"You are back?"
"Hm."
Jenny nodded, making Grace raise her eyebrows:
"You haven't told Alex yet, have you?"
While framed as a question, Grace's words came across as a statement that did not even require confirmation. Jenny looked up with an impish look, and nodded. And immediately after, she pursed her lips:
"Please don't tell him, Aunt Grace. I don't want him to know yet."
Grace looked at Jenny, amusement coloring the smile in her eyes, but didn't ask why. And she didn't refuse, making Jenny let out a bright smile before turning to the one she had been ignoring till now:
"It has been a while, big sister Leyna."
Leyna nodded, as her smile grew:
"Yes, it has been a while. Welcome back, Jenny."
"Hehe!"
The laughter came out bright and cheerful, full of a seemingly untainted vitality that made the smiles on Grace's and Leyna's faces also brighten up slightly, and grow more affectionate. By herself, Jenny had shed light on the cold gloom of a moonless night that had been lingering at the entrance of the mansion.
Having completed the greetings, she finally had the time for other things, and she turned to the metallic grey sedan the other two women had come in, an elegant Mercedes Benz of understated luxury, a model more recent than she remembered.
"Aunt Grace, you got a new car?"
Grace also glanced at the car and nodded:
"Yes, a gift from your brother Third."
Realization dawned on her, making her surprise melt away. She turned to the Bentley in front of the Mercedes, and obviously recognized it, as she stated:
"Uncle Marten has arrived already."
"Yes, he just went inside."
"Then come on, aunt Grace, let's go in too. I am the last to arrive, right? I want to see who else has come today."
Leyna gave Jenny an amused glance:
"At least, the one you want to surprise didn't come today."
"Hehe. I guessed so."
Grace shook her head with a smile, and let Jenny pull her inside. Leyna also shook her head with a small laugh, and returned to what she had been about to do before being interrupted. She found Mark's contact, and launched the call.
_ _ _
_ _ _
The private jet had been in the sky for hours already, and a land of white had already appeared outside, shining brightly down there under the sun, harshly blinding, but undeniably beautiful, especially when seen from above, as it spread over kilometers upon kilometers, its natural look a total antithesis to the darker, more artificial concrete and steel jungle where life was now centered.
By now, Alex had already opened his eyes, and Mark was working on his laptop, having finished catching up on the sleep he had lost. After glancing outside, Alex glanced at Mark with a smile, and stood up to speak to the beautiful air hostess, before going to the group that had boarded the plane with the model husband earlier.
His movements attracted the latter's attention, making him look up from his computer to watch as the younger man took one of the bags that had been brought in, and the long case that had come along.
The plane slowed down, making Mark glance outside. And he frowned, unable to prevent an ominous feeling from creeping up inside his heart. Keeping his budding apprehension at bay, he asked in a calm voice mustered through the haze of all those times he had seen the grin now growing on Alex's face:
"Why the hurry? We are not far from the ground, and I have already booked a piste for you. It will be challenging enough, and you will be able to enjoy it after some simple checks."
Alex came back to put the bag and the long case on the table, and raised his eyebrows at Mark:
"Oh? You booked a piste? I sent a message already, to have a few mountains reserved for me. You didn't actually need to worry."
Mark's heart plummeted, as the dark unsettling feeling inside him grew, while conversely, the grin on Alex's face grew brighter. Under Mark's gaze, he took out a black and white form-fitting snowboarding outfit which he put on. He crossed his fingers and clenched his hands to make the gloves fit snugly, then opened the case to take out a black snowboard with fiery red accents.
Mark swallowed his saliva, tiredness bleeding onto his face as his voice turned dry:
"Alex, you are not preparing for what I think you are about to do, are you?"
"Since you can guess, why ask?"
The answer full of amusement made Mark's breath hitch, then he exhaled. He lost his energy, and let himself lean back to sink in the assailing hopelessness as he asked helplessly:
"You have been planning this all along, haven't you?"
Alex didn't answer. Rather, his silence became the answer, as he turned around and went to open a compartment in the wall of the cabin to take out a parachute. Under the sharp melody of buckles being snapped shut, Mark tried one last time:
"Is there any chance that I can dissuade you from doing that?"
"None at all."
Alex grinned brightly, looked at everyone, and put his hand on the door.
"Everyone, sit tight."
By then, there was already no one stupid enough to not understand what was about to happen. So, as everyone found something to hold tight onto and looked on in shock, and surprise, in Mark's case, he waved at them, and pushed the door of the plane.
"See ya~"
*BANG!!!*
"WOOHOO!!!"
The loud sound of the cabin's depressurization couldn't swallow Alex's exhilarated shout as he rode onto the violent wind, and turned into a free bird. And right at peak of the mayhem inside the plane, another sound came to add to the cacophony, sharp like an ominous knell:
*Ring* *Ring* *Ring*