The woman walking ahead exuded an imposing aura, completely different from the woman Julian had seen on a ship fifteen years ago.
“Ma’am, please wait,” Julian called after her, but before he could get close, her bodyguards blocked him.
“Stop!” The bodyguards, tall and muscular, each wearing sunglasses, kept Julian at a distance.
“Ma’am,” Julian didn’t know the name of Aurora’s mother, so he could only address her formally. The woman continued forward without pausing or turning her head, in a hurry.
Blocked by the bodyguards, Julian dared not approach further. He thought of something and quickly went back, “Rocky, go to the airline and check the passenger list for first class on flight RH236.”
“Yes, President, I’ll check right now.”
“Why are you checking? Just ask me,” a male voice chimed in. Julian turned to see a handsome man leisurely walking with his suitcase, “Phil, everyone from your flight has already left, why are you so slow?”
“My dear brother, you didn’t see how powerful that woman’s presence was. I just watched TV on the plane without headphones and four bodyguards surrounded me, nearly throwing me off the plane. I waited for her to leave before I dared to exit. It was terrifying, I almost flew right back,” Phil said, sticking out his tongue.
Phil, Julian’s cousin, was about the same age as Aurora and had a handsome face, but unlike Julian, he didn’t care to flaunt his looks; he preferred to act cute-a nearly six-foot-tall man’s favorite pastime.
“You were in first class with her, do you know who she is?” Phil grinned mischievously, “I hear you already have a girlfriend, what’s this, changing tastes? That woman might look young, but she could be our mother.”
“What nonsense are you spouting? She resembles a lady I used to know, except that lady died long ago. I just saw her and found it very strange.”
“Really? So you mean to say the dead have come back to life?” Phil looked intrigued. Julian nodded seriously, “Perhaps she never died. The incident back then was a long-planned conspiracy. If you know her, tell me, this person is very important to me.”
“I see, I don’t actually know her, but I do know her likely identity,” Phil suddenly smiled mysteriously.
“What identity?”
“Wait a second.”
Phil took out his phone, powered it on, and typed a string of characters into Google, pulling up lots of information. He opened an image showing a unique symbol, resembling a sun with altered rays, and in the center, a rose adorned with a delicate line of text. The emblem was both romantic and mysteriously Eastern.
“I’ve seen this emblem before,” Julian said, recalling something, “This is the emblem of the R family.”
Phil nodded, “Right, on the plane, the lady was drinking coffee and I saw a ring with this emblem on her finger. She exuded such a chill that even the flight attendants dared not approach. I cautiously glanced at her and she glared back. You know the feeling? If her eyes could shoot ice, I would have died right there on the plane-no, the whole plane would have exploded.”
Phil had always been prone to exaggeration, his animated gestures left Julian at a loss for words.
“How can family members be so different?” he wondered aloud.
“Are you sure you saw it right?” Julian, adept at discerning key points from Phil’s ramblings, was quite impressive.
“Of course I’m not mistaken, you know I have such good eyesight that I can even see the color of the underwear the woman across the street is changing into.”
Julian, unable to tolerate it anymore, snapped, “Shut up.”
“But you were the one who asked me to tell you,” Phil said with a look of grievance.
“Is the ring like this?” Julian scrolled through his phone, finally enlarging a picture of the ring.
“Yes, exactly like that.”
“This ring is a symbol of the head of the R family,” Julian muttered, his eyes devoid of any joy.
“Wearing this ring means she is the current head of the family.”
“It’s said that the R family is very mysterious, nobody really knows them, and they are rumored to have some kind of special powers. But that’s just legend. Over a hundred years ago, their first family head started various businesses, and after more than a century of accumulation, they’ve become titans of industry. However, their family members are extremely low-profile and secretive, so even now, no one knows exactly what assets they have. It’s quite a mysterious family indeed.”
“Phil, there’s something I need you to promise me,” Julian said seriously.
“Why so serious, are you going to hit me again?” Phil remembered clearly; Julian always looked like this before hitting him.
“If you mess this up, I will hit you. Remember, you must not utter a word about this woman, not even if you see someone who looks like her. No surprises.”
Julian threatened him word by word, having a bad feeling that the mysterious nature of the R family meant they were extremely dangerous and not to be probed lightly.
Even after a hundred years, their true nature remained unknown. If that woman really was Aurora’s mother, it could explain a lot from years ago. Perhaps Magnus broke her heart, and she faked her own death to escape. She must have used the R family’s help to smooth over her supposed demise flawlessly.
He and Aurora shared a deep bond, and he only wanted Aurora to be his little bunny, untouched by other affairs.
“I promise, but you have to tell me, what is your relationship with this woman?” Phil had never seen Julian take something so seriously.
“No relationship, just remember, if you breathe a word of this, watch out,” Julian gestured across his neck, clearly indicating the threat of silence.
Phil blinked his large eyes and mimed sealing his lips, a gesture that lasted only a few seconds.
“What about my sister-in-law? I heard you finally came to your senses, let me see where Mrs. Barnet is?” Phil said excitedly.
“She didn’t come.”
“Boo, I’m so disappointed, her cute little brother is coming home, and she didn’t even come to welcome him.”
“If you pretend to cry again, I’ll buy you a plane ticket to fly back.”