These bursts of energy seemed like they would never belong to her.
Adeline felt a wave of sadness wash over her heart.
She envied those who were full of vitality, she was jealous of them, but she knew she would always be a sickly person, like the moss in the corner that could only hide in the dark and wither away.
“Adeline… Adeline?” Fatima called her name twice, snapping Adeline out of her daze. She reached out and shook Mark’s hand, “I’m Adeline, Fatima’s twin sister.”
“Who would have thought that the four of us would share such a bond, all being twins,” Mark said humorously. “It’s a pity our stay at the Gentry family is so short, otherwise we could get to know each other better.”
Vaild’s face flushed slightly, “Fatima, can I add you on Facebook? When you have time, come to Aettosa… there are many fun places to visit.”
Sylvia noticed that the brothers were clearly interested in the sisters, so she tactfully moved to sit beside Franklin.
The man handed her his water bottle, “Have some water.”
“It’s not even spring yet, but why do you think people’s hearts are already restless?” Sylvia smiled charmingly, her eyes twinkling with amusement.
Franklin glanced at the four people not far away, “It’s normal for young people to be restless.”
His eyes suddenly deepened as he leaned close to Sylvia’s ear, “I’m restless too.”
Sylvia glared at him and pushed his handsome face away, “Go away.”
Franklin chuckled softly, his voice deep and pleasant, tinged with an indescribable intimacy, “It’s getting late, why don’t we go back and rest?”
Sylvia bit her lip and pouted slightly, “It’s only nine o’clock.”
How could it be late?
“So we need to wash up and sleep.” The man’s deep eyes held a hint of a smile, “We’ve been busy lately and haven’t had a good rest or a chance to…”
Before he could finish, a small fragrant hand covered his mouth, “Stop talking, let’s go back.”
Sylvia stood up with a hint of annoyance in her eyes and let go of his hand.
Franklin took her hand gently and asked softly, “What’s wrong? Why did you cover my mouth? I just wanted to say we haven’t had a chance to be close. What did you think I was going to say?”
Sylvia’s face tightened slightly. Damn it, this man tricked her.
She thought he was going to say they hadn’t had a chance to do that…
“Stop talking nonsense and let’s go.”
If they didn’t leave now, she might really want to slap his handsome face.
Franklin laughed softly again and led her outside by the hand.
Jasper had just finished a phone call and stopped when he saw them, “Are you going back to rest?”
“Yes.” Franklin nodded, “How’s Jaime doing lately?”
Jasper grinned, his eyes lighting up at the mention of his son, “He’s doing great. He’s on winter break now. When we get back in a few days, I’ll take him and Evie to the movies.”
“Jaime seems to be adjusting quickly,” Sylvia remarked.
“Having a child at home makes it lively. Most of our conversations are directed at him.” Jasper couldn’t stop talking about his child as if he wanted to tell the whole world he had a kid. “Evie took him to the strawberry farm today. They picked several pounds of strawberries and put them in the fridge for us to eat when we get back.”
“Great!” Sylvia smiled again, clearly feeling the joy of Jasper’s family.
This was something she hadn’t seen in Evie before.
The three chatted as they strolled back to their guesthouse. As soon as they stepped into the first floor, they saw Casey sitting on the sofa.
Casey stood up immediately when he saw them return, “Miss Andrews, Mr. Maskelyne, when is that big shot coming tomorrow? Do I need to send someone to the airport to pick him up or…”
“No need.” Sylvia interrupted him before he could finish. “No need to pick him up.”
Casey looked at her in shock, “Really? Won’t that seem insincere?”
Sylvia gave him a once-over, “Really no need. We’re all friends here; no need for formalities.”
“Oh… okay then.” Casey felt a bit uneasy. Could Sylvia really bring in an expert skier?
And letting them come on their own…
Wouldn’t that seem a bit neglectful?
But he didn’t dare ask too many questions. He didn’t want to go against Sylvia’s words.
“Go rest now.” Sylvia patted his shoulder, “See you tomorrow.”
“Good night.” Casey didn’t linger any longer and left quickly.
Franklin then looked at her with dark eyes and asked softly, “Where is that big shot? Who is it?”
Sylvia glanced at him, “Do you really need to ask? You’ll know tomorrow.”
Franklin had a feeling about it but wasn’t sure if he was right…
After parting ways with Jasper and returning to their bedroom, Franklin immediately pulled Sylvia into his arms and lowered his handsome face towards hers, “Really not going to tell me?”
Her face flushed slightly with a faint blush. The unique scent of the man filled her nose, making her heart race.
“I need to take a bath.”
“Together…” The man kissed her lips lightly as he carried her towards the bathroom…
In the middle of the night, a strong northeastern wind began to blow, and snowflakes started falling sparsely. By morning, a thick layer of snow had covered everything.
The world outside was white and blanketed in snow.
Sylvia wrapped herself in a thick down jacket and went out. Franklin wore a black cashmere coat. His tall and sturdy figure beside her looked like a knight from the Middle Ages, giving off a strong sense of security.
As they walked towards the main building, they encountered Reginald wearing a thick puffer jacket that made him look very bulky.
“Miss Andrews, Mr. Maskelyne, good morning.”
Sylvia couldn’t help but think of Adeline but hesitated and didn’t ask about her.
“Good morning, Reginald.”
Franklin nodded at him as a greeting.
They walked together towards the main building.
A servant had cleared a path through the snow so they could barely walk forward. The snow was really heavy.
The thick snow crunched under their feet as they walked.
Inside the main building, Tony looked worried. He had barely slept last night due to anxiety and woke up after just two or three hours of sleep.
After breakfast, he felt even more anxious.
He was like a headless fly buzzing around in agitation.
The other members of the Gentry family had also arrived early at the main building. Almost everyone sat on the sofa occasionally sighing.
Brittany couldn’t stand the atmosphere anymore and whispered to Fatima, “Why don’t you make your uncle some tea? Maybe it’ll calm him down.”
Fatima pouted her red lips, “I don’t want to. What if he takes his bad mood out on me?”
“When has your uncle ever lost his temper?” Brittany glared at her.
As mother and daughter spoke, they heard footsteps approaching.
Sylvia and Franklin arrived with the twin brothers and Jasper following behind them.
Jaden wasn’t feeling well and didn’t come out in the cold weather.
“Miss Andrews, Mr. Maskelyne!” Tony hurried over as soon as he saw them with wide eyes full of hope. “Has that big shot arrived? We need to head to the competition venue now.”
“Yes, she’s already at the venue. Let’s go.” Unlike Tony’s excitement, Sylvia remained calm as if she didn’t care about the Gentry family’s anxiety at all.
“The big shot is at the venue?” Tony looked at her in disbelief.
Sylvia nodded, “Don’t waste time. Isn’t there a competition? We need to finish it so we can go back!”
“Okay okay, we’ll head out right away.” Tony didn’t dare delay any longer and quickly gathered everyone from the Gentry family to head towards the competition venue.
Thanks to industrial de-icing agents spread by workers on the road outside, there were no issues driving there despite the heavy snow.
After driving for about an hour, they finally arrived at a professional ski competition venue.
Sliding down a half-pipe slope and performing five or six tricks in the U-shaped field tested not only athletes’ creativity but also their ability to adjust mid-air.
“In past competitions, very few athletes could complete 1080-degree high-difficulty moves-less than ten people worldwide…” Casey explained the difficulty of this competition to Sylvia as they stood by the snowy field. “So Miss Andrews where is that big shot?”
Sylvia glanced at him before looking out at the white snowy field again.
“I’m going to change clothes.”
“Change clothes? Why? You look great today!” Casey stared blankly at her retreating figure.
Franklin’s eyes darkened; it was just as he suspected.
About five or six minutes later, Sylvia returned wearing an extremely professional ski suit. Her curvaceous figure was evident even under the ski suit.
Seeing Sylvia like this left everyone from the Gentry family stunned.
Tony couldn’t believe his eyes. “Miss Andrews if you don’t want to help us I can understand but going on yourself… isn’t that too much? Are you joking? This competition is crucial for our entire family…”
His eyes reddened with anger; if not for Sylvia being their benefactor he would have exploded right then and there.
He seemed desperately trying to suppress his overwhelming anger. “You’re being ridiculous!”
Casey also rushed over incoherently. “Miss Andrews… don’t do this! You’re not telling me you’re going on yourself are you? There really isn’t any big shot coming?”
Adonis was even more furious; he couldn’t hold back his words anymore. “You’ve been deceiving us all along saying some big shot would be here at the venue-it was all fake! If our family loses this time… can you take full responsibility?”