Chapter 162 |
On the second floor of Shark.
On both ends of a long dining table, there was a fancy candelabrum, of which the swaying candlelight made the whole place feel romantic in an ambiguous way, together with the gentle melody played by a small band.
Elegantly scooping a small amount of stew, Grace wished that the man sitting across the table tonight was not Granneuve, who, in Grace’s eyes, was ugly and rude. She raised her head and took a glance at Granneuve, and his swollen face and bald head made her feel gross.
Pinching the fine goblet, Granneuve, in contrast, was quite confident in his own charm, “Grace, I have to say that your artistic temperament is even more impressive than your beauty, especially when you’re playing piano… It’s really gorgeous.”
Although Grace did not like him very much, she had to admitted that she enjoyed the feeling of being flattered. In his forties, Granneuve was among the top twenty super-rich people in Sturk, and he was very close to the most important nobles in the city such as Viscount Wright. Despite the fact that she did not like Granneuve at all, being pursued by a man like him was definitely something to feel proud of.
Ever since Grace started to promote herself as Mr. Evans’ student and thus started to be respected as a musician, lots of man who had had no interest in her at all were now pursuing her. In her eyes, all men liked conquering.
“Thank you, Mr. Granneuve,” responded Grace with a polite smile.
Then, she picked the white napkin and gently tapped her mouth, “Excuse me, I need to use the washroom.”
When she stood up, one of Granneuve’s guards took a step forward and said, “I’m sorry, Miss Grace, the washroom on the second floor is not in use right now. You might want to go to the one on the first floor.”
“It’s all right, Mr. Granneuve. It’s just an accident,” said Grace in an artist manner. “I can just go downstairs.”
Granneuve nodded with satisfaction, “I’ think you’re even more charming now, Grace.”
Grace forced a smile on her face and nodded. Following the guidance of the waiter, she walked into the lavatory on the first floor.
Outside of the ladies and men washroom, there was a big mirror, in front of which there were two nice and clean basins.
Getting out of the ladies washroom, Grace checker her make up in front of the mirror. Staring at her beautiful face, she could not help humming a piece of cheerful melody.
The melody was just like her cheerful mood right now. After the long, bitter traveling from Sturk to Aalto, her life was totally changed. Money, reputation, and praise were, all of a sudden, coming to her like a dream.
“Last year you were still an ordinary, poor girl, who needed to rely on your parents’ and your elder brother’s saving to get to Aalto to fulfill your dream.” Looking at the mirror, Grace murmured to herself, “Now look at you… You’re the Tulip of Sturk. You’re one of the most famous musicians in Sturk. You bought a three-storey house for your family. You’re being pursued by so many nobles and wealthy businessmen. You’re living in a luxury life that you even dare not dream before.
“You have to remember, Grace.” She continued, “All of these is because you’re the only pianist in your band, not Piola, not Sharon, not Green and Leslie. You gotta remember how you came all the way through the hardship to where you are right now. Never forget your music and your piano.
“And also…” Grace’s voice was even lower, almost impossible to hear, “Don’t forget the fact that your reputation comes from that talented musician in Aalto.” Although she did not really think that Lucien Evans would come from Aalto all the way to Sturk for visiting, she often felt very concerned. She felt very insecure, as if her dream-like life was going to crash at any time.
She took a deep breath and was ready to leave the washroom. However, when she looked up, Grace saw a black-haired and black-eyed young man walking in.
Although the young man was pretty good-looking, Grace looked very scared, and her purse dropped on the ground.
“Mr… Mr. Evans…” Grace’s voice trembled.
Lucien politely picked her purse up from the floor and handed it to her. He smiled, “Hi Grace, nice to see you again. When you just walked into the restaurant, I almost could not recognize you. You look great.”
“Mr. Evans… why… why are you here in Sturk?” Grace put on a nervous smile, “I mean… If you were coming, the newspaper should…”
“Should tell everyone in Sturk?” Lucien looked at her, “Speaking of newspaper… I just read the latest issue of Sturk News, your band is going to hold the….”
Grace was praying to God that Lucien Evans did not know anything about what they were doing right now. As soon as she heard that Lucien was talking about her band, she felt a sudden dizziness and almost fell onto the ground.
A strong hand held her arm and helped her stand still.
Looking up, Grace started at Lucien Evans and burst out crying, “Mr. Evans, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that I’m stealing your name and reputation and claiming that I’m your student. Please forgive me… I will tell everyone the truth tomorrow.”
After saying this, Grace felt that she was too weak to barely stand, as her hand was supporting her body on the basin. Grace knew that, as soon as she issued this apology on Sturk News, all of her money, reputation and her status would be totally gone, or even worse. She would suffer the great contempt from people. She would be called a liar.
However, she also understood that only sincere apology could help her avoid even more bitter consequence, such as being thrown into the city prison for the crime of fraud.
Lucien listened to her words, and then smiled, “Grace, you have been claiming yourself as my piano student and so far no one ever doubted you, which means you’re a pretty talented pianist. I just wonder why you don’t rely on yourself but want to lie to people? You know lies never last long.”
Hearing Lucien’s gentle words, Grace burst into tears again, “I come from an ordinary family. In order to support me to learn music, in order to send me to Aalto, my family ran out of all our savings.
“When we came back from Aalto, our original plan was to use the piece of fantasy directed by you to promote us. However, ever since we had our first great success, we got greedy. At that time, my family’s small business got into trouble, and I needed money, or my parents would be thrown into the jail. In the end, I pretended to be your student, Mr. Evans, since I’m the only pianist in the band. And even since then, I sink deeper and deeper.” Grace continued sobbing.
“I see…” Lucien’s attitude remained unclear.
“Mr. Evans…” Grace paused a bit and said with great determination, “I’m willing to do whatever you want as long as you forgive me! Even… even…”
Grace did not want her dream life to turn into bubbles just like this. She did not want to go back again!
Seeing that his plan was going well, Lucien felt his effort of damaging the sink of the washroom on the second floor was worthwhile. He nodded, “I understand the hardship you suffered, but telling lies is never a good thing.”
When Grace felt desperate, Lucien switched the topic, “Grace, you know Mr. Granneuve?”
“Yes, it is Mr. Granneuve who is inviting me for dinner tonight,” answered Grace with confusion. However, she wanted to be as cooperative as possible right now to make the very effort to win Mr. Evans’ pardon, so she explained, “Mr. Granneuve is pursuing me.”
“I have a friend who wants me to send a message to Mr. Granneuve, Grace.” Lucien smiled, “It’s written on this small piece of paper. Can you do me the favor?”
“Sure.” Grace hurriedly nodded.
“But you cannot tell Mr. Granneuve that it is me who gave you the paper. Just tell him you encountered someone in the washroom that you don’t know,” added Lucien.
Although Grace wanted to ask why, she decided to just take whatever Mr. Evans asked.
“Don’t open it. Don’t read it.” Lucien handed her a tightly folded piece of paper, “If the result turns out to be good, I may consider sharing some of my piano playing skills with you.”
“Really?!” Grace was very surprised. She hurriedly nodded her head in a serious manner.
When Grace left the washroom after she calmed down, Lucien payed his bill and left the restaurant in a good mood.
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