Chapter 77
The invitation list for the night of the concert has been sent to Aaron's mailbox. It has been two days since he came back from Darlington. And after Sally's affairs have been completely resolved, he got the time to sit down and browse the list carefully.
There are thirty guests in total. Excluding those he knows, there are less than ten guests from other fields left.
After another round of selection and elimination among the last ten, the most likely one appears to be Wendy Watts, a famous lady in Darlington.
Judging from the photos, Wendy's figure is very close to the mysterious woman who gave Aaron a note.
It's just that it didn't feel right for Aaron.
The reason is that he feels nothing seeing the photo of her face, in spite of the fact that he has been obsessed with the woman for so long.
Aaron didn't know what the problem was.
He turned off the computer and never checked it again.
But in the next few days, that slender figure would still jump into his mind during the interval between his work and linger.
Like an inextricable knot in his heart, Aaron has been restrained by it and found it hard to stay calm.
He wants to know who she is and what she looks like.
And he is also curious about the character of the woman who wrote the intriguing line.
Aaron doesn't know if this is a kind of heartbeat.
All he saw is just the back of her.
But that back stays in his mind.
There is nothing he can do to control the strong urge in his heart to find her and get to know her.
So, on the sixth day after the concert, Aaron decided to return to Darlington.
Before leaving, Aaron asked his secretary to make an appointment with Wendy in advance.
Although Aaron felt something went wrong depending on Wendy's photo, he still planned to meet her in person. At least he could ask if she was the one who sent the note to him that night.
Plus, maybe it was the ambient lights and music of the live show that night that caused photo bias.
The meeting with Wendy was at a famous restaurant in Darlington.
Wendy arrived very early. She was very thrilled about being invited by such an excellent man suddenly. She announced that she might soon be in love while highlighting that the man is the most powerful capitalist in the entertainment industry.
Therefore, she took this meeting very seriously, which is why she arrived at the restaurant early in a new skirt she just purchased.
When Aaron arrived there, she was on the phone.
"Get rid of her. Why would The Famous still need her given everything that's been going on in The Walter?
"What are you afraid of? I don't believe that Yolanda can still have her own way after bankruptcy.
"Don't worry, just tell them it's my idea."
He hadn't seen her yet. But Aaron frowned, just hearing what she was saying.
When he got to the seat and caught his first sight of Wendy, his intuition became stronger.
Not her.
Although this woman looked and dressed well, in a velvet skirt of a similar style, and even her had the same long curly hair.
But Aaron had a voice in his heart telling him that Wendy was not the girl he was looking for.
Out of respect and courtesy, Aaron still asked,
"The night of the concert, was it you who sent the note to me?"
Wendy blinked, having no idea what he meant, "What note?"
That's all Aaron needs to understand the situation.
He shook his head and stood up, without wasting a moment on this strange woman.
"Sorry, I mistake you for someone else."
Wendy, "...?"
Leaving the restaurant, Aaron thought for a long time in the car and decided to go to the Lamers Center, the venue for the concert.
Given that it happened on the rooftop that night, there was no monitoring available for checking.
But Aaron knew that he could find clues from the elevator monitoring in the building.
He asked people to contact the organizer of the concert that night and checked the security camera footage in the elevator of the Lamers Center that night on the grounds that he had lost something.
But there were too many people coming and going in the elevator that night. Even on the top floor, many passers-by from other floors who got the news sneaked up and peeked outside.
Therefore, it took Aaron and Lenny more than five hours to search for that figure from hundreds of people.
But still, they got nothing.
In the elevator that night, there was no woman in a black velvet dress who made it to the top floor.
Reaching the end, Aaron got up tiredly and left.
He stood on the rooftop and lit a cigarette, overlooking the entire Darlington behind the blurred smoke, and couldn't help but doubt.
Is this woman real?
She appeared in a stunning manner for such a short time without leaving any trace.
But every word on the note was written so clearly, how could it be someone he imagined.
Aaron didn't know what was wrong with him. All he knew was that the obsession in his heart deepened.
He would find her at any cost.
After smoking that cigarette, Aaron asked people to find the organizer of the event and decided to investigate it layer by layer.
"If there were any staff members bringing relatives or friends in privately, make sure they report the truth."
Aaron was the last person anyone would offend, of all the guests that night. So everyone took it seriously after he claimed that he had lost something.
The organizer of the show gathered all the people in charge that day and questioned them one by one, to avoid escalating the matter.
During interrogation, Aaron returned to the hotel.
He had a dinner party to attend.
Aaron came to Darlington on a personal trip this time. But his itinerary was exposed to someone who needed something from him.
The man was a boss of a prominent brokerage company that has been in cooperation with Azel Group several times. He set up a dinner party, in an attempt to introduce an actor to Aaron for collaboration.
Aaron had nothing to do anyway. Plus, he kept promising Aaron that the actor was quick-witted with a promising future, and was willing to meet Aaron at the hotel where he was staying.
Facing such an invitation, Aaron couldn't refuse it again and again.
So that night, in the box of the hotel restaurant, Aaron met the veteran agent and the promising actor he said.
The actor is James Hilton who has been gaining popularity recently. Admittedly, he is good-looking.
It's just that in Aaron's view, his aptitude is mundane and his possibility in the future is quite limited, too.
The likes of James are ubiquitous in this industry.
Aaron is an acute observer when it comes to the future of an artist. He could tell almost at the first glance whether this person could shoot to stardom and how long can he/she stay popular.
The one in front of him could maintain popularity for up to two years.
The experienced agent has kept introducing all the wonderful traits of James to Aaron, including a hardworking and humble attitude. Plus, he mentioned that James has long admired Aaron and yearned for his instructions, hoping he could sign a contract with Azel Group.
Aaron was not touched at all given that he had heard quite enough of the smooth talk like that.
He sure can work wonders in helping artists in their careers. But he is selective.
Somehow, James appeared not to Aaron's liking.
Aaron didn't know if it was because of his overly flattering words, the villain-like face, or some other reason.
In short, the chemistry was not right.
After eating something at random, Aaron lost interest in mingling with them.
Just then, Aaron got a new message on the phone.
It was from the person in charge of the concert organization.
[Sorry, Mr. Jensen, after a strict investigation, there was indeed staff who brought two people who were not on the invitation list to the concert venue in private, but I'm afraid they were not the ones you were looking for because they are just two young girls, both of whom are prominent figures. So, I don't think they would stoop to stealing.]
Seeing this, Aaron couldn't help but sit up slightly.
Two young girls.
This sentence undoubtedly imbued Aaron with hope.
He had no luck in finding the mysterious woman from the list and surveillance, and now he finally has a new clue. There's no doubt that he wouldn't miss it.
Aaron straightened his suit and was about to say that he had to leave for something else when the door of the box was suddenly kicked open.
That's right. The force deserves the word "kick".
The waiter's voice came eagerly, "Miss, this is inappropriate."
But the woman has barged in anyway.
Like a gust of wind, she walked directly to James and asked in a sarcastic tone, "Why? Do you think I can't find you if you hide from me?"
James just returned to Darlington after he finished his part in the film a few days ago. And he was pouncing at the opportunity that he got introduced to Aaron to show what he got. Never did he expect the sudden arrival of Yolanda today.
He got a little panicked, and looked at Aaron subconsciously, but found that he didn't seem to be interested in the sudden farce, judging from his indifferent eyes.
And James was right.
Aaron didn't even bother to raise his eyes before he got up and said, "I need to take off."
The agent interpreted Aaron's leaving as being interrupted by Yolanda's sudden intrusion. So, he hurriedly followed up and explained, "Mr. Jensen, please don't leave. It's just a misunderstanding."
But even without this woman's sudden intrusion, Aaron didn't plan to stay.
He had more important things to do.
When passing by Yolanda, Aaron glanced at her casually.
The woman was tall and slender, wearing a khaki windbreaker with her long hair falling naturally behind her neck. At this moment, there seemed to be a bit of indignation in her eyes which also rendered her cheeks pink.
Aaron didn't stop, but an inexplicable sense of familiarity flashed across his heart.
It seemed that he had seen her somewhere, but he was having the hardest time placing her at a specific time and space.
But it was only a momentary distraction, and when Aaron walked out the door, that thought was naturally put aside and replaced by something more important.
He was about to call the person in charge immediately to find out more details. To his surprise, that person was considerate enough to have already sent the information he needed before Aaron asked.
[One is Phoebe Bernard, an actress, and the other is Yolanda Walter, daughter of the boss of Darlington Thenoma Group.]
Yolanda Walter?
The name rang a bell.
In just a few seconds, Aaron remembered that he had heard this name from Wendy before meeting their meeting that day.
At that time, here is what she said.
"What are you afraid of? I don't believe that Yolanda can still have her own way after bankruptcy."
Aaron frowned and was about to continue to ask when photos of Yolanda and Phoebe were sent to him.
Phoebe had short hair which was why the photo was skipped by Aaron soon. When he saw Yolanda's photo, his body froze instantly.
Isn't this the woman who just rushed into the box?
In an instant, his thoughts started to rush, and Aaron understood the reason for that familiarity with hindsight.
It was the windbreaker on her.
After watching more than five hours of surveillance replays in the monitoring room of the Lamers Building, Aaron had a memory for almost every figure who entered and exited.
And he also had a vivid memory of this khaki designer windbreaker.
It was her.
She went to the concert.
With a completely different feeling from seeing Wendy, Aaron looked at the photos on his phone and carefully recalled her back in the breeze that night.
It felt like finding the last piece of a puzzle he had been figuring out after many attempts and putting it in the right place in the end.
It just fits perfectly.
Aaron stopped in the aisle of the restaurant and looked back at the box.
Lenny, who was accompanying him, sensed something, and asked, "What's wrong, boss?"
Aaron paused for a moment and began to walk back, answering him in a very certain tone.
"She's in there."
Lenny, "?"
The two had just returned to the door of the box when the box door was opened from the inside, and a figure scurried off, almost knocking down Aaron.
Aaron took a step back.
The woman left in high heels without looking back, and the hem of her windbreaker was lifted up.
James's exasperated voice followed, "Yolanda, stop!"
Aaron's eyes were directed from the woman into the box.
James was having a painful expression, curled up like a shrimp while covering his crotch with both hands. And alcohol was seen from his hair to his neck.
Despite his awkward appearance, he was still staggering to chase forward.
Anyone with eyes could tell what he had just experienced.
Aaron didn't see that coming.
He gently opened his mouth, turned around, and ordered Lenny.
"Hold him down."
At this time, Lenny already understood that the woman who had just left was the person Aaron was looking for, so he tried his best to create favorable conditions for the boss.
He strode toward James to stop him while warning, "Mr. James, please stay away from someone you shouldn't bother."
James, "..."
After kicking James in the nuts amid anger, Yolanda ran out of the hotel without turning her head back after getting out of the underground elevator.
When she took a deep breath in the cool air, the impulsiveness and aggressiveness in her mind slowly faded away.
But after recovering, she was enveloped in a heavier sense of powerlessness, leaving her unable to breathe.
Walking slowly to the fountain flower stand at the entrance of the hotel, Yolanda finally couldn't help sitting down and burying her face in her arms.
Yolanda would never have imagined that in just a few days, she had changed from a wealthy lady who everyone in Darlington envied to a destitute daughter who was full of debts.
Her original plan was to leave for Capital to pick up the cuff-link she ordered. But when she was waiting at the airport, she called her father Elbert more than ten times and couldn't get through. That was when Yolanda realized something was wrong. So she contacted her father's secretary only to learn that the company is on the brink of bankruptcy.
That astonishing news pulled Yolanda out of the mood for fun and she decided immediately to go home. The whole week she had been by her father's side, shouldering the weight of the cruel reality of bankruptcy overnight.
The denunciation of creditors, the sale of real estate, the downgrade of the circle, and everything.
In just a few days, Yolanda experienced the biggest and most sudden change in her life. But despite this, she naively thought that her boyfriend would stand up at this time.
She wasn't asking a lot from him. Just stay with her during this difficult time.
But no.
All she got from James was a text message to break up.
Without even any reason, he just told her directly: [We are over.]
Then he ruthlessly blocked her.
Yolanda knew that she was not what she used to be, but she couldn't swallow the shame of being dumped the moment she went bankrupt. She was then told by a friend that James was having dinner at a hotel restaurant tonight, so she came over impulsively.
That was the reason behind what happened just now.
But after getting it out of her system, Yolanda, who returned to reality, did not feel any better.
Bankruptcy had thrown The Walter into turmoil. She was only 22 years old with no sense of crisis before, but these days she was forced to see the world at its worst.
Who else could she trust? Even her boyfriend who always claimed he adored her could be so ruthless.
These days, in front of Elbert, Yolanda was always smiling. She must comfort her father with optimism and support the family.
But when Yolanda was alone, she still uncontrollably revealed the most real emotions in her heart.
Bankruptcy, being dumped, and everything. It seemed like she had been the target of all the bad things.
Yolanda buried her head deeply, tears streaming down her cheeks silently. But she was too strong to allow herself to make any sound.
Unaware of the time being immersed in the world of self-healing, Yolanda suddenly felt that there was someone else in front of her.
She forgot that she was crying and raised her head subconsciously.
At a glance, she saw a black figure standing in front of her.
There were floor wall lamps on the table of the fountain, radiating little yellowish light. But all of it seemed to concentrate in the eyes of the man.
His eyes were deep but bright, like a little light shining into the abyss, and inexplicably stopped Yolanda's tears.
Yolanda knew him but didn't know why he was standing here.
She didn't speak and just stared at him quietly.
And Aaron was also looking back at her.
That unforgettable figure finally reappeared in front of him.
Although she was not as stunning like that night, crying here in embarrassment.
But just this brief and long glance at each other meant everything.
Aaron knew that it was her.
She is the white moonlight in his dream and will also be the cinnabar mole he will never forget in his entire life.
That night, the breeze was gentle, the starry sky was bright, and the moon was shining, everything all just right.
And you happened to appear, illuminating my whole world.
"Hello, Yolanda."