Chapter 187 A Special Birthday Gift
Ebony was stunned.
She was confused.
Ebony gaped at Lloyd, never expecting him to say such words.
He looked sideways at her, saw the astonishment on her face, laughed, and raised an eyebrow. "Eh?"
Ebony whipped her head away.
She looked out of the window and said, "Don't try to poke fun at me! I will not fall for it!"
Lloyd deliberately asked, "Fall for what?"
Ebony almost blushed.
"I'm getting off!" she cried out.
Aware that it was too much, Lloyd soothed her lest she should be scared away, "Alright, enough for the joke."
Meanwhile, Ebony updated the assessment of Lloyd in her heart.
This man was cunning and had honey in his mouth!
She had to stay alert and steer clear of his tricks!
Ebony brainwashed herself and slowly calmed down.
For the rest of the journey, neither of them talked much.
It was a long drive.
The car slowly left downtown for the suburbs.
Ebony had too much afternoon tea and dozed off the rest of the journey.
By the time she woke up, the car was queuing up to pass the toll gate of the highway.
Ebony looked at the cars ahead of them and dozily smacked her lips. "We're still not there yet?"
Lloyd covered her with a blanket and whispered, "We will be soon enough."
Ebony mumbled, "Where are you taking me anyway? I'll tell you what. If you think you can drop me far away till I can't find my way back, you're dead wrong. I'll always find my way back..."
Lloyd chuckled and tapped the tip of her nose with his index finger. "That sounds like a dog."
Ebony closed her eyes and said, "Call me Daddy."
Lloyd was speechless.
Once again, Ebony went out like a light.
Lloyd continued to drive.
When Ebony woke up again, it was getting dark.
The window of the car was slightly open. With the breeze, the fragrance of peach blossoms found its way in.
Ebony opened her eyes.
She stretched herself, pulled up the blanket, and inadvertently looked outside.
The lanes and the peach blossoms looked familiar to the eye.
She was dazed for a moment.
Soon, she sobered up.
She sat upright and leaned against the car window till her nose was flattened.
The view of the street was so familiar.
Turning back to Lloyd, she gestured excitedly and stammered, "This..."
Lloyd chuckled but said nothing.
After a while, the car stopped in front of the two-story house of a small villa.
Ebony stiffened at the sight of the familiar place.
Lloyd got off, went around to the passenger side, opened the car door, and said to the girl inside, "Come on."
Ebony didn't dare to get out of the car.
Close to her hometown, she was a bit scared.
Noticing her unease, Lloyd stretched out his arm, grabbed her hand, and slowly led her out of the car.
Ebony got off but still could not believe it was real!
All of a sudden, she held up Lloyd's hand and stroked the back of his hand.
Lloyd raised an eyebrow and looked at her.
The next second saw her wringing him with her full strength!
A bruise formed, and she asked innocently, "Does it hurt?"
Lloyd didn't know what to say.
He looked at his bruised hand, gritted his teeth, and said, "What do you think?"
Ebony muttered in a trance, "So, I am not dreaming."
Lloyd was dumbfounded.
Enduring the pain, he took a deep breath and dragged her to the entrance.
Lloyd took out the keys to open the door.
Ebony stopped him in a hurry, "Wait, give me a minute to get prepared!"
Lloyd paused and waited patiently.
Ebony saw a small wooden sign hanging outside the foyer.
On the sign wrote three familiar characters the Pine's House.
Ebony covered her mouth and said to Lloyd in shock, "Is this really my house? The characters on the sign were written by my grandfather! But wasn't it sold?"
Instead of answering her questions, Lloyd inserted the key and opened the door.
Ebony had a flashback the moment the door was pushed open.
She felt breathless!
The scenes of her childhood flashed across her mind.
Lloyd turned on the lights.
Now the visual impact was even greater.
Fine furniture was everywhere in the quaint and clean living room.
Ebony gasped in awe.
Everything was exactly the same as her childhood!
"Oh, Lloyd!"
Ebony hastily stretched out her hand and said, "Give me a pinch now. I can't do that to myself!"
After a moment of silence, he took her hand in his.
Then he put it slowly to his lips.
He dropped a kiss.
Ebony looked at him dully.
Lloyd looked her in the eye and said helplessly, "Sorry, I can't do it either."
Ebony was speechless.
Lloyd then led her to get into the living room.
At the same time, he said, "Yeah, it was sold ten years ago, but the buyer has been living abroad, so most of the things here remain in place."
This was not a commercial house.
It was a reward to her grandparents for their great contributions to the nation.
Following the deaths of the two elders, Ebony Pine was brought to her mother, and the house was taken back.
From a long time ago, Ebony knew that the house had been auctioned off.
She had never thought of coming back one day.
While looking at the fresh fruit and the old knife on the table, Ebony asked, "Because the buyer didn't live here, the decorations have been maintained. What about these small items? Why do they look the same?"
"I restored them," Lloyd whispered.
Ebony looked at him and asked, "Why did you do that?"
"Because it's your birthday tomorrow, and I want to give you a special present." He wanted to tell her.
With a smile on his face, Lloyd replied gently, "I thought my goal was clear enough."
Ebony lowered her head.
She thought for quite some time before lifting her head. "Now I'm convinced that you're trying to court me. I thought you did everything on a whim and would give up soon," she said.
Lloyd looked into her eyes and said solemnly, "I won't give up."
Ebony nodded. "Yeah, I can tell that. You've spent a fortune. It will be too embarrassing if you fail."
Lloyd was lost for words.
He took a slow breath, pinched his brow, and said in a deep voice, "I'll give you another chance. Take that back and reorganize your speech."