A Mysterious Parcel

It was already late in the evening by the time the party came to an end. Every guest thanked the hosts for the wonderful night and congratulated Hunter for the last time.

Lilian and Trixie exited the place, hand-in-hand, whispering blabbers to each other. Both of their families were pleased to see that they were getting along, already slowly beginning discussions about a potential alliance with each other's businesses.

"Let's continue when you get home, Lilian. I would love to hear more about it," Trixie said.

Lilian nodded, waving goodbye to her friend before she walked to a sleek black limousine car, her mother trailing behind.

"That's so nice of you to talk to that girl, Lilian. I think an alliance with the Huangs would be very beneficial for us," her mother remarked as they approached the car.

Lilian grabbed her phone from her bag, scrolling through Titer, scowling at the pictures she had seen.

"I don't think so, mother. The Huangs have always been sneaky with their operations, keeping their methods to themselves. I don't see how it would be beneficial if we were to invest any of our money in their business."

Her mother hummed thoughtfully in response, her mind pondering softly to her daughter's words.

Lilian had a point—the Huangs had been in the business for so many years, and had investors from all over the world, yet not even a single investor knew what they were investing their money into.

Usually, investors would care, but Lilian's father had never invested in their business for unknown reasons.

"Fair point. But I still think that at least we can give it a try," her mother countered.

Lilian tsked, put her phone down and looked into her mother's eyes.

"Then, why don't you invest your own money? That way, when the investment does not work, we won't lose everything."

Lilian then went back to scrolling on her phone and rolled her eyes towards her mother. Joshua who had been quietly listening to the whole conversation winced at the tension.

Lilian and her mother weren't close, to say the least. She grew up more inclined with her father's business ventures rather than her mother's, hence, the treatment was a tad bit different.

"Right, I'm sorry. I don't know anything about business and investing so might as well just shut up," her mother said softly.

Lilian hummed in response, no longer caring about her mother and continued to just type away on her phone.

Her mother cleared her throat leaned her back against the car seat and looked at Joshua sadly.

Joshua could see the tears slowly forming in her eyes and was about to reach out for tissues but Lilian stopped him.

"Let her be, Joshua. She's an adult; she can take care of herself."

Joshua, in his not-so-good mood, pulled his arm away from Lilian's grasp and scowled before reaching for the tissues to offer them to her mother.

Lilian sighed in frustration as she rolled her eyes and watched as her mother wiped her tears slowly, flashing a flirty blink at Joshua.

She scoffed and turned to look outside the limousine and asked the driver to drive a bit fast.

"Mr. Qi, can you drive a bit faster, please? I need to get out of these awful clothes."

The driver nodded and pressed the gas pedal, the car's engine roared and sped the car until they finally reached their destination.

Lilian was the first to get out of the car, followed by her mother and Joshua.

Her mother bid farewell to the both of them as she entered the house, followed by some maids who hurried to grab her bag, shoes and the fur coat draped over her shoulders.

Lilian watched her with a scowl on her face as she groaned in irritation. "Did you really have to flirt back to my mother in front of me, Joshua?"

Joshua looked back at his master, a grin on his face that quickly morphed into a teasingly sweet smile.

"Apologies, my lady. I can't help flirting back when older women fall for my irresistible charm."

Lilian scoffed, pushed him away and headed inside. Joshua rolled his eyes before turning away, bid farewell to the driver and then made his way to the back of the mansion.

'I need to get out of these clothes. I am sweaty as hell.'

He slipped into the house through the back door and into the butler's quarters. To his dismay, Zeno was still not there, and he stared blankly at the ceiling above.

"He will be there for a long time, that's for sure."

Joshua changed his expensive clothes for a new one when his phone vibrated from his pants pocket.

Taking a look at the screen while putting his pants on, he read the message.

[Zeke here, I have sent you the parcel. It's wrapped in a yellow envelope. Use it wisely and make sure you are at an advantage.]

Joshua frowned as he abruptly paused and realized who had sent the message. He hastily pulled his pants on and ran out of the quarters and straight into the front porch to look for the yellow envelope.

But there was none.

He searched through the front door, the mailbox, even outside the gates and some parts of the garden. Still, there was no yellow envelope anywhere. 

Frustrated, he sighed heavily as his mind raced, trying to look for the envelope. Just then, Lilian appeared and caught him gasping for air by the front porch.

"Joshua, what are you doing?"

Joshua looked up and was surprised to see a rare look of concern on Lilian's face. He took a deep breath and stood up before letting out a quiet sigh.

"I was just looking for a yellow parcel."

"A yellow parcel? Oh, you mean this?"

Joshua watched as Lilian pulled a yellow envelope from behind her. In a flash, his arm shot out to grab the parcel, but Lilian was quick as she yanked it away, her face clouded with suspicion.

"What the hell, Joshua? What's so important about this parcel that got you this aggressive?"

Joshua tried to fight her flailing hands, knowing that a couple of scratches might appear on his face by the end of this, but his highest concern now was the parcel.

He needed to get his hand on that thing before Lilian could even open it.

"Give it to me! It's mine!"

Lilian yelped, her hands pushing Joshua away from her as she tried tucking the parcel behind her, but Joshua was bigger and stronger than her.

In one sweeping motion, he turned her around, snatched the parcel away and stepped back.

Lilian dusted off a bit of dust on her dress and glared at him, eyes seething in anger when she saw Joshua with relief on his face 

"You dumb dog, wait until my father hears about this! I will get you punished!"

As Lilian stormed back into the mansion, with the parcel in his hand, Joshua's heartbeat slowed down.

"What the hell did I just do?"