ASTRAEA

Chapter 24. Gift

The whole Villan family enjoyed the sumptuous dinner that Daniella and Brylee prepared for Lorcan. They ate at the long dining table that Rowan especially placed at the main courtyard of his house for this kind of event.

They were now chatting and drinking wine catching up with what's going on with their lives since they all have their own family now except for Lorcan.

Some of them were still on the table and seemed to can't get enough of Daniella and Brylee's dishes that they can only have for free at the comfort of their home. Others would have to reserve a table at one of Daniella's fine-dining restaurants to get a taste of these dishes.

Three kids were running around. They were the younger cousins of Bell, Brylee, Briony, Brina, and Bianca.

Lorcan was just sitting on one of the accent chairs with a glass of whiskey in his hand. While the others were drinking wine, he preferred his alcohol hard at this moment.

He looked cold, aloof, and forlorn.

"Okay, time for gifts!" One of their aunts clapped her hands.

One by one, their cousins, uncles, aunts, and their parents gave Lorcan their birthday gift. Lorcan is not the type of person who enjoys receiving or giving gifts. He thought that it was too childish. Brylee told her sisters not to prepare a gift for their Uncle for she had already prepared something for him. It will already count as a gift from the five of them.

When it was time for them to give their gift, Brylee took a step but she seemed reluctant to release the box on her hand. This could be the last of Lydia's creation and she doesn't want it to go to waste if her Uncle would just look at it with disdain. It should be cherished.

Brylee has become a big fan of Lydia and her designs and she wanted to be the owner of her last creation if she did ever stop designing. But she has to take chances, maybe this will help her Uncle open his mind and realize what he lost.

Brylee is not in her usual cheery attitude. Usually, she would start talking and saying nonsense. Asking questions that sometimes too personal. But not today, she seemed grumpy and sad at the same time. And her sisters noticed it making them look at each other quizzically.

"I don't know if you will like this, but if you don't just give it back to me and I will definitely treasure it," Brylee said with a stern face.

Lorcan looked at her with a frown then his gaze landed on the box in her hand. His frown deepened when he recognized the box. When he came to Miliani two days ago, the first thing that he did just like he always does is scan the perimeter making sure that the place is safe for the person who resides inside the boutique. And the first thing he notices is the familiar car parked in front of the boutique.

He immediately recognized it as Brylee's car making his mood darken. He hates her for being nosy but he just cannot bring himself to hate her as a person. It is in her nature anyway. It's what defines her. He just cannot understand why she has taken a fancy in his love life if there is any love in his life by the way.

When he saw Brylee walked out of the boutique, he immediately noticed her crestfallen face and the black box on her hand. Did something happen? He thought internally but when she raised her head and their eyes met despite the heavy tint of his car he was convinced that something did happen by the way she glared at him.

The box she is holding now is the same box that he saw her holding outside the boutique. Now, he realized what his beloved niece had done. Taking the box from Brylee he mumbled as simple thanks.

Knowing what could be inside, he doesn't want to open it in front of his family. But one of his sisters-in-law is much too eager to see what's inside. Seeing the fancy way the gift was wrapped, they wonder what could be inside it.