Chapter 25

On that Friday morning, Tristan hadn't shown up at the company, leaving Xavier very irritated. Without Tristan's presence, it was Xavier who was in charge of the paperwork that needed to be passed on to him, but most of the time, Xavier ended up doing Tristan's work himself. He separated the papers into two piles: one for contracts and advantageous ideas, and the other for disposable things. And the worst part was, it was a Friday. Xavier knew he would be very busy on his only days off.

For these and many other reasons, Xavier didn't miss the opportunity to throw in Tristan's face that he took care of the company more than the president and owner's son himself. In fact, Tristan never cared about the great empire his father built and passed down to him. He accepted taking over the family business out of revenge... But that's another story.

At lunchtime, Xavier decided to go to Tristan's house to make sure he would be present at the very important meeting with the accountants that afternoon. He parked his white and luxurious car in front of the mansion, got out of the vehicle, and entered the residence with the help of a spare key. He looked in every room on the first and second floors but didn't find him. He went to the armory, and again, nothing.

"Only one place left," he said to himself.

He walked to a door at the end of the first-floor hallway. He hesitated to open it. He knew Tristan only went in there when he was in a bad mood or irritated, and no one could calm him down. Xavier finally opened the door and saw the stairs leading to the basement. He descended the steps slowly, and the closer he got to the basement, the more he could hear the sound of punches echoing.

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, he saw Tristan's training room. On one side, there were several shelves with gloves, wraps, and other equipment. On the other side, punching bags and mats for Kickboxing, an American martial art.

After scanning the place, Xavier spotted his friend and trembled in fear at the state he was in. His chest was bare and dripping with sweat, he only wore black shorts, and his hands were wrapped in bandages. He punched a punching bag with such force that his hands and wrists hurt, but he ignored the pain and focused on the anger and frustration that had been stirred up by recent events.

"Tristan?" Xavier called.

"What do you want here?" Tristan's voice was sharp and dragged as he didn't stop with the blows. They were consecutive and precise punches, elbows, and kicks.

Xavier took his time to answer, afraid that if he wasn't cautious with his words, he would be the one in place of the poor punching bag.

"I came to confirm if you're going to the meeting with the accountants in a few hours," Xavier said, and Tristan immediately stopped his training and stood still for long seconds. He breathed deeply, his chest rising and falling. "Did you hear what I said?"

"I'm not deaf," Tristan retorted while unwrapping the bandages from his own hands, which were tingling. He noticed that both hands were a bit swollen and very sore from the intense workout.

"But in return, you're ignorant!" Xavier spoke in a low tone.

"I heard that." Tristan turned to look at him seriously.

Some might judge them as enemies based on how they treated each other, but there was a friendship hidden between the coldness and the insults, and this friendship had strong bonds even though they had known each other for such a short time.

"Are you going to the meeting or not?" Xavier crossed his arms impatiently.

"I need to do something first."

At the hospital, Tristan and Xavier went straight to Griffin's office, ignoring the angry looks from patients who had been waiting for hours for treatment. It was an absurd idea for Tristan to have to stand in line to be seen by his own brother. He knew he was lucky and took advantage of it.

"What did you do to your hands?!" Griffin asked, sitting at his desk, looking astonished at the X-ray of his brother's hands.

"Is it something serious?" Tristan inquired.

"Not too serious, but it could have been," Griffin replied. "You had a mild bone injury in the hand extending from the wrist to the finger. This type of injury is usually caused by a punch. Have you been in a fight?"

"Don't ask questions, just do your job," Tristan responded harshly.

"He overdid it during training," Xavier chimed in, sitting on a small couch in the corner of the room, engrossed in his phone.

"Don't push your body too hard. If you continue to be careless, you could end up with serious consequences," warned Griffin before leaving the room to get what was needed for the bandages. Xavier was still on his phone, checking his social media, until a video caught his attention.

"Genevieve is at the police station," he informed, but Tristan showed no interest in the conversation. "Aurora is there too. It seems they had a fight at the mall."

Tristan's expression changed as his brain processed the girl's name. Xavier noticed, but couldn't decipher what he was feeling. Anger? Concern? Curiosity?

"How did you find out?" Tristan asked.

"Thomas posted the video online," Xavier replied, handing the phone to him. "Looks like it was a big fight. There were slaps, kicks, hair-pulling..."

Tristan's expression seemed to stretch slightly into a smile as he watched Aurora engaging in a physical confrontation with the two sisters. But any hint of a smile vanished when Klaus appeared and, in a heroic act, pulled Aurora away from the girls.

His eyes grew darker, and his jaw was tense. Then, suddenly, Tristan threw the phone against the wall with force, shattering it.

"My phone!" Xavier whimpered, starting to pick up all the pieces. "Why did you do that?"

"I had a moment of anger," Tristan responded indifferently.

"And you had to take it out on my phone?!" Xavier complained.

"Would you prefer I took it out on you?" Tristan asked, showing no sign of remorse.

The door opened, revealing Griffin's confused expression as he saw Xavier kneeling on the floor in front of the broken device.

"What happened here?" Griffin asked.

"You don't want to know," Xavier replied, looking coldly at Tristan, who rolled his eyes.

"Just do the bandages already," Tristan ordered. "Is this going to take long? I have a meeting in a few minutes."

"In fact, you should be at the meeting right now," Xavier checked the time on the wristwatch that was still on the floor.

"Tell the accountants that I'll be late," Tristan said.

"I can't do that," Xavier replied.

"Why not?" Tristan questioned.

"Maybe because you broke my phone?" Xavier frowned in annoyance.

Tristan lent him his phone, and Xavier contacted all the accountants. His hands still hurt; it was a bearable pain, but sometimes he made a slight grimace.

"There, the bandages are done," Griffin finished.

"When can I take these off?" Tristan referred to the bandages wrapping his hands and part of his wrist.

"You'll have to change them every day for the next two weeks. During that time, try not to make sudden movements. And before you leave, I wanted to know if I can count on your presence at the award ceremony tomorrow," Griffin said.

"An award ceremony?" Xavier asked as he stood up. "What category are you nominated for?"

"Best surgical doctor," Griffin smiled proudly. "So, will you be able to attend?"

"My father will be there," Tristan replied curtly and directly, reason enough to avoid the ceremony.

"Please. Forget this grudge for a few hours. I want you to be there. It's very important to me," Griffin pleaded.

Tristan licked his dry lips, thoughtful. If he went, he'd bump into his father at any moment, whom he hated because of past intrigues. However, Griffin had nothing to do with that.

"Fine, but don't blame me if we end up arguing."

***

Adelaide took off her apron and let her hair down. Her shift had ended, and in a few hours, she would be at the award ceremony with Griffin. She smiled just thinking about accompanying him. Her instincts told her that it would be an unforgettable night.

Kai questioned her before Adelaide left the kitchen through the back door: "Where are you going?"

"Home. I've finished my work hours," Adelaide replied.

"No, you're not going," Kai said, surprising her. "I need you to stay here and work overtime."

"B-but why?"

"Tonight, we're serving a very important dinner. The restaurant owner will come with his family, and as the head chef, I am in charge of serving them the best dishes."

"Why does it have to be me?"

"A cook who was supposed to work overtime today got sick, so I decided to replace him with you. You're a great cook."

"Thank you very much, but I have a commitment tonight."

"Then cancel it," Kai replied, showing that he wouldn't accept a "no" as an answer as he turned away.

Reluctantly, Adelaide put on the apron and tied her hair back with a sad expression. Before returning to work, she called her sister and informed her about the incident. As expected, Aurora freaked out and cursed the chef with several foul names. Adelaide laughed at that, but her sadness persisted.

She ended the call and returned to the kitchen with a downcast demeanor. She started cooking the specific dishes for the grand dinner. The other employees noticed her sadness, and some asked what had happened, but she replied that it was just tiredness.

She thought about how Griffin would be very upset with that news. And for a moment, she felt a great burden on her shoulders. She was ruining a very important night for him, and Griffin definitely didn't deserve that.

Hours passed. Occasionally, she glanced at her wristwatch, thinking that at that time, she should be wearing her beautiful dress and heels, just waiting for Griffin to pick her up. Her thoughts felt more like dreams that would never come true.

Her attention shifted to the commotion in the back of the kitchen. And worse, or better, Adelaide recognized the four voices.

In a short while, she saw her sister burst into the kitchen, followed by Klaus, Thomas, and Lucca.

"There you are!" Aurora stopped in front of Adelaide, beaming with a huge smile.

"What are you guys doing here?" Adelaide asked.

"To put it simply, think of us as your fairy godmothers, and we're here to help you... except Lucca. He's only here because he has a car, and we didn't want to take the subway," Aurora joked.

"Take this dress and the shoes," Thomas handed her a bag with the logo of his store. "Change quickly; I still have to do your makeup and hair."

There was so much information that Adelaide was a bit overwhelmed. She wanted to smile. She wanted to thank them. She also wanted to say that it was crazy, and she would probably get fired if she left work.

"Don't worry about work," Lucca said, as if he could read her mind. "I'm a good cook. I'll take your place alongside Thomas until you come back. We'll also make sure that Kai doesn't suspect you ran away."

"I'll take you to the event. So, I suggest you hurry because we're already running late!" Klaus warned, and only then did Adelaide snap out of it, and reality hit her.

"What are you waiting for? Take off that apron and transform into the real Cinderella!"

***

In the garden of the Palace Hotel, tables were spread across the well-cut lawn, and right in front was a stage where the winners would receive awards and make speeches. It was already night, and the place was illuminated by spotlights and the glow of the full moon.

People were chatting with each other animatedly, but at a specific table, the atmosphere was quite tense.

"How is my company doing?" Mr. Callahan asked his youngest son.

"My company, you mean," Tristan corrected his father.

"Please, let's not start with this topic," Griffin pleaded in a low tone. He knew that if they began discussing it, it would end in a big argument.

"You're right, my son. We're here for you, and it's not worth arguing with your useless brother," the father said, annoyed.

"The useless brother who is now running all the companies you had built," Tristan retorted.

"Never address me in that manner again, you brat!" The father tried to control his voice not to draw attention from the people. "I'm your father. You owe me respect."

Tristan let out a humorless and forced laugh.

"You may be my father, but you don't have my respect. You never had it, and you never will," he said, getting up and leaving the old man fuming with anger, pulling his graying hair.

"Are you alright?" Griffin asked, concerned.

"Your brother drives me crazy!" the father huffed, but after a few seconds, he turned his attention back to his favorite son. "Didn't you say you'd bring a date tonight?"

"She had another commitment..." Griffin interrupted himself the moment his eyes landed on Adelaide. The bad feeling he had about the girl's absence vanished. She looked stunning, in his eyes, the most beautiful woman at the party. "Actually, my date just arrived."

With a big smile, Griffin stood up and headed towards her. When their eyes met, a strange jolt ran through both of them, and they smiled at each other.

"You look beautiful," Griffin complimented, and she blushed, both embarrassed and very happy.

A little further away from them, Aurora and Klaus sighed simultaneously at the romantic atmosphere.

"We are the best fairy godmothers this world has ever seen!" Klaus joked, and Aurora laughed as she put her camera in her bag.

"Let's go. We have to help Thomas and Lucca at the restaurant," she suggested, but the moment she finished the sentence, a man in formal attire walked in front of both of them. His hair was black and combed to the side, his beard well-groomed, and from his broad shoulders and strong physique, they deduced that he went to the gym every week.

Aurora gave the man a quick glance, but Klaus was more interested. He discreetly raised and lowered his gaze over the man several times.

"Can we stay here for a few minutes?" Klaus asked, sounding more like a statement.

"Will you stop thinking with the lower head and focus on the mission!?" Aurora grumbled, but Klaus completely ignored what she said and followed the steps of the dark-haired man, leaving behind a very irritated girl. "Klaus, come back here!" she shouted, about to follow him and drag him out of the place by his hair. However, when she saw a waiter serving free drinks, she changed direction as if being pulled by a magnet. "You know what, we can stay a little longer!"

"Thomas and Lucca must have everything under control!" she thought, deciding to enjoy the party a bit more.