The Rhodes Family of Port Vesper...
Stella Sterling listened to Jewell's explanation, her expression freezing into something indescribable.
Jewell assumed she didn't know. He took a sip of tea, preparing to explain the history of the Rhodes Family. "It's normal for you not to know. The Rhodes Family has kept a much lower profile in recent years. But back in the day, even during the golden age of the triads, the Rhodes Family's status in Vicenza was second to none."
"The Rhodes Family... I know of them," Stella said absently.
"In those days, the Rhodes Family was unparalleled. Countless businessmen from the mainland came to Vicenza to make their fortunes, and the first thing they would do was pay their respects to the Rhodes... Hmm? You know of them?"
Jewell murmured a few more words, lost in reminiscence, only catching on after he was done.
Stella nodded mechanically.
'Know of them? I was just sitting in his car trying to fish for information,' she thought.
Jewell didn't notice Stella's expression. He continued tactfully, "My dear girl, since you know the Rhodes Family, you must also understand—that Tea Bowl set was acquired for their museum. It won't be easy to get them to part with it. As the saying goes, a gentleman does not take what another holds dear. You should advise your friend to look for a different piece and forget about this particular set."
Stella understood Mr. Jewell's point. After a moment of contemplation, another idea began to form in her mind.
Stella refilled Jewell's tea and said tentatively, "I have a friend who knows Roman Rhodes…"
"Roman Rhodes? The Rhodes Family's eldest son?" Jewell stroked his chin, lost in thought. "If you have a friend who knows him, then this matter might just have a chance."
Stella wasn't as optimistic as Jewell.
'Whether it has a chance or not, I'll need to consider it more carefully.'
'After all, it's a unique, collector-grade piece. Just as Jewell said, why should they be expected to part with their treasure?'
About an hour passed.
Stella ate half a pork knuckle and drank two cups of sake with Jewell. Before nine, she was ready to head home.
Before she left, the old man fetched an exquisite ceramic gift box from his storeroom.
"My dear girl, take this back to your father."
The hand Stella had extended drew back. "Mr. Jewell, I'm… not going home today."
Jewell's face hardened as he glared at her. "It'll tire you out to make a trip home to deliver a gift?"
Stella opened her mouth, but the words wouldn't come.
Seeing her hesitation, Jewell stuffed the gift box into her hands without another word. "This is a replica of an oil-spot Jian ware bowl. I usually keep it in the safe. Don't you be lazy, now. I'll have Hollis arrange a car to take you home. You must put this in your father's hands tonight."
"Mr. Jewell, I…"
"Hollis, prepare the car! Send the young lady home!"
Ten minutes later, Stella was sitting in the Jewell Family's grocery-getter, clutching the gift box. She watched the streetscape blur past the window, completely baffled as to how things had gotten to this point.
「Southwood, Crescent Lane.」
A quiet, paved road split a neatly manicured landscape in two.
At the end of the road was a roundabout with a fountain.
Several garden villas stood nearby, and the fountain was illuminated by strip lights. Servants could occasionally be seen bustling past.
This was the Sterling Family residence.
The place Stella had called home for twenty-four years.
She hadn't been back in over a month. It wasn't long enough for everything to have changed, but Stella still felt a profound sense of unease.
She was worried Mr. Sterling would throw her out.
With a heavy heart, Stella slowly emerged from the grocery-getter.
She had barely taken two steps when a servant sweeping the entrance took a closer look, dropped their broom, and ran into the foyer. "Sir, Madam, the Second Miss is home!"
Stella was speechless. 'You really didn't have to do that.'
'What if I can't even get in the door? How embarrassing would that be?'
Fortunately, Stella's fears did not come to pass.
As she shuffled into the living room clutching the gift box, her mother, Sharon Yates, was already rushing out to greet her excitedly. "Stelly, my treasure, you're finally back."
The moment Stella saw her mother, she pouted and called out, "Mom."
Mrs. Sterling cupped Stella's cheeks, her heart aching as she studied her face from side to side. "You've gotten thinner. Life without money to spend must be hard, hmm?"
Stella's mouth twitched.
'My own mother's gentle barbs were as sharp and swift as ever.'
Stella laughed it off, her gaze shifting slightly as she searched for a sign of Mr. Sterling.
Just then, on an armchair not far away, her father, Steven Sterling, sat with his legs crossed, smoking a cigar. In his hands, he held a copy of… a women's beauty and fashion magazine. He would occasionally turn a page or furrow his brow, looking utterly engrossed.
"Dad," Stella called out.
Without looking up, Mr. Sterling maintained his patriarchal air. "Mm."
Mrs. Sterling rolled her eyes and whispered, pulling the rug out from under him, "He's just putting on an act. Ignore him."
Stella's lips twitched into a smile. She handed the gift box to her mother. "This is from Mr. Jewell for Dad. Could you hold on to it for him?"
Mrs. Sterling took the gift box and placed it casually on the coffee table. "How's Mr. Jewell's health?"
Stella replied, "Not bad. He's quite spry."
"I haven't seen him in a while…"
The mother-daughter pair chatted as they ambled toward a side parlor, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
The living room fell silent once more.
Now, the father who had been putting on a profound act couldn't sit still any longer.
He snapped the magazine shut with a THWAP, stood up with the cigar between his fingers, paced twice around the living room, and then stopped near the parlor's latticed window.
Inside the parlor, the mother and daughter were sharing an intimate conversation.
Aside from asking about her well-being, Mrs. Sterling would occasionally slip in one of her gentle barbs, but Stella was used to them and they no longer stung.
Finally, Mrs. Sterling sighed wistfully and secretly pressed a bank card into Stella's hand. "You and your sister, neither of you gives me a moment's peace. Take this card. It has fifty million on it. When the time is right, give it to your father to smooth things over."
Stella was so moved her eyes welled up with tears.
But as moved as she was, she handed the card back to her mother. "Mom, I can earn the money. Trust me."
Mrs. Sterling's face hardened, her gentle barbs now stabbing without mercy. "Earn it with what? You're not your sister. You weren't born to be a business magnate, so why are you afflicted with the ambition of one?"
A mother knows her daughter best.
Sharon Yates knew the two daughters she had borne all too well.
The older one was stubborn to the bone; the younger one was rebellious to the core.
Each was more headstrong than the last.
Sharon Yates deeply regretted that she hadn't stopped the bet between Stella and her father at the dinner table that day.
Their perfectly happy family of four was now reduced to just the two of them, a husband and wife facing each other day and night in a cold, quiet house.
Stella listened to her mother's lecture with a look of humble acceptance, but her wandering, flickering eyes revealed she was clearly spacing out.
Mrs. Sterling saw this clearly but didn't have the heart to press the issue.
The pair huddled together, whispering for another half an hour.
Seeing it was past ten o'clock, Stella, exhausted from her long day, said, "Mom, it's getting late. Tonight, I was thinking…"
"You're right, it is past ten." Sharon Yates glanced at the wall clock and nodded. "You should get going. Mom won't keep you."
Stella, who had been about to ask if she could spend the night, was left speechless. "…"
Less than five minutes later, Mrs. Sterling was seeing Stella out the door.
As for Mr. Sterling, he stood with his back to them before the living room's French windows, minutely examining the Tea Bowl from Jewell, seemingly indifferent to whether his daughter stayed or left.