Worth a Celebration

The comforting silence surrounding the estate was shattered by Olivia's arrival that she merrily announced. She was skipping up the few steps, like a child that had just received heaps of candies much to her delight.

"Mother!" She called in a cheery voice as soon as she got to the room her mother was usually in. "I'm home!"

Azalea, her mother, was clearly surprised by her sudden visit and jubilant demeanor, but it didn't dampened the delight she could see from her mother's face.

She was ready to jump at her mother when she heard her sister's voice from the stairs behind her.

"Is that Olivia I hear?"

Olivia whipped her head around, a big smile on her face. "Yes, dearest sister. It's me."

Ophelia could hear the smile in her voice and had a smile on herself. "It's rare to see you home at this hour, dearest sister."

Olivia laughed. Of course it was weird. She was sure they were surprised too. After all, it was the middle of a week, not a day she usually drop for a visit. Not to mention, she just had a sleepover at the estate not to long ago and once two weeks before.

By their standard, that was a bit too frequent visit by Olivia, which unfortunately, was established by no one but Olivia herself.

"I had Carlos free my schedule. He found ways to compromise with my request," she said with a grin.

They all knew that by request, she meant demand, and probably a coercion that might had been borderline threatening.

Azalea shook her head at her daughter's words. "You need to stop trying to get your way by force. Have some sympathy for Carlos that need to make sure you get your way." She didn't mean to nag her youngest daughter, in fact Azalea was happy to see her around, but if it ended up burdening her more, she could bear with the scant visits. "And are you sure you're alright, sweetheart?"

"Of course." Olivia answered confidently. "If anything did come up, Carlos is there to help me handle it." She added offhandedly.

Ophelia could just picture their mother's disapproving face.

"Don't worry about that," Olivia said before Azalea could start again. "Anyway, come down, Ophelia. I have a surprise for you both."

Ophelia raised a questioning brow but listened anyway. She took her time to carefully descend the stairs and walked towards their voice before taking Olivia's hand.

"Sit," she said as she brought Ophelia to one of the couch. "I'll ask Cook to bring us something."

"Cook just made some sweets. Ask her to make us some drinks to have with it." Azalea added before Olivia could go.

"That'll give us a few minutes." Olivia calculated. "Alright. Well, I'm going up to change first." She said and kissed their cheeks before leaving.

Olivia took a quick shower and put on a comfortable turtleneck sweater with a pair of leggings. She let her still damp hair loose without bothering to dry it.

In 10 minutes, she reappeared in the room with a small bag in hand.

"Wow, what a nice smell," Olivia commented as soon as she stepped in.

She noticed father sitting next to mother and cheerfully went to greet him. "Hello, father."

She received a small smile from him in response to that.

She was glad to see his progressing recovery. All their effort at helping father to rehabilitate was beginning to show result. Even if it took very long and even smaller step every time.

"Try it. It doesn't end at smelling nice, it also taste great." Ophelia chirped in.

Olivia took a seat next to Ophelia, facing her parents. Without delay, she took a piece of madeleine and stuffed her mouth.

"Eat slowly. It's not going anywhere, Olivia," Azalea called out as she watched the crumbs falling down.

Olivia shrugged and quickly finished it , looking just slightly sheepish. "It's just to tempting. Sorry."

They enjoyed a pleasant afternoon tea, even if it was a bit too early to call it that.

"Will Carlos and Vivian come later?" Azalea wondered out loud.

"Yes, a bit later. There's something he needed to settle by today. And Vivian's coming with him."

"What is it about?" Ophelia took turn asking.

"Agreement papers."

Olivia didn't particularly encouraged her family's involvement in the business affair. Not because she didn't trust their judgment or had issue with their decision-making ability. She simply didn't want them to be burdened with any of it.

She knew once they were involved, that little piece of peace they currently enjoyed would be shattered by nosy people.

So no.

She was more than enough to handle everything.

Besides, she had Carlos to support her by her side. And Vivian to lean against if push comes to push —which all doubt would ever happened.

Nevertheless, her family's opinion were very much welcome, anytime. She'd even ask them for some outsiders' opinion, even if it was very seldom.

Both Azalea and Ophelia took the hint and stopped prying. They knew if she couldn't handle it, she would turn to them for advises.

"I have something to show both of you." Olivia said enthusiastically, barely able to hold the giddiness in.

She pulled out the boxes and placed it on the table.

"But before that..." She trailed off and got up. "Mother, I need you to close your eyes. That way it'll be fairer and more fun."

Azalea stared at her daughter's grinning face. Olivia could come up with the weirdest suggestions sometimes. She couldn't help a stray laughter a moment later which Ophelia joined, before closing her eyes as Olivia requested.

"Good. Now I want you both to spread out you hands, palms up."

"Just what are you giving us?" Ophelia couldn't help her curiosity.

Olivia simply laughed. She took the necklaces out. The sapphire was Azalea's, while the ruby belonged to Ophelia. Olivia herself owned the emerald, and had already put it on herself.

Just as she was about to place it on their hands, it occurred to her that she should put it on them instead.

Carefully, she went around them and tentatively placed it around their neck. Ophelia gasped at the sudden cold-like sensation she felt when Olivia put it on her and her hand immediately went to her neck. Azalea almost opened her eyes if not for Olivia's jolly reminder to keep it closed when she put it on her.

"Liv... Is this...?" Ophelia was at lost for word as her hand played around with the jewelry.

"What?" Olivia asked when Ophelia didn't continue, all the while playing innocent.

"You minx!" Ophelia said laughingly. "This is the gems, isn't it?"

"The gems?" Azalea asked, shocked. Her eyes flew open and her hands went to her chest, taking the ornament dangling at her neck to be inspected.

She couldn't help a gasp escaping when she saw it.

"Goodness gracious, Olivia. Where did you found this? Is this even real?"

Olivia burst out laughing. "I know. It's unbelievable, but it's real. I found them at an auction two weeks ago."

While Azalea was still wide-eyed, Ophelia was grinning ear to ear. Then she stopped as she noticed something. "The design feels different?"

"I had them remade. When I found it at the auction, it had been remade into a weird ornament."

"Olivia," Azalea frowned, "how much did you spent to get them?"

While their financial situation had gotten way better as compared to before the incident, Azalea was not one to splurge on such precious item. Even if it was for something precious to them, too much was still too much, regardless of what Olivia said.

"Don't worry, mother." Olivia said. She went and planted a loving kiss on her forehead, gently massaging her frown away. "It only cost me as much as it's worth."

"That means it cost you a lot didn't it?"

"No, mother. This is our heirloom. It had been handed down for many generations. And most of all, this are our favorites. No price are to high for it."

Azalea knew nothing she said would change Olivia's opinion, besides the fact that it was already a done deal. Nevertheless, she had to admit was glad that she could see the gems, possessing it once again.

"Thank you, sweetheart."

Olivia smiled. "You're very much welcome, mother."

She kissed her once again before taking a seat next to Ophelia. She watched as her mother went to show the necklace to her father.

"Liv," Ophelia called her.

She turned and faced her. "Yes?"

"Just how much did this cost you?"

"O-"

"Be honest. And I want real answer." Ophelia pressed on.

Olivia narrowed her eyes. Of course Ophelia had to know that so she follow suit with her own frown.

"Sometimes, I honestly wonder if you faked your blindness..." Olivia muttered.

Ophelia laughed at her remark. While she was medically verified as blind, she could still feel her way around, and see in the unique way she considered normal for blind people.

In ways she couldn't quite explain to others.

"It didn't cost me that much." Olivia answered adamantly.

"Let me make a wild guess then," Ophelia said speculatively. "It could fetch a shocking price from way back, I can only imagine how much it cost now. Not to mention, in an auction no less."

Olivia kept her silence.

"Probably millions. And more for the remaking." Ophelia paused, making some calculations in her mind. When something like realization seemed to color her expression, she blurted before Olivia could say anything.

"Please don't tell me it cost more than 25 millions."