Kylie awoke alone, shortly after ten o'clock. Even though she was alone, she wasn't worried. After the last few days, a part of her didn't even care if Ethan was still home or not. As per her regular routine, she took a shower, brushed her teeth, got dressed, and brushed her hair – She never gave Ethan a second thought.

On her way to the kitchen, though, she poked her head into the gym and found Ethan on the treadmill. He looked up at the sound of the door and smiled when he saw her. Kylie saw that he was sweating profusely, and she brought him a towel. As he took it, he turned off the machine and stepped down. He looked at her and said, "I hope that you haven't forgotten my father's birthday. It starts at one, but I want to be there by noon in case anything still needs to be done."

​​

Kylie nodded, and she said, "Don't worry. I took the day off."

Kylie smiled and said, "We still have some free time. Why don't we make it count?"

With that said, Kylie slipped her finger under the band of his sweatpants, and as soon as she found his member, it went hard in her hand. "What's this," she wondered with a huge grin on her face.

Ethan gasped. "I'm not complaining," he said, "but I certainly wasn't expecting this!"

Kylie touched his sweaty chest and said, "You are so sexy right now. You seduce me. Right now, I cannot resist you!"

Kylie leaned in and kissed Ethan hard on the mouth. Before she could go any further, though, he took a step back and said, "I am sweaty and gross. Are you sure that you want to do this??

In response to this, Kylie took a step forward and licked his neck. She smiled and said, "I want you exactly as you are."

***

During lunch later, Ethan was gentle and elegant, and considerate – he was so much the gentleman, in fact, that Kylie could barely believe it. That being said, when he looked at Kylie, she had a hard time reading his expression, and she got the impression that he didn't want to be there, and the minutes seemed to stretch on into eternity.

The birthday party of Old Mr. Parker was held in the banquet hall of the Empire Hotel. The place boasted a splendid banquet spread, and it had been endorsed by many important figures in business and politics.

Kylie held Ethan's arm, and as they walked into the hall, neither of them could believe how many people had shown up. As they checked in, many of the people in attention paid them an abnormal amount of interest. Most had seen him in social settings such as this one, but none had seen him with a plus one at his side.

Gradually, people began to recognize Kylie and point her out on their mobile devices to show those who didn't recognize her. There was a lot of gossips, not just about her present situation, but about her past "indiscretions,"

"Isn't that Kylie Finch?" one person wondered. "I heard she was a slut. Didn't she used to fuck Aiden Parker?"

"Yeah," someone replied. "Aiden Parker and his uncle!"

"She is nothing but a gold digger," someone else said. "I am not surprised that she's got her hooks into Lord Ethan. I bet she gives a good head…"

Finally, a more conservative person stepped forward and said, "Maybe this isn't the best place to talk about such things. For all we know, there is nothing going on between them, and she is only there to keep him company."

Hearing that, many of the gossipers hung their heads in shame and dispersed.

***

Once Dinah and Kylie were alone, Dinah smile at Kylie and said, "I heard that Ethan would be on a business trip tonight. Would you like me to stay with you while he is away?"

"Don't worry about it," Kylie replied. "Lucy will be home and, besides, no one would dare to make trouble at the Garbo Palace. Go and see your beau. I will be okay."

Dinah smiled, and she said, "That is very kind of you to help me."

Once the car made its stop at Garbo Palace, Dinah turned the car around and set off to find Stephen.

As soon as Kylie entered the house, her phone buzzed. She had stuffed her phone between her bra, and she pulled it out to see who it was that was calling. She looked at the Caller ID and, when she saw that it was Ken, she sighed and accepted the call. Ken seemed excited about something and, without even saying, "Hello," Ken asked her if she was free.

Kylie frowned, and she said, "I have a hard time believing that you've already discerned the cause of my mother's death – it is too soon, and you have never been particularly efficient!"

"Not yet," Ken admitted. "I have something else to tell you, though; to show you, actually. I will give you ten minutes to change your clothes. I need to take you to see Lord Ethan."

Kylie thought about it and said, "If I want to see Ethan, I can go to him. I don't need you to show me the way. I am not a child. Furthermore, he also knows where I am – and he knows my number – so if he wants to see me, he knows where I am!"

"Never mind that!" Ken insisted. "You know that Lord Ethan said that he was going on a business trip. Is it true, though? You need to see what is really going on. If you're late, you will miss out, and then you will never believe me! Now hurry up. I can't say anymore. You need to see this for yourself!"

Kylie sat by the bed with her lips pressed tightly together as she thought for a while. Ethan was on an impromptu business trip, which Ken White obviously knew – so what was he talking about?

Kylie had never trusted Ken so, after getting off the phone, she called Ethan. Curiously though, he did not pick up. She hoped to get this matter with Ken cleared up quickly, so she was more than a bit flustered when she couldn't get through to Ethan.

It wasn't like him to have his phone off either, which set off alarm bells in her head.

After a few minutes, Ken called again. "Are you almost ready" he wondered.

"Almost," she replied.

When Lucy saw that Kylie was ready to go out, she walked towards her and said, "Ma'am, Lord Ethan is not home, and neither is Miss Larson. Why are you going out so late? You know that Lord Ethan would not approve of this."

Kylie smiled and said, "Dinah is waiting for me outside. We'll be back soon."

"Alright," Lucy sighed. "Be safe."

Kylie's phone suddenly rang once, which meant that Ken was at the gate of the community. His Santana could not be allowed to be driven inside; otherwise, Lucy would recognize it and know that something was up, so she ran out the door in his direction as fast as she could. When she got to the car, she opened the door, climbed in, and demanded to know what was going on.

Ken smiled at her, and he said, "I need to show you a side of Ethan you've likely never seen. If you can, just loan me a little trust. I have your best intentions at heart."

Kylie did not trust Ken, but she decided to give him at least enough rope to hang himself from. "Alright," she sighed, "Let's do this if we're going to do this."