Forbidden Link

09. Donati's Residence

After leaving the cafe, Alex drove towards Kaira's house, which was not far from his starting position. The house Alex had lived in for a dozen years had suddenly become a strange place in an instant. And this time Alex also came to that house as a guest. It was possible that Alex's coming was actually not wanted by the owner of the house. However, the owner of the house was not in his place.

Alex's vehicle was already in front of the entrance which was closed by a tall black gate. Behind the gate there was a small room of two and a half cubic meters and a guard had just come out of that room - which was called the security post- when he saw a vehicle approaching him. Dressed in all black, a jacket, pants, hat, and a black truncheon hanging from his waist, a guard tried to observe the driver who was standing next to a bright green moped.

"Ah, Master Alex… long time no see."

The grim face of the guard turned very friendly when he saw Alex, who had just taken off his helmet. Alex returned the guard's friendliness with a smile but his face returned to seriousness in a split second. Meeting a guard he knew did not mean he could enter Donati's residence easily. The person watching over the arriving guests was not just that guard. The employees and the security system would also monitor everyone who wanted to enter Donati's residence.

Alex didn't want to repeat his stupid past when he had been kicked out of Donati's house because he had invited the guards to cooperate to allow him to enter. So he took out his ticket to enter, which was a wallet from Lakelynn.

"I'd like to return this wallet to Miss Lakelynn Heliodor," said Alex, showing the man in front of him a cream-colored wallet separated by the bars of the gate.

"Oh yes. Miss Lakelynn has also informed me that someone will be delivering personal items to her. I don't think it was Mr. Alexandre."

The guard immediately walked back into the security post and soon the gate opened. Alex pushed his moped inside without needing to start the engine. He only needed to push the moped ten meters from the front gate to the parking space reserved for guests on the left side of the security post.

Staring at the house he had left quite long ago made Alex feel a little nostalgic. Usually he was in a car that would take him directly to the side of the house and all he had to do was climb the stairs to get into the house. But this time he had to walk uphill for two hundred meters just to approach a minimalist-style building in the middle of a one-hectare garden.

Quite unique for a modern building, Donati's residence did not have an entrance from the front of the building but from the side. Alex had to walk uphill beside a three-meter high stone wall that separated the main road from the front of the building. After climbing the stairs from the side of the house, Alex could enjoy the view of a fish pond that almost filled the front of the building and also there were some trees beside the fish pond.

The building which had three floors was almost entirely bordered by glass so that it showed most of the furniture in the building. This visual openness shows that not just anyone can enter Donati's residence. And the intense look was immediately felt by Alex as soon as he stepped foot up the stairs to the entrance of the house. A woman in a long-sleeved shirt and a knee-length skirt was directly watching Alex from the front door of the house. The woman smiled respectfully at the guests who had just arrived, but still her eyes scanned Alex from head to toe.

Alex couldn't dodge the disdainful look the woman in front of him gave him. Even at one glance, Alex already knew that the woman in front of him was the new personal assistance from Kaira. One of the tasks of the personal assistant was to avoid Kaira from unnecessary conflicts such as the arrival of her own brother.

Although Kaira's personal assistant greeted Alex unfriendly, the woman still invited Alex to follow her. With the sound of high heels sounding every time he stepped on the marble floor, the personal assistant walked diagonally ahead of Alex's walking position. The two of them walked down the corridor that was at the back of the house and exposed a very wide garden view to their right.

The atmosphere was familiar to Alex. A large house with a variety of furniture that looks shiny and dustless and a garden that was so wide -but still well maintained- that made Alex so jealous of the many jobs that could be provided from a Donati house. If he didn't have a relationship with Donati's family, Alex might apply to be one of the employees who just did the cleaning.

Alex's footsteps came to a halt when he and the woman beside him were in front of the lift doors which opened when she pressed a triangle button pointing up on the wall. Alex knew that Kaira's room was on the second floor, so using the elevator to go up one floor was not efficient. But Alex could only follow the woman who only gave a sentence "Mr. Alexandre, Miss Lakelynn is waiting for you in Miss Kaira's room." at the beginning of their meeting and then walked silently like a statue that could move.

After exiting the elevator, there is a choice between walking left or right. Alex still remembers that his parents' bedroom which is the master bedroom is on the right. In accordance with Alex's shadow, the personal assistant turned left. And not long after, Alex was already in front of a bedroom door with the same white color as the wall flanking it. The personal assistant knocked three times on the door and a girl shouted from inside the room.

“Tell my guest to come in. I just finished massaging Miss Kaira.” Lakelynn's voice sounded quite clear to the ears of the two people outside the Kaira's bedroom. An order that has a capacity whose authority can be equated with the owner of the room.

“Please, sir. You can go inside. Miss Lakelynn is waiting inside," said the personal assistant.

Alex's chest suddenly felt tight so he ignored the words of the woman beside him. He just stood in front of the bedroom door with thoughts that were no longer in the real world. Finally Alex made it to Donati's residence and almost met his sister again. If along the way Alex imagined Kaira's sleeping face, this time he imagined something else. When he saw the door of Kaira's room in front of him, Alex imagined Kaira was opening the door and smiling at him. A wistful smile from a girl with long black hair that fell to her waist with flat bangs that showed the innocence of a Kaira Donati. Behind the innocent smile that was displayed, Kaira's eyes looked unhappy, unlike her smile. Even though Kaira forced a smile in front of her brother, Alex could tell when Kaira wasn't feeling happy. And Alex remembers his sister's face has been unhappy since Kaira entered senior high school.

Lakelynn's words suddenly crossed Alex's mind. It is true that Kaira is one of the people he loves in this world. It is undeniable that initially Alex wanted to try in every way possible to return his sister to her normal life. But if the choice is to leave his mother alone, then Alex chooses to ignore his wishes for Kaira. And when he imagined Kaira's face that could still smile at him, Alex felt that he had betrayed his own sister. Alex closed his eyes to hold back the discomfort that suddenly pierced his chest as if he was holding his breath for a long time.

"Cough...cough... Mister Alexandre."

A loud enough call from the woman beside him made Alex wake up to open his eyes and take a deep breath. The unnatural condition of the guest does not make the personal assistant empathize. The woman reached out to the doorknob with a straight face. She signaled to Alex to immediately do what she was told earlier.

“Okay. Thank you for your escort.”