CHAPTER 308: FIRE AND ASH FAMILIA (4)

"Why are you sending me to the guillotine? You think you’re King Louis XVI? Vive la révolution. The monarchy is dead. Sorry that there’s no budget to buy proper designer clothing to suit your fancy needs, your highness. Besides, I don’t want to get nagged by someone who is already drinking wine before lunch. Don’t try to deny it, I can smell it on your breath. How is your liver still okay? I’m sure your doctor has told you to cut back. You know you’re not a spring chicken anymore, right?"

"Are you calling me old?"

"I can use the term aged if you prefer."

"The finest things in life, like wine, are aged. A spring chicken like you wouldn’t understand the flavour."

"Rather than wine, I was going to say like cheese. Or mold."

"Kneel down."

"Ladies first."

"Respect your elders and do what I say. Today is the day I correct this personality and bad mouth of yours."

"Age before beauty. I’m someone who learns from visual and auditory examples, so you should be the example you want to see in the world, and I’ll be sure to follow suit."

"Are you supposed to be the beauty in this equation?"

"Otherwise? Am I supposed to be the aged?"

Chloé: ಠ_ಠ

Ari: ಠ_ಠ

"Sabine. Get him to kneel down."

"I’m sorry, Madame, I can’t do that. Ariel, long time no see. I’m happy to see you looking well."

Ari turned to look at the long-time personal assistant and bodyguard with a pitying glance.

"Sabine, you’re still working for her? There have to be better jobs, no? Blink twice if you need to be rescued. I’ll call the Department of Labour in France right now and act like a witness so you can be free."

As Sabine’s brown eyes met his before blinking rapidly, Chloé’s cold voice interrupted them.

"You had better not be blinking, Sabine."

"...Of course not, Madame. Working with you is the greatest pleasure in my life."

"Save your flattery for someone who believes it. And you..." Chloé rolled her eyes dramatically before sighing, "Enough. Since you were a toddler, you always needed to have the last word in an argument, and there’s no time right now. You don’t contact me for a couple of years, and when you do, it’s to see that you repeatedly wearing that brown outfit and cosplaying a homeless rat that lives in the catacombs of Paris-"

Well, I was technically homeless, just not in Paris.

And the otterly adorable jumpsuit is comfortable!

Who cares as long as it’s clean?

"As for some of these accusations, they’re simply ludicrous. While I can’t say that you were a cute child-"

"Actually, I was a very cute childmph" Ari’s lips were forcibly pinched shut by a wrinkled hand.

"This face of yours has stayed the same your whole life. Well...I think it’s gotten a bit uglier, but that’s what happens to boys when they grow up. As for the other things people are saying and the accusations. I’ve known you since you were a toddler. Although you can be quite rude, your personality is not one that messes around unless you are provoked first. I assume he provoked you?"

"Of course," Ari replied through her hand.

Although she didn’t say a name, Ari knew who she was talking about.

"Then it’s fine. There’s only one thing you need to remember. Your name, Ariel, means Lion, and a lion does not concern itself with the opinion of sheep. The opinions of those who don’t know you are completely worthless."

Ari met the brown eyes that were staring into his before pushing her hand away.

"I know. I plan on handling it."

"Well, I’ve never worried about you. Your confidence has been high since you were a toddler. William Forbes, was it? I’ll remember you."

Chloé glanced up at William, who was looking between the two of them with a confused expression, like he couldn’t understand what was happening.

"For now-"

With dramatic flair, Chloé ripped the heavy fur coat off her shoulders, swinging it around and resting it on his shoulders.

As the fur coat briefly covered them, she whispered a question to him in French, and Ari thought it over for a moment and shook his head quickly before whispering back.

Chloé didn’t acknowledge his words.

She just continued grumbling as she settled the surprisingly heavy fur coat on his shoulders, tucked his hair behind his ears, and adjusted it into place.

She then removed his tie and exchanged it for the scarf around her neck, like a tie, and continued fussing.

"Agh, at this big age of yours, and you still don’t know how to dress yourself. Since this is not the right shade for a monochromatic look, it needs to be broken up with statement pieces. And this cane? Are you practicing for when you get old? That’s not even how you hold it for an elegant look. Angle it like so, head up, shoulders back."

"I don’t want the coat. We already have one on our team an-"

"Wear it."

"It’s hot. I don’t-"

"I said wear it."

Giving him a look that threatened to evaporate him if he protested again, Chloé continued tweaking his suit here and there, and after patting his shoulders roughly, she brought him to stand beside her.

"Sabine. Photo."

"Yes, Madame. Both of you, please smile."

"Absolutely not."

"No."

Neither of them smiled while Sabine took several photos.

Then, Chloé smacked his back and spoke to him in a loud voice.

"I have work to do, so I’ll come pick you up after the show and take you out to eat. If Ji-ho or whoever tries to stop you from leaving, please update the necessary forms and add me as a family contact. Tell them it’s an emergency. Got it?"

"Ouais. I need it posted today. As soon as possible. It’s important. Sabine, please make sure she posts the photos." Ari turned to the assistant, who would more likely be the person doing the work.

"Of course. Good luck with your performance, Ariel."

"You don’t take orders from him, Sabine. You take orders from me!"

"Of course, madame. My apologies."

"Sabine. I’ll call the Department of Labour as soon as I have time. I’ll save you from the evil witch and let you be free."

"I appreciate your thoughtfulness, Ariel."

"Chou chou, go away. Sabine, we’re leaving. Shut this thing down and send all these people away. And book a restaurant by the water for later. It’s not by the sea, but the kid will have to make do."

As Ari waved once more before walking away with Levi and Jamie, Chloé watched with a slightly saddened expression until he disappeared before turning away.

******

As the livestream with Chloé Laurent suddenly ended, Grace got up and screeched like a hawk.

"Ahhhhhhhh! I knew it! I knew it! You all called me crazy! You said that I was a conspiracy theorist, but who was proven right in the end? It’s me. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Bang bang bang.

Grace’s fist repeatedly slammed on the table, shaking everything around and causing several people to look over at the noise.

To the shock of Justine and Rachel who had never experienced Grace screaming in excitement, watching her pound the table while shouting was honestly more surprising than finding out that Ariel knew Chloé Laurent well enough for her to not only stand up to greet him, but to talk to her casually, trade insults, for her to give him her fur coat, fix his outfit, and announce that she would pick him up after the performance.

"Grace Choi! Quiet or your break will be over."

"Sorry!"

As her grandmother shouted at her, Grace immediately became quiet, even though she wanted to shout once more.

Her intuition was correct!

It had never failed her yet!

Curious about what Ari had asked her to post; Grace rushed over to Chloé Laurent’s newly created Finstagram.

Previously, when she checked, there were no posts, but now the previously blank space had a single post.

Clicking on it, she saw a photo slideshow with a French caption and immediately translated it.

[Happy belated birthday, chou chou. It has been a pleasure in its own way watching you grow up, and your parents would be proud to see the person you have become today. Continue to speak your mind like the confident little lion that you are, make your mark on the world in any way that you see fit, and ignore the rabble. @ToNovAri]

After reading the caption, Grace glanced at the first photo of the slideshow.

It was a picture of a much younger Chloé Laurent, dressed in an elegant gold dress, with one hand holding a glass of champagne and the other holding a child in her lap.

It was an adorable toddler with chubby cheeks, long, black, curly hair surrounding his head like a fluffy cloud, large, green, catlike eyes staring forward with an expression of judgment, even as he held a large trophy in his hands.

Even if she hadn’t read the caption, Grace knew who the young boy was.

After all, those sharp yet delicate facial features and the judgment in those sea green eyes were still present; it was just that the owner was more grown up.

Unable to hold back her curiosity, Grace continued scrolling through the slideshow.

There was a photo of Chloé carrying a toddler-sized Ari with one hand while he reached out to someone just out of sight.

There was a photo of Ariel and a black cat, both tugging a brown picnic basket in one direction, as Chloé pulled it in another direction while laughing.

There was a photo of Ariel and a black cat, each biting down on one of Chloé’s arms and dangling in the air.

There was a photo of Ariel in a red and black costume with a cape, squatting on top of a large wooden dresser with a mischievous smile on his face and a black cat wearing a mask sitting beside him, as an unsuspecting Chloé stood beneath it.

There was a photo of a tanned, middle school-aged Ariel with a cat in his lap and Chloé sitting next to each other on a blanket with equally judgmental expressions while eating a basket full of pastries by the seaside.

Each scroll brought a different photo of the two.

It was a little insight into the private life of Chloé, which she had never shared with anyone, and Ariel, who had no internet presence whatsoever.

Scrolling through the photos and watching Ariel grow from a tiny toddler to a middle school-aged kid was a bit surreal for Grace.

To her, he was a coworker and friend that she supported, but he had lived an entirely different life than she knew.

He grew up having a casual relationship with somebody who was famous in a completely different part of the world.

She thought that they were close, and she knew most things about him since he answered basically anything he was asked, but here she was finding out on the internet, along with everyone else, about his past.

It was a bit uncomfortable to think about it, so she continued scrolling until she got the last photo.

It was the one taken minutes ago, with Chloé and Ari standing next to each other on the red carpet, and neatly wrapped up the collage of photos that showed Ari’s growth from childhood until now, which was a clear indication that his face had not been touched.

He was always a good-looking child; he had just grown into his features and lost some of his baby fat.

When she looked at the comments, it was full of people wondering what was going on and why this was the first thing posted by Chloé Laurent.

And in the Pop Star Academy communities, it was blowing up because it was a shock to everyone that someone so well-known in the fashion world was posting with a contestant who was facing so much backlash.

Clips of Chloé and Ari were circling around, and people began analyzing everything from their interaction, the rapid exchange of insults, her fixing his clothing, and even promising to pick him up later.

Many people even noted that she never once called him by name. She only used the pet name and term of endearment.

As the internet detectives began analyzing everything, the conclusion was pretty clear.

For all intents and purposes, Chloé Laurent had gone to Korea just to see Ariel and was going to support him no matter what.

And people began to wonder, who the hell were his parents?

Although Grace knew she should be scoping out the news, she went back to look at the photos that Chloé had posted of herself and Ari, repeatedly swiping through them again and again.

Ari was right.

He was a very cute kid.

And Chloé was wrong.

He had grown into a very handsome adult.

"Grace. Earth to Grace?"

"Huh? What?" Grace quickly shook her head to snap out of her daze.

"Are you reading the comments? Someone just looked up the logo on his school uniform, and it’s a very expensive private school in France?"

"Someone looked up the watch in his toddler photo, and it’s crazy expensive."

"Ari. Who the hell are your parents? What the hell did your parents do? And seriously, how the hell do you know Chloé?"

Grace had a lot of questions that she planned on getting answered as soon as possible.

*******

"How do I know Chloé? She’s my mother’s enemy."

"Enemy?"

At Jamie’s confused expression, Ari explained.

"I’m not joking, they are actually bloodsworn enemies. They hated each other. My mom "allegedly" tried to poison her when Chloé stole a job from her, and in retaliation, Chloé "allegedly" tried to run my mom over with a car when she did the same. Then my mom got the job Chloé wanted, so Chloé poached Sabine, who used to be my mom’s assistant. Chloé allegedly pushed my mom off a gondola when they were in Venice for something, so my mom allegedly pushed Chloé into the Seine River. They’ve been fighting for as long as I can remember. It’s like Tom et Jerry. Each time Chloé came over to our house, it always ended in an argument, and then she would steal my snacks in retaliation and rob the wine cellar."

"...are they siblings? That sounds like my brothers. They always fight really hard, steal alcohol from each other, and box, but then make up just as hard."

"Nope. There was no such thing as making up. Only fights and arguments. And if that’s how siblings are, I am even more thankful I insisted on being an only child."

"Same," Levi added with a grimace.

Just the thought of having someone run you over, push you into a river, or poison you sounded stressful and just as bad as what his parents tried to do to each other when they were getting a divorce.

And to have that person as your sibling who would be stuck with you forever?

No thanks.

"Really? But the two of you seem really close, so it can’t be that bad."

"I’ve just been dealing with her since I was a child, so I know how to handle her. Either way-"

As Ari was mid-sentence-

[Ding!]

[Task 1 of Surprise Mission: Enough is Enough has been completed.]

[The files will start being released now and will be fully published by the time the show begins.]

"Ohhh~ lucky!"

"What? Something good happened?"

"No, I’m just excited to spend Chloé’s money at a fancy restaurant. I hope it’s by the water."

And to see somebody suffer.

"Let’s go join our teammates. We have to do our quick rehearsal, right?"