Gold Heart, Warm Soul

9| I have a friend

As I opened my eyes lightly, I could see a beautiful woman with red lips smiling at me. She did not look like the other women I met during the dinner. Haughty and Arrogant were not words to describe her. Simple actions from her looked elegant and graceful. She turned towards me, "Hello nice to meet you. I'm Felicia Lou." In response I politely introduced myself, "Ambar Lee." I shook her porcelain hand, feeling utterly surprised.
"Did you come here to get away from the people too?" Felicia said with a twinkle in her eyes. "Why, Yes. Social gathering such as these is apparently not my cup of tea,"I replied. "Same here. I can only stand so much of people chattering about in my ear only to boast what they got from the latest collection of handbags and shoes." 

"Yes, that is the usual here. It's been awhile since attended these things, and I must say I still don't miss it." Both Felicia and I clicked pretty well. We pretty soon talked about everything. Our tastes match and we had mostly the same opinions about things. You could even joke that we were sisters and others would agree.

"I saw you talking with young master Zhang's new girl," Felicia stated after we had a good laugh about all the hideous dresses we saw girls wearing. "You mean Titus Zhang?" I asked. "Yes him. His girlfriend, Xia Lin. Do you know her?"
"I got to know her today," I replied. "Well, as a piece of advice as a classmate of hers during high school, I must say she's a bitch," Felicia openly said . Without a pause, I told her, "oh yeah I could tell. Although she hid her intentions well, you could tell she's very sly." Felicia had a surprise look on her face. "I've never seen anyone seen through her. Are you sure you're not humouring me?" She said with a disbelief look. "No, I'm not. It was quite the challenge to observe her, and I could tell she wanted to get close to our families for not very good reasons," I said with a note of seriousness. "Wow, you really did get a good look at her. People always fall for innocent acts," Felicia exclaimed. "Well, it's good that you are aware and cautious."

"Mhm. Well, she is smart. She picked a rich bachelor to get up the ranks," I said thoughtfully.
"Oh trust me, Titus won't keep her for very long. I'll predict they'll break up soon," Felicia said in a hushed voice. "What makes you say that?" I asked Felicia with curiosity. In my past life, Titus was with Xia Lin until they got engaged. He looked like he loved her dearly. With a mischievous smile, Felicia said to me, "Let me tell you a secret. Xia Lin has something precious the Zhang and Lou family is after. It's all just a facade." I raised my eyebrows not believing what I just heard. "Really?"
"Well, I can't tell you much either, but Titus is really putting up a good act to be able to trick Xia Lin," Felicia told me. "So, you're saying, that all of you are waiting for a right time to strike and take back what's rightfully yours? I asked as I thought carefully. "You're a bright one, hun." "Thanks."
"Well that just makes me to be extra cautious. One wrong step and I could have messed up your family and Zhang's family plan. Thanks for the heads up,"I said gratefully to Felicia. "No problem. After all, you're my friend now."

"Oh right, congratulations on your wedding. Sorry I could come because I was-" right before I finished my sentence, Felicia cut in, "-hospitalised. No worries. Besides it was a small wedding."
"How did you know I was hospitalised?"
"Well, you weren't present during the Big Reunion. And the Lee family weren't at their best mood either," Felicia said. "Oh. Seems like everyone knew," I said feeling reluctant and down. "How are you now?" Felicia asked with concern. "I'm good. Well, I'm guessing you know I started school again," I replied. "Yeah. You're kinda the talk during our reunions. Are you coming to the upcoming reunion? I'll be really glad you came too!"
"I will. I'm sure my brother and mum would drag me there even if I didn't want to."
"Good. I won't be bored there. All the men there would only talk about business," Felicia said as she rolled her eyes. As we were talking merrily, my brother and Felicia's husband came into the lounge to find us. "Love, I've been finding for you everywhere," Lou Shaotian told Felicia. "Sorry, I forgot to text you. Hey, meet Ambar Lee. Ambar meet my husband, Shaotian," Felicia introduces us. 

"Nice to meet you," I said as I stood up. My brother came to my side. "It's late, we're going home," Kace said as he helped me up. "Oh, Hello Felicia. Long time no see. I saw Shaotian looking for you and knew you would be with my sister," Kace said to Felicia as he took my things for me while I wore my shoes. "You know me well. I had a great time with Ambar. Since everyone's going. I'll take my leave," Felicia said to everyone. "Well, nice meeting you. I had a great time too," I replied.
As Felicia got ready to leave, she handed me her contact number and mouth "Call me!" when she walked through the door with her husband.

Kace looked towards me, "Seems like you had a great time after you went missing."
"Yeah, I made a friend."

As I got into Kace's car to go back to the family manor, I thought a lot about what Felicia had told me. If there really were such plans when Titus is dating Xia Lin, did I sabotage their plan in my first life by chasing after Titus? Can I really trust that such plans are taking place and Xia Lin really had something precious that the two families are after. After a moment of thinking, I asked Kace, "Is there something that the Lou and Zhang family lost?"
"Why would you ask that," Kace nonchalantly answered. "No, I'm just curious. So is there?"
"Hmm, I heard they did lose a precious stone the Dai Nan King gave to their ancestors in the past."
"Oh, is it really important?" "I don't know but I heard the two families are to protect it, so disaster would not strike."
"But there's no disaster right. Since they lost it long ago."
"Yes. It's just a myth. Why are you asking that?"
"Oh it's just nothing. I heard a really interesting story just now."
So there's a treasure and Xia Lin has an important stone in possession. If my theory was right, what is going on. This theory sounds too absurd for me to believe it. Did I really accidentally sabotage the plan? Was that why it took longer for Titus to break up with Xia Lin in the past? Every thing was a mess in my head and soon I was dozing off in the car seat.

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About the Big reunion:
The 5 families at the top of the hierarchy- Zhang, Lou, Lee, Peng and Hong family would gather together in one big celebration. The reunion would last for 5 days. The first day, all five families would gather in one of the family's mansion and have dinner together. The second day, there would a temple visit to the Royal family temple to wash away all sins and bring prosperity. The third day, all five families would visit the graves of the Royal family. The fourth day, families would visit the priestess in Mountain Nan to bring good luck and happiness to each household. Newly weds would get blessings to conceive children. The fifth day is a day for prayers and sacrifice for ancestors. In short, it's a one big tradition where five family honour their ancestors and cleanse their souls.

New characters:
1) Lou Shaotian - Felicia's husband/ heir of the Lou Family
2) Dai Nan King- King of the X Dynasty in the 80s