Chapter 49: Bad Wine
She stopped talking.
“What happened next?” After a long pause, Travis asked out of curiosity. Even Ryan Cooper was listening to her story.
“Of course, her revenge succeeded. She cursed him with the ring, and he suffered the retribution in the end.” Arianna finished her story.
“You made that up, right?” Travis glanced at her. He read her mind, but he was not angry. Or he did not want to get angry in front of Ryan.
Travis lost interest in playing with the unique stone in his palm. He slid it back into his coat pocket. But after a second thought, he took it back out, put it in its box, and handed it to Ryan.
Arianna looked out the window again in a good mood. The sky was clear, the pedestrians were elegant, and the landscape was beautiful.
Travis Cooper mentioned that he was afraid of blood. And Arianna noticed that his face turned pale as soon as she described the bloodstain on the ring.
It was a pleasure to tap into the weakness of others. He had so easily caused her to lose interest in collecting bottles and practicing yoga. She might as well cause him to lose some of his pleasures as well.
****
An uneventful evening passed, and Arianna counted the days before returning home. She felt very unhappy with every extra hour spent in the exotic country. When she calculated that she still had sixty hours there, she felt depressed.
But Ryan quickly lightened her mood, “Mr. Cooper has something to take care of. We are going back tonight.”
This was a pleasant surprise for Arianna. She could not wait to be free from him for two and a half months. She began to pack her bags immediately.
Around lunchtime, Ryan came and said to her, “Mr. Cooper would like you to join him for some food.”
Two local women brought her some clothes, and Arianna was confused. The two women did not speak English and seemed to be indifferent to her mood. They put makeup on her face and braided her hair.
Finally, Arianna was stripped down to her underwear before she put on the clothes of the locals again. She wore a white, tight-fitting top with baggy trousers that were cuffed at the ankle. The clothes were decorated with beautiful embroidery and were beaded with pearls.
Her makeup was particularly different from normal. Arianna could hardly recognize herself in the mirror. The few pimples on her face seemed to have been erased. But there was one left on her forehead, so the two women gave her an accessory that hung from the top of her head to cover it.
Arianna felt like a slave being prepared for auction as one of the servants led her to the restaurant.
The restaurant could only be described as marvelous. There were crystal cups, gold-plated jade bowls, ivory utensils embedded with colored gems, and delicately decorated linens that glittered under the light. Arianna could hardly believe her eyes.
Every dish was beautifully shaped with various ingredients. Arianna felt strange eating these meals. She had no idea what was in them.
In this extravagant environment, Arianna felt like her new look matched the décor perfectly. The only thing inconsistent with the atmosphere was Travis in his usual dark suit. He looked uptight and uncomfortable sitting at the table, waiting for her.
When she approached him, he stood up and helped her sit in her chair.
After returning to his seat, Arianna asked him, “Are you celebrating a big deal you just pulled off?”
“I was sick yesterday and didn’t eat much. Now I’m better, and I’m hungry.” He replied.
Through the dazzling glassware and chandeliers, Arianna could see that he looked awfully happy. In her memory, he only smiled like this when Arianna made a fool of herself.
“What are you looking at?” Travis asked her when he noticed she was not eating.
Instead, her chin was resting in her hand, and she was obviously preoccupied.
“I was thinking about how these shimmering things could bring an appetite,” Arianna said. It turned out that Travis ordered people to dress her up in the same style as the dining environment only to bring more appetite to him.
Travis was eating slowly and elegantly. He completely finished each meal and was in no hurry to leave.
The more he ate, the less appetite Arianna had. She tasted the food in front of her, and once it lost its flavor, she stopped eating.
“What’s wrong, Miss?” Asked the waiter.
“I’m not hungry. I ate too much at breakfast.” Arianna said while wiping her fingers on the gorgeous napkin.
“Wine can be an appetizer,” Travis said as he raised his glass to his lips.
The wine had a clear and thick amber color. It was very beautiful and had a fragrant smell. Arianna tried to drink the whole glass in one swig, but the sweetness rushed straight to her throat, and she could not swallow it. She looked around and found that there were no waiters nearby, so she spewed the wine back into her cup.
Travis stopped eating and stared at her. Arianna looked back at him fearlessly.Text © by N0ve/lDrama.Org.
It seemed that her actions disgusted him. But Arianna didn’t care about being rude, especially in front of Travis. She always tried to make him sick so he would leave her alone, but she never succeeded with those plans.
He turned his attention back to his food and continued eating, taking a drink of wine from time to time. It appeared that his appetite was not affected, and Arianna was disappointed. She brought her glass of wine back to her lips and took a small sip. The extreme sweetness soaked her taste buds again, and she said, “Bad wine.”
“It is the noble rot of the year you were born.” He said without looking at her.
“So what?”
“That year, the world’s noble rot wine production was very small. Some of the most famous wineries in the world didn’t even have a bottle. Now, there is even less.” Travis patiently explained the value of the drink she spewed.
“It’s not good to drink anyway. If you wanted to make something unique, you could use the gems you sell to make a bottle of fine wine.” Arianna said as she stuffed a fork full of food into her mouth. She did not dare to look up and see Travis’s expression at the moment.
“Arianna, you were born rich. How could you be acting with such poor table manners? It is not lady-like.”