Only you in my love

Michelle tilted her head in confusion. "I didn't make a fortune.

It's just a bracelet. What's wrong?" "This is the one Leon gave you, right?" Lydia asked.

"Yes, Leon gave it to me as a birthday gift. It's so beautiful, right?" Michelle turned her wrist and let both Debra and Lydia inspect it from all angles.

"It looks pretty." Lydia didn't know much about jewelry so she couldn't give a more detailed feedback. Based on what she was seeing, all she knew was that it was intricately designed. Debra's eyes widened in shock. "Are you sure it's from Leon? Didn't you say Leon had no money? Maybe it's from Emma or James, right?"

Even though she didn't know much about jewelry, she was, after all, from a rich family.

She recognized the emeralds and diamonds on the bracelet and knew the bracelet was worth more than ten million dollars.

She swallowed in disbelief. Even her mother wouldn't be able to afford such a bracelet.

Judging from Debra's expression, Lydia could tell it was expensive. After all, Debra came from a rich family and was regularly exposed to lavish items. "How expensive is it?" "This much." Debra raised both of her hands and lifted eight fingers.

Michelle exclaimed, "Wow, Debra! You guessed it right. It costs more than 800 dollars. It's 888 dollars, to be exact."

"888 dollars? What are you talking about? I mean eight figures! More than ten million!" Debra yelled.

Michelle was stunned.

When Lydia heard its value, her legs turned to jelly and her voice started to tremble. "How much? Eight figures? More than ten million? Oh my God!

That's unbelievable!" "I can't be wrong," Debra started to explain. "Look at how many gemstones and diamonds it has. How could Leon afford it? You must've mistaken it with other gifts, Michelle. The Shi family is wealthy. For them, ten million dollars is just a drop in the bucket." Michelle slowly looked down as she fumbled the gems attached to her bracelet.

She was very sure that this gift was from Leon. She could remember clearly how he personally clasped this bracelet around her wrist. Since then, she had never taken it off.

"Debra, is there anyone else who can afford such an expensive bracelet except the Shi family?" Michelle asked in a low voice.

"Of course. It's not uncommon for the rich families in Lexingport City to buy something worth more than ten million dollars. But for middle-class families like ours, we can't afford it. Well, we can afford it, but we don't want to waste money on such frivolities." Debra began to sigh hopelessly. "Compared to them, we are very poor."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Oh really? You call yourself poor?"

"I was just kidding. Anyway, let's stop talking and start inflating these balloons." Debra smiled.

"We have to finish tying up the balloons today, or we won't be able to finish tomorrow," Lydia said as she opened a pack of balloons and spilled its contents on the table.

While Lydia and Debra busy inflating and tying the balloons, Michelle was quiet the entire time.

Lydia noticed her silence and immediately knew something was on her mind. After all, she was the loudest and happiest member of their group, so it was kind of weird to see her become quiet all of a sudden. "What's wrong?" she asked Michelle. Michelle stopped what she was doing and shot both of them with a serious look. "If a person without money suddenly becomes rich, what could be the possible explanation?"

Lydia and Debra looked at each other and didn't know what to say.

"Umm...win the lottery?" Lydia suggested.

Michelle started nodding her head. "Ah yes, that's possible."

'If Leon won the lottery, it would make sense.

He must've won the jackpot!"

"Maybe he has a sugar mommy?" Debra pitched.

Both Lydia and Michelle stared at her.

'Leon would never do such a thing!'

Their fierce looks made Debra buckle and recant her statement. "Okay, okay. Maybe he did win the lottery. Aside from what we've mentioned, there is another possibility. What if he's from a rich family?"

She spoke the last few words in such a low voice that Michelle and Lydia didn't hear it properly.

The skies had already turned dark, and yet they were only finished with half of the balloons.

The lights of Lexingport City lit up one by one, breathing life into the city.

Michelle stopped what she was doing and let out a long exhale. "It's getting dark. Let's start hanging up the colorful lights."

"Okay. Let's see if we bought enough colorful lights. If not, we'll have to go back and buy some more tomorrow." Lydia tied the white balloon in her hand and took out the colorful lights from the big black plastic bag. It didn't take long for them to hang all of the lights.

The dim rooftop lit up as soon as they plugged the switch. The entire venue was filled with a warm orange light, while the floor was littered with milky white and light blue balloons.

"It's so beautiful!" Lydia said as she looked in awe. "It will become even more beautiful once we're done with the decorations."

"Yes. Are we going to buy the flowers tomorrow?" Michelle asked eagerly.

She glanced at the empty vases on the table and imagined what they would look like once there were flowers inside them.

"We'll go there the day after tomorrow, on Leon's birthday," Debra answered. "If we buy them so early, the flowers might wilt! We don't know how to take care of flowers."

"You're right." Michelle nodded and smiled. "Okay. I'll make the cake the day after tomorrow. You'll trick Leon into coming over when it's dark."

"You got it!" Lydia affirmed. "That's my job. Debra, you know Wynn, right? It's your job to invite him here."

Debra nodded. "Okay."

Suddenly, there was a loud noise that erupted somewhere near the entrance of the rooftop. It sounded as though something had fallen.

They started to feel panicky as all of their eyes were fixed at the rooftop's entrance, trying to see through the darkness.

"What happened?" Debra asked.

"I don't know. I'll go and have a look," Lydia replied.

"Me too." Michelle held Lydia's hand and followed her quietly.

Debra also followed them to the stairway. When Lydia turned on the light, they saw that nobody was there.

Amidst the eerie silence, a loud ringing sound started to blare and

and howled across the open space like a ghost.

Debra felt a chill run down her spine. Flashbacks from the time they went to the haunted house suddenly entered her mind. In a trembling voice, she asked, "Is it a call from...? I felt the phone vibrate." "It seems so," Michelle said in a serious tone.

"I was just kidding." Debra's face turned pale.

"She was just kidding," Lydia said. "It's your phone. Why don't you answer it?"

"What?" Debra looked down and saw her phone buzzing in her hand. She scratched her head and felt a little embarrassed.

"Okay." She picked up her phone and pressed it against her ear. After three seconds, she hung up. "My father has asked someone to have dinner delivered to us. Come, let's go downstairs." "Okay, let's eat!" Michelle went ahead first and walked downstairs.

When they got down, the front door was wide open, and dinner was served on the table.

Debra looked at the door and frowned. "What's wrong with the deliveryman? Ever heard of closing the door before leaving? Ugh, I'll call my father later and ask him to deduct his wage."

"It's fine. We came down as soon as he left anyway. If a burglar came in, we would've seen them." Michelle stood in front of the table and took out the boxes one by one from the bags. "Oh no! The mushroom soup spilled!"

"Don't worry, there are other soups," Lydia, who was standing next to her, said. Suddenly, something came into her mind. "It was us who didn't close the door, right?"

The three of them looked at one another with stunned expressions.

Debra swallowed. "Yes. If I remember correctly, the last one entering the house was..."

"Me." Michelle pointed at herself and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I forgot to close the door."

"I didn't notice it either when I went downstairs to fetch something," Debra said dryly.

And yet, they had a weird feeling that something was wrong.

"Holy crap!" Lydia was anxious. "Check if anything's missing!"

Michelle threw the chopsticks on the table and ran straight to the second floor as her footsteps banged heavily against the floor.

"I'll check the second floor, and you check the first floor."

"Wait! We don't know what's on the first floor of your house." Debra looked up and shouted.

"Check the study! There are valuable items there." Michelle's voice echoed from upstairs and wasn't clear.

Lydia cupped her hand against her ear to catch the keywords. "Go to the study and check."

The three of them checked the entire house and found nothing was missing. Once they were sure, they sat back down and ate their dinner.

When Valerie returned to the hotel, she bumped into Bryant who was just coming out. "Why didn't you answer my phone? I was just about to go look for you."

"I'm fine. My phone screen is broken, so I couldn't answer it," Valerie replied.

Bryant sighed in relief. "That's good to hear. If your phone's broken, I can buy you a new one. Let's go upstairs. We're waiting for you to have dinner." When they entered the elevator, Bryant smelled something like soup.

At first, he thought it was just his imagination. However, when they exited the elevator, the scent of the soup grew stronger.

"Valerie, did you just have dinner with your friend?"

"No. I just wandered around alone for a while," Valerie said as she walked.

He gave her one last glace and didn't question her further.

When Valerie went back to change her clothes, she found a stain on the back of her dress.00000000☐☐☐☐☐☐☐