C19 The Cold CEO Past Story

After dinner, Eve had passed off blandly due to her curiosity. Madame Daphne took her on a tour of the large room inside the second hallway that led to the private family's rooms.

When the door was opened by the servant who had followed them, Eve was greeted by seeing an entire wall full of Foster family photos. The living room and dining room also had a magnificent frame hanging with pictures of the Foster family. Still, there was only one in each room, while in this one, there were so many that Eve could hardly count them, even if she tried to count them quickly with the tail of her eye.

Every moment seemed captured in a photo, then framed in a fancy frame, and placed there as the last memory left by Gery's parents and his late grandfather.

"This is where the memories of the entire Foster family are kept, Eve. We were destined to have limited descendants. My grandmother only had one son, namely my father. And my mother only gave birth to me. Even my daughter only had one son, that's Gery. Yes, we are a family with a rare descendant." Mrs. Daphne began her story with a sad tone.

Eve was sure it was not easy for Mrs. Daphne to enter a room where the contents were memories of the late family members she could no longer meet in real life, mainly to express her feelings to an outsider like Eve.

"Madam ... perhaps we should not talk in this room. I don't think I deserve to be here, umm, I mean, I don't want to make yourself uncomfortable by having to be here and--and having to be remembered by ...." Eve stammered to convey that she felt Mrs. Daphne's sadness in the room and that she thought it would be better if they didn't exist there.

"But there is a need for you to be here, Eve," countered Mrs. Daphne, which, of course, made Eve's eyebrows knit in surprise.

"What for if I may know, Madam?" she asked later.

Madame Daphne let out a long sigh. Her maid helped her sit on a classically styled velvet sofa with the highest quality. Eve even felt she wanted to sit there, too, as it looked so comfortable.

"Sit down. I want to tell you something about Gery," Mrs. Daphne said, patting the sofa next to her to signal Eve to sit beside her.

A little nervous and reluctant, Eve complied. Madame Daphne then nodded to the servant, who rushed to get a large photo album book and gave it to her mistress.

Madame Daphne accepted it and flipped through the pages.

"Here you see Eve, baby Gery is so plump and adorable, isn't he?" asked the madam as her lips pulled up in a smile. Her finger pointed to the photo album page, which contained several photos of a plump baby with thick hair and eyebrows who looked adorable.

Oh my! Even Eve could immediately recognize it was Gery's baby face because of the shape of the eyebrows that were almost fused. She unconsciously couldn't help but giggle at some of Gery's hilarious poses wearing only an inner diaper, and some were even wholly naked after being bathed.

Mrs. Daphne even glanced at her, and Eve's face instantly turned red with embarrassment.

"Baby Gery was so playful and brought laughter to every moment of our family's life. He kept running around laughing and going back and forth as if he was never tired." Mrs. Daphne shared.

"Most baby boys are like that, Ma'am," Eve commented knowingly, at least to make it seem like she was responding and paying attention to Mrs. Daphne's story.

"At school, too, he was so attractive that his father often had to be called to the school to discuss his behavior, oh my, hahaha. If I remember her achievements in causing trouble at school, I wasn't sure that Gery could be the right CEO for Vinestra. I even forced Gery's mother to go abroad for a pregnancy program to have another child because I felt that Gery wouldn't be easy to rely on in the future."

The Madame paused her sentence as another servant came in with a tray and served two cups of hot drinks at the square table in front of the sofa where they were sitting. Only after the servant left with the tray did Madame Daphne continue her story.

"But ... they didn't even have time to complete the program. God was already in a hurry to take them back to heaven," Mrs. Daphne said at length.

Her voice became more and more somber as time went on, and Eve was moved by it. She was unconsciously dragged into the same emotional flow that Madame Daphne next to her was feeling.

There was a moment of silence. Eve held out the tissue box because she felt sure that Madame Daphne held back her tears. Meanwhile, she was having a tightness in her chest. Stories about the loss of loved ones are never pleasant; deep sorrow always accompanies every time the story is repeated, even after many years.

"After that, Gery changed completely. He immediately became quiet and stiff and never looked as cheerful as he did in his childhood," Mrs. Daphne continued in a trembling voice after reaching for a tissue and dabbing it into the corner of her eyes to wipe away the traces of her tears. She didn't hesitate to cry in front of Eve because she knew Eve would understand that such a sad memory was natural to bring tears of emotion and longing.

"You can't imagine what it's like to suddenly lose the two people you love and need most in life. And that tragedy happened to Gery at a very immature age. Ten years old is when a boy still wants to explore a lot of happiness with his parents. Vacationing, traveling to various places and trying all the new things he encounters in his transition to adolescence. Poor him," Mrs. Daphne concluded later.

Sobs were now inevitable. The older woman seemed to sob, her shoulders shaking in remembrance of her beloved grandson's unfortunate fate. Eve could do nothing but stroke the Lady's arm. She wanted to comfort her, but she knew no consolation was suitable for such a situation.

"That's why, Eve, if you find stiffness, arrogance, and coldness in Gery, it's not his true nature. Gery used to be very cheerful and warm and was able to spread happiness and force everyone around her to love him. Therefore, don't hate him, Eve ...."

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