Under grandma Li's scrutiny, Sandra's numbed body gave up on her mother's intimidating eyes. His son, Danish, sat on the couch in surrender, waiting for her mother, Sandra to reveal the truth behind Luna's runaway.
"Sandra…how long will you stay silent?" with her heavy breath, Sandra struggled to begin the explanation she owed her mother and son. If it wasn't for her wish to unite her son and Ana, she wouldn't have supported Ana's idea to discard that village girl away.
"It is all for you, Mom. Ana has saved your life. She doesn't have any bad intention…"
"Don't beat around the bush! Just tell me the point. What have you and Ana done to Luna?"
"It is just…Ana, to transfuse her blood to save your life, she made Luna promise to leave the Li family."
"What? How dare she do that against me! I never want her blood, not even a single drop of her blood. Why did you let that wicked girl use me to achieve her goal"
"Mom…."
"Don't cut me off! I am not done yet with my words!" The flame of anger sparked through her reddened eyes which she withheld not to explode out to the people around her. Danish could only swallow his uneasiness on his seat with his gaze stuck on his shaking twisted fingers unraveling the tension in his heart. Sandra, still in shock, muttered nothing as a protest that she used to do when she was faced with her mother's confrontation. "Bring Luna back otherwise you will never see me ever again!" Her words of ultimatum stroke like a flare in both Danish and Sandra's ears.
"But, please don't say that. I know it's hard for you to accept this reality. But, searching for her in this big city would be in vain. How can we find her among thousands of people? Mom, don't you think it is a sign from God that Luna and Danish are not destined to be together?"
"How can you say that? Even your tiny brain can process what you and Ana have done as a form of crime. At least, you both have tried to deceive and manipulate me."
"Mom…"
"Danish, get your mother out of my sight!" Her cold-toned instruction left Danish with no choice but to lead her mother to the exit. That frowned woman just escorted Danish.
The door opened and revealed Jangmi, a tall woman in a white blouse and taupe skirt with a phone in her hand, barging inside with exciting news.
"Mom…brother David and his family touched down at the airport an hour ago. And he is now on his way to our hotel." That good news removed the annoyance on her face and changed into a joyous expression.
"Are you serious?" A nodding head from Jangmi confirmed it. "But why don't they come directly to our mansion?"
"He said they need to rest in the hotel before having dinner with us tonight."
"Ask the maid to prepare everything to welcome them." Jangmi obeyed her mother's words. Sandra, who was still in her position, secretly whispered gratefulness; her brother and his family's visit at least could make her mother forget about Luna.
"But, how can we tell them that we have to cancel Danish and Luna's wedding because the bride ran away?"
***
The busy white-clothed men swarmed the hotel kitchen which was filled with only the oil splotch from the pan or the spark of fire under the saucepan or water splash from the tap aside from various food ingredients and the people who worked or rushed with the orders.
Among them, stood a girl in her apron, Luna Yang, with cooking activities that occupied her. It was only her first day but the chef chief put his trust in her to prepare some lunch food for the special customers who just arrived from the US this morning.
With her cooking experience, she had no issue doing the tasks given to her rapidly. In fragility, she collected and processed the ingredients on her table; with her skills, the food was ready in a short time. Her cooking abilities sometimes stimulated compliments from the senior chefs. Receiving the praises from those she thought of as experts in cooking successfully smudged a smile on her face and motivated her not to disappoint her customers with her cuisines.
"The food for table number ten is ready," she excitedly shouted at the person who was in charge at the counter who immediately dashed to her to pick up the food.
"I really admire you," a whisper from one of her cooking mates, a girl with short hair, who silently observed Luna surprised her. "You are such a fast learner."
"Well, I take that as a compliment. But, I am still learning. I am grateful that the chefs here are all nice and helpful to me."
Soon, the shout of the next order distracted their short conversation. As always, Luna's quick response to the order significantly helped the work done on time and the best part was her cuisines always met the customer's taste standard.
"It was the last order." A young man in a white uniform, the one who assisted in the kitchen approached Luna with a piece of note. Her eyes bawled out at the food names on that paper.
"I've never made this before, gnocchi." She sputtered the word that was hard for her to pronounce.
"Italian food. One of the special guests wants to eat it. The senior chefs are all busy. And I spotted that it is only you free, I hope you will take this order." Scanning around for help, what her eyes found were the occupied chefs.
"But, I…."
"You surely can do it." That short girl, Luna had no idea what her name was, lifted her first to the air in a form of support and motivation.
She scrolled the digital recipe book on the screen on the other side of the room and studied the recipe for gnocchi before implementing it. Once she felt ready, she returned to her cooking counter and prepared the ingredients she needed. It took a long time for her to finish that food. After her hard effort, she could finally present the food and asked the waiter to send it to the guest.
In the kitchen, Luna leaned against the wall with a glass of water in her hold not to quench her thirst but to release her nervousness of waiting for the guest to comment on her cuisine. The guest' reviews would affect her performance as a chef.
"Luna…the guest who ordered Italian food, gnocchi, would like to meet you." One of the senior chefs informed her; his words put panic on her face. A question started bombarding her head. Did he or she not like the food?
Following the senior chef, Mr. Wang, Luna walked to the group of guests in a huge room; this place was big enough with only them inside it. Luna could not conceal her surprise to see Felix among them.
"Felix…what brought him here?"
"Do you know him?"
"Of course… no, he just looks like my friend." to avoid bad things from happening, Luna lied to him.
"He is the hotel manager as well as the son of the hotel's owner." How come? Luna talked to herself in protest since Felix told her that it was his friend's hotel. Why did he have to lie to her?