Chapter 232
Hera never expected that pair of cufflinks to end up in his hands.
“I didn’t expect you to secretly prepare a Christmas gift for me. It made me very happy.” Bernard smiled.
Yesterday afternoon, when he returned to Skyview Heights, he ran into a Jacob & Co. salesperson who had come to deliver the cufflinks.
Bernard learned from the salesperson that Hera had secretly ordered a gift a month ago. When he asked her about it back then, she had played dumb. It turned out she had prepared this little surprise for him.
However, some unpleasant events nearly ruined it.
Watching his smiling face and considering his sexual orientation, Hera felt it was ironic to give him a gift since they had no relationship. “Who said the cufflinks were for you? I prepared them for my brother. Take them off!” she said with mild anger as she stepped forward to retrieve them.
Bernard dodged her reaching hand, grabbed her, and pulled her into his firm chest. As she tried to push him away, he quickly seized her hands.
“You already gave your brother a pair of sapphire cufflinks. You wouldn’t give the same gift twice. This pair was custom–made for me, wasn’t it?” Bernard asked as he looked down at her intently, waiting for her to admit it.
As he looked at her that way, Hera felt a surge of irritation. She thought he must find it amusing to tease her this way. She struggled to free her hands, but the disparity in their strength was too significant.
“Let go of me!” she said coldly, her expression stern.
Despite seeing Hera angry, Bernard still didn’t loosen his grip. “Answer me first. Were these cufflinks custom–made especially for me?” At that moment, Bernard was a completely different person from the one who often played the victim.
Hera was momentarily stunned. She suddenly realized that she might not understand Bernard at all and even wondered if the person she thought she knew had just been playing with her all along. The thought made her angry. “Does it really matter?”
“It matters a lot! If they are, it means you have feelings for me!” Bernard gazed into her eyes. “Do you get it?” He couldn’t always yield to Hera. Otherwise, she wouldn’t realize her feelings for him.
Hera stared at him without speaking, but her usually calm eyes showed traces of anger. It seemed she was really upset.
Bernard had no choice but to let go of her hands. “Don’t be mad. I’ve prepared a gift for you too.”
As soon as he finished his sentence, an attendant approached with a tray holding a gift box tied with a champagne–colored ribbon.
Hera wanted to leave, but Bernard handed her the gift. “Open it and take a look.”
Hera took a glance at it and eventually opened the gift box. Inside was a set of gold–colored needle kits. When she opened the kit, she found a complete set of needles made of pure gold.
Hera was taken aback for a moment, and her anger instantly dissipated. Since childhood, she had been exposed to all kinds of gold and silver needles through her grandma. She immediately recognized this set as the famous Webb’s Gold Needles from the previous century.
Webb’s Gold Needles, made entirely by hand from pure gold, were renowned for their exceptional craftsmanship. Despite their high production cost, they were particularly popular in the alternative medicine community.
Nevertheless, when the needles were inherited by the fourth generation, the inheritor retreated into seclusion due to various disputes within the community.
Since then, Webb’s Gold Needles had become a legend in the alternative medicine field. Research indicated that there were now only three complete sets left in the field.
Hera recognized the kit immediately because Catherine owned one of the sets. She had always wanted to get a set for herself, but the Webb family’s descendants had stopped making the gold needles.
However, this set of Webb’s Gold Needles was clearly new as Hera noticed her name delicately engraved on the needles.