He gives me a small, soft smile.
Their mansion is on the hill adjoining this one. It takes only ten minutes to go from Matleon’s mansion to Zo’s. Both were built by their fathers, but they now own them. Last time I came here, the hills looked like someone had meticulously planned the landscaping. Now, they’ve allowed the greenery to go wild, letting the trees and plants take over. I like it more this way, wild is the most beautiful.
One side of these mansions faces the ocean, the other side stretches into the forest. At least I love the place where I’m going to stay.
Wen, Avi, and Autumn give me a tour of Matleon’s huge mansion. First, they show me the outside, the magnificent front garden, which has a pond reminiscent of my papa’s mansion, the one we no longer live in but I still like. There are different types of tea plants and simple bushes where the garden merges into the forest. What catches my attention immediately is the swing in the center. I can already tell I’m going to spend a lot of time on it.
“This was a very beautiful garden when Mom was staying here, but now Matleon has changed it completely,” Wen says, with a hint of distaste. I don’t have memories of how it was in the past, but the wildness it has now matches Matleon perfectly.And even though I don’t particularly like him, I like this wildness.
When we reach the back garden, my feet freeze on the ground. There are so many plants here, and all of them are my medicinal plants. My mouth drops open as I take them in. It’s as if my garden has been teleported here; all of them are grown exactly the way I like.
“These are new here,” Avi explains. “He hired a new gardener for them. For many days, many people were working around them.”
Wen shrugs. “Well, leave them. Leo must have found some strange hobby of growing unusual plants. Let’s go inside.”
“They’re medicinal plants,” I mutter, turning around to leave. Realization dawns on them instantly, and they start teasing me as they continue giving me a tour of the house.
On the ground floor, there are four suites. One belongs to Uncle Alessio and Aunt Pheny, one is supposed to be Matleon’s, and another for Wen, but they don’t want to move downstairs from their rooms on the first floor. The kitchen, living room, sitting room, morning room, and evening room are also downstairs.
On the first floor, there are five bedrooms, one theater room, one gaming room, Matleon’s study, and another room beside it that is locked.
In the end, they take me to Matleon’s room. It’s painted in concrete grey, with curtains of the same color, white oak furniture, and beige sheets. It looks like his room isn’t really part of this house. It has its own theme, while the rest of the house is painted off-white with dark wooden furniture. His room feels suffocating and yet wide open at the same time.
“This is going to be your room,” Wen says with a grin.
I scrunch my nose. “Can’t I have another room?”
“You don’t like it?” Autumn asks.
“I don’t like the man with whom I’m going to share it.”
They laugh.
Avi says, “Once uncle, aunt, Ma, and Pa are gone, you can kick Leo’s ass and demand your own room.”
I nod, looking around at the details of the room. It’s beautiful, I decide in the end. But I don’t see any other doors for a closet or bathroom. “Is there no bathroom?” I ask, speaking to no one in particular.
Wen moves around the small bookshelf wall. “Come see the bathroom.”
I follow her while Avi and Autumn sit on the bed. There’s a partition wall with a bookshelf built into it; behind it are the closet and bathroom doors.
“Why did he have to hide his bathroom and closet behind this wall?” I ask.
Wen shrugs. “He doesn’t like doors glaring at him. That’s what he told Dad when he asked him to build this wall—when he was twelve.”
Strange kid, just like his adult self. I follow Wen inside the closet, where there are women’s clothes mixed with his own.
Wen chuckles. “These are all picked by him for you.”
I take a look at all sorts of dresses, shorts, T-shirts, trousers, and footwear, my lips slightly parted in awe. She opens two drawers and calls out with amusement, “Take a look at your new lingerie collection, babe.”
I peek inside. There are at least fifty pairs, if not more, in every color and style imaginable.
She picks up a laced babydoll, laughing. “Why don’t you wear this one tonight?”
I snatch it from her and throw it back in, my cheeks burning. “How does he even know my size?”
“I don’t know, but I’m not surprised. It’s not a big deal for him to figure out,” she says, taking me out of the closet and opening the bathroom door.
