The Crystal Bracelet

Lily's Birthday Celebration

Lily's birthday celebration started and dinner was being delivered to the dining hall table by the servants. Din and Jae stood on one side of the table with Lily and Sue on the other. Seok was at the head of the table and pulled his seat out as if he was going to take a seat but instead he turned to Lily.

"My Flower, today is your birthday, you deserve to sit at the head of the table." Seok's eyes were full of love and pride for his daughter.

"Oh Dad, no! That is your seat! I'm ok sitting over here with Sue!" Lily bowed her head slightly out of respect.

"I insist!" Seok's voice was firm and carried weight with it.

Din and Jae looked at one another then at Lily and both of them motioned to the chair.

"Dad, please!" Lily begged. She didn't want to sit in his seat. It felt wrong. It was a place of honor.

As if the universe had saved her a servant walked into the dining hall and announced a guest had arrived.

Lily sighed in absolute relief, but then suddenly looked at her brother Din in concern. No one else was invited to the party as far as she knew.

"Send them in." Seok ordered.

Seok had a large smile on his face as if he was expecting this person.

Sue was watching everything with fascination but stayed silent like all the others. There was a look between the siblings that said they each seemed to understand that none of them knew who was about to walk in. Din shrugged his shoulders when Jae and Lily were looking at him simultaneously.

"Hello, Happy Birthday, Lily." A very beautiful feminine voice filled the room. Everyone turned to see it was their father's secretary Gloria. She was a very plain but beautiful woman. She had on a dark green blouse with a white and green floral print skirt. Her jet black hair was down around her shoulders and she smiled directly at Lily.

"Gloria! Welcome!" Seok said with delight. "Thank you so much for coming!"

Seok walked over to where Gloria stood and he patted her shoulders awkwardly. The three siblings, along with Sue, all stood with astonished looks on their faces.

"Lily, I hope you do not mind that I asked Gloria to come to your birthday dinner and stay as a guest through the Holiday Feast!"

"I don't mind Dad." Lily said with a light smile on her face. Truthfully, she could see that it made her father really happy and she would never deny him that.

"Gloria, this is my oldest son Din and my youngest son Jae. I believe you may have met them when they were little."

"I met them at..... well it was years ago." Gloria blushed. Everyone realized she was referring to their mother's funeral.

The room was awkwardly silent and no one seemed to know what to say.

"Hi! I'm Sue Ling! Best Friend to Lily, practically a sister. Albeit an annoying sister to those two!" Sue nodded toward Din and Jae but effectively broke the silence in typical Sue fashion. Din and Jae both rolled their eyes and laughed.

"Annoying is right!" Din said in agreement.

"Very nice to meet you." Gloria smiled and looked relieved that the silence had been broken.

"Ok, so Lily, you take my seat, I'll sit over here with Gloria, and Sue you can sit next to Jae." Seok directed.

Sue looked wide-eyed at Lily then dutifully walked over to sit next to Jae. Her face was bright red when she stood next to Jae. Lily could see that Sue was attracted to him, but embarrassed and didn't want him to see.