Remembering Tobias’ obsession with cleanliness, Skylar cleaned the soles of her shoes before entering the house.
When they were inside, the man went to the bathroom to retrieve a warm towel for her. She received it and bent down, ready to wipe her shoes off when he suddenly said, “That’s for your hair and face. You got wet after getting down from the car, didn’t you?”
After a moment of hesitation, she reached up and used the towel to dry her hair off, hanging it back in the bathroom once she was done.
Her gaze fell upon the toilet. The cover was open, and there were no feminine products by the washbasin. Everything that was there was all arranged neatly.
Knock, knock.
Skylar quickly composed herself and opened the door, greeting Tobias with a smile. “You did a good job at cleaning up the bathroom.”
She didn’t say anything more, but he knew she’d stayed so long in there to check if there were any traces of another woman’s presence.
He led her to the dining room, where she cautiously took a seat down at the table. She felt weirdly antsy and not as comfortable as she was with Madelyn.
Opening the kitchen refrigerator, he took out a box and placed it on the table in front of Skylar, who merely stared blankly out the window and didn’t seem to notice at all.
Is she still thinking about the incident from this morning?
The pictures of that accident would likely come up in future web searches of “crazy fan behavior,” and the story would never be laid to rest.
It was only when Tobias called her name once more that Skylar snapped back to reality.
Why did Tobias bring me here? He has to know about what happened at the mall today. Why didn’t he ask about it or offer any words of reassurance?
She watched as he opened up the box, revealing the medium-sized cake inside with a “twenty-two”-shaped candle perched on top of it.
Oh. She’d completely forgotten today was her real birthday.
She’d once briefly mentioned to Tobias that the birthdate on her identity card and her real birthdate was different. When registering for the card, she had altered her birthdate to be several months earlier than the real date so that she could apply for school early.
Back then, government background checks hadn’t been as strict, so she hadn’t needed any sort of connections to do so. It came as a surprise to her that Tobias still remembered this fact.
The dark forest chocolate cake was clearly an afterthought of his that had possibly been randomly bought off a bakery on the street. It wasn’t properly decorated, nor did it look very appetizing.
He’d likely realized last second that today was her birthday. After all, she’d forgotten all about it as well.
Skylar had never been one to place much importance on birthdays ever since she was a child. Her grandma would cook a simple dinner for her to celebrate, but that was about it.
No one else celebrated her birthday, and no one else other than her grandma remembered the actual date.
Skylar wrapped her arms around Tobias’ waist, burying her face into his chest and taking in the familiar scent of white sandalwood.
Her vision blurring with tears, she told him, “You’re too nice to me. I didn’t think you’d remember my birthday. The cake is a little small, though.”
He gently ran a hand through her hair. “I thought you were on a diet. You wouldn’t be able to finish it all if I’d bought a larger cake anyway, so I figured a small one would do.”
Skylar pouted, moved by how considerate he was being towards her. “Did you get me a birthday gift too? Or a card at least?”
She instantly deflated when she saw him pull a long, thin rectangle-shaped box out from his suit pocket.
If it had been a square-shaped box, she could have at least hoped for a ring.
A Swarovski necklace laid inside the box, and she rubbed at her eyes before holding it up close to inspect it.
It wasn’t that she had expensive taste, but she was surprised to see Tobias gift something that only cost several hundred. The Claude Monet he’d gifted her last time nearly cost ten million.
