Chapter 416 - Changes In Macau

After Halia was done with her hair and makeup, she followed Emerson and Avaleigh downstairs to the parking lot. Emerson and Jackson had multiple cars that Halia had seen before, but today, there was a different car waiting for them. It was a stretch limousine. The driver stepped out, tipped his hat, and opened the door for them. Although she had never seen this car in the parking lot before, Halia was not surprised. The two brothers were two of the richest people in Hong Kong, getting a car like this was child's play.

Avaleigh smiled. "Thanks, Albert," she said as she stepped inside. Albert was the taxi driver that served as her alibi during Mimi's murder case, and Avaleigh had now hired him as her personal driver. This man was honest, trustworthy, and most importantly, a safe driver, so she offered him the job after she realized she was staying in Hong Kong permanently.

Albert also smiled as he closed the door behind the trio and hopped into the driver's seat. He then started driving towards Macau.

Halia looked out the window and watched as the scenes of Hong Kong passed by. She had now been living in this city for over a year. When she first came here, it was just to assist Interpol with their new BTAs. Who knew this place would gradually become home.

Now that she thought about it, she hadn't visited Macau during this entire time even though Jackson owned a casino there. The last time she was in Macau, she was on a mission to investigate his family's casino. Halia glanced at Emerson and smiled as she remembered the way that she reunited with him at that time. 

"Has the casino changed much since I last visited?" she asked Emerson.

Emerson looked at Avaleigh and smiled, "Ohhh, a lot has changed...The sunflower garden's gone. I replaced it with a wisteria garden."

"Wisteria?" Halia questioned. She still remembered how beautiful the sunflower garden was. That time, when she was investigating the casino, Jackson had returned with Amelie, claiming that he had lost his memory. It was in the sunflower garden that she first exposed him of his lies. She had fond memories of that garden.

Emerson held onto Avaleigh's hand and nodded his head, "Wisteria is Avaleigh's favorite, so I changed it."

Halia looked at the couple and laughed in realization. She was happy for Emerson. Back then, she had hurt him by choosing his brother. But it wasn't because he was a bad person, her heart simply belonged to Jackson.

Halia glanced at the bracelet around her wrist. From the day that Jackson first gave it to her in the underground lab, she had cherished it. She ran her fingers across the morse code imprinted on the heart pendant and whispered to herself, "J&H".

As the car crossed the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, grand casinos gradually came into view. Halia couldn't believe that she hadn't visited for over a year. She had been so busy hunting down The Organization and taking care of Laurie that it never crossed her mind to visit. In fact, she didn't even follow the news in Macau or keep up to date with the casinos. She simply asked Jackson whenever he returned home from work whether the casino was doing fine, and he always replied that it was doing well. For a brief moment, she felt a little guilty for not paying more attention to her husband's family business.

But, then again, it wasn't like Jackson ever asked her about Fengtai, or checked up on news regarding Guiyang City. Nor did he delve too much into the missions she was commanding from her secret room in the apartment. He simply assisted when Halia asked for help. Their home was a place for them to enjoy their time together, not to discuss business, and she was glad that they managed to keep the two things separate. So, her guilt quickly dissolved.

As the limousine pulled into the main casino strip, Halia began to feel a sense of nostalgia. She shared many memories in this place with Jackson and her friends. She still remembered the ghost wedding that she had with Jackson and the way that she, Natalie, and Amelie pretended to be ghosts and scared the hell out of Emerson's mother. She also remembered how Jackson got down on one knee and officially proposed to her with the ring that his mother left him.

Halia looked at the sparkling diamond ring on her finger. As a mother, it wasn't possible for her to wear this ring every day in case she scratched Laurie with it. But today was a special occasion, so she took it out of her safe and made an exception.

One casino after another passed by outside the window, each with its own unique design. One looked like Paris, one looked like Venice...

As the limousine approached Golden Dream Casino, Halia tidied her hair a little and adjusted her dress. 

But, to Halia's surprise, when the familiar building came into view, Albert continued driving and did not stop. Halia glanced out the window in confusion and said with a slight giggle, "Albert, you drove right past it."

She assumed Albert wasn't familiar with the casino because it was his first time driving to Macau, but Albert replied, "No Ma'am, we aren't going to Golden Dream Casino today."

Halia looked at Emerson and Avaleigh, and they both looked at her with cheeky smiles. She then saw Avaleigh lift her hand and point out the window.

Halia furrowed her brows and turned around to see what she was pointing at. As she glanced out the window, her eyes opened wide in amazement and she couldn't help but gasp in awe.

Halia had been down this strip before and she even lived here for a while when she was investigating Golden Dream Casino, but she didn't remember ever seeing the casino that they were now stopped in front of.

Just outside the door of the car, there was a long red carpet that led to the entrance of the casino, and on both sides, reporters lined the pavement patiently. At the end of the red carpet stood a grand casino that looked like a castle and just above the entrance, in cursive writing, were the words, 'Halia's Castle'.

All of a sudden, Halia remembered a conversation she had with Jackson when they were in Germany:

"If I built a castle for you, how would you feel?"

"If you built something like this for me, I would have to spend my next hundred lifetimes repaying you with my love."

"That sounds like a pretty good deal."

Halia looked up at the castle again and her heart began to race. "No way..." she whispered under her breath. Did that silly man actually build her a castle?