Ivan's appointment was scheduled for nine p.m. the next day.

Although there was plenty of time before, neither Hopkins nor Catherine, nor the two boys left the villa, and Sasha and Beelzebub spent the whole morning in the pool and jacuzzi, and in the afternoon they read a book in the library for a while (Sasha was reading a book of medieval religious poetry, and Beelzebub was looking at a book of Mondrian's paintings, and the face of the son of the leader of the mob was full of wonder all the time—in his eyes, All the paintings of this master are made up of lines and the three primary colors filled in the lines, and a small amount of gray and black - anyone can do this work, Beelzebub said in his heart, drawing grids, filling in colors, even if it is just a monkey, as long as it is well trained, it will not be too difficult work. The two adults sat not far from them, Catherine sat dumbly looking out the window in a daze, while Hopkins set up a drawing board, fixed a thick, large, slightly yellowed piece of paper, with charcoal in his fingers and dry bread (which served as an eraser) and noble rotted white wine from the Rhine at his elbow.

Dr. Hopkins paints only the people he loves and knows, but what he paints is not the superficial face and body that the object presents to the world, which is visible to everyone, but the real and profound images that are hidden but exposed in his eyes and thoughts, just like the portrait he once gave to Catherine (who was not his wife at that time) who was being cornered by the newspapers, the blind and ignorant masses, the bosses who took revenge for personal gain, and the heads and brains who were anxious to calm things down. He drew Catherine's portrait on a small piece of parchment (exactly like the one in the tabloids!). He added the body and wings of a lioness under her pretty neck, and attached a short verse—a poem he still remembers, in which he described her as the honey in a lion's belly, a delicacy that only the brave can taste. The letter was withheld by someone who used his power to open the gap - Mason. Hopkins' worst enemy sixteen years ago, who got the letter from Catherine's boss, knew that Hopkins was interested in the girl, so he used her as a bait - the noose thus thrown did put around the neck of the "ghoul", but the only thing they didn't expect was that Catherine, a seemingly useless, inconspicuous little pawn, would turn the whole situation around at the last moment.

Dr. Hopkins pursed his lips, he had to admit it. It was Catherine who saved his life.

He thought he would always remember how Catherine had calmly walked through the door of the feed room to the center of the warehouse. Then let her little jumping dog of 0.45 caliber explode in the air; At that moment, he was stored in the rooms closest to the door, and he could bring it up at any time - Mason called a cop to help, his gun hanging behind his ass, and when he tried to pull it out, Catherine fired two shots in succession, and the bullet passed through the badge. Piercing the heart behind the badge, he was sure that his little girl could break free from the annoying shackles of her parents, teachers, neighbors, friends, colleagues, society, and other things, and that she finally knew what she wanted and what she did, and she had her own brain.

It's like having a foundation so he can teach her how to build a house.

Catherine was a good student.

The first few seconds of the thick black charcoal pen falls on the paper. Dr. Hopkins looked at Catherine. There are many people who can't help but compare one of their twin sisters (brothers) to the other, but in Hopkins's view, the difference between Catherine and Catherine is as clear as if she had been cut with a ruler and a utility knife. This is this, that is that, Catherine's impulsiveness, childishness, and indecision have reached a rather terrible level compared to her sister, and her heart still seems to be stuck at a certain stage in the past. Didn't grow, didn't mature. Nothing even leaves a mark on it...... Oh, and some might say we should get rid of Katherine, but Hopkins never missed a beat—that Katherine wasn't that important to Catherine, yes, at least not as much as she thought she was. Catherine was no special person, she was like every ordinary person who was too weak to face herself—complaining and grumbling all day long, trying to blame every mistake she had made on something else...... Preferably an unlucky ghost who will never jump out and tear off this sad illusion.

They will also set an unattainable and glamorous goal, and then tell themselves that the reason why they can't achieve their wish is because of the mistake of the unlucky ghost.

That way they can be happier.

For Catherine, her forced separation from her twin sister Catherine is the opening wedge of a great tragedy, from which all her frustrations and pains come from, she always mutters about Catherine, one moment praises, one moment curses, loves her, hates her, she hopes that Catherine will return to her, as if then she can get rid of the filth and shadow that hangs over her, and become a pure and noble new human.

Unfortunately, Catherine died, but she found Sasha.

Hopkins found that his thoughts were flying a little too far, and he drank a sweet, warm liquid wrapped in the fruity aroma of honey, dried apricots, and peaches, and scraped the charcoal lightly with the nails of his little fingers.

Sasha scratched his cheeks and yawned, he glanced at his father, adjusted his posture, and decided to take a nap, Beelzebub had already closed his eyes first, Sasha's head was just resting on his soft stomach, he didn't know if he should put the book back in its place, and finally he closed it and hugged it on top of himself.

The door to the terrace of the library was open, and the hot winds born in the desert became gentle and sweet after being washed by the woods and pools, and they crept through the veiled inner curtains and the soft human hair, leaving no trace of sand and dust. The daily change of the swimming pool reflects the sunlight, and the small dots of light form a beautiful and delicate image on the furniture and walls. There are no cicadas here, and the hustle and bustle of the city is not long, but it is enough distance to isolate it, and the surroundings are quiet enough to hear the sound of one's own breathing.

And the sound of charcoal and rusks sliding across the paper—Dr. Hopkins finished this little painting in half an hour, and he looked down for a moment by himself, picked up the rusk, and wiped it clean little by little—from the first time he painted a portrait of Sasha. That's what he did.

***

Dinner was simple and not much, Catherine was nervous, and the Hopkins and Beelzebub knew not to let too much blood flow to their stomachs at this time.

The red-haired Judas groomed Catherine's hair with great skill, occasionally brushing her fingers over her earlobes, cheeks, or forehead, and when Catherine looked at him in the mirror, he showed his snow-white teeth like a shark, and Catherine found that his upturned eyetails deepened a lot when he smiled, and felt a little soft or feminine. But on the other hand, his eyebrows are thick and charcoal-drawn, and his eyes are deeply sunken. The bridge of the nose is straight, the lips are thin and red, and the skin is sun-colored, and all these combinations make for a very attractive man, just by looking at his appearance. No one could have imagined that this man had been unhesitating, or even pleasant, to help the abuse—Catherine didn't know what happened to the woman who had acted as a fake gambler, but she knew what it was like to be beaten and raped, and she had the urge to grab Judas's finger and let him "enjoy" it.

Luckily, Greeneye** also arrived. He brought Catherine and Hopkins, as well as Beelzebub's clothes.

All the clothes were custom-made, and Catherine's skirt was in black satin. She wanted to touch the silver embroidery on the chest and skirt, and the satin was like flowing water in the light, but then remembered the romance she had seen, in which the heroine was ordered by the tailor to put on gloves because she wanted to reach out and touch the satin garment. Because the fingers will leave fingerprints on the smooth satin.

Sure enough, they put gloves on her first. Judas put a silk scarf over her head, and the gown was put on her head, and when it touched her skin, the cold and slippery feeling made Catherine shrug her back and shoulders, and the staff zipped her up in the back, every inch was just right, "And this," ** said, "Sean. A personal gift from Mr. Battier. It was an inverted pyramid-shaped diamond necklace with a deep blue sapphire about five carats hanging from the end, which matched Catherine's eyes.

"Sean. Mr. Battier's news was not slow. Beelzebub whispered.

Sasha shrugged his shoulders, "Very good, Catherine. ”

The boys were dressed up earlier, tailor-made clothes that suited them better than the finished ones that had come before, and they hadn't really grown to the stage where they could be called "men," but they were already hard to look away. Beelzebub's bangs were strongly restrained by the wax, revealing a rare smooth forehead, where the color was lighter than the others.

Sasha's hair was the same color as Catherine's, but the hair was sadly like Hopkins, fine and soft, and with a little combing and styling water, it would look very smooth, and Judas brushed Catherine's side, walked up to him and looked at him carefully, and pulled a few strands of hair from the corners of his forehead, which was much more natural.

Dr. Hopkins, as always, combed all his hair back, combing his hair himself, delicately and slowly, as if preparing for the coronation.

Sean. Battier arrived a few minutes before they left, and he personally delivered ten million dollars in cash and more in bills, and Hopkins picked up a bundle of bills, all new, in a hundred-dollar denomination, scented with ink.

"There's one more thing for you," Sean. "Just half an hour ago, Ivan bought the booking rights to table No. 3 Baccarat for five million dollars," Battier said. ”

(To be continued)

PS: Sincerely apologize to our readers!

Broken for so many days...... Before the National Day, the work was too intense, and there were too many people and units involved in my work, each of them had to be contacted, and each of them had to be tracked - the most frustrating thing was that I also ran into a villain! This villain still has a certain status and power in the company (different departments), and inexplicably sent a lot of fire at me, saying that I don't answer the phone, please, I already have my mobile phone with me for dinner, but there is a transmission tower near the construction site, which will affect the mobile phone signal, and I can't go to the construction site - and then endlessly balabala, saying some inexplicable nonsense...... There are so many things at hand, and every night when I go home and look at the computer in a daze, I can't make up a word! I finally wrote a chapter, how to look at it and how I was not satisfied, I deleted a part of it and rewrote it...... Still no!

Finally, overturn and rewrite.

I also want to come up and say it...... But I'm really embarrassed...... What to say? Nothing is fake.

I still have a job today, but tomorrow I can stay at home and write an essay - try to get rid of Ivanha tomorrow.

ps: If it goes well, the lamb will end around the Spring Festival, and then I'm going to write fantasy!

It's the lovely, unyielding half-lich mentor who fights fate to the end!!!!!!!