Once the guards left, Ken took out a leather bag and handed it to Kylie. Kylie frowned at it and told him that she didn't want anything from him. Ken set it on the table, pushed it in her direction, and insisted that she take it. He shouted at her, but still, she refused the bag.

Ken grimaced and said, "I don't want to hold it, but I suspected something might happen soon. In order to prepare for it, my men and I dug a ditch about two kilometers from here, out in the forest where nobody goes. If you don't take the bag, then I will shoot you in the back of the head, execution-style, and bury you in the ditch. Where it is situated, it is unlikely that anyone will ever find your bodies."

​​

Hearing this, Kylie sighed and opened the bag so that Faith would also be able to see the contents of the bag. When they saw what was inside the bag, they were both completely stunned.

Kylie looked up and said, "Ken, why do you have these shares? And why are you giving them to me? What's the meaning of this?"

"First off," Ken replied. "My motivation and plan is none of your business."

Having said that, Ken stood up and simply walked away. Once he was gone, Kylie turned to Faith and said, "That is the weirdest thing that I've ever had, happen to me. If he wanted to give me shares, he could have just mailed them to me and avoided all this kidnapping bullshit…I felt angry with him. What's going on with him?"

"I don't know either," Faith cried, "but he is a bad person, and he most likely has a mental disorder. If so, this all makes a little more sense. It means that he might not be evil… just sick. In the end, you got all of those shares, though, so, in the end, maybe it was all worth it… Nobody knows what he hides, eh, he is the weird man I ever met,"

"Forget about him. Let's go back home. I have a lot of things to do," She said.

"Yeah. Thank you for coming. I thought I would die today," Faith said.

She didn't reply anymore until they parted ways.

Later, as Kylie rested on her balcony, she couldn't stop thinking about the shares she'd received earlier. Once she'd counted them, she discovered that she had ten percent of the company in her hands. She'd heard through the grapevine that Laurence had put ten percent of the company up for sale and that a buyer had been found incredibly fast. With that information in hand, she assumed that those shares were the ones that she now had. Even if she was right about that, she had no idea how it had ended up in her hands through Ken's.

While she was thinking, Lucas called her to get inside the house. He said he had good news for her. She quickly get inside. She stood face to face with him.

He smiled and said, "I just got a call from the Oscar committee. You have received an invitation to attend the ceremony, and you are nominated for at least two awards category for your work on The Tea Maiden!"

"Wow! Really? Are you sure of it?" Kylie shouted as she jumped for joy.

"Of course. Oscar nomination is a big event and walking down the carpet," Lucas continued, "is an affirmation of your talent even if you don't win in any category."

"Does the company know yet?" Kylie wondered.

"Not yet," Lucas replied. "It will be announced at the shareholder's meeting tomorrow morning. We will use their gathering to announce your recent acquisition of shares. They will be so surprised. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces! Mostly your father and that evil half-sister, "

Kylie laughed and said, "I am sure that it will come as quite a shock. Other than Laurence, I now have more shares than any of them."

"Do you have any plans for tonight?" Lucas asked her. "Perhaps we could go out and celebrate?"

"I'm sorry," Kylie replied. "I already agreed to go with Ethan to a fraternity party with him. I will give you a rain check, though."

"I understand," Lucas replied sadly. "and I look forward one day we could have a good celebration to all your success, darling. You work hard to have it."

She just smiles and nods. Lucas bid farewell immediately.

***

By the time Ethan arrived to pick Kylie up, she was dressed and ready to go. Kylie had a few costumes to choose from, but, in the end, she'd chosen a Cowboy outfit. It was sexy in a way that featured those parts of her body that men were most interested in, but in a subtle way that made her look much younger than she actually was.

When Ethan and Kylie saw each other, they both realized immediately that something was not quite right. Ethan had arrived in a formal black suit. He was dressed as a Coroner, and he looked considerably older than he actually was. While Kylie looked innocent and pure, Ethan looked cold and menacing.

As soon as Kylie saw him, she began to unbutton his shirt. He tried to stop her, but she looked him in the eyes and said, "You can't wear this. I won't let you. Honey, let's change this one, okay?"

Kylie led Ethan upstairs and offered him something more appropriate. When he saw what she'd picked out though, his facial expression darkened considerably, and he frowned. Kylie encouraged him to put it on, but he refused and tried to walk away. Before he could reach the door, though, she grabbed his arm and cried, "I thought that you loved me. If you refuse to change, I will know that it was all a lie…"

Ethan's frown deepened as Kylie said this. He can't refuse his wife. Not knowing what else to do, he began to take off his clothes.