Faith went straight from the bathroom to the kitchen and, when she saw that everything was done, she called everyone to the table. Dinah came in first, and Kylie scurried in behind her. She had Faith's phone in her hand, and she looked and Faith. "Who's the man you're chatting with?" she wondered.

Faith scowled and grabbed her phone from Kylie's hand. "How dare you read my personal messages?" she shouted.

​​

Seeing how angry Faith was, Kylie felt very bad. "I am sorry," she said. "Now that the cat is out of the bag, will you tell us everything?"

"I don't want to talk about this," Faith snapped. "This is personal. If I wanted to share it with you, I already would have!"

Kylie didn't know what to say to that. She knew that she'd crossed a line, but she didn't know how to get back on the other side of that line.

The whole time they'd known each other, the dinner table was never as quiet as it was that night. As soon as the meal was done, Faith called herself a cab. Of course, Kylie and Dinah offered to drive her, but she just said, "No, thank you."

Later that night, Dinah and Kylie sat on the porch together. They had been trying to figure out a way to mend their relationship with Faith, but nothing came to mind.

They were just about to go inside when a luxury car pulled into the driveway. "Who's that?" Dinah wondered.

"I am not sure," Kylie replied, "but I think it belongs to Khloe…" 

The bottle that had been in Kylie's hand slipped her grip and fell to the ground without breaking or opening. She had a hard time processing what she'd just heard. She had a number of responses bouncing around in her head, but she had a hard time figuring out where to get started. 

Stephen stooped to pick up the bottle. He carefully wiped the bottle's neck clean. Then he opened it and handed it to Kylie. "Do you think I'm poor?" he wondered.

In Kylie's eyes, she saw Stephen as a young talented artist. Not only was he a good artist, but he was also good at cooking. Knowing this about him, Kylie could tell that he hadn't come from poverty. That being said, he kept his hand close to his chest, which made it hard for her to fully trust him or learn anything about him that truly mattered… 

When she found out exactly how rich he was, though, she was completely caught off guard. Now that she knew that he was the owner of The Empire Hotel, there was no doubt in her mind that he was at least as rich as Ethan. Once she'd given it some thought, it wasn't as surprising as she'd thought it was. She knew that there had been a time when Ethan and Stephen had taken care of William and his mother. If he hadn't been rich, he would never have been able to take care of them or talk to her in the manner that he had.

Kylie turned back to Stephen, took a sip of her water, and said, "You guys are really mysterious."

Dinah was sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed, and she was playing with an unopened bottle of beer. "Kylie," she laughed. "You don't know my true identity yet, do you? I'm actually a princess!"

"Really?" Kylie wondered. "Of which country?"

"Ignore her," Stephen snapped. "She's not a princess. She just suffers from princess syndrome. It is very annoying!"

Dinah stood up and shook her bottle in his direction. "You know nothing!" she hissed. "Don't you know that every woman is both a princess and a goddess?"

Stephen sighed, and he said, "Oh Dinah, can't you give it a rest. We all love you, but don't get carried away. You are not a princess or a goddess."

Stephen smiled and wanted to annoy her, "I thought every woman was a slut or a whore!"

Dinah's mouth nearly hit the floor when she heard his response.

Kylie covered her mouth and laughed. It seemed that every time Stephen and Dinah got together, they quarreled. "If you two get married," she said, "you'll probably quarrel about everything, from what to eat for breakfast to what to watch on Netflix." 

When Kylie looked up, she found Dinah and Stephen scowling at her. Apparently, they didn't appreciate her assessment of their relationship or her light teasing. In order to change the subject, she said, "Dinah, show the medical appraisal to Stephen."

Dinah pulled out a document that she'd been sitting on and dumped it on the table. Stephen glared at her, and then he picked it up. He sat back and began to read the document, and the longer he read through it, the more serious his expression became. Eventually, he looked at Kylie and said, "This is the worst-case scenario that I'd feared."

Kylie frowned, and she asked him if he was serious.

"It's a difficult situation," Stephen said, "and any further surgeries could lead to a lawsuit. Her body is rejecting the treatments I have already tried. If I operated on her face again, she could end up with a nasty scar. If that were to happen, she would be worse off than when we began!"

"What if you treated her more conservatively?" Kylie wondered.

"I couldn't say one way or the other with any certainty," he replied. "As of yet, I don't even know if the growths are benign or not. It is my professional opinion that, at this point, no treatment is the best treatment option available to her. Why are you so helpful, anyway? Sally isn't even your friend. She probably wouldn't have appreciated what you'd done anyways…" 

Kylie smiled and said, "I look up to her. As a strong and independent woman, she has always inspired me. She is such a great actress – I would hate to see her career ruined by some disfigurement. If I could've helped her, it would've meant a lot to me!

"Anyways," Kylie concluded, "it is getting late. I should get going. Don't worry about me, and I can get home by myself."

"It's too late," Stephen interjected. "You're a public figure. You can't go home alone. I have my car here. "I'll drive you home."

Kylie made eye contact with Dinah, and Dinah nodded. Stephen would be back, which was good enough for her.

At the sight of Stephen's Lamborghini, Kylie couldn't contain her excitement. She sprawled across the hood and said, "This is my dream car!"

As Kylie spoke, she embraced the car, kissed it, and said, "I love you, car." 

When Stephen saw what she was doing, he laughed and said, "I quite envy my car right now."

Stephen was just about to climb into the car when Kylie stopped him. "Can I drive?" she wondered.

Kylie was obsessed with cars and seeing such a great car, and she couldn't contain her desire to drive. She was not sure though if Stephen was brave enough to allow her to drive. She wouldn't be surprised if he told her that he loved the vehicle more than anything. Thus, if he said no, she would have understood.

To her surprise, though, Stephen threw the keys in her direction without hesitation and took a shotgun. "Fasten your seatbelt," he laughed as she climbed in beside him. Once she was in, she adjusted her seat and the mirrors. Then, with her hands clutching the wheel, she started the car.

 ***

The Lamborghini handled like nothing Kylie had ever driven before. Going two hundred kilometers an hour down the highway, she passed other cars so quickly that she barely saw them before they disappeared in her rearview mirror, and the ride was so smooth that she felt as though she were floating on clouds.

She looked over and noticed that Stephen's face had gone white. He looked scared. His right hand clung tightly to the handle over his head. "Don't worry," she laughed. "I've driven Ethan's Knight XV, and nothing bad has ever happened. He looks exactly like you do though, when I'm driving his car."

Kylie laughed and, once they'd driven for some time, she gradually slowed down so that she could pay more attention to Stephen. He did not look well at all. His handsome face was still extremely pale and, even though she'd slowed down, he seemed unable to release his grip on the handrail. She called his name a few times, but he didn't answer.

Not knowing what else to do, Kylie pulled over into the next rest stop, and as soon as she brought the car to a stop, Stephen scrambled out of the car and vomited all over the ground. Seeing this, Kylie suddenly realized that she'd gone too far.

By the time Kylie got out of the car, Stephen had lit and was smoking a cigarette.

Kylie frowned, and she said, "I'm sorry."

Kylie stood in front of Stephen, pursed her lips, and reluctantly handed him the keys to the car. He looked at her and said, "This isn't NASCAR. We are on a highway. If we'd been stopped by the police, they would have taken my car away from me. We could have gotten into an accident and died. I trusted you, but you really let me down…"

Stephen stood akimbo as he waited to hear how Kylie would reply. He waited for a while, and then he waited a little longer. When it became apparent that she had nothing to say in her defense, he sighed and said, "Let me finish my cigarette, and then I will drive you home."