10:30 a.m.
Magnolia Restaurant.
Using her regular-customer connections, Cynthia arrived early. The head chef had kindly prepared her some small snacks and arranged the most private booth in the restaurant.
She had only recently heard of Tiffany. But after looking into her, Cynthia was shocked.
Through her contacts, she learned everything an outsider could possibly know.
A family of musicians. A genius girl. Then she disappeared from the spotlight.
No one knew what had really happened in between. But there was no denying Tiffany's background and talent were far stronger than hers.
The key was, William had once stood up for her.
When a clip of Castle in the Sky went viral online, the story that came with it captured everyone's imagination.
They said William played that song on stage for a certain girl. At first, the truth of the story was doubtful. But now, Cynthia was sure—it was real, and the girl was Tiffany.
What's more, according to William, the commercial license for Castle in the Sky had cost two million. If people were told that money wasn't spent because of William, no one would believe it.
Cynthia herself didn't even know where her sense of unease was coming from. After all, to her, William was just her boss. At the beginning, when he joked around, she had even felt a bit uncomfortable.
Sure, she sometimes teased him, but only because it was funny to see him flustered.
Feelings?
Not even a little.
…Really?
After waiting for more than half an hour, Tiffany contacted Cynthia just before reaching the restaurant.
"Miss Tang?"
Cynthia walked out of the restaurant just in time to see Tiffany waiting at the entrance. She wore a chic black-and-white outfit, carried a Hermes purse on her shoulder, and looked every bit the cool goddess type.
"Miss Cynthia."
They had finally met face to face.
Tiffany politely said, "Sorry to keep you waiting."
Cynthia replied, "Not at all, I just got here myself."
Once inside the booth, Cynthia had the waiter start serving the dishes and said, "The food here is pretty good. I hope you'll like it."
"Yeah, it's pretty good. William brought me here before." When Tiffany mentioned William, she couldn't help but smile.
"Really?"
Cynthia didn't remember William ever saying that, but of course he didn't need to report everything to her.
"Mm."
After a bit more small talk, Cynthia finally got to the point. "The reason we asked you here today—our boss probably mentioned it. Our company plans to release the music that the boss had previously published in the game as a solo album. But since there aren't enough tracks, we were hoping you could give us the commercial rights to Castle in the Sky."
Tiffany replied, "Alright. Have you found a partner company yet?"
"Not yet. I only brought this up to the boss yesterday."
"That's fine. I don't have any problem with it, you can handle the details."
"Thank you. Here's the draft contract, take a look." Cynthia sent Tiffany a photo on her phone.
She only carried a small bag today, so she hadn't brought the paper copy.
After looking through it carefully, Tiffany didn't suggest any changes and simply said, "Let's go with this. As for my share of the profits, just donate it."
"Do you have a specific foundation or charity in mind?"
"No, you decide for me."
Being rich is really nice.
Cynthia knew some things just couldn't be envied, and she also admired Tiffany's character. As a musician herself, Tiffany definitely understood the value of this album. Even if she only got seventeen percent, it was enough to easily earn back the two million she had spent before.
And yet, in this situation, she still chose to donate her share. Cynthia couldn't tell if Tiffany simply didn't care about money, or if she genuinely liked doing good deeds.
Either way, Cynthia knew she couldn't compare.
The only thing she had over Tiffany was age. She was a few years younger, while Tiffany was more than ten years older than William.
Still, Tiffany took amazing care of herself. Her skin looked like that of a woman barely past twenty, and her mature aura contrasted with her youthful appearance. Even Cynthia, as a fellow woman, couldn't help but feel drawn to her.
Once the business was done, Tiffany asked, "I heard you live with William?"
The sudden question caught Cynthia off guard, but she didn't think much of it and answered directly, "To be exact, we rent in the same house. He lives on the third floor, I live on the second."
"That's nice."
"Huh?"
"Oh, don't get me wrong. I just meant your company has a really good vibe." Tiffany's cheeks flushed slightly.
"Is that so?" Cynthia gave her a half-smile. Living with William had nothing to do with company atmosphere.
She could tell now—this woman definitely liked William. She wasn't even trying to hide it.
Even so, Cynthia didn't call her out. She just played along and said, "Yeah, the atmosphere at our company is pretty good. Everyone's in their twenties or thirties, so there's no generation gap."
Tiffany quickly argued, "Not exactly. William's only eighteen, isn't he?"
"You could say he's eighteen, but I've never thought of him as some immature kid."
"True. Sometimes when I'm with him, I don't feel his age at all. Only when I look at his face do I remember he's still so young."
Cynthia sighed. "Yeah. When I first met him, I thought he was just a kid. But after talking for a bit, I realized I was totally wrong."
"When I first met him, I felt the same way. But even before that, I'd already heard a lot about him." Tiffany said, lost in thought.
Cynthia grew curious. "Don't tell me the boss was already some kind of musical genius before making the game?"
Given Tiffany's family background in music, it wasn't strange for her to think that.
Tiffany shook her head. "Not really. Just some everyday stuff. Before moving out, he was living at my best friend's house."
"You mean… Aunt Lisa?" Cynthia had heard William mention that name many times.
"That's right."
"Sounds like Aunt Lisa really looked after William."
"Yeah, she treated him almost like her own son."
Back then, Tiffany couldn't understand why her best friend would care so much about a boy she barely knew. But after meeting William herself, she realized he really did have a special charm.
The only difference was, Tiffany had no intention of treating him like a son.
Of course, part of that was because William himself had changed a lot since then.
"It feels nice, being cared about like that."
"Yeah." Tiffany agreed, then asked, "By the way, Miss Cynthia, do you not have a boyfriend?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, if it were me, I don't think I'd be okay with my girlfriend living with someone else."
"You're right, I don't have a boyfriend."
"What a coincidence, neither do I."
It wasn't really something worth clinking glasses over, but the two of them still tapped their glasses together in sync.
After that, the topic mostly circled around William. Once they finished eating, Tiffany stood at the door to say goodbye to Cynthia. "Thanks for the meal today. Next time I'll take you to try another restaurant."
Cynthia replied, "Sure, I never say no to good food."
"Haha, I feel like I can really be good friends with you, Miss Cynthia."
"Hehe, me too."
"Then, see you next time."
"See you next time."