Elian swallowed dryly and continued the conversation calmly, in a casual tone.
“Are you saying Mr. Lockhart has more cars at his residence?”
“Of course. He has at least three more.”
“Enough to ride a different car every day of the week.”
“Compared to Mr. Joshua, Lord Lorenz doesn’t have that many.”
Noah laid out the tools he’d brought from the warehouse at one side of the parking lot and hurried to prepare for the car wash with skillful movements.
“Mr. Joshua especially loves supercars. When a new model comes out, he can’t stand not trying it. In terms of cars, he probably has even more than Mr. Damon. Just the ones I know of…”
Noah, who had been counting on his fingers and listing car models, finished his count and grinned at Elian.
“It’s over fifteen.”
Joshua Lockhart, who owned over fifteen supercars.
Of course, Elian was well aware of his supercar collecting hobby too. Whenever he bought a new car at an absurd price, the tabloids would compete to cover it. And Elian had been diligently collecting those materials.
Lorenz and Joshua.
The two brothers had completely different tastes in cars as well.
While Lorenz preferred classic and dignified traditional luxury sedans, Joshua was obsessed with ultra-high-performance supercars with modern, even futuristic designs.
“If you stay there, you’ll get splashed. Come over here.”
Noah, who had brought over a hose connected to the water supply, gestured to Elian. When Elian moved behind him, Noah sprayed water over the entire car with a high-pressure hose. Then he sprayed foam with a foam gun. His movements were efficient and skilled, with no wasted motion.
“I’ll help too.”
“What?? No. You don’t need to do that.”
“I’ll just get bored standing and watching. I just wipe with this towel, right?”
When Elian took out a soft towel from the basket, Noah jumped and ran over.
“I can’t have Mr. Bellotti doing this kind of work! Just leave it! You’ll ruin your clothes!”
“Clothes can just be washed.”
“Anyway, no, no! It’s absurd! You shouldn’t do this kind of work.”
Noah, who couldn’t even look Elian in the eye when shaking hands, had no hesitation in snatching the towel away.
Elian let out an empty laugh at the attitude that treated him like an 18th-century European noble lady. Whatever kind of goodwill he held for him, he hadn’t followed along with the intention of just standing idle and watching during the car wash.
The towel in Noah’s hand passed back into Elian’s hand.
Noah looked almost tearful.
“I can do it quickly by myself…”
“Think of it as a friend helping.”
“Fr-friend…”
Noah rolled the word around in his mouth. In the meantime, Elian started wiping down the car covered in foam. Only then did Noah give up and pick up another towel. Though he still seemed reluctant, fidgeting and constantly glancing at Elian.
Elian wiped the foam from the back trunk, while Noah wiped from the front hood.
“How long have you worked here, Mr. Carter?”
“Actually, my brother worked for the Lockhart family for 10 years.”
“10 years?”
“Yes. So thanks to that, I was able to get a job too. Not just here, but anywhere in the Lockhart family, the hiring standards for employees are high, so it’s not easy to get a job. The pay is good, so people rarely quit either.”
“Is Mr. Carter’s brother still working here?”
“No. My brother got married and moved to Texas. He quit three years ago and only I remained. Since I started working right after graduating high school… it’s been five years for me now.”
Elian calculated in his head.
Five years… If Noah had worked here for five years, it meant he was connected to the Lockhart family even when that incident happened. He might know something, even if it was very trivial. With such thoughts, his heart kept growing impatient. But the opponent was a Lockhart. In this matter, he had to act with even more caution than a deer searching for food in a snow-covered field.
“With that much time, you must know a lot about both the mansion and the Lockhart people.”
“Not just this mansion, but there are many people who’ve worked for the Lockhart family for a long time… Well, I should say I know to some extent.”
Noah shrugged. Though embarrassed, there was a subtle pride in it. He looked at Elian standing across from him with the car between them and raised his voice confidently.
“Ask me anything if you’re curious!”
“Is that okay?”
“Everyone asks about this and that when they first come here because it’s fascinating. I did too.”
Elian smiled back at him grinning, and this time picked up a wheel cleaner and brush instead of a towel. Noah made a fuss again saying it wasn’t allowed, but he couldn’t break Elian this time either.
Elian, who bent down in front of the wheel, meticulously scrubbed deep between every part of the wheel. The more he wiped the emblem engraved on the wheel cap, the more complex emotions swirled inside him.
The onyx badge and this car, this emblem—the only clues from that day.
A story no one would listen to.
A cry that was treated like silent mouthing, no matter how hoarsely he screamed until his throat burst.
The journey to reveal the whereabouts of that truth began with this emblem.
At this moment, it felt as if he was boldly approaching the entrance to a sealed chamber where the truth was confined.
“Um, you always eat alone in the main building’s dining room, right?”
At Noah’s voice from the side, Elian turned to look at him. He too was crouched in front of the next wheel, holding a wheel cleaner and brush. However, even after throwing out the words, his gaze couldn’t look directly at Elian and was fixed only on the wheel.
“The annex is a building where the employees stay. There’s a large dining room separately. It would be more comfortable if you ate there…”
All Elian could see was his earlobe and ear, flushed as if about to burst.
“If it’s okay with you, after the car wash… would you like to eat there together?”
Though he was trying to hide it, his voice was trembling slightly. He was like someone closing their eyes tightly and throwing their body off a bungee jumping platform. He looked as if he’d squeezed out every ounce of courage he had.
Lorenz Lockhart, who had knocked on the door and told him to come down to the dining room by 8 o’clock. His order disguised as an invitation to dine came to mind. A bitter smile leaked out as he thought about how different the two were from each other.
“If I go, won’t the others be uncomfortable?”
“No way! Everyone’s so curious about Mr. Bellotti!”
Noah, who had strongly denied it while even waving his hands, soon seemed embarrassed by his intense behavior. With a flushed face, he wiped and wiped again the wheel cap that was already clean enough, adding like an excuse:
“Ah, I mean… it’s not like that, but since you’re new here…”
“Then, shall we finish up quickly and go eat?”
At the words accepting the invitation, Noah’s eyes widened as he turned to look this way. It was a reaction of not believing that Elian had accepted, even though he was the one who’d asked. But he soon changed his expression to show delight and nodded vigorously.
“They said tonight’s dinner is meatball spaghetti! It’s my favorite menu. Let’s hurry up and finish so we can go eat!”
Noah sprayed water with the hose once more on the car that had been cleaned of waste from every corner. Elian, who had been lost in thought while watching the stream of water flowing down over the car, called Noah in a low voice.
“By the way, Mr. Carter.”
“Yes.”
“It would be impossible for someone else to drive these cars without Mr. Lockhart’s permission, right?”
Noah suddenly burst into laughter.
It was a pleasant laugh, as if he’d encountered an absurdly innocent question from a young child. Then, soon thinking it might be rude, he raised his arm and rubbed his face with his work uniform sleeve while apologizing.
“I’m sorry. It’s not that I’m mocking… it’s just such an impossible thing that I couldn’t help it.”
“Is it that absurd?”
Noah firmly shook his head with laughter still remaining on his face.
“Permission or whatever, it just can’t happen. These cars are Lord Lorenz’s property. Who else could ride in them besides him?”
It was as if such a person with that much gall couldn’t exist.
Based on Noah’s words, it was impossible for anyone other than Lorenz to move around using this vehicle.
If the car Elian had witnessed that day belonged to Lorenz, it meant the person riding in it must have been Lorenz as well.
But the problem wasn’t that simple.
Elian knew one more person who owned a vehicle of the same model with this same emblem embedded in it.
It was Joshua Lockhart.
The luxury sedan-based model that the ‘California Sunshine,’ who was enthusiastic about the latest supercars, uniquely owned.
Elian looked carefully once more at the emblem embedded in the wheel cap. Remnants of foam that had remained somewhere flowed down along the water stream, staining the dignified Lockhart emblem.
■
