Chapter 250: Chapter 250

Back in the event room, Ian wanted to storm out of there, but he could not. Even though he had authorized the wine tasting event, it was more than that, as the event was also the time to unveil and show most of his important stakeholders the new processing centre that had been made for the wine processing.

As Chairman, there were some things that were better for him to do, but he wanted his wife to the point that he was feeling restless.

He looked across the room to where his mother was and saw that his brother, Brad, had joined them.

Listening to Brad’s unending thoughts did not improve Ian’s mood. This was because a crucial point was made to Ian at that moment.

’I can hear everyone’s thoughts but not that of my Elfin? What is going on? How did that happen again?’

Nonetheless, distance had never been a problem before. It was such that Ian could link up with Shelby through their special connection even if he were at the office and she was home.

He had always been able to link up with her no matter where she was on the island. Also, the few times that Ian had been ’disconnected’ from Shelby, it had been a thorough one where Ian could not ’hear’ anyone else. So, this led him to question what was going on seriously.

Looking at where his mum and the others were, Ian projected his thoughts on Ava with no hesitation. This was not the first time he had done that, and what Ian was feeling was that the least he cared about was freaking someone out.

’Who?’ Ava responded in her mind without even realizing it.

Ava flinched as if she had touched a live wire, and her eyes widened in surprise, terror and other incomprehensible emotions.

"What the hell was that?" She whispered. Both Brad and Geneva saw this action from her, and they asked, concerned, "What is it?"

"It’s nothing, mum. I – just-"

Ava had no idea how to explain whatever she had experienced. Brad narrowed his eyes at her. For Brad, Ava was also one of his favourite people because of her cooking. So, his concern was somehow genuine.

Are you sure you’re okay? Brad asked, and Ava nodded, turning to look at Ian across the room because she recognized his voice. Ava remembered vividly the day that Brianna had made a fool of herself in the Thornston estate, because this was the first time she had heard something like that in her head, but she had dismissed it as if it had been nothing.

She had thought that she had been too tired and had been hallucinating, but at that moment, she was inclined to believe otherwise.

Ava’s heart was thundering when her eyes met that of Ian’s across the room. His fierce gaze told Ava that she was not hallucinating, but then, how was it possible? An angry Ian was not for the faint of heart, and Ava wished that Shelby were there because she was the only person who could rein in her husband. When Shelby was around, Ian was the most loving person ever.

’What kind of magic was that?’

’It’s no magic! Now, where is she?!’ His impatience was unmistakable.

Ava was also unsure of how she could do this, but she thought of her answer and Ian’s reply filtered through her mind. She pressed her nails in her palms tightly so that her reaction would not be too obvious, as she was anything but calm on the inside.

’S-he, w-ent to the b-athroom...’

Ian looked around and noticed that Currey was also engaged. He turned back to Ava,

After this command, Ian turned back to the stakeholders crowded around him, as if nothing was amiss, he said, "Gentlemen, this way..."

The small team walked out of the room as Ian addressed them,

"As you all may know, our fruits get the best of human hand attention individually."

Ian smiled, but at that moment, he was feeling anything other than the urge to smile. He still kept up with appearances, though, as the smile seemed genuine.

"Yes, every single one of them. We are the major producers of wine on this island, and we are also committed to contributing our quota to the environment. To reduce our carbon footprint, we, at T-Vino, do not use any machinery in the harvest and many other processes as much as possible."

"That is interesting!"

To that, there was no answer as there was no question to start with, but Ian could see them nod their heads.

"So, when our grapes or any of our other fruits are harvested, they go through a double-standard quality check. The first one on the field and then by our designated experts. After this, they are de-stemmed.

The fruits are separated from the stalks, and all leaves and other debris are washed off through a separate special treatment process. I’ll use grapes as the benchmark for our explanation today because they are the major type of wine that we produce. Of course, you all. Know that T-Vino produces a variety of other fruit wines as well, including plum wines and other berries as well."

The team had arrived at a huge processing plant; the doors were wide open, and huge cylinders lined either side of the room. Stairs led to the top of these cylinders, where the top remained open.

"This is the new Processing Centre that we just added to ease our production constraints...."

The executives nodded, clearly impressed with the magnitude of the place.

"These large tubes transport the grapes after the treatment into these containers for the wine fermentation process. Each of these can take about twenty-five tons of grapes. Yeast is added to it to give the perfect fermentation that we desire. Sometimes, that natural yeast is not enough to get through the process. I’ll let the experts take you through the rest..."

Ian turned to one of the uniformed wine makers around, and the man took over the conversation immediately.

Brianna stretched out her slender hands and clasped that of Avril’s.

Shelby took a slight step to the side and watched the two of them. She was completely taken aback.

’Why would Brianna shake Avril’s hand? Brianna feels that everyone is beneath her....and - Why am I suspecting her in everything? Whatever!’ Shelby thought.

She stood to the side, watching a new part of her friend.

"Would you show me around, sister Avril? Oh! Is it okay if I call you that? Since you are Shelby’s sister, I want to also view you as the big sister that I never had."

"Alright, I’ll take my leave then, Brianna. I’ve been gone for a while, so I have to get back. I guess we’re even now."

"Why would you want to leave?" Brianna quickly walked close to Shelby and then looped her hands through hers.

"I love what you have done with the dress!" Avril said as she looked up and down at Shelby. Avril did not even care to know why the two had exchanged dresses because she, like everyone else, had seen the dresses that the two had come to the event in.

"Keep me company till we’re done with all this."

"So, you didn’t mean what you said then. Was it all just talk?"

Shelby looked hard at her friend, and she still could not figure out what the issue was.

’Anyway, it’s just a tour, so there shouldn’t be anything wrong.’

Avril smiles brightly and she took Shelby’s other hand.

"We’ve not had much time to talk, little sister. Let’s use this time to catch up."

Shelby nodded as they manoeuvred through the place to a side door. They walked through an open space as Avril patiently talked through everything. She was a good tour guide.

They arrived at a large warehouse and entered it.

"This is where the magic of the wine making happens. See those large cylinders? We already have some grapes in them, and they are in different fermentation stages."

"Oh really?" Shelby’s eyes shone. The process was fascinating to her, and she had tried her best to familiarize herself with it since that was the Thornston family’s main trade.

"You can go up and check, Shelby. I can see that you are very interested."

"What of you, Brianna?"

"My dress will make it uncomfortable going up that, unless I was to show my bum to you all...hahahahahaa..."

Shelby nodded in agreement.

"What about you, Avril?"

"Well, Brianna wanted to look at another process, so I’ll take her around more."

With that, Shelby quickly walked up the narrow stairs, peering into one large tank after the other.

"This is so beautiful, Avril!" Shelby screamed down at them, looking at the way some of the pipes were spraying on top of the fermentation process.

After a few minutes up there, Shelby realized that she had heard no reply about her having been too excited by what had caught her attention.

When she looked down, she noticed that the two were not in her line of sight.

Shelby turned just in time to see the huge doors close behind her, shrouding the place in almost total darkness.

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