“You’re not ready to know,” he said with a smile.
“I want to know,” she replied, unsure whether she was asking because she truly wanted to know or simply out of curiosity.
“You’ll know when you’re ready,” he said, pulling her closer, their chests pressing against each other. Her breath quickened as she gazed into his reassuring eyes. He leaned forward, and her heart skipped a beat. He whispered in her ear,
“There’s one thing you can know: you’re mine, Ari.”
She felt a shiver run down her spine, but she maintained a straight face and whispered back, “I belong to no one.”
“We’ll see about that,” he replied with an evil smirk.
The videos from the birthday party began circulating on social media, and soon, they reached the designer of the dress. When she saw the video of what had been done to the gown, she sat still, looking perplexed. She stared at the dress and the woman in the video. Her personal assistant, standing beside her, felt a pang of fear and sympathy. She knew how much effort her boss had put into creating the dress. Despite being paid, she felt the dress shouldn’t have been disrespected like that and was disturbed by the thought of her boss being heartbroken.
But she was wrong. The designer smiled, then started laughing as she re-watched the video in astonishment.
“Celia,” she called, and the assistant, relieved to see her grinning, responded, “Yes, ma’am?”
“Isn’t this amusing?”
“I’m intrigued by her. I’m intrigued by this woman,” Suzanne said, pausing the video and staring at Clarisse on the screen.
“She looks so much like someone I know. The energy… and this,” she said, pointing at the dress. “I want to meet her,” she added, looking up at her assistant with a grin on her face.
Ashley kept receiving gifts from her friends and guests, thanking everyone for attending her birthday party. She stood in front of her brother and his wife, smiling at them.
“Thank you so much for coming, I really appreciate it,” she said to Clarisse.
“You’re welcome,” Clarisse replied softly.
“And I’m sorry about earlier, my apologies. I must say, this dress looks even better on you,” Ashley complimented.
“Thank you,” Clarisse said with a faint smile.
“And my birthday gift?” Ashley demanded, grinning in anticipation as she stretched her hand toward Clarisse. Clarisse was taken aback.
“Huh?” It dawned on her that she had come empty-handed to her sister-in-law’s birthday.
“She has sent it to you; it should be delivered by now,” Christian interjected, rescuing Clarisse, whose mind had started racing, trying to think of what to say.
Clarisse heaved a sigh of relief when he said that.
“Aww, thank you so much,” Ashley cooed. “I can’t wait to see what it is,” she said, dancing in excitement, amusing Clarisse. Clarisse couldn’t remember the last time she had received a gift.
“I sent mine too,” Christian added.
“Of course,” Ashley said, eyeing Christian. “The whole world won’t settle our dispute if I don’t receive my gift from you,” she said, turning back to Clarisse.
“This will be my first gift to you,” Clarisse said, though she had no idea what Christian had sent her. “I hope you like it.”
“Of course, even if it’s a teddy,” Ashley said with a chuckle. “Let me have your contact, I’d love for us to hang out some other time,” she added, reaching out for her phone, which Clarisse handed to her.
Ashley gasped when she saw the cell phone. It was the same one she had begged Christian for but he had refused to buy for her. She glared at him and pouted, but Christian simply looked away.
“Is everything okay?” Clarisse asked, noticing the change in Ashley’s expression.
“Of course not,” Ashley pouted sadly. “Do you know how much I’ve wanted this phone? It’s my dream phone.”
“Huh?” Clarisse had no idea how expensive it was or what was so special about it. She stood speechless before her.
“Don’t show it off too often, or else you’ll be robbed-including by me,” Ashley said, bursting into laughter, while Clarisse smiled, albeit briefly.
She saved her number on the phone and handed it back before leaving, not before giving Christian a murderous glare.
Victor ran after Alice, shouting for her to wait until he finally caught up to her and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back.
“I asked you to wait,” he said, breathing heavily from the race.
“Wait? Wait for what?” she snapped, yanking her hand free from his grip.
“I was calling you. I asked you to wait for me.”
She scoffed angrily. “Wait for you? Wait in that embarrassing party? Did you see her? Did you see what I was talking about? She’s been trying every single thing to make my life miserable, stealing my limelight and making me look stupid,” she yelled in frustration.
“I understand, and I was embarrassed too,” Victor said softly, trying to calm her down. “I was humiliated by Christian.”
“It was her fault. I’m sure that’s what she told him-that you weren’t capable, and that’s why she cheated on you,” she said venomously, but Victor was quiet.
“But… she didn’t cheat on me,” he said, his head bowed in shame.
“Huh?” Alice looked at him in mockery.
“She didn’t cheat on me,” he repeated, his voice low. “How are you so sure? She was pregnant.”
“That… was mine.”
Alice scoffed in disbelief. “How are you so sure? Wait,” she raised an eyebrow at him, “Don’t tell me you two actually had sex.”
“No, no…” he stammered.
“I thought you said you loved me, but yet you’ve been constantly sleeping with my sister?” she scoffed, disbelief in her voice, eyeing him in disdain.
“No, not at all. It was a one-time thing, and I swear I was drunk,” he said, grabbing her hand and explaining. “A one-time thing? Huh?”
“I swear.”
“And that one-time thing already got her pregnant? How are you sure she didn’t do it with some other man and try to trap you with a bastard child?” she said, making Victor think.
“That’s true,” he muttered, looking conflicted.
“We need to do something. Because of her, my father’s contract with the corporation got canceled. She’s going to retaliate, and we need to be a step ahead of her.”
“I know. Leave that to me, and I’ll make sure to deal with it.”
“You mean… deal with her?”
“Yes, I’ll deal with her. So don’t be angry with-” He was interrupted by Thalia clearing her throat to get their attention.
“Hi,” Thalia waved at Victor.
“Hi,” he replied, while Alice rolled her eyes.
“May I have a moment with my friend?”
“Yeah, sure,” he said, turning to Alice and pecking her cheek before leaving. The moment he left, Alice wiped away the feeling from her cheek.
“Why? You don’t like his peck?” Thalia said, giggling.
“What are you doing here?”
“You suddenly disappeared, and I was worried, but here you are, lovey-dovey with your new boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she nodded, laughing as if pretending to accept the response. “And you look beautiful in that dress.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.