A familiar enemy
No one told Aria as usual about the upcoming celebration, and she did not care to even know about it or to participate in it. She only noticed the extreme preparations, changing of interior designs and the decorations of everywhere around the mansion.
And most of the attention was focused on the banquet hall, which was just a few miles away from the mansion and was built for mainly family anniversaries.
It was one of a kind that could not even be compared, to many of the luxurious banquet halls that were usually booked by elites for celebrations. Appearance and presence of people were strictly based on invitation.
Regardless of how Ellen was really pissed at her mother for spilling what she told her not to tell Emma, she was still the one who helped her mother to collate the list for invited guests. Then Alex was the one that made the final arrangements for how it would be stamped and sent to them.
Eva on the other hand donated expensive art from the ML gallery, to create a great joint purpose for an art exhibition that day.
Emma, whose final decision from her mother was still pending, wanted to put up a really good impression for her mother by helping her in any way she could.
Every daughter regardless of her character and grudge, assisted their mother to put on the greatest show for her birthday.
Luxurious cars drove into the mansion through a designated partway for the guests, and pulled into the driveway that led to the huge hall.
There were bright flashes and clicks of cameras that rivaled the red carpet event, which were from big shot media company media units that were to cover the footage of the entire party.
There were numbers of high class socialites and tycoons that were invited as a list of the guests, in which their presence lighted up and exuded the high level of people that were included.
The party was hosted in such a manner that the banquet hall was successfully secluded from the main mansion itself. None of the guests could exceed the ground limits of the party.
Aria had spent her entire day going through files and related footage the investigator further sent, to the extent that her limbs were tired and her eyes were sore from looking into the laptop for many hours.
She had heard the party theme information from the maids who talked about it nonstop, whenever she was around the kitchen to get food or walking around the mansion.
She was naturally not an invited guest or part of their family since that was what she had always been tagged, so she just went on with her normal daily routine without minding the extravagant party they were throwing.
However, there are some things they could never let pass, even if they didn’t like either of them. They had to be the perfect family and everyone had to see that.
Hearing the knock on the door, Aria pretended like she was fast asleep since it was evening already, but the person knocking didn’t seem to give up by simultaneously ringing the bell too at the same time.NôvelDrama.Org content.
Reluctantly, she sauntered towards the door and opened it while acting the drowsy person part, thinking it would be one of the maids that wanted to clean the room or serve another dessert.
“I’m sorry I came unannounced. Can I come in?” Aria was really surprised to see who was by the door and at her words, when it was glaring that she was actually meant to be at the party that had likely started.
She was probably surprised because they had never had to be in the same place before, or even uttered many words to each other since their coexistence in the same space.
Aria almost stuttered on the right words to reply as she swallowed on it, with the huge fancy bags that she had brought alongside with her.
‘What could Emma be possibly doing in her room?’
“I know this is really cliche and cringing of a scenario. But I really hope you honor this invitation even if it is at the last minute, and attend the banquet party. You and mum had never been on good terms, but you should do this for the sake of the family,” Emma said softly in a really enticing tone, that made Aria wonder endlessly what kind of set-up was happening.
Eleanor knew that Aria would sabotage their perfect family image by not coming to her party, but she could not let down her pride to invite her either.
Ellen, who was similar to her, would not do that also, and Aria and Eva had never had business with one another before. The only cool and enticing person who was never really at home to abet their evil actions was Emma.
It left Eleanor with a dilemma; Accept Emma’s new boyfriend and she would do the trick of bringing Aria to the party, or ignore the perfect reputation setting she wanted for her party and go true to her promise of not accepting Damon no matter what.
“And why should I, get dressed and attend a party no one wants me at. I mean I’m not even a part of your family,” Aria’s voice came off as offended, as her impassive look that was cold and aloof kind of made Emma really uncomfortable. She had never been that close to her before, but she had to do it for the sake of Damon’s acceptance consideration.
“I will propose a really nice deal to you,” Emma’s voice came out more silently than ever.
~•. ~•. ~•. ~•.
One could have mistaken Eleanor for Ellen not because of the resemblance they shared, but at the new extraordinary appearance of the beautiful lady of the Miller.
She was absolutely stunning and alluring in the facial makeup that was done to her face, in which its minimalism seemed to be redundant at the manner at which she shone.
Her exquisite velvet mermaid evening dress that was with a high bridge beck, had a glitter embellished underlay, floral appliques at waist, and beautifully beaded corset patterns that rested perfectly on her body.
It was incredibly unbelievable to believe that it was she, who was looking gorgeous in the dress that made her look like a young lady in her thirties.
The mood at the banquet party was set already with a piano prodigy playing Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2, that matched the energy of the huge room of influential people.
There were still few guests arriving at that time to settle down for a glass of champagne and appetizers, when a particular person who should have arrived the same time as his girlfriend was just making his way in.
His appearance was more outstanding than the one he looked at the dinner feast with the Millers, that many people who had taken a glance at him had no idea of who the dashing young guy was.
However, he was not ready to meet his lover at first and luckily for him, his eyes caught the person he was ready to meet just at the moment he had settled down.
Ellen made her way into the second hallway where the main hosts came in through, as he followed her immediately when he had watched carefully to see that everyone was caught up in their own business.
The cameras in the hall were working, in a functional and systematic way that didn’t violate the rights of the invited guest.
“What are you doing here?! Are you insane?!” Ellen demanded, immediately she sensed the presence of the person who had grabbed her by the arm. There was no way she would not recognize him.
He quickly covered her mouth with his palm from talking too loudly, and led her into the other room close to the entrance for the Millers. Most of the family were already at the party so there would be no disturbance, at least for a while that would be enough for them to talk.
“Who are you to tell Emma that she should not get married to me? You seem to be crossing your boundary here, even when you know what I am capable of doing,” Damon threatened, with his eyes gazing so intently at her. He needed to put a reasonable amount of fear in her, so that she would realize that he was not joking at all.
“Do not touch me, you bastard! I cannot believe I fell in love with a useless man like you, only for me to find out that you were planning to marry my sister even in the relationship. How can I even allow that?! What would even happen if Dalton finds out?” Ellen tried to be strong and came off as menacing too, using Dalton’s authority, so that she would not lose to him and release the tears that were stinging her eyes.
“I do not care, Miss little Miller. But I would advise you to act responsibly if you want to protect your beautiful, perfect image. And do not stand in my way any longer. This would be a final warning,” he said silently and tortuously into her ears down to her face, before giving her a quick kiss on the cheeks to disgust her the most.
Ellen left hurriedly and walked out to prevent her heart from shattering over again, as Damon smirked in his victory against her again and turned to leave.
His eyes caught the silhouette of someone that turned immediately and the hem of her dress, as he ran so quickly towards the direction to see who it was. And luckily for him, it was his second target.
“It is good to see you again, Aria. I cannot believe you were able to rise to this highest level of perfection for yourself. That is commendable,” he said in the same rough manner, as he appeared before her immediately to stop her from walking any further.
He was taken aback by her breathtaking appearance and astounding look, that he struggled not to be sucked in the past anymore. She was now in a different place entirely with a different man.
Aria’s eyes rested on the face of the person who was talking to her, and she could feel her anger rising because of his hand that was grazing her arm. Her left hand instinctively pushed the huge figure away from her, as he felt the intensity of the disgusting look she was giving to him.
Damon dusted his cloth and tried to remain cool as his body darted to the back, recovering from the crazy unaware push she had given him momentarily.
His lips curved up into a mischievous smile as his expression became a threatening one, with him moving forward back to the position she had shifted him from before.
“So, you are pretending not to know me to protect your perfect little image right? Because you are now married to the greatest Dalton Miller, then you forget everything we have shared? Is that it huhhhh?!!!” He tried to grab her hair in the anger that was running through his face, as his eyes became bloodshot instantly. He hated losing to ladies.
“If you touch me again, I swear I will break that hand that keeps trying to touch me,” she threatened.
“You keep ignoring me like you have never met me in your life, when we have actually shared more than talking in this manner. Have you forgotten?!”