NO One’s POV
The grand ballroom was decorated beautifully, glowing with crystal chandeliers and floral arrangents. The elite mbers of high society had already arrived, clinking their champagne glasses.
Near the front of the room, Dominic’s mother waited impatiently. She kept her eyes glued to the massive double doors, her heart fluttering with excitent. She absolutely could not wait to lay her eyes on her future daughter-in-law.
Just then, the doors opened, and Alia entered the ballroom but she wasn’t alone. Walking beside her was Enzo.
A ripple of shocked whispers instantly broke out across the crowd. Everyone in their social circle knew Alia had spent years desperately chasing after Dominic Valente. To see her arriving at his family’s private estate with another man was completely unexpected.
Dominic’s mother put on her best smile and walked over to welco them. "Alia, darling! You made it," she chid, her eyes imdiately drifting to the tall, handso young man standing beside her. "And... who is this fine gentleman?"
"This is my high school friend, Enzo," Alia introduced smoothly, though she shot a subtle, warning glare at him out of the corner of her eye.
Enzo didn’t acknowledge it instead he offered a charming smile and stepped forward, gently taking Dominic’s mother’s hand and brushing his lips against the back of it with flawless manners.
Dominic’s mother bead, instantly chard by his polite deanor. "My, what a fine, well-mannered gentleman! Please, make yourselves at ho and enjoy the party."
Enzo’s dark eyes shone with a deeply hidden amusent. "Indeed I will, Madam. Thank you."
Alia gripped her purse tightly, her eyes scanning the room for any sign of Dominic, while Enzo casually stood by her side, looking entirely relaxed.
But just a few monts later, the doors swung open once more.
An imdiate silence slamd into the room. The clinking of glasses all stopped instantly, making the entire ballroom go dead quiet.
Sensing the sudden shift in energy, both Enzo and Alia turned their heads toward the entrance.
There stood Dominic and Vivien, their arm colide as they walked slowly into the glowing ballroom.
Every single guest gasped in the mont they laid their eyes on the breathtaking beauty standing beside the notoriously cold billionaire.
Together, they looked absolutely dashing, effortlessly captivating everyone’s attention like a royal couple.
"Which family’s daughter is she?" a wealthy woman whispered behind her hand.
"Oh my god, she is absolutely gorgeous..." another murmured in awe.
"Are they dating? Is this the real reason Alia didn’t arrive with him tonight?"
"Not going to lie, she matches him so much better than Alia ever did..." the elite gossip spread like wildfire through the crowd.
Across the room, Alia’s eyes glued themselves to the woman standing beside Dominic. Her entire body started to shiver violently, and her eyes widened. Looking at the deep wine-red hair, the striking exposed face those sharp eyes, and that srizing dress, a horrific mories from the novel’s original tiline suddenly crashed into her brain.
The exact mont Vivien’s clear eyes swept across the room and t hers, Alia’s body jolted as if she had been struck by lightning.
"No... no... don’t kill ..." she whispered frantically under her breath, stepping backward in pure terror. "Viella...!"
Watching her pathetic, trembling state, Enzo leaned down and softly blew a cold breath of wind directly into her ear, causing her to lose her balance and stumble slightly.
Enzo let out a dark chuckle, thoroughly amused by her psychological breakdown.
The mocking sound of his laugh instantly snapped Alia out of her terrified daze. Her fear instantly twisted into a manic, burning rage. Teeth clenched, she grabbed Enzo tightly by his sleeve and dragged him out toward the dark balcony to avoid making a scene.
From the entrance, Vivien’s sharp eyes noticed a flashy woman dragging soone away toward the terrace. She couldn’t quite see the man’s face since a crowd of guests had suddenly gathered around her and Dominic to greet them, but a slow smirk crawled onto her lips anyway.
Be more scared... Alina, Vivien thought to herself, a thrill of satisfaction running through her veins as she watched her panic.
Dominic’s mother finally caught sight of the girl she had been anxiously waiting for all evening, and she was not disappointed in the slightest.
Her face lit up with absolute joy, and she imdiately pushed through the crowd of guests to walk over to the couple.
Before even saying hello, she lightly smacked Dominic on the shoulder for keeping her waiting.
"You are really trying to kill your mother with worry, aren’t you?!" she scolded, huffing.
"Mom, please. I am not a five-year-old," Dominic muttered, his cold facade cracking just a tiny bit in front of his parent.
"Hmph! You will always be a five-year-old boy to !" she shot back proudly, crossing her arms.
Standing right beside him, Vivien desperately clamped her teeth together, trying to hold back a loud chuckle. Finally! she thought, feeling pure satisfaction. Soone is actually here to beat his arrogant ass! But the mont his mother’s sharp eyes locked directly onto her, Vivien froze, standing stiffly and awkwardly under the intense gaze.
Dominic’s mother had sa charm as him and looked way younger than her age. She had the exact siren eyes as Dominic which scared Vivien more.
His mom smacked his arm one more ti for good asure. "Well? Aren’t you going to properly introduce to my future daughter-in-law?!" she demanded loudly.
A collective gasp echoed through the nearby guests. The ballroom went quiet again. So it was true?! This mysterious, breathtaking beauty was actually Dominic Valente’s soon-to-be fiancee?!
Vivien’s own eyes widened in pure horror. Her brain short-circuited, and she was just about to open her mouth to frantically deny the whole thing, but Dominic cut her off before she could utter a single word.
"Mom, this is Vivien. She works with ," he said smoothly, his tone completely flat.
Vivien snapped her head around, staring at him in disbelief, silently begging him with her eyes to clarify things. Tell her I’m just your ordinary assistant! Tell her I’m basically a maid! Fix this!
But Dominic didn’t add a single word of correction, nor did he bother to explain what kind of "work" she actually did at his company. He just let the heavy implication hang in the air.
"Oh my goodness! So you two t in the office!" his mother squealed, her eyes practically sparkling. "Aha! An office romance! That is so incredibly adorable, darling- it’s just like how your father and I t!" she bead, completely lost in her own romantic fantasy.
Vivien’s face was a picture of utter shock. "Actually, Mrs. Valente, I am really not- "
But his mother cut her off with a wave of her hand before she could finish. "Oh, darling, I completely get it! You’re just shy. Please, make yourself entirely comfortable! Let go grab you so drinks myself!" Without waiting for a response, she happily stord off toward the bar.
The mont his mother was out of earshot, Vivien turned on Dominic, her voice a furious whisper. "Boss! Why on earth didn’t you tell her the truth?! Why didn’t you explain that I am absolutely not your girlfriend?!"
"Because there is no need to waste ti explaining sothing that is never going to happen," he replied coldly, casually turning his back to her.
Vivien let out a breath of relief, thinking he ant a relationship between them was impossible. But as Dominic walked off into the crowd, a dangerous smirk spread across his lips.
Of course it’s going to happen, he corrected in his mind, his eyes glinting with a possessive certainty. It’s going to happen whether you want it to or not, Vivien.
______________
"What is going on?!" Alia shouted, her voice trembling with a mix of fury and absolute terror.
Enzo didn’t answer right away. He simply leaned his forearms over the marble railing of the balcony, staring out into the dark estate gardens with a relaxed posture.
"Answer !" Alia hissed, stepping closer and grabbing his sleeve. "Why... why does she look like Viella?! I thought she was just so ugly duckling from a middle-class neighborhood! How co she... she looks exactly like Viella?!"
Enzo turned his head slightly, a slow smile stretching across his face. "That is exactly why I always told you... never doubt my choices, Alia~"
"Stop joking around, Enzo! What on earth is going on between them?!" Alia’s breath hitched as she looked back through the glass doors at Dominic and Vivien. "They look like Dante and Viella themselves..." A shiver racked her body, and she began frantically biting her thumbnail again. "No... no. She took my Dante away from in the original tiline. I am absolutely not letting her take my Dominic too!"
Enzo let out a low hum, his fra shifting under the moonlight. "Instead of worrying about who is taking who... shouldn’t you be much more worried about why she looks like this tonight? After all, isn’t Dominic the one who was in complete charge of her makeover today?" His eyes glinted with a sharp intelligence.
Alia froze mid-breath. Her hand slowly dropped away from her mouth, and she stared at Enzo as the horrific realization finally pierced through her denial.
"Do... don’t tell that... Dominic is actually..." She couldn’t even bring herself to utter Dante’s na.
Enzo smiled, his dark eyes crinkling at the edges with amusent. "I can’t officially confirm if he is Dante or not just yet," he whispered smoothly, his gaze shifting away from Alia to look past her, straight through the glass. "But I can certainly tell you one thing for sure..."
His eyes locked onto the distant dress and the striking wine-red hair moving gracefully through the crowd.
"...that is indeed my Viella."
A dangerous thrill ran through his veins. After all he had been absolutely waiting for this exact mont to arrive.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
TO BE CONTINUED
Reviews
All reviews (0)