I couldn't appologise enough for how late this is... Anyhow, I am back now and will be trying to get back on track with everything here. See you in the next Chanpter!
Felix had been on the balcony for a while now. A glass of whiskey in his hands. He watched it as he swirled the liquid round and round. Watching the vortex that formed in the centre. He ignored the chilly air against his skin. He was oblivious to the air as it ruffled his hair. He glanced up into the ballroom where everyone was in the middle of mingling or was dancing.He had a perfect view of her.Adrea.She stood talking to Rafael — if “talking” was the right word. It was too brief an exchange to be a grand discussion. She stood still, hands loosely clasped in front of her, her posture poised but guarded. Rafael said something. She said something in response and then he seemed to say something short and sharp before he turned away and left her there. When his back was to herm Felix saw the way her expression shifted. It was only for a split second but Felix caught it. He saw the sadness that flickered in her eyes before she masked it. Like a curtain being drawn shut.She smiled. Too
“You’re different with her,” a voice said behind Aris, and he turned around with a raised brow.“I didn’t know you were in attendance,” he replied to the tiny blonde in front of him, “Or even in the country.”She smirked at him—an expression that was unsettlingly familiar.“Yeah, well, your eyes have not been taking in the room today,” the young woman said, a sparkle in her grey eyes.Aris rolled his eyes at her. “I don’t think I can take your sarcasm tonight.”“Well,” the young woman said with a careless shrug, “My date bailed ’cause he’s jetlagged. You have to babysit.”“You have been an adult for more than a decade,” Aris told her. “I am not your keeper.”“I’ll tell Mother if you bail on me,” the woman responded, her eyes daring him to abandon her.Aris gave her a side-eye that implied with little doubt that he was judging her immensely.“Sofia,” he said patiently as he looked around for Adrea, “I think you know you are also too old to keep on running to Mother when there is an iss
A gentle chime rang through the ballroom, followed by the soft tapping of a microphone. The crowd hushed as a poised gentleman stepped onto the stage.“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said with a practised smile, “may I have your attention? Please welcome the evening’s host — Miss Adrea Galanis.”Applause echoed through the room, polite at first, then growing warmer as Adrea stood. She smoothed the front of her gown, shared a quick glance with her grandmother, and walked to the stage with the steady grace she had inherited from every formidable Galanis woman before her.The lights shifted slightly as she reached the podium. She took a moment to glance across the tables, at the sea of expensive dresses, crisp tuxedos, and curious faces. Then she spoke, her voice calm, clear, and carrying well across the room.“Good evening, everyone,” she began. “Thank you all for coming. For showing up. For making time. It means more than I can properly express.”A pause.“I know many of you are here becaus
Most of the guests were already in when Adrea walked into the grand ballroom with her family. Her heels clicked softly against the polished marble floors as murmurs swept through the crowd. She could feel their eyes deviating to her as she moved gracefully through the space, her grandmother on one side, her uncles, aunts, and Gabriella in a loose formation around them.The lights overhead glittered against the chandeliers, casting elegant shadows over the tables covered in ivory cloth and soft gold accents. She took in the glamour, the polished charitable nobility that occupied the room.Adrea lifted her chin and nodded at the familiar faces — politicians, business magnates, celebrities whose names had become as constant as headlines. She acknowledged with the careful courtesy expected of her. She was her father’s daughter, after all, and tonight was as much about his and his father’s legacy as it was about the future.Then her eyes moved across the room and landed on Rafael and his pa
The Galanis old estate stood tall and proud. It was a treasure that their family had lost at Adrea’s grandfather’s death and then regained by her father for her grandmother. The house was in Adrea’s name and left so that her grandmother could have peaceful days before she met her end.Adrea watched her grandmother be helped out of the car. She walked to them as her uncles guided their frail mother to the house. When they walked into the house, she looked around, remembering the last time that she had thought she was welcome here. That was before the lawyer had read her father’s will — the moment before they had realised that they were not going to profit from his death.She had thought that surely, they would not be as bad as her father had rightly predicted. That was when she had realised that the true family she had was her grandmother.Hushed voices as they moved further into the house and closer to the living room brought Adrea back to the present. As she walked past a fish tank, s
The world would see the charity gala when it began. They would not know what had happened before it began. No one would think of the sadness it held. The people that had died to make it happen. Adrea’s family would know, though. This day was especially tough for her. She walked on the soft grass lawn as she headed to where she was sure her family would meet her later. The bodyguards Aris had given her were a respectful distance away. There was no one who would hurt her here. There were people here, and all of them were focused on mourning the bodies six feet beneath the dirt.She stopped in front of a headstone and knelt down. She laid the flowers on top of the marble and then looked at the name written on it. She traced the name inscribed. She had never seen this man in her entire life, but she had grown up hearing about him. Her grandfather. The man who had been born with more wealth than he could spend, and he had taken that as a challenge. One that he had met. He had drained every