CHAPTER NINE

The Morelli venue was used for the engagement party. It was an elegantly decorated glass and bronze hall on the forty-second floor that gave a view of the park. There was so much space that even Aria's childhood house would hardly be considered extravagant by comparison. Elena had planned everything so well as if she had been organizing such events for thirty years and had never felt scared even once by a guest list. Aria was wearing a dress that Adrian had chosen for her. It was a deep emerald silk dress which looked like flowing water and it also highlighted her skin tone. 

She decided to stay close to the main event and when the feeling of looking exactly like oneself struck her after a very long time, she was almost surprised by it. Not one who has been displaced. Not a third-rate substitute. One who has always been. Jeffery came with Valerie. This was her guess. She had almost calmly and very specifically made up her mind to handle it as one of those rare natural disasters. She watched them from a distance,Valerie shining in a white dress, one hand dramatically covering the stomach, Jeffery was in a tuxedo but his face showed the look of a person who expected to feel victorious and was now faced with the realization that the feeling was not coming along as planned. He was walking towards her while Cassandra was asking Valerie some questions. Aria, That was the same voice but the timbre was not the same as before. The element of warmth that once made her feel that she was the one had now with her new perception become a mere warm performance to her ears.  You look well… Thank you. I'm well .

Looking at Adrian, who was three meters away, talking with his father, and not even looking over, Aria was almost sure he knew exactly what was going on. Disruptions of his surroundings were like a radar to Adrian. Jeffery said, "This is all very sudden." "Life often is, " she replied. The woman's smile showed that she was not going to explain anything to him. "Enjoy the party, Jeffery, " she said and after that, she left. He let her. The attempted humiliation came from Valerie, Cassandra, and Christiana together a triple-fronted assault launched near the bar when Adrian was momentarily occupied with a business acquaintance. They surrounded her with the coordinated confidence of women who had done this before and expected it to work, and Valerie led the approach with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Darling, " Valerie said. "We were just saying how brave you are. Showing up like this. After everything." "After everything, " Aria repeated. "I mean a contract pregnancy." Valerie dropped her voice to the carrying stage-whisper of a woman who had mastered the art of performing concern. "People are already talking. It looks rather desperate, don't you think? Trapping a man like Adrian " "Valerie." Aria tilted her head. "Do you want to do this here? In front of his family, his business associates, and approximately four members of the press Elena invited?" A pause. Valerie's smile flickered.

"Because I want to, " Aria kept her voice upbeat, even friendly. "I have a pretty good idea that I could broadcast to the whole world my lab findings I've got last week. The very ones about Jeffery's fertility. Or maybe, your pregnancy's timeline, which is a little bit off with the time you started dating him. Actually, I am quite good at numbers, it turns out." Valerie went completely pale. At the same time, Cassandra's face grew even more serious, showing a very clear sign of a person who just reevaluated the situation due to the disappearance of the intended target. Aria raised her champagne glass in the air, champagne anyway, but they didn't have to know that as it was sparkling water due to the baby and smiled at all three of them. 'Enjoy the party, ' she said as she was leaving. She spotted Adrian near the terrace, gazing at the twinkling park beneath, and went to stand next to him. He didn't look at her, but somehow by his presence, he acknowledged her,a tiny, involuntary gesture that she was slowly becoming familiar with. "That? You managed to handle it, " he said. Not even a question. "At least I tried." "Valerie seemed like she had swallowed something terribly nasty." "Yeah, that's basically what happened to her." She could swear she felt a tone in his voice,it was not quite a laugh, but the precursor to it, a cleared place where laughter might one day grow. Without another word from him, they simply stood together in the cool air above the city, while the party danced vigorously behind them and the lights of New York were spread out below, similar to a second, earthbound sky.

Aria later went out to breathe and wandered onto a side terrace that's when she spotted Valerie. Her stepsister, hidden in the shadows at the far end, was speaking in a quiet voice to a man whom Aria initially didn't recognize. He was a tall sturdy dark-haired man giving off the vibe of someone who is desperate to leave but is unable. Then Valerie slightly changed her position and the man's face was illuminated by the light; at that moment Aria froze. She recognized him. It was from a gossip column three months back. He was definitely not a friend or colleague of Jeffery's. No question about it, it was a model named Dario Caruso who had been twice associated with Valerie's name in the tabloids before the time she was dating Jeffery. Valerie was handing him some cash. He kept denying it. She seemed to be threatening him with the words low vehement frightened. Aria quietly retreated into the shadows of the doorway, her heart pounding cautiously and rapidly. She understood the significance of what she had just seen. At this point, she did not feel like using it. However, she stored it away with great care like a woman who has unfortunately realized only at the time that knowledge is the only commodity which never loses its value. When she returned to her engagement party she kept on smiling at those to whom smiling was necessary and her mind was going over the lab results in her phone, the man she had seen in the shadows, and the deliberate planning of the revenge that was, bit-by-bit, coming to fruition.