Spilled wine

Seraphina POV

Evelyn looked down at the stain on her bodice and for a moment, her expression cracked and revealed pure rage only for her to school her expression into one of sadness just as tears arrived on cue.

"Sera—" Evelyn's voice broke beautifully. "It's — it's fine, it's just wine, I'm not upset—"

I'd seen that exact flicker before, five years from now, in a hospital room, right before she remembered to perform grief again. I knew that she was pretending but I acted like I was clueless.

I pressed both hands to my mouth with my eyes wide, "oh my god, I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened. I just tripped."

Turning to look at the guests around us; "someone get her a towel please. I'll pay for the dry cleaning, I'll pay for the dress."

The guests were already murmuring around us with most of them already recording us with their phones no doubt with the intention of posting it on their social media platforms.

My mother walked towards us with napkins in her hand while my dad hung right at the back laughing jovially. He was too busy sweet talking an investor to care about what was happening.

Knowing my father, he will probably reprimand me for this.

It wasn't much. Just a stained dress and a bruised ego but it was a start, and I intended to make sure it wasn't the last.

Meanwhile, Evelyn was still shedding tears just as our mother came in and began dabbing napkins over her bodice while murmuring apologies to the guests.

she glared at me from the side of her eyes. Almost like she wanted to tell me off but didn't want to do that in front of the guests but I turned my gaze away from her.

"Let's get you out of that dress sweetheart." she said, already steering Evelyn away from the crowd while she sniffed.

Julian didn't follow her. Instead, he went to the bar while typing furiously on his phone, probably trying to ask Evelyn what went wrong.

I saw him glance at me with anger on his face for a second before resuming his typing.

Looks like he isn't pleased with the fact that his and Evelyn's plan didn't go the way he wanted which drew a smile to my face.

Let him type and let him plan with my evil sister. I've had five years so see what they are capable of and I intend to pay them back for everything they did to me.

Within the next few minutes, the guests had found something much more interesting to do with their boring lives while the string quartet resumed their performance.

My father found me a couple of minutes later with a huge grin on his face. It looked like he was having a good time.

"She'll be back down in a couple minutes so I need you to apologize to her." he said with a smile that wasn't a smile.

I wasn't surprised he'll say something like this. Ever since Evelyn was adopted, my parents had done everything to make her feel welcomed in our family while ignoring me sometimes.

They had made me their heir but with knowledge from my past life, I knew they could give it to her too.

I didn't want to reveal my hand too early so I feigned dizziness.

"Dad, I don't feel so good." I said, touching my forehead with the back of my hand.

My father frowned slightly before pouring me a glass of water.

"Take a break and relax. it's probably alcohol."

I sat down with an exhausted look on my face before lying face down on the table.

My father, seeing that I wasn't in the right state, tapped my shoulder awkwardly before going to the bar to grab himself some drinks.

As I watched everyone conversing with themselves like they were all friends and not people who are only driven by interest, I felt suffocated by everything.

"I need air." I said to myself. That wasn't a lie at least. The place felt too suffocating and staying here had no benefit for me.

I slipped into the side staircase with the VIP balcony being my destination.

The VIP balcony could be accessed by a door with the 'private' tag on it with the door usually locked when not in use except if someone has the key card.

I happened to have one. The Peterson family always kept a card at the Aurelius Club in case of situations like this so I decided to use it.

I scanned the card, opened the door and walked in and there was Lucian Sterling up alone.

He was well built with caramel skin and a sharp jawline. His shirt was open at the collar in a way that revealed his chest which gave him the demeanor of someone who doesn't try too much to get what he wants.

for a split second, I noticed everything about him then I caught myself and shut the thought down before it could go anywhere.

He turned around to observe me for some seconds before speaking up.

"You're the first person to walk in here and not leave immediately after seeing me."

"I don't scare that easily so I am not leaving." I replied.

That got him to actually look at me.

Whatever guardedness sat on his shoulders wasn't aimed at me. It was just how he was to everyone.

"You are Seraphina Peterson aren't you?" He asked "The birthday girl who tripped over her own hem in front of two hundred people."

"That's the official story." I said.

Something shifted in his expression as he tilted his head in curiosity.

"So what is the unofficial story?"

"The unofficial story is that my own sister put something harmful in my drink and I decided not to drink it."

He offered no reaction as he heard that.

"That's a pretty heavy accusation to tell a stranger."

"You are not going to repeat this to anyone and that's because you do not care enough about me or my family to bother."

As I said that, I stepped closer to him so he could have a good view of my facial expression.

"That's actually why I'm here."

"Be careful now," he said, his voice dropping low. "People who come for an uncrowned king usually want something from him and it rarely goes well for them."

"I don't want anything from you. On the other hand, I have something for you." I paused a little before continuing.

"Your grandfather is sick, and none of his doctors have caught it yet."

That got a reaction out of him. It was small, just a shift in his jaw, but it was there.

"My grandfather has a full medical team and a clean bill of health."

"For now." I said. "I know what's wrong with him before his own doctors do, and I know how to buy him time. Whether he gets that time depends on who reaches him first, me or the illness."

"That's a very convenient thing to know."

"It is." I agreed. "I'm not asking you to believe me tonight. I'm asking you to remember this conversation the day his own doctors finally catch up to me."

"And what do you want for it?"

"Your signature. On a document naming you as my legal financial guarantor