Geheimnisse hinter der Maske

The mansion looked glamorous to say the least. Everything was polished to its finest; the setting looked exquisite, breathtaking as it should. 

It was the union of two prominent families in the country: the engagement of a very high-profile man, the most eligible bachelor in the country, if not the world, the CEO of the highest-valued tech company, Scott Hale, and the niece of Andrew Michaelson, CEO and founder of Andrew's Auto, whom he had taken care of since the death of his sister, Diane Michaelson.

Diane and Scott had been seeing each other for quite some time now, so they both have decided to make this official between them. The union between the two most prominent families has been the talk of the town, and everyone has been anticipating it, so the money and effort spent on the decorations and settings were definitely worth it.

“Hudson!!” A smooth and quiet voice spoke through the busy planners.

“Hudson, honey, where are you?” the voice called out, searching around the mansion in search of her little troublemaker.

A light giggle came from the corner of a pillar, catching her attention.

“Finally”, she wiped fake sweat off her head, walking slowly towards the pillar.

“Gotcha”, she screamed, wrapping her hands around her son.

His laughter filled the air; it brought a sense of warmth to her chest. They laughed together.

“Sweetheart, I have to go help Aunt Diane with her makeup and other things, okay? You know she has to look really pretty today”.

“Mummy is the prettiest.” he gave her a thumbs up with his signature gummy smile.

“Really?” Celine smiled back at her son.

“And do you know who the most handsome boy is?” She wiggled her fingers in front of him while he slowly backed away.

“It… you”, she chased after him, as he ran away from her attempt to tickle him. Both mother and son laughed cheerfully until the air stood at attention.

Celine's heart dropped a beat when she saw what, or rather whom, her son had run into. Towering above them was Scott Hale, the soon-to-be fiancé of her cousin, Diane.

The richest man under forty, according to Forbes and several other media outlets. Top ten richest man in the world, top tech billionaire. He is young and extremely handsome, the most eligible bachelor in the world as people say but not for long as he was getting engaged to Diane.

If someone needs to play the devil, this man doesn't need an audition; he is an automatic selection; everything bows to his command. People, the sun, the moon, the sky, air, even his shadow doesn't seem to move unless he commands it, and why does Celine know the air bows to his command? Well, she couldn't breathe. 

Everything was still as his piercing gaze sliced through her and her son. To tell the truth, the man was a really good catch; he was wealthy and handsome. He stood at six feet two or three, with a prominent build, ocean blue eyes that seemed to drown people, a perfectly chiseled jaw, and his Adam's's apple looked good, with neatly trimmed stubble. 

But with what Celine had heard about him, if Scott wasn't the devil himself, then maybe he was the devil's sidekick, hopefully not the devil's mentor.

Celine came back to reality when Hudson circled his hand around her, obviously scared of the man before them.

“Sorry”, she apologised, bowing her head slightly to avoid meeting his gaze.

“Sorry, sir”, Hudson repeated, clutching his mother. Scott stared at them for a little while, then straightened his suit and walked past them without a word.

Such a douche; how does Diane cope with him?

Celine led Hudson into the house. “I have to go be with Aunt Diane now. Do be a good boy and behave while I'm gone, okay?” She held his hand, leading him towards the other kids playing.

 “Celine!” a voice called out for her. She turned to see Nicole, Diane's college friend, walking towards her, her pace fast and body rigid with tension. She gestured for Hudson to go play with the other kids.

“What is it, Nicole?” she asked. 

“She…you have to come with me”, Nicole stammered. Celine felt a sudden fear wash over her.

“ Is everything okay, Nicole?” She asked as they both walked to Diane’s room.

“Is Diane alright? What of my mother? Is she with her? Is my father…”

“Celine, let's get there first, then you know.”

Celine exhaled slowly, her heart rate matching that of a horse rider in a race. As they got to the room and the door shut behind them, Celine was met with the face of her mother, red and puffy, evidence that she had been crying. 

“Celine!” Her mother ran to her, wrapping her hands around her as she started crying again.

“She left; she's gone. She should have told me or her father, but she left”, her mother laments. Celine didn't need a shaman to tell her who had left because everyone else was present in the room except the soon-to-be bride herself.

 “ What?” she asked.

Her father handed her the letter Diane had left; she had run away…with another man.

Celine's hand shook as she read the first half of the letter; this was a total disaster. Guests had begun to arrive; what were they going to do now?

 If Diane didn't want to get engaged or married to Scott, she should have told them. There was no pressure; they would have called off everything, but this, this was a disaster. Scott won't take it lightly.

As the thought of Scott crossed Celine's mind, the door swung open, revealing Scott. He walked into the room with a controlled step, as if he owned it. Tall, composed, dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit, he carried a stillness that didn't soften the room… It sharpened it.

His face didn't falter from its stone-cold expression for once.

He walked up straight to Mr Andrew Michaelson. Mr Michaelson wasn't a small man, but at that moment he felt extremely small.

“Mr Hale…”, her father began, his voice trembling a little, “there's been a…” 

“She left”, he said calmly.

Her father swallowed. “I can explain” 

“I'm sure you can”, Scott stepped further into the room, unhurried. “The question is whether the explanation matters”.

“Mr Hale, I'm sure this is all a very unfortunate misunderstanding; you know how Diane can be”, her mother interfered with a shaken voice.

“No, there's no misunderstanding”, Scott interrupted, his tone calm. “ It's a breach of agreement”.

Agreement.

The word echoed in Celine's head. What agreement could there have been? Her puzzled gaze flickered between Scott and her parents.

Did they try to sell Diane for that ‘agreement’, she wondered.

Scott turned to look at her, no, analyse is the better word. He analysed her, then turned back to Mr Andrew.

 “Well, the Michaelsons are known to have two daughters, if I'm not mistaken.” he turned back to look at Celine, and Celine's stomach dropped at his expression; he looked somewhat disgusted.

“She'll do”, he directly said his words to her father while looking at Celine. “And Mr Andrew, I hate waiting”, and with that, he walked out the door without a single glance back.

Celine was mortified to say the least, stunned, speechless.

What was happening?

She understood what Scott said; she wasn't that stupid. She looked up at her parents, and what she saw broke her. They looked so vulnerable; her father never looked vulnerable, and the way they were looking at her, she knew w

hat it meant.

She was getting engaged to her cousin's fiancé.

She was getting married to Scott Hale.