Chapter 1 - Engagement Party

Today is the day!

Iris could not contain her giddiness and happiness as the day that she waited entirely for this month had finally come.

Iris' Divine Cupcakes, her small but treasured business, got a contract deal as one of the exclusive vendors to cater to the mega engagement party of the tycoons' heirs in her country.

Her small but homey kitchen was already busy with all sorts of activities to prepare cupcakes this morning. It filled the house with warm and sweet scents from baked cupcakes and lots of frosting to decorate the cake.

Its wooden countertop table was filled with scattered powdered sugar, like the place was just visited by fairies. Frosting cream with silver and ice blue colors to fit the engagement party's theme, and a lot of sprinkles matched with the color gradation of the frosting.

Classic Jazz from David Miles was faintly heard from the living room. Those songs reminded Iris of her late parents, who loved to dance in the night with this music.

The last batch of the baked cupcakes has cooled down and was ready to decorate. Iris started swirling the icing on the cupcakes and she worked with steady speed and precision, resulting in high-quality cupcakes with consistent flavor and taste ever since the opening of her small cake and bakery shop until now.

This was the fruit of doing what she loved since child and perseverance to build up her career from the ground.

Riing Riiing...

Her phone vibrated and Iris stopped putting the cupcakes into the elegant box she handcrafted on her own and took the call.

"Hello, Rose! I'm glad you call me before I go to deliver these cupcakes! I already put your order in advance, so don't worry about it." Iris warmly greeted her best friend since high school before Rose could talk about anything to her.

"Hey, Iris! Yeah, I know that already. But that is not the reason I want to call you right now! Girl... Why don't you say that you will go to Alexander Browning's engagement party! Are you not thinking of me as your best friend, huh?"

Iris frowned upon hearing Rose's rambling. Decided that she should hurry and prepare to go to a party and deliver these precious babies.

"Well... I tell nothing about this to you because I know little about him or his fiancé. Got this job through Emily, who put my cake as a sample to the organizer. And I was just hoping that my cupcakes bring a good impression to high society. And who knows, maybe I could get and build a new clientele after they taste my cupcakes." Added Iris.

She honestly does not care about the party itself. But she cared about the possibility of a vast network and the viable projects coming from those influential societies. That was why Iris was grateful for this opportunity and did her best to get a positive impression from the guests this evening.

"Duh, girl! Do you even know who Alexander Browning and Julienne Ruthford are? They are the highest pyramid of our society! He is the most wanted bachelor and one of the richest men in the world! Not to mention, one of the most handsome men that ever existed in the world! Can you imagine meeting him and seeing him in less than a few hours?!"

"Ah... I should go with you if only my flu doesn't make me bedridden like this!" Iris put her phone away after hearing Rose scream excitedly.

"Well... I'm even sure I could meet them, Rose! Remember, I am only one of the food vendors. Not one of their guests. I will go back to the kitchen or staff waiting room until the party had finished and take back my property, then go back home. Don't think too much, Rose. So save whatever you think about what is going to happen at the party because it will be like any other party where I deliver my cupcakes and get paid." Iris chimed in with a small laugh, hearing her friend said something absurd.

"You know what? I gotta go. I will update you later, honey Rose."

"Alright! If only you could sneak into the party and take some pictures of Alexander, I would be grateful!" Rose said bashfully, but Iris only laughed and turned off the phone.

One hour later, Iris has freshly showered and put her simple black dress on her body. The dress is a long-sleeved dress with a long flowing skirt with a small slit just below her knees. The dress successfully accentuated her slim and petite body. This locally sourced black dress is moderate with not much cleavage shown and the dress was meant to be comfortable, not for showing off. She paired the dress with low black heels for practicality. No gauzy ornate or decoration to hinder her movement later in the party.

She put simple makeup on her face only to bring up her deep hazel eyes, rosy cheeks, and naturally plump, soft pink lips. Nothing extravagant. Just applied thinly to make her face look fresh.

Elegant yet simple. That was her motto for fashion and makeup.

After the preparation was done and she safely loaded all the cupcakes behind the box of her car. She drove the car to the venue and smiled hopefully, thinking about what her shop will do after this party finished.

***

BROWNING MANSION

Great Aula

Friday, 10 October 6.30 PM

Never in her life Iris encountered such a massive mansion like this. This mansion was full of invaluable and priceless art stuff that Iris never dreamed of touching, let alone owning it.

From fragile Chinese vases with a deep history behind every stroke and mold, sculptures of Gods and Goddess of ancient mythology, and paintings from famous painters that Iris was fairly sure were obtained by involving God knows how much money and influence.

Iris had led a simple life since she was a child. What she remembered was her childhood was full of warmth and happiness in their humble little home. There was a time when her parents had to depend on government aid to fulfill daily necessities. But her parents hid all this hardship, so little Iris only knew warm food, a full tummy, and a warm blanket in her childhood. Thanks to her late parents, Iris knew how it feels to be loved and grew up like she was now.

But seeing how much wealth blatantly displayed here made Iris think, 'what does it take for a family to build and amass such wealth like this!'

While she organized her cupcakes into a designated dessert table, she silently looked around her surroundings.

Staffs Mansion -wearing a formal black and white tuxedo for men, and a black blazer with a black knee-length skirt for women- strode around at a fast pace. The party organizer with a walkie-talkie goes back and forth from one room to another room with a serious face.

She caught on another food vendor with a chef outfit looking back at her, so she instinctively gave her smile to him. But he only frowned at her and saw her weirdly.

Well.. whatever...

She resumed her work until all her cupcakes were unloaded and placed beautifully on the table.

Finished with her task, she walked back to the kitchen and intended to wait in the staff room until the party finished to take back her 5-tier cupcake display stands.

She stopped in her tracks; she felt her body shiver.

She felt like she was being monitored and slowly tried to look back past behind her shoulder.

She tried to find the source of her uneasiness until she finally locked her gaze on a stranger who intensely stared at her from the second balcony of this mansion.

"What..." She flummoxed.

She shivered once again, and her left hand went to her chest in a reflex. As if trying to soothe her heart, which was beating fast and loud.

Her throat was dry and she could not think straight with all these jumbled emotions and feelings because of those deep stares from this stranger.

She blinked slowly and her gaze followed him while he leisurely took time to descend into her place.

Trapped...

She was trapped and could not go anywhere.

Trapped inside his deep gaze, which penetrated deep into her heart.

It was just like prey trapped under the hunter. Unable to go anywhere and felt anxious if you made a tiny wrong move.

He stood closer in front of her. Biding his time, until she felt like she could not take it anymore.

During this fleeting moment that feels like an eternity, she saw him smirk, tilted his head, and asked her with his deep bass voice, "Who are you?”