Chapter 2.. The Gala
1197 Words
I don’t know what I expected from Liam’s house, but it wasn’t this
The drive over? Just awkward silence... Liam sat there scrolling, not saying a word. Might as well have been some random guy in a suit I couldn’t afford to dry clean, let alone buy. He didn’t even look at me… Not once not at all
I kept adjusting the ring. It didn’t fit. Not physically, it sat on my finger just fine, but in every other way, it didn’t. I didn’t belong to the kind of world where a ring meant anything but a transaction.
The gates opened before the car even stopped. Black iron. Too tall. Too much.
Then the house. Or maybe I should call it an estate. No—something worse than that.
This was the kind of place where nobody asked questions—they already knew better.
I got out of the car and right away regretted the heels. Dumb choice.
The stone beneath me was ice. No one offered a hand. No one said a word.
The front doors opened on their own. That should’ve been a red flag.
Inside..noise. Laughter that didn’t reach my eyes… Champagne is being poured into glasses that cost more than I made in a month. Women in floor-length gowns that didn’t wrinkle when they moved.
And me, trying to figure out where to stand so I didn’t look like someone who’d been purchased.
No one greeted me. At least not directly. They looked. Oh, they definitely looked. Like I was an odd painting they weren’t allowed to comment on.
Then, a voice. Sharp. Clipped. Female.
“This is her?”
I looked up.
Top of the stairs. Black gown. Hair pulled tight. The face was smooth in the way that money makes possible.
Liam’s mother.
Liam didn’t even glance at me. “Katherine.”
Her eyes slid over me like I was nothing. Like she’d been told to expect a stain and found one right where expected.
“A quiet one,” she said.
I tried. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
She turned. Walked away. That was it. No response. No fake smile. Just absence.
I stood there blinking, and Liam—still expressionless—just said, “Welcome to the family.”
Like it meant anything.
We moved deeper into the ballroom. Or maybe I followed him. I don’t know. I kept touching the ring. It felt too tight now.
People talked to me. I nodded. Maybe I laughed once. I’m not sure what to do. All I knew was I just wanted it to end.
One more room. One more hour. Just keep standing.
Then I saw him.
Not Liam. Someone else.
He stood by the piano like he’d been placed there. Not socializing. Not smiling. Watching.
And he wasn’t pretending not to look at me. He was looking.
I leaned toward Liam. “Who is that?”
“My cousin.”
“What’s his name?”
“Julian.”
“He keeps staring.”
“He does that.”
“Why?”
Liam sipped his drink. “Because he enjoys making things complicated.”
He didn’t elaborate. Of course, he didn’t.
Julian didn’t approach me right away. He waited. Watched. Until just the right moment—when Liam stepped away to greet someone important.
Then he was beside me.
You’re quieter than I thought you’d be,” he said.
I didn’t respond.
“You also look like you’re trying not to pass out.”
Still nothing.
“I’m Julian. Liam’s cousin. The one they all hope won’t show up to things like this.”
I finally looked at him. “You’re enjoying this.”
“A little.”
He smiled, but it didn’t touch anything important. His eyes stayed sharp. Focused.
“I’m not part of their world either,” he said. “I just wear better armor.”
“I didn’t ask to be here,” I said. No clue why I said it out loud.
He gave a small nod. Not surprised. Just… like he understood. “Most of us didn’t.”
And then he walked away.
Just like that.
The rest of the night passed like underwater noise. Glasses clinked. Someone laughed too loudly behind me. I said ‘thank you’ at least six times and meant zero.
Later, I was on the balcony. Didn’t mean to be there—I just ended up.
New York sprawled below, bright and cold. The wind cut sharp enough to bite.
“You won’t last long if you keep hiding up here.”
I didn’t jump. But God, I wanted to.
Julian again.
“You always sneak up on people?”
“I walk. You’re the one who forgets to check your surroundings.”
“Maybe I like the view.”
(He gave me that really? face) Just a brow and silence “Of the city, or of freedom?”
I didn’t answer.
“I meant what I said,” he went on. “You don’t belong here. That’s not an insult.”
I leaned on the railing. “I said yes because I didn’t have another option.”
“I know.”
That made me pause. “How?”
He didn’t look at me. “I know how Liam works.”
“What does that mean?”
He turned, finally meeting my eyes. “It means you’re not the first girl he’s put in a dress and a room full of cameras. You might be the quietest, though.”
“You’re making it sound like I’m a… prop.”
Julian tilted his head slightly. “Aren’t you?”
I swallowed the answer.
“I didn’t want any of this.”
“No one ever does.”
Then he left. Again. Just like that.
I stayed out there longer than I should’ve. Cold as hell, toes screaming, chest tight like something heavy had climbed in and decided to stay.
Got back in the car. Liam was already on his phone, typing fast. Didn’t even glance up.
Back in the car, Liam was already texting someone. Still no words. No questions. Just silence.
We got to the house. I started up the steps first, too tired to wait. But something made me stop.
His voice.
“I don’t care what Julian suspects.”
I froze.
“She doesn’t know yet. But she will. She was chosen for a reason.”
My stomach turned.
I walked like I hadn’t heard him. Didn’t look back.
In the bedroom, I pulled the gown off and let it hit the floor. Let it wrinkle. Let it stay there. I didn’t care.
I opened the window. Needed air.
And then I saw him.
Julian.
In the garden. Half in shadow. Standing still. Watching.
He didn’t wave. Not at first.
Then, slowly, his hand lifted.
I didn’t wave back.
He walked off into the trees and didn’t say a thing.
I stayed there like an i***t until the cold finally pushed me back inside.
I locked the window.
And for the first time since signing that contract… I felt like maybe, just maybe, I’d made the kind of mistake people don’t walk away from.
- Writer
