Five
641 Words
Three years later .
The hall shimmered with golden light, soft music and murmurs of the city's most influential people. Billion-dollar deals floated in the air with champagne bubbles and the city's most prestigious event center was buzzing with activity.
The city buzzed with anticipation for the annual LaFleur Fashion Gala, the most glamorous event of the year, attended by celebrities, billionaires, and the fashion elite.
The biggest fashion company was hosting an event to launch a new fashion trend. They were also launching a project that was budgeted to make an estimated figure of four hundred billion dollars annually.
A lot of people wanted to make connections and also gain favors to partner with the company.
Inside the hall, Smith adjusted his cufflinks and scanned the hall with calculated anticipation.
This partnership would change everything for the Pato Group. It would expand markets, triple valuation, cement his legacy, and increase his fame.
He had spent days and nights prepping a perfect speech and business proposal for this project.
Beside him, Bella leaned down to straighten their son's jacket. Smiling, she whispered, "Smile, this is important." Smith nodded absently, his eyes still searching the room.
Everyone, just like him, was eagerly waiting for the mysterious CEO that went by the name Ink.
Bella tried again, "Did you hear what I said?"
"Yes," he replied without looking at her.
She reached out and gently touched his collar. "After this deal, we can finally..."
"Not now," he cut in, visibly irritated. Bella's hand fell.
Once, he used to lean towards her and listen. Once, he couldn't take his eyes off her. Now, small talk felt like noise.
A sudden hush rippled through the crowd. Heads turned towards the entrance. The doors opened. A sleek black car had stopped at the carpet. The CEO everyone was waiting for has arrived. Smith took a mental note and ran through his already rehearsed speech for the CEO.
First, a pair of elegant heels touched the ground - champagne gold, understated, expensive. Long legs followed. Then she rose fully into view.
She wore a tailored Ivory gown that moved like liquid light. Her posture effortless and her presence unmistakable. Her hand rested in the arm of a young man, tall, handsome, and composed. At her back, four men moved in perfect sync - her brothers.
Reporters gathered at the glowing white entrance, flashes exploding as limousines rolled up one after another.
“Is that the CEO?” a reporter gasped.
“Is that really her?”
“She looks… incredible.”
The mysterious woman stepped forward into the hall. Smith's jaw dropped to the floor and his eyes widened.
"Tessa," he thought in his mind. Was he dreaming? Maybe he was not seeing right.
Tessa, his ex-wife, was a nobody and had probably gone back to the slums where she belonged after the divorce. There was no way in hell this CEO, whom he prepared so much to meet, would be his ex-wife Tessa, the woman he had been looking for for years.
The crowd erupted in applause as the CEO got up on the stage gracefully, taking the microphone. She smiled at the audience and said, "Hello everyone. I'm Tessa Zhen, the Ink and CEO of Vogue Fashion World.”
For Smith, Tessa his ex wife wasn't the only one that caught his attention. The young man beside her did too. He looked awfully familiar.
As if on cue, he took of his dark shades and bowed to the crowd. Smith’s breath left him in a rush.
No.
That face.
That arrogant calm. That familiar curve of the mouth he had long forgotten.
His estranged stepbrother.
The one his father had erased from the family records.
The one who had vanished after the inheritance war.
The one Smith had sworn never to cross paths with again.
- Writer
