Chapter Three
1069 Words
The event was already in full swing.
Beautiful women drifted through the ballroom as though they owned it, diamonds glittering at their throats while they clung to the arms of potential suitors. Laughter and music blended beneath the glow of crystal chandeliers.
Deidre entered alone.
Amid gowns of royal blue and vivid crimson, her muted green dress made her seem like a solitary brushstroke against a painted crowd.
She approached the podium with her maid at her side, invitation held carefully in hand.
That was when she spotted Caitlyn.
She stood nearby, presenting her own invitation with effortless grace. The red gown she wore flowed around her like liquid silk, the sheer fabric fluttering with every movement as if she were something ethereal among ordinary people. Her silver-blonde hair shimmered beneath the lights, soft and luminous, like a rose not yet fully bloomed.
A silver mask bearing the crest of the Lloyd family concealed part of her face.
“Here is my invitation,” Deidre said quietly, extending the card toward the attendant.
Before the man could take it, Caitlyn stepped in smoothly.
She placed a hand on Deidre’s shoulder, fingers tightening just enough to feel deliberate.
“Hello, little sister.” Her lips curled into a knowing smirk, eyes gleaming beneath her mask. “Remember what we discussed yesterday.”
Then she handed over her own invitation, shooting Deidre another smile.
“If you behave,” Caitlyn added lightly, “I might even pat you on the head like a good little dog.”
Deidre fought to keep her expression still, though tension coiled tightly in her chest. She stayed silent, arm still extended with her invitation.
“Y-Yeah, go right in,” the attendant stammered distractedly, his eyes lingering on Caitlyn as she swept past him and immediately began charming the surrounding guests.
Deidre had never been good at events like this.
She preferred the quiet glow of a computer screen, losing herself in work rather than navigating conversations and polished smiles. Places like this always left her feeling out of place.
Quietly, she slipped inside and remained near the edge of the ballroom, observing.
Everywhere she looked stood beautiful people with effortless confidence, laughing easily as though they belonged to a world Deidre could never quite enter.
She wished she could feel the same.
Nearby, a woman laughed behind her fan.
“I wonder who’ll be rejected tonight,” she mused casually. “That’s always the entertaining part.”
Her companions laughed with her as though discussing a stage performance rather than real people.
The upper class truly did delight in the humiliation of others.
Deidre adjusted the black mask covering her face.
Masks were mandatory at these gatherings.
“True love conquers all,” the hosts always claimed.
That was why guests were identified instead through assigned colors and flowers, making each participant recognizable without revealing their full identity.
At least it allowed Deidre to hide a little.
No one here would pay attention to someone like her.
She picked up a flute of champagne and retreated toward a secluded table near the back of the ballroom, far from prying eyes.
The moment she sat down, a small sigh escaped her lips.
“Ew. Don’t even think about it.”
The sharp voice came from nearby, drawing Deidre’s attention.
A man sat alone in the corner, hunched over a laptop as though the fate of the world depended on whatever was on the screen.
His eyes were bloodshot.
Though undeniably handsome, he looked nothing like the polished suitors filling the ballroom. His dark hair was messy, his clothes slightly disheveled, and he carried the exhausted air of someone dragged off the street and forced into overtime work.
The woman beside him recoiled in disgust.
The man merely grunted, barely sparing her a glance before returning to whatever he was typing.
Then, suddenly, he paused.
Slowly, his gaze shifted toward Deidre.
Sharp. Tired. Irritated.
“What the hell are you looking at?”
****
Deidra laughed softly, almost as if on cue, her voice barely audible beneath the swell of conversation around them.
“Nothing, sir. I was only admiring your Prometheun 4000.”
The machine sat sleek and black beneath his gloved hands — the newest advancement in computational technology. Rumor claimed a single unit could store the operations of an entire corporation within one backdrive.
The man went still.
His fingers paused over the keys before he slowly lifted his head toward her.
A royal blue mask concealed the entirety of his face, though it did little to hide the sharpness of his jaw as his teeth clenched briefly before relaxing.
“Impressive,” he murmured.
Green eyes settled onto her with sharpened interest as he shut the computer with a quiet click.
“It was only released last month. How do you know about it?”
Deidra lifted her drink to her lips, taking a slow sip before answering.
“It has the highest processing capacity currently available for cybersecurity, along with a databank large enough to receive and transfer massive influxes of information simultaneously.” She plucked the olive from her glass and slipped it into her mouth. “It’s the top seller right now. Why wouldn’t I know?”
The man watched her carefully as she spoke.
Too carefully.
His posture straightened, attention honing entirely onto her as though she had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the room.
Then the atmosphere shifted.
Deidra noticed Niles the moment he entered.
Everyone did.
He strode through the ballroom with effortless confidence, wealth and pedigree woven into every movement. Under the golden lights of the gala, he looked almost unreal — the kind of man women dreamed about and destroyed themselves over.
And then she saw the lapel pinned against his chest.
Red.
Matching Caitlyn.
Her grip tightened painfully around the stem of her glass.
A tear slipped free beneath the shelter of her mask.
She barely noticed the hand settling against her shoulder.
The man beside her leaned closer, his gaze fixed upon her lowered face.
“Such a display of emotion.”
His voice carried heat beneath the amusement.
When Deidra finally looked at him, the intensity in his stare nearly scorched her where she stood.
Amusement glittered in those green eyes.
Predatory.
And suddenly, Deidra felt as though she were standing before a serpent preparing to swallow her whole.
- Writer
