Chapter 1: Reunion

“One more!” The director yelled as flashes of cameras almost blinded Foren, though didn't stop her from giving her fierce expressions and best poses. 

Forestia Renae Frost was a model of a popular clothing brand. Sometimes, she was also taking offers from other products like makeup and accessories, skincare, or lingeries. She was known for having a beauty that anyone couldn't get tired of looking at and an hourglass body that was toned perfectly from being sporty ever since her younger days.

Hair was long and dark with a shade of brown, it fell gracefully to her shoulders down to her lower back. Her eyes were half-lidded as her deep brown orbs stared fiercely at the camera, her red cupid bow shaped lips parted a little with the corner slightly pulled up in a small smirk. Body clad in an elegant red dress that hugged all her curves, the shoot ended with the director giving her applause and compliments. 

“Excellent work, Foren! Nothing less from you!”

“Thank you so much!”

Foren went directly to her dressing room with her assistants following behind her, while her Manager was already discussing her schedule for the next two weeks. 

 “You'll be having a meeting with—”

“Wait.” Foren raised her hand when she heard her phone ringing. Letting out a sigh, the Manager let her answer the call. 

“Hello, Rissa,” Foren greeted as she sat on the couch. It was her best friend since high school, Rissa Vernon. 

“Hi, Foren! Am I bothering you? I'm sorry but I called just to remind you of our reunion!” Rissa giggled. 

Foren blinked, truly forgetting about that event if it wasn't because of this call. It was already ten days ago since Rissa notified her about their class batch reunion that would be held in a beach resort instead of a formal party in hotels. She was against the idea at first, saying that she had a hectic schedule and the fact that she didn't want to see a certain person, but Rissa was persistent to get her to come as it was the first and maybe the last time their class would meet again after years. 

Sighing in defeat, Foren nodded as she breathed out her answer. “Fine, fine. Let's just meet at the meeting place.”

“Yes, of course! Thanks, bestie!”

“Are you sure that man won't come?” She couldn't help anymore but ask. She really…didn't want to see him. Not even a shadow of him.

Rissa went silent for a moment, making Foren's heart hammer fast, but she calmed down immediately after hearing the confirmation she wanted. 

“Yup. He's already running a huge company. Aside from he's busy, he really didn't have anyone he's close with to our classmates, though of course I still sent him an invitation but haven't received any feedback from him yet.”

‘Still arrogant, huh,’ Foren thought, rolling her eyes. 

“Anyways, we'll be having a service bus so I suggest you just take a cab to get to Riona Park.”

“Noted.”

Rissa hummed happily. “Okay! See you soon, Foren! Bye!”

She stared blankly at the screen of her phone until it blacked out, wondering if attending their high school class reunion was really the right choice to do. Back in the days, she was known as someone strict and competitive so she knew there were some of them who were annoyed with her. 

Maybe they saw her as someone who loved the spotlight and labeled her as an attention-seeker. Not that they really treated her that way or told her something like that, but she couldn't help those thoughts as she knew to herself how annoyingly prideful she was. 

She was afraid she would just ruin the atmosphere or would upset some of them because of her presence. But then, it had been years. They had already matured enough. And for sure with everyone's busy life and schedule, they would attend mainly to have fun. 

‘I should be fine…’ Foren noted to herself as they prepared departure from their shooting place. ‘As long as that man won't be there, everything will be fine.’

“Manager Pia,” she called as they reached the parking lot. They stopped in front of Foren's car. “I've already told you about my three days leave, right?”

“Yes,” Pia furrowed her eyebrows. “I've moved most of them, while you lost some of the offers as those companies need a model urgently.”

“I understand.”

“Alright,” Pia smiled. “Take care of yourself and have a nice vacation.”

One thing that Foren was thankful for her job was having understanding and kind people that worked with her. 

Smiling to herself, she entered her car and brought the engine to life. She tried calling her parents to let them know about her vacation, but Foren just sighed in disappointment when none of them answered and spent even just a few minutes talking to her. 

‘They're always so busy.’

Trying to ward off those unsettling feelings, she drove off to the nearest mall to buy stuff she would bring to the resort. It was still two o'clock in the afternoon when she started shopping and nearly five o'clock when she was done and decided to get ready for her departure. 

The class agreed to meet at six in the evening at Riona Park near the Grand Canal where they would be gathered to wait for their service bus. Not only was her condo unit near the said meeting place, Foren could also easily get a cab outside the condominium.

Upon her arrival to her unit, she immediately packed her things up that filled her pink travel bag. She took a quick bath and wore jeans, a simple shirt, pink jacket, and her boots. She had thrown her bag to her shoulder when her phone rang and flashed Rissa's name on the screen. Before she could even answer it, the call ended.

Not thinking much of it, Foren left her unit and got a cab as soon as she exited the building. 

[ Why did you call? I'm already on my way. ] She messaged Rissa, but didn't receive a response from her. 

Shrugging it off, Foren focused on her sweating hands. She was nervous, but a part of her was also excited to see her former classmates. Even if she wasn't that close to them, they all graduated and parted ways on good terms. 

Except with that man. 

Foren gritted her teeth. No way. There was no way he would be there. Like what Rissa had mentioned, he wasn't friends with anyone in their class. He was arrogant, he was distant. It was impossible for him to waste his time in this reunion when he's the type of man who would choose to sit all day on his swivel chair to make millions of dollars in a day, or maybe spend his time with his women. 

She frowned at her last thought. 

Even if he was cold, Foren couldn't deny that he was popular with girls back then as he was handsome and had a well-built body, and the fact that he was the only Heir of a very powerful family. 

What more now that he had become the CEO and the one running their empire? He could have whatever he wanted. Women would be more willing to throw themselves to him, but not her. 

Foren swore that even if the two of them were the only humans that remained in this world, she would never look at him the same way other people did. 

“We've already arrived.”

Foren's train of thought was interrupted by the driver as he announced their arrival to the park. Blinking her eyes, she searched for her wallet and paid before dragging herself out of the cab. 

Her lips parted in awe as she looked around the place. Since it was already dark, the whole park was already sparkling with different colors of lights. Benches were full of couples, a group of friends, and families enjoying the bright and buzzling night of Riona. Food stalls were also full of customers. Souvenir shops were also entertaining everyone that paid interest to their items. 

There's a lot of people, and Foren was amazed. She figured all she did in her life was work and that she forgot how it felt to have fun sometimes and go to these kinds of beautiful places. 

“Forestia!” She heard someone's voice calling her name from a distance.

Squinting her eyes, Foren scanned through the pool of people until she spotted Rissa waving at her in front of a huge circular bench. In the middle of it was a tall decorative tree standing with bright LED lights wrapped around its branches and served as its vines. 

“Rissa!” Smiling widely, Foren closed their distance. She also noticed their other classmates now looking at her direction with awe and joy in their faces.

 

“You came! Oh my gosh, I'm so happy!”

“Of course, I've already promised you,” Foren chuckled. She turned to others and exchanged greetings with them. 

“Hello, Forestia! You're as gorgeous as always!”

 “I always see you in magazines! You're so cool!”

“My sister likes you very much, Foren! You're her inspiration to pursue modeling.”

And so many more greetings and compliments. Despite being flustered, she returned it with smiles and thanks. However, her smile slowly faded as she stepped more into their crowd and spotted a man she never expected to be here. 

Foren's eyes widened. Their classmates’ chatter slowly died down as they realized that the biggest rivals of their batch finally came face to face after so many years. 

In front of her stood a six feet tall man, giving her cold gazes as no sign of smile could be seen on his face. Even if being known as a big shot businessman, he was wearing a simple plain black shirt, long legs clad in white jeans with his feet protected with leather boots. On his strong shoulder was a black travel pack. 

“W-What…” Foren stuttered a word, shock was still fresh in her system. 

Emerald green eyes stared back at her, dull and cold but with a smirk of amusement pulled up on the corner of his thin lips as his eyebrow raised in mockery. A lump formed in her throat as she tried fighting back the shiver that ran down her spine and the annoyance that started forming in her chest. Eyes blinking rapidly as if pulling herself back to her senses, her head snapped to Rissa's direction. 

‘What the hell is he doing here?!’

Seemingly reading her thoughts, Rissa only gave her an apologetic smile before she whispered to her ears. 

“No one expected him to be here. We're also shocked when he arrived only a few minutes before you…”

Foren closed her eyes. She was already here and he even arrived first before her. It's not like she could shoo him away, and there's no way she would back out because that meant accepting defeat. 

No way she would accept defeat especially if it's against her rival and enemy, Adamson Rockwell.