Chapter 7 - Rudeness

Everyone heard someone's voice but couldn't see the person because of the darkness. Suddenly the spotlight fell on that person and Kate gasped seeing that person.

She quickly ran towards him and hugged him tightly.

"You are here, dad?" Kate asked not believing her eyes and that old man smiled at her.

"How can I miss my daughter's birthday?" He exclaimed with happiness and kissed her forehead.

He looks old but his smile is so gorgeous. Now I got to know where Ethan got his handsomeness! Jennifer thought looking at the father-son duo.

Why the hell am I thinking of him? She thought and shook her head trying to remove his thoughts.

Mrs. King introduced Jennifer to some guests and Jennifer was feeling very uncomfortable as everyone was thinking that she is Ethan's girlfriend. Her jaw started hurting because of saying that she isn't his girlfriend, again and again!

"Dad, meet Jennifer." Kate said, dragging her father towards Jennifer who smiled nervously.

"Hello, sir! Nice to meet you." Jennifer said politely, smiling at him.

"Do you work for me?" He asked in a hard tone and Jennifer got confused by his words.

"No, sir." She said timidly, getting more nervous and she was having the urge to cry because of his harsh tone.

"If you don't work for me, then why are you calling me sir?" He asked harshly and she shivered lightly.

Tears were pooling up in her eyes and she was trying her best not to make them fall.

"Sorry, sir. I don't know what to call you that's why." She said looking at her feet and biting her lips hard to stop her sobbing.

"It will be Mr. King for you." He said rudely and dragged Kate away without hearing what she wanted to say!

Jennifer stood there not knowing what to do! She wanted to escape from everyone's gaze so she did!

"I want my mom." She murmured while running towards the backyard where the swimming pool was.

She dipped her legs into the pool and sat on the edge.

I shouldn't have come here. I will go away, Jennifer thought sobbing hard and she wanted someone to pacify her like her mom does when she is sad.

When she stood up, her eyes fell on Ethan who was staring at her like a hawk.

"Who gave you the right to call my mother mom?" He asked coldly, glaring at her and she wiped her tears.

"Is this why you and your father are talking to me so rudely? But your mom told me to call her mom." Jennifer said and sobbed hard.

Oh, God! I am having my headache again, She thought, groaning in pain.

Whenever she cries or gets stressed, she gets an extreme headache. She clutched her head, not able to bear the pain.

She looked at him and this time he didn't have an angry face, it was more like worried.

Why would he be worried about me? I am seeing things, She thought, chuckling sadly.

The pain was getting unbearable and she was feeling like her head was going to explode. Suddenly Ethan started walking towards her and she got scared so she started walking backward.

Suddenly he held Jennifer's hand and pulled her towards him. They were so close to each other that Ethan could hear her racing heartbeat.

She tried to move away from him but he held her hand tightly. He made her sit at the edge of the pool and he also sat beside her.

"Hold your breath." He said softly and kept his hand behind her head.

"Huh?" She looked at him confused without blinking her eyes.

"Do it." This time he said in a serious tone and she held her breath as he said.

He lowered her head near the pool and dipped her head in it. The cold water gave relief to her headache and she started feeling good.

He kept her head inside for like ten seconds then got her head out of the water. She started breathing and coughed a few times.

He was looking at her with such intensity that she couldn't look into his eyes for more than a second. Then he got up and walked away without saying anything.

Jennifer looked at his retreating back feeling confused about his behaviour. She saw Kate coming towards her and she stood up smiling at her as she didn't want her to know that she was crying.

"What are you doing here? Why is your hair wet?" Kate asked, frowning.

"I was having a headache. That's why I dipped my head into the water." Jennifer said while removing her wet hair from her face.

"I was going to cut the cake but I didn't see you. I was looking for you everywhere. Jennifer, did you feel hurt by my dad's words? I am very sorry! Bhai and dad, both of them are very protective of me. They think that you will hurt me as they did." Kate apologised sincerely, holding her hand.

"Why do they think that I would hurt you?" Jennifer asked and she could guess that something wrong happened with Kate in the past and maybe that's why Ethan never let her be friends with someone.

"I will share it some other time. Now let's go inside and enjoy the party." She said and dragged Jennifer to the party hall.

They came back to the hall and Jennifer stood beside Mrs. King, thinking that if anyone talked to her rudely then she would save her like her mom. Kate cut the cake and everyone started wishing her.

She fed the cake to everyone and also to Jennifer.

"Kate, this is for you." Jennifer said, giving her the gift which she bought for her.

"What is it?" Kate asked happily, her eyes beaming with happiness looking at the gift.

"It's not expensive but I hope you will like it." Jennifer said smiling and Kate started unwrapping the gift.

She opened the box to find a beautiful bracelet and she was shocked.

"You don't like it?" Jennifer asked, getting worried, seeing her shocked face.

"What a coincidence! Bro also gave me the same gift." Kate said with a teasing smile.

"What!" Jennifer was shocked this time.

"Yeah. He knows that I love simple things. He gave me an exact bracelet in the morning as my birthday gift." Kate said smiling and Jennifer started thinking about Ethan again.

"Don't worry. I will wear both bracelets." Kate exclaimed happily.

After a little bit of chitchat, everyone started dancing and Kate was dancing with her father. Jennifer was just standing dumbfounded not knowing what to do.

She moved her gaze to her right side to see a smirking Stefan so she quickly moved her gaze to her left side to see a glaring Ethan.