Chapter Four: We meet again

"There, all done," Charlotte's make-up artist said after he finished dolling her up. "You look fantastic," he complimented as he took a picture of her to brag about her on his social media.

Charlotte looked at herself in the mirror and liked what she saw. She was wearing a long black strapless dress which showed a little bit of her cleavage. The dress hugged her body bringing out her curves.

Her long hair had been straightened and it was touching her back. Her make-up artist did a bold and smoky eye make-up for Charlotte. In one word she looked stunning.

She looked at the time and saw that she was already running late as the party had already started.

The rest of her family were already at the party. "Wish me luck," she requested as she headed downstairs where a limo was waiting for her.

Charlotte took a deep breath as her car entered the Gerano Mansion. She was finally here. In a few moments from now, she would be meeting Sebastian Gerano and just thinking about it made her anxiety return.

The anxiety she was feeling now was far greater than the one she normally had before a fashion show.

The driver parked the car and a guard opened the door. Charlotte came out of the car and was immediately greeted by the flashes of cameras.

It stunned her for a second before she regained her composure as she was already used to the paparazzi taking photos of her.

They were screaming her name from all corners, requesting for her attention.

However, Charlotte who was already feeling sick with anxiety just smiled and allowed them to take her pictures for a little while before heading into the mansion.

She wandered around the mansion aimlessly as she wasn't ready to talk to anyone before she heard her mother calling her. She walked over to her mom happy that she had finally seen her. "Hey mom," she greeted as she approached her.

"Finally, you're here. What took you so long? I have been waiting for you. The Geranos have been asking to see you," Martha said so fast that it took a little while for Charlotte to process what her mother just said.

Martha took her daughter's hand and dragged her. "Come," she said. "Let's go and meet the Geranos." Charlotte followed her mother without a word. They headed into the dinner room and walked towards a couple.

Charlotte recognized Alexander Gerano as they got closer. "Alexander," her mother called as they got to where they were.

Alexander and his wife Victoria turned. "You've been asking to see Charlotte, well here she is," Martha said excitedly.

"Charlotte," Alexander greeted warmly with a smile on his face. "We finally meet." For someone who was one of the most feared businessmen, Charlotte was surprised by how welcoming Alexander was.

"Hello Mrs and Mrs Gerano," Charlotte greeted back nervously.

"No no Charlotte," said Victoria. "Don't be so formal with us. You should call me mom from now on. After all, we are going to be in-laws."

Victoria gestured her hands for a hug and Charlotte felt awkward but she walked over and hugged her. She was starting to get angry.

Why was the Geranos still referring to her as their daughter in law when she had outrightly refused their marriage proposal?

She let go of Victoria and smiled sweetly even though she was burning inside. "Happy birthday ma'am," said Charlotte, refusing to call her mom.

Alexander looked around the dinner room looking for his son. "Where is Sebastian?"

"He went upstairs to receive a call," Victoria answered. "I'm so sorry that he is keeping you waiting. He'll be down shortly."

Charlotte wasn't complaining about Sebastian not being there. "It's okay. Umm, please excuse my mother and I." She then took her mother away from the Geranos and to a quiet place.

"Mom, what's going on? Why are the Geranos still referring to me as their daughter in law even after I rejected the marriage?" She asked irritably.

"Well..." Martha started but stopped as she did not know how to tell her daughter that she hadn't told the Geranos about her rejecting the marriage.

"Mom, what are you hiding?" Charlotte asked suspiciously seeing how nervous her mother was acting.

"They do not know that you've already rejected the marriage," Martha finally revealed.

"What?" Charlotte screamed so loud that her voice echoed in the hallway. "Why haven't you informed them yet? she asked, not bothering to hide her irritation.

"Well, I was going to tell them till I met Sebastian," Martha confessed.

Charlotte's eyes widened with shock. "You've already met Sebastian?"

"Yeah, I met him before you arrived." She got closer to Charlotte and held her hand. "Charlotte, he is really nice contrary to what the media says about him."

Charlotte yanked her hand away from her mother's hand. "So what if the media was wrong about him? What does that have to do with you not telling the Geranos about my decision?"

She suddenly gasped as she realized what was going on in her mother's mind. "You want me to get married to him don't you?"

Martha didn't say anything but that was enough confirmation for Charlotte.

"You have got to be kidding me mom. What happened to me choosing what I want?!" she asked in irritation.

"Listen Charlotte," her mother started gently. "I know I said that but you need to give this proposal a chance to..."

"I'll never accept this proposal! Never! So you better go in there and reject the proposal," Charlotte said before storming out.

She couldn't go back into the party as she was feeling suffocated. She ran out of the mansion and into the garden.

She was close to tears. She had not expected her mother to do such a thing. Everyone wanted her to get married to Sebastian without taking her opinion into consideration.

She didn't want to get married to Sebastian but that didn't seem to matter.

He must have already agreed to the wedding which was why her mother agreed to it too.

Someone suddenly touched Charlotte making her shriek in fear. She lost her balance and fell due to fright.

Charlotte closed her eyes waiting to hit the floor but it didn't happen. She opened her eyes slowly and realized that a pair of arms was holding her preventing her from falling.

She looked at the man who was holding her and her eyes widened in shock when she saw who had caught her. "You!" She exclaimed accusingly.

"We meet again Miss Brooks," the man said in a cold voice that sent chills down her body.

Charlotte regained her balance and the man let go of her. She adjusted her dress trying to get rid of the sensations that were tingling in her body.

She took a deep breath before looking at the man again. "What are you doing here? Are you stalking me?" She pointed her finger at him.

"Do you really think I do not have anything better to do that I would stalk you?" The man asked, looking at Charlotte with an expressionless face; his cold blue eyes staring at her so intently that it made her shift uncomfortably.

Ugh! Charlotte groaned inwardly. Why was this man having such an effect on her?

"Ok then, if you're not following me, then what are you doing out here?" Charlotte asked not wanting to lose.

The man put his hands in his pockets and scoffed. "I have as much right to be here as you Miss Brooks," he answered arrogantly as he ran his fingers through his hair.

Charlotte was smitten by his actions. He looked so hot right now. A naughty thought suddenly flashed through her mind.

Charlotte immediately snapped out of the trance the handsome stranger had put her in and she mentally scolded herself for having such a perverted thought. She needed to get out there and fast.

Without saying anything to the stranger, Charlotte turned intending to go back into the mansion but Sebastian had other plans as he grabbed her waist and with one smooth pull, she landed back in his arms.

"Let me go!" said Charlotte as she struggled to break free from Sebastian's grasp, but she couldn't as his grip was too strong for her.

"Struggling will only make it worse Miss Brooks."

Sebastian's lips curved into a smile seeing how nervous he was making Charlotte. 'This is only the beginning,' he thought to himself.

"Am I making you nervous?" He asked Charlotte.

"Me? Nervous?" Charlotte could feel her cheeks burning and her heart was pounding in her chest.

She wondered if Sebastian could feel it as she was so close to him. His hand which was on her waist went upwards to her back sending shivers down her spine.

"I can feel your heart pounding, I'm sure it's because of me," Sebastian said teasingly.

He was really having fun just by doing that. He had never imagined that teasing a woman would be so fun.

"It's not because of you." Charlotte said and scolded herself for not sounding convincing enough.

"Oh really?" Sebastian's eyes glinted with satisfaction. He knew that his closeness was having an effect on Charlotte.

After all, he was the first man who had ever gotten this close to her. He found that out after asking his men to investigate her.

Charlotte raised her head up to look at the man who was holding her in his arms. 'God, he is so tall!' She mumbled to herself.

Sebastian bent and leaned in towards Charlotte till their faces were inches apart.

He then traced her face with his fingers stopping at her lips. Charlotte's mind had gone blank at this point and her senses were tingling with excitement.

She didn't understand what the stranger was doing to her but she liked it. She gulped softly and unconsciously closed her eyes waiting for what would happen next.

Sebastian looked at Charlotte unable to understand why he had gotten this close to her. He had approached her with the intention of just teasing her. He didn't plan to get so close to her.

They were so close that they could feel each other's breaths but he had no intention to pull away and this bothered him. The sound of glass breaking behind Charlotte made both of them come to their senses.

Sebastian quickly let go of Charlotte when he saw who was behind her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you," the person apologized and Charlotte turned to look at the person who had stopped her from making the biggest mistake of her life.

She was shocked when she saw that it was her arch enemy Amy Williams. How the hell was she invited to such an event? Little did Charlotte and the Geranos know that an invitation was 'accidentally' sent to Amy all thanks to Sebastian. 

Naturally, Victoria was shocked to see Amy at her party as she didn't remember inviting her but it would have been rude of her to have Amy thrown out and so, she just allowed her to stay.

Charlotte's urge to get out of the garden increased as the last person she wanted to be around with was Amy.

"Excuse me," Charlotte said and quickly went back into the mansion.

Amy turned to face Sebastian after Charlotte was out of sight. "What the hell were you doing with that bitch?!" She yelled angrily.

"I need to get close to her if I want her to say yes to this marriage," Sebastian answered nonchalantly.

"There was no need to get that close to her, Sebastian. You would have kissed her if I hadn't interrupted!"

"Listen woman, you asked me to get married to her so don't get angry at me for almost kissing her. It's not going to be the last time if I'm getting married to her".

Sebastian then stormed back into the mansion after saying this. He didn't want the marriage to happen but because of Amy, he accepted the proposal.

She had better learn to keep her emotions in check if she wanted this marriage to happen.

"Ahh," Amy yelled in anger. Sebastian hardly got angry at her. He was like a puppet in her hand who always did her bidding but he was already changing just a few minutes after meeting Charlotte.

Amy clenched her fists and gritted her teeth in anger. 'Charlotte Brooks, I'll make you pay soon for all you have done to me, I promise."

Charlotte went back into the mansion looking for her mother. She needed to get out of this party.

After a few minutes of searching, she still hadn't found her mother and her brother and his wife weren't in sight. 'Shit!' Charlotte cursed in anger.

The noisy mansion suddenly became quiet. Charlotte turned and saw Alexander in the middle of the hall and beside him was his wife.

"Hello everyone, can I have your attention?" Everyone was now staring at him, giving him their attention.

"Firstly, my wife and I would like to thank all of you for coming today. It really means a lot to us and secondly, I would like you to welcome the newest member of the Gerano family; my future daughter in law and Sebastian's fiancee; Charlotte Brooks."

The whole hall was taken aback by what Alexander said for a second before it burst into excitement and everyone started clapping.

They started looking for Charlotte who was still in shock over what Alexander said. Why would he make such an announcement without asking for her opinion first?

It was easier for her to reject this marriage when only the two families were involved but Alexander had informed the whole world that she was going to be his son's wife.

It would cause a huge controversy if the wedding didn't happen.

Charlotte was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realize that the spotlight was already on her and that everyone was looking at her.

It wasn't until someone held her hand that Charlotte snapped out of her thoughts.

She looked at who was holding her hand and saw that it was the man she was with a few moments ago. She tried to free herself from his grasp but his grip only tightened.

He bent down to her ear. "Smile, everyone is watching you," he whispered and Charlotte did as she was told.

Everyone in the hall was shocked to see Sebastian behave so caring to her. He was a cold and arrogant man who was hardly seen with a woman let alone the famous model Charlotte Brooks.

The same applied to Charlotte who had never been seen around Sebastian or any other man so how were these two getting married?

Some immediately assumed that their marriage was a contract between the two families but they started to have doubts seeing how Sebastian was staring so lovingly at Charlotte.

"Come Sebastian," Alexander beckoned to Charlotte.

"Ok dad," Sebastian answered. Charlotte then realized that the man that was holding her hand was Sebastian Gerano.

She looked at him and saw him grinning at her. "We officially meet, Charlotte... "