A Surprise Engagement Party

Emily’s POV.

As soon as the clock on my nightstand hits 5 PM, I push the duvet off myself and scramble into the ensuite.

I have been waiting for the longest time for my alarm to blare off since I got a tip-off from my adopted sister, Brenda.

Brenda is sick, and I always give in to her demands at every turn which our parents tacitly agree to, but thanks to her kind gesture, I soon forget my resentment towards her.

This morning, she passed me an invitation to Oliver’s party for tonight. I had wondered the reason my adopted sister would be inviting me to my own boyfriend’s party until she revealed it was a surprise engagement party and since then, I have been anxious.

Oliver and I have been dating for three years and although he has been closed off most of the time, I give him a plus thanks to his ability to keep a good number of our dates, and this surprise engagement party he is throwing me. It’s been long overdue.

I hop into the shower to exfoliate first. I need my skin glowing when Oliver pops the question and slips the ring into my finger.

I pick out the most expensive outfit I own in my closet; it is The Andamane Providence detailed shoulder midi dress in brown, Oliver’s favourite colour of me. It is only right that I wear it.

Next, I sit in front of my dresser to do a quick makeup before releasing my black waist-length wavy hair from the net. One glance at the mirror and I know I’m ready for this evening.

It’s 7 PM by the time I arrive at the DELUXE event centre. I had earlier checked on Brenda for the party but was told that she left the house two hours ago. It’s strange she isn’t coming to my party after passing the invite to me.

I take a deep breath in, release it two seconds later and give myself a pep talk before venturing into the building.

I show my invitation card and go through the security outside the hall before I’m allowed in.

I am surprised to see a bunch of people whom I do not recognize, in fancy clothes and expensive accessories and immediately, something feels off to me.

My priority is finding Oliver in this sea of people, so I stop a passing waiter and grab a glass of champagne from his tray.

“Excuse me, have you seen Oliver?”

As soon as I posed that question, the waiter looked past my shoulder and pointed to the distance. Immediately, I follow his outstretched arm to the stage and what my eyes see, plant my feet on the floor.

My eyes blink as my jaw drops in shock. Oliver is all smiles with Brenda’s hand hooked around his left arm. My adopted sister and my boyfriend are whispering happily to each other while I stand in the crowd watching them with a mix of confusion and shock.

Immediately, I drop the glass of champagne and don’t care what anyone thinks of me as I push my way past the number of people in front of me to the stage. I am almost out of breath by the time I stop in front of the ‘couple’.

Oliver looks shocked to see me with his brows shooting to the top of his head. On the other hand, I catch a smug smile at the corner of Brenda’s lips.

At the same time, she lifts her left hand and plants it on my boyfriend’s biceps and that is when I catch the diamond ring on her middle finger which she intended for me to see.

Rage brews like an incoming storm in my belly as I finally wrap my head around Brenda’s orchestrated plan within a minute.

My boyfriend threw my adopted sister an engagement party and in turn, she invited me without his knowledge. She told me it was a surprise engagement party, and thinking about it now, she never said it was for me. She meant that I would be surprised by the party and I must say that I’m indeed shocked.

“Emily, what are you doing here?” Oliver asks me with a hint of annoyance in his tone as he finally recovered from the shock of seeing me.

I point at their interlocked arms and ask as my gaze moves between them, “What is the meaning of this?” I don’t need a mirror to see I already have a death glare on.

Instantly, Brenda wipes the smug off her lips and pretends to be apologetic and afraid of me. “I-I…” she stammers, seemingly unable to get words off her lips as the crowd turns their heads towards our direction. Their chattering dies down as they try to understand what is going on.

“Don’t say a thing. I will explain to her.” Oliver quickly hushes her with the softest gaze I have ever seen on him. Something pricks my heart realizing what that means. He loves her.

In my anguish, Oliver turns his attention to me. “I know I should have said this sooner, but Brenda is the woman I love, not you.”

Alarm bells went off in my head as I suddenly lost my mind. I don’t think twice before grabbing Oliver by his maroon-coloured suit.

“You beast!” I scream, eliciting strong whispers from the crowd behind me. My eyes are red as I stare hard at Oliver who throws his gaze around. I know he is ashamed and can’t wait to throw me out of his party for ruining it. “How could you do this to me? What about our family’s agreement?” I finish regardless of his thoughts.

“I don’t care about any of that!” Oliver raises his voice at me as Brenda flinches by his side and taps his arm. He fixes an apologetic gaze on her and she leans her face towards his ear. I don’t hear what she whispers to him, but the next moment, he grabs my wrist.

“Come with me,” he said, but I immediately wriggled my hand out of his grip.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” I warn as I release his suit. The part I grabbed looks crumbled and I couldn't care less about it. “You’ve been cheating on me with my sister and today, you engaged her and invited me to see. How could you be so evil?!”

“Keep your voice down!” A vein pops in his forehead as he tries to keep me from embarrassing him further. “Are you trying to force yourself on me? What part of ‘I don’t love you’ do you not understand? Our families had an agreement, and I am also fulfilling it by choosing to be with the woman I love.”

I stagger a little as a scoff escapes my lips. I can’t believe he is saying all this to me. This isn’t the Oliver I used to know.

While I’m reeling in the shock, he steps closer to me and whispers in the voice only I can hear, “I checked your medical records and saw that your kidney matches Brenda’s. If you give one to her, I promise to marry you.”

As soon as I heard that, I didn’t think twice before lifting my hand and this time around, I made sure to land a tight slap on his cheek and enjoy the sound echo in the hall as everyone stills.