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058: The Charity Gala (III)
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2024-10-29 19:42:56"You gotta be kidding me." Ayla mumbled out an annoyed groan as she eyed her surroundings. She was somewhat thankful for the privacy that the tinted windows were providing her and Claude.
Their car was parked outside the main entrance of the hotel where the event was supposed to be held. Atkinson Corp. Two of the adjoining ball halls were booked for the entirety of two days so that nothing could go wrong.
"It's going to be alright, Ayla." Claude reached out to caress her bare shoulder, trying to calm her jittery nerves down. "Why are you getting so worked up?"
"There are so many cameras out there…" Her voice trailed off as she tried to gather her thoughts. Her mind was already hazy with how stressful she was finding it all. She was never one to do good in between a large crowd. Especially when she was the center of all the attention.
"That's normal for an event as big as ours." Claude kept caressing her right shoulder in slo
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Claude watched her fiddling with the fabric of her dress as her eyes roamed around the wide hall which was filled with people. He wanted to make sure that all of his attention was on her, but it was really starting to get really hard. There were many people around who were waiting to have a conversation with him, and he had to entertain his guests even though he would rather get done with the night already.Another reason for his tolerance was the event itself. If it was some other high-end ball, he would have already left after making an appearance even if he was the host. But he couldn't do the same for tonight. Tonight's event meant a lot to him; it was more like a personal cause than bringing some good PR for the company."Hey." He leaned down and whispered next to her ear as his hold around her waist tightened ever so slightly. "You look like you are about to puke." Now that they were given some privacy, he decided to voice his thoughts out.
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Sighing out loud, the bartender gave into her pleas and began preparing her a drink. "If you don't mind me asking this, why are you all alone by yourself." He questioned Ayla, bringing his face to rest on his propped up palms. "I am pretty sure you are someone's date for the night. Or at least you were." A frown began to appear in between his plucked eyebrows as he eyed the lady who was on her fifth drink. "I am still someone's date." Ayla corrected him with a roll of her eyes. "But that someone is busy talking about business with a whole lot of other someones." She chuckled lightly at her own words. "Must suck to be you if you guys are in a relationship." He disappeared from her sight after dropping in a comment to serve someone else. Within minutes, he was once again standing before Ayla with a tired look on his face. "Shouldn't there be someone helping you with the orders?" Ayla spoke up before downing on the rest of her drink, an
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"There's one more thing though." He heard her mumble with her clasped hands. Before he could question or react, he felt her lips on his neck and her body against his.Claude hissed through his clenched teeth as his hands instinctively tightened around her waist, pulling her body flushed against his. Her arms were trapped in between their bodies."Ayla!" A warning growl left his lips as he felt her soft, plump lips move over his neck. He wasn't expecting her to start nibbling on the skin right then and there before the eyes of so many."Hmm…" Without bringing her actions to a stop, Ayla hummed against his neck. She would suck on the spot before grazing it with her teeth."What are you doing?" Claude mumbled next to her ear when she continued her sweet torture on his neck. He wanted her to stop with it just as much as he wanted her to continue torturing his souls."Don't you like it?" She mumbled a response withou
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"Can we go home already?" Ayla looked up at the man, her lips pursed together as she gave the man a pleading look. "We can't." Claude replied to her briefly in a whisper before turning his attention back to the people who were waiting to greet him on his way out. A few of them congratulated him for the success of the event, while a couple of others were more focused on getting to know the lady who was clinging to his arm as if her life depended on it. "Please." She leaned against his side and wrapped her arms around his neck before pressing her lips against his cheeks. "Pretty. Please." She punctuated each word with a soft kiss on his cheek. "Ayla!" Claude looked down at her, glaring. "Behave." He warned her with a shake of his head but his hand never left her waist, making sure that she didn't move away from him. The last thing he wanted to fret over were her whereabouts given how drunk she was. It was truly a wonder that she was able to wa
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"So? Can we talk about the matter now?" Claude didn't want to burst her little, happy bubble, but he knew that avoiding the conversation wasn't the way to go about it. He needed her to confide in him."Do we have to?" Ayla turned around to face him but didn't stop. She was now walking backwards, taking small steps. She watched him as Claude slowed down a little to match her pace."Yes, we do." He gave her a firm nod. "You can't expect me to know things when you are not willing to talk to me about them." He shook his head before heaving out a frustrated sigh.Claude knew what he was asking was a little too much of her, but he needed to know all of it to make sure that she was living a good life. He still remembered how he accidentally got to know about the problems she was facing back in her college. If it wasn't for the fact that he decided to follow his gut feeling after Ethan informed him about Ayla's text, he might still be clueless. And to
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She gulped a lump down her throat before continuing."It only got worse when she was bedridden. Reporters would find me and start firing questions at me. It was as if my life revolved around escaping from them.""Why didn't you tell your father about it? I am sure he would have done something about it." Claude couldn't stop himself from interrupting her as he hugged her body closer. They were no longer sitting in the same position as earlier. Claude had his legs parted open, bent at the knees while his arms held Ayla securely in place who sat in between."I didn't want to trouble him at first, but I eventually came clean about everything before him. It was getting too much for my eleven year old self. He appointed some bodyguards to ensure that no reporter would come within a mile of me." A loud sigh followed her words."What happened next?" Claude pushed her a little knowing fully
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