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058: The Charity Gala (III)
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2021-09-10 23:58:07"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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"That was some good show." Asher mumbled out as soon as Ayla settled down on a stool across the bar counter."I hope you enjoyed it." Even she herself couldn't believe the words which were flowing out of her mouth. Not only did her brain to mouth filter stop working, she had managed to reach another new level of shamelessness."I didn't know that my lady boss was such a little, feisty maiden." He remarked with a couple of low chuckles only to earn a glare from the woman."Why aren't you up there with him?" He continued, changing the topic of their conversation to a more serious one."I hate getting attention to myself. Moreover, I have had enough of being on the front page of the paper for one week." She recalled the recent events and couldn't help the shiver that ran down her spine. She brought her arms to hug herself, trying to provide some warmth to her exposed skin."Make me a drink, Asher." She looked up to meet h
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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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[The following chapter includes mention of sexual assault. Kindly read at your own discretion.] "Let me tell you a story, kitten." He pushed himself off the wall, dusting his coat in the process. Gavin walked to the other side of the room to pick a chair and dragged it to the centre of the room. He settled down on it so that he was facing Ayla. "What story?" Despite the fact that she was scared for her life, she didn't show it on her face. She knew that she had to put up a brave front until Claude could reach her. He would realize sooner or later that she was missing. With a smile, Gavin began. "My father and a friend of his started a business together. The kind which was to grow into a big one over time. But the old man got played by his so-called friend. My father spent everything we had or owned on his dream. When our family w
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"Because it looks like I interrupted something important."Her frown was the only thing which Claude could see but the helplessness which filled her eyes was enough of a giveaway for him. She was feeling guilty for interrupting their meeting. Well, it was more of a tour now. The actual meeting had already been wrapped up a while ago. It was what had Claude believing that her interruption was not going to have any repercussions. Even if there were any, he didn't care."It's fine. Don't worry." Claude rubbed his hand up and down her back to calm her down. Turning his attention to the group, he began. "Apologies for the interruption everyone, but let me introduce you all to my girlfriend." He was smart enough to not announce her name to the team. Though he wondered where Ayla was going with the secrecy."I am sure she must have a name." It was Mr. D'Souza who spoke up. There was a small smile playing acros
