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096: The Family (VII)
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2021-10-12 23:59:57Under the warm hues and pale lighting, the bustling only grew more and more dense. Everyone seemed to be in a rush, focusing on finishing the assigned tasks just in time for the event to start. The guests had already started arriving while the final touches were being made.
"Are you sure it's only your grandfather's birthday that is being celebrated today?" Ayla mumbled to the man who was standing next to her. She turned her attention to him, eyeing him.
"I may seem a little over the top, but that's how it is every year." Claude replied to her, keeping his gaze trained on the people downstairs.
"You got used to it." A sigh escaped her lips. "I don't know how long it's going to take me to be so casual about things like it."
It wasn't breaking news to Claude. He knew already how much she despised being the center of attention, and tonight's party was not going to be anything but that. Even though it was being arranged for his old
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"Behave!"With a warning glare, Ayla smacked his chest with the back of her hand."Give me one good reason." Claude didn't seem to be minding the drop in her tone. He continued to tease his little wife."People are staring…," she trailed off as her eyes darted around them. Despite the fact that they were merely occupying a corner since neither of them wanted to be around the family members, there were still too many eyes trained on their figures."That's not good enough for me to keep my hands off of my gorgeous wife." Claude bemused with a twinkle in his eyes. "Do you not realize the effect you have on me?" His eyes trailed down from the curve of her neck to her bare shoulders. "I like this." He breathed out in a whisper as his hand tightened around her waist."Like what?" Ayla failed to follow his words and found herself questioning the man. She w
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After a whole bunch of introductions and exchanges, Ayla found her eyes looking around in search of a certain man who was still nowhere to be found.She was starting to get worried about his sudden disappearance. What could have held him up for so long? She was pretty sure that there was no way a couple of greetings could take this long."Ayla?" A deep, aged voice pulled her out of her thoughts, bringing her attention back to her surroundings. "You alright?""I am fine, Gramps." She passed the old man a forced smile, not knowing what else to say to him."You are missing my idiot grandson, are you not?" The old man scoffed before taking a small sip of his drink. "How dare he ignore you for this long?""Gramps…," Ayla drawled out as she reached forward to give him a side hug, "Claude can never ignore me." She spoke out loud with utter faith. "Something must have come up." She added after a second as her eyes darte
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"Claude!"The voice was shrill enough to make Ayla's eardrums ring in its wake. A figure rushed closer to her as she forced herself to stand straight without Claude's support. It wasn't long before his warmth was swept away from her as the lady in red squeezed herself in between the two of them."I can't believe you are here." She began to ramble about it as she threw her arm around Claude's neck, hugging him close without any reservations. "It's been so long since the last time I saw you." She continued as she leaned back to have a better look at the man's face who had his attention focused elsewhere."I heard about what happened to you. I am so sorry. I still can't believe it that they forced you into marrying a complete stranger." The young woman in red was clearly oblivious to the presence of the other three people who were only glaring daggers into her back."It was not l
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"I thought he would have at least mentioned me before tying the knot with you. After all, I was the only one he was in a serious relationship with. It was serious enough for him to propose to me…""Selene!" Claude let out a warning growl as he stared down at the lady in red, his hold around Ayla tightening as if he was scared of letting her go."What?" Selene scoffed. "I am only stating the truth here, Claude. What are you so scared of?" She rolled her eyes as she took a step closer to the couple, her eyes focused on the man in black, "don't make it sound like you are actually scared of losing her because I am not buying that sh*t. If you are forgetting, I actually witnessed the fear in your eyes firsthand when I said no to you." Her chin was raised up in the air as she looked down at Ayla who seemed to be least bothered by her sudden declaration."Claude…," a soft mumble escaped her lips, deman
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"I wasn't ready to settle down back then. We were barely adults at that time with no future of our own. I wanted to wait, but Claude wanted to make us permanent. That's why I said no to him when he asked me to marry him."Ayla continued to stare down at Selene as she pursed her lips together, her mind processing Selene's words. After a good minute, her pursed lips finally broke into a smirk."In that case, I owe you a thank you it seems." Ayla mumbled out with a scoff. "If it wasn't for you turning him down, I would have never been able to marry him.""Don't act like you had a choice. You might be able to fool him, but I know better." Selene refused to back down even after seeing how her words didn't affect the couple at all."You can think whatever you want, Selene." Ayla rolled her eyes as she took a step back, finding herself back into Claude's arms. "It only matters to me if he's the one thinking the same about me." She was only spea
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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
