Chapter 3

"Every woman is a rebel."

-Oscar Wilde-

***

Ana was seated in front of the vanity mirror, beside her was Dana, her caretaker who had been caring for her since she was born. The elderly woman gently tapped her shoulder while looking in the mirror alongside her. A proud smile was plastered on her face.

“Look at you, as youthful as the day you turned seventeen. It seems that your face had stopped aging. You look as beautiful as your mother, you will definitely stand out tonight. Everyone will look at you and admire you. My beautiful dove.”

At the same time, Ana’s face was hiding worry, behind her small, forced smile was a young woman who was scared for her life. Though her face was beautifully polished with makeup and she was wearing the most beautiful gown a young woman could ever ask for, she was drowned in disguised sorrow. Her heart was uneasy and to be honest if she could just back out from the circumstance her family had put her in she would gladly do so without a second thought.

Yet that night she had to be strong and swallow her fears. Since it was supposed to be her happy night. They were holding out a party to have Ana and Anton meet for the first time. For some such party might seem excessive, but they came from a rather conservative upper class Russian family who believed that such importance should be done properly, especially if the two were going to end up spending the rest of their lives together, they needed to have a good first impression of each other.

Her father had made sure to hire the best people to prepare for the night. The party was going to be held in their residence and they would host Anton alongside some of the other family members and close friends they had simply as witnesses.

Having other people around would make everything more real and Grigory was no fool, he knew if there were others his daughter would behave better since she would never dare to bring shame and disgrace to the family’s name by rejecting him during their first meet.

It had put a tremendous amount of pressure on her. She really did not want to step out of the room, her breathing was heavy and the weight from her dress only made everything even worse. Still, she was Anastasia Orlovskaya. She was the only daughter of Grigory Orlovsky who was renowned not only for her beauty, but for her intelligence and pleasant character. She had to play by that role for the sake of her family’s name.

When Dana realized there was no smile on Ana’s face, her smile dissipated and was quickly replaced by a look of worry. Her grip on Ana’s shoulder tightened and she asked her what was actually wrong.

She couldn’t possibly tell her that she wished to cancel everything. No, it wasn’t that easy. What she needed to do right then was to pretend that everything was fine and made sure that everyone was happy and content first before anything else. It was more than a personal problem, it was a life or death family business matter. She knew exactly what she needed to do. Doing it though, was a difficult task.

“I’m just a little nervous, that’s all.” Once again she forced a smile and then suddenly there was a knock on the door.

“Come in.” the door was opened and Alexander entered the room in his guard suit. He slightly polished himself up a little bit as well just to make himself look more proper in front of the other guests, when he stepped into the room and laid his eyes on Ana for the first time he nearly went speechless.

He knew his Anya had always been beautiful and heaven knows she was an angel, but that night she looked exceptional, there was just something about the way she was dressed that enhanced the natural beauty she possessed. It made her even more innocent looking than she already was and he didn’t even think it was possible.

“Sorry to disturb you, but the guests have arrived and they are waiting for you in the dining room, Anya.” Alexander had to clear his throat before speaking for the man was bewitched and astonished by her beauty. Ana rose from her seat and let out a pretend smile as she slowly nodded her head and walked toward Alexander.

The two of them quickly disappear from behind the door and as they were walking down he could not help but compliment her on her beauty.

“You look stunning, Anya. I am sure everyone would appreciate your presence.” Though deep down Alexander had wished the sight was meant for himself, he dared not confess his desire to her as Ana turned her head and whispered.

“You already know the truth, Alexander, only you in this entire household know and understand my feelings regarding this whole madness. You know I never wanted this, for heaven sake I barely even know the man!” Alexander could have sworn she nearly saw Ana cried but she was holding it in. She would never cry in front of other people, especially not when she was a grown up and about to face several important people in Russia. She simply could not let her feelings get in the way.

Once she arrived on top of the stairs, she took a deep breath and slowly took one step down, holding on to her gown so it didn’t cause her to trip as she was climbing down the stairs. All eyes were immediately turned on her. She put on a false, but convincing smile as she walked toward the dining table where her seat was already arranged. She was to be seated right next to Anton, and for the first time she saw the man she was betrothed to.

Anton was not exactly the tallest man she had ever seen, in fact he was one or two centimeter shorter than Alexander, yet he possessed this composed masculine air around him that demanded respect at the first sight. The man had a clean stubble around his chiseled jaw and his hair dark brown almost black and he had this slightly rogue stare on his blue eyes that could easily pierce anyone who was staring at it too long. His skin was slightly more on the olive side, in fact he almost didn’t look Russian from the first sight, he looked more like one of those Mediterranean people. Although thanks to the cold weather he remained slightly on the paler side.

He was handsome but not in a safe conventional way, it was his air that made him appear charming and charismatic, yet Ana was not exactly impressed. Having gone through years to gain International Public Relation degree had allowed her the opportunity to meet with all kinds of people and she knew exactly just from the way Anton moved that he was someone who would never take no for an answer, a stubborn yet composed man who would do anything to get what he wanted.

Ana knew being with this man was going to be a challenge but she was not going to let her first impression of him to cloud her judgement, it was only fair if she gave him a chance, although she knew her intuition was rarely ever wrong. She walked up to him and he immediately took her hand and brought it closer to his lips, kissing the back of her hand like a good gentleman and pulled her seat so she could sit down comfortably.

“It’s certainly pleasant to finally meet you, Anastasia. Your father had told me several things about you before and I myself, have seen your picture, it was clear in my mind that you must be a beauty, but now after looking at you in person, the picture couldn’t even capture half of your charm. You look lovely.” He complimented her, not shying away from the fact that his compliment was heard by nearly everyone around them.

“It’s nice to meet you too, sir.” She called him that for she didn’t want to call him on the first name basis like he did to her, but Anton quickly told her no.

“Please, call me Anton.” She only smiled as a response and after her little conversation with him was over, she turned around her and saw all of her family members staring at her, she knew they were observing her and from the corner of her eyes, she could catch glimpses of empathy from her brothers, who grew up protecting her like a treasure, who understood exactly how she was feeling at the time even though she barely spoke to them about it.

She hated everything that was going on at that moment, good thing she was able to handle her composure and went through the night without any problems.

In the middle of the dinner she excused herself to the bathroom with Alexander following her like usual, for he was his guard and it was by rule that he must stay by her side at any time. As she walked out of the room she could feel Anton’s stare at them. It appeared the man was watching how the two of them reacted around each other. He was keeping his judgement to himself but deep down Anton had his own thoughts and feeling about the whole sight

Alexander and Anastasia had no idea that the day was the beginning of something.