A/N: Hey everyone, I hope you all are doing well. I am running a bit late for this update, so I would like to express my sincerest apologies for that. Like always, I am really grateful to all of you for reading this story and being a great support and encouragement. I would also like to thank Shirahane Aikawa for reviewing the last chapter. I hope you have fun reading this new chapter.
Chapter 48: New Year Party
(Leon's POV)
I looked sideways at Kate, as we were being driven to a New Year's eve party that was being hosted by her ex-fiancé, Aiden Wright. Earlier this morning when we were having breakfast, Kate's Aunt mentioned that yesterday evening Wright had visited the Richardson mansion and that Kate's mom and she received him, since everyone else was at work. He had personally came to invite all of us to this New Year's eve party and the older women had accepted his invite and confirmed our appearance at the party on behalf of us, so we had no choice but to attend the party to keep the appearance.
As always, Kate was dressed gorgeously in a formal floor length royal blue colored evening gown. The glazy fabric, probably satin or silk, of the dress was smooth and plain without any print, embroidery or embellishment, except for the two straps lined with white rhinestones on her shoulders that probably served the purpose of sleeves. The mermaid style dress fitted her bust line perfectly gradually tapering in around her waist and then curving out and around her hips, enhancing as well as presenting those perfect curves of her body, and thereafter flowed freely widening down until it reached its full length.
It had a V-shaped neckline, which although wasn't too deep but the way it showcased her delicate curves, I was sure that men would definitely find it teasing and would be compulsively drawn to admiring the sapphire necklace around her neck, that is if they get past envying it. As if that alone wasn't enough to get my engines running full speed, the dress cranked it up a notch by being backless showing off her smooth and sexy back. This dress was certainly elegant and classy but it didn't really fail to ramp up that provocative quotient pretty damn high. Although, it would have been for naught if Kate wasn't the one wearing it.
The reason my mind wasn't overloaded with inappropriate thoughts of her seductive body was because somehow her beautiful face still managed to capture my heart. Her waist length dark brown hair were left loose and styled just the way I liked it. The makeup she put on was very light that it seemed quite natural, except for her glossy dark cherry red colored lipstick, which was tempting me to have a taste of her soft juicy lips.
I was completely absorbed in adoring Kate's alluring beauty, when she pulled her silky hair to a side, making it rest on one of her shoulder. It was then that she noticed me looking in her direction. She turned in her seat to face me and I just smiled at her. She gave me a look of confusion, as if asking me what was the matter, and it took her a moment to realize that I had been just admiring her. Her eyes widened for maybe a fraction of a second, and a smile spread across her face.
Kate crossed her arms, raising one of her brows and bit her lower lip seductively, as if anticipating something to happen. It was my turn to give her a puzzled look and she tilted her head to side, giving me pretty serious look. I wasn't really sure what she was expecting, so I jerked my head asking her about it. She parted her lips to say something but decided against it and instead huffed in displeasure. She rolled her eyes and her brows knitted together in a frown, as she expressed her annoyance towards me.
Kate shot me an icy glare, which had a warmth of its own, and turned her back at me, not hiding her discontent towards me. I let out a slight laugh and shook my head a bit, not really bothered by her slight hostility towards me, since I pretty much called it upon myself. I knew for sure things would be fine once Keith's murder mystery is solved and even though Clark was behind the bars, I couldn't say that the case was solved. I knew for sure that there was still a little more that has to be resolved in this case.
Clark's involvement in the murder certainly explained the fact, why Maria, Travis and Shawn acted on a long time grudge to get rid of him. It was because Clark, who was anxious about losing his established reputation, watered the seed of hate lying dormant in the dark corners of their hearts that they agreed to get rid of Keith. But his story was full of plot holes as well. He was sure desperate to get Keith out of the way but choosing to kill him on the wedding day, when the risk of being spotted by someone was running high was raising red flags on the legitimacy of this story. Even if he was desperate to kill him, still doing it personally when he had the means to hire someone else much like what he did when trying to kill Kate would have been a much better option for him, but contrary to that he accompanied Shawn and Travis to murder Keith Richardson.
These two minor details could be overlooked with some simple explanation like that he didn't think too much about it, but the fact that his story didn't account for the time when Kate was with her dying father, I could safely claim there was more to this mystery than what meets the eye. I really didn't understand why they were trying to cover up for each other, since usually when one culprit is captured, they end up telling the names of their partners in crime but in this case the people were still tight lipped about what actually happened in the study on that wedding day, and it was my job to find it out.
Sometimes I really thought that I was thinking too much or looking too deep into it, but the fact that it might cost Kate her life made me always want to double check on things. So far we both have been lucky, she survived whatever troubles were thrown at her and I was always there to pull her out of any difficult situation, but our luck could run out anytime. I was heading down the right path but I didn't know how long it would take me to reach the end or if it would all be worth it. I looked at Kate once again and hoped, she could forgive me for all this.
Kate turned to look at me, as our car passed through the main gates of property where the party was being hosted. She stared at me for one long minute; her blue eyes piercingly looking at me as she surveyed me from head to toe. She tilted her head slightly to one side and smiled; it wasn't her warm smile or the one that she mocks people with but it was something in between. Before I could ask what she was smiling about, she took hold of my tie and moved a little closer. She adjusted my tie and straightened it to perfection. She dusted off my coat a little, even though it was unnecessary. She went on with tidying my collar a little, and I let her do that because her fingers slightly brushed against the edge of my jaw, which felt something close to her caressing it.
Kate was done with her last minute grooming me, as the car came to a stop right in front of the party venue. I unlocked the car door and got out, while one of the valet pulled the car door open for Kate. I quickly rounded off to her side and held my hand out to assist her. She took my hand and stepped out of the car, holding on to her clutch and the side of dress in other hand. Once she was out, she let go of her dress and wrapped her arm around mine. We walked on the red carpet, scaling up the steps that led to the entrance.
As we neared the entrance we could see there were a lot of people gathered near the entrance, probably other guests mixed in with the organizers of the party. When we reached the top of the steps, we gave our names to the organizers, who referenced it with the guest list they had to make sure we weren't crashing the party, before letting us through. After that we went through a very basic security check, which I got away with by showing my ID, and they showed us to our table.
I held out the chair for Kate to take a seat, before taking a chair next to her. We hadn't been sitting for too long when a waiter brought us drinks. Kate grabbed a glass of white wine whereas I opted for the glass of champagne, thanking the waiter for his service. No sooner that the waiter had left a few people came over to talk with Kate and she entertained them with a graceful smile on her face. We couldn't remain seated on the table for too long, as a lot of people wanted to talk to Kate and vice versa. She moved from one person to another, making small talks with them which were neither too personal nor too professional. For a change, she wasn't bothered by my presence and never forgot to introduce me to her acquaintances tonight.
I looked around a little when Kate was busy listening to an old lady, when I spotted Kate's aunt having a conversation with another old lady. Since I was practically bored in the party, so I tried to look for familiar faces or figure out which men and women I had seen in Kate's work place before. I recognized some of the investors and it wasn't a surprise that Daniel was in their company with his supermodel girlfriend by his side. I found Ellie sitting on a table with a few other women of different ages and flaunting her jewelry, which she had of course borrowed from Kate like the last time, since she didn't come prepared for this party.
It took me quite some time to spot Vivian among the party crowd, but as per my expectations she was together with the man of her dreams and host of the party, Aiden Wright. They were on the dance floor, moving their bodies to the slow ballroom music, and having a good conversation by the looks of it. She seemed to be enjoying his company, very much like always, and Wright didn't appear to have been forced to be in her company either. I couldn't say he was as fond of her as she was of him or in the same way but I could see a slight interest in Wright's eyes for Kate's beautiful cousin.
"What are you looking at?", the question made me look sideways and I was a little astonished to see that it was Kate, who was posing this question to me and she seemed a bit furious. I wasn't sure if she was jealous but it looked like she was slightly bothered.
I smiled at her and she raised her brow, telling me that she was waiting for an answer, "Just noticing how radiant your cousin seems when in she's with Wright", I told her looking back at the mentioned couple.
"Well it has always been like that", Kate surprisingly carried on the conversation, "She gets all puppy eyed when she's with Aiden", she added with a bored sigh.
"I can see that", I stated the obvious taking a sip from my drink.
"I guess it's true that people are happiest when they are with the one they love the most", I turned my head to look at her as she spoke these words.
Kate had a distant look of contemplation in her eyes, as she watched her cousin and ex-fiancé dance together. I wasn't really sure if she was looking at them and studying their dancing moves or just blankly staring into space with them in her line of sight. She turned her head to look at me some time later and we looked into each other's eyes, maybe caught in a moment. I couldn't really tell because before I could figure that out, an old woman came over to greet Kate.
They went over the usual pleasantries and Kate introduced me to her with a smile, before getting into a very trivial conversation with the woman. Between her random talk she commented something about the party, pointing towards Wright and making us look at him. It was then that we saw Wright notice Kate over Vivian's shoulder, whilst they danced. His smile widened tenfold, making Vivian turn her head to see who he was smiling so brightly at. Vivian's smile diluted once she laid eyes upon Kate, who had the absolute attention of the guy Vivian loved.
I watched Wright dance with Vivian for a minute or two but his eyes were glued to Kate, and even though Vivian was trying to talk to him but he didn't seem interested at all. He wasn't even concentrated on dancing anymore and his footwork was rather clumsy; luckily for Vivian he didn't step on her feet. Once the music piece ended, Wright excused himself and left Vivian alone at the dance floor to hurry over to Kate. Vivian stared after him longingly before she stepped down as well, as he enthusiastically called out and waved his hand to Kate, who had been completely ignoring looking his way.
I looked sideways at Kate once again as she forced an elegant smile, which could easily pass for a genuine one, and waved back at Wright as well, "Wow, you look stunning!", Wright complimented her, as he joined us and the old woman left our company.
"Thank you!", Kate replied with a contented smile, "You look handsome as well", she returned the compliment.
"When did you guys arrive?", he asked looking from her to me and then back at her.
"It's been a while", she told him sipping her wine.
"Damn I lost some precious time that I could have spent with you", he spoke in an exaggerated tone of disappointment, "Anyways, would you mind if I ask your lady to dance?", he asked me with a smile.
"You don't have to ask him that", Kate spoke before I could answer him; "He doesn't take my decisions. I'll dance with you, Mr. Wright", she gave him her hand.
Wright smiled at me somewhat victoriously, as he grabbed hold of her hand. He announced his pleasure to her and bent down to kiss her hand like a gentleman. Kate made me hold her drink, as Wright led her to the dance floor. I let out a conflicted sigh, telling myself that I shouldn't interfere and that it was all business, as I watched Kate put a hand on Wright's shoulder while he put his on her waist and they began dancing. Among the woman on the dance floor, she was most graceful one and Wright appeared more than happy to be dancing with her.
I watched Kate dance with her ex-fiancé, and the more I saw them together the more discomforted I felt. My throat felt extremely dry and there was a slight pain in my chest, maybe I was really hungry since I hadn't eaten anything since lunch. I gulped down the glass of champagne in my hand but it just helped me for a mere fraction of a second maybe. I wasn't able to shake off this odd feeling, which was telling me that I shouldn't let this happen. I didn't just feel protective about Kate but I was starting to feel possessive too.
I felt a presence by my side and looked sideways to see Vivian stepping up next to me. I gave her a friendly smile, "You're looking beautiful", I gave her an honest compliment. She was wearing a cocktail dress that was a combination of purple and white.
"Not as beautiful as your wife, I suppose?", she said in a gloomy tone, looking from Kate and Wright to me. I let out a slight laugh and chose not to respond to this controversial question. It was easy to tell someone that they were beautiful but it was much tougher job to quantify beauty, which was quite a relative concept and depended from person to person. Just as Kate was the most beautiful woman to me, I bet Vivian might be most beautiful woman to someone else, "Let's dance!", she said to me rather aggressively, taking the drinks off my hand and keeping it on the table.
Vivian tried to literally drag me to the dance floor but even though she was stronger than Kate, she couldn't just pull me along, "I'll pass", I told her releasing my arm from her grip.
Kate's older cousin gave me an astonished look, "C'mon Leon, it is a party! She's enjoying and you should enjoy too", she reasoned with me, "I mean just look at her", she added turning to look at the pair.
"It's not what it looks like", I told her shaking my head in negative, watching Kate laugh a little at something that Wright said.
"Yeah right!", Vivian rolled her eyes, grabbing a drink as a waiter passed by us, "You're are really blind to not see her getting along a little too well with Aiden."
"She is not doing this because she wants to ", I told her a fact, shaking my head in negative and she gave me an inquisitive look, "It's all business."
Vivian let out a sigh of disbelief, "Leon, you're really naïve", she spoke in a somewhat conclusive tone, "At this rate she'll have an affair right under your nose", she crossed her arms. I couldn't help but let out a laugh at that thought, "I am not joking, Leon", she added quite furiously, "I really can't imagine how you can tolerate her like this."
"Because she's my wife and I love her", I gave her a simple and honest answer.
"But she doesn't love you Leon", she responded with a weight in her tone, "She might have been interested in you before but now she's just taking you for granted."
"No, she isn't", I disagreed with her, "There's a lot on her plate now and…"
"You're just in denial", Vivian said to me, "But at some point you have to admit that your relationship is crumbling or has already crumbled."
I let out an amused laugh, "It's nothing like that", I told her the truth and shook my head in disagreement.
"You can't lie to me", Vivian said shaking her head, "I noticed the great wall of china on your bed, when I was in your room that day."
I let out sigh and ran a hand through my hair, "Well things are not really smooth between us at the moment", I told Vivian turning my head to look at Kate, "But we'll pull through."
Vivian let out a sigh, "I am going to say it again, you're just wasting your time", she repeated her own words.
At that very moment, Kate looked in our direction over Wright's shoulder and for the briefest of the moment our eyes met, "No, I am definitely not wasting my time", I told her with a smile on my face.
Vivian didn't say anything in retort this time but didn't fail to show her difference in opinion by letting out a heavy sigh, which was pretty much close to huffing. She stopped a passing by waiter and took another glass of alcohol off his serving tray. I kept my eyes on Kate as Wright made her spin on the spot to the rhythm of the music and pulled her closer than what they had been before. There was singeing sensation in my chest, when I witnessed that, and I ignored that feeling but what followed after that made me extremely revolted. My hands curled into fists, as I witnessed Wright lowering her hands on Kate's back, and I told myself that it was not the right time at the moment.
(Kate's POV)
Aiden gave me a playful smile and before I could figure it out what it was about, I was literally startled and quite disgusted when I felt his hand on my backside. I tried not to react too much to it and took a moment to give him a slightly bewildered look thinking that his hand might have slipped but the sheepish grin of satisfaction on his face told me that it was a deliberate action. I narrowed my eyes, giving him a sharp look and couldn't help but give him a smile of displeasure.
"I'd appreciate if you don't cross your limits", I told him very nicely, as I moved his hand to a more appropriate position that's on my waist.
"I am sorry", Aiden apologized immediately and lines of concern ran across his face, "I thought you were interested in me from the way we were just interacting now."
"I think I already made that clear to you that I am not interested in you", I cleared his doubts with a shake of my head, "Besides I am a married woman now, so stop trying to get back with me."
"There's always divorce", he spoke in an objective manner.
"I am happily married", I told him with a smile, in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I know for sure that things are not going well between you and your husband", he said in a pretty much similar tone.
I let out a laugh, "Who told you?", I couldn't help but ask. I tried not to be too overtly expressive of my displeasure regarding Leon's presence when we were with other people.
"I have my sources", he didn't deny the fact that somebody told him and I noticed that for a brief moment he looked sideways when mentioning this source. I followed his gaze only to find Leon and Vivian standing there, at a distance and concluded that it was possibly Vivian, who had passed on the information to Aiden.
"Maybe your source is mistaken", I said to Wright, turning my head to look back at him, "Or lying."
"Perhaps", Aiden shrugged a little, "But still you have to admit that that guy doesn't deserve you."
"What do you mean?", I asked him to elaborate, narrowing my eyes in response.
"I mean that he's just a government agent and he knows nothing about corporate world", Aiden spoke in an obvious tone; "He's practically of no use to you. He can't help you run your business and I guess he has created some problems as well", he looked at me for confirmation but I kept my silence and expressions neutral to not let him in on that little detail, "You have a huge business empire and you need all the help you can get to make it work", he continued when I didn't say anything, "I can help you with your business, and that's the reason why your father chose me too."
"My father's choice doesn't matter now", I told him shaking my head a little, "Mine does."
"Kate, I am still in love with you", Aiden spoke in a very sincere tone, "And I really want us to be together. If we are together then I'll have you and you'll have someone, who can help you run the business instead of causing problems for you", he tried to reason with me, "That guy…", he looked over at Leon briefly, "Is totally wrong for you. You deserve much more and I promise to give you that much more. I am your Mr. Right, Kate, please realize that", he said looking in my eyes.
Aiden's words left me thoughtful and he didn't say anything more, giving me time to ponder upon what he said. He was right that Leon was not cut out for this and compared to him, Aiden was an experienced businessman. I was doing fine handling the business on my own until now but I couldn't assume that it would be the same in the future. Things went dire after dad died and it was a struggle to keep things stable in the company; there was always so much to do and no one to help. Plus now Clark was gone too and somehow for the time being I would be burdened with his responsibilities in his absence as well, when I am already compensating for Vivian's absence.
Leon could never ever aide me in handling this business. He has a good head on his shoulders but his skills were limited to his field. His knowledge about corporate world was minimal, and he couldn't just learn everything overnight either; plus it wasn't like he was interested to learn it. He was indeed useless but Aiden, on the other hand, could definitely help me in these matters. His experience, reputation and contacts would definitely come in handy in one to many ways.
I looked up at Aiden; he had quite an anxious expression on his face and it was obvious that he was trying to contemplate my response. I didn't feel like teasing him too much and gave him a meaningful smile, and his lips curved up in a one of his widest smile too. We talked a little more on trivial topics, as we danced for a few more minutes till the song came to an end. He wanted to dance with me more but I declined his offer, since my feet were starting to hurt a little and I needed to sit down.
I made my way back to Leon, since he had my glass of wine and of course it was more appropriate to be seen with him to keep on the appearance. Vivian shot me a murderous glare, making me roll my eyes at her and she said something to Leon before leaving, as I neared them. Leon gave me his usual appreciative smile and I held back my frown, as he lifted my glass off the table and held it out to me. I took glass off his hand and before I could say or ask anything, I spotted mom over Leon's shoulder.
Mom smiled at me and made her way to us, "You guys are finally here", she said joining us, "I got wondering if you'll show up or not."
"I got caught up with work a little", I told her the truth, "And it's been a while since we have been here", I looked at Leon for support.
He looked at his watch and I too noticed that it was already 10:00 PM, "It's been a little over an hour since we have been here."
"My god, since an hour?! I didn't see you guys before", mom said completely taken aback by that information.
"We got occupied with meeting up with people and Mr. Wright asked me to dance as well", I told her the truth.
"Oh I see, I see", she said with a smile, "He's a nice guy, and he threw such a great party", she added looking over at him, who was having a conversation with his other guests.
We casually talked with mom, as we walked back to our table, after all I needed to rest my feet. Mom really seemed to be enjoying the party, since she couldn't stop appreciating the arrangements at the party. Not long after that Aiden came to our table once again and this time he asked my mom to dance. At first, mom was slightly reluctant to dance with him but both Leon and I encouraged her to accept Aiden's offer, so she shyly gave her hand to him.
Aiden led my mother to the dance floor and I have to admit that my mother looked really cute, as she danced with Aiden. He talked with her as they danced and occasionally made my mother laugh. I could see that Aiden was trying to win me over by showing me that he could care for my mother as well, and that too happily. He was being quite persistent with this entire getting back together thing, making sure to prove it to me that practically and even on an emotional level he was the better choice than Leon. I couldn't really come to a conclusion if his diligence was admirable or if his desperation was a huge turn off for me.
I couldn't enjoy the flustered look on mom's face, as she danced with Aiden, for too long since some people came over to have a talk with me and I had to pay attention to them. By the time I was finished with my conversation with these people, mom was already getting off the dance floor. She took a picture with Aiden and walked back to us with a wide smile on her face. She told me very much excitedly that she's going to send that picture to her busy husband, who's been neglecting her on new year's eve, to make him jealous and I couldn't help but smile at that.
Aiden had completely charmed my mother, since she kept on telling me how much of a nice, funny and humble guy he was for quite some time. She didn't stop there but also praised the arrangements of the party as well for a brief moment, before she got back to talking about Aiden; if I didn't know better than I would have safely claimed that she was smitten by Mr. Wright, as I listened to mom talk about his great dancing skills. The talk about dancing led her to ask if Leon asked me to dance, and when we told her that we've been busy with other stuff; she urged us to go and have a dance together.
I tried to excuse myself from dancing with Leon by saying that my feet were still hurting a little but mom really became somewhat pushy about wanting to see us dance together, and didn't want to hear my pleas against it. I was in middle of making another excuse that both Leon and I were tired since it was already past 11:30 PM, and I looked at Leon mentally asking him to back me up here but he didn't say anything. Instead, he lifted himself off the chair and asked me have a dance with him.
I was completely taken aback by such an unpredictable turn of events that I kept blankly staring at Leon's face for one long minute out of puzzlement. He smiled handsomely at me, still holding out his hand to me and my eyes traveled from his face to his hand. He flicked his fingers in a gesture of asking me to take his hand and I lifted up my face to look at him. He jerked his head a little, as if asking what the matter is, and I couldn't help but frown at him being overwhelmed with a bunch of feelings. I took a deep breath and grabbed hold of his hand, accepting his offer to dance, after all my mom wanted me to too.
Leon led me to the dance floor, "Don't you dare step on my foot", I warned him keeping my hand on his shoulder, as he put his hand on my waist while grabbing hold of the other.
"I'll try not to", he replied letting out a slight laugh.
I huffed in response expressing my displeasure and we began to dance to the slow music. Leon just smiled down at me charmingly and his blue eyes didn't even shift a little to look away from my face, when almost every man in the party didn't fail to praise the necklace I have around my neck the entire evening. The appreciative look in his eyes was silently telling me that I look beautiful, but instead of feeling pleased about it, I ended up shooting him with an annoyed look since he took too long to notice that I looked beautiful and chose the worst possible way to tell me.
Leon let out an amused chuckle and I couldn't help but frown at him a little bit more. However, I couldn't stay annoyed with him for too long, because the very next moment his smile faded and his face became devoid of any emotion. I didn't know why but I always felt uncomfortable to see him this way; it just didn't feel right. I looked up in his eyes in bewilderment and his head dropped slightly, as if he was apologizing to me for putting me through all this. Before I could even react to that, all the lights went out, engulfing all of us into complete darkness.
(Leon's POV)
The moment we were engulfed in darkness, I felt Kate's body tense up and she stopped dancing, literally becoming frozen on the spot. I knew that she was scared of the darkness and her fear must be paralyzing her from head to toe. I wrapped an arm around her protectively, even before my eyes could adjust to the dark, and assured her that I was just next to her. She didn't say anything in response, but she couldn't hold herself from stepping a little bit closer and grabbing hold of the front of my coat.
The moment lights went out people started discussing if anything was wrong and almost as if in a response, a screen lit up, showing a one minute timer. It would have definitely raised my red flags if the host of the party, Aiden Wright, hadn't appeared next to it, with a spot light centered on him. He told the guests present in the hall that they don't have to be alarmed and the timer is only counting down to the New Year, and encouraged everyone to join in with the countdown. Almost everyone in the banquet hall started to count down the last few seconds of the current year along with the timer on the screen.
I looked down at Kate in my arms; she seemed pretty much relaxed compared to just few seconds ago. She wasn't participating with the majority of the crowd but her eyes were fixated at the timer on the screen. Those last few seconds seemed to go so slow, and I tried to remember something from my past new years but the only memorable New Years were from the times when my parents and grandparents were still alive. But somehow I had a feeling that this moment here with my beautiful wife would be a memorable one too.
I didn't really realize when exactly I started to admire Kate's beauty, even though it was pretty dark to see anything properly. My lips curved up into a contented smile, feeling really glad about the fact that she was standing next to me. There had been so many women in my life, whether it is long relationships, short relationships or one night stands, but none of them made me feel this content from just being by my side. I couldn't properly describe this feeling of warmth and belongingness that I experienced when I was with Kate; it was as if she was the missing puzzle piece of my life.
Kate turned her head sideways to look at me, probably when she sensed that I had been staring at her. She didn't say anything and gave me an extremely puzzled look, as if wondering what I was thinking or just trying to read me. My heart paced up when our eyes met, and I just felt myself drowning in her ocean-like deep blue eyes. I leaned in and placed a kiss on her soft cheek, as the crowd in the background cheered loudly at the arrival of the New Year.
I could clearly make out the surprise on her face, but I didn't know if she was blushing because it was too dark to make that out. I smiled down at her and wished her a happy new year but she didn't do the same. Her expression of shock was soon replaced by an annoyed one. She gently pushed me away from herself and the lights were turned on the very next moment. I was sure nobody saw what happened because it was dark and they were too busy wishing each other.
Kate glared at me in disbelief for one long minute, before she walked off the dance floor. I watched her make her way straight to her mother, and she wished the older woman with a genuine smile on her face. Her mother hugged her joyously, wishing her back in return and I moved to join them. We spent a little more time at the party with Kate wishing and receiving New Year wishes by the people, who knew to her, before taking our leave and heading back home.
A/N: Thanks a lot for reading the chapter and I really hope you all enjoyed it. I am extremely sorry for all the typos and grammatical mistakes which might have caused an inconvenience in understanding the text. I would love to know what you think about Aiden making a move on Kate; if it dedication or desperation? Do you think Leon is naïve enough for Kate to have an affair and if he's just in denial? Do you think Kate would take up on Wright's offer? Just let me know through your comments and if you have any question then please don't hesitate to ask. I'll hopefully see you guys next week; till then have a great time and take care! :D
