A breathtaking diamond ring sparkled beneath the ballroom lights.
Slowly…
Almost mechanically…
He slipped it onto my finger.
Thunderous applause filled the hall once again.
Uncle shedrak stepped forward first, pulling Alexander into a proud embrace before wrapping his arms around me as well.
Only then did the reality finally sink in.
This wasn’t a misunderstanding.
It wasn’t a joke.
It wasn’t a dream.
It had already happened.
My adoptive brother and I…
Were officially engaged.
And while everyone around me seemed to have known about it all along…
I had been the only person left completely in the dark….
Cameras flashed relentlessly across the stage, capturing every moment from every possible angle as reporters and photographers called out for us to look their way.
The bright lights were almost blinding.
I remained standing there, my mind still struggling to process everything that had just happened.
Aunt Rose must have noticed the dazed expression on my face because she quietly stepped closer and leaned toward me.
“Smile, Alice,” she whispered gently.
“Even if it’s only a little.” Her voice was so soft and reassuring that I forced the corners of my lips upward.
It wasn’t much.
Just a faint smile.
But it seemed to satisfy both the guests and the media, because the camera flashes became even more frequent.
Alexander’s hand still rested lightly against my waist.
Then…
without warning…
it slowly fell away.
I immediately sensed the change beside me.
Almost instinctively, I looked up.
His shoulders had gone rigid.
His jaw tightened once again.
The calm expression he had worn moments earlier had completely disappeared, replaced by the same dark look I’d seen before the engagement announcement.
But this time…
He wasn’t looking at me.
His eyes were fixed on someone below the stage.
Following his gaze, I slowly looked toward the crowd.
At first, all I saw was a sea of elegantly dressed guests.
Then…
My eyes landed on a woman standing near the front.
She had long blonde hair cascading over her shoulders and wore a champagne-colored silk gown with a daring black slit running along one side.
Her crimson lips and graceful features made her breathtakingly beautiful.
She looked almost flawless.
Almost.
Because silent tears were streaming down her cheeks.
She didn’t seem to notice the cameras.
Or the whispers spreading around her.
She simply stood there…
Looking directly at Alexander.
Alexander’s entire body remained tense.
His gaze never left her.
And in that instant…
I understood everything.
That woman was Isabella Hawthorne.
Alexander Livingston’s longtime girlfriend.
And she had just witnessed the man she loved…
become engaged to me.
No wonder Alexander had looked so furious.
He hadn’t been angry about the engagement itself.
He had been dreading this very moment….
I watched as Isabella slowly turned around and walked away.
She never looked back.
For a brief moment, I truly thought Alexander was going to follow her.
He had already taken a step forward.
But before he could move any farther, Aunt Rose quietly reached out and touched his arm.
He stopped.
His jaw tightened.
Yet he never looked away from Isabella’s retreating figure until she disappeared from sight.
Slowly, I shifted my gaze around the ballroom.
The expressions on everyone’s faces varied.
Some were surprised.
Some were confused.
Others whispered among themselves.
My eyes stopped on my friends.
Amanda looked completely stunned.
She and I had never kept secrets from each other.
Which was exactly why this must have shocked her.
What she didn’t know…
Was that I had been just as clueless as she was.
My gaze moved from one familiar face to another before finally stopping on Mike.
His expression hurt the most.
The gentle smile he always wore was gone.
Shock.
Disappointment.
Heartbreak.
So many emotions flashed across his face at once.
Only then did I suddenly remember his confession in the garden.
A dull ache settled inside my chest.
The party didn’t continue for much longer after that.
The cheerful atmosphere from earlier had completely disappeared.
The music grew quieter.
Guests gradually began saying their goodbyes.
Small groups whispered among themselves as they left the ballroom one after another.
Everything suddenly felt suffocating.
Alexander remained unusually quiet.
Although his face had returned to its usual unreadable expression, I could still sense the tension surrounding him.
He looked visibly furious.
For some reason…
I had a feeling he already knew about tonight’s arrangement.
Unlike me.
I was still trying to understand what had just happened.
After the final photographs were taken and most of the guests had left, Aunt Rose walked over to us.
“Alexander,” she said gently.
“You should take Alice home.” “I’m sure she’s exhausted.” I expected him to refuse.
Instead, he simply nodded.
Then Uncle shedrak turned toward me.
The firmness in his expression softened immediately.
“Alice, dear,” he said warmly.
“Go home and get some rest.” “Your aunt and I still have a few things to take care of here.” “We’ll talk tomorrow morning.” Tomorrow?
I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow.
During the five years I’d lived with Aunt Rose and Uncle shedrak, I had never once doubted that everything they did was for my sake.
But…
This was different.
This wasn’t something I could simply accept without an explanation.
I needed answers.
And I needed them as soon as possible.
Even so…
There were still people watching us.
Swallowing the questions burning inside me, I gave a small nod.
Gathering the skirt of my gown in my hands, I quietly followed Alexander out of the ballroom and toward his car.
The silence between us was heavier than anything I had ever experienced.
By the time we reached Alexander’s car, several guests were still making their way toward their own vehicles while others lingered nearby, chatting about the night’s unexpected announcements.
Alexander didn’t seem to notice any of them.
Or perhaps…
He simply didn’t care.
Without saying a word, he walked straight to the driver’s side, opened the door, and got in.
I remained standing beside the car, staring helplessly at my gown before trying to figure out how I was supposed to climb into the low Aston Martin without ruining it.
After struggling with the layers of fabric for a few moments, I finally managed to settle into the passenger seat.
Throughout it all, Alexander never looked my way.
His hands rested tightly around the steering wheel, his eyes fixed blankly ahead as though his mind wasn’t inside the car at all.
Only after I had closed the door did he start the engine.
The car silently pulled away from the underground garage and onto the brightly lit streets of B-City.
Neither of us spoke.
The silence inside the car was almost suffocating.
I turned my head toward the window, watching the city lights blur past.
But my mind wasn’t on the scenery.
It was somewhere else entirely.
Somewhere I couldn’t even define.
How had my life become like this?
Just a few hours ago, I had been celebrating one of the happiest milestones of my life.
My twentieth birthday.
My university graduation.
Yet somehow…
The night had ended with my future being decided without my knowledge.
I had never been the type to dream about romance the way many girls did.
But if someone had asked me who I could never imagine myself marrying…
Alexander would have been the first person to come to mind.
Not only was he my adoptive brother…
He already had someone he loved.
And he had never truly accepted me as part of the Livingston family.
I had always seen it in the way he treated me.
His indifference.
His distance.
His silence.
So why…