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The look on Angela\'s aunt and cousin was epic. They gaped at Gael, who stood tall and majestic before them—probably a little over the top, but he\'d like to think of himself like so.

The pair blinked with their jaws hung as if they had forgotten how to communicate. Linda received his brief handshake. 

It wasn\'t until Angela uttered his name that the women seemed to have snapped out of their trance or whatever vortex they got sucked into. 

"Gael…"

He looked at her and curled his lips into a smile. God, she was beautiful—is—will be—always. It\'s like every time he\'d already be prepared to see her, but when he actually did, he\'d still be surprised at how ethereal she looked. Every. Single. Fûcking. Time.  Was she even aware of it? Because if she wasn\'t, he\'d definitely love to remind her. 

Gael gave her a thorough, hot scan from head to toe. She was wearing this one-shoulder dress with lace and sparkly stones all over her top. The skirt of her dress felt smooth and soft under his hand. She was barely wearing makeup—as she should because she didn\'t need any. And her hair—her hair, which he loved running his fingers through, was lightly styled in sexy waves. He was tempted to push them behind her ear, but she already looked beautiful the way she was; he didn\'t want to mess it up. 

Then he told her, "You look gorgeous. Did I make you wait too long?"

"N-no…"

Angela sounded uncertain with her answer. It was understandable as they hadn\'t spoken the whole day, and he just suddenly showed up without telling her he was coming. The truth was, he sped his way here, and he didn\'t tell her so he wouldn\'t have to hear her rejection.

Now that he\'s here, she wouldn\'t make him leave, right? He hoped not because it felt good just to have his arm around her.

"Oh, you\'re…Angela\'s date," Linda started. "You\'re not from around here, are you? I don\'t think I\'ve seen you in Mayne before." She studied Gael\'s physique—up and down—as if she was trying to look for any clues here and there. 

Lyra, on the other hand, wasn\'t any better. She subtly bit her bottom lip while checking him out.

"No. I\'m from New York."

"Ah. So you\'re not always around." Linda smiled. It was a fake smile, but he couldn\'t tell what was going on in her head at the moment. "And you\'re wearing West. You are interesting, young man. I\'d love to know more about you."

Huh. She even recognized the custom-tailored tux he wore tonight, which was made by the famous Samuel West—a brilliant designer.

Angela tensed beside him, and he knew it was time to go. "I\'ll be here all night, so you can ask anything you want. But for now, I have to go and say hi to Charlie. It\'s nice meeting you two. Ladies…" He smiled before turning away, bringing Angela with him inside the event hall and leaving the two women by the door.

At the moment, Angela\'s father was talking to some older people in the corner. Gael thought it was best to wait for a bit, not wanting to interrupt in case they were in an important conversation. 

The event had just started, and everyone seemed to be excited catching up with the whole clan. There were probably three hundred guests, if not more. And the whole setup screamed of luxury. A live jazz band played on the stage, filling the air with classy music mixing with the chatter of people around them.

He and Angela stopped by a grazing table with elaborate floral centerpieces, just in time for a waiter to pass. He grabbed two flutes of champagne cocktails—red cranberry juice settled at the bottom that faded into a clear sparkly liquid with a couple of cranberries and a wedge of lime floating at the top. 

"You came..." she muttered as he gave her a flute.

"I told you I\'d be here."

She swallowed, tentatively opening her mouth as if to say something, only there weren\'t any words coming out. Then she took a deep breath and drank her cocktail. She looked like she needed a drink. Had he shocked her that much?

Staring down at the little red balls floating in his drink, he gathered the courage to tell her what was going on in his head. He really shouldn\'t be drinking anymore, but he had already broken his abstinence, so what difference would it make? By now, he\'d already embraced the fact that he couldn\'t stay away from it. He needed the liquid courage.

So he took a sip and let the bubble fizzle on his tongue. It was too sweet for his liking, but whatever.

Gael held her elbow, making her look up at him. Then he said, "Angel… Look, you don\'t have to like me right now. You can still be mad at me, but I\'ll be here with you tonight just like I promised. Is that okay?"

Before she could answer, a woman in her late forties came over and interrupted their little bubble. 

"Angela, sweetheart. It\'s nice to see you again." The woman gave Angela an air kiss before turning to Gael and giving him a once-over. "Oh, hello, young man. I believe we haven\'t met. I\'m Collete, Charlie\'s cousin. And you are?"

Ah. This was the woman who had been married several times, changing husbands like a habit. She was technically Angela\'s first cousin once removed, but Angela called her Aunt Colette. He offered a smile in return. "Gael. Angela told me so much about you." They shook hands.

"All good things, I hope!"

"She said you are beautiful, and I couldn\'t agree more."

Colette giggled and playfully slapped his arm. "Oh, stop! Angela, dear, I like this one already. He\'s such a charmer—also more handsome than your date at the gala last week. Keep him." She winked and then sashayed towards another group behind them.

Gael cocked a brow. Huh. Angela\'s date last week? If Colette was talking about that night, then she\'s referring to Vincent Stone.

Angela cleared her throat and sipped her drink as she averted her gaze somewhere else, refusing to meet his questioning gaze. It hadn\'t even been ten minutes into the party, and he was already being compared to a Rock. \'Cute.\'

Then he remembered. "Wait, you\'re not supposed to be drinking. How\'s your stomach?"

"My stomach is fine. And you\'re not either, yet here you are." She nodded at the flute in his hand.

He couldn\'t argue with that. Fine. Tonight, he\'d try not to be too controlling. He wouldn\'t want to put more distance between them.

"How are you?" he probed.

"Great. I saved someone\'s life today," Angela casually said.

Okay, that\'s not something you get to hear from anyone all the time. "You did?" 

"Well, I stopped myself from strangling this man to death for littering pink notes all over my apartment. So…" She shrugged.

Gael let out a bark of laughter. He rubbed his forehead and squinted his eyes. "God. I\'m sorry. I..."

"It\'s okay. I did worse in your bedroom." A small hint of a smile danced on her lips, which quickly disappeared when she met his eyes.

Although it was faint, his heart fluttered at the thought of her smiling at him again. This was great progress. At least she wasn\'t making him leave or pushing him away. They needed to have that conversation, but as long as she wasn\'t ready to talk about it, he didn\'t want to risk it and ruin their evening. 

Gael couldn\'t resist but sweep a lock of her hair back and tucked it behind her ear. "Angel… I hope you stay strong. I need you to be."

Angela\'s brows drew together, creating a crease in the middle. What was that supposed to mean?

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw her father coming over. Gael straightened up, and the two greeted each other like they were old buddies.

"I was going to come to you, Charlie, but you looked like you were in deep conversation. I didn\'t want to interrupt," informed Gael.

"Oh, I was just telling the others about the orphanage. They are happy to lend a hand to search for Herman Mitchell."

"The guy from the orphanage?" Gael probed, looking surprised.

"Mm. He\'s been missing, and the authorities can\'t locate him." Charlie patted his daughter\'s arm. "Don\'t worry, princess. We\'ll catch him."

Angela nodded. Honestly, she couldn\'t care less about what happened to Herman anymore. But he had to pay for what he did, so she could only hope that he\'d be found soon.

Chairman Su excused himself when someone from across the room caught his attention.

Once they were left alone, she turned to face him, curiosity lacing her pretty eyes as she stared up at him.

"What?" he asked.

She looked hesitant to speak as she had to take a deep breath before she pulled the guts to question him. "You didn\'t have anything to do with his disappearance, did you?"

\'Little Angel…\' He almost wanted to pat her head for being so adorable.

Gael nonchalantly took a swig of the champagne, the cocktail becoming even sweeter the more he drank. Then he matched the intensity of her gaze as if to test her. "Maybe. But I don\'t think so."

Angela\'s eyes sharpened, and her voice turned cold when she questioned, "Gael… What did you do?"