"Please call me Lenora." Lenora corrected Tony as he approached her.
"Very well." He nodded at her.
Lenora eyed the precision and determination with which he walked with caution and rising suspicion. Was this a part two to the slaps? She didn't know why but this man had a way of making people feel terribly uncomfortable when you have done something wrong. Was it the clear innocence in his eyes, or the fact that kindness literally just radiated from his strong frame.
He was smaller than most men but his stature didn't allow anyone think if him as such. He was built and fit, and she never saw him in anything that didn't hug his frame.
That moment existed for only the short minutes the dance carried.
"I am truly sorry for the article, I'm serious." She blurted out before she could stop herself.
Tony eyed her with amusement glittering in his friend but also serious eyes. "Why are you suddenly apologising?" He asked.
"Thought I should, I don't know it just came out." She laughed, awkwardly pushing her hair behind her ears.
Tony smiled kindly, "I'm not the one you offended and although it was a crappy thing you did, Jessie forgave you so I do to." He said and she nodded curtly, hoping not to embarrass herself any more than she already had.
"Thank you."
"But your apology isn't what I came for." He said his voice suddenly becoming serious. And she regarded him with the same intensity.
"What's the matter?" She asked.
"Patricia, it seems we have a common enemy." Tony said in a low voice.
Lenora lips curved into a sinister smile. "I'm listening."
"You have the means to make a fire and I have the fuel, how about we work together?" Tony asked.
"I'm not sure what you mean, but I will tell you she is no easy enemy I'll admit. The last article I posted about Patricia didn't even last an hour online before it was taken down." Lenora said.
But Tony only shook his head. "That because you've been aming at the wrong targets, the person whose reputation Patricia's needs to be revealed to isn't her fans but her grandfather." He informed.
"Her grandfather? Xavier Lee?" Lenora asked.
And he nodded. "She's more afraid of that man than she is of death and with good reason. Any mistake she makes is met with great retribution."
"But it's impossible to get to him." Lenora said.
"Never say never I know a way." He stated.
"I'm in, and I don't know about Jessie but Jamie can never find out about this?" Lenora informed.
Jason walked into the Lee mansion with two guards close behind him, he left the rest outside but they had their eyes on him, he knew.
He could never be comfortable anywhere there were Lee's. It was currently a truce but he could never be too careful with them. And apparently as 'part of the family' he has to greet the guests among side George or something of the sort.
So by the time Patricia was making her grand entrance he was by the door. It was almost impossible not to look, the whole room quieted into murmurs as she descended the stairs with her grandfather on her side.
The patriarch of the Lee family, although it was obvious that his aged had finally caught to him after all the years he spent looking thirty years younger still looked strong and vibrant regardless of the fact that he was celebrating eighty years. But even though he was the star of the party he couldn't helped but be outshined by his granddaughter the actual star.
Patricia looked almost ethereal in a purple sleeveless ball gown, it hugged her body seductively and exposed the creamy white of her pale back. Her dark long hair sat over one shoulder and the other was laid bare, she wore her lips dark, seductive and red. Her eyes were not too dark but it looked like if you stared for too long you'd be hypnotized. She looked like the literal definition of sin.
Jason admitted himself that she looked good, but he unconsciously made comparisons, she was seductive in a deceptive manner. It was obvious she drew you in, but Jessie allure was light and simple, just by being herself people began to fall unknowingly and to Jason that was more dangerous. While she was wickedly beautiful, Jessie was plain perfect. She didn't need to try, her beauty was effortless. Patricia was beautiful and she had a banging body, if Jessie wasn't in the picture she would have been the standard, but there was Jessie and even with the stark undeniable beauty Patricia was she couldn't hold candle to Jessie. Plus it was Jessie he loved.
It didn't take long for Patricia to shed off her grandfather, it was too suffocating for her to be beside the man any longer than she needed to. Soon her eyes began searching for Jason, seeing him where he stood by the door she almost went over to him. But George warning eyes where just besides him, silently telling her he must go over to her not the other way around. He could notice her displeasure from where he stood, as her lips upturned in a small frown.
"I must say my neice looks incredibly stunning this evening, you should ask her to dance." Goerge said to Jason when it was obvious he wasn't moving from his spot by the door.
"Ah..." Jason nodded absentmindely. "She does look ravishing doesn't she?" He asked.
"Yes, such a beautiful woman should never be left alone in a party." He said.
"Of course." Was Jason's only reply, as he began to make his way towards her.
Patricia was surrounded by people... ofcourse gushing about how beautiful she looked, how unreal her appearance was and how amazing she was. She wasn't interested, she never was... they were all kiss asses, she was never nice to any of them but they never failed to to make her feel like she was the sun and they were dirt. Not because of anything but because no one dared cross Xavier Lee, and by extension any other Lee.
And she hated the fact that it was because of her grandfather people were being nice to her. But today she didn't think any of those thoughts, she was nervous and anxious. Would he come to her? Too curious to not source him out herself she turned away from the door. But her naked back itched with anticipation, and when she felt a warm palm settle on her lower back and that deep voice it took all of her not to crumble to the floor and sing for joy!
"Excuse me ladies but I would like to steal my fiancee for dance if you don't mind." Jason's timbre voice said right beside her, so close she felt it.
My Fiancee... my Fiancee...
The words rang in her ear and she couldn't assimilate anything else, not the awwns or the gushes. Not the praise and the regular angry or jealous eyes. All she knew was that she was floating on a cloud as Jason lead her to the dance floor.
It was customary to dance with her grandfather, for the first dance but with the glittering of encouragement she saw in his eyes she was on cloud nine. He never looked at her as more than a useless responsibility. He never even made it hidden that the only reason he tolerated her was because she was the only part of his favourite child that was left. His first son... but today because Jason was dancing with her he didn't look at her with contempt. Standing their with his cane and his bending frame, no one would still dare underestimate him. He was old but he commanded so much fear it was alarming.
But right now in Jason's arm, under the spotlight. In the midst of the one percent of one percent, under her grandfather's almost pleased eyes. She's never felt better. This was heaven!
"Did you hear a thing I said?" Jason voice pulled her out of her euphoric bliss.
Blinking at him she pouted slightly and shook her head. "I'm sorry, what?"
Jason brow went up slightly. "I said you look beautiful this night." He said.
It seemed as if he was lying but she couldn't care less, and normally she would have replied with something bitchy or sassy like 'of course I look beautiful' or 'I know.'
But the small words 'thank you' left her lips and she smiled as he pulled her closer and they continued to glide over the dance floor with trained elegance.
That would would be the happiest moment of her life, she would always remember it as the happiest moment of her life. Dancing with Jason Kang the man she loved, under the approval of her grandfather. Under a spotlight, in the midst of all the powerful people in this country looking at her like the luckiest woman in the world. She for the first time she reveled in all the attention with no inhibitions.
Those few minutes while the music played was all she had, because a few moments after that it would all come crashing down. And she would learn the hard way how much more of a bitch Karma was than she could ever hope to be.