Chapter 7 Engagement Announcement 1

Vivian sat in her small studio, sketches and designs were on the walls, pieces of fabrics on the floor, a sewing machine by the window side and a couch at the end of the room.

She flipped through her sketch book, she spent months, years , building and improvising her designs every time she gets rejected after submitting her designs to companies.

She paused on one particular design, her fingers tracing the lines of the dress she sketched , a wedding dress, it was her mother's wedding dress, or rather her own re imagination of it, the last time she tried bringing it to life, she was seventeen, still naïve enough to believe in her family lies.

" What makes you think you are good enough to design anything?, Or try to be better than me?, This is what you get for trying to show off". Vivian heard Kate said after she was done ripping off her mother's wedding dress, the gleam of satisfaction and cruelty in Kate eyes made Vivian blood boil and she felt like ripping her hair off but the twisted look of Evelyn beside Kate overshadowed her anger.

Vivian shook her head trying to forget the unpleasant memories but they clung to her, forcing her to remember the night she left home for good.

She had applied for college and was accepted, she was happy, her dream to study fashion design didn't feel to far, but her tuition fees were more than she could manage on her own, she approached her father the man she Once adored, hoping he would be proud of her success and ambition but instead he dismissed her, "if you can't afford it, you are not meant to be there", he said his tone cold and curt, he didn't even look at her while he spoke, he never once considered granting her access to the inheritance she was entitled to.

That was when she decided to leave, she walked away from the life she has lived, working tirelessly to fund her education and finally made it to college.

Vivian sighed at the memory, sometimes she wondered why her mother, a well known model and actress married a selfish manlike her father, she heard rumors that her father was once a kind man, but when consumed with wealth and power he became a devious and greedy man. Vivian pushed away the memories, she was more concerned about the evening event, rather she was nervous.

Meanwhile, Nicholas sat by his desk, going through the information of Vivian that Williams found, he didn't like what he was seeing.

Vivian's mother, Grace, died suddenly in her hotel room before she could perform on stage and the case was closed, no culprit was found and it looked suspicious, this happen when Vivian was five, she was maltreated by her stepmother and sister and was never introduced properly to the public, she left the family when she was eighteen and graduated from college as a fashion designer.

Nicholas closed the document and leaned down to his chair, the smell of his coffee which has turned cold filled his senses, 'this all doesn't make sense', he thought, Evelyn appeared out of the blue and got married to James immediately after his wife died, everything just sound suspicious and funny, the fact that James is hiding his debts from the world is more amusing. The woman he was going to marry was hidden from the world and he was going to bring her out, he laughed this was more amusing than he thought.

Williams watched as Nicholas laughed suddenly which scared the hell out of him, they have been friend since they were kids, Nicholas was fortunate to be born from a rich family but despite that he took Williams as his friend and even hired him as his personal assistant when he became the CEO of his father's company, the look he has on his face right now is the look he gives to a prey he's determined to catch and Vivian just happen to catch his fancy.

He checked his watch and walked to Nicholas, "its time" he said, Nicholas smiled and stood "let's go", he said.

Later that evening.

Vivian checked her self in the mirror, smoothing down the light green dress that hugged her figure perfectly, showing all her curves but little skin, she slipped into her silver heels, wearing a gold necklace to add a final touch, she was not one for excessive jewelry but she can make an exception for to night.

She paced her sitting room, few minutes has passed since she was done dressing up, her heart pounding in excitement as she waited for Nicholas driver to pick her up. The mischievous part of her imagined how Nicholas would dress, 'handsome as always', she concluded. The door bell rang breaking her thoughts and causing her heart to skip a beat, she opened the door expecting a polite greeting from a driver, instead, there stood Nicholas himself, leaning casually against the door frame, wearing a black tuxedo that revealed the line of his broad shoulders, his dark hair combed back, his deep blue eyes staring at her intensely as he handed her the shopping bag in his hand.

" expecting someone else?", he asked in a deep low voice, a smirk curving his lips.