For one tense moment, they were too close. His warmth, the scent of his expensive cologne, the faint delicious smell of alcohol on his breath, and hers as well...it was a collision of past and present.

Sarah's breath caught in her throat. She was feeling things she never thought that she could ever feel.

Edward didn't let go. His arms lingered firmly around her. He remembered how she had felt his arms. Her tempting sounds of pleasure, and eager responses to his touch.

It was till date, the best night of his life.

As their eyes locked, something unspoken crackled between them, thick and undeniable.

Sarah was the first to recover. She blinked a couple of times to break the spell of the moment, then she pressed her palms against his chest and took a step back, ignoring the way her heart hammered traitorously against her ribcage.

"Excuse me." Her voice was crisp.

Edward didn't move, but his hands fell from around her. "You're good at handling the press."

Sarah arched a brow. "Did you expect anything less?"

A slow, amused smirk tugged at his lips. "No. I think you enjoy proving people wrong."

And you enjoy doing people wrong. She wanted to say this to him, but instead, she took a glass of wine from a passing server, and lifted the glass to her lips, taking a deliberate slow sip.

"And you enjoy watching?" She retorted, although her gaze was on her glass, not on him.

Edward's eyes darkened. "Maybe."

Edward could not deny that he had been watching her. But he also admitted to himself that he could not take his eyes off her. When he saw her again, he thought that the rush of emotion he felt was the rage and hatred that he had felt that day, but he was not so sure anymore.

He was already intrigued with her in a small matter. He was intrigued with her beauty, her intelligence and her capability.

Sarah looked at him, and remembered the pain and agony that he had put her through. That handsome and attractive face hid the monster that she had seen.

She even saw the faces of her children as she stared at the man that was their father. She wondered what he would do if he found out about her children–his children.

Sarah knew that he would not be happy that she had kept them from him. She did not regret it, nor would she go back on her decision. Her children would never know that he was their father, they didn't deserve a man like him as a father, and he would never know about his children.

The air between them tightened, thick with too many things left unsaid.

Edward cleared his throat awkwardly, and looked down at her legs that were clad in gold high-heeled sandals.

The woman sure loved her heels.

"How is the ankle? They seem to be better."

Sarah's gaze lowered to her feet before returning to Edward's face that was bowed, still looking at her ankle.

Edward's eyes slowly trailed from her dainty feet with toenails that were painted the same colour of her dress, to her smooth, and toned thighs that were exposed by the single slit that ran up her thigh.

He managed to drag his gaze away, back to Sarah's face, who now had an unreadable expression on her face.

"My ankle is doing much better,Mr Huxley. Thank you for asking," she replied flatly.

Edward shoved his hands in his pockets. "About your plus one that you mentioned..."

Sarah cocked a brow. "I don't see how that might have anything to do with you," Sarah replied in a clipped tone.

Edward's gaze was neutral, not betraying the displeasure he was feeling inside.

Another uncomfortable silence stretched between them, this time, Sarah broke the moment first.

"If that is all, then I'll be going ahead." She turned, and stepped around him, continuing toward the balcony, but suddenly paused halfway and turned back to him. "I think you should check on your girlfriend, Mr Huxley. She might be looking for you."

With that she spun around, and disappeared into the crowd.

Edward watched her go, jaw clenched, and eyes blazing. He had been the one that sent her away years ago.

So why did it feel like she was the one walking away now?

And why did her turned back bother him so much?

Veronica had been watching everything from a corner of the room she had retreated to, her fingers digging into the stem of her champagne glass.

That hadn't gone the way she planned, and she was burning with rage as she watched the interaction between Sarah and Edward.

Not only had Sarah flipped the entire press ambush in her favor, but Edward had looked at her in a way he had never looked at her before.

Not once.

Veronica knew that Edward was no longer interested in her. The truth was that he had never been. He had only tolerated her in the beginning of their relationship, but now, he didn't even try at all.

"You're letting her win," Estelle spat angrily watching her much hated stepdaughter disappear into the crowd.

When Veronica told her that Sarah had returned, and that she was a different person, she had not wholly believed her, but now she had seen it for herself.

The girl looked different, more dangerous-and too much of a threat to her daughter.

Veronica turned and saw her mother, watching Sarah leave the ballroom with calculating eyes.

"I thought I taught you better than this, Veronica," Estelle murmured, taking a sip of her wine. "Sarah isn't the same little girl you used to push around. You'll need to be smarter."

Veronica's nails dug into her palm. "Oh, don't worry, mother."

Her eyes flickered toward Sarah, who was standing at the balcony now, staring at the city skyline.

"I have a plan."