Back to the venue...
As everyone was now in their seats and the party that was supposed to be about the twins turned out like an engagement party of Rika Song and Jaime Liao, things settled down and everyone began to enjoy the party together.
"Bestie, you"re really the best! How long have you been planning this?" Around a particular table, Rika Song, Jaime Liao, Lexi, Elliot Gong, and Ethan Lu were enjoying their wines while the lady of the night wiped the smudged mascara under her eyes.
"About a month or two. Jaime reached out to me asking for advice on what kind of proposal you wanted since you don"t give him any of the details so, yeah." Shaking her head sideways, Lexi recalled how puzzled she was the day Jaime Liao called her and asked if they could meet up because he didn"t want to ask advice through a phone call— cla.s.sic Jaime Liao.
"Aww..." Moved, Rika Song turned her pouting face to her side where her fiancé was perched. "Honey, what did I do to deserve you?" Just as her sentence slipped from her mouth, Rika Song"s eyes started to well up again.
"You deserve everything." Stroking her head, no one knew where Jaime Liao got his courage to utter such cheesy lines that only Ethan Lu could say without a care in the world to Lexi.
Of course, the person who cringed the most that had this unpleasant expression across his entire face, and that person was Elliot Gong. Although he met Jaime Liao a couple of times and within those encounters, he would occasionally ask if there"s something wrong with the doctor"s head for putting up with Rika Song"s dramas aka telenovelas.
Still, Elliot Gong was certain that Jaime
Liao was not the type of guy who publicly shows his affection just like his dearest friend Ethan Lu.
"Ohh..." Sweetly smiling, Rika Song saw the unpleasant look on Elliot Gong. Therefore, she wouldn"t miss this opportunity to rub some salt on the wounded single man without a lovelife for so long. "Honey, don"t be like that in front of a single man. He might get envious, you know." Rika Song then glanced at Elliot Gong.
Her remarks made Lexi laugh as she watched her true friends indirectly banter with each other, again. Just then, Ethan Lu whispered to her ear.
"Love, I invited someone and he"s here. Can you meet him?" Lexi knitted her brows as Ethan Lu would only invite his friends which she already expected that would not attend.
"Who?"
"Kevin." Smiling, Ethan Lu raised his brows as he patiently waited for her agreement.
"Oh... alright." Slightly surprised that Ethan Lu and Kevin Woo reconciled, Lexi still unhesitantly agreed. She then turned to her friends to excuse herself and her husband. "Okay, you two behave in front of the doctor. Ethan and I will be receiving a guest so I"ll leave you two first."
"Alright, I am behaved though, right honey?" Not minding for Lexi leaving them for awhile, Rika Song turned to Jaime Liao as if she were a kid seeking a pat on the head.
"Eli, you might want to meet the person that arrived. We"ll be back." As they stood from their seats, Ethan Lu glanced at Elliot Gong before he remarked and left with Lexi.
"I... Lexi, it"s been a long time. Nice seeing you, again." Unlike how calm and composed Kevin Woo was when he met Ethan Lu earlier that day, he was a bit more nervous before Lexi.
"I don"t bite, don"t be like that. Also, whatever was in the past, let bygones be bygones." Lexi lightly shook her head at how silly Kevin Woo was now unlike their last encounter whereas he was quite aggressive.
"Heh," A faint distressed scoff escaped Kevin Woo"s mouth upon hearing her statements. "I am still ashamed at what I recklessly said to you, you know the last time we had met, so I..." Scratching his jaw, Kevin Woo awkwardly mustered his courage to utter and admit the reason of his tone and timidness.
"Like I said, let bygones be bygones." Repeating her words, Lexi offered the most genuine she could offer. "Also, I understand that you only cared for your friends that"s why you said those words to me. So, I really don"t hold grudges." She rea.s.sured.
"Thank you," Smiling back, Kevin Woo glanced at Ethan Lu that was smiling behind Lexi before he returned his gaze back to her. "Right, before I forget, I prepared a small gift for the twins. I just now found out that you guys are married so, my present for the both of you will be on your wedding day— that is if I am invited." Kevin Woo brought up two small wrapped presents and then handed it to her.
"Silly, of course you are!" Lexi chuckled at his last remarks before she accepted the small gifts that seemed like a frame. Curious on what might be the gifts, Lexi shamelessly unwrapped the gifts.
To her surprise, upon seeing the gifts, Lexi pursed her lips as it turned upward. "Kevin, this is too much."
"That"s nothing, actually. I just didn"t know what to give since you two can afford anything for the twins so I did a rough sketch of the twins that Ethan sent me earlier. Hope you like it." Once again, Kevin Woo humbly admitted his humble reason on his gifting choice for the twins as he scratched the back of his head.
"Are you kidding? I love it!" Lexi completely slid out the small frames that had an imperfectly perfect sketch of the twins. What moved her more was that, Kevin Woo himself drew her children that made her feel honored.
"Thank you," Retracing her sparkling eyes away from the sketch, Lexi gave her sincerest thanks as it was the most wonderful gifts that the twins received today.
"Wow, you made this in such a short amount of time? What a talent!" Taking a peek at the present, Ethan Lu chimed in and praised Kevin Woo"s talents.
With that, Kevin Woo eventually relaxed as he conversed with Lexi and Ethan Lu. They then headed back to the hall where the small party was taking place and Elliot Gong"s bad vibes finally grew brighter for their little get together.
Overall, it was another peaceful night to everyone. Just like the past year, everything was smooth sailing and happy, as if nothing could never go wrong.
Meanwhile, somewhere around the city.
"I am finally finished in placing my piece inside their life." While replying to Kevin Woo"s update, Mia Chen muttered without raising her head to the man across her.
"Say, Miss Chen, you know my reasons why I am meeting you— that is to destroy Ethan. How about you?" Tilting his head to the side, Dylan Lu watched Mia Chen put down her phone after sending a message to the chess piece she was talking about.
"Me?" Smirking, Mia Chen languidly leaned her back against the soft single-seater chair while laying her leg one over the other. Unlike her gentle and innocent persona in front of Kevin Woo, her attire, the red velvet lipstick on her lips, her att.i.tude, and temperament was the complete opposite.
"None of your business." Arching her brows, Mia Chen chuckled that could send a chill down to one person"s spine. Or rather, that could absolutely terrify an innocent person, but not as vicious as Dylan Lu.
"Well, it"s not that I care— just curious. Whatever, since my enemy"s enemy is my friend." Nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders, Dylan Lu briefly raised his brows giving her a knowing look. The corner of his lips stretched into a sneer as he gestured for a toast and took a sip.
"You"re such a bad man, Mr. Lu. You"ve dragged on their peacefulness for so long." After taking a sip from her own wine gla.s.s, Mia Chen chuckled as she humored the man she had been in contact with from several months before.
"Oh, dear." Shaking his head sideways, Dylan Lu mildly swirled the wine gla.s.s. "The longer the wait, the more they will think nothing could go wrong. Also, Ethan is really tricky, I can"t move recklessly just like my father." He muttered as his sneer never left his lips not even once. The unreadable yet dark glint that flashed across his eyes revealed nothing but his darkest desires.
"Poor them. A missile was about to be dropped in their lap at any moment without their knowledge that might kill them." Still chuckling, Mia Chen smiled. Her smile was oddly genuine as if what she was doing was the right thing.
"Brother Mo, can"t you see? I love you to the extent of making a way for you to be happy. I am not selfish, it"s unconditional love. Regardless if your happiness was her and not me. You will thank me later because I will make you happy by making her crawl back to you." Inside Mia Chen"s twisted mind, this thought made her burst out laughing like a demon queen being resurrected from the dead.