9 PARTY DISPUTE ARIEL’S POV Luke, dressed boldly in his suit, had his arm stretched out to me. He was offering to dance with me, and I was just staring at him, simply surprised, without uttering a word. What the hell was he doing? Was this really happening? I didn’t really think so; I was probably thinking nonsense again. “Is this real?” I asked, confused about what to do. I didn’t know why I kept thinking about this man. I thought these past five years would have erased him from my head for good. “What do you think?” He asked with a charming smile, winking at me. I couldn’t help but frown at him. Memories of our past flooded my mind, bringing back all the pain and hurt he had caused me. I turned away from him, not wanting to relive those moments. “What’s the problem, pretty? Don’t you want to dance?” Luke persisted, his hand still outstretched to me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. “Please pinch me,” I blurted out, my eyes still shut tight. “Pinch you?” Luke repeated, his tone sounding confused. “Why in the world should I pinch you?” “Pinch me,” I repeated, opening my eyes to meet his gaze. “I need to make sure this isn’t a dream.” “Instead of pinching you, I’d rather stick my fingers in your ass.” Luke teased. And yeah, this wasn’t some silly imagination of mine. @ PARTY DISPUTE I gave him an unserious look. “You’d rather stick your fingers in my ass?” I questioned him, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, I think I’ve done that before.” He gave me a mocking smile. “Okay, that’s it!” I spoke up, my voice laced with irritation. “You can go get yourself another lady. Dance with her, and when the two of you are done, you can stick your good–for–nothing fingers in her ass.” Luke gave me an incredulous look, clearly taken aback by my outburst. “Wow, I see Canada has changed you a lot.” “No! That’s where you’re mistaking,” I retorted without hesitation. “You’re the one who changed me.” He laughed in disbelief. “Oh, come on now; by the time you left, you were a soft little pillow.” “But your bitter actions had to make me bitter!” “Do you want to dance with me or not?” He tried to change the topic, but his hand still extended towards me. “I don’t want to dance. I’ve made it clear to you before. You can go find yourself another lady.” He dropped his hand and turned around, surveying the people as they danced to the slow, romantic song. “I can’t seem to find anybody. Most of the ladies here are middle–aged women. 11 I shrugged, not bothered by his predicament. “So what? Go hit one of them,” I brought out, and he gave me a crazy look. “I’m pretty sure they must be interested in you.” “Why would you say that?” “Because all ladies are interested in you,” I replied dryly, bitterness creeping into my voice. ” That was definitely why you never loved me or treated me right, am I not correct?” PARTY DISPUT “Seriously? You’re bringing this topic back again?” “Anything wrong with that?” I raised an eyebrow. “I’m just giving you a brief summary of how wicked you are.” “Do I look like a wicked man to you?” He queried, crossing his arms. “Do you look like a wicked man to me?” I repeated his question in a mocking, tone. “Luke, do you want me to start telling you the terrible things you have done to me since day one? The hurtful words.” “Well, don’t blame me. Your parents just had to fix our marriage for money, knowing fully well that I had someone else in mind. If anyone were in my shoes, the person would have done the same thing.” I chuckled in disbelief. “I don’t really think so.” He let out a frustrated sigh. “Why am I even explaining myself to you?” “Because you’re feeling guilty.” “What do you just say?” He asked without hesitation. “Keep acting like you didn’t hear me. I’m not going to repeat myself.” I directed my eyes to the other people dancing. “Who’s this anyway?” Luke gestured towards Andre, who was still engrossed in his phone.” Your new boyfriend?” “Let me just be clear to you: we didn’t go out separate ways yesterday.” “I know that,” he said nonchalantly. “No, you don’t.” I gave him an acidic smile. “You’re asking me this question, making it look like we divorced not too long ago.” “Is he your boyfriend?” Luke arched an eyebrow. He seemed eager to get an answer concerning Andre. “Sometimes I wonder if you even have senses,” I muttered, wrapping my arm around Andre’s neck before taking a look at Luke once again. “Don’t this face look familiar to you?” Gazing at Andre, Luke furrowed his brows. I could see the bewilderment in his eyes. “It doesn’t ring a bell.” “Well, this is the owner of Vitality Group.” I introduced Andre, and I still noticed how he was giving that phone all of his attention. So I snatched it from him. “Hey!” He gave me a bizarre look at that moment. “Why would you do that?” I cleared my throat. “I was introducing you to someone.” Andre’s eyes met Luke’s, and he quickly shook hands with him. “Luke Reynold, it’s an honor to be in your presence.” “See, he even knows who you are,” I said to Luke. “That’s because I’m famous.” Luke tried to make a comeback. “Famous?” I scoffed. “Don’t make me laugh, sir; you just don’t have brains to recognize people.” “Uhmm, don’t you think that’s kind of offensive?” Andre gave me a knowing look. “I mean, it’s his grandfather’s birthday; we should be nice to him.” “His grandfather’s birthday, exactly. But not his birthday,” I vocalized. “So all the curses in the world can be thrown right at him; he deserves it anyway.” I glared at Luke. “You can go to hell,” Luke spat at me, his eyes filled with disgust. “Well, I’ve already been there when I was living with you. Fortunately, I managed to break free,” I replied, forcing a fake smile. “You know what?” Luke’s anger grew, his voice escalating, “You are the most irritating and stupid person I have ever seen!” “And yet, you wanted to dance with me.” I maintained my plastic grin. “How fascinating” “Who the hell do you even think you are?!” He snarled, attracting the attention of those around us. “You think you’re some big shot, huh?” As people started to stare, including Sir Reynold, I realized the situation was getting out of hand. The music abruptly stopped. “You’re not going to say anything now, huh? Who are you afraid of, the people? You don’t want them to see your true colors and your disgusting attitude?” Luke continued, disregarding the growing audience. “What attitude?” I raised an eyebrow, trying to understand his accusations. “Why are you being so foolish? It’s best if you calm down and keep quiet. Show some common sense, for goodness‘ sake.” Andre approached me and whispered in my ear, “That’s enough.” “Now you want me to calm down?” Luke moved closer, not caring about who was looking. The expression on Sir Reynold’s face clearly showed his disapproval of the situation. “Luke…” “Just stop it, will you?” Andre interrupted me in a hushed tone. “Can’t you see everyone’s watching?” “Do you want to know something, Ariel?” Luke snarled, completely unhinged. “You will never be loved! Not in this life or the next! No one will ever love you!” His words stung, reminding me of my earlier foolish daydreams. It hurt, but I resolved to hold myself together. @ PARTY DISPUTE Andre tightened his grip on my hand. “Don’t do anything,” he whispered urgently. 6/6 Luke continued with his hurtful words, still drawing the attention of everyone around us. Suddenly, darkness enveloped the area as the lights went out. Then, a gunshot pierced the air.
