Alara took a deep breath before opening her eyes and looking at the scene in front of her. Finally, this day had arrived. A day when she can mingle with people in high society and as she grew her influence and power. The day when she can finally see him again.
The atmosphere in the venue was very harmonious. There were sounds of people chatting in the background, classical music was also playing, giving the whole place a luxurious atmosphere. Everything at the party was perfect, with the exception of the man that was standing on the other side of the room.
She looked at the way he was chatting and laughing with the crowd around him and felt the anger she had spent years suppressing rise up again. Alara thought that she had become numb to the pain in her heart, but seeing Matthew physically proved that she hadn’t been able to heal.
A waiter passed in front of her and she picked up the wineglass on the tray and placed it on her lips as she took in the rich scent of the wine. She didn’t drink the wine, and instead, watched Matthew with a subtle gaze over the rim of the glass.
When she saw him excuse himself from the crowd, she also moved. She meandered through the crowd gracefully and a few stray eyes landed on her figure, but because she had a goal in mind, she ignored the gazes she received.
Alara suddenly took two quick steps and collided with Matthew, who had suddenly stopped walking. The wine in her glass spilt with her sudden movements staining not just her hand, but also the suit Matthew was wearing.
“Oh, no! I’m so sorry,” Alara said in a soft voice, as she put on a worried and perplexed expression.
Matthew had stopped suddenly because he had seen someone familiar. He didn’t expect someone to suddenly bump into him. His mood became even worse because they had spilt their drink on his clothes. He quickly turned around to look at the perpetrator and the frown on his face softened.
Alara looked up at her ex-husband, who was looking at her in stunned silence, and smiled politely. She was completely carefree and wasn’t worried about Matthew finding out about her identity because she had spent the past few years meticulously planning for this day.
The naive good girl that he knew back then no longer existed. After her near death experience, Alara had gone into hiding. She got a lot of work done to change her features just so that she could experience a day like today.
Matthew looked at the beautiful woman in front of him and forgot all about his anger. What was the point of being angry with a beautiful woman, anyway? It was better if he could befriend her.
“That’s alright, don’t worry about it,” Matthew said as he smiled to reassure her. If it was anyone else, then he would have made a fuss, but right now, he wanted to leave her with a good impression.
“Are you sure? The stain would be a bit...” Alara said as she worriedly looked at the stain on his suit. Not much wine had gotten on his clothes and someone had to look carefully to notice it.
“It’s alright, it’s just a small stain,” Matthew continued to comfort her and Alara couldn’t help but sneer in her heart. She remembered the bitter days when he would make a fuss because she didn’t iron his shirt the way he wanted her to. Now, looking at how he was reassuring her even after dirtying his clothes, Alara felt that the situation was too ironic.
“Are you here alone? Or did you come with an escort?” Matthew asked her as he put on a harmless expression. Alara looked at his face for a long time, as if she couldn’t come to terms with the fact that she had once loved this man dearly.
“I’m here alone,” Alara answered as her lips curved into a smile.
“Oh? Who do we have here?” a familiar voice asked, and Alara looked at the woman who ruined her life walk to Matthew before hugging his arm possessively. Seeing how she was behaving like a dog that was guarding her bone, Alara couldn’t help but be secretly amused. With the way Kerri behaved three years ago, who would think she would be reduced to a state where she still had to guard against other women?
She remembered how Kerri had interfered with her relationship with Matthew three years ago. She destroyed the little peace she had and completely wrecked havoc on their relationship. Not only did she instigate their divorce, but she had also tried to kill her.
This woman, whom she had called her friend, turned out to be a coldhearted murderess who was so vicious that she didn’t hesitate to plot her death. After such a rude awakening of her situation three years ago, Alara had to go into hiding to recuperate.
She got plastic surgery and worked very hard to broaden her own knowledge so that she could have her revenge. She was going to make the couple standing in front of her cry and beg at her feet. For her, there was no chance of reconciliation at all.
Matthew, who was so rudely interrupted by his fiancee, was not happy. Although he was proficient in hiding his feelings, Alara still noticed the displease frown on his face. She was very familiar with that expression because he had shown it to her several times during the duration of their marriage.
Even though Kerri fought so hard to take this man, it looked like things were not as good as she portrayed them to be. Alara didn’t dwell on her thoughts for long and politely smiled at the couple.
“Oh, silly me. I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Alara, it’s a pleasure,” Alara said with a bright smile that seemed to shine brighter when she saw Kerri’s expression change.