"I don't want to go, please Ria. You can go with Viktor and attend for me. I'm sure Mrs. Colombo would understand." Sahara is still sulking in the corner of her room two weeks after Damian said they shouldn't acknowledge each other.

Ria isn't budging, "I'm going to make you look jaw-dropping stunning in the most modest way that's going to have everyone gawking at you, do you understand?"

Sahara told Ria about what Damian said, about how he wants to leave Sahara forever. Ria knew Damian wanted to be with Sahara just as badly as Sahara wanted to be with him. Ria just needs to push them back together again, maybe making Sahara the centre of attention at the charity event would work.

Sahara shakes her head, "Ria, you know I hate attention from others. I don't think I can face him at the event."

"Well... Ana has already sent over a custom-made black dress from Chanel... with a custom-made abaya..." Ria says. "It's here already in my closet, omg, don't kill me." She says nervously.

"She what? Ya Allah, I told you not to tell her." Sahara face palms.

"I didn't say anything! She knew Angela was holding the charity event and assumed you needed a dress." Ria looks away, "She hasn't been informed of your situation with Damian from the way she sounded on the phone..."

"It was best for her to find out later or else she'd be too frustrated and worried for everyone. Let her have some peace of mind before she finds out." Sahara says sadly.

"Maybe she can help me..." Ria whispers to herself.

Sahara sighs, "Okay, lets see the dress."

"Really?" Ria claps her hands together in excitement. "Let me bring it out."

Sahara couldn't believe this was her in the dress. The dress outlined her slightly curvy figure but the abaya made it more modest. Ana even sent black Christian Louboutin with the signature red bottoms, matching her bright red abaya perfectly.

"There's something missing... Oh, yes!" Ria hands Sahara a black Saint Laurent shoulder bag that has the gold YSL symbol on the front with gold tassels hanging from it. The bag stands out brightly against her red abaya. "Perfect!!" Ria says excitedly.

"You know your figure has me shook every time I see you in these dresses. My mind is blown, Mash'Allah ("God has willed" or "as God willing", expresses appreciation, joy, praise, or thankfulness)." Ria compliments Sahara.

"Jazak'Allah ("May God reward you [with] goodness." = showing gratitude)..." Sahara smiles at Ria. But her expression falls as she asks, "Are you sure I should go tomorrow?"

"Yes, I need you to wow the living Hell out of everyone." Ria jokes. "Especially, a special someone..." She whispers more to herself.

• • •

"Oh, my, my. My lady is looking beautiful tonight." Smirks Viktor.

"Oh, my, my, Mr. Petrov. You left your looks at home tonight?" Ria releases her snarky comment, very proud of herself.

Viktor smile widens, "I love it when you bite."

"How the bloody hell are you never phased? How am I supposed to get rid of you?" Ria rolls her eyes.

Viktor leans down and whispers, "I won't let you get rid of me, sweetheart." sending chills down Ria's back.

She quickly takes a few steps away from him.

"Where's Sahara?" Viktor asks peeking over Ria's shoulders

"She's co–" Ria sees Viktor's jaw drop before finished her sentence.

• • •

Imran couldn't believe his eyes, Sahara looks so breathtakingly beautiful. It's not that she doesn't look beautiful all the time, but tonight, she looked more like a bold kind of beautiful. She is dressed very much modestly, yet something about her is just so alluring.

"You look stunning, Sahara." Imran couldn't close his mouth, he is struck with awe at her beauty.

A blush creeps through Sahara's cheeks, "Thank you... please, lead the way."

Imran nods.

• • •

The moment Sahara walks into the room, somehow everyone seems to have their eyes glued on her.

You can whispers across the ballroom about her.

"Oh my goodness, who is this young lady?"

"That dress looks stunning on her..."

"What's that on her head? A scarf? Oh my, oh my, she looks stunning, either way."

"Isn't that Mr. Vasiliev's wife? Goodness, she is a gem."

Sahara is very well aware of all the whispers going around the room about her. She kept her gaze low to avoid any eye contact.

That's when Imran slightly touched her arm, making sure not to make her uncomfortable with the touch, but giving her reassurance about all the attention she's receiving. "I'll take you to Viktor and your friend." Sahara nods.

"Goddamn, Sahara. Every man in this room is staring at you even though you don't have a single part of your body exposed. That's magic right there. In other words, you look beautiful." Viktor smiles widely.

"Thank you. Please, no more compliments or talk about how everyone's staring. I'm already ready to go home." Sahara says as she shuffled her feet around in embarrassment.

"Would you excuse me for a moment?" Imran says as there were others who wanted to converse with him.

"Sure." Sahara says. She isn't really paying attention. She looks over, scanning the crowd full of elites and wealthy people, looking for him. She knows this won't help her heart heal, but even little glimpses at him will calm her down. It will give her a small amount of satisfaction, but at least it'll be something.

Then, her eyes land on him, she sees him. Her heart racing just as it did when she saw him for the first time, just like it did when she fell for him, just like the first time.

He looks a little bored from the expression on his face. He's fixing his suit as the wealthy older men chat on about business. He looks cool, calm and collected. He looks like he's doing pretty well since the last time they talked.

To Sahara's distaste, she could see Stella laughing and giggling beside an uninterested Damian. She wore a black skin-tight mini dress that barely covered her chest. There were two pieces of black material crisscrossing across her chest, leaving naked space in the middle.

Stella looked absolutely stunning, to Sahara's disappointment. She looks perfect beside Damian, Stella looks like she belongs there, she meets the unspoken standards that are put up between wealthy people and their partners. She looks like she lives and understands the lifestyle of the people attending, of course she does. She holds her head up high and meets shoulder-to-shoulder with these people, something Sahara couldn't give Damian. Sahara couldn't pull this off as well as Stella.

Sahara realizes she's been staring at them for too long when Stella meets her eyes and gives her a sly wave. Sahara waves back, to not look rude.

Ria smacks Sahara's hand down, "Don't wave back at that little piece of–"

"Ria! Don't say that!" Sahara stops her from going any further.

"You know what we're going to do? We're going to walk in that direction and you're going to stride past them like you're on a runway." Ria grabs Sahara's hand and pulls her before Sahara could begin complaining.

"Now, I'm going to go over there and tip over that haramie's champagne glass and you're going to go talk to Mr. Ignorant there, okay? Good." Ria begins walking before Sahara could say anything, again.

Sahara sees Ria bump her shoulder against Stella's, tipping her glass over onto her dress, ruining it. Ria apologizes in her sweet-fake tone as she offers to help Stella clean up. Stella and Ria walk towards the washroom, leaving Damian open for Sahara to talk to.

It seems as if Damian had seen her and he begins to walk towards her direction. The thought of speaking to him excites her, giving her the butterfly feeling in her stomach.

To her disappointment, he passes by her, barely giving her a second look. But when he does glance over, he looks at her as if he doesn't recognize her, as if they have never met, as if they never were in a relationship.

Is this what he meant, when he said he'll never interfere with her life? Pretend he never knew her? Sahara couldn't stand the unknown look in his eyes, she wants to violently shake him and tell him to remember her, remember them. But now, it feels they were only memories, were they real? Are all just in her head?

"Damian..." She calls out to him in a whisper, without turning towards his direction. She knew she shouldn't have done this, she shouldn't have called out to him, this is only going to hurt more. But she couldn't help it either, she needed him. She could feel it, she knows he stopped when she called his name.

Sahara turns around and grabs Damian's arm as she leads him through the crowd, outside in the hall.

"Sahara, let go." Damian says in a stern voice.

"No." she doesn't look at him as she continues to pull him towards a door.

This is the first time Damian's seen Sahara act stubborn. He's never heard her voice so serious, compared to her sweet, silky voice.

"Sahara, let go, damn it." Damian shouts at her as he shakes his arm free of her hold.

• • •

For the first time ever, anger rises through Sahara, "How could you say that so easily? Why can't you fight for us? I just want you to say you want to stay, that's all I want!" She repeatedly hits his chest, sobbing.

"We're not compatible, Sahara. There's nothing to fight for." Damian says, his voice dry with no hint of emotion.

- - -

A/N: If you visually want to see what they're wearing, I'll attach pictures below!!

Sahara (but she wears a bright red abaya instead of the white one in the picture):

Stella:

♥️