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Over the last couple of days... well... let's just say that it wasn't easy. Looking for a job wasn't as easy as I thought it would be but I continued with what I had in mind. I wasn't going to give in that easily but somewhere in my head I knew that I was lying to myself...

Would I cave in again to him??? Would my walls crumble at the sight of him???

I had endless questions running through my mind that never was on pause. I stared back at my mirror as I looked at my reflection. I wore one of my favourite lilac, off the shoulder dress. I loved it because it hung against my body effortlessly, the material coming to an end mid-thigh.

The body-con dress also had a lilac choker. My make-up was done to a minimum, with a similar lip colour. I wore my black Chimmy Choos, giving my whole body a classy look. Not wanting to look at myself any longer, I leave my room and head downstairs where I met mum.

As I reached her, I instantly pouted, somewhat not pleased with the overall reason why I had to dress up,

"Mum why am I wearing this again?"

She only gave me a stern look before walking away from me as she spoke,

"I'll answer your question in the car, but first we need to leave. Your dad is already in the car"

I kick into nothing as I follow her out of the house. We both step outside and I'm met with a cold breeze. I rub the sides of my arms as I quickly jog into the car. I slide into the seat and wait for mum to sit in the passenger seat.

Once she was sat inside and closed the door, dad immediately ignited the car and drove out of the driveway. I looked out of my window, seeing the birds fly in a flock they knew it was time to call it a day.

The silence in the car was unbearable so I faced the front and posed the question again. Dad turned a left around the corner and mum finally answered,

"Because sweetheart, we decided to meet the King family at their place as we planned on leaving together"

At her answer, I only slouched my body against the seat, a shiver running through my body. An exaggerated sigh leaves my mouth as I continued to whine,

"Why couldn't I say at home like Leo? I doubt I'm even allowed to attend"

Mum turned her head from the passenger seat as she made a hissing sound with her teeth. I knew that mum was becoming slowly irritated. Since I had the argument with Noah over the last couple of days, mum had been a little distance.

I tried to reason with her that what Noah did really did hurt but she tried to reason by saying that we both needed to come together and talk about it. From her point of view, this was just one speed bump that we both needed to overcome.

I didn't want to feel small and powerless especially since it was Noah. If anything, the least he could've done was rehire all the employees he fired but clearly his ego and pride was bigger than his company.

I look down at my heels as a small pout fights on my face. Since then the whole car journey was quiet. It wasn't long until the car pulled up at a fancy looking mansion. I look out of the window, my eyes taking in the beauty of the whole place.

We all, mum, dad and myself, left the car making our ways towards the front door as we waited patiently. Mum knocked a couple of times before we all heard a small patter of feet approaching.

On the other side of the door, someone rattled with the locks and quickly enough the door opened. I sucked in a breath, my mind going haywire as I thought of the endless options on who it could be on the other side.

To my dismay, the door opened and revealed Lauren. My eyes widened at her appearance as she smiled politely at my parents before her eyes fell on me. She opened the door wider, allowing us all to step inside. She ushered my parents to a room to which I knew was the living room.

Lauren walked first, us following behind her. As we walked forward, my eyes take in the wide opening; my thoughts distracted were distracted as my walking slowed down until I came to a halt.

The hallway was painted beige with a few family portraits on the wall. There was a clear crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The rays of light reflecting onto the beige walls. At the end of the room held a large staircase which gave a grand preview of the second floor.

I spun around on the spot, my mouth hung open a little. I noticed that nearer to the ceiling, there were intricate black designs bordering the walls from the ceiling itself, that alone made the whole floor scream rich. I gulped, my eyes scanning to see if anything else stood,

"Woah... this is what you call a mansion"

I whispered to myself. I spin once more, trying to take in the detail but even that was too much for me. My exploration came to a pause as I caught a smirking Lauren. She walks towards me, her arms out before pulling me into a tight hug.

The hug itself held so many emotions. It made me loose my breath for a second so we stood like this for a minute or so before I tapped her back,

"Can't... breath..."

She pulls away, a small laugh leaving her rose pink lips,

"Whoops, sorry. It's just that I've missed you sweetheart"

I only stutter,

"Lauren... wha- what are you doing here?"

She gives me a loving smile as she replies,

"Noah lives like two blocks away, I thought Benjamin and I could help around the place you know, before everyone leaves for the party."

I give her a knowing look as I speak,

"It's so good to see you. I missed your antics with Ben. How is he? Oh and send my love to him"

She snorts as she rolls her eyes,

"That man has been on my nerves twenty four seven and if you want me to pass on your love, that'll only happen if I don't strangle the man himself. Speaking of the devil, I should go check on him. I'll see you around Lily"

A giggle leaves my mouth as I nod nevertheless. I watch her as she hurries off into a room. Just as I was about to head in the side direction as my parents, I stop to the sound of soft humming. I locate the soft humming from the top of the stairs and I only find myself smiling even wider.

Walking down the stairs, Wendy come down the stairs as she hummed to herself. She wore a cherry red dress, her hair braided in two as she wore white flats. I part my lips and call our her name, grabbing her attention,

"Look at you cupcake, you look like an angel"

Wendy looks up at the sound of my voice and a gasp leaves her mouth. Her small hands fly to her mouth as she quickly comes rushing down the stairs. I chuckle quietly to myself and she uses her little legs to walk quickly over to me.

I crouch down with arms wide open, waiting for her as she runs into me. Her impact almost made me fall over but I was stable. She wrapped her arms around my neck as she kissed my neck a couple of times, a laugh leaving my lips as I stand holding her securely in my arms.

She unlatches herself from my neck as she smiled widely showing me her white set of teeth. She complements me,

"You look so pretty, why can't I be pretty like you?"

She said as she pouted at the end. I use one of my hands and brush away the loose hair admiring her as I respond,

"Cupcake, never say that you're not pretty. In my eyes, you're the most prettiest cupcake here."

Wendy only looks down as she played with her necklace. Lifting one of my finger, I bring her chin up making her look at me,

"Cupcake, you shine so much in the room that you make everyone else hide in the dark because you sparkle and shine so much, did you know that?"

She shyly shakes her head as I give a little sigh,

"Cupcake if someone says that you're not pretty you come to me okay? I'll get the monster to make them run away"

She giggles happily as she nods,

"Now, can you show me where the living room is? I forgot?"

I say playfully. Wendy nods once as she points to the door wide open,

"That way!!"

She exclaims making me shake my head. Nevertheless I play along,

"Let's go my precious cupcake! Let's show everyone how amazing and pretty we look"

Our laughter mixes as I take a few steps before Wendy asked to let me down. I do as asked. Before I could stand up, she holds onto my wrist. She whispered,

"Can you stay out here for a second? I'll come back and get you?"

I scrunch my eyebrows together in curiosity as her words only left me confused. I nod a few times as I watched her quickly run inside the room.

The living room was buzzing with a light chatter as all the adults sat on the sofas. The men; Callum, Joshua, Noah and Matt; sat together with champagne in their hands as they spoke about business. The ladies also all sat together, getting to know each other in more detail.

The atmosphere was calm before Wendy ran in grabbing all the attention. She ran towards Noah and grabbed the flower that was placed in his top blazer pocket. Without saying a word, she ran back out of the room; a giggle following shortly after.

The adults merely watched the little one as she ran out of the room with a somewhat confused question to why she was like this but they simply chuckled it off. Matt shook his head as he commented,

"Toddlers these days"

Just as Callum was about to speak, Wendy rushes back in. This time screaming her mother's name. Mia stopped mid-sentence as she now directed her attention to her little one. Wendy moved to stand in the middle of the room, grabbing everyone's attention once again.

Out of nowhere, she randomly starts shaking her whole body, dancing. Her small hands were balled, a smile playing on her face. The adults cooed at her actions before she stopped and spoke excitedly,

"Mommy! Mommy the brid is here!"

Mia furrowed her eyes as she questions back to the little one,

"Brid? What's that baby?"

"Mommy you know what it is! You did it"

Mia points to herself as she gives a look towards Joshua who equally looked lost as her,

"I did baby?"

Wendy nods her head furiously as she babbles out,

"You have a picture in your room with the flowers in your hand. You were with daddy"

Wendy exclaimed as she points at her father who sipped his champagne. Mia still looked confused, only for Joshua to speak up,

"Baby do you mean bride?"

Wendy turned on her feet to face her father. An even wider smile was plastered on her face before she broke into another dance. Wendy found herself feeling so many emotions at once as she stopped dancing and began to jump on the spot. Noah spoke out,

"Princess what are you talking about? There's no bride here. It's just us, see"

For toddlers, they sure had imaginations. They had hope too. From all the adults present in the room, Sarah smiled knowing what was happening as she gave a knowing look to her husband. Matt's face also fell into place as he skimmed around the room not seeing his daughter present.

At Noah's words, Wendy ran up to Noah and slumped in-between his legs. She slapped his stomach as she repeated over her words,

"You can't say that! You can't! You can't! You can't!"

"Okay okay okay princess, calm down. Since you said there's a bride, why don't you get her?"

At his words she smiled before pointing at her lips,

"I want a kiss here"

Noah only shakes his head, a deep chuckle leaving his lips. He didn't question her weirdness as he simply leaned down, kissing her delicately on the lips. Wendy cupped her lips in a shy manner, a soft giggle leaving her lips.

Without another word, she unlatched herself from Noah before sprinting out of the room for the third time as if it depended on her.

I look down at my dress, only to see a single white flower shoved in the valley of my breasts. I shake my head as I move to take it out but pause by the voice of Wendy,

"No! Don't take it out!"

"Cupcake a flower doesn't go there, it goes here,"

I say as I take out the flower from my chest, placing it now behind my ear. Wendy tilts her head curiously to the left as she stares at my face with determination and all seriousness. I give her a smile as I try to reason with her,

"See? Much better"

Wendy doesn't say anything else other than nod her head and shrug her shoulders. She moves to grab my arm pulling me into the living room, me trialling behind her. As soon as she she steps inside, she exclaims out,

"Look! Look! The bride!"

"Cupcake wha-"

I manage to say as I stumble into the room after her, confusion plastered on my face. Now that my presence was in the room, I look around, seeing everyone sat comfortably. Noah who sat directly in front of me choked on his champagne.

He placed his glass on the tea-table before he stood up. Without shame, his eyes trialled up and down my body. No-one dared to say a word. One by one, everyone stood up. Callum stood side-by-side next to Noah as he patted his back; a quiet chuckle leaving his mouth,

"Mommy! Mommy! Look see! The bride!"

I think my facial expression mirrored Noah as my face fell blank. The words leaving my lips only in a stumble,

"Wha- what?"

"Wendy baby Lil-"

Joshua was about to speak but was cut of by me,

"Ow ow ow!"

I speak quick and fast as my hand flew to my ear as someone from behind held onto my ear tightly. On reflex, I tip-toed and turn my upper body towards the person. As I looked, I had a glance at a tall, confident, elderly women. The men all exclaimed upon my words,

"Mum! Gran!"