When we entered the party together, Eloise halted her steps all of a sudden and groaned out loud.

"What happened?" I frowned.

"Rick and Michael are also here." She whispered and boobed her head in their direction. I clenched my jaw when my eyes landed on those two douchebags.

"Don't worry, I'm with you. I won't let them do anything to you," I whispered back. She nodded her head then we walked to where Evan and Trish were standing.

"Oh, Eloise, you rocked the show as always." Trish hugged her. Eloise beamed in return. Evan too praised her.

"Hi, Daniel." Trish waved her hand. I took her hands in mine and kissed the back of her hands.

"You look beautiful, Trish." She blushed and giggled. I heard the clearing of the throat. Evan, who was standing beside me did that and had a deep scowl on his face. I smirked because I knew what that expression was for.

I shifted towards him and whispered, "The feeling, I can understand." He faced me with raised eyebrows.

"Don't worry, Evan, I ain't stealing your woman. I have mine." I patted his back.

"I don't understand what you do that makes my girlfriend gush over you." He whispered.

"She's bubbly, she would do it for anyone, not just me." I chuckled.

"You're right. She has extra energy enclosed in her." He shook his head.

"What are you two whispering?" Eloise asked eyeing us suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing. Just man to man talk, right Evan?"

"Yeah, same." He mumbled.

A lady approached us with a big smile on her face and kissed Eloise's cheek. "You were good. I'm sure now you'll get new offers." She said. Eloise smiled slightly and faced me.

"Daniel, this is my mother, Elena Norman, and Mom, this is Daniel Adams."

"Who doesn't know him? He's quite popular. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Adams." She extended her hand for a handshake.

I smiled. "A pleasure to meet you too, Mrs. Norman. And please, call me Daniel." I kissed the back of her hand.

"And you too...call me Elena."

I shifted towards Eloise and whispered in her ear. "Now I get it from where you received the looks."

"Oh, really? What if I received them from my father?" She smirked. She always loves to challenge me.

"Then I have to meet your father, too. I would love to see who from your parents contributed to your looks."

"Eager, are we? What if I don't want you to meet my father?" Her smirk turned wicked but she didn't know that I'm always one step ahead.

"My dear Eloi... The day is not far when you will introduce me to your father that too by yourself."

"Are you challenging me?" She asked.

"Nope! I'm stating what is going to happen soon." I winked.

"Since when did you become a fortune-teller?" She asked. I inched my face closer to her whispered.

"A moment ago."

"Hey!" A hand that came between our faces broke our eye contact. "We're also here. Save these whisper talks for your private moments." Trish giggled. I chuckled when Eloise's face turned red.

"What does that mean, Trish?" Eloise's mother asked in confusion. Oh! She doesn't know what's going on. She needs to know that.

I was about to say that 'I'm seeing your daughter' but Rick and Eloise's ex chose the moment to interrupt us. "Eloise Nicole, today you have heightened my desire to work with you. How are you, darling?" Rick smirked, eyeing her head to toe then trained his eyes on her exposed leg. I clenched my jaw. How dare he ogle her?

"I'm fine, Mr. Hashington." She replied in a clipped tone. I pulled her closer to me by her waist. Rick eyed my hand then looked up at me.

He smirked. "Oh, Daniel Adams. I didn't see you. How are you?" I saw the annoyance in his eyes.

Oh? He was annoyed by my presence even though we were meeting for the first time. Well, then I would love to infuriate him.

"Awesome!" I replied with a smirk to hike his annoyance. His jaw clenched.

"Hello, Eloise, we met again," Michael smirked. He was shamelessly standing beside Rick as if he hadn't done anything to Eloise. I looked at the people standing with us and found that they had a scowl on their faces.

"How are you, Eloise?" He asked her.

"Can't breathe in your presence," I said in a clipped tone before Eloise could reply. Evan and Trish snickered and Eloise held the urge to laugh. Her mother had pulled up a poker face.

"Did I ask you? Doesn't she has a mouth to speak for herself?" He glared at me. I smirked and stepped towards him, matching his glare.

"She has. Everyone has. It's just that... she doesn't want to waste her energy talking to you."

"Have you changed your profession for her? Has she hired you as her lawyer?" He whispered and grinned wickedly, showing his dirty teeth. "Let me remind you, buddy, No lawyer has ever been able to put a finger on me to date and will not be able to do so."

"Firstly, I ain't your buddy. And secondly, I can do what no one has ever done. And believe me when I say you're my new target." I whispered in a dangerously low voice as I tapped my finger on his chest, reminding him I did put a finger on him.

"How dare you!" He almost lunged onto me but Rick stopped him. Eloise too grasped my arm to stop me.

"Don't worry Michael, she'll have long conversations with you as she'll be working together with you on my new project," Rick said evilly while keeping his eyes trained on me. I threw a menacing glare at him. Why doesn't he understand that she doesn't want to work with him?

"Listen, you-"

"Daniel, stop," Eloise whispered in my ear. "Please excuse us." She voiced out and dragged me away. Evan and Trish followed us while Rick stopped Elena to have a talk with her.

"What's with you? You almost created a scene over there." She narrowed her eyes at me.

"They were insulting you and you're talking about creating a scene?" I scowled. She huffed a little.

"What do you think why I remained quiet? Daniel, this is not a place to create a scene. This is someone else's success party, we can't ruin it. What happened to the calm Daniel I know?" She asked softly.

"They needed to learn a lesson. They can't talk to you like you're nothing." I exclaimed in frustration, looking at Rick who was talking to Elena.

"Your mother doesn't seem comfortable in his presence," I mumbled. She looked over her shoulder and then at me.

"I have seen this before too. I don't know what's happening between these two but I'm sure it's related to the favor she asked from him. I don't want my mother to get into any trouble." She mumbled. The worry was evident on her face.

"Should I teach him a lesson?" I suggested. She scowled again. "No, you don't have to do anything. My mother can take care of herself, I guess." She whispered at the end. Then she made eye contact with me and smiled. "By the way, I like this protective and Jealous Daniel."

I scoffed. "Protective, yes! Jealous of them? No. I'm irritated... irritated of their existence."

"Trust me, the feeling is mutual." She sighed. "But you can't-"

"Daniel you were awesome. Michael's face was worth watching." Trish laughed as she came and stood with us.

"Ah! At least someone is there to praise me for what I did. That means I wasn't completely wrong. Thank you, Trish." I grinned.

"I support you too, Daniel. Michael needed to learn a lesson." Evan said as he patted my back.

"See?" I said to Eloise. "I did nothing wrong." She shook her head in response.

Someone called me to have a talk with me.

"Evan, make sure they remain ten steps away from her. I'll be back." I said and excused myself.

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When Daniel was separated from me, I mingled with other people. Fashion bloggers, fashion designers, models, and many other businessmen and women were there who wanted to be snapped with me. Media was allowed inside the party so I had to give many poses with almost everyone to please them.

I was standing with a group of ladies who were talking business but my eyes were on Daniel. I saw how all the female species present there were ogling and gushing over him.

"Oh, For heaven's sake stop ogling him. He is off-limits. He is mine." I wanted to shout this but I held the urge to do so. But it was killing me.

My annoyance intensified when I saw him entertaining some of the females who were dying over him. He smiled at them making them almost faint. Goodness, these women, they need some earful from me. They're acting like he's smiling for them but what they don't know is he smiles at everyone.

"Stop plotting murders in your head, Eloise," Trish whispered in my ear. I excused myself from the ladies and asked Trish to follow me.

"Can't you see how all these women are gawking at him like he's a piece of meat? And above all, He. Is. Entertaining. Them." I scowled.

"Well, he is a fine piece of meat." She whispered with a wicked grin.

"Do you want me to tell this to Evan?" I glared at her.

She chuckled and shook her head. "Eloise, he's teasing you. I'm sure he's aware of your gaze, that's why he is doing so."

"Teasing, my foot."

My eyes landed on Claire who chose the moment to grace the party with her presence and the first thing she did is, she approached Daniel and kissed his cheeks. She kissed her cheeks!

My annoyances went haywire. I fisted my hands at my sides and threw daggers with my eyes in their direction. Daniel turned his head to face me and grinned.

"Jealous?" He mouthed. His lips weren't hard to read.

"You don't want to know." I mouthed as I squinted my eyes. His grin widened as if he understood whatever I said. He again faced Claire and started to have a talk with her. My jaw ticked.

"You two are so cute." Trish gushed. I tilted my head and glared at her. She shut her mouth by placing a finger on her lips.

"He is testing my patience," I mumbled, throwing a glare at Daniel's head.

When he was done talking with Claire, he made his way towards me. I too took controlled steps forward. We stopped when we were a hand distance from each other. The grin was still gracing his lips.

"Done with Claire?" I grumbled. I wanted to wipe off his teasing grin.

"Yep!" He exclaimed shamelessly not bothering about my irritation with Claire.

"I love to make you jealous." He added.

"You must change this habit of yours. You don't want to know what my jealousy can make me do." I shot him a venomous glare.

"Oh, believe me, I'm eagerly waiting to see what your jealousy can make you do. Perhaps turns you into a vixen?"

"You-"

"It's cute to see you turning into a vixen." He laughed lightly with amusement lingering in his eyes.

"You've teased me enough for the day."

"No amount of teasing is enough for me, my dear Eloi." He flicked my nose. I bit the inside of my cheek to hold the urge to smile. Whatever I may say but I love his teasing remarks. It's made me feel lively and cheerful.

"You know... You shouldn't feel envy of other women. They are not your match." He commented, eyeing me carefully.

"Then who is my match?" I raised my eyebrows.

"I am." He said in a heartbeat and I rolled my eyes. He takes the topic wherever he wants. He ignored the fact that we were discussing the comparison between other women and me.

"Let's do one thing." He said roaming his eyes in the hall.

"What?" I asked. He drifted his eyes on me and stepped towards me.

"Let's make other women feel envy of you."

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