𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚎 || 𝐅𝟒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃 (editing)

thirty five

chapter thirty five:

"Are you joking?"
———

It was the evening of Thyme's eighteenth birthday and his party was in full swing. The Parama estate was decorated with fairy lights, giant red and white decor, and a large array of gifts. Vincent handed the keys to Lia's Rolls-Royce to the valet driver whilst being tormented by the complaints of his best friend. Liliana hated the fact that she had to go to the Parama estate after her confrontation with Roselyn. She wanted nothing more than to completely exclude herself from anything to do with the Parama family. That would be impossible though since she wasn't planning to stop being friends with Thyme or any of the members of F4. But, still, she put aside her anger and reminded herself that she was at this event to celebrate Thyme and it wasn't the right place to isolate Roselyn Parama from the business world.

If there was one thing that Lia was good at it was making dramatic entrances. After all, she wasn't the reigning queen of high society in Europe for no reason. She knew exactly how to make an entrance that would in-captivate an entire crowd and assert her position. She entered the backyard where the party was taking place. As if it was rehearsed, all eyes immediately went to the girl. The music even seemed to drown out as she walked across the event. She wore a white silk dress that perfectly hugged every curve on her body. A gorgeous forrest green velvet coat was draped over her shoulders. The sound of her white Jimmy Choo heels — the ones with the large bows on them — placed the entire party in a momentary trance. Her pearl necklace and diamond earrings were shining under the hundreds of fairy lights.

Of course, every princess must have an honorary knight. Vinny, or in this case Lia's knight, walked next to her with his hand extended. She grabbed his right hand as the floor turned from pavement to grass in order to not get her heel stuck. Vincent's outfit matched hers quite well, but then again, how could it not? She literally arranged his outfits to ensure that he doesn't look insane. Vincent wore an oversized off-white dress shirt with dress pants that were the exact same shade of green as Lia's coat. His own coat was a greyish-green color.

"Lia! Vinny!" Kavin greeted in a loud voice before waving them over. The members of F4 — minus the birthday boy — and Gorya were all huddled in a corner of the event. "Why are you guys so far away from everyone?," Lia asked, "also where's the man of the hour? I haven't given him his gift yet,". On cue Vincent held up a bag that he was carrying with his left hand, "please, this thing is heavy it's cutting off my circulation,".

The boys were practically giggling to one another. "Gorya was just about to give Thyme her homemade gift that she made him," MJ teased. "Really? Go go go! Can't let your prince wait too long," Lia said winking. She pushed Gorya in the direction of Thyme. Kavin helped her out by picking Gorya up, which caused her to yelp and get the attention of Thyme... along with every other person at the party. The rest of the group watched as Gorya and Thyme conversed with one another.

"I'm going to set this on a table and hope no one steals it," Vinny mumbled before tossing the gift aside, "oh my god there's cake!"

Once Vincent returned with a couple of slices of cake — which he was forced to share — a comfortable silence engulfed them as they continued to watch Gorya and Thyme flirt with each other. Well, it was comfortable for everyone except for Vinny. Something felt ominous about the entire situation. Perhaps that's what gave him the bright idea to confess something to his friends.

"I'm going back to Italy for a bit," Vinny said, eating another bite of cake. Ren, Kavin, and MJ were a bit too shocked to respond. Their mouths were practically on the floor. They couldn't believe how nonchalantly he stated his departure. Liliana was already made aware of the news a few days prior so her only reaction to his confession was to take another sip out of her glass of champagne

"Oh," Vinny said with a mouthful of cake, "and Lia is coming with,".

"Are you joking?"

Lia's heart almost broke as she stared at the person in front of her, their face of betray made her heart ache.

"I'm not joking."

———a/n

mini chapter :)