The Mysterious Mr. Miller

33. IN THE HAZE

SEAN

"That tie doesn't go with your shirt." Lucas said as he looked in cupboard for a new tie. "Wear this."

"This is fine. I'm straight. Nobody is going to comment on my tie." I said and he showed me the middle finger.

"It's your engagement. You can try to look more enthusiastic." He said and forcefully took the grey tie from my hand. "For the show."

"I'm getting engaged... for the show. Isn't that enough?" I said as I looked at myself in the mirror.

The Italian tailor made black three piece hugged me perfectly and Lucas' stylist had done a good job on my hair. His dressing sense was the only tell that he was gay, because a straight gangster would shoot himself before putting that much efforts in his look.

"Perfect." He said before spraying an unfamiliar cologne on me.

"Yes, ready to get hitched to the love of my life." I said sarcastically.

"Stop scowling and get your ass downstairs. Hailey is arriving in few minutes." He said and left the room.

I sighed and sat down on the bed to wear my shoes. Despite trying hard, my thoughts once again went to Penelope and a muscle in my chest tightened. I liked her, a lot more than I would like to admit to myself. I was past the denial phase because there was no point denying the hold she had on me. Even back when I didn't know her, I was still charmed enough to take her under my protection.

And now, I had to commit myself to someone else, for whom I had zero feelings. As the eldest son of Alexander Miller, that was the life I inherited. I was cursed to always put myself last, for the betterment of the empire he had created.

If that meant hurting the one person I truly cared for, then so be it.

I braced myself and walked downstairs, on time to welcome the Connor family. I shook Senator Connor's hand and then passed a brief smile to his wife Genelia. Then I gave a quick look to Hailey, who was wearing the red gown she had ordered from Paris and she was studded with diamond jewelry from head to toe. She was a materialistic person and she made sure everyone knew that.

"Hi," I held out my hand for her and she gripped it.

"You look handsome." She whispered to me and we both walked inside.

It was a small gathering, mostly comprising of Hailey's friends and some of my closest acquaintances. I wanted it to be a small ceremony but Hailey wanted to invite everyone she knew. It took a lot of convincing to stop her from inviting all her ex classmates.

"Come on, let me introduce you to my friends." Hailey said and took me to her group of elite brats. They were all in their mid twenties, surviving on their trust funds and wasting all their fortune on clothes and fancy cars. All of them said hello to me in unison and then Hailey introduced them one by one.

"I must say, you're sexier than the photos she showed." A girl said flirtatiously.

"He is all mine." Hailey chuckled and possessively wrapped her hands around my arm.

"How come you get all the best things?" Another one chirped in and I cringed.

"Because I'm the best." Hailey said in an arrogant voice.

"Hey, who is she?" Her guy friend said as he looked towards his left. "Is she from our university?"

I angled my neck to look and my eyes widened in disbelief when I found Penelope standing there. What shocked me more was that her hand was clasped around Jason's arm and they were talking to each other.