The Billionaire's Sweet Wife

Chapter 7:The Bash

"I heard that," he calmly said, and Zoe flashed red as she looked outside the window.

When they arrived, Zoe was nervous. She has worked for Dante for over 2 years, but he had never asked her to be his plus one to rich people's parties, let alone attend them. Besides personal bashes, this was the first event that Zoe knew Dante attended for what reason, she didn't know.

She wondered why Dante had agreed to attend this bash, and why he had asked her to be his plus one. Weren't the Kings his rivals in business?

She followed him to the bar, where he ordered a drink for himself and a glass of water for her. He handed her the glass and said, "Drink this. You'll need it."

Zoe nodded, feeling a bit insulted. She knew he only saw her as his assistant. She wished he would treat her with more respect, or at least some kindness. She had been working for him for over 2 years, and she had never seen him smile or laugh. He was always cold and distant, except when he was with his daughter, Chloe, at times.

Zoe liked Chloe. She was a sweet and smart girl, who had taken a liking to Zoe. They had spent a fun day at the mall.

She wondered if Dante knew how much Chloe wanted a mother. She wondered if he cared.

She was snapped out of her reverie by Dante's voice. "Come on, Zoe. It's time to meet some people."

He grabbed her hand, and dragged her to a group of men and women. They were all dressed in expensive clothes, and wore expensive jewelry. They looked at Zoe with curiosity, and at Dante with admiration.

Dante introduced them to Zoe, one by one. They were his business partners, his investors, his clients.

Zoe smiled politely, and shook their hands. She tried to remember their names, and their faces. She tried to act interested, and professional.

She hated it.

She hated the fake smiles, and the fake compliments. She hated the shallow conversations, and the boring topics. She hated the way they looked at her, and the way they looked at him.

She hated all of it.

She felt like a prop, a trophy, a tool. She felt like she didn't belong, she didn't matter, she didn't exist.

She wanted to leave, but she couldn't. She had to stay, and play along. She had to pretend, and endure.

She had to do her job.

She had no choice.

Zoe felt bored and tired as she followed Dante around the hall. She had met so many people that she couldn't remember their names or faces. She had heard so many stories that she didn't care or matter. She had faked so many smiles that she had no desire to laugh.

She wondered when they could leave, and when she could go home.

She was about to ask Dante if she could go to the restroom to escape from these people, when she saw a girl approach them. She was a young about her age,pretty, with brown hair and green eyes. She wore a red dress and black shoes. She had a friendly smile and a cheerful voice.

"Hi, Dante. I'm so glad you came at least now I can have some fun teasing you without threatening to throw me out of your office or house." She giggled

Dante with his poker face introduced her to Zoe.

"Zoe, this is Mia. She's my cousin. Mia, this is Zoe. She's my assistant."

Mia smiled, and extended her hand to Zoe.

"Nice to meet you, Zoe. You're very beautiful. And you have a lovely name."

Zoe shook her hand, and thanked her. She felt a surge of warmth, Mia was the only relative of Dante present, or so she thought. She liked Mia. She was nice and polite. She was different from the others.

Mia looked at Dante, and winked.

"So, Dante, are you sure she's just your assistant? She looks like more than that."

Dante rolled his eyes, and sighed.

"Mia, don't start. She's my assistant, and nothing more. We have a professional relationship, and nothing else."

Mia shrugged, and laughed.

"Okay, okay. I'm just teasing. But you have to admit, she's a catch. You should treat her well, or someone else might snatch her away."

Dante ignored her, and turned to Zoe.

"Zoe, I have to talk to some people. You can stay here with Mia for a while if you like,I'm sure she'll keep you company."

Zoe nodded, and agreed. She didn't mind staying with Mia. She preferred her to Dante.

Dante left them, and joined another group. Mia and Zoe watched him go, and then looked at each other.

Mia smiled, and said.

"They are his friends from childhood. They should be Five, I dont know where Julian is,his the funny one and is an actor. The one in the blue suit is Keegan,he's a Ceo to a technological company,the one in the grey one is Ezekiel, he owns a company that deals with fashion and the last one in the black suit is Skylar he is more like Dante, cold and distant. So, Zoe, tell me about yourself. Where are you from? What do you like to do? How long have you been working for Dante?"

Zoe smiled back, and answered.

"I'm from City X and I like designing on my free time"

Mia beamed with happiness and said.

"Wow, that's amazing. And baby doll this is your,more like my, lucky day. I'm a fashion designer. I have my own brand, and my own store. I'm sure you've heard of M&S"

Zoe was shocked and also excited

"Oh my. You're the what? Like you are the owner of M&S" she screamed like a teenage fan and continued "You don't know how happy and thrilled I am to finally meet you. You're my idol. I can't believe I'm finally meeting the mysterious M in person. At least one thing paid off for me working with Dante" she joked about the last part.

"Did you just joke around using Dante's name. Do you want to die." A good looking man said from behind mimicking a deep loud voice when saying the last part.

"Julian! " Mia exclaimed happily. They shared a hug and finally all eyes were on me. I smiled awkwardly and waved.

"Whose she?"

"Oh lemme do the honors. Julian this is Zoey; Dante's assistant. Zoey this is the missing piece I was talking about"

"Nice to meet you Mr Julian "

"What's with the formalities call me Julian "

"Fine J.u.l i.a.n " she stretched his name smiled.

"I'm thrilled to meet you, milady" he kissed her hand "the only person I heard joking with Dante's name ofcourse " he laughed

"What did she say? " a deep masculine voice chipped in and Julian's laugh died down almost instantly and the two stiffened. We all slowly turned around and met four people staring at us with poker faces.