"pick it up, go on" she said demandingly, her red nails glistening under the dim lit living room,
"Isn't this your job ?" She scoffs amusingly while running her red nails across her long, shiny and straight jet black hair
he clench his jaw and mum...
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Author's Pov
Aurelia’s room was bathed in the soft glow of dusk as her phone buzzed insistently on the bedside table. The screen illuminated with her father’s name, and her heart slightly skipped a beat. Mr. Choi rarely called at this hour. She sat up, her silk sheets pooling around her waist, and answered the call.
“Dad,” she said, her voice steady despite the turmoil inside.
Aurelia’s gaze flickered to the framed photo on her dresser, a snapshot of her and Taehyung, laughing together during happier times. She had never anticipated that their complicated friendship would become a tabloid fodder.
Aurelia clenched her fists. Embracing yet another never-endless scolding from her father to be reminded again about her marriage contract, and their family's legacy, she knew it as she prepared her self from the clash— years ago when she was barely eighteen she already carried that responsibility— the weight of being the only child loomed over her like a shadow. She had hoped to find love on her own, not be bound by duty.
His voice crackled through the line. “Aurelia, prepare yourself. I already hired a stylist for you, In five days, we are going to attend the grand ball, it will be held at Mr. Samuel Kang’s Mansion.”
Aurelia’s heart raced. The Kang Mansion, the pinnacle of opulence and intrigue. Why would her father want her there?
“And Aurelia,” he continued, “you’ll be escorted by someone important.”
“Who?” she asked, her mind racing through a list of potential candidates—business associates, politicians, perhaps even a foreign dignitary.
“That’s not your concern,” her father replied, his tone oddly neutral. “your presence is needed, Carlos will fetch you on the 4th, Just be ready.”
Aurelia hesitated, her mind still swirling with questions. She hadn’t asked her father about the headlines, the gossip that had consumed social media. It seems odd to her that her father didn't brought it up, she recalled a memory where she had intensely scolded by her father whenever her and Taehyung pops up on the news or gossip media, this time felt so unsettling to her because deep down in her gut, she knows her father is up to something that will entirely lose her will to control what she decides for herself.
“don't embarrassed me this time.” her father said in a stern authoritative voice before he hang up.
As the call ended, Aurelia stared at her reflection in the mirror. She wondered what awaited her at the Kang Mansion, the whispered conversations, and her father’s intentions.
In five days, She would step into a world where alliances were forged, and choices had consequences. And as she prepared, she couldn’t shake the feeling that her father’s neutrality masked a storm brewing beneath the surface.
