The Billionaire's Stepdaughter

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Anna was currently bored out of her mind. Here she was downing wine glass after wine glass. Forced to socialize with people she has never met all due to her mother's abrupt decision to throw a party.

She still had some bruises and cuts from when she went wild so she was wearing a sequenced, long sleeved, floor length evening gown. That bared her back. She hated it, but she had no choice.

"Ah!" she squealed as she felt two hands hold her waist from behind. "Mathieu!" She said as she playfully hit him on the arm. "I'm sorry, darling." He laughed.

After he had stopped laughing, an awkward silence surrounded them. She hadn't really talked to him or even saw him after that incident. Mostly because honestly she was avoiding him and confrontation.

Surprisingly though, Mathieu broke the silence first. "Are you alright?" he asked. His tone soft and low. Anna didn't know what he meant and then, he nodded his head towards Nicolas who had a beaming Evelyn on his arm. "Somewhat" she answered quietly. "Are you though? Truly?."

She gave him a half smile and continued on staring at Nicolas. The whole day before, Nicolas had assured her that he loved her and Evelyn meant nothing. And that he would keep as much distance as he can from her. But she knew it was impossible, he couldn't very well avoid his own wife in public.

"Why didn't you tell?" Anna asked. Matthieu remained speechless for a moment. "Because my uncle loves you and I know that you love him as well. If as much, I do not know." He paused then continued. "You should've witnessed his face after he came hunting for me. He looked like a madman driven to the brink. He loves you far more than you think."

Anna turned her face away from Mathieu. She was on the brink of tears. Having heard of how much Nicolas loved her, touched a part of her she did not know even existed. She stared at Nicolas lovingly and caught his gaze. He gleamed at her. A silent assurance that she had never left his thoughts. She returned it.

Unfortunately though, she had also caught her mother's attention. Evelyn had started to walk towards her. She stopped and hugged Anna with a confused Nicolas at her side. "Sweetheart, you've been such a good girl this past month that I decided to reward you!" Anna looked at Nicolas. Silently asking him if he knew, he shrugged. "Oh, boys!" Evelyn sang as she motioned for someone to come closer.

Anna was baffled. Troy and Alex came out of nowhere looking as if they were strutting on a catwalk. Anna tackled them both, making the three of them fall to the ground. "Calm down, Anna!" Troy playfully scolded. "We missed you too, Annie!" Alex exclaimed.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you two!" She kissed them both on the cheeks and grinned like a child who just received candy for the first time in their life. Troy and Alex both returned the favour in harmony making the guests giggle at their silliness. But one person wasn't laughing or even smiling... that person was Nicolas.

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☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

BTW: for those non homophobes please check out 'Love Arrangement' by yours truly.