Gold Heart, Warm Soul

8| I'm not cinderella

Classical music resonates through the room giving off a relaxing atmosphere. Waiters roam around the room to bring refreshments to the guest. Florence and Shaun Lee link their arms together as they walked through the front door of the ballroom. Kace and Ambar followed behind their parents. The Lee family looked dashing and elegant. Capturing the attention of the crowds in the room. People stopped chattering as they saw the Lee family walking through the doors. Florence and Shaun wore formal outfits that were matching in colour. Their white ensemble highlighted the Florence's high cheek bones and fair skin, while Mr. Shaun looked dashing with his hair swept behind. Florence's white gown was elegant with a leg slit at the side. Kace and Ambar coincidentally match in colours too. While Kace wore a navy suit which shows off his tall stature and dark eyes, Ambar wore a royal blue halter top dress with pockets, which flows down to the ground highlighting her curves and shows off her beauty she inherited from her parents. Many looked in awe when they saw the whole Lee family had come to the dinner gathering. As they settled in, the Zhang Family came to greet the Lee Family. Having two influential families at the top of the hierarchy in one place is a rare occurrence especially when all the family members are present.

"I'm so glad you could come, Florence. We've been waiting for you," Josephine Zhang said. The two heads of the family shook hands like brothers. Shaun Lee and Dan Zhang were good friends and business partners. They greeted each other like long lost brothers as they have not seen each other for a long time due to their busy schedules. "Hello, Dan. How's being a grandfather like?" Shaun smiled while he patted Dan's back. "It's been great. You should have seen how little baby Noel is doing. I've been an excited grandpa!" Mr. Dan proudly says. As the two men converse, Josephine Zhang spotted Ambar and was happy to see her. "Good to see you Ambar. It's been so long. How have you been?" "Good evening Mrs. Zhang. It's good to see you too. You looked prettier since the last time I've seen you," exclaimed Ambar. "Oh you. You still have the knack to praise this old woman. I heard you were discharge. I'm sorry I couldn't visit you. I hope you won't mind." "No, no. Of course not. I know you're busy." "Come on give me a hug. It's been so long. You've had hard time." Ambar step towards Josephine and hugged her. "Mum, stop taking Ambar away from us. We want to see her too," Jonathan jokingly said to his mum. Josephine let Ambar go reluctantly and chided her eldest son, "Don't spoil the fun. It's been awhile since I saw her."

"Hello Jonathan. Seems like you missed me a lot," Ambar said as she greeted him. Kace came to her side and stood as he too spoke to Jonathan. "How's the baby going?" "Noel? He's doing fine. He looks a lot like me. You should have seen him starting to crawl," Jonathan said lovingly and he thought of his first son back home. As the two families have a great time catching up together, Titus walked in to the ballroom with his girlfriend Xia Lin holding his hands. "Hello, Kace, Ambar." He turned to the siblings and greeted them. "Meet my girlfriend. Xia Lin. This is Kace and Ambar Lee." He pushes a pretty girl with a yellow dress lightly towards them and introduce her. Xia Lin bowed slightly and greeted them nicely. Her innocent eyes stared back at them. "Hello. Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you, siblings from Titus." Ambar turned to looked at Xia Lin and inwardly sighs, putting a fake smile towards her way. Showing politeness, Ambar replied, "Nice to meet you. I've heard about you too from Kace and Titus. You have a lovely dress." "Thank you, I love yours too," Xia Lin replied happily as she saw the Lee siblings having a good response towards her.

 Xia Lin thought that she could finally brag to her friends that she had met the Lee Siblings and would soon become good friends with Ambar. Ambar could easily tell what Xia Lin was thinking but it did not affect her as she remain calm and laidback. "So, I could finally see who's your girl after many attempts of asking about her," Kace said to Titus. "Yeah, well, I wanted it to be a surprise. Besides, you seen her before. I've just never formally introduced her to you," Titus replied. Xia Lin giggled as she listen to them banter. "They have a very good relationship. I've never seen Titus this open to anyone." "Yeah, they're childhood friends. Kace and I known him for years. They get along pretty well," Ambar said as she observed Xia Lin with a guarded look while Xia Lin is preoccupied with staring at Titus. Xia Lin nodded at what Ambar said. "I rarely see you at functions. This is the first time I've got to meet you. I'm really happy," Xia Lin gushes. Yeah, well I didn't want to meet bitches like you here. Ambar thought inwardly and concealing her thoughts with a bright smile. "Yeah, I've been busy with studies. It's great to meet you here."

"Same I'm happy too. Oh you're studying in university right. Well, if you ever need my help, I can offer you advice," Xia Lin kindly says as she secretly boast that she studied in Xia Men university. Ambar politely thanked Xia Lin. As the conversation ends, Ambar excused herself and went to the lounge area to take a rest from socialising. She could already feel a migraine coming her way as she kept up with appearance and tried to push down her past memories from resurfacing.

Ambar sat on the sofa, taking off the high-heels that is killing her feet. No one was in the lounge area which was peaceful. Ah. Why the hell would I need your advice Xia Lin. You studied in business and management while I'm studying Computer Technology. How would you even be able to help me. Your the last person I would even go for help. In this life, it's a gift that I met you at a later stage. If not, I would have to deal with you more than I have to. Ambar silently vented out her feeling as she cursed Xia Lin in her head. As she closed her eyes to take a rest, she could hear sounds of heels clicking on the marble floor. The sounds stopped near and someone took a seat next to her. A glass of wine could be heard as it was sat on the table. Ambar opened her eyes slightly, to see who the newcomer. 

An exotic, beautiful face with olive skin came to her vision. Oh my goddess. It's her!

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New characters in this chapter
1) Dan Zhang- husband of Josephine Zhang
2) Noel Zhang- Jonathan's baby .