Present...

-

"Look at that girl in the bright red gown. She's just like the one in the green tulle dress. Maybe these two are even besties and have come here to....oomph!"

Olivia did not get the chance to finish her analysis on the young women who had appeared at the banquet as if they were invited to a prom party.

She turned her eyes to glare at her friend as she chewed on the marshmallow that Emilia had shoved into her mouth to make her shut up.

"Stop pointing at them. You are being rude," Emily told her friend with a shake of her head as she took a sip of her juice.

Unlike most of the ladies present at the banquet, she was not wearing a gown. Rather, she was wearing a white knee-length dress with deep blue colored prints on it. Her hair was falling on her back in waves. The only accessories that she was wearing were a white hair clip, rings, bracelets, and long dangling earrings.

Once again she was wearing barely any makeup but her natural beauty and elegance still made her stood out in the hall filled with people of power and class.

"I'm just being truthful. They can't hide their true colors from my detective gaze." Olivia responded after finishing chewing her marshmallow.

Emily just shook her head as she smiled at her friend. Because of Olivia, she and Shadow had arrived a little earlier than her brothers, Sullivans, and the Evans family. Even not a single member from the Supernatural Council had arrived so far.

The people who were present at the banquet currently were mostly the senior students of the Academy or the staff members.

"Let's take a seat. My feet are starting to ache," she advised, and then both the young women settled down on the sofas that were placed in the VVIP section next to the podium.

They did not wait for too long when the huge door of the hall opened and three familiar figures stepped inside. Suddenly everyone's attention was fixed on the entrance as the important guests of the night finally started showing up.

"Isn't that Mr. Evans?" Olivia asked as she too stared at the entrance along with the rest of the people present there.

"Mmhmm," Emily replied positively with a little nod of her head as she played with the emerald ring on the index finger of her right hand.

"Oh! Then the man beside him should be Mr. Hart. But who's this beautiful woman? She looks so elegant, not fake like most of the women present here. She's probably like you - rich but humble, beautiful and ki...Wait! Why are they coming over here?"

Olivia hurriedly looked around and then realized that the three of them were probably heading towards the VVIP seats next to them. After all, there were only three VVIPs in the entire city and Evans were one of them.

"Oh right! How can I forget this? Evans are best friends of your family. I'm seriously not used to your identity as the Alessandro Princess," the girl muttered as she gave her friend a pouty look.

"The only thing that you need to remember is that we are friends. The rest doesn't matter," Emily told her before she stood up and faced the grinning Bianca who had finally approached her along with Sam and Jackson following behind her.

The woman did not speak at all and just spread her arms wide as she looked at Emily with emotions swirling in her eyes.

Emily did not waste much time as she jumped into Bianca's arms and engulfed the woman in a tight hug.

"My baby is back," Bianca whispered in a joyful tone as she pulled the girl in a tight hug.

"Come, let me look at you," she said and stepped back to look at Emily from head to toe, observing her just like a mother who was seeing her daughter after a very long time.

"Oh my! Look at how beautiful you are. My little girl has grown up into such a beautiful young lady. I'm so proud." Bianca could hardly control her emotions as she again pulled Emily in another tight hug.

"I missed you so much, Em!"

It was getting so hard for Emily to keep her tears from spilling. She wanted to just let go of her emotions and cry her heart out in Bianca's arms. The warmth and attention that she received from this woman, always reminded her of the good memories that she shared with her mother before everything went downhill.

"Darling, you are making her emotional. Let's not be the reason for her crying her eyes out here in public. Her brothers won't be too happy after seeing their sister crying." Jackson decided to come to her aid as he pulled away Bianca from her.

"Well, kiddo. Your teacher also missed you a lot," He said as he pulled Emily in a soft hug and patted her head lightly before stepping back.

Emily smiled as she gave Jackson a grateful look before turning her attention towards Sam who also moved closer to give her a quick warm hug like Jackson and Bianca.

"We all missed you, Em, and we are happy to see you here. Don't disappear like that again," said Sam as he moved to stand next to his mate.

Emily hurriedly nodded her head without missing a beat. She had no plans of repeating her mistake ever again.

"En! Sullivans and your brothers are here," Jackson announced as he nodded towards the entrance where Kaiden and Domenic were standing as they talked about something in whispers.

Her eyes took in the handsome men who were suddenly capturing the attention of every single person present in the room. Her brothers looked as powerful and handsome as usual.

On the other hand, she could barely find any words to describe how ethereal Kaiden was looking. Whenever she looked at him, it felt like her eyes were only made to worship his beauty, and she was more than happy to do that.

It was like he felt her eyes on him because the next second he moved his eyes towards her, making her gasp at the sudden electric tingles that erupted in her body as their gazes locked on each other.