A few minutes ago...

Angela couldn't believe her eyes. At first, she thought it was just someone who looked like him. But he had sent her a photo of him a while ago. And even though she could only see his side profile from afar, she'd known him long enough to know how he looked in any angle.

"Anj… Isn't that…" she heard Nina start.

And all she could mutter was his name. "Gael..."

"You know the guy?" Nolan tilted his head, curiosity lacing his eyes as he turned all his attention to Angela.

She was so confused and scared, yet she hadn't averted her gaze away from Gael and Lauretta from across the room. She didn't like what she was seeing, but she couldn't tear her gaze away. "Ninz, what is going on? Why is he here? Who are they? Why is she…"

"I swear I don't have any idea what's going on!" Nina squeezed Angela's hand as if that would help make her case. "I told you, remember? They're enemies. Seeing them in one room like this is the last thing I would ever expect."

"Dollface, how do you know that man?" Nolan asked her in a serious tone, setting his empty glass onto a passing waiter's tray and then facing his cousin. "You told her?"

Nina ignored her cousin's question. "Nolan, you must know something. What's going on?"

He looked at Angela whose stare was still glued to Gael and Lauretta. It took her a while before she blinked and averted her gaze—the hurt was evident in her eyes, but she tried to hold her tears in.

Nolan hooked his fingers under her chin so that he could study her face. Then he briefly glanced at Gael. "Is he someone important to you?"

This time, Angela couldn't escape Nolan's questioning. She looked up at him, her voice weak and low as she asked, "Just please answer... What do you know?"

He put his hand down and exhaled a long sigh. Nina nodded at him as though she was giving him the go signal. Frustrated that he was the one to spill the beans, he ran a hand down his face. "You didn't hear this from me, okay?"

Angela didn't nod or say anything, but he took her silence as a yes. And so he began explaining, "That old man is Nonno Mario, the current head of the Morelli family. He's grandma Celia's brother."

"I already know that. Nina told me..."

Three months ago when Angela came clean to Nina—the truth about her first book—her best friend told her the history of Morellis and De Lucas. Celia Morelli-Lopez was Nina and Nolan's grandmother who migrated to Esmea many years ago after cutting ties with her family. She got married and settled down in Mayne City. It was only a couple of decades ago that she and her brother, Don Mario, got reunited and became family again. Their relationship meant that Nina, Nolan, and Lauretta were second cousins.

Nolan nodded, keeping his voice down as he continued, "The Morellis and the De Lucas had been in a war since even before we were born. There's a lot more heat now due to the current leadership in every family. Long story short, the older...leaders want to stop this war. And they decided to follow the old ways to end it—a marriage. Two marriages, actually. A Morelli marries a woman from the De Lucas, and a De Luca marries a woman from the Morellis."

"Who?" Nina questioned. Because her grandmother moved to Esmea to get away from that life, her knowledge about this matter was limited. Though from time to time, news would reach their ears.

"I only overheard this earlier when I went to greet Nonno, okay? They said that guy, Gael or whatever his name is—will marry Lauretta, and Mariano will marry Gael's sister."

"The hell… No wonder Mariano had been sulking the whole night. This is forced marriage. Isn't this illegal?"

"You kidding? Everything about them is illegal." Nolan chuckled, shaking his head as he grabbed a glass of champagne from the passing waiter. Then he looked at Angela. "You don't look okay, dollface."

While Nolan and Nina were talking, Angela felt like the whole world was coming down on her. Her chest tightened as images of Gael from last night, this morning, and all the other times they were together flashed in her head. She couldn't believe it. What kind of luck was this?

She lifted her incredulous stare, just in time to meet Gael's stunned expression when he saw her. It was as if her heart was ripped out of her chest. "I...need some air," she muttered with a racing heartbeat as she turned on her heel and strode out.

***

Gael's instinctive reaction was to go after Angela. However, just when he took a step, Giovanni abruptly stopped him.

His uncle clasped him by the arm and spoke in a low voice so that only the two of them could hear. "Not now."

He resisted, his brows furrowing deeper as he glared at the other for stopping him. "I have to go after her."

"Not. Now," Giovanni's voice was a warning. "Or do you not care that they'd find out she's important to you? You'll only be putting her in danger. All eyes are on us, brother. You go after her, and they'll know your weakness. Do you really want that?"

Giovanni was right. But damn if that wasn't the worst thing he had to hear today. Gael needed to get to Angela. He didn't understand what she was doing here, but that wasn't important. What's important was that he fûcked up real badly. The look on her eyes killed him.

Pasquale, Lauretta's father, came to greet them. He extended his hand for a shake, but neither Gael nor Giovanni accepted it. Gael was sick to his stomach because the man smiled like they were best friends, acting as if he hadn't ordered the drive-by that got several of the De Luca soldiers killed and Gael bedridden for weeks three months ago.

"Let bygones be bygones," said Lauretta's father, a fake smile plastered on his face as he retracted his hand. "Let's start fresh and forget about the past. It's what's best for our families."

Right. Gael scoffed in his head. 'What's best for my family is to end all Morellis,' he thought. The old Gael wouldn't have thought twice. The old Gael would have already gone and killed every single one of them.

Despite his rage upon seeing this man, all he really cared about at the moment was Angela. He had to protect her from them. If they use her to get to him, the old Gael might just come back.

But there was no way he would stay here to chat with this man without constantly thinking of ways on how to kill him with his bare hands. It was best for him to leave—and, more importantly, find Angela.

Facing Giovanni, Gael looked him in the eye and told him, "I need to find the restroom."

"If you gotta go, you gotta go." His uncle nodded once before taking a sip of the amber liquid in his glass.

Gael took long strides out of the hall, not even knowing where or how to find her. He had no phone, so he couldn't call her or his men to help him search for her. His heart was unbelievably raging inside his chest. He was anxious. He feared that something had happened to her or that he'd never get to talk to her.

He checked every room he passed by—even the female restroom—but she was nowhere to be found. 'Angel… Please… Just please be safe.'

Finally, Gael found her on a balcony. She was facing the pool view below.

"Angel…"

Her back stiffened, but she didn't look his way. His heart slowly calmed down, relieved that he found her. However, he knew she saw what happened in the hall. He wanted to tell her so many things, but he didn't know where to start. He was baffled. "I… Angel… What are you doing here?"

She scoffed, mockingly chuckling at his question. "Why? Did I ruin your engagement party?"

"This isn't how it looks like. It's not like that."

"Really?" Angela turned to face him. She was smiling, but her eyes were misty as she asked, "So you're not getting married to her to end the war between your families?"

Gael was still confused about how she knew all of this. But that didn't matter right now. Letting out a sigh, he took a step towards her—and she took a step back. His jaw clenched, feeling like his chest was being squeezed as he pleaded, "I know how this looks, but please… Will you listen to me first?"

"Listen? Why? So you can tell me more lies?"

"Angel—"

"Don't. Don't call me that!" Her lips trembled, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Angel," He closed the gap between them and pulled her close, his warm hands caging her face.

Angela wanted to push him away, but she couldn't move. It was as if her body knew it needed him to hold her. How cruel.

Gael stroked her cheek, his voice sounding desperate when he begged, "I will tell you everything. No more lies. Just please...listen."