I walk down stairs dressed in a burgundy pencil skirt, white blouse, and beige pumps.

"Good morning." I greet with a smile as I enter the dinning room.

Adrian looks up from his newspaper and smiles, "Good morning, Jane."

"Happy birthday!" Gabby comes running into the room with four birthday balloons floating right behind her.

"It's your birthday?" I ask. Gabby crushed her brother with a beat hug.

"Gabby...can't...breathe." Adrian chokes and Gabby let's go. "Yes, it's my birthday today."

"Happy Birthday." I state as I walk over to him and give him a hug and he wraps his arms around my waist as he sits me down on his lap and connects our lips.

"Ugh, its to early for PDA." Gabby gags causing us to laugh and pull away.

"Mom put together a masquerade ball birthday party." Gabby informs as she takes the seat across from us. I was going to stand up but Adrian's arm brought me back down to his lap.

"Of course she would." Adrian states as he runs a hand through his brown locks.

"What time is it going to be at?" I ask.

Gabby turns to look at me and answers, "It starts at eight."

"Do I have to go?" Adrian whines. I turn his face to look at me and state, "We are going, it's a nice gesture from your mom and it would be rude to not show up."

"Fine." Adrian sighs in defeat.

"Well, I leave you guys then." Gabby announces as she stands up.

"You're not staying for breakfast?" I ask and she shakes her head.

"I would love to but I have to do some last minute dress shopping," She answers. "Hey, you should come with me! That way we can go get our dresses."

"I don't know, I have to go with Adrian to the off-"

"Go with her, the office will just fine." Adrian states.

"You sure?" Adrian nods with an assuring smile which causes a smile to tug at my lips.

"Let's go then! I'll bring her back to you at around four." Gabby pulls me out of Adrian's embrace and rushes us to the limousine.

"I'm so glad you could come along," Gabby states. "With you I can find the perfect dress for tonight."

* * *

"Jane, I think I found the one!" Gabby beams as she walks over to me with a baby blue ball gown.

"It's beautiful." I respond as I stare at the gorgeous dress. "Go try it on."

I usher her into the fitting room excited to see how the dress will look on her. While I am waiting I scan the room and a beautiful rose gold colored silk dresses draws my attention. The soft fabric ran through my hands and I immediately fell in love with the dress.

"Jane, how do I look?" Gabby asks and I grab the dress before walking towards her. The dress hugged her in all the right places and the flowing bottom made it look like a princess dress.

"It's perfect." I answer as I stare at her in awe.

"Guess I'll take this one," Gabby replies. "I'm so glad I brought you with me. Have you found a dress?"

"In fact I have." I respond as I show off the dress I found. "What do you think?"

"It's beautiful!" She smiles at the dress and I know I found the one. "Go, go try it on."

I walk into the fitting room and strip out of my house before putting on the dress. The dress did my chest wonders, and the sleeves rested on my arms, and a gem belt decorated the waist. I realized that the dress had small pockets hidden and it was just a plus. It was perfect!

"So?" Gabby asks from the other side of the door. I step out of the room and model the dress for her with a smile. "Every girl at the party will be jealous!"

I laugh at her comment and decide that this will be the dress I'll take to the ball. I walk back into the fitting room and change before walking towards the cashier. We pay for the dresses and head to the limousine.

"Wow, time flies by fast." Gabby states as she stares down at her wrist watch.

"What time is it?" I ask.

"Four thirty." Gabby answers as she hands her chauffeur our bags.

"Adrian is going to be wondering where we are." I respond as we get into the limousine.

"Well, he can wait." I laugh at her comment as I lean back in my seat. I was beyond tired but I still had a masquerade ball to attend.

* * *

"You look stunning, Jane." Adrian compliments as I descend the main entrance stairs.

"Thanks," I answer with rosy cheeks. "You don't look so bad yourself birthday boy."

I could've sworn I saw a light shade of red after I said that. I give him a smile which he returns as he takes my hand and leads us to the limousine. He helps me step inside because of my big dress before joining me.

"Tonight's is going to be fun," I assure. "It's your birthday so cheer up."

"I'm just hoping my parents didn't invite Damon or his parents." He responds.

"If they did, we will just ignore them." I answer as I give his hand a reassuring squeeze.

We both sit in comfortable silence for the rest of the ride to the ballroom, Mrs. McKeller rented. The car came to a stop outside a tall hotel building. David opens the door and Adrian helps me out. We tie our masquerade masks before walking down the blue carpet in front of us that led to the hotel. I notice the bold letters that spelt out McKeller in the front. We walked inside where an attendant awaited for us.

"Mr. McKeller, Ms. Hamilton follow me." He stated as he lead us upstairs and into a beautiful elegant ballroom.

I stared at the ceiling above in awe and look around the room. It was beyond gorgeous.

"May I have this dance?" Adrian asked and I nod. We walk to the dance floor where the orchestra was playing the melody to A Thousand Years.

Adrian twirled me around and I couldn't help but giggle. One hand was on his shoulder and the other was interlocked with his. I stare up at his blue eyes and immediately get lost in them. Before I know it his lips are on mine sending sparks all over my body. I smiled into the kiss as I ran my hand through his brown locks.

"Again with the PDA." Gabby states causing us to break apart.

"Gabby, leave them alone." James voice states from behind her. "They are marrying for a reason."

We laugh at their little bantering before we are told that dinner will be served so we take our seats.

* * *

"Hello, everyone." Mr. McKeller states grabbing everyone attention. "I hope you are all having a wonderful night. I just wanted to take this time to wish my son, Adrian a very happy birthday. You are a great son Adrian and I am proud of the man you have become."

Everyone clapped and Adrian smiled. Before Mr. McKeller could set down the microphone though a drunken Daniel takes it.

"I (hiccup) also want to say a few (hiccup) words to my dear brother." Mr. and Mrs. McKeller but he simply pushed them away. "My dear brother Adrian, you are such a perfect son aren't you? But I don't think you would be so perfect after everyone knows what type of guys you truly are. This man you all admire and look up to is a girlfriend stealer, he stole my girlfriend."

Everyone in the room stars whispering and gasping. I fell Adrian tense next to me and I hold his arm before he would walk to his brother and do something stupid.

"But what does he get in return? A kick in the ass, the girl just left him after taking money from him and went on to marry another guy. How did you feel then brother?" Daniel asks causing Adrian to frown and clench his jaw.

"You son of bitch." He growls but I hold him back.

"Calm down." I whisper into his ear. "Let's not make matters worst."

"Oh, and I almost forgot." Daniel continues. "That slut next to him, yeah the one that he is going to 'marry' she used to sleep with none other than Damon. And you guys think their love is so beautiful and pure, well guess what it is all just an agreement between the two. Adrian is paying that little gold digger money to be his fake fiancé."

"That's it I am going to murder him." Adrian states but I pull him out of the room and he seems to calm down under my touch.

"Let's go home." I suggest before leading us to the limousine.

Adrian looked beyond pissed, I was too but I rather much leave then let him do something stupid and make things worse.

"That bastard, how did he even...ugh I am going to kill hi-" I cup Adrian's face and connect our lips without thinking. When we pull away I give him a shy smile. His smile fades away as his mouth forms a hard line.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

He looks at me and answers, "Everyone knows now, that our engagement is an agreement."

"Daniel doesn't have proof, and it's his word against ours." I reply. "We'll just have to improve our acting and make them believe our 'love' is real."

Adrian nods and runs a hand over his temples. What a way to a ruin a birthday!

💋