Blare parked her car in front of the apartment building. As she starts heading inside the building, a certain man blocked her way.

"Charleston." Blare's eye twitches in annoyance. She did not bother being polite to him anymore.

Aiken's heart pained at her cold voice. He stared sadly at her, combined with longing and affection.

"Get back with me." the man said with a gentle tone.

Unfortunately, Blare did not hear any gentleness and had thought that the man was ordering her.

"I'm not your toy. Leave me alone" she said with gritted teeth.

Blare was feeling tired after work and Aiken's appearance made her mood worse.

She walked past him, only to be embraced from behind. Blare shivered and tried to get out of his grip. But the man tightly held her waist.

"Aiken! Let go!"

Despite her angry tone, Aiken rests his head to the side of her shoulder. His eyes reddened and his throat turned dry.

"L-Lilith," he said with a cracked voice.

Anyone could tell that his voice indicated that he was on the verge of crying. Blare was no exception.

All of Blare's anger and irritation quickly dissipated at his aggrieved call. It was replaced with sadness and disappointment.

She stiffened at his hold, not uttering any word.

"Lilith" he called once more, this time, his tone was filled with longing. Which made Blare's heart stirred.

Her breathing started getting uneven, so she slowly calms herself down by taking deep, silent breaths. As Blare calmed down, her back felt Aiken's heart beating rapidly.

'Why does he seemed more restless than me? He had clearly abandoned Lilith in the past without batting an eye'

She cast a glance at her waist, Aiken still tightly held onto her. Aiken sensed that she was relaxed, so he relaxed as well. But both of their hearts were furiously beating.

However, Blare can only feel Aiken's heartbeat. The man was unaware of her state.

"Let go" she tried to push his hand away, but the man didn't budge.

"No"

".... I'd hate you more if you keep this up"

"...."

Aiken reluctantly let go of her. Blare felt a sting in her heart. She felt disappointed that Aiken had let her go.

Right now, she was contradicting Lilith's emotions. Still, Lilith was responding truthfully, which brought her a lot of emotional distress.

Blare, with distress, turned to look at Aiken. She saw that the man suddenly became expectant and happy. She felt her heart easing up at his reaction but soon realized that she would revere back to her distressed state.

"We're done Aiken, why come back and disturb my peace?"

As those words left her mouth, Blare felt so guilty that she unconsciously clenched her hands tightly.

The man in front of her frown as the sadness was obvious in his eyes.

"... Do you really... not want me anymore?" he asked as his face shows reluctance.

'It's you who didn't want Lilith. Tsk.' Blare's inner turmoil started disappearing as she thought about Lilith's original demise.

"Yes," she answered. She did not miss his pained expression, but Blare was not affected by it anymore. As she turned her back on him, he spoke again with a determined tone.

"I won't give up till I have you again"

Hearing this, she rolled her eyes at his persistence. She continued walking towards her apartment, not minding his declaration.

____________

"Lilith! The CEO is requiring your presence."

Blare stopped sketching and look at the man who called her.

"... May I know why?" Blare asked,

The man only shakes his head and signalled Blare to follow him. Blare obediently did follow until they reached the front door of the CEO's office.

The man did not move and only looked at the door. It seems like Blare needed to enter herself.

Blare sighed mentally and knocked three times before entering the office. Silently closing the door behind her, she saw the man who was sitting comfortably in his chair, Ace Jaeger LeCoultre.

"Sir.. is there something--"

"Sit" Ace cut her off and signalled her to sit down.

Blare nodded slightly and sat on the sofa. The moment she sat down, Ace stood from his seat and sat on the opposite side of Blare.

Blare honestly does not know what's going on. She was starting to feel that she did something wrong with her work and the company is slowly judging her. Blare's hand started sweating from nervousness. Despite that, she sat up straight and forced herself to look straight in her boss's eyes.

"Be my partner for the upcoming gala next week." Ace said as he leaned towards the sofa.

Blare exhaled softly, 'It's just that, gosh he kept scaring me' she thought.

"It won't be a problem but... I'm sure there are other women who would match you Sir" Blare said nonchalantly.

Based on Blare and Lilith's knowledge, businesspeople attending a gala with their family as partners, even spouses or co-workers is normal. But why her? Blare thought she just got unlucky to be chosen. Neither Blare nor Lilith's ever attended a gala to meet famous people. So she was feeling unlucky.

"You'll do. After your work, come with me"

Blare blinked a few times and she can't help but raised one of her eyebrows slightly.

"Umm... Why?" Blare was starting to get suspicious to the guy. She just doesn't get his attitude!

"To get your dress for the gala. My partner has to look her best after all." Ace simply said.

Blare inhaled and slowly exhaled softly.

"Okay, Sir" was the only words Blare could reply. Her brain gave up on thinking. She didn't feel any malice towards the man. Rather, he was unreadable because he looked serious.

So Blare treated it as another business thingy.

'I wanna be an accountant and just stay in the office' Blare sighed inside as she headed towards her workplace. She really doesn't want to attend any business gathering.