For Me,There Is Only You |18+|

5. Present and Past

After the couples exchanged their rings, the flurry of relatives rushed to the mini stage to capture the precious moments in photographs. I had no desire to be a part of those pictures, but Ash practically dragged me up there, positioning me between her and Nate.

Nate, my new friend and pseudo-brother, put his arm around my shoulder, while Ash placed her hand on my back, resulting in a tight embrace that almost squeezed the life out of me. On Ashley's request, we made some funny faces for the camera, but we quickly stopped as the incredulous gazes of the onlookers made it clear we were drawing too much attention.

As the crowd gathered around the couple, I made my way back to the table where I had been sitting earlier. I grabbed a glass of wine from one of the serving waiters and let out a heavy sigh as I settled into my chair. Swirling the wine around in the glass, I took a sip, trying to ignore the stink eyes that some people were giving me.

In the midst of this celebration, I found myself looking for a particular person, but he seemed to be nowhere in sight. My eyes scanned the crowd, searching for a glimpse of him, but he remained elusive.

I couldn't hide my boredom as I sat at the table, but my disinterest was short-lived as Alaric Clell, another one of Ashley's half-brothers, settled in the chair next to me. Alaric was notorious for being a playboy with a nasty personality, and I had encountered him multiple times over the past four years. The most unpleasant encounter was when he tried to kiss me out of nowhere during a visit to our house, but I gave him a good slap and a knee to the groin, making sure to avoid him ever since.

His appearance today was strange, with his hair dyed yellow, which contrasted oddly with his grey eyes. He looked like a walking banana, and I had to suppress a laugh at the thought.

"Aren't you going to play any tricks today?" he inquired, taking a sip from his whiskey glass while observing my every move.

"Not if you promise to behave," I retorted, flashing a sassy smile and swirling my wine glass.

Dealing with him was like walking on a tightrope. I couldn't afford to provoke him, knowing he was stronger than me, and it was his territory where I was already an unwelcome outsider.

A sly grin formed on his lips. "I'll promise to behave, if you give in to my demands," he taunted, reaching for my hand that rested on the table. "I promise it will be fun."

The disgust I felt from his touch was evident as I swiftly swatted his hand away. "Or maybe not," I replied sharply.

His grey eyes flashed with anger, but before he could retaliate, the photographer announced it was time for family pictures. His father called him from across the room, and like an obedient son, he walked away, but not without leaving me with a chilling threat, "Soon."

Why did some men think that a polite refusal was an invitation for a chase?

I felt an odd tingling sensation on the back of my neck, as if I was being watched. I looked around, but there was no one in sight.

As Alaric departed, I overheard a man commenting in my direction, "Did you see, such girls never miss a chance to seduce a man." It was the same guy who had sneered at me yesterday when I inquired about Ashley.

"Hactor, don't talk like that. You'll get us punished," another man shushed him and dragged him away.

So, the unpleasant man's name was Hactor. The people here really had some serious mental issues!

Ignoring Hactor's crude remarks, I shifted my attention back to the stage. Alaric's stink eye towards Galina caught my notice as he reluctantly stood beside Nate. The family was forming a curved line, with Ashley and Nate in the middle. Galina and her husband stood on Ashley's left, while Alaric positioned himself on Nate's right. But one person was conspicuously missing from the picture. The photographer started clicking pictures, and nobody seemed to care about the absent figure. It was as if he didn't even exist.