Twenty-one and ready to take on the world, orphan Lizzie Gold didn't expect her chance encounter with a stranger to lead to a damnable task - to take down a rising business tycoon.
Ryan Pierce - her viciously handsome target and her new boss - might...
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L I Z Z I E 43 | Josephine
I keep returning to her.
Something about her face drags me to Caitlin every time I step into the mansion. She is an enigma to me; her story is a mystery I keep getting entranced with. How strange it is to find myself in front of her painting again, gawking at those eyes, reading in them a sorrow she carries with her.
Why did Winston ask her to be made this way? Why the grief? She could have been happier, her smile could have been more comprehensive. She would have appeared more beautiful with that smile. The pain in her eyes brews sympathy for her in my heart.
"Lizzie, what are you doing here?"
I flinch away from the painting, taking a step back when I spot Gloria walking up to me. She seems dreadfully serious, her pale blue gown clinging to her body, the shape of her figure accentuated along with particular emphasis on her curves. She looks beautiful, well-suited for her title of the lady of the mansion.
She stalks toward me and I face her with agitation, recalling where I was supposed to be before I got halted by Caitlin.
"I'm sorry. I just...got a little lost," I mumble an excuse as she touches the necklace around my neck as if to check if it is still really there.
Tonight she has asked me to be her lead model in revealing her latest designs to a wide audience. There is a full-blown party downstairs, the dress code being colorful ball gowns and for the gentleman, a black and white tux set. Everyone is waiting for the great moment which will take place in a few minutes, followed by a Waltz which Gloria thought would add to the dreaminess of the night.
It has been three days since Ryan and I got back together and Gloria wasted no time in approaching me to show off her latest collection. I am in a state of nervous anticipation, wondering why I said yes to her in the first place when I have no intention of being the center of attention for her rich audience.
"The necklace looks gorgeous on you," she says in a sing-song voice through lips covered in a dark shade of red, her fingers flicking the strands of curls which frame my face.
"Thanks." I return her smile, then look back to the painting when a certain heat of Caitlin's eyes falls on me, a figment of my imagination I am struggling to break.
Gloria notices that and she looks at the woman too, her smile falling a little, shadowed by a dark look.
"She enchanted you too, didn't she?"
I am startled by the question, my skin prickling as the heat of Caitlin's eyes gets replaced with the cold tone of Gloria's voice.
"What?"
"She got to you too," she sighs. "She always does."
I am weirded out by her assumption which puts the painting to be one of having a life of its own.
