Misc RH OC Scraps

[CHARDON] Ex-Fiancé Jumpscare!

"Evie? Is everything alright? You're freaking me out."

Evie snapped back to the present and glanced up to meet her boyfriend's gaze. Adonis's face was in shadow but she could tell his brow was furrowed. She forced a smile on her face. "Yeah, sorry, just-- lost in thought."

"You're supposed to get lost in my eyes, not in thought," Adonis chuckled at his own change of subject. Evie giggled.

"Right. How inconsiderate of me!" She took a deep breath. "Then let's do something together. There's the dance floor, we could get some snacks, go out to the balcony or the gardens..."

Adonis made an incredulous face like he almost thought she was still joking around. "Uh, shouldn't you be paying attention to your guests?" Important people milled around the couple. They were, after all, at an event to sweet-talk the Xue's promotional and financial ties. Wealthy shareholders, CEOs, heads of marketing, and old money legacy heirs were all in attendance. Adonis was only here as a plus-one-- although he always took the opportunity to network a little while he was there. Evie shook her head like she was trying to clear some cobwebs in her brain. "Right. You're right, I'm sorry, I'm such a--"

"Promising young heiress with a lot on her mind," Adonis finished the sentence for her, his tone smooth. "Everyone here wants to talk to you because you're important and in demand and, might I add, an excellent conversationalist." Evie knew he was trying to hype her up, and she smiled because of it, even if it didn't work. Her confidence wasn't the issue tonight. It was--

"Good evening, Miss Xue."

A tall, gaunt man dressed quite like an 18th-century vampire greeted her. Nothing had changed about him since the last time they had seen each other-- he had the same dark, wavy hair, thin black eyes, and intimidating height. Evie stepped subtly closer to Adonis as she turned to face the man.

"Hello, Victor."

Victor extended his hand, and under the circumstances, Evie felt she had to accept it and give him a handshake. He made it linger a second longer than was needed. "SO good to see your family business is still thriving, we're always honored to be included in your events." The 'we' he was referring to was his own family's business empire, just as large as the Xue's. As they both well knew. "This last quarter was especially profitable, we laid off quite a few unnecessary departments--" He glanced at Adonis, who was still next to Evie but politely staying out of the conversation-- "Do you need something? Miss Xue is occupied right now."

Adonis looked taken aback for a second, but then gave a charming smile and a light laugh. "Oh, no, I'm Evie's plus one. Adonis Larson. It's nice to meet you," Don extended his hand the same as Victor had, but the other man ignored it pointedly. Evie's cheeks burned with indignation. It was so rude to brush off her partner like that!

Evie took hold of Adonis's sleeve-- their version of holding hands-- to get him out of that awkward handshake offer hanging in the air. What did Victor respect..? Probably money. "Adonis is an actor, his career is really picking up. He'll be an A-lister in no time."

Victor's eyes were cold, though he showed a tight-lipped smile. "How interesting. That's certainly a... different occupation. He must be terribly bored hearing all this finance jargon."

"Not at all, I actually--"

But Victor had already launched into another miniature speech about his family's business practices, how they have successfully squashed a union, how they'd recently downsized their HR department, things like that. Adonis caught Evie's gaze and gave her an expression that said do I need to make up an excuse for us to leave?

Evie knew she had to play nice with Victor, even if it made her stomach twist up in knots. She shook her head, and Adonis rolled their eyes and their gaze began drifting out to the rest of the party. This had to be the most boring thing going on there. Evie knew he was here to network and have some fun, and having to entertain Victor was about the opposite of both those goals, but she didn't want him to leave her side. She didn't want to be alone with Victor. She wondered if Adonis even noticed how awful she felt.