The Perfect Couple

By the time that Lucas and Maya arrived at the masquerade ball, the finger food was almost finished and all the guests had gathered in groups to chat.

When Lucas and Maya walked in, all the men couldn't help but glance over at the beautiful woman that had entered, and a few of the women looked at Lucas in excitement.

"Who's that woman? Can you guess who is under that mask?"

"Do we know her? Is that her partner next to her?"

"They don't seem that close. Maybe they just happened to arrive at the same time."

"That guy has such a presence..."

Lucas overheard these discussions and furrowed his brows. Clearing his throat with seriousness, he placed an arm over Maya's shoulder and pulled her closer to him. "Remember what I said earlier... Stay close or I might lose you."

Lucas didn't know why, but he felt like he needed to stake claim on the woman even though he was planning to get rid of her after the event.

Maya heard the man's voice and it sent tingles down her spine. Nodding her head, she obediently followed beside him.

But, out of nowhere, a brown-haired woman with tan skin suddenly approached them with a friendly smile and said, "Lucas, is that you? You made it." Her voice was soft and polite.

Even though she had a mask on, Maya could tell that this woman was Latin from her accent. And judging by the way that she recognized Lucas straight away, she was definitely a close acquaintance of some sort.

"I'm so glad that you came," she said gently, "As you know, this event is for the orphanage in Cambodia and I know how much that place means to you."

Lucas smiled back at the woman. He was normally cold and unapproachable, but towards this woman, he was different. "You've done a great job organizing this," he praised as he looked around.

The venue was opulently decorated with silver vases and feathers, and there were roaming acrobats that were performing all types of tricks, ranging from juggling to sword-swallowing.

Maya glanced at the woman in surprise. Was she the one that organized this event? Did that mean, Lucas was attending this event because of her? She couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. Maya had organized charity events before and she knew how much work was involved. If this woman organized all this on her own, then she was very impressive.

The woman glanced at Maya and smiled sweetly, "This is...?"

Maya smiled back at the woman and answered self-consciously, "My name is Delilah Yeung. I just tagged along to see L7's work."

The woman's eyes lit up and she pointed to a wall, "My name is Grace Rodriguez. Do you like L7? His painting is just over there."

Maya looked towards the direction that the woman was pointing and saw some people gathered in the corner. Squinting her eyes for a better look, she noticed L7's painting hanging on the wall and smiled. She turned back in excitement to look at Lucas...but he was already deep in conversation with Grace and wasn't looking at her. She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt a pang of disappointment...

Lucas was so relaxed when he spoke to Grace; there wasn't even a trace of coldness on his face. Unlike when he spoke to her, he always found ways to tease her. [Forget it, Maya, this isn't the reason why you came.] With a frown, she left the two to chat as she headed towards the painting that she had come to see.

As she got closer, Maya immediately spotted the signature on the bottom right: L7. Her eyes quickly lit up. She stared at the painting and was drawn in by how amazing it looked. Unlike L7's usual street art that appeared overnight, this painting was very detailed and it was clear that he had spent a lot of time on it. Maya looked at the painting with amazement. It was a portrait of a child and it was titled 'Orphan'. But it wasn't just an ordinary portrait. The amazing thing about it was, the child looked like a mix of nationalities and it was unclear where this child came from, on top of that, it was impossible to tell if the child was male or female and what their exact age was. But one thing was clear, the child had the purest, most innocent eyes. The painting was highlighting the fact that an orphan could come in all shapes and sizes, but they were all pure at heart and needed help. It fit the purpose of the event perfectly.

At that moment, a familiar voice suddenly said behind her, "I guess you really do like L7."

Maya turned around in surprise and found herself staring into a pair of sparkling blue eyes. The man stared back at her and winked.

Maya stuttered a little, "N-Noah!"

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a panic as she looked around to check where Lucas was.

Not too far away, she spotted the man. He was still with Grace and she was pulling him intimately by the arm towards an old couple.

She quickly looked away. "Don't look over there. Lucas might recognize you," she said anxiously.

Noah smiled reassuringly. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he said confidently, "Don't worry, I'm wearing a mask, he won't recognize me. Besides, he wouldn't expect to see me at this event."

Just as Noah said this, Lucas noticed that Maya wasn't following him and he quickly scanned his eyes around the room. Where did that woman run off to? Didn't he tell her to stay close? That was when he spotted her standing near L7's painting with a mysterious blond guy. He immediately furrowed his brows.

Meanwhile, Maya looked at Noah with suspicion. "That's right, what are you doing here?" she asked.

The man revealed a cheeky grin. "Lucas isn't the only person that received an invite," he chuckled.

Maya looked at the man in curiosity, but just as she was about to question him further, a voice announced over the speaker, "Good evening, guests. Please gather around. It's time for what we've all been waiting for. The art auction!"

The guests quickly gathered around excitedly in a semi-circle around the stage and the room fell silent. Of course, Maya had to stop talking as well. As she stood quietly next to Noah, she noticed Lucas and Grace approach from the other side.

Separated by the stage, they were now facing each other.

Lucas stared at Maya coldly and glared at the blond-haired man next to her. What was this woman's motive for pretending to be Delilah Yeung? Wasn't she supposed to convince him to marry her? Why was she going around flirting with strangers?

Meanwhile, Maya glanced at Grace and frowned. Standing from this distance, Lucas and Grace looked like the perfect couple...