13 A MAN FROM THE BAR

An engagement party is a party that's celebrated to share the happiness of engaged couple with close relatives, especially family. If Mr. Salvatore invited the Ainsley's, it meant the relationship between the two families in good connections.

Sia helped me get ready, but my mind was never where I stood on. The more I wanted to avoid the thoughts about him, the more those magnetic eyes popped in my mind. My heart was literally aching, recalled those moments when I spent my moments with him.

My concentration was divided as my mind focused solely on him, on our memories. The beauty of his eyes when he stared deeply at me, his deep voice but soothing to the soul, and his laughter that I could never get rid of my thick skull.

It was like the end of the world for me when he suddenly disappeared. I wish I knew where he was. He had made up his mind, nothing could change him but himself. And I respected his decision, but he couldn't just leave me here in such a worried state.

"Sorry, could you please tilt your head to the right?" She did it very detailed when it comes to make-up. Every part of my face that she put on make-up was completely attentive. She said she didn't want to disappoint her customers, especially since she already got the title as high-paying make-up artist.

"Wow, you literally blow my mind honey! You look so amazing." She sent me a compliment that I wasn't sure for me but more for her results of make-up on my face.

"Thank you." I gazed upon myself and admired her make-up result, "I'm really into it." I curved my lips upward, broke into a smile.

Hearing my answer, her reaction was very pleasant. "Oh really? It's great to make the daughter of the Ozza's impressed."

Glancing back to the mirror, I met my own gaze. My face was hard to describe when It had no sign of a smile. I pushed my hair from my neck when Sia was curling it.

"I'll give your hair a little bit of volume." She murmured, "Don't worry, your hair won't be damaged because I applied the vitamin before." She added.

"I know." I replied shortly.

The strands of my straight hair were now filled with volume. The dress reflection in the mirror caught my attention, It was blue halter dress.

Normally Jazzlin gave off an aura of beauty, but the look on my face couldn't lie to what my heart was feeling. I had been clutching my chest and tried to catch breath. Convincing myself that these hard days would pass and he would come back to me, so I just needed to get up and get on with my day.

"You're ready to slay the party!" She cheered me up. "I wondering something when I didn't see Barra around, but Jake. Are you dating Jake now?" I almost spit out at her question. "Where's Barra? Shouldn't you go with him?" She was curious.

"Nah, I'm not Jake's gf." I shook my head, ignoring her second question.

She didn't ask any further but nodded. All preparations were complete. She told me to change clothes. Smiling, then she left the room.

Changing my clothes, my gaze never fell off the mirror. I sighed before leaving the room.

The event was quite lively, there were quite a lot of guests invited. It was carried outdoor theme, so quite ravishing and elegant with the colorful lights surrounding each decoration like confetti balloons and also greetings of happiness.

The guests weren't ordinary people, they spoke formally like business partners. While cute little children enlivened, they ran and played with their peers.

I still hadn't seen Niki's presence, except for her future husband, Sean. Sipping my drink again, my eyes fixed on the man who was sitting next to me. His gaze never escaped the woman who was sitting across from us.

"So, which woman? Right or left?" I teased Jake, who immediately stiffened at my question.

"There's no one." He answered, playing dumb.

"I think the one with golden brown hair?" I chuckled, seeing him sent a glare with a stuttering mouth. "Come to her, don't let the other men get ahead of you." Hearing what I said, he was thinking so hard.

"But, Barra entrusted me to watch over you." Mentioning his name really broke my heart.

"I'm not going anywhere." I convinced him to choose what his heart wanted. It was more important above all. He looked hesitant before finally adjusting his tuxedo and stood up, "Thank you so much! I'll come back later." He quickly launched into action. Watching Jake's radiant face from a distance made my heart warm.

Finally, I saw Niki was appearing on the event. She looked amazing in her dainty dress and her hair style like a royal princess. Her eyes were bright but it seemed like she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, as if there was something she was waiting for.

I caught a glimpse of a girl. Her face was facing me but I couldn't see her clearly. She ran into the room with two men chasing after her. Something was wrong here, I could feel it. Jake seemed so busy with his world that he didn't realize strange things were starting to happen.

I stood and walked over to follow her. They had entered a door, which was a long hallway. Mr. Salavatore's mansion was bigger than I thought and I hadn't memorized every single way.

There was a puzzle in my head about that girl, why did she look familiar? Did she has parents? Why didn't people notice that she was in danger? I literally had complicated questions in my head.

I clutched my hands together until in the middle of the hall I heard a male voice cursing over someone. His voice boomed in this deserted hallway, he sounded angry and spoke harsh words. The way his voice reached my ears quickened my pulse.

I was trying to sneak a peek when I noticed the door was a crack opened.

"Isn't this a deal that benefits both of us, Mr. Salvatore?" Inside the room, there was only one table and two chairs. Mr. Salvatore sat on a chair facing the door so I could see his face filled with fear as sweat ran down his face. And the man he was talking to sat with his back to me.

"You're greed for money and for power, aren't you?" He chuckled then said darkly, "I'll give you what you want if we do this agreement." The man's spoke in low and rough voice.

"I-I can't." The stammering and shaking sound I heard came out from Mr. Salvatore's mouth. My palms felt so cold just watching him in trouble.

The aura of the man screamed danger all over my body to the spine. I was watching his every move from behind. Surely, he looked so familiar like I'd seen him before. My eyes widened in surprised with the realization that he was a guy from the bar.

"You know, I fucking hate hearing someone said no to me." His voice sounded even fiercer. He stood up and walked over to Mr. Salvatore and lifted his chin, "Let's test your loyalty to the Ainsley family." He held the gun by his side.

I took my sharp intake of breath. My hand covered my mouth in terror. Mr. Salvatore froze in place with his eyes starting to turn red, his hands were shaking on the table without him noticing it.

"Will you risk your life for them?" He asked with his hand ready to spur the gun. His movements were so relaxed like it wasn't a big deal for playing someone's life.

It seemed that Mr. Salvatore didn't care with his life but it was obvious that he was scared as hell. The man laughed as if he had found Mr. Salvatore's greatest weakness, "Wow, what if I hurt your beloved daughter?"

He meant... Niki.

"No, don't ... don't hurt my daughter ...please.." Mr. Salvatore begged, pleading with tears now dripping from his eyes.

"I will not hurt her if you just agree." He laughed in short and harsh way.

Who was this man? I couldn't see his face.

"Look what we found here? A gorgeous intruder."

The voice came from behind me, damn I got caught. Gathering all the courage I returned my body without the slightest sound. My breath rattled for a moment, my curiosity increased to knowing who was behind me.

A chunky man was holding a girl's hand. The girl I saw before. Her face was down, but when she looked up I couldn't believe my own sight.

The same eyes that I had ever seen, staring at me with tears flowing down. Her lips trembled and her right cheek flushed like someone had slapped her.

My world stopped. The girl in front of me was Alia. The little girl that I had been loving so much, the little girl I always looked after now was crying. What had happened here?

I wanted to wipe her tears but I was just staring at her in silence and then the voice of this chunky man brought me from my reverie.

"I'm not gonna hurt you miss, if you step out of my way." He said with that terrible-disgusting smile.