Chapter 19 YACHT PARTY II

       One of the girls styled her hair, and when she was done, the other two applied makeup to her face. After wearing the makeup, she wore the outfits the guys picked for her with the jewelry, and they left her room.

      El stared at herself in the mirror of her closet, admiring herself, as she turned around in circles. The red off-the-shoulder, V-neck mermaid dress she wore was revealing on the chest and back, and the red color complimented her white glowing skin. There was a tear-like opening at the left side of the gown, from the knee down to her legs, and as she moved, it revealed her white leg. The silver heels the guys picked out for her were covered in shiny sequins which complemented the gown. She wouldn't deny the fact that these guys were good at their jobs. They were called professionals for a reason. Taking one more glance at herself in the mirror, she held her silver purse in her hand and walked out of her closet.

      Soon it was time for the party, so she headed downstairs for it. When she got out of the elevator on the ground floor, she walked to the entrance of the building, where a limited edition of a black Lamborghini was parked with a chauffeur standing beside it. A glance at the car will tell you how expensive it was and on the wheel of the tires, a golden inscription with the words 'Ethan Grayson' was imprinted on it. She could tell from that inscription that the car was customized for Ethan.

       Pennywort, the butler who stood outside the building bowed when he saw her come out of it, and she nodded back as her eyes rummaged the entire place as if searching for something, or someone to be precise, and she sighed when she saw that the person she was searching for wasn't there and the only people there were the chauffeur, guards, and Pennywort. 

     Why was she disappointed? Was she expecting to see him first when she walks out of here? No! She definitely wasn't. She just wants to get to the party and come back quickly.

      She turned to the man who stood beside her. "Pennywort, where's Ethan?" 

     "I'm right behind you." She heard the familiar voice she recognized anywhere, and she felt flustered.

     She turned around only to see him standing six feet away from her, looking at her intensely. She would be lying if she said he wasn't attractive. His thick, dark hair framed a perfectly shaped diamond face, with prominent muscular bones, and he wore his tux as if he had been born into one. Easily, casually. His blue eyes which were usually emotionless shone in a good way, even if there was still a hint of darkness in them. He looked impressed, and his lips curved in the barest hint of a smile.

    His gaze shifted from her face, down to her body, and she swore she saw something flicker in his eyes, which disappeared almost immediately. For some ridiculous reason, her throat snapped shut, and her heart skipped a beat as his eyes roamed her body. As he approached her slowly, she swallowed subconsciously.

       "You look exquisite." She heard him say, as he brought his face close to her ears. She could feel his warm breath on her neck, sending shivers to her body, and she swallowed again subconsciously. She froze, couldn't move, couldn't think. The only thing that rang in her head over again were his words. Was she dreaming? Was this Ethan? She turned and looked into his eyes. As she stared at them, she could see it, and she also felt it, the sincerity in what he said from the way he looked at her. 

        "Shall we?" He asked raising his arm for her to hold unto. She stood there, for more than ten seconds staring at him. She couldn't believe it. She never saw this coming. She never knew there was this side to this beast. Don't be fooled! Her mind screamed at her, and she wanted to reject his hand when she saw his lips curve into a smile. She was dumbstruck and didn't know when she willingly put her hand on his arm and he walked her to the car.

    He gestured for the chauffeur to leave the door, and he opened the door to the front seat for her, which she got in. As he strode through the front of the car to the driver's seat, she watched him take every step, still surprised.

       Everyone who stood outside was shocked as they watched Ethan display the charms of a perfect gentleman. In all their years of working for this man, they had never seen him this way before. He was a proud, arrogant, and ruthless beast, as the beast was an understatement for what this man was. They had seen him display his ruthlessness, and what he was capable of, so seeing him this way sent chills down their spines. Their bodies were covered in goosebumps. It was as if he was possessed by something, that made him do things he wasn't supposed to do, could never do in his life. 

       They watched him enter the driver's seat and drove off with eight convoys behind him. They got to a place in his mansion where a helicopter was parked, and they boarded it after getting off the car.

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       At a certain seashore.

      A large yacht was parked, which was heavily guarded. There were armed security guards at every corner of the seashore, and it was filled with different flashy cars that you could tell from a glance that they are owned by filthy rich wealthy people.

      Inside the yacht was decorated and meticulously set for what seemed like a very important and high-class event. The place was dimly lit, but it glittered from the bright, starry night sky which reflected inside it. There were beautiful anchor lights that shone all around the corners of the yacht in bright blue colors, giving a feeling of security.

      Many round tables could be seen inside, tastefully decorated with shiny silver motifs, and the waiters arranged crystal champagne glasses with the most expensive wines from the cellar.

        A glance at the party will tell you that it was held for a display of wealth from the most influential, rich, and powerful people in the world. Prominent businessmen and their wives, royalties from all parts of the world, mayors, governors, and many more attended the party and the room shone, not just from the bright, starry night sky, but also from the million dollars clothes, jewelry, and accessories of the women and men who attended the party.

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A black helicopter landed at the helipad at the center of the yacht. That had arrived. Ethan came out with El beside him. He surveyed his environment and the wind from the turning helicopter blades blew his hair sideways, before walking into the place where everyone gathered for the party.  

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        Walking inside with her hand on Ethan's arm, El was presented with the magnificent scene, and her eyes widened in both surprise and awe as her jaw dropped. She knew the rich always attended parties, and she, herself had attended different parties for the rich but never had she seen this extravagance before. It beat her imagination beyond expectation. The decorations, the lighting, the settings, the people, and the way they chatted amongst themselves, it was mind-blowing. No wonder Ethan brought the top fashion designers and makeup artists to doll her up, and the way she looked was no different from them. She could even boast of being one of the best dressed there.

       As they walked, everyone's eyes at the party turned in their direction, as they whispered amongst themselves. "It's Ethan Grayson. He's even more handsome in person," she heard most of the girls whisper to themselves as they stared at them. She wasn't used to this kind of attention because she had never been in the spotlight before. She preferred a private life, that was why she chose the private sector in her field of career. She gulped slowly as the attention made her begin to panic inside her but she felt a little bit better when she looked at Ethan and saw how he cared less about everyone from the expressionless face he kept.

     As he walked, he looked at everyone's face, making them remove their eyes, and bow their heads unintentionally in intimidation. His head was held high, and his movements were slow and majestic like a king walking into the gathering of his subjects. He was used to this attention and knew how to react, she thought, smiling inwardly as she felt better.

    They got to a table, and he took a glass of champagne from it, which he offered to her, before taking his.

       "Thank you," she said, before taking a little sip of it.

       "It helps calm the nerves," he said with a smirk on his face.

     Was it that obvious that she was tensed? And why was that smirk on his face? He was definitely enjoying this. It made her wonder if every other person there noticed this If he could notice how tense she was when he barely looked at her.

        She took another sip of her wine and avoided his gaze as he stared at her intently. She was still mad at him and If he thought acting all gentle with her all of a sudden was going to convince her into forgetting what he did to her, then he thought wrong.

      With one little fling of his long thin middle finger, he brushed her hair away from her face, and she was forced to stare into his eyes. It was dark, she noticed and it felt like it was like bittersweet cotton candy. Her heart skipped a beat at his actions, and as she stared into his eyes, her mind went blank. She became unaware of the people around her, and it felt like it was only the two of them in the room. What was he doing to her? Why was she feeling this way just by looking into his eyes? Was he in some kind of way charming her with his eyes? No! She was f**king Eleanor Welsh. She can't be charmed. She became angry, angry because of the effect he had on her, without any effort.

       "Why are you acting this way, Ethan? What is your aim? What are you trying to achieve?" She asked still staring into his eyes, refusing to break the eye contact, because breaking it meant defeat.

       His lips curved into a faint smile. "What do you think I'm aiming at, Eleanor?" He dropped the glass of champagne he held in his hand on the table, and walked closer to her until there was no space between them, and he lifted her chin to meet his gaze.

       "What made you think I'll know that? I don't think like a f**king psychopath. I'm just concerned. I don't know what you hope on achieving by acting like a perfect gentleman when you're a f**king monster. Do you think this makes up for all the emotional damage you've caused to me? It doesn't. So, do yourself a favor, and stop all these foolish acts, it doesn't suit you," she said sternly.

      Ethan smirked. Once again, this woman in front of him surprised him. She was really something else, and the thought of her being the only person in the world to stand up to him, intrigued him. "Why do you always ruin my good moods, Eleanor?" He asked tilting his head closer and closer to hers until their lips were a meter apart. "Do you want me to punish you?"

     "Go on. Do your f**king worst. Go on and show everyone in here what a monster you are."

     He laughed. For the first time since she met Ethan, she saw him laugh genuinely, and her heartbeat increased. The anger she felt died down, and she suddenly started feeling all her other emotions. She felt his strong muscular body on hers, and her pulse hammered against her wrist, her throat, her breast. He was even more handsome when he laughed, revealing his perfectly arranged white teeth. He was magnificent.

       "What made you think I f**king care about what people think about me, Eleanor?" He stressed out her name as his face became cold and expressionless once again, and she gulped unconsciously.

      All the emotions that were burning inside her suddenly died down and were replaced with one emotion, Fear. Her heart suddenly raced again, but this time she couldn't tell if it was from the way he stared at her, or from the fear of what he can do to her. She regretted letting her anger get the best of her. She wouldn't have said those words that'll make him angry to him. Chloe was right. She had once advised El on how to live with her brother - by completely avoiding whatever will make him angry with her. That was the only way to live with an unpredictable monster like this, but she had failed to heed Chloe's warnings, and now she had fallen prey to this beast.