The Gala

The day went by quickly with the regular loads of paperwork. Sitting at her desk, Kaia let out a sigh as she massaged her forehead. The last two days had been quite hectic. Harassment, marriage, then the signings. Not to mention the art gala held by her older sister, who she was extremely close with and trusted a lot. Kaia had previously promised her older sister, Annie, that she would attend because the art galas were important to Annie.

Everyone loved Annie's art galas. Each and every one of her works was enthralling and captivating. Her paintings were unique with an intense definition of emotions crafted into each of them. When you looked at her works, you could feel what the painting was trying to convey or what the scenery meant to Annie. One could easily get sucked in by the raw emotions expressed by the different colors and brush strokes. The gala was prepared to raise money for Annie but twenty percent of it would be donated to charity in support of a meaningful cause.

Since her sister, Annie, had decided to major in art instead of business, Kaia was able to fight for a chance to become CEO of Crestfall Industries. If Annie had been a business major, she would have become CEO, since she was the oldest. Even though Annie wasn't an obstacle for Kaia anymore, Kaia still had to fight her way to the top and beat out Annie's husband, who also wanted the position of CEO. Thankfully, it had mostly been a friendly competition between the two due to Kaia's close relationship with Annie.

Devin had started out as a lawyer before taking a competitive business course right after getting together with Annie and realized he had potential. Since it was almost a norm for companies to choose males to run them, Kaia had to work extra hard in order to compete with Devin, as well as others who vied for the prestigious position of CEO of Crestfall Industries.

After Kaia finished looking over her final papers for the day, she stood up, grabbing her jacket. Kaia messaged Alex, telling him that she would be home late and not to wait up. After doing so, she called her general dress store and asked them to prepare a special evening gown.

Alex sat at his desk looking over the papers Zac brought him. "Hmmm...Caine Martsching. He was the top student in The Crestfall business program of 20xx...has quite a bit of 'history' with many models and other women…" Alex skimmed through the pages with a hardening expression. Zac glanced at his boss before asking, "Did something happen to your wife?" Alex looked up at Zac and briefly nodded. "I'm not sure myself, but Kaia gave a strange reaction when I touched her…" Zac's interest was piqued. "What kind of reaction?" he asked. Alex shook his head as his eyes went back to the papers. His eyes darkened as he noticed something. "He was married once before. After receiving the family inheritance, he got a divorce." Alex paused a bit before saying, "Looks like he's trying to do it again. Too bad it won't work this time." He smirked, a murderous intent flashed in his eyes as he stood up from his desk and grabbed his jacket.

Little did Kaia know, that the reason Alex had also left early was because he was also attending Annie's art gala. Alex had taken a year of law with Devin, which was why he had also been invited.

When Alex arrived at the gala, there were a few reporters outside taking pictures of the guests. A few A-list actors and actresses, as well as popular stars could be spotted coming to view Annie's art. When Alex stepped out of his car, the media went crazy with pictures and questions. Instead of answering, he walked straight past them and into the building. One of the cameramen was glancing at their photos to see how they turned out but stopped at one picture. He zoomed in on the picture of Alex and a huge smile crept across his face. A wedding ring!

The gala hall was set up with a few of Annie's paintings around the walls of the ballroom. A few extra stand up walls were set up for pictures as well. There was a huge curtain that separated the hall. On the other side of the curtain was a little stage set up with a few rows of chairs in front of it for the guests to sit.

Going around, Alex greeted a few people before going up to Devin and Annie with a warm smile. "Annie, your work is gorgeous as always, and Devin you're getting old! Is that gray hair, I see?" he joked with a grin. Devin chuckled. "We're the same age! If I'm old, then what are you?" he retorted good humoredly. He grabbed a wineglass and handed it to Alex. "Please enjoy the gala. The art auction will be held towards the end." Alex nodded before walking around and looking at the exquisite masterpieces.

About half an hour after Alex had arrived, there was an uproar near the entrance of the gala, which caused all the guests to turn their heads and look in that direction. Kaia slowly walked into the gala and swiftly removed her sunglasses before handing them to Naomi who was beside her.

Kaia wore a strapless, wine red dress of semi-embroidered fabric that accentuated her thin waist. The skirt of the dress flared out a bit. A V-line slit on the side of the skirt revealed a plain material that hugged her hips and stopped at her thighs. The entire dress was covered by a sheer and chiffon material that cascaded to the floor. Her dress not only accentuated her perfect body but also her long and slender legs. Kaia had worn the perfect matching red high heels to accompany the gorgeous dress. She also wore a simple but elegant silver necklace with a pearl that dangled down in the center along with matching pearl earrings. Her hair was tied back into a stylish bun and decorated with some sparkling jewels.

Seeing Kaia, Alex's heart almost stopped. This woman was his wife. Just the thought of it made him grin. Noticing Annie, Kaia walked straight over to hug her. "Annie! I missed you!" she exclaimed with a warm smile. Annie hugged her sister back with joy. "It's so good to see you here! You look stunning in that dress!" she exclaimed in an excited and envious tone as she lightly caressed some of the fabric and admired the dress. Kaia giggled noticing how much her sister seemed to like the dress. "You seem to like this dress. I'll wash it and gift it to you if you don't mind the fact that I've worn it already." Hearing this, Annie's eyes lit up. "I don't mind at all! Thank you, Kaia!"

Soon after, Kaia's parents arrived with Caine in tow. They were so hooked on the idea of Kaia marrying Caine that they didn't even take her words from the other day into consideration.

Kaia walked around and admired the paintings on the wall, pretending not to notice the eyes of the man she thought would be waiting at home for her. At the same time, Caine strolled over and leisurely slid his arm around her waist. "You look ravishing tonight. But I bet you look even better under that dress," he whispered in a sultry tone as he glided his free hand up her bare arm. The feel of his touch made her flinch as she felt a chill that made her shiver ever so slightly. Every nerve in her body screamed danger. But she kept herself composed despite how nasty he was. At the moment, Kaia really wanted to expose her marriage so he would leave her alone but after carefully thinking it through, she decided to keep it under wraps for a while longer. All she could do for now was swiftly move away from him.

Alex watched this man make a move on his wife. Knowing she wanted to keep their marriage a secret though, he clenched his fists and walked over to Kaia. Keeping his eyes locked on Caine, Alex gave Kaia a casual smile before holding out his arm. "There is a wonderful art piece over this way. Come have a look," he said while giving Caine a meaningful glance. Knowing Caine's ill intentions towards Kaia, he didn't want Caine to be near her for a second longer. Caine just sneered and shot a cursory glance at Kaia. "Come with me to greet your parents," he said grabbing her arm forcefully. Alex glared, wanting nothing more than to cut his hand off for grabbing his wife so roughly.

Meanwhile, Kaia also directed a glare at Caine and snatched her arm away before taking Alex's hand and walking away with him. Caine watched the both of them walk off, a raging fire boiling inside of him. Who the hell did this guy think he was? Turning his attention back to Kaia's parents, Caine walked over to stand near them.

Kaia let out an audible sigh of relief as she went to the back of the gala with Alex. Looking up at him before looking around the room she asked, "What are you doing here?" Her eyes focused on the painting of a flock of bird's mid flight. Alex glanced at her then looked at the painting. "Well, I went to law school with Devin, so he invited me. I knew you would be here as well so I…" he trailed off with a secretive smile. "I just thought of something. Isn't this our first outing together as husband and wife?" he asked, only to get elbowed in his side. "Shh!!! Don't say that out loud…!" she whispered, her face flushed red with embarrassment. This was all so new to her and there was something about him that just made her drop all her walls. The ones she'd set up to prevent herself from being hurt again. Yet, for some reason, she couldn't hide anything from this man. To her, this was a terrible thing.

Soundlessly, a reporter crept up behind them wearing a special press release pass. "Mr. Sabor and Mrs. Crestfall, would you mind if I snap a picture of you two?"