CHAPTER 5:DRUGS?

Two concierges opened the double doors and we entered the hall. As soon as we stepped foot into the hall, all murmurs quieted down and everyone gawked at us.

The only problem Aryan and I could encounter at the moment was our seats being separate from each other. My reserved seat was at the right side of the hall but he guided me to the table that was closest to the stage. When we got to it, I was stunned to see two empty seats with our name cards on each of them, with the others being occupied by the men and the lady from earlier.

Aryan introduced them to me as his friends.There was Reggie, Jackson, Ty, Dice, Damon and the lady, Stephanie, simply Steph.

" Hello. My name is Malia." I greeted them as Aryan pushed the chair in for me when I sat down and he settled on the seat next to me.

" We know." They responded and I was taken aback slightly.

"I will explain later." Aryan said as he held my hand beneath the table and I nodded as response.

I looked around only to see that people were literally staring at our table, especially the ladies. And the fact that some of them threw dirty glances my way.

I rolled my eyes at them. It's not my fault that I was seated at the same table with particularly handsome men.

My roaming eyes unexpectedly clashed with my sister's. What was she doing here? But then I glanced to her right and saw Devon staring at me and Aryan, his gaze unfathomable. So she attended as his plus one, how sweet.

Her gaze on me was very hostile but then she quickly averted her stare. I looked at Aryan and his friends and they were all staring back at Devon and Tyra. And their gazes were deadlier. At least I had back up. I saw Tyra leaving the table and heading to the direction of the bathrooms. I shrugged it off and engaged in a conversation with Steph, who sat next to me.

One of the waiters served us wine and unexpectedly, some of it spilled on my hand. The waiter apologized and handed me a tissue. When I was about to wipe it, Aryan suddenly grabbed my hand and that's when I noticed something strange. The nail polish that I had earlier applied was slowly bleaching.

Drugs? Someone had spiked my drink?

Aryan wiped the wine on my hand and called one of his bodyguards over.

" Go bring that waiter."

" Yes, sir."

After five minutes, the waiter who had served us wine was brought.

"Explain." Aryan simply stated.

The waiter looked around warily before speaking. "A lady in a white gown suddenly gave me a pill to put in this Miss' drink while I was in the kitchen. She threatened to hurt my family and make my boss fire me if I didn't do the task. I didn't want you to suffer the consequences of this pill and that's why I purposely spilled the wine on your hand, Miss."

"Consequences of the pill?" Steph asked.

"It is similar to Viagra but stronger." The waiter explained.

"You said that the lady was dressed in a white gown?" I asked.

"Yes, ma'am."

I chuckled before looking around and as expected she wasn't there.

' Tyra, Tyra, Tyra.You will never change.'

"Okay, you may leave. And rest assured, nothing will happen to your family and your job." Aryan said to the waiter.

"Thank you, sir." He responded as he left.

" Do you know who it is?" Aryan asked me.

" Of course, who else other than my little sister."

All of them, except Aryan, were slightly taken aback by my answer. "That lady is your sister?" Ty asked in disbelief.

"Yes, but she's my adopted sister." I explained.

"How heartless for a woman." Steph stated.

" Tell me about it." I said as I beckoned for another waiter and ordered an empty wine glass and an unopened bottle of wine.

"And what will you do about her?" Reggie asked.

"Nothing. What can I do? She has not pressed any of my fragile buttons yet, but if she does, I will see to it that she is six feet under." I answered as I poured the new brought wine into my glass.

"You are still the same." Dice commented as he chuckled a bit.

"What?"

"Nothing...nothing." He laughed it off.

Aryan squeezed my hand slightly and I looked at him. " Don't think about it too much."

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor to have you here for this charity ball." The MC of the event started. "We are privileged to have very powerful and prominent people among us today and their presence here is a blessing to us. As you all know, this ball is for....."

I didn't listen to whatever he was saying as I noticed Tyra entering the hall. She sat next to Devon and looked at me with that hateful gaze of hers. I smirked in response.

"You failed." I mouthed the words in her direction and am sure that she was able to read my lips because she suddenly looked around for the waiter. When she noticed his absence, she turned to look at me again and immediately averted her gaze and looked down pitifully.

What was she trying to do now?

It was then that I noticed everyone on my table was glaring at her again. Oh, so she was trying a pity act on them thinking that it would work like how it did with Devon. Poor her. These men with me were very different from Devon and they were already on my side from the beginning.

Thunderous claps resounded in the hall and my attention was whisked to the stage where a lady was explaining the purpose of this charity ball.

"And I would like to introduce the man who has made all this possible. Please welcome, the President of Jaguar DT company and the organizer of this event, Mr. Aryan Chase."

I watched in astonishment as he stood up and headed to the stage amid applause from the audience and received the mic from the MC. I didn't expect him to be the organizer of this event and the fact that he was the president of Jaguar DT company which was one of the biggest companies in our continent.