Stuck in a maze of schemes

"This is ridiculous." Sebastian muttered as he sighed grabbing his nose ridge.

Things had been taking a wrong turn ever since his master met that girl. As if handling the task as his secretary wasn't enough, another major trouble had stirred his world upside down.

He was ordered to do a history check on that girl despite his continued disapproval. It was as if he was stalking under his supervision.

Sebastian first hated the girl as she was a danger signal for him, but after seeing her history by himself he was quite impressed upon her achievements.

It wasn't like she was now a successful rich personality, but getting a decent job after getting a degree from her own efforts and money since her highschool years was quite a great feat in itself. She was in a relationship with their company's Chief Financial Officer, Jake Anderson, who was also used to be her childhood friend back in the past . But nowadays, it seems they are quite distant from each other.

'Did they had a fight?' he wondered.

Sebastian thought revealing the presence of her boyfriend might make Eric lose interest in her, but to his own dismay, Eric still persisted to remain attached to her. He was acting like a spoilt brat refusing to leave his toy, which was really nonsensical to Sebastian.

Eric never held any feelings for anyone, not even for his family members. A curse naturally passed on to heirs of a rich family some may say, but without it they would just end up being used like a sacrificial pawn in this complicated war on chessboard.

He was the second son of Park family which runs a multinational pharmaceutical company. Except for his elder sister Yuna aka Grace, he never cared about anyone else. He was smart and excelled at both sports and academics since he was five.

Many women would lay their hearts to be crushed just for him, but being a cold-blooded he couldn't care less. That was until he met her.

"Just what's so special about that woman?" Sebastian mumbled to himself as he waited in the car in basement.

--------

Meanwhile, a few feets above, a grand party was being held upon K&L corporation's thirtieth aniversary. Many popular guest all across the globe were invited to this great occasion, among which Eric was also invited with his family.

His parents were busy talking with the host, and he was made to accompany host's second daughter, Scarlett, who was in her final years of MBA college.

It was pretty clear what their parents intended from keeping them together. But it didn't amazed Eric since he knew this party's secret purpose was to establish a bond between their companies all along. Not through money but with marriage.

Although he despised being used like this, it appears Scarlett wasn't so against it.

Infact, why would she?

His husband to be was rich and handsome. And if this deal gets sealed, a huge burden will lift off her shoulders.

At first she opposed this idea too, but the moment she saw Eric standing behind his father on their first meet, she was stunned upon seeing such a beauty. He wasn't a movie star yet he looked the most gorgeous man in this world.

Without even realising, her heart was already devoted to him. She now truly wished to marry him. But her hopes got crushed when she perceived the bitter truth. The man of her dreams was clearly uninterested in her. He hadn't uttered a single word since they left their parents behind in the crowd, which was very disheartening for her.

She made multiple attempts to small talk but they all ended abruptly with his one word answers.

'Not yet!'

But she wasn't the type to easily give up on her crush. She was experienced in alluring a man with her body and had many relationships in the past. However, this man was on a whole another level. Winning him would be like a trophy in her collection. She passed on a glass of vine to him from waiter and insisted to go to a secluded place.

"It feels so nice being away from the crowd. Doesn't it?" She said while standing closer to him in the balcony.

Unfazed, Eric didn't paid any attention to her tempting posture. He could see her reeking from the smell of lust. Seeing her crawling over him like a snake, he quickly dodged her and said.

"Yes."

For a moment, Scarlett kept staring at his fixed cold eyes and felt out of place. Never once in her life someone refused her offer so passively rudely.

But hard to catch is what makes it fun, right? At least, it was for her.

Scarlett took it as a challenge and vowed to make this man kneel in front of her one day. She smirked as she shared the last glare with him and turned around with a smiling face.

"It's pretty cold out here. Let's go inside." She offered to which Eric silently agreed and walked besides her to reach where their parents were.

Scarlett felt desperate for that moment to come true someday, and the torch which was anguished a long time ago had finally catched fire with fierce flames flickering in her heart.

They greeted their parents once again upon uniting with them, and Eric asked to excuse himself for work since he was fed up with everything here.

It was just like how Ayana said, everything feels so fake and suffocating in these types of gathering. It was quite strange in itself since he never got the urge to leave the event in middle no matter how boring it was. But after a long boring conversation with Scarlett, controlling his yawn in public was getting difficult.

But as if his parents would let him go that easily, they proposed to take Scarlett along with him to an evening walk.

Eric denied it right away claiming he was going for work not to stroll in a park that he had to carry her along as well, to which his parents lashed out in the public and scolded him for being so rude to the girl.

The scene was quite amusing for the host family, and seeing this as the perfect chance Scarlett decided to jump in like an innocent girl into their heated argument.

She interjected Eric's statement with a polite smile and said "I think it would be for the best if he gets some rest and finish his work. It'll only distract him if I go along." The angel's skin masked her heinous face.

Her family shared a glance with each other feeling proud inside and they joined in the conversation as well.

"Yes, even I think it'll be rude of us to make him stay here. He's a busy man now afterall!" Scarlett's father said jokingly while facing Eric's father.

To which he replied with a nervous laugh too "Oh no, no. He's still a young lad in this industry. I am pretty sure he'll just go to sleep after this."

"Yes. Why don't you kids go to a nearby cafe or something? There are many good restaurants and cafes in this region." His mother joined in too.

Eric was speechless upon seeing them act so trashy. He turned his eyes to Grace, but she was just a decoration piece standing there in the corner. Although he was angry and wanted to leave this place right away, he still couldn't. In order to climb the stairs of success, he had to endure all this.

Fortunately or unfortunately, he has been exposed to this situation many times since childhood. And now he excelled in controlling his emotions, except in front of one person. His toy of joy.

'The cold prince of Park family' he was entitled with that nickname in this upper society since he first debuted. Which he didn't actually mind as it rather helped him to get rid of clingy cowards off him.

A joyful conversation has spread between the families, upto the point they even started cracking jokes of them being together. Everytime, Scarlett would giggle like an idiot in his eyes. Yet he maintained his composure somehow.

'This is so weird. Why am I getting so triggered over such small matters this time? I was sure I've gotten habitual to it. So why?'

He questioned his own self, but little did he knew, what he called skills was actually bottling up his emotions, which wasn't good for his mental health. Because he didn't showed any interest in conversation, he never got the chance to truly enjoy the taste of sharing feelings.

He wasn't cold by birth, rather was mould into it.

But, it was Ayana who first opened the lid of his jar, which was sealed a long time ago by his parents. And he for the first time felt true emotions in his life.

The glitters which shed from flying butterflies unleashed from his jars sprinkled upon his mind, and he finally got to taste and express his joy, peace and rage after a long time. It was a refreshing experience.

As he pondered deep into this thought, a sudden push made him come back to the reality.

"Oh! I know! A small walk on the beach wouldn't take too long. Also it'll refresh Eric's mind too, right?!" Scarlett suggested excitedly with her hands tightly intertwined with his.