[23 - The Most Memorable Gift]

After dropping Seraphina, Elijah returned home with a huge smile on his face that lit up his eyes as well. He would touch the spot on his cheek where Seraphina had kissed and would start to blush thinking about that moment.

Never in his life had he ever experienced this kind of attraction towards any woman. At first, he had thought that he was attracted towards her because of the aura of mystery that surrounded her but this night changed a few things.

For one, Elijah could now admit to himself that he liked Seraphina as a friend right now but this could very well develop into something more if given a chance. Second, the development of his feelings towards Seraphina was growing at an exponentially large rate which was kind of scary and worrisome as well.

It had only been a few weeks since he met Seraphina again, and it felt as if his whole life had changed in this small period of time. He knew he liked her, he was sure that this could be so much more but Elijah needed to be 200% sure of his own feelings before even question what Seraphina feels for him.

From their interactions so far, he could tell that she was interested in him but he did not know if this interest was a general, random thing or romantic in nature. And for that Elijah decided to ask Seraphina out on a date.

Humming the song at tunes of which he had danced with Seraphina today at the gala, Elijah entered the Grayson family mansion feeling lighter than ever. Deeply lost in his thoughts, Elijah did not notice Marcus who was sitting in the living room drinking a cup of coffee while doing something on his tablet.

"Elijah." Marcus called out for his son who was walking with a spring in his step and a wide smile on his face. This cheerful attitude was a surprise for Marcus, a happy one.

"Hey, Dad! What's up?" questioned Elijah, his lips still stretched wide in a smile that made Marcus curious.

Marcus put his laptop aside and stood up, "Looks like you had a really good day, son." patting Elijah on his shoulder, Marcus pointed at the slight blush coloring Elijah's cheeks, the red tips of his ears, and that wide smile on his face.

"I don't think that a charity event is a reason for all this." he pointed at Elijah from head to toe and back up using his hand.

"Dad!" drawled Elijah, chuckling.

"So tell me if I right, this happiness and joy is because of a girl whom I think that my son likes." Marcus asked even though he was sure that Elijah was this happy because of a woman.

Marcus wondered if this woman could match up to their standard, if she was from a nice background or not. He hoped that his son did not fall for some cheap, gold digger with no substantial family background and wealth.

"Who is the lucky girl, son?" asked Marcus with an expectant smile on his face.

"It's true that there is girl." Elijah sighed, the smile curved upon his lips intact, "But it's too early to say anything. I will tell you all about her once I am sure that whatever this is that is between us is worth it. Just give me some time to explore this and I promise you that if everything goes fine, you would be the first one to know about her."

Marcus nodded his head and exhaled deeply, "Okay, fine! I'll wait." he said with a smile and gave him a pat on his back.

══════ ∘◦♛◦∘ ══════

Meanwhile, Seraphina was watching this whole interaction on her cell phone and could not control her laughter. She was absolutely enjoying this not only because her plan was a success and Elijah was slowly and steadily falling for her but also because the whole situation was actually funny.

It was hilarious because nobody else apart from her knew how unlucky she was going to be for this family of criminals. It was her her own little secret, her own little game and she was the mastermind here so watching every pawn of hers move just as she wanted them to move without knowing that she was manipulating them, was an absolute delight.

══════ ∘◦♛◦∘ ══════

Days passed and the relationship between Seraphina and Elijah continue to evolve. Though Elijah did not manage to ask Seraphina out on a day as he had thought he would, their relationship still saw growth.

Now, they communicated frequently through messages and on calls. Elijah's visits to The Seraphina Atelier became more regular and this did not go unnoticed by Marcus and Chloe. His sister had always been a supporter of his relationship with Seraphina but Elijah was not sure about Marcus.

Seraphina, on the other hand, decided to opt for a slightly bolder approach while dealing with Elijah but there was this one problem that she had overlooked earlier. A problem named Mia Thompson, Daniel's only daughter who was in love with Elijah.

She hadn't paid much attention to Mia before because she was the only person who had no hand in the torture that Seraphina had to go through. Mia was an innocent person in all this mess and Seraphina did not want to hurt her because if she did then there would be not difference between her and her enemies.

So Seraphina had to alter her plans ever so slightly so as to not cause Mia too much hurt except for the heartbreak that was bound to happen sooner or later.

Meanwhile, Chloe was starting to loose the initial confidence and positive attitude which she had adopted to change the views of her collogues about her. But after so many days of hard work, Chloe did not see the desired change in co-workers and now, her patience was hanging on a thin thread. She was ready to explode and Seraphina was eager for the explosion.

Then there was Ethan, who had been trying hard to keep up the good boy mask that he used to cover his true colors to appeal to his physiotherapist, Dr. Laura. And so far it was turning out to be a failure because no matter what he did, no matter how well he behaved or how good it tried to look, Dr. Laura did not respond to any of his advances.

Instead, she continue to do her job diligently, ignoring everything else. And this was making Ethan more and more frustrated. So much so, that he decided to sneak out of the Grayson family mansion against his doctor's orders to meet up with one of his whores.

He went to his usual hotel of which he was the owner of unaware that he wasn't as sneaky as he thought he was being. Caroline had come to the same hotel with her friends for her pre-birthday party. Ethan did not notice her there but Caroline saw Ethan and she stealthily followed him to his hotel room.

From her vantage point, she noticed a woman's hand grabbing the hoodie that Ethan was wearing and pull him inside. There was no doubt in Caroline's mind and she knew what exactly Ethan was up to. 

Wasting no time, Caroline walked over to the door to the room that Ethan just went inside. Taking a few deep breaths, Caroline tried to reign in her anger before she knocked at the door.

On getting no response, she knocked at the door once again and heard Ethan yell, "Go away!" but Caroline was not going to follow that.

She kept on knocking at the door again and again until Ethan finally opened it. His eyes widened slightly seeing her at the door while Caroline's anger peaked on seeing Ethan standing there sans the hoodie and the bitch behind him who had the audacity to glare back at her with such expressions that screamed a challenge.

"What are you -" Caroline did not let him complete the sentence. She pushed at his chest and entered the room and locked it.

"What the fuck are you doing here Ethan?" she poked at his chest with her sharp fingernail. She did not wait for him to reply and continued, "Is it so hard for you to keep your damn dick in your pants for a while? You know that your accident and the news of our engagement has put our families in limelight and you still dared to come here to fuck this whore!"

The other woman just rolled her eyes in response and laid down on the bed on her side, watching Ethan and Caroline argue.

"Who are you to tell me what I can do and what I cannot?" snapped Ethan pushing Caroline away from him, "If you think I am going to change my lifestyle just because I am marrying you then you are wrong."

Angry tears clouded Caroline's vision as Ethan continued, "Also, you were the one who told me at the hospital to do whatever I want. So that is what I am doing." shrugging his shoulders, Ethan walked towards the bed and pounced on the other woman making her giggle. He began undressing her right in front of Caroline.

Feeling insulted, she walked up to them taking long strides and pulled Ethan, "Do not test my patience Ethan!" she warned, "Yes, I told you that you can fuck whomsoever you want but this is not the right time! You don't -"

"I don't care." Ethan said, his tone carefree as he pushed Caroline's grabby hands away, "I. Do. Not. Care." he repeated, straddling the hooker and griding against her body.

The sounds of her moans felt like needle poking inside her ear, "Fine!" Caroline exclaimed angrily.

"You are not going to stop right. Okay." pushing her hair away from her face, Caroline threatened Ethan, "Just wait and watch Ethan Grayson. Now, I will show you the lengths I can cross to get back at you."

"Yeah, whatever!" he murmured and pulled down the sleeves of the skimpy lingerie that the hooker was wearing.

Her saw clenched tight, Caroline stomped out of the room, closing the door behind her with a loud thud.

Ethan shouldn't have done this.

══════ ∘◦♛◦∘ ══════

"I am going to gift them a pair of couple watches and a vacation home in Maldives. Do you think that will be enough for an engagement gift?" Elijah was talking to Seraphina on the phone.

Only a day was left for Caroline's birthday and her official engagement with Ethan and Elijah was telling Seraphina about the gifts that he had gotten for the couple.

"It is Elijah." he could hear the smile in her voice, "But it's Caroline's birthday that day as well right? Did you get a separate gift for her birthday?" she asked.

"Well, kind of." replied Elijah prompting Seraphina to ask, "Kind of? What is it?"

Elijah smiled and held up the strawberry pendant necklace that Caroline had given him all those years ago, "It's a necklace." he told Seraphina while gently putting the necklace in a jewelry box.

"Oh, nice." commented Seraphina.

"What about you though? Also, I will come to pick you up, alright? We'll go to the venue together." he said, assuming that Seraphina was coming at the party as well.

Seraphina chuckled as she replied, "I am not going to be there, Elijah. I wasn't invited."

"What?" Elijah felt appalled listening that, "Why weren't you?"

"Uumm, because I am only Chloe's boss and this is a family function, Elijah." Seraphina explained, smirking as worked on her laptop.

"But -" Elijah realized that Seraphina was right. He wanted to invite her on his own but that would look weird, also, he did not want to rush Seraphina, "I understand."

"Okay, listen. Something urgent came up so I have to go. We will talk later, hhmm." said Seraphina to which Elijah responded with, "Alright. Bye."

"Bye, Elijah." and with that Seraphina ended the call.

The smirk on her face widening into a full blown grin as she pressed the Enter key on her laptop saving the video file that she had compiled and edited.

"I might not be there, but I'll surely send a gift for the birthday girl and the happy couple as well." Seraphina laughed as she exported the edited video file in a USB drive. 

The USB drive contained the gift that she had prepared for the couple. As for the birthday girl, the "Caroline Mae Sullivan", Seraphina had specially crafted a separate gift that would remind her of who she truly is.

"For over 15 years, you have been pretending to be me, dearest cousin Camille. So much so that you have forgotten about your real birthday because of celebrating it on the day I was born." Seraphina glued a headshot of Camille, of how she truly looked like before all the surgeries that she underwent to become Caroline.

"This gift will remind you of your true identity, you blood imposter!" she exclaimed while pressing hard on the photographed that she had just glued.

"I am sure this is going to be the most memorable gift you had ever received in your life!" chuckled Seraphina.