Chapter 16

After what Amara dimmed as her grand show, she turned on her heels, gave Tobias one last nasty look and walked away, feeling more satisfied than ever. As she left, Fiona managed to pull herself out of the pool. Then she leant a helping hand to Celestine who was not pleased by the way the entire situation had turned out. When she fell into the pool, what she had in mind was for Tobias to scold Amara, detest her even more. At first, it seemed like that was working, but then Amara being, well Amara, went ahead and busted her bubble. Celestine couldn’t have felt more angry when she saw the smile on Amara’s face as she tossed the money at them. Who the hell did she seriously think she was? The daughter of a billionaire?! How dare she throw money earned from selling her filthy body at them and call the dresses they had customized to perfect, trash bag?! The more Celestine thought about it, the more angry she got. She wouldn’t have noticed how her finger nails were drawing blood from the skin of her palm, had Fiona not spoken. “That pompous bitch,” The younger model sneered as she glared in the direction which Amara had walked off in. “She thinks she’s the shit because she has a sugar daddy who can afford her every wish, doesn’t she?” Celestine agreed silently, but rather than showing her true nature, she chose to play saint. "Let us welcome Mr. Lorenzo, the representative of the Crawford family. Thank you for gracing my gala with your presence." The host's voice compelled them to return to the ballroom. But their voices caught in their throats when they saw Lorenzo leading Amara onto the stage, hand in hand. Amara was with the Crawford family's representative?! How did she manage that?! Celestine noticed Tobias's pallor, his fists clenched tightly, while she gazed enviously at Amara. She was just an orphan, how could she attract so many accomplished men! "She must be a harlot!" Fiona spat angrily. "Enough!" Tobias shot Fiona a furious look, equally incredulous as them. Why was his ex being fawned over by so many outstanding men? What had he missed?! • "You shouldn't have stopped me from revealing your identity. Did you not see Tobias's face?" Lorenzo disapproved in the luxury car. "I'm certain he regretted his actions when he realized you're about to become his rival." Amara shook her head. Lorenzo had not introduced her identity at the gala per her request, despite his intention to help her business. Upon seeing Tobias with his sister, she didn't want to cause further drama, especially since she wasn't ready to disclose her deeper ties to the Crawford family. Her phone suddenly vibrated with an incoming message. This was enough to pull her attention away from the window. She looked at the screen and frowned upon seeing that it was an unknown number. But nevertheless, she accessed the message. [Amara?] She raised a brow and typed a reply. [Who’s asking?] [Helios.] Came the reply. [This is Amara, yes?] Reading it, Amara couldn’t help but have a look of scrutiny on her face. What the hell was this dude up to? How did he get her phone number? And more importantly, why was he suddenly approaching her? All those questions caused a wall of suspicion to build within her. [Yes. Mind telling me how you got my number?] She typed and waited only a few seconds before receiving a response that she didn’t like all that much. [I have my way.] She rolled eyes. [What do you want Edgar?] [Straight to the point. I like that. But since you asked, I won’t waste your time. I want to take you on a date.] Amara stared at the text for a few seconds, reading it over and over again before releasing a chuckle. ‘Seriously? A date?’ If this wasn’t so hilarious, she would have been concerned. She was about to write a reply when another text enter. [Of course, I’m not asking this for free. I prepared a surprise for you.] Amara raised her brow. [A surprise?] [Yes. But you can only get to see it tomorrow, because it’s going to be a huge one. You can also give me your answer then, what do you say?] Staring at the text message, Amara chuckled once again. Except this time around, she didn’t bother replying. She locked her screen and continued looking out the window, not bothering to answer the message that came next, because whatever stunt Helios was pulling, was not going to work. ~•~ The next day, Amara was awoken by the sound of her phone ringing. She, who was still not used to leaving alone, not having to wake up for Tobias or have Melanie wake her up, since she had gotten her own house, had trouble waking up immediately. But when the phone call persisted, she had no choice but to wake up. “Mngh.” Groaning, she reached out, blindly searching for her phone. When her hand made contact with the cold device, she slowly pulled it towards her and without bothering to open her eyes, she answered. “Hello?” “Mara, have you seen it?! It’s all over the internet!” Melanie’s voice came through, unintentionally startling Amara. “Mel, why are you shouting so early in the morning?” Amara groaned and slowly, she forced her eyes open, staring up at the ceiling of her bedroom. “Mara, you’re not listening. Check your phone, look at the news. Celestine is trending! And not in a good way.” Hearing this, Amara’s brain finally started working. Sitting up, she ran a hand through her messy hair and grabbed her laptop. She pulled it open, turned it on and typed Celestine’s name in on her browser. It only took a few seconds before several articles decorated the screen of her laptop. But the most recent one was what caught her attention. Third Gen ‘It girl’ and model, Celestine White, was videoed last night, throwing herself into a swimming pool! And along with the article was a video of when Celestine had fallen into the pool last night, trying to frame Amara. Her eyes narrowed after seeing this. ‘What the hell?’ She thought. “Mara? Are you seeing it? I told you it was all over the internet.” Melanie’s voice reached her ears and Amara released a chuckle. “That bitch is finally getting her Karma. I can’t believe she tried to frame you.” “She didn’t succeed.” Amara said as she scrolled through the article, reading it piece by piece, in a bid to find out who could have posted something like this. Only after reaching the end did she get an answer to her question. “And with this, my grand surprise is complete.” Amara mumbled, reading the last paragraph written in the article. “Huh? Did you say something, Mara?” “No, I didn’t.” Amara shook her head and closed her laptop. “Look Mel, I’ll call you back later, there’s something I need to do.” “Alright. Talk to you later.” “Yeah.” Amara answered and ended the call. Immediately after ending the call she went to her message, clicked on the number Helios had texted her with last night and called it. She placed her phone to her ear and listened to it ring. Once, twice, three times and then a fourth, before a voice finally answered. “I was expecting your call. So, did you enjoy my grand surprise?” Helios’s voice had her rolling her eyes and she released a sigh. “I’ll cut straight to the chase, Helios. I appreciate what you did, Thank you, but I don’t need your help. I can fight my own battles.” “I’m sure you can. But I wanted to help, just because I could.” “And I thank you. But as I said, I don’t need your help, or anybody’s help. So please, don’t do this again. And please stop approaching me, it’s making me uncomfortable.” The line was silent for a few seconds before Helios asked. “So, does that mean you won’t go on a date with me?” Amara sighed. “Goodbye Helios.” Ending the call, she placed her phone down on the bed and laid back down. She was about to close her eyes when her phone began to ring. Thinking that it could have been Helios, she was ready to ignore it, but her actions came to a halt the moment she saw Lorenzo’s name flash on the screen. Raising a brow, she swiped her thumb across the screen and answered the call. “Why are you calling so early in the morning?” “The inauguration is tomorrow. I just wanted to remind you.” Hearing this, Amara glanced at the calendar on her bedside table. She spotted tomorrow on the calendar circled with red marker, indicating that it was indeed the day she had been preparing for for the past month. “You didn’t have to. I would never forget an event so important to me.” She said. “Is that so. Then, I’ll see you tomorrow?” “Yeah. See you tomorrow.” With that, the call ended and Amara dropped her phone, allowing her head to hit the pillow. Now that her eyes were closed, the sleepiness that had temporarily disappeared when she had been woken up by Melanie’s call, returned, ten folds. And this time, Amara couldn’t find the strength in her to keep them open. So, after a few seconds of struggle, her mind surrendered to the sleep and she found herself drifting off into dreamland. But even when sleeping the bells of the future never ceased to ring, reminding her of her responsibilities and the many challenges that she had to face the moment she stepped foot into Synergy.