Chapter 1 Proposal Gone Wrong

Alina’s POV:

“Oh, look who’s late again?” I heard my cousin Sam call out loud to me, making everyone turn their head. I felt heat rise to my cheeks.

“Guess what, Sam, it’s better to be a little late but look stunning, than to be early and look half done, as your wife. She looks sick, though!” I passed the blade-sharpening remark, and everyone laughed at him, making me feel satisfied with his now dull face.

“Better now!” I whispered to myself. It had been like this for five years now; anybody would try to pull me down because Kieran wasn’t here to fight for me anymore. And Sam was one of those jealous jerks Kieran used to beat for me.

“Oh, there you are, my little fairy!” I heard Carter’s voice and found him standing at the staircase, smiling at me.

“Smile, Alina, that’s what you are good at,” I said to myself and took a deep breath to calm my nervousness. I looked at the golden, wide staircase in front of me, leading to the large ballroom, and everything was washed in golden light. This was my twenty-third birthday party, and yet I felt hollow.

I pushed all the unsettling thoughts away and held my golden glittery gown carefully as I stepped towards him. Everyone was looking at me now, all my classmates, friends from the ice rink, my family, and Carter's family as well.

“Look at you, always so gorgeous, ready to take my breath away!”

Carter said, holding my hand and smiling at me.

“You always say the same thing.” I rolled my eyes with a shy smile, trying to lighten my mood.

“Well, because that’s true all the time.” He shrugged his shoulders, and I slapped his chest lightly.

“Ready for dance, my love?” He asked.

“Yes, ready.”

The orchestra started playing, and like other couples, Carter took me to the dance floor. I felt like I was again on the ice rink with him, like the very first time we were paired up for an ice skating competition. Everything around us was elite, huge, and expensive: chandeliers, the soft laughter of the couples around us, and expensive perfumes.

I moved flawlessly with him, as we’ve done dances like these a hundred times, gaining everyone’s attention for our chemistry. Everything was just perfect, still my heart wasn’t in it…I was still missing that very person, especially on this very day. But calling his name out loud was just….prohibited in my family now!

"You’re tense," Carter says quietly, noticing my state. "What’s on your mind?"

I forced out a small laugh. "Nothing."

"Alina." He lifted my chin with one hand. "You can tell me."

"I’m fine. It’s just—" My eyes flicked around, mind thinking of a solid excuse. "It’s a lot, sometimes."

He smiled, holding me closer. "Soon, they will all be gone, it’ll just be you and me. No more of this noise. I promise."

I nodded at him, still barely managing a smile. My head was full of Kieran, how I made him arrange a pink theme birthday for me, and how he made nauseous faces at my color choice. At the end, he ended up beating my classmate because he proposed to me to be his girlfriend.

It was always like this: he would do anything I would ask for, but would never let me be with a guy…even if I wanted to. But that’s all memories now, there is no Kieran, and so…no stupid wishes at all.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I have chosen your favorite strawberry cake, all pink, just like the way you always love,” Carter said with a beautiful smile, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Wasn’t Dad going to arrange it for me, though?” I asked him politely.

“No love, your dad was busy with other preparations, besides, I wanted to do something for you too.”

“Carter, you already do a lot for me, I—”

“Don't!” He interrupted me immediately but politely. “Don’t say anything! Just enjoy and be happy, and let me spoil you. You deserve that!” He said all whipped, fixing my loose strands.

I looked back at him —he was the man who had always been there since we met, three years after my foster brother left me. He was the person everyone told me I was lucky to have. And yet, my heart wasn’t fully his. Guilt rushed in my blood like poison.

"Carter, darling," Before I could say anything further, his mom appeared beside us, looking younger than her age in that emerald silk gown, diamonds dripping from her ears.

"Your father is talking to the senator. He wants you to come and say hello to him." She addressed him with a cool voice. Her gaze flicked over me, giving me a half-pretentious smile.

"I’ll be there in a moment, Mother," Carter said, without taking his eyes off me.

Her smile disappeared, but she nodded and then looked at me. "Oh! Alina, honey, you look lovely tonight. This gown really suits you. Isn't this the one you asked Carter to buy for you?" She asked with the same pretentious smile. I felt myself melting away with embarrassment.

“Mom, what are you–” Carter tried to put her to stop.

“No Miss Evelyn, this is a gift from my mom.” I interrupted him and replied with a calm voice.

There was a pause, she nodded her head and added, "Oh, I see nice choice. Simple. Elegant. No diamonds…..cute."

"Thank you, Ma’am," I managed an answer, her compliment tasted sharp in my mouth.

She stayed for a bit longer after interrupting our dance, then slipped away, leaving her faint scent of jasmine and judgment among us.

Carter chuckled softly and held my hands again. "You know how she is, honey. Don’t let her get to you."

"I don’t." Another lie.

We finished our dance and I was just planning to skip to the terrace to get some fresh air, but Carter leaned closer. "Alina… I know this is not something you would have in mind…and I wasn't planning to do it like this. But tonight feels right."

It was the moment his hand went to his pocket that I understood his sentence. My breath hitched at the sudden realization.

"Carter, please—"

"Just let me—"

But before he could do anything, there was a voice — loud, panicked, cutting through the music.

"Sir! — watch out!" We heard a waiter shout.

Our heads whipped at the sudden noise. Then there was a loud crash. The massive floral chandelier hanging above the stage fell, and a blood-curdling scream left my throat upon the scene in front of me. Before I could make any sense of the incident just happened, my legs gave up. The last thing I remember before blacking out was Carter, screaming my name.