"Kendall."
As she recognized the familiar voice, Kendall turned around and was surprised to see Amelia.
Akin to Kendall, she was a wallflower in beau monde; every single time she attended a party, she would mind her own business after giving her kindest regards to the host. It was not because she could not fit in amongst the ladies, but rather, she was shunned.
When she first met Kendall, she could feel it in her bones that neither of them belonged to the majority of their surroundings. That was why they hit it off in no time.
"You're late."
Kendall moved to make space for Amelia, who was also holding a plate of delicacies and a glass of wine.
"My mom's the one to blame. She's such a slowpoke; she took the whole afternoon to do her make-up and I almost died out of boredom," grumbled Amelia as she took a seat.
Then, they chewed the fat while digging in and having the blast of their time.
"I heard that there's something interesting going on," said the gossipy Amelia. Though she was late and could not watch the 'show' for herself, she had overheard others gushing about it.
"Dylan is here? That's a surprise. I’ve attended numerous events, but this is my first time seeing him in person." Kendall peeked at the man who stood out amongst the throng despite sitting in a wheelchair.
"That proves how influential Miss Zorn is. We're just a small fry in comparison." Kendall took a glimpse of her husband as well. She was equally shocked by his appearance as he did not mention a word regarding today's party.
"True."
Although the Taylor Family was wealthy, their financial standing paled in comparison to the Zorn Family. In order to immerse Amelia in the world of good-looking people in Orapolis, her mother had jumped through hoops just to procure two invitation cards for themselves.
"Master Dylan is really hot," exclaimed Amelia. However, it was a shame that he could not walk anymore.
"He is. Why don't you take a few photos of him?"
Amelia shook her head immediately. "Anyone but him; I don't have the guts to do that. I still intend to live a long life."
Kendall smiled at her hilarious remark. "He doesn't bite."
"He doesn't bite, but I'd only take his pictures with his consent. Otherwise, I'd rather bury myself with regrets and do nothing." That was one of the regrets that Amelia had, for none of the other guys in her collections were on par with Dylan being an adonis. As long as she could get her hands on his picture, she swore that she would place it at the most congruous position in her house like a prized treasure.
Kendall smiled without uttering a word. During her previous life, she did offend Dylan for Jackson's sake, which made her live in fear all the while. Fortunately, Dylan did not resent her for her deeds and even helped her when she was in a tight spot.
Compared to someone who treated another person well, one would easily appreciate someone who helped them during hard times instead.
"Oh, Kendall. I heard that you're a maid in the Coleman Family. Is it true? What happened?" Amelia suddenly thought of a gossip that she came across and she was worried about her friend. "Is it because of what you had done? You're really one brave girl for dragging your whole family in it for Jackson."
She thought it was not worth it to bring upon trouble to one's own family for love. What kind of spell did Jackson use on her? Or else, how could she sacrifice herself so much and jump into a pit of fire for his sake?
"Amelia, I know it was my fault and I already got over him. After everything I’ve done, going against Dylan for him, not once had he visited me when I was broken-hearted."
In the previous occasion, she did not make herself clear when she told her best friend about getting over Jackson. However, with an added plausible reason this time, Amelia was convinced.
"My job is to take care of Dylan, but everything's fine so far. He doesn't put me in a difficult position."
Instead, Dylan would tap Kendall's head a few times or punish her with a ten-thousand-word-long report at most. Besides, it seemed like she had not submitted her second report and yet, he did not urge her either. She might as well not bring it up and brush things over because writing a long report without repeated contents was beyond her possibilities.
"Good to hear that." Amelia was relieved to hear that her best friend was not given a hard time by Dylan. She decided to not pry further to avoid knowing too much about him. As her life was at stake, she suppressed the surging curiosity in her and zipped her mouth.
While the two ladies were reveling in their conversation at a corner, the birthday party had finally begun.
The Zorn Family left the two young masters' sides to present the big birthday cake in front of Yasmine. Then, everyone sang a birthday song before conveying their birthday wishes to her. She was the only 'princess' of the Zorn Family at her time—much like Alice—so naturally, her family deemed her as precious as gold. Back at the party, everyone was eagerly trying to surround themselves with Yasmine, merely for a chance to share a photograph with her. Well, Kelly is one of them.
Amelia nudged her friend and challenged her, "Kendall, look at your social butterfly sister. Why don't you learn from her and join the crowd?"
"Forget it. Yasmine and I aren't friends anyway. They are besties."
Kendall suddenly recalled the scene before coming here. Kelly promised their mother that she would take care of Kendall by introducing her to the big guns in the business world. Only Mom would buy her words… I bet she's afraid that I would interact with these renowned figures.
"Cheers." Amelia raised her glass in a toast with her best friend. They looked at each other with a smile before downing their drink.
In the meantime, Jackson—who had not seen Kendall ever since he was here—placed a glass of wine on a maid's tray and pointed in Kendall's direction. "Please pass this glass of wine to the lady over there. She seems to have finished her drink. Let it be anonymous, too. Thank you."
Otherwise, she won't even take a sip of it.
The maid glanced at Kendall and nodded politely before making her way to the corner. As the two ladies had their glass emptied, the tactful maid gave them a new glass each and Kendall had the one given by Jackson.
"Amelia."
Just as they were about to toast again, Sophia came over upon successfully finding her daughter. After Amelia put down her wine glass, her mother pulled her hand. "Amelia, I've bumped into a friend of mine. Let's greet them."
"Go ahead, Mrs. Taylor."
This sort of party was relative to a big blind date; as long as one had children, they would not pass this chance up to hunt a decent in-law for themselves. Obviously, Sophia had the same intention here.
After her best friend was dragged away by her mother, Kendall placed her wine glass aside to get more food from the other side of the area. At the same time, the bodyguards from the Mendelson Family and Coleman Family whispered to their young masters almost simultaneously. Dylan was one step ahead of Frank as he asked Ronnie to change Kendall's drink furtively without her knowing.
Meanwhile, Frank, who did not miss any detail of his rival's action, merely snorted coldly.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Love Knows No Bounds novel (Kendall and Dylan)
Beautiful story....