Chapter 8 - THE GHOST FROM THE PAST
The spell was abruptly shattered the moment the music ended.
As Alexander pulled back,
offering a polite smile,
a sharp,
familiar voice cut through the applause.
“Eve?
”
I froze in my tracks.
My blood ran instantly cold.
I turned my head slowly,
and there,
standing near the champagne tower,
was Preston.
He wore an expensive,
slightly ill-fitting tuxedo,
his blond hair styled neatly,
accompanied by a tall,
blonde woman wearing far too much jewelry.
Preston's eyes bulged in utter disbelief as he looked from me in my designer emerald gown to Alexander Sterling standing beside me.
“Eve?
What on earth.
.
.
are you doing here?
” Preston stammered,
stepping forward.
“And more importantly,
how are you.
.
.
with him?
”
I stared at my ex-boyfriend.
The man who had shattered my heart via a forty-second voice message while I stood shivering in an airport terminal.
Now,
seeing him here,
flustered and intimidated by the very world he aspired to enter,
I realized something profound.
The crushing agony in my chest was completely gone.
There was only cold,
clear indifference.
“Hello,
Preston,
” I said,
my voice remarkably steady and calm.
“Fancy seeing you at a charity gala.
I didn't think corporate law firms reimbursed tickets for associates.
”
Preston's face flushed a deep,
mottled red of humiliation.
“I earned my invitation,
” he snapped defensively,
puffing out his chest.
Then his eyes flicked toward Alexander with forced politeness.
“Mr.
Sterling,
I’m Preston Vance—no relation to Eve,
obviously—partner at Sterling's external legal counsel firm,
Harrison & Croft.
”
Alexander did not extend his hand.
He did not even blink.
He simply looked down at Preston with the cold,
detached gaze of an apex predator inspecting an insect.
“I am well aware of who you are,
Mr.
Vance,
” Alexander said,
his voice dropping into a glacial,
terrifying tone.
“And I am also well aware that Harrison & Croft's contract with Sterling Capital is up for review next month.
”
Preston's smile evaporated instantly.
“Sir?
”
“I suggest you take your companion and find the exit before I decide your firm's legal services are no longer up to our standards of competence,
” Alexander stated flatly,
stepping slightly in front of me as if shielding me from garbage.
Preston swallowed hard,
May you like
stammering an apology,
and dragged his bewildered date away into the crowd without another word.
