Chapter 252: More Than Meets The Eye
Every eye immediately turned toward Cedric.
They noticed the faint scratch on his cheek, but what caught their attention even more was the sudden, genuine confusion that clouded the groom’s face, as if he himself were entirely unaware of the mark on his own skin.
"What scratch?" Cedric asked, his brows knitting together.
"Oh, there really is a scratch," Gwen said softly, gazing up at him with wide, puppy-dog eyes as if she was genuinely unaware of it. "I’m so sorry, honey. It must have happened by mistake from my nails earlier."
Cedric looked down at Gwen, and his expression softened into a fond smile as his hand gave the slightest involuntary tremor at his side. "Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing a little makeup cannot fix before tomorrow. Am I right?"
He turned toward the small crowd with a playful grin, drawing a ripple of light laughter from the surrounding guests.
Yet... Gavriel and Cillian’s eyes remained fixed on that tiny movement on the side.
Cillian leaned close to Gavriel and spoke in a volume meant strictly for his ears. "Hm, it seems there is something else at play here."
"There is," Gavriel replied, his dark eyes shifting back to Gwen.
Just then, he felt another gaze burning into him. He looked down to find his wife staring directly at him. By the look on her face, heavy displeasure was clearly painted across her icy expression.
"What is the matter?" Gavriel asked, leaning closer to her.
That was the exact moment Aliana felt her patience thin out completely.
"Nothing," she replied flatly.
Reaching down, she grabbed his hand from around her waist and firmly pulled it away.
"Perhaps I will join Jade for a while," Aliana added, her voice dripping with quiet sarcasm. "Enjoy yourself."
Gavriel’s brows knit together in genuine confusion.
Before he could question her further, Aliana offered him a smile so sweet that it made him feel far more wary than affectionate.
Without another word, she turned and sauntered off toward Jade.
For a long moment, Gavriel simply watched the seductive sway of his wife’s hips.
He reached out with his senses to pick up her emotions, but once again, he hit an invisible wall blocking him out. It was the exact same barrier that had appeared back when he first confessed to her about visiting Diana.
Only one thought echoed in his mind: ’Did I do something to upset her?’
Cillian, who had silently witnessed the entire exchange, pressed his lips together to hide a smirk. ’Ah,’ he thought to himself, ’so this is what marriage is like.’
.....
As the night descended, Aliana made sure to stick close to Jade. She was still pissed at Gavriel’s wandering eyes and could not help but let the annoyance build up inside her.
However, as time passed, she began to notice something even stranger. Several of the guests were wearing small pieces of jewellery engraved with the exact same star-like symbol she had noticed on Mr. Kalen’s ring.
After Jade finished speaking to one of the guests, Aliana leaned in close and whispered, "J, is it just me, or have you also noticed that weird symbol on the jewellery some of these guests are wearing?"
"So you noticed it too," Jade replied in a low voice as Andrew stepped away to grab them another round of drinks. "I thought it was only me."
"What do you think it could mean?" Aliana asked, her eyes sweeping across the lit poolside crowd.
"Who knows," Jade said with a casual shrug. "Maybe it is some snobby club logo. You know how rich people love their exclusive little secret societies."
"Hm... maybe," Aliana murmured, though the explanation didn’t sit quite right with her.
Pushing the thought aside for the moment, she looked at her friend with a faint smile. "So... I see you and Andrew are getting along well."
"We are," Jade admitted.
Yet right on cue, Jade’s gaze inevitably drifted past Aliana toward one of the cabanas near the pool. Cillian was sitting there alongside Gavriel, calmly conversing with a woman who had approached them earlier.
A knowing smile tugged at Aliana’s lips.
"So..." she began casually, "I’m guessing I was worried for nothing."
Jade’s eyes snapped back to Aliana. "What would you be worried for?"
"Nothing..." Aliana replied innocently.
Jade narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Spill, Ali." She folded her arms across her chest. "We’ve done this enough times for me to know when you’re trying not to say something."
Aliana pursed her lips before replying softly, "I don’t know. For a while, I thought maybe... you and Cillian..."
Jade’s eyes widened in horror. "That demon? Come on! Do you truly think anything could ever happen between us? Just look at him. He’s a natural-born flirt!"
Jade gestured discreetly toward Cillian, who was currently flashing a charming smile at the woman sitting near him, making her blush to her very roots.
Aliana cleared her throat. "Well, I know Cillian is a smooth talker, but whenever he is with you... you both... I just felt like something was there."
Jade let out a breathy chuckle, as if the sheer possibility were absurd. "Ali, all we do is fight and bicker whenever we interact. I mean, sure, he is charming in his own way and undeniably handsome, but I don’t think he sees me like that at all."
Aliana went quiet, simply watching as her best friend continued.
"If he had felt anything like what you are suggesting, no sane man would stand by and passively watch the woman he likes spend time with someone else."
Aliana almost told her about the look she had caught on Cillian’s face earlier.
But on second thought, she decided against it. If there truly wasn’t anything between them, she had no desire to complicate matters by planting unnecessary ideas in Jade’s mind.
So she simply replied, "Sometimes, there is more than meets the eye, J."
Jade raised a brow at her.
Aliana offered a gentle shrug. "I’m just saying."
"Hm..." Jade hummed before a teasing smirk spread across her face. "Then might I ask why you abandoned your husband over there just to hang out with me?"
Aliana’s eyes instinctively wandered towards Gavriel. He had just responded to something Cillian had said before lifting his gaze, only for their eyes to meet across the pool, and her heart skipped a beat.
Then, almost immediately, she remembered the way his eyes had kept drifting towards Gwen and the irritation she’d been trying so hard to suppress came rushing back.
She turned her back to him, facing Jade. "I simply wanted to spend some quality time with my best friend."
"Hah! I knew it! You are actively avoiding him," Jade said, her smirk widening. "Is it bad?"
"It’s... I thought I’d give him some space to let his eyes wander," Aliana replied, her gaze drifting out towards the sea.
Jade’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at the meaning behind her words.
"No way." She shook her head in disbelief. "I don’t believe that."
When Aliana turned to give her a confused look, Jade simply shrugged. "Look, I have seen many men in my life, and I can say with certainty that your husband is truly one of a kind. I’ve never seen him eye another woman. In fact, it seems like his eyes are only ever fixed on you... like a compass, you know?"
"Well... maybe you thought wrong," Aliana replied with a stubborn tilt of her chin.
"Sometimes there’s more than meets the eye, Ali," Jade smirked before tossing Aliana’s own words right back at her. "Think about it."
Right then, a sharp, familiar voice rang out behind them.