Chapter 117: Diamonds in the Dark
Truth to be told, Alaric did visit the orphanage in the morning and got a glimpse of her. But it was too far. Now, looking at her, meeting her eyes that didn’t avert, he knew he had done the right thing by walking away.
He offered her the slightest nod.
A gesture of acknowledgment that carried more weight than any grand gesture could.
And for the first time in a week, Aveline felt her carefully constructed walls shift, not crumbling, but opening just enough to let in a possibility she hadn’t dared to consider.
She subtly dipped her head in response. Their meeting was organic. Alaric was invited to the event. He and NexGuard were about to receive unbeatable fame tonight.
’He deserves it,’ she thought and focused back.
Her cheeks almost turned pink when they met Charles’s teasing gaze. She had walked more than half the hall without looking away from Alaric. She could only hope her brother wouldn’t interrogate her when she was yet to understand what she felt for Alaric.
She sat at the table reserved for her, refusing to get on the dais. It wasn’t her time to shine, it wasn’t her stage, and she preferred it that way.
She had just sat down when Alaric sat down, right beside her, but at the next table.
The evening was about to become far more interesting than she had anticipated.
When her parents arrived, the faint gasps of the guests were hard to miss when they saw Margaret’s necklace, which looked like something straight out of a royal treasure.
A massive, deep crimson diamond, cut in a flawless teardrop shape that captures and refracts light with striking intensity. Just above it, there’s another smaller red diamond, almost like a crown on top.