BLACK CARD, SOFT HEART.

LYDIA.

Something is wrong somewhere.

Lydia stood by the window long after Leila left, staring at the driveway like it had betrayed her.

Leila calmness and her sudden boldness would not leave her mind.

Even though it wasn't a defeat, but it was a restraint.

Her phone buzzed.

A message from a society blog she follows.

EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW: frost estate opening, ultra private villa. Attached was a photo that caught Lydia's breath. A black car, a familiar silhouette stepping out, just like the one that was parked some minutes ago!

"Leila?" She whispers " no it can't be her,why would she be there in the first place? Shes just a nobody with no connection's, I must have been thinking a lot".

.....

LEILA.

Power announce itself quietly.

I learned that the moment Aiden handled me the envelope.

No logo's

No name.

Just a thick a paper and my name embossed so subtly that you'd miss if blinked.

" Open it" he said.

I hesitated at first but then something asked for a look. I slid my fingers under the seal, it was an invitation.

FROST PRIVATE SUMMIT.

Ultra exclusive.

By personal selection only.

My breath caught when I saw the quest list , and then the name appears as a nightmare.

LYDIA JONES.

My pulse spiked.

" She's invited?". I asked

Aiden didn't looked at me, " she asked to be". I turned sharply. "you let her".

Something cold unfurled in my chest.

" You want her?".I asked.

Aiden finally meet my eye's, there was no softness in them,only intent.

" I want her to see".

My finger tightened around the invitation.

" To see what exactly?".

He leaned back folding his arms

" That the world she tried to burry you from, was never her's".

The room felt warmer and smaller with just the sentence.

" What's my role, why invites me too?" I asked.

Aiden stood and Walked towards me.

He stopped too closed that I could feel the heat, control and the danger pressed into the space between us.

"You'll Walk beside me". He said " not as a quest, not as an employee".

My heart almost explode . " Then as what" I asked eagerly.

His voice dropped then he added.

" As the woman I choose".

I stutter.

"I_" then I rushed inside,blushing, thinking of what he meant, but then reality kicks in, we are from different world, Aiden frost is someone not to mingle with not emotionally. He got a heart of stone, I rather stay away from him, I don't want to allowed my feelings stop me from avenging my right!!!.

.....

Lydia stared at her invitation in disbelief yet with a mockery smile

Frost summit? " This is it ,all that have worked for in many years.leila Jones is no more, I'm automatically fits for this, I have the right to take everything that belongs to you, including your man.

Then a shocking reveal.

Her finger pressed hard on the invitation.

At the bottom was a single line that unsettled her.

NOTE: please arrive by 7:00pm Watt, introductions will be made immediately.

"Introduction to who?", she retaliate." Wasn't the frost meant to celebrate their estates?" She shook off the ease, then her attention driven to that Mystery woman she saw on the blog.

It didn't matter anyways, she has won before and she can still do that again.

....

The night of the summit, the wild transformation.

The helicopters, tight securities, car worth more than a house. The kind of wealth that didn't need an apluase but facts.

Aiden stood besides me in a tailored black suits, his hand resting calmly at my back, not possessive not guiding but claiming.

I wore deep blue, structured, clean dress, everything soft about, it was screaming luxury without me saying it out.

" Are you shaking?" He murmured.

" Because she will see me? Hell no" I replied

" Good let's go show her that you've bury that girl that was once humiliated" he added.

....

The door opened.

Quest turned, whispers rippled out, I felt them landing on me directly. The curiosity, the measuring and reassessment. Some say good while some bad.

Then suddenly.

Lydia walked in, dress in white, diamonds smiling at everyone, her eyes scanning with the hall with confidence until they found me.

Her smile frost, the room stilled in control.

" Thank you all for coming" Aiden cut in loudly, then he continue.

" Tonight marks a new phrase for frost enterprises". His hand tightened slightly into my back. " And I will like introducing the person standing next to me, who will be overseeing the transition".

Lydia eyes burned into mine.

Aiden turned heads slightly towards me.

" This is Leila Jones, my strategy partner" he saids clearly. A pause then the room erupted in applause.

Lydia staggered slightly,no one notices except me.

"No, no , no,a strategic partner, how,when".

The floor tilted.

" That girl_ that good for nothing witch dared to steal my spotlight" she cried. "How dare she stood there like she belongs?"

Then Aiden spoke again.

" And for transparency, this partnership isn't new". He added .

Lydia heart slammed.

" It began years ago, when Leila's mother signed the original contingency clause for frost holding". Then he turned to me and added

" She trusted me with her daughter"and he finished it. " And I will Keep my promises.

Lydia words collapse, her ears rang as whiskers sharpen into knives. Then a buzzed on her phone.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: You just lost more than you know.

She realise that the invitation was all a trap and she was already inside it.

...

Leila you weren't erased, you were delayed...