A NIGHT IN SIN CITY

Atlas moved his mouth to Aveline's ear and whispered, "You made the right decision," before pulling away.

"Did I?" Aveline questioned in her head.

She felt a slight nudge in her arm, and looked up to see Atlas arm out.

"This is really happening," she thought as she linked her arm through his, and they began to walk forward.

Aveline didn't know where to cast her gaze. Everyone was staring, making her feel raw- almost naked.

She could tell they all wondered who she was, and what hole she possibly could have crawled out from.

Her thoughts weren't entirely wrong. At the family section, Nadia Sinclair watched with a glass of champagne dangling from her fingers.

"I can't believe he would do this to me," Faiza Marek said, as she downed the last of her drink down her throat.

Nadia's eyes shifted to Faiza. "Don't do that," she said gently.

"Don't do what?" Faiza asked between her teeth.

"Act out. People are watching. You'll get a bad reputation. I'll fix this, Faiza. I promise you." She nodded reassuringly at her.

Faiza still didn't calm down, neither did she feel reassured.

Her eyes continued to shoot daggers at both Atlas and Aveline that were now in conversation with one major CEO of another company.

She studied Aveline's side view, and the results made a hiss slip out of her mouth.

"Faiza—"

"She's stunning," she cut Nadia off. "Her face is something straight out of a high-end magazine. Where did he find her?" She couldn't hide the bitterness in her voice as she eyed Aveline.

Nadia scoffed. "You really are still so young," she muttered..

Faiza whipped her head towards her, the words falling from her mouth hastily. "What do you mean?" She asked, holding her breath.

Reluctantly, Nadia tore her gaze off Aveline. "There's nothing high-end about that girl. Trust me, I'll know," she said in a condescending tone.

She would know, because there was no one who could sniff poverty like Nadia could.

And one thing for certain, two things for sure- Aveline was too poor to be a match for her dear son.

"You better fix this then. I have endured enough humiliation from you son. Fix it." Faiza grabbed a bottle from their table, and began to walk away.

Her exit drew attention, and soon everyone's eyes were on her retreating figure.

Amongst those eyes were Atlas, and Aveline's.

Aveline wondered why the exit of one single woman caused all of that attention, until she overheard a conversation from the table behind her.

"It's crazy Faiza Marek isn't going to be Atlas bride."

"Faiza Marek?" She mumbled internally.

The name rang familiar bells in her head. But she couldn't for the life of her recall why.

"You're slouching," she heard and looked up to see Atlas whispering to her.

"Huh?" Her forehead furrowed in confusion.

"Ladies don't slouch. Shoulder up, and try to look like you're having a good time. It's your engagement party anyway," he said.

"Uhmm– I—"

"Atlas boy!" Someone interrupted, and just like that, another round of greetings and introductions took place.

An hour later when the last of the guests finally left, Aveline was completely exhausted.

Her toes in the heels hurt like hell, but Atlas still wouldn't let go of her hand.

He led her into the mansion, and straight to the living room.

She didn't know what to expect at first, but as they walked into a small gathering, she knew that this was least on the list of things she actually expected.

"All night you avoided us," a male voice said.

She noticed Atlas' grip on hers tightened, and wondered why.

Following the direction of the voice, it led her to an older looking man.

Atlas was an exact replica of this man. "His father?" She thought.

Atlas cleared his throat. "You taught me business always comes first. I had to introduce my future wife to possible investors first," he explained.

"Future? Sounds so strange," Aveline conversed with herself in her head, while in the open, she studied the father figure.

There was no way Atlas would have turned out ugly, she concluded. Except his mother was hideous.

From what she could see, the older man despite his age was still extremely handsome.

"I did teach you that," he folded. "I also taught you the value of family. Shouldn't your family be the first to know that you switched brides at the last minute?"

Aveline's heart skipped a beat, as her thoughts travelled back to what was said at the party.

"Faiza Marek." She suddenly remembered where she had heard that name from, and as if she wasn't overly conscious before, she felt even more like a fraud now.

"Dad, let it go," Atlas said, confirming her guess.

Cane Sinclair smiled. "She's a stunning girl, by the way. And judging by how much you're already defending your decision, I can tell you like where you are. Good for you son." He threw him a wink.

Nadia suddenly scoffed loudly, steering everyone's attention to her.

"Do you want to say something, mum?"

"Mum?" Aveline's head tilted towards Nadia.

Again, she was right in her assessment. Nadia was a stunning woman that didn't look a day over thirty-five.

"Nothing," she sipped out of her drink. "I would just love to have a conversation with my future daughter in-law. Come with me darling." She nudged her head towards an exit.

Instant sweat covered Aveline's palm, despite how cold it was in the room.

Sure, Nadia was pretty, but something told her that she wasn't exactly the woman's cup of tea.

And if she truly wasn't, she dreaded having a one on one conversation with her.

"Why are you whisking her away? Scared that with just a little poking we'll discover whatever scam your son has set up? I mean seriously an engagement no one saw coming? When we all thought he would tie the knot with Faiza Marek? What are we? Six?" Sidney Sinclair snorted.

"Darling, please," her husband, Chris Sinclair pleaded silently with her to shut up.

The tension in the large room grew so big, it began to close in on them- suffocating everyone in its vicinity.

"Why don't you focus on your son, and I'll focus on mine?" Nadia fired back at her.

"Look here you—"

"This is so boring. You two, apply some decorum please," Cara Sinclair faked a yawn to stop the war of words she knew was about to go down between her two sister-in-law's.

Aveline felt like she was in a dystopian world with a very strange set of people..

However, she surprisingly felt a bit of comfort from Atlas hand covering hers.

"No one is going to be speaking to anyone in private. We're leaving now," Atlas announced.

His grip tightened around Aveline, and just as he was about to pull her along with him, the door pushed open, and Reese Sinclair stormed into the room.

"Mum, Leah called off the engagement. She fucking called off the—" his voice trailed into silence, when his eyes fully captured the scene in front of him.

Atlas chuckled, and for the first time that night, stepped away from Aveline's side.

He moved forward, and placed a patronising hand on Reese's shoulders.

His smile widened. "Leah called off the engagement? That's too bad, because bro, I'm getting married in three days."

Reese's eyes bulged in shock as it moved from Atlas to Aveline.

"God help us all," Cara Sinclair muttered under her breath.