Seraphina
I let out a long breath I didn't realize I was holding this whole time, my heart still pounding hard.
"What was that?" I asked, glancing up at Alec who was still scowling.
"An obsessive ex, one my family unfortunately wants me to get married to." He revealed on a sigh and as I blinked at him, it slowly clicked.
"Oh, so this was why you agreed to my proposal? Because you didn't wanna marry her?" I asked, feeling a little shocked because Asia was in the list of the country's top beauties, and every man would definitely want to wed her.
However, Alec nodded. "That's one of the reasons, yes. In the will my father left, I could only claim it, along with the gaming company, after I got married. I never wanted to randomly get married to just anyone because of that. However, you made me a pretty great offer, so here we are."
"Right." I mumbled quietly, my heartbeat accelerating again at the sight of two men weaving through the crowd and heading right towards us. Beside me, Alec groaned.
"My brothers are approaching. Brace yourself."
That was all the warning I got before two absolutely hot men were crowding Alec, pulling him into hugs and clapping his back, while laughing over themselves and exchanging curses.
"Oouu… what do we have here?" One of them drawled as soon as they faced me and I stiffened, awaiting another onslaught of mockery when Alec spoke.
"Don't." He uttered, voice firm and sharp.
I bit on my bottom lip, watching as they exchanged long looks with Alec, then they faced me again, their eyes dragging over me in sheer curiosity. It was like they had a whole lot to say, but were forcing those words down.
"Who is she?" The first brother clad in a dark suit pointedly asked and I squirmed a little, feeling awkward as hell right now.
"She is my date for tonight." Alec responded smoothly, and I watched as the brothers exchanged knowing looks.
"Your date? Do you mean date or date-date?" The second brother demanded, and Alec sighed, pinching his forehead like he was tired of this conversation.
"What's your name, gorgeous? I'm Maxwell." The first brother crooned, facing me again and holding a hand out.
"I'm Sera, and it's nice to meet you." I responded politely, just as Alec tugged my grip free from Maxwell's tightening grip, and my heart fluttered when Alec didn't drop my hand.
"Sera is an adorable name. I'm Sean." The second brother declared, offering me a grin that unnerved me a little.
"Don't scare her off." Alec sighed out, but his two brothers ignored him.
"How do you know Alec?" Sean asked.
"Are you aware that you're the first woman he's ever brought along with him to a function of ours?" Maxwell pointed out.
"Guys, seriously. Cut it out." Alec snapped, and his two brothers exchanged looks before nodding.
"Mother is gonna be pissed. You know that." The first brother pointed out and then they all snickered.
"That's when the show gets interesting." The second one drawled and Alec rolled his eyes.
"You know I never cared about what mother thinks, and besides, she'll certainly be shocked by the announcement I'll be making by the end of tonight."
After that, Alec's brothers finally left and I heaved out a long breath. They were indeed a lot, but it wasn't as bad as I had feared. Alec retrieved drinks from a server's tray and held it out to me, and I shivered as our fingers touched when I accepted it.
"Your brothers are nice." I mumbled and Alec laughed.
"There's no need to be nice, they're assholes and they're aware." He pointed out and I shook my head.
"Seriously, they weren't as bad as I feared," I reasoned and on realizing what I meant, he chuckled.
"Oh. That's because my brothers didn't fully let loose, and they aren't as bad as my sisters."
I blanched at those words. "You have sisters?"
He sighed as he nodded. "Unfortunately,"
He was sipping his drink when his phone rang and he cursed after glancing at it, then he revealed that he had to step out for a bit. After he left, I let my eyes wander around the crowd. A bunch of people were dancing in the middle of the large hall, and I briefly wondered what they were even celebrating here tonight. A birthday party? An anniversary?
My eyes wandered around again, and as I briefly moved around the crowd, I noticed that a few people were casting me long, curious and disgusting glances. I ignored all of that, the buzz of the alcohol running through my system helping me start to unclench.
I was still walking when I felt a sudden tug on my hair, making me gasp from panic as I stumbled, and on whirling around, I came face to face with two unfamiliar women, all glaring at me.
"We saw you hanging off our brother's arm. Who the fuck are you? His latest conquest?" One of the girls barked. She was drop dead gorgeous, a sharp look in her eyes and I realized these were the sisters Alec just referred to minutes ago.
"Why did you pull my hair? I don't appreciate that. I'm not a dog." I spoke carefully, my eyes on them. Anger was brewing within me slightly right now, especially after the two girls both scoffed and rolled their eyes.
"No, you're not. You're much worse. Are you here with him for his money? He promised you something?" The second one snapped and I sighed in frustration.
"Why don't you go ask your brother instead?"
They scowled even more at me. "Cause we'd rather ask you, and you better give us an answer right now. Are you aware of who you're standing in front of??"
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Unlike Alec who has always been in the shadows, they were quite popular in the influencer's area.
"Look, just leave me alone." I bit out before turning around, walking right into none other than Alec. It was so unexpected that I stumbled over his chest while his hand settled on my lower back to steady me. The touch had my heartbeat instantly accelerating.
He was presently looking over my head at the two girls who now had sheepish expressions on.
"What's this? I leave my woman for two minutes and you're already harassing her?" Alec demanded, and the girls' eyes bulged.
"Y- your woman?" One of them whispered, eyes wide.
My heart fluttered at that word, especially after Alec nodded.
"But what about Asia? She is your woman, isn't she?" The other one whispered and Alec scoffed.
"I never claimed her as mine."
"B- but…" the first one spluttered. "You're getting married to her, are you not? Her parents and mother talk about it a lot. The whole family is expecting that union."
Alec rolled his eyes again.
"I have no time for this, sisters. Now, if you will." After that, he led me away from them, and I felt the girls glaring at me hard, with a force that made me shudder.
"They were scary," I exhaled and Alec pursed his lips.
"I get that. And they're also Asia's friends, so they undoubtedly want me with Asia." He scoffed and curiosity bubbled within me.
"Why don't you want to get together with Asia? There is an actual reason, right?" I asked carefully but instead of responding, he signaled a server and retrieved two glasses of wine from their tray, handing one off to me.
"I'll be making the special announcement soon." He announced and I stiffened, my heartbeat accelerating while he continued.
"Then we'd leave this suffocating party." He scoffed at the end of his sentence.
"What's this party about anyway?" I asked and he shrugged.
"My mother's birthday party."
My eyes widened from surprise.
"Oh, that's cool. Have you gone to wish her a happy birthday?" I asked.
"No. Why should I?"
My mouth dropped open. "Because she's your mother?"
He barked out a low laugh. "If only you knew what a horrible mother she is."
I chuckled softly after that, because horrible mothers weren't a surprise element to me since I have one as well.
"Now's the time for the announcement." Alec's words alerted me, and as my eyes followed his to settle on the stage positioned at the far end of the hall, I noticed an MC standing there, saying a few things to the crowd.
After that, Alec slipped away from my side and waved through the crowd, then once on the stage, he whispered something to the MC and took the mic from him, then the stage was vacated for him. A few people were murmuring in confusion while staring at Alec, clearly having no idea of who he was.
"Hello ladies and gentlemen, sorry for the brief interruption." He began, voice firm and confident, carrying over the entire hall. "I have an important announcement to make."
A slight murmur went through the crowd just as I felt someone come to stand beside me. When I glanced up, I was surprised to see Sean wiggling his eyebrow. "What's he about to announce?"
Before I could respond, Alec was continuing.
"A lot of you have been curious about this, so I'm happy to announce that I'm the firstborn son of Mr. Hemsworth Everest, Alec Hemsworth."
A loud roar went through the air after that, mostly filled with excited screams.
"Wow! He's so hot! I used to think he'd be old and ugly!"
"Fuck me. He's stupidly fine."
"So this is the person running Zen? Interesting."
"Wow."
Beside me, Sean snickered. "That fucker."
"I'd also like to reveal a woman I'm already engaged to, one who I'll be taking as my bride in a few days." Right after those words, the spotlight panned in my direction.
The entire crowd was silent and I could hear so many cameras going off at once, then slowly murmurs and hoots filled the air. I plastered a smile on until the spotlight disappeared, then after Alec alighted the stage, a lot of noise filled the air at once.
Sean's eyes were gleaming when he faced me again, his handsome face split in a smile.
"Is this the part where I welcome you into the family?" He asked, a smile on his face that did the opposite of calming me down if I was being honest.