The soft warble of the classical music swooned through the ballroom of the Beverly Hills Hotel, blending with the gentle clinking sounds of wine glasses and the low murmur of people's conversations, While under the glow of the chandeliers, the city's most powerful figures gathered and talked. Billionaires, CEOs, and socialite, all appearing carefully polished, and each playing a role.
Dominic Reyes adjusted his cufflinks, his expression as stoic as always. Nights like these seemed all alike to him. The Handshakes and shallow smiles, Deals struck under the cover of charm and manipulation. He moved through the crowd with the cold expression he was known for, barely glancing at the familiar faces.
And then the air shifted, just a little bit,
Something in the ballroom, or rather, someone, had caught his attention. It was very subtle at first. Just a quiet wave of murmurs. A few stares that broke the flow of rhythmed conversations. Dominic then turned his head, his curiosity was piqued despite his stoic appearance.
And then there she was.
Nova Lin.
His expression changed, He blinked, he was disoriented by the impossible sight before him. The woman he had not seen in five years stood at the entrance of the grand ballroom, her figure displayed by the soft light behind her. She was breathtaking, She was nothing like the timid secretary that he remembered, Nothing like the woman he had dismissed all those years ago.
Her blonde hair spread out in waves, her sapphire colored dress hugged her curves with a classy elegance, and her lips painted the color of ripe cherries and they curved with a subtle smile. On her arm was a strikingly handsome man, tall and composed, whispering something in her ear that made her laugh.
Dominic felt a tight uneasy in his stomach,
It wasn't jealousy, At least that's what he told himself as reassurance. It was a surprise that the shy, forgettable assistant he had always ignored now carried herself like she owned the very place she walked into.
Their eyes met from across the room.
For just a moment, everything else blurred into nothingness, The music, the murmurs, and the flashing of camera lights, nothing else really mattered.
Nova's gaze was cool and unbothered, but in it, he caught a glimpse of something different, something he could not understand, something like triumph.
With gentle steps, Nova approached him, her companion keeping his pace along her side.
"Dominic," she said, her voice seductive but spiced with something just a bit dangerous, "It's been... what? Five years now?" she commented
He finally found his voice after a moment too long, "Nova," he blurted,
She tilted her head ever so slightly, the slightest trace of amusement surrounding her lips, "You remember me, I wasn't sure you would, You always had a habit of forgetting people you considered to be beneath you,"
Her words slid in ever so smoothly, like a knife wrapped in silk, Dominic was tensed, but he showed no visible reaction.
"This is Victor," she added, while gesturing to the man beside her. "He's a dear friend of mine."
Victor smiled politely, but there was something playful in his eyes, it seemed as if he too understood the game being played.
Dominic forced a smile, "Well… it seems you've done well for yourself."
Nova's eyes glittered. "It seems I have," she uttered with a smile.
And for just a second, no one said a word, The weight of everything that had been unsaid filled the room, old betrayals, the bitter memories, all the things too foul to say in polite company.
A passing CEO broke the heavy moment, pausing to greet Nova and casually acknowledging on her latest business acquisition, admitting how it had caused quite a stir in the market. His compliment was indeed genuine, but to Dominic, who was in their midst, it struck deeper than intended.
The woman he had fired, the woman whom he had barely noticed, was not only back, She was now powerful and all too respected, and she wanted him to see it.
Dominic gritted his teeth and clenched his jaw, unwilling to let his expression give away his confusion or the discomfort that was twisted inside of him.
Nova's smile softened just a little bit, "Let me not keep you any longer.. I'll let you get back to your evening," she murmured, "But I imagine we'll be seeing a lot of each other , the world is a much smaller place than it seems."
And with that, she turned her back, her arm was still linked with Victor's, and her every step was deliberate and poised.
Dominic watched her disappear into the crowd, but the echo of her presence was still clinging to him, For the first time In many years, he felt something he could not understand, something unsettling, something dangerous, And as the night continued, He had a thought lingering in his mind, "She's not the woman I once knew."
Dominic hadn't moved for a while, his fingers were tightening around the glass in his hand, The tempo of the music increased, The room spun with laughter and murmurs of conversation, but all of it seemed distant to him, like noise underwater.
He could not take his eyes off her.
Nova.
Her name felt foreign in his mind, like something he forgot but should have remembered, He watched her move through the room, stopping here and there to exchange words and greet her peers, Her laughter was ever so light and her confidence was unmistakable, Every tilt of her head and every gracious smile was of someone who knew she belonged.
And for the first time ever, Dominic finally realized that she moved in a way he could no longer control.
"She is something, isn't she?"
A voice beside him uttered, It was Charles Denning, The CEO of one of the top tech firms in the city, he followed Dominic's gaze, and His eyes settled on Nova.
"Who would have even thought," Charles commented, sipping from his drink, "that the little shy girl from Eastview Holdings would grow this fast, Rumor even has it that she's closing on a major international deal, She's a smart girl, and ruthless too I heard,"
Dominic's jaw freed up as he asked, "International deal?"
Charles laughed, while tapping him on the shoulder, "you must have missed it, She was making waves in Europe, they say she's got the M&A team eating out of her hand."
Dominic just forced a smile, just nodding as Charles moved away. The words he heard hit his gut, it felt unsettling.
He should have felt unbothered.
But He was not.
He looked around the room one more time, finding her near the staircase, her eyes caught his for the briefest of moments before she looked away unbothered. She touched Victor's arm, leaning in, as he whispered something that made her laugh again, The sight of it was so simple and so human that it planted something low in Dominic's chest.
His fingers tapped the side of his glass as his mind was racing,
"Who is she now?" he wondered,
Definitely Not the girl who had worked herself to the point exhaustion in his office, definitely not the timid assistant who used to avoid his gaze, This Nova was dangerous, She had presence and Influence, And clearly, she had not forgotten what happened between them years ago.
A had a little flash of Memory, the look on her face the day he fired her, the look of shock and a face filled with pain and hurt, It was something deeper that she had not let him see, Back then, it did not matter to him, People always came and went in his world and the ones who fell behind were forgotten.
But for some reason, not this one.
He could feel it that there was something unfinished between them
Without even thinking about it, he took a step forward.
"Dominic."
A voice stopped him, It was his assistant, a young man with anxious looking eyes, "Sir, Mr. Ashbury was asking of you, The meeting in the Blue Lounge…"
Dominic blinked, he came back to his senses, He nodded and allowed himself to be led away to the blue lounge, But his gaze shifted one last time to Nova, her back was turned to him now, the soft curve of her shoulders was framed by the shimmering fabric and the golden light cast around her.
He swallowed hard.
Whatever this was, he knew it wasn't over.
And deep down, a part of him knew, the game had already begun and wasn't close to the end.
Nova barely heard Victor's voice as he spoke beside her, her polite laughter was on repeat, Her eyes also drifted, She could feel Dominic's stare, even though he was no longer standing where she met him. It didn't really matter, the expression he had when she greeted him was burned into her memory, The flicker of shock he had, The quiet confusion she saw, and the faint crack in his usually stoic face.
It felt much better than she had expected,
She went for her glass of wine, her fingers steady, but her heart not so much. For five years, she had dreamt of this moment, She had pictured it countless of times, standing in front of the man who once reduced her to nothing, watching him as he came to the realization that she was no longer beneath him.
She thought it would feel like a victory.
It did for the most part, But buried beneath the satisfaction was something else, Something she wasn't ready to believe.
"Earth to Nova," Victor teased, softly nudging her elbow, "You went somewhere else again."
She nodded, shaking free from her thoughts, "Sorry, I'm Just tired," she uttered
Victor looked sternly at her, "Are you sure you want to keep playing this game?, You know who he is and how he works."
Nova's lips pressed together to form a small smile, "I know exactly who he is, And I know what I'm doing."
Victor hesitated but said nothing more, He knew better than anyone how far she had come and how much she had changed, He had been there when she lost her job, when she broke down and when she vowed never to let herself be weak again, He had watched her build herself from the ground up.
Still, something in his eyes held some worry.
Nova ignored it, As she lifted her chin as the next set of guests approached her, they exchanged greetings, offering them right smiles and playing her part to perfection. Every calculated move she made tonight was part of a bigger picture, and she wouldn't let emotions distract her.
Across the grand ballroom, Dominic reappeared near the bar and his expression appeared dull but his body was tensed, His eyes glanced to her once, then he turned away.
A quiet laugh escaped her lips and For the first time ever, she had the upper hand And of course she wasn't going to waste it.
Victor leaned closer to her and whispered, "I think he's rattled,"
She finally let out a genuine smile, "Good," she said to him.
But as the night went on, as the laughter and music moved around her, Nova felt a strange feeling of unease all around her skin.
The revenge that she had carefully planned, and the satisfaction she thought would feel satisfying, left her with a hint of bitterness she hadn't been anticipating.
She shrugged it off and there was no room for doubt in her mind,
Not when this was only the beginning of the whole game she had planned.
The night wasn't over, and neither was the war she had quietly declared on him.