CHAPTER 42: GUARD DOG

Shortly after that moment, I realized that the people who came to greet us were no longer older people but people from our generation. It seemed like we were done with greeting the prominent and important guests, and now we were free to mingle with people who were around our age. A group of men approached us, and Raphael smoothly introduced me to them before introducing all of them as his friends as well as business partners.

Something similar happened a couple of times before I realized that there were many people staring our way, and all of them were women. It was all very similar to the vibe that I got when I entered the office to find many people gossiping about me except this time I felt like I wasn’t the only one at the center of their attention. I glanced over at Raphael, who was busy chatting with his friends, as I wondered if he realized this as well.

"Don’t pay them any attention," Raphael told me passively after his friends walked away.

I knew immediately that he was referring to the people who were staring at us. Although I tried my best to ignore them, it didn’t take long for a few women to approach us.

"Thank you very much for inviting us to this party," one of the women said before smiling sweetly at Raphael.

"This party is so lively, I’m sure that the launch of the hotel will be very successful," another woman quickly added.

The way their eyes sparkled as they looked at Raphael made me feel like they were hungry hyenas eyeing a mouth-watering piece of steak. I recognized one of the women as a very popular actress, while the other was most probably a model.

"You should thank the team that organized the event. They are the ones who decided to invite you, not me," Raphael replied, while sounding distant yet polite.

The three women had an awkward look on their faces at his unexpected response, but they still tried their best to maintain their smiles. Their attention shifted in my direction, but their eyes didn’t bear any kind of curiosity or admiration that I was shown by the previous guests who approached us. Instead, it felt like their stares were piercing daggers made of ice that made me cold on the inside.

"Please enjoy the event. I won’t have time to entertain you because I’m supposed to be escorting my sister," Raphael said swiftly before he pulled on my hand.

Before any of them could say anything, Raphael had already turned on his heels while dragging me behind him. This happened a couple of times before it was time for Raphael to give his speech.

"Is this why you brought me with you?" I hissed as I stood close to his side, being mindful that my words would not be overheard by anyone else.

"What do you mean?" he asked, before showing me an innocent smile that told me that he knew exactly what I was referring to.

I narrowed my eyes at him before I shook my head slightly from side to side in disapproval. I couldn’t believe that he dragged me all the way to the party while using the excuse that he wanted to make me feel like part of the family and introduced me to everyone when in truth, he wanted to use me like a guard dog to ward off the unwanted attention from all the women that he wasn’t interested in.

"Next time, you should just bring a date to one of these events, and then she can do the job of chasing away the other women for you," I said without hiding my irritation.

"What are you talking about? You are my date for tonight," he replied in such an unfazed way.

When I stared directly at his face, he only let out a soft laugh before telling me that it was time for him to give his speech.

"Do whatever you have to do. I’ll just wait around here," I said passively, while thinking that I could use a break away from him.

"That won’t do. You’re coming with me," he replied decisively.

"What?" I asked blankly as I blinked my eyes a couple of times.

A few moments later, I found myself standing right next to Raphael up on the stage as he gave his speech to address the guests. I could feel everyone’s eyes on us, and I couldn’t help my legs from shaking. Obviously, Raphael never told me beforehand that I needed to get up on stage with him while he gave his speech. This clearly wasn’t part of the original plan, and I felt like he was going too far to keep me by his side. I tried my best to keep my composure and smiled naturally at the guests and the various cameras that were taking photos of us.

"Come a little closer and smile," Raphael instructed in a whisper as he wrapped his arm around the small of my back and drew my body even closer to his side.

The large crowd of reporters and cameramen surrounded us, and what felt like countless flickers of the cameras’ flashes sparkled all around us as they took photos of Raphael and me together. The large army of security guards escorted us away from the reporters so that we could have some sense of privacy to enjoy the rest of the event.

"I would like to officially welcome you to the family. Once all those photos go out, everyone will see you, and there will be no turning back for you now," Raphael said before smiling wryly at me when we had some time alone.

I knew that he was right, but I told myself that this was exactly what I wanted. My mother is married to Bennett now, and that means that we have to appear like a family, and the more people that thought that way about us, the better.

"Rafa!"

–To be continued...

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