REBIRTH : Chasing The Limelight-Chapter 62: Familiar hallroom.

When Relanie saw what had just happened, she stood up at once and moved to Adrian’s side. "Oh no, let me help you clean it—" she said, reaching toward him.

But Adrian pushed her hand away calmly. His eyes did not move. They were fixed on the person standing in front of him.

Livienne was already trembling, her fingers still holding the empty glass. Her face had gone completely pale. "I... I’m so sorry, Mr. Vale. I just wanted to come and cheer with Elara. It was an accident." she said quickly, her voice shaking.

No one spoke. Everyone in the hall knew Adrian’s temper. They could only wait to see his reaction.

Livienne looked like she might cry at any moment. But Adrian said nothing.

He only looked at her for a long second with a cold expression. Then, without a word, he turned and walked away.

Before Livienne could take a step toward Elara, Elara had already stood up. "I need some fresh air," she said quietly to Ziva. Then she walked away.

As Elara passed by Livienne, she intentionally brushed her shoulder against hers making Livienne to almost stumble. Even Elara did not fully understand why she did it.

She did not look back. She only walked straight to the door, pushed it open, and stepped outside.

The cool air hit her face immediately. She took a deep breath and began walking forward, away from the noise and from the crowd.

For some few minutes, she walked alone, not until someone called her name.

"Elara."

She stopped and turned, only to see Lioren walking toward her. "I just wanted some air," she said before he could ask.

He nodded and came to walk beside her.

They moved quietly through the garden, side by side, with only the sound of their steps and the night air around them.

After a while, Lioren broke the silence. "Relanie’s fiance...Adrian, are you two close?"

Elara hadn’t expected him to ask that question so she shook her head quickly. "We’re not close. Not at all." Then she frowned a bit. "Why did you ask?"

Lioren looked at her for a moment before opening his mouth. "I noticed that he kept looking at you every now and then. Like..."

Elara cut him off smoothly. "If he’s staring at me, then he’s probably thinking of ways to make things difficult for me." she said with a sigh.

Lioren did not reply immediately. He only looked at her for a moment longer, then turned his gaze forward again. "You’re wrong. Now I understand that more than anything."he said quietly.

Elara frowned slightly. "Understand what?" she asked.

Lioren looked at her again in hesitation. Then he opened his mouth. "You see... let’s be honest. I know that feeling. It’s really hard not to notice you."

Elara blinked in confusion, trying to process his words. But she had barely digested everything when a voice sounded behind them.

"Miss Elara!"

Both Elara and Lioren turned back immediately.

Harris was walking toward them quickly, slightly out of breath. "Mr. Adrian wants to see you," he said.

Elara turned to look at Lioren the same time he looked at her.

Neither of them said anything...

–

Ziva walked up to Livienne who was still standing unmoving, and stopped in front of her. A polite expression on her face.

Livienne quickly flashed a smile at her. "Oh...."

Ziva moved closer to her and leaned forward a bit. "I know that’s not an accident at all, you were aiming at Elara." she said. " But I won’t expose all your evil deeds. Not now."

Livienne’s smile froze as she stared at her. "What do you mean?" She said, her voice sounding quite confused.

Ziva’s eyes did not change as she ignored her question. "But whatever, you missed your target. That should be very frustrating."

"You–" Livienne exclaimed. But then seeing that some people were looking, she quickly calmed herself, but she had barely did so when Ziva opened her mouth again.

"No matter what you do, Elara would always stand above you." She said while Livienne’s face turned pale immediately.

Ziva straightened a little, looking up at her with a proud expression. "Next time, if you want to ruin someone. At least pick someone of your level. So it won’t hurt too much when you fail."

Livienne swallowed hard. "I don’t—"

"Don’t do that. You’re very bad at acting from my own perspective." Ziva said quietly, then she stepped a little closer. "Let me give you advice."

Livienne bit her lips hard but she didn’t move.

"Don’t aim at people you cannot reach."

Livienne’s breath caught as she glared at Ziva.

But Ziva had already stepped back. Her expression returned to calm, like nothing had happened. Then she turned and walked away without another word, leaving Livienne standing there, unable to speak.

–

Elara followed behind Harris as they walked up the stairs to the third floor.

The Vale mansion was large and it felt quite confusing to Elara, for everywhere looked almost the same. The stairs did not go in one straight line. There were stairs at one side, another set turning in a different direction. The place looked beautiful and expensive, but also has this ancient feeling. It looks easy to get lost if you didn’t know your way.

As they walked, Elara kept thinking. She did not know what Adrian wanted from her, but she could guess. It might be about the wine that had spilled on him earlier. Maybe he needed someone to take his anger out on.

She gave a small scoff under her breath.

Even though Adrian often said harsh things to her, they did not affect her the same way anymore. There were moments when he would do something unexpected, something that almost made her think differently about him. But just as quickly, he would ruin it again.

She did not understand him, and she did not want to.

This was the Vale mansion. Even though Mr and Mrs Vale were not around, she knew Relanie was here. Because of that, Adrian should not act too recklessly.

At least that was what she thought.

They stepped through another doorway and entered another hall. In the center of the hall was a spiral staircase that curved upward.

Harris stopped and motioned to Elara to wait.

Elara nodded, then he turned and walked up the stairs. Soon, he had disappeared to the upper floor.

Elara let out a tired breath. She just wanted this night to end. After this party, she would have to go to Crelou. After that, she would start planning her first single at Rye.

As her gaze moved back to the staircase, for a short moment, she felt it looked very familiar. Like she has seen it before. Her brows slowly pulled together and she looked around.

The hall was not very big, but the walls were covered with paintings.

Elara’s heart suddenly began to beat faster. This place... It looked too familiar.

Her fingers curled slightly at her sides as she realized it was the same. The same place from her dream. The only difference was that now, everything was clear.

She turned around, breathing unevenly. She took a step back as her eyes landed on one of the paintings on the wall.

It was that of a little girl with hair tied in pigtails. She was smiling and looking straight ahead, as if looking directly at her.

Elara shook her head quickly when she saw that face. "No... no..."

"Miss Elara."

The voice sounded suddenly and Elara spun around so fast it almost felt like her heart stopped.

It was Harris standing there. He looked at her for a moment, slightly puzzled, then cleared his throat. "You can go in now, pass through that door. He is inside." he said calmly, pointing toward the door at the top of the staircase. Then he gave a bow and left.

Elara turned her head slowly toward the stairs. Then she began to walk. Her mind felt heavy, but her legs were heavier. Each step felt slow, like something was pulling her back.

What should have taken a minute stretched longer into minutes.

When she finally reached the door. A bad feeling suddenly rose in her chest as she stood there, not moving for a moment. Then she reached out, turned the knob, and pushed the door open.

She stepped inside, but before she could take in the room... A hand suddenly shot out and grabbed her neck...