Is this destiny?

Ellie is chatting with ladies who seemed to take turns in an endless queue. Most of them were asking about the dress and few asked about her relationship with Jasper. After four or five times saying: \'He is my boyfriend\', it rolled off her tongue easier.

Ellie noticed that Jasper is not coming back for a while and looked around. She sighed internally when she saw Lily approach her confidently in big strides. Two other young ladies were behind Lily, and Ellie assumed that those two are her henchwomen.

Lily dramatically stopped one step away from Ellie and scrutinized her for a second before narrowing her eyes at Ellie and saying: "I see you dare to show up here!"

Ellie looked at Lily with an unreadable expression and blinked few times. "Excuse me?"

An older lady who was talking to Ellie when Lily came raised her eyebrows in confusion. Just what is going on? She was talking with Ellie and buttering her up to get some connection to EY, and Lily just interrupted? And why is she so rude?

Lily ignored the woman. She was glaring at Ellie. "Don\'t pretend that you don\'t know what I\'m talking about. Where did you find the courage to show up here?"

Ellie blinked few more times while her eyes moved over Lily\'s furious face. "Do I know you?"

Lily\'s face darkened, she wanted to call out Ellie by her name, but she forgot. It was Miss Y… something. "What game are you playing? I saw you in Jasper\'s office after hours, trying to seduce him! And now you came to this house to spread your… filth!"

Lily\'s raised voice drew attention of nearby party guests and audience around them started increasing.

Ellie furrowed her brows slightly. "Miss, I\'m not sure what you are talking about. It seems you have mistaken me with someone. Are you sure that was me?"

"I clearly saw you and we spoke!" Lily pointed a finger in Ellie\'s face. Suddenly, she remembered the name. "You are Miss Young! How would I know your name if I didn\'t meet you earlier?"

Ellie\'s frown showed that she is losing her patience. She placed her palm over Lily\'s shaky finger and pushed it down. "You could have heard my last name from number of people present right here with whom I spoke today. However, I don\'t remember speaking with anyone like you. Ever. So, you are either wrong about meeting with me, or you are not significant enough for me to remember you. Pick one. Also… I don\'t go to anyone\'s office after hours to seduce him, but since you think that you saw me, that means that you were there. So, I wonder, which one of us is spreading filth by coming here?"

Lily was shaking from anger. "Who do you think you are?!"

Ellie smiled and wanted to respond and was surprised when older lady next to her answered: "Whoever she is, she can afford to wear one of latest EY designs. That means that she is influential. Lilian, why are you causing a scene? She already said that she does not know who you are. Maybe you should go home and cool off."

Another lady who wanted to talk to Ellie next chimed in. "Yes, I would never expect Miss Cavadini to be so crude. I will not invite her to our next party. I don\'t need this type of drama in my house."

The murmur spread through the crowd and it was getting louder.

Lily looked around in panic and saw accusing looks directed at her. Her face twisted in anger and she glared at Ellie. If looks could kill, Ellie would be in mortal danger, but things don\'t work that way.

Lily could not stand Ellie\'s faint mocking smile and she stomped away angrily. She pushed away her two \'henchwomen\' who snickered.

Ellie nodded in understanding, those two are not henchwomen, they just came to watch the show. And they are entertained.

"I\'m sorry, Miss Young.", older lady turned to Ellie. "Lilian is known to be short tempered. Her parents spoiled her, everyone in the circle knows that. I hope you are not too upset, and we can continue our talk like nothing happened."

Ellie gave a small nod. She is not oblivious to the fact that this woman is buttering her up to get insider\'s access to EY. "No problem, Mrs. Perri. In my line of work, I\'m used to meet all kinds of… personalities. Thank you for helping me out. I don\'t know how to thank you… Actually, there might be something." Ellie got a business card from her purse. "Here. Second number on the card is a direct number. Just tell them that Miss Young gave it to you, and we can see to put you higher on the waitlist. I just hope you can keep this confidential, between us. If my boss finds out that there are many calling that line and mentioning my name, I might get in trouble."

Mrs. Perri\'s eyes were shining and her head bobbed happily. "Thank you, thank you! This is too much!", she exclaimed while trying to suppress her voice. Her action didn\'t match her words as she kept the card in her purse.

"Excuse me, I need to use ladies\' room.", Ellie walked away leaving behind Mrs. Perri who had a big smile on her face and another woman who was looking at Mrs. Perri with a frown. She wanted to talk to Ellie next!

Ellie made her way down the hallway where she saw Lily previously take a turn. She hopes to find Lily and provoke her more while she is out of it. You strike the iron while it\'s hot! Also, she was wondering where Jasper disappeared.

…

In the study on the main floor, Jasper sighed internally while listening to his father ramble about K Industries stock movements. Jasper can tell that Norman is not happy, and he should be glad about it because he knows that Norman is grumpy only because he fears that besides losing Mr. Dickinson, he might lose more support. But Jasper is here for too long and he is wondering where Ellie is and if she is OK. And he came here to be with Ellie, not to talk about company with Norman.

"Are you done?", Jasper asked Norman when he took a break from ranting to inhale.

"What? How come you are not interested in this? What kind of a CEO are you?", Norman glared at Jasper.

"It\'s not that I\'m not interested. But I am aware of the situation, and it\'s Saturday afternoon, and us talking about it won\'t change anything. On Monday stock market will open and we can observe trends. Also, our board meeting is this Monday, so we can discuss it. Now if you excuse me, I want to go back to the party."

Jasper walked out of the study and he didn\'t even bother to close the door behind him. He only hoped that Lily didn\'t find Ellie in his absence and cause a scene.

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