Jonathan asked Emily if she would be fine alone, for a moment. She was affirmative.

He left her standing with his mother and walked upstairs to meet his dad. He was in a whole lot of trouble. The party was in honor of him, but he had the effrontery to leave the house with all the guests.

He knocked on the door. A voice which wasn't his father's told him to enter. He slowly opened the door and found his dad sitting behind his desk. His brother Gabriel was sitting on the couch.

"Jonathan," Gabriel exclaimed. "It's nice to see you," he said, standing up to give a brotherly handshake.

Jonathan stared at Gabriel's hand until he dropped it.

"So we haven't gotten over that?" Gabriel said, smiling. "How long has it been?"

"Cut the bullshit, Gabriel. You tried to tarnish my reputation. You didn't even try, you did. And you think we'll be good brothers after what you made everyone believe?" Jonathan asked him. He couldn't even go a minute without venting his anger, upon seeing Gabriel.

"I saw what I saw. There's no better explanation for what you did. Don't put your blame on me." Gabriel spread his arms over the couch and crossed his legs.

"You've done nothing but prove him right. Stop the whining, John," his father finally spoke up.

He wasn't surprised that his father was taking his illegitimate son's side. After all, Gabriel was his favorite child. And he wasn't apologetic about having a child out of his marriage. He called it a blessing, because he didn't know how he would have felt if Gabriel hadn't been born.

"Well, I'll stop the whining already because I'm proving all of you wrong tonight," Jonathan informed them.

"Is that so?" Gabriel asked.

*****

Emily couldn't disagree with the fact that the drinks served at the party was classic. She had never been to a party that luxurious.

She was feeling so uncomfortable because everyone was looking at her. Most of them were whispering.

She had wanted to hide herself, but the dress wouldn't allow her to. It was the main reason the eyes were on her. She would never forgive Jonathan for putting her under a spotlight that bright.

Emily walked over to the fruit table. She tasted one of the grapes, then another. She was going for the third one when someone spoke to her.

"This is a killer dress, I must admit," a woman of the same age as her said, clearly to her. She was wearing a metallic black dress. Her accessories looked expensive. 

"Thank you," Emily managed to say, swallowing the last grape that was in her mouth. "You don't look bad yourself."

"Thank you. But you can't compare this dress to Hannah Cockfield's one million dollar dress," she said, taking two glasses of white wine from the tray of the server passing by.

"Oh, really?" She asked, taking the glass offered to her.

"Yeah. There's only five of them," the woman replied. "So, how did you get the dress?" She asked.

Wait. Was the woman talking about the dress that was on her? Was she wearing a one million dollar dress? Was she wearing a dress that cost more than what her mother needed for her surgery?

She was definitely selling this dress after the party. What was she supposed to do with it?

"Oh. Jonathan got it for me," she stuttered.

"He must really love you to buy you a dress this expensive. I envy you," the woman said, taking a sip of the wine.

"He's just a nice young man." She waved it off.

The woman said something indistinct. "I'm Olivia by the way."

"Emily."

They stood together for a while not saying anything— just drinking wine and eating fruits.

"So...Emily," Olivia called, breaking the silence. "When did you two get together?" She asked.

What? Get together? Was that what everyone in the room was think? That she was Jonathan's girlfriend?

Why wouldn't they think like that when both of them had made an entrance, hands intertwined.

Emily mouth had been filled with fruits; she had to get done chewing before replying an eager Olivia.

"Emily, I've been looking for you," Jonathan said just when she was about to reply Olivia. "Olivia?"

"Hello, Jonathan. Nice seeing you after forever," she said, going in for a hug.

Emily watched them hug, taking the last of the fruit before Jonathan could carry her far away from it. She didn't want to be walking around with an empty stomach, in a one million dollar dress.

"I wasn't expecting you to come," Jonathan said, pulling away from the hug.

"I can't hate you forever," Olivia said, smiling.

Jonathan chuckled. He didn't have anything to say. She had broken up with him because of what Gabriel had told everyone. Besides, he was the one that hated her now.

"Let's go now, Emily. My dad wants to see you," he said, holding her hands. He knew she didn't want to leave the table. Give her a chance and she would empty it. "See you around, Olivia."

"It was nice meeting you, Olivia," Emily said as Jonathan pulled her away. Olivia didn't reply. Emily was shocked by the sudden change of attitude.

"Who is she?" Emily asked as they were on the way to see his father.

That wasn't part of the deal. He hadn't told her that he was going to introduce her to his father. As what, exactly?

"Olivia," he replied, waving at one of the guests who spoke to him.

"I already know she's Olivia," Emily said. "Who is she to you?"

"Nobody," Jonathan replied. He was searching through the crowd for his old man while Emily was busy asking stupid questions.

"Is she your ex?" Emily asked him. She had that hunch that Olivia was his ex. She heard their conversation clearly.

The attitude that Olivia had given at the end made it evident. She hadn't just come to ask about the one million dollar dress, she had come to know if Jonathan had gotten over her already.

She wondered who broke up with who because both of them were beautiful people. Olivia was a fine woman. Red hair, fine bones, great physique. She must've been every boy's dream girl in high school.

"I don't see how that's your business," Jonathan replied. "There he is," he said before Emily could fire back or ask another stupid question. He wasn't up for it.

They approached a group of men standing together. There were both elderly and young men.

"Dad," Jonathan said when they reached the group of four.

All of the men looked at Jonathan together so Emily couldn't tell who was his father. She couldn't afford to look at all of them in the eyes.

One of the men walked closer to them. His hair was two colors— black and white. He was fifty-nine but looked younger.

"This is Emily," Jonathan said when the man was looking at him with a straight face. "My girlfriend."