Damon had come over and helped her do her hair and makeup. It appeared that he somehow managed to do better than she ever would.

"Good luck, Andin Mia Bella," he said as his arms enveloped her in an embrace. "And if you see that monstrous bitch at the party, would you accidentally not so accidentally dump your drink on top of her head pretty please?" He clasped both hands in the front of his chest and gave her a puppy look.

Andin laughed and shook her head seeing her best friend. "It would not be an accident if I dump it on her head, you know."

"Well, she is shorter than you but you can always aim for her back seeing that she stabbed you in the back." Damon folded his arms and frowned. "I still could not figure out how and why she did all of that. Moreover, I just do not get why she came to you instead of Sebastian. She could have gone to him especially since, pardon me, My Darling, he has more money than you. If money is what she is going for then she should just go directly to him."

"Maybe she just wants to ruin him as she has said to me." Andin sighed and took a seat on the couch. All of the sudden she felt extremely tired. "Perhaps it is his reputation or his good name that she is aiming for."

"It still does not make sense. If she is out there to ruin him, then she should go ahead and sell those photos to the newspapers or magazines." Damon gave her a sad look and then blinked twice. "Anyway, no need to fret about it. Your sexy lover said he has something in mind, right? Perhaps for once, you should let someone take care of you, Andin Darling. You have been taking care of yourself for a long time, you know." His hand found hers and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Perhaps you are right," replied her with a sigh.

"Of course I am right. Now let me get your shoes to match that fabulous red dress so you could be on your way." He walked to the balcony and looked down. "See, I knew it. Your sexy lover has sent a car for you downstairs."

Andin rolled her eyes. "Stop calling him my sexy lover, Dee."

"Well, he is incredibly sexy and he is clearly your lover." Her friend winked at her before moving along to get her shoes.

For a moment, she stared at the ring on her finger and the red dress that she was wearing. Even though her heart was pounding and her mind was a mess, she knew she could count on Sebastian. He would be able to make it right and when he did, she could finally tell him what she truly felt about him. It was scary to bare oneself because that would make one vulnerable but she knew that it was the right time. Andin put her hands on her belly and smiled.

* * *

A few minutes later, Andin found herself inside Sebastian's jaguar with Pedro behind the steering wheel. Curiously she cast a glance every now and then at Sebastian's driver who — she had just figured out — happened to be his personal assistant and bodyguard. For nearly four years she had worked for Sebastian, she had never known that Pedro was more than a driver. Perhaps that was the impression Sebastian wanted everyone to have.

"Is something wrong, Miss Williams?"

Pedro's question suddenly wiped her thoughts away and she blushed, knowing that he had caught her staring. "No. All is good." Then as if she had just realized that Pedro had been using perfectly good English without any hint of his Mexican accent, she blinked. "Wait, I thought you said you could not speak English fluently."

A smile appeared on Pedro's face as he replied, "I am sorry, Miss Williams. I actually speak fluent English. I only pretended so that people will dismiss my presence easily." Then he quickly added, "This fact, of course, is known to Master Sebastian." His cheeks reddened as he continued shyly, "He figured it out during my first week working with him and called me out. Though he said that it is fine for me to continue speaking in a thick Mexican accent and mixing some Spanish words into my sentence to give the impression that I am not fluent in English. But he assured me that I did not fool him. Since then I always drop my pretense whenever I talk to Master Sebastian."

"Goodness, Pedro," Andin groaned. "So you were only pretending when I told you to pick up Autumn Summers's car and drop it at the dealership?! And oh my gosh, when the girl from finance was talking about her bra, you knew what she was talking about all the time, were you?"

Pedro's face was all red and his voice was a whisper when he said, "Yes."

Andin shook her head. "I could have saved some time and my energy."

"My sincere apologies, Miss." There was a slight pause before Pedro spoke again. "Master Sebastian informed me that should you ask anything, I must answer you truthfully. So if you have something bothering you that needs clarifying, please do not hesitate to ask, Miss."

"Sebastian told you that?" Andin's eyes widened. "When?"

"When he told me to pick you up, Miss." From the rearview mirror, their eyes met for a brief second and Pedro gave her a reassuring smile. "You need not worry. Should you decide to tell me or ask me something, you and Master Sebastian will be the only two people who know."

"Um, okay." She swallowed hard and wondered where she should start. After a few seconds of pondering and recalling what Sebastian had informed her the other day, she braced herself to ask, "What did you find out about Maria? Sebastian told me that he asked you to investigate her."

Pedro's expression revealed nothing when he answered her. "Miss Maria Gonzales has never paid any private investigators or paparazzi to watch your place or Master Sebastian's based on her bank statements. Thus we can conclude that she is not working alone. Furthermore, she received a phone call when I drove her home a few days ago. Although we do not know the person who called her, considering that she mentioned 'showing her the photos' and that it is 'done', we can assume that the caller is her partner in crime. However, after her saying that she did not do anything but listen."

"Perhaps because you were there?" Andin asked, tilting her head to one side. "It is possible she knows you were faking it, you know." She was still slightly annoyed that Pedro had pretended not to understand English for the last four years.

"I am fully aware that this could be one of the possibilities but again, she has picked up the call even though I was there. If it was an important call to discuss her plan, she could have waited until she was in her own company at home."

"That's true," commented Andin, giving him a nod.

"As I was saying, she was merely listening which could lead to a theory that she was not the one in charge. She merely reported what she has done and was listening to further instructions."

"Oh, wow, Pedro! You could be a detective or something," complimented Andin. She would never have guessed that Pedro who always had been quiet and had that permanent confused look on his face was actually good at an investigation.

"You are too kind, Miss Williams. Unfortunately, Master Sebastian concluded that bit."

"Oh, okay. Then did you both manage to out who the person she was talking to was?"

"No." The smile slowly disappeared from his face until it was completely gone. When he saw Andin's smile had disappeared too from his rearview mirror, he let out a small sigh and said, "Do not worry though, Miss Williams. I am sure Master Sebastian will find a solution. I saw him before I went to your place and there was no anxiety or nervousness on his face. I am one hundred percent sure that he has found the perfect solution."

Andin turned and looked out of the window as the car sped up. "I hope so."

* * *

Oddly enough, when she first arrived at the hotel, Clarabelle ushered her to a suite on the thirtieth floor instead of the ballroom on the second floor where the party was being held. The first thing that had come to Andin's mind was that something must have happened and highly likely, it was something that could be considered bad. Thus the second they entered the suite, the first question she asked when she finally opened her mouth was "What's wrong?"

"What?" Clarabelle widened her eyes, looking confused for a second. "Oh, no. Nothing is wrong. It is just that Mom wants to see you."

"M-mom?" For a second there Andin felt as if her tongue had atrophied. "As in your mother?"

Clarabelle let out a cute giggle, then nodded. "Yes. Come on now."

Unlike their first meeting, a few months ago, Sebastian's mother, Tiffany Summers, gave her a kind smile. "Hello, Andin. It is nice to see you again."

"Good evening, Mrs. Summers," she greeted back as she took a seat on the leathered chair. "How are you?"

Sebastian's mother waved her hand and laughed. "Oh, do not be so formal, Andin. I have called you by your first name. It is only fair for you to do so."

"Um, thank you, Tiffany." Andin wanted to scratch her head, not knowing how to respond. She could still remember how unpleasant their first meeting had been. It was quite odd seeing that Tiffany Summers was being friendly with her at the moment.

"I must offer you an apology for how unwelcome I have been when we first met." When Andin was about to inform her that no apologies were necessary, the older woman lifted one hand to stop her. "No, I really have to apologize. I should have not been so quick to judge you but instead, I was being a mother hen and unnecessarily so defensive when it came to my children."

Andin offered her a smile. "I can understand. To be honest, it was not a pleasant experience but I understand. I have worked for Sebastian for nearly four years now and I know that with his success and everything, it is probable for him to become prey for people who are after his wealth or connections or other things so even though I am not one of them, I could understand that most people who are near him could be mistaken for that. Moreover, I came as his fiancé that night which I gather must have shocked everyone."

"Why, yes. He never said a peep about getting serious with someone and then suddenly he dropped the bomb and told us to swallow it." His mother shook her head, she cast her gaze aside and it seemed as if she was looking at a distance. "In all honesty, he is an odd mixture. Even as a little boy, he was very tough, very independent but touchingly vulnerable. When he fell over he would never cry, even when it hurt. But if I picked him up and hugged him when he fell over he would look as if he was going to cry so badly." Affection shone in her eyes as she finally moved her gaze back to Andin. "Are you in love with him?"

Andin said nothing, her throat felt dry with nerves.

"I know each of my children very well and even though they never confide in me, I have known all of them since they were a baby, and I can feel it when something is happening. I have had that feeling ever since I saw you two together." Sebastian's mother smiled. She had Sebastian's hair, although the color had faded to a silvery grey. "Even though Sebastian has not told me anything at all, I can tell that he has feelings for you."

Repressing a sigh, Andin decided to come clean. "To be honest, I am not sure if those feelings equal love."

"Whose? Yours or his?" His mother asked, curiosity in her brilliant blue eyes.

"His," answered Andin, accompanied by a sad smile.

His mother looked at her gently. "I am sure he is just confused, Dear." There was sadness in her eyes when she spoke again. "He has been hurt before. Badly hurt. And even though he would not admit it, I think it crippled him in the way that he will not let himself believe in love ever again."

"That is what he told me," commented Andin with a forlorn look.

"Yet you still want to marry him so you must believe that one day he will realize it."

Andin looked up. Then it hit her that his mother had not known that their engagement was merely a ruse, which meant that his mother being nice to her was not because she had found out about her pregnancy. She truly was being kind to her without any ulterior motives. Suddenly Andin felt bad for not telling her about it especially when she had apologized and had been nothing but kind. "I am sorry but the engagement was not real. He helped me deal with my ex-boyfriend so I helped him by pretending to be his fiancé but it was just a pretense. We are not getting married."

His mother looked confused. "So he did not ask you to marry him?"

"Well, he did ask me to marry him but it was a few weeks after I met you."

Tiffany Summers made a low sound of satisfaction. "Ah, so he did ask you to marry him."

"Yes." Andin swallowed hard, her throat felt dry and her eyes were teary. "And I almost said yes until I realized what hell it would be to love a man who did not love me but who was my husband. He does not love me so I had to refuse."

"Andin, I understand how you feel." Sebastian's mother looked at her pityingly. "But if you could bring yourself to marry him, I would be very grateful to you, Dear. Because my son does not know it yet but he is not happy. He buried himself in expanding his company and trying so hard to succeed in everything but all of those did not make him happy. You, however, make him happy."

"But as I said earlier, I am not sure if he loves me. He once told me that love is a word people use to describe their sexual needs. That it is merely the pretty wrapping in which women prefer."

Tiffany shook her head. "He has not realized it yet. He needs you. Look, he shows you more concern than I have ever known him to show to anyone with the exception of his family." The older woman of the two leaned forward in a conspiratorial gesture. "Do you know what he told his cousin, Alexander when we all had a family dinner a few days after that blasted party?" She tilted her head, smiling. "He told him that if Alexander ever disrespects you again, or says anything condescending or sarcastic, he will cut his family ties with him. That is how much you mean to him, Andin Darling. Thus when I said that he does have feelings for you, I can assure you that it is love indeed."

* * * * * * *

A/N: only a few chapters left and i kinda don't want it to end :(