^^^❤️❤️❤️

I giggled as his breath fanned my neck. "Would you quit it? Someone could see us."

"I can't help it. There's just something about grocery stores. Plus, you have on my favourite perfume, so excuse me for not being able to keep my hands to myself," he defended.

"Well put a leash on yourself because we still have a lot to do before tonight," I scolded.

He pouted. "Fine, but as soon as all our guests leave, I'm having dessert."

"I'll be sure to put it in a bowl for you," I teased.

He tapped his chin, as though in deep thought. "Ooh, a bowl? I don't think I've ever done it in a bowl before. Does our jacuzzi count as a bowl?"

I smacked him upside the head.

He laughed. "You set that up for me though."

"Cain, shut up and push the cart," I instructed.

"Are we role playing now? You're very sexy as my Mistress, giving demands and all," he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

I breathed in deeply, willing the cosmos to grant me the patience to not kill this man or encourage him by laughing at his idiocy. "Can you not do this right now?"

"Yes my Caramel Queen," he said with that silly smile.

"You're ridiculous," I commented, looking at the shelves.

"For you? Anyday! Aaron tells me you invited him to the dinner," he said.

"Is that ok?" I asked.

"It's more than ok. It actually made me feel like a shitty friend for not doing it first, so thank you Mrs Bingham," he replied.

I smiled. "You're most welcome Mr Bingham."

"God I love seeing you smile. When are we getting married?" he asked.

"When do you want to get married?" I returned the question.

"If it were up to me, we'd go to the courts right now, so I'm going to leave that up to you," he offered.

I pursed my lips. "Can we deal with the launch first? I don't want anything to take away from our special day."

"That's fine with me, but the launch is only two weeks away," he reminded.

"I know, so how about we say two months from now? It should be enough time to plan a wedding, even though we're going to be charged exorbitantly for the rushed arrangements, but that's obviously not an issue. What do you think?" I suggested.

He left the cart and came to place his hands on my hips. "I think that the two months couldn't come fast enough."

We shared a sweet kiss before going about the rest of our shopping. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I couldn't wait for the day to get here either. I want it to be perfect though, so I don't see us bringing the date forward.

But that doesn't stop me from looking forward to officially being Mrs Bingham.

I was caught off guard by thoughts of his mother. The woman has never met me, and she already hates me, so I guess her son proposing to me isn't going to make things any better between us. However, I'm determined to get her to like me, no matter what it takes.

"What are you so lost in thought about?" Cain interrupted my trail of thought. We were on our way to the mall.

"Did your mom confirm attendance for tonight?" I asked.

He sighed. "It took a lot of convincing, but yes, she'll be there. She's already warned that she won't be a pleasant guest, so don't get your hopes up."

"Baby, I'm going to be myself and hope that that's enough to change her mind about me and us," I responded.

"Beautiful, I know that you always want to see the best in people and give them the benefit of the doubt, but please don't put too much into this. I can already tell you that she's going to make me choose between the both of you, and she's not going to respond well to my choosing you over her. It's just a bad idea waiting to happen, and I'm only letting it happen because you're stubborn, and sometimes people as nice as you need to learn the hard way," he said.

I scowled. "Are you saying that I'm naïve?"

"Not always, but when it comes to people, you can be, and it's not a bad thing. It's actually one of the things I love about you. Life has dealt you the worst kind of people, and yet you still choose to believe that everyone has some good in them. I guess I just wish I shared your optimism, especially where my mom is involved. I wish I believed that she could be saved," he explained.

I won't lie and say that his words didn't make me emotional, and not for the reason you'd think either. I don't think I've ever met anyone who loves the way that Cain does. He told me that his mother is the person who taught him to love the way that he does, and to see her so full of hate kills him.

To see him so gutted kills me.

I once asked my father what being in love is like. It was a subject he didn't like talking about, but one day he entertained me. He told me that to him, being in love felt like you were forever floating. He told me that being in love is when you find yourself crying for the other person simply because they mean so much to you that what they feel, you almost seem to feel too.

I didn't understand then, but I understand now.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Cain panicked at the sight of my tears.

I quickly wiped them away. "It's nothing."

He left the car, making me realize that we'd reached the mall, and came to let me out of my side. "It's not nothing beautiful. What's got you in tears so suddenly?"

"It's just, I hate seeing you like this. You love so wholeheartedly and I hate seeing what this thing with you and your mom is doing to you. I just wish it could be fixed. I hate seeing you so crushed and down and out," I explained, watching as adoration graced his face. He pulled me in for a sweet kiss.

"I love you so much woman. I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I have no intentions of ever losing you. I know that nothing I say will change your mind about this, so I won't bother. Yes, the situation between my mom and I doesn't sit well with me, but knowing that you don't hate her, even when she's said that she hates you, makes it better to deal with. I know you won't want me to choose you over her, but you have to understand that you're my future. I want to build a better life with you, and have kids who we will both love and never abandon. They will be the luckiest kids because their mother is an amazing woman. Now, will you please stop crying? You're kind of bumming me out and I still want to milk this newly engaged thing for all its worth," he ended off on a teasing note.

"Ok, ok, I get it. I just want you to be happy Cain. It's all I want for you," I said, cupping his cheek.

"Ah gee, just that? What about love, a great future, you know, the good stuff?" he joked.

"Nah, you might get selfish and go after world domination," I taunted.

He mock gasped. "That's a secret! How did you know that that's the end goal?"

"I read your mind baby. No one gets you better than I do," I said confidently.

"Touché Mrs Bingham, touché," he laughed before kissing me.

We headed into the mall, hand in hand, and I was briefly panicked by the thought of the press catching sight of my engagement ring. By the end of the day, Cain's fan club would know about our engagement for sure.

"Why so tense Mrs Bingham?" he asked me as we walked towards the interior decorating store.

"I've just thought about the press and your fan club finding out that we're engaged," I replied.

"Beautiful, they've known that I'm off the market for a while now," he reminded.

"Yeah, but I highly doubt they expected this to be a marriage kind of relationship," I argued.

"Why would I get into a relationship if marriage wasn't the end goal?" he asked in confusion.

"Oh my sweet and naïve love, this is the twenty first century. People get into meaningless relationships all the time. For all you know, people just thought this was a fling, or that you just wanted to know what it would be like to be with a black woman," I pointed out.

"Like a fetish?" he asked to which I nodded.

"Is that even a thing?" he asked, looking appalled.

I nodded once more. "People are into weird things."

"Well, this isn't a fling for me, and neither do I want to be with you for some sick reason like that. I genuinely love you and see a future with you," he said strongly.

"Calm down baby, I know that. I'm just saying that your fan club may react differently. People react differently to interracial relationships, and I just want you to be aware of that," I pointed out.

We reached the store and he stopped me before we walked in. "Evie, you are the love of my life. I don't see colour with you. I just see a breath-taking woman who has stolen my heart. I hope you know that."

I leaned on my toes to kiss him. "I know you dummy. I wouldn't have agreed to marry you if I believed otherwise."

A big smile adorned his face. "Good. I love you."

"And I love you," I replied before getting another kiss.

We got around to doing everything that we needed to do before heading back to the apartment. Dinner was at seven, and it was only one o 'clock. We'd already decided on what we were cooking, so we knew what needed time to cook, and we got to it.

As promised, Bernard and Artemis arrived early with Ivy and Onyx. The guys put up the huge frame. Since I love it just as much as the portrait with my father, I wanted it hung next to that one, something Cain felt was honour.

I just know that my father would've loved Cain.

I put on some light music in the background before Cain and I excused ourselves to get ready. Ivy said she'd get the door when our guests arrive. Cain and I took a joint shower before getting dressed. By the time we were done, I could only stare at the god of a man that I'm lucky enough to call mine.

"Is there something on my face?" he asked when he caught me staring at him.

"Just those lips that I want to kiss," I flirted.

I didn't expect him to frown. "Control yourself Mrs Bingham. We have guests downstairs."

"Are you really scolding me right now?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Yes I am. It would seem I'm the only one in this relationship who knows the right time to want to jump people," he said seriously.

My jaw all but knocked on hell's doors. "What?"

"I'm leaving now before you mess up my outfit and good hair," he said before leaving the room.

I don't think I've ever been so gobsmacked in my life.

I headed to the lounge after putting on my shoes and found that Gigi, Max, Mr and Mrs Van de Woodsen and Aaron had arrived, which meant the only missing people were Gio, Mrs Bingham and Zena. Cain was mingling with our guests like he hadn't just pulled the stunt he did in our room, and when his eyes caught mine, he sent me a devious wink.

"Why do you look ready to kill him?" Aaron asked beside me, making me jump.

"He's an asshole," I mumbled.

"That's nothing new though. If that were a reason for death, he would've been murdered long ago," Aaron teased, making me laugh.

"Touché. How are you?" I asked.

"I'm doing better. Being around people helps you know?" he said.

"She wouldn't want you to waste the rest of your life. She made us promise to take care of you, and that's exactly what we're going to do, but you have to work with us ok?" I told him.

Poor Aaron is a widow. His wife of three years passed away from cancer just four months ago, and it's been hard on him. For the first three months, he wanted nothing to do with anyone, and it took Cain, Bernard and I a while to get him to go outside, let alone take a shower.

Funny enough, I've known Aaron a hell of a lot longer than I've known Cain, and surprisingly Bernard, something they both weren't impressed to learn. I've known Aaron for more than half my life. He and I went to elementary school together and we kept touch when we went to different high schools.

He went off to college and we lost touch for a few years, until he came to see Bernard. We reconnected then, and finding out that he's Cain's best friend, and that I was with Cain is something that surprised us both because Cain was calling me Evie, something he's only recently jumped onto.

He's one of the only people from my past who never made fun of me, so I guess I count him as a rare friend from my Melanie days.

It's safe to say that he didn't recognize the new me when he finally saw me.

I met his wife Kelly four times back in the day, and only saw her again as the new me just days before she died. She made Cain, Bernard and I promise that we wouldn't let Aaron become a shell of a man. She also made us promise probably the hardest thing of all- she made us promise to help Aaron find love and move on.

"I know Evie, and you guys have already helped me a lot. I know Kerry wanted me to move on with my life, but I'm sure that even she would understand that it will take time," he argued.

"Alright, I'll give you that. Just don't become a shell of a man ok?" I said, reaching out to hold his hand.

He squeezed it before we let go. "I promise. I see congratulations are in order. He's been wanting to propose for three months now."

"What?" I asked, shocked.

"Yep! I told him he's crazy and that he should wait at least until the sixth month has passed, but I guess his impatience won. I have never seen him like that before. He loves you just as much as he loves his mother, if not more, and that's a big deal for him. I hope you realize that," he said.

"I mean, I've questioned it for the longest time, but after yesterday, I believe it. What you're telling me just adds to what I've been trying to process and accept," I replied.

"I know it's crazy, and many people will probably tell you that, but I'd like to believe that you shouldn't be faulted for people's lack of belief in love. People will preach to you about how you should wait a certain amount of time before you take your relationship to the next level just because they fear love. People like Cain still exist; people who see the love of their loves and fall in love there and then. There's no sin in knowing the first second you talk to someone that they're meant for you, that you want to spend the rest of your life with them. If anything, I think that's the purest kind of love anyone could have for you."

The more he spoke, the more my head tilted towards my fiancé, until I was fully staring at him, listening to these beautiful words. Cain was standing with Bernard and Artemis, and he was laughing. I couldn't help but smile, trying to remember a moment in my life when I was blessed with such a beautiful sight.

"You know, you should write a book," I told Aaron, my eyes still on Cain.

"I actually plan to," he replied just as Cain caught my eyes once again. He frowned at my smile.

I looked away from him, bringing my attention back to Aaron. "Really?"

"Uh, yeah. I used to write a lot when I was still in high school. It's how Kelly and I met and fell in love. I want to write about our story to remember her by," he replied.

"Aaron, that's beautiful. I'd love to be the first to read it once it's done. It sounds like it will be quite the story," I said before arms wrapped around me.

"I'll be sure to remember that," he said with a smile.

"What are you kids talking about?" Cain asked.

"Aaron's giving me tips on getting back at you," I said innocently.

"Come on man, whose side are you on?" Cain groaned.

"You do know that if that were even the case, I'd have to pick her side right? She's been my friend the longest," Aaron pointed out.

"Yeah, but I've been your bro the longest," Cain argued.

"Only because you have a penis," I pointed out, making Aaron choke on his wine while Cain looked at me in disbelief.

"Did you really just say that?" he asked.

"You bet I did. If I had a penis, we would've been bros a long time ago," I responded.

"You have a talent of not making a person forget how surprising you can sometimes be," Aaron said after his coughing episode.

"You mean there's more of where that came from?" Cain asked him.

"Oh, you can bet on it," Aaron replied.

"Still want to marry me?" I joked.

He pulled me in for a sweet kiss. "Now more than ever."

"Are the two of you really third wheeling me in the middle of a room filled with people?" Aaron asked, deadpan.

I blushed. "Sorry."

Suddenly the front door swung open, bringing with it a flustered Zena. "I'm here."

"We can see that. Why are you so flustered?" her sister asked her.

She blushed. "I thought you'd started without me."

"Who is she?" Aaron asked lowly beside us.

I looked up at him to find a look of intrigue on his face. "Her name is Zena Van de Woodsen. Why?"

"She's beautiful," he said. He looked down and caught my questioning look, before his eyes widened, a shade of red traveling to his ears and neck, before he excused himself.

"What was that about?" Cain asked me.

"I think Aaron has a crush," I said with a small smile.

"On Zena?" Cain asked, surprised, to which I nodded.

"Kelly did say we should help him find love, but I think we should leave this one to fate," I suggested.

"I couldn't agree more. Let's let him find his own way," he added.

"How about we get this dinner on the way? Gio already said he'd be late, and I guess we can't wait for your mom all night," I pointed out.

He sighed. "I'm sorry beautiful."

"The night is still young baby. I'm not giving up on her just yet," I said.

He pulled me in for a brief kiss. "I wasn't expecting you to."

No other words were shared between us as he instead turned to our guests, announcing that it was time to have dinner. I used to think my father was crazy for having a dining table that seats twenty people, but dinners like this make you understand why. We were all able to fit at the table.

"I guess I should do the introductions. Guys, this is Aaron White, Cain and I's best friend. Aaron, that's Onyx Padachi, Gigi Smoke, her partner Max Smoke, Mrs Grier Van de Woodsen, her husband Mr Garrett Van de Woodsen, Ivy Van de Woodsen, her husband Artemis Van de Woodsen and Zena Van de Woodsen. You already know Bernard," I introduced.

"It's lovely to meet you all," Aaron said politely.

"How come I've never heard of Aaron before if he's your best friend?" Zena asked.

"Because I wasn't aware that I had to tell you about everyone in my life," I said cheekily, causing some laughter around as my best friend pouted.

"Aaron, what do you do?" Grier asked him.

"I'm an architect," Aaron informed.

"That's cool. Do you have some notable works to your name?" Max asked.

"I don't know about notable, but both of Cain and Evie's buildings are my handiwork brought to life amongst many other buildings in the city," Aaron replied.

Now that much I didn't know.

"You designed the building where I work?" Zena asked, surprised.

Aaron frowned. "You work at Beautiful Sunshine?"

"Aaron dear, half of the people at this table work there or have some kind of input there," Grier pointed out.

"I didn't know that," Aaron admitted.

"We've all sort of come together to support Evie's vision, so in a way, you've played your part too by designing a space that works for us," Onyx pointed out.

Cain chuckled. "You unknowingly joined the team."

"Well, I can't say that I'm not honoured. Evie is one of my best friends and I only want happiness for her," Aaron said warmly.

"Thank you," I said with a slight blush.

"Speaking of Evie's happiness, I still can't believe that the two of you are engaged. Have you discussed a date yet?" Grier asked Cain and I.

"They're what?"

All heads turned to our new guests. Gio had just walked in, and with him was an older lady who I'm sure would look stunning if it weren't for her obvious bloodshot eyes, and the alcohol stench that was quickly filling up the room. From how my fiancé's expression changed, I knew it was his mother.

"And who are you?" Grier asked in confusion.

I got up to go to the woman, but she shot me a glare that stopped me in my tracks. "Mrs Bingham, welcome."

She ignored me and turned to her son. "Is this why you asked me to be here?"

"Mother, you're being rude," Cain said calmly.

"I'm being rude? I'd like to think that you inviting me here to ambush me with such news is rude. I told you that I don't want you anywhere near this woman, and what do you do? You propose to the bitch!" Mrs Bingham spat.

"Excuse you! Who the hell are you calling a bitch?" Zena very quickly came to my defence, but I shook my head at her.

"Mother, please refrain from disrespecting my fiancée like that," Cain bit out.

I stepped closer to her, this time ignoring her glares, until I was right in front of her. "Mrs Bingham, my name is Evie Payton. This isn't how I imagined us meeting, but I asked Cain to invite you here because I wanted you to meet me in person and get to know me better so that you can make a fair judgement of me."

"I've already made a judgement on you. I didn't need to see your dreadful face to do so," she said icily.

"I don't know who you are, but you will not disrespect my daughter in this manner. Watch the next words that leave your mouth," Garrett warned.

"You are as white as they come. Why would you tarnish yourself with this vermin?" Mrs Bingham asked.

Her words weren't affecting me one bit.

"Look Mrs Bingham, I don't want to fight with you. Your son loves you very much, and I love him. I know it would mean the world to him if we could get along. All I want is for him to be happy, and making peace with you will do just that," I told her.

I didn't expect her to laugh. "You truly are your father's son."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Cain asked in confusion.

"It means, dearest son, that the two of you clearly have a love for vermin," she spat. Cain looked confused, but it very quickly dawned on me.

"He cheated," I said lowly.

"He didn't just cheat. The fucking bastard went and got some black whore pregnant, so if you think I will give you my blessing, then you are mistaken. My son and I may not be at peace, but you are mad if you think I will give my blessing to a black bitch. You're all the same and it's only a matter of time before you break his heart or take all of his money," Mrs Bingham.

"She's the richest person in the room," Aaron commented.

"What?" Mrs Bingham asked.

"Evie; she's the richest person in the room. She doesn't love Cain for his wealth or status. She loves him fully for him and she just wants him to truly be happy. She's a billionaire with everything going for her right now, so she has nothing to gain from breaking Cain's heart," Aaron explained.

Mrs Bingham faulted. "She's just with him because she wants to know what it's like to be with a white man."

"Get out," Cain said lowly.

"You invite me all the way here, only to kick me out? I taught you better manners than that," she said.

"The woman who raised me taught me to have better manners than that. She taught me that love knows no boundaries. She taught me that what makes a man is how he responds to the hardest parts of his life. The woman standing before me is not my mother. Evie wanted you here because she truly believed that you would change your mind after seeing her for the amazing person she is, and instead you are testing me and my patience, so please leave before I say or do anything I will regret," Cain warned.

Mrs Bingham turned to me, hatred clear as day in her eyes. "You did this to him. My son would never kick me out."

"I am not your son, in as much as the monster before me is not my mother. Evie did nothing but believe that you're a good person, and I wanted to believe it so badly, but only you can help yourself," Cain said before leaving the room.

Mrs Bingham turned back to me, this time tears joining the hatred. "I will never accept you. You are all the same and I refuse to allow my son's heart to get broken by the likes of you."

She left soon after that, and I stood there, numb. I didn't know what to do or say. It wasn't so much that her words got to me, but what Cain had said to her. He'd basically disowned her in front of us all.

"Go to him," Aaron told me.

"But..." I trailed off.

"Go sweetie! We're ok out here," Gigi added.

I nodded and went in search of my fiancé. I found him in our closet. He was hunched over the drawers in the middle of the room, and I went and hugged him from behind. When a tear landed on my hand, I turned him around to hug him tightly.

The man broke down in my arms and all I could do was let him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked after a while. He'd stopped crying and we were sitting on the bed.

"Dina," he said.

"What?" I asked.

"Her name is Dina," he replied.

"Who is she?" I questioned.

He sighed. "She's the woman I just learnt my father had an affair with."

I was stunned.

"I don't understand," I admitted.

"Four years ago, my father needed a new personal assistant, and he hired a young black woman by the name of Dina. That's when his behaviour changed, and I guess he and Dina had an affair for a while before my mother found out about it. I don't have it in me to be mad at her anymore. She's speaking from a place of deep hurt, and clearly the only person to blame is my father. Does it make me a bad person to hate a dead man?" he asked, turning to me with teary eyes.

"Oh baby, I don't know. All I know is that your mother kept this in and it's been eating at her. I don't like how you found out about it, and I guess that's my fault, but it's out now. How you react from here on is up to you," I replied.

"She's broken and I have a little brother or sister out there. I don't know what to do," he said.

I reached out to hold his hands. "Whatever you decide to do, I'm right there with you."

"I know you are. I love you Evie, so much, and I can't imagine facing this, let alone the rest of my life, without you here," he replied.

"I love you just as much, and you won't have to because I'm not going anywhere," I said before kissing him.

"Good," he said, flashing me those dimples that I love.

"Now go and wash up. You can join us when you're ready ok?" I told him.

He nodded. "Okay."

He headed to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. I headed back downstairs, thankful to hear conversation carrying on at the dinner table. I didn't want things to be awkward. I was heading in that direction when there was a knock at the door.

The last thing I expected was to open the door to a bloody Aramis.

"Oh my God Aramis!" I panicked.

"I'm fine Evie. It's not my blood," he said quickly.

"But why are you bloody to begin with?" I asked.

"Evie, this isn't my blood. It's Trent's," he informed.

I instantly went cold. "What?"

"Trent's been shot."

***

Elo Smurflettes

So, I put this up as early as I could! I see we moved up, only to move down again, so hopefully we move back up with this!

You guys are amazing, so thank you for being amazing! Stay amazing! I love you guys!

Katee (^^,)