The next day, Enrico waited quite a distance away from the art gallery. He hadn't stepped into the building nor had he shown himself to his aunt. He took another look at his wristwatch quite pissed off and at the same time nervous that Kiana wasn't there yet. He wondered if she changed her mind and didn't even bother to give him a call. He preferred to think that she wouldn't dare.

He took in a deep breath to calm down, as he took one more look at the building just as several guests had started to walk right in. He turned away from it and that's when he caught sight of Kiana finally walking up to him. At first, her head was down, but then she eventually looked up. Their eyes met before she guiltily looked away from his eyes. Enrico couldn't help but scan through her dressing. She was putting on a knee length white floral dress, a faded blue denim jacket on top and a black two inches heel on her feet. She had her hair down and as she walked up to him, it slightly flew with the wind, bouncing as well at intervals when the wind got low. There was barely any makeup on her face. Basically, just the pink lipstick on her lips shone. He felt glued just staring at her. This moment strangely reminded him of when he first set eyes on her in the classroom. He quickly looked away, gulping down at the same time, to control himself. He assures himself that there was nothing special about her.

Finally, she stood still in front of him; neither of them were able to look at each other. Enrico quickly drew in a silent deep breath before shifting his eyes back to her.

"You're late." He told her, finally finding his voice once more and shutting his mind from any other wandering thoughts.

"I'm sorry." She apologised, as she looked up to him. He slightly furrowed his brows, not quite expecting such an easy apology. She really wasn't giving him the least bit of a chance to taunt her. Enrico decided to say something else.

"You could've worn something better. A lot of sophisticated guests will be present." He told her clearly, insulting her dressing. She knew exactly what was going on, so she put up a quick and brief smile.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Vos, but this is the best I have." She told him and at the same time was tempted to state the fact she hadn't planned on coming here in the first place but he asked her to. Nevertheless, she lightly bit her lower lip to reserve her comment because truthfully, she had turned her apartment upside down searching for something pleasant to wear. This dress was her best.

Enrico let out a light chuckle, quite impressed by her guts.

"Fine. Let's go." He stated, reserving his comments as well before turning away and walking towards the building. Kiana sighed as well before following behind him.

"Sorry. Please, do excuse me." Sophia stated with a warm smile to one of the guests she was speaking to, just as she caught sight of Enrico finally walking in. She was dressed in a long silk white dress with no slits at either side of her dress. The dress fit perfectly, giving away how great her curves were, regardless of her age. On her feet, she wore a golden coloured pair of stiletto to match her accessories. Her hair was neatly gelled backwards. A makeup, light not sophisticated. It was obvious the event was in her honour.

Kiana couldn't help looking around, as this was her first time coming to an art exhibition. Never had she been opportuned to witness one. Staring at the guests, she had to admit Enrico was right. Their dressing looked so good that it made hers look like she got it from garbage, but another thing that caught her attention was the different art piece being exhibited at almost every turn of the colourful gallery. The colours made her feel good, so a small smile appeared on her face. Enrico slightly turned to her and noticed she had a smile on her face as she stared at something.

"Enrico." They both immediately turned to the direction of the voice that was quite close. Enrico noticed his aunt walking up to him, keeping her usual smile and looking as good as she always did. Kiana slightly furrowed her brows at the woman she had never seen before, but then again, who does she know in Enrico's life. She didn't even understand why, at the moment, she was trying to know so much about him. She cautioned herself to be silent.

"Congratulations, Aunt." Enrico told her, as she engulfed him in a light hug.

Aunt?

Kiana wondered as her eyes slightly widened. This woman right here looked nothing like an aunt. She looked way prettier than her supposed age; elegant and graceful.

"You're late. I told you not to be late." She told him, as her smile suddenly disappeared in order to scold him. Enrico managed to put up a smile.

"I'm sorry." He apologised and Kiana had to raise her eyes to him. For some reason, he didn't quite look like the man she spoke to outside a few minutes ago. This man here seemed like a cooler version of him. It wasn't the fact that he apologised that seemed odd, but the way he wore the expression on his face. If there was really anything she truly recalled about Enrico, that's the part where he continuously lowers his eyelid when he's pretending. At the moment, he was doing exactly that, continuously lowering his eyelids which might also be mistaken by strangers as a sign of humility.

Sophia's eyes shifted to the young lady that stood beside Enrico. Her face didn't seem familiar in any way.

"And... who's this young lady?" She suddenly asked, causing Kiana to quickly turn her eyes to Sophia, quite widened a little bit in surprise at the fact that she was being mentioned.

"Um... this is..." Enrico started, as he took a look at Kiana, who stared back at him expectantly ready to hear his explanation but Enrico hadn't quite thought things through. Was he going to introduce her as his assistant or an old acquaintance?

Sophia waited patiently for his reply, as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"... She's is..."

"His assistant." Kiana quickly intervened with a smile on her face and not quite understanding why he was stuttering, but she wasn't ready to stand here in an embarrassed state.

"His assistant." Sophia repeated, her eyes a little widened with amusement.

"Yes. I'm Kiana." Kiana stated politely, as she stretched out a hand to her for a handshake. Sophia raised a brow at Kiana as she looked from her hand to Enrico, who simply avoided her eyes. Sophia accepted the handshake.

"You must be one special assistant, Kiana. Enrico has never brought a woman to a family function or even to introduce but today... he brought you." Sophia remarked, just after they let go of each other's hands.

The smile on Kiana's face slowly disappeared just hearing what Sophia said. She couldn't tell if that was a good compliment or a sort of bad one. She slightly took a look at Enrico, who glanced once at her.

"Do you mind, Kiana, if I steal Enrico? There is someone special I need to introduce him to." Sophia told her and Kiana shook her head, as she tried to put up a humble smile.

"Not at all. I mean... I'll leave you two." She told her feeling, it would be much better if she was the one that walked away. After all, she was the employee here. Without taking a look at Enrico, she walked away not quite knowing where she was heading to. Enrico couldn't help taking a look at her as she walked away. Sophia noticed, as he stared at Kiana. She slightly tilted her head to her left, as if that will make her understand better. In all the years she had watched Enrico take a look at a woman, he had never seen him do that way; with sincerity in his eyes. That thought alone made her take another look at Kiana.

"Is anything the problem, Enrico?" She suddenly asked, causing him to immediately look down, away from Kiana. He shook his head back to her.

"No. We shouldn't keep your guest waiting." He told her and she nodded, before taking hold of his arm and they walked off together.

Kiana tilted her head a bit much, as if ready to totally bend it from its usual position. She furrowed her brows a bit much in confusion, as she stared at the painting in front of her. All she could see was chaos. A mixture of several colours coming together to form chaos instead of something beautiful, but she couldn't understand how that can be. The artist wouldn't just pick up a brush to draw up nonsense. Nothing made sense to her, but as she took a look to her right, a few guests stared at the painting with a smile on their face. That act alone plunged her into further confusion. Turning back to the painting, all she could see was chaos.

"It's a painting of your reflection." A lady stated, causing Kiana to turn the direction of the voice, which was on her left. Her brows furrowed. She could swear a few minutes ago, this very woman wasn't standing there.

She stood taller than Kiana but that was probably because of her heels. She was dressed in a black jumpsuit, having a boat neck design on the top. An additional beauty was the golden belt that hung around her waist, probably part of the suit. Her hair was black and neatly packed into a bun. Within her hands, she clutched tightly to a black purse. Her tanned skin was just right for her. Her accessories were exceptionally pretty. Kiana concluded she must come from a wealthy home.

"I'm sorry?" Kiana asked, trying to be sure the lady had spoken to her. She turned her head to Kiana, who was finally able to get a glimpse of her face. She was pretty.

"It's a painting of your reflection." The lady repeated to Kiana, who was still shocked that she was talking to her. She had presumed a lot of the guests here might snob her, since they belonged to the high class of the society. The young lady turned back to the painting and so did Kiana.

"The harder you stare at it, the more it shows your feelings." She stated, but none of that quite made sense to Kiana.

"You stare at it confusingly because it looks like a mess, but it's actually not." She added before turning to Kiana, who turned to her as well. She put a brief smile.

"You're the mess." She stated and Kiana's eyes slightly widened at her words. She felt she should be mad at this young woman, but then at the same time, she knew she shouldn't. Kiana looked away from her and back to the painting. Suddenly, a bit of what this young woman just said started to make sense.

"There you are dear." Sophia stated with a smile, as she approached them with Enrico by her side. Kiana recognised that voice and had to turn. Her eyes widened a bit in surprise, as Sophia walked up to the lady who just spoke to her.

The lady put up a brief smile as she properly turned to Sophia. Enrico and Kiana exchanged glances, before he first looked away.

"Enrico, this is Cecile Sterling. The only daughter of Barnabas Sterling, owner of one of the top hotels and resorts in the world." Sophia stated, as she looked from Enrico to the woman known as Cecile. Enrico had to take a look at the woman he was being introduced to. He managed to put up a smile and she did the same as well.

"This is Enrico Vos, my late husband's nephew who's also like a son to me. He presently runs the company." She introduced once more on behalf of Enrico and this time around, he stretched out a hand to her for a handshake. Cecile accepted it, still displaying a simple smile.

"Good. Enrico, Cecile is a nice woman and I'll like for you to get to know her better." Sophia stated, with a broad smile quite excited about what was presently going on.

Enrico's eyes slightly widened in surprise, as he shifted his eyes back to his aunt. Her words had taken him by surprise. Cecile, on the other hand, didn't look in any way surprised. In fact, the expression on her face was quite unreadable. Eventually, he looked away from his aunt, quite unable to utter a word against her decision. After all, it has always been this way.

Kiana's eyes widened a bit in surprise at what Sophia just said. She couldn't help looking away from Sophia to Cecile, who stood nearly perfect and to Enrico. He stood still, basically saying nothing but she had caught the fact that he himself was surprised by her request.

"I'll leave you two together." Sophia stated then shifted her eyes to Kiana. Kiana stared back, somewhat hypnotized by her eyes.

"Shall we, Kiana?" She called, as she walked up to her still putting on the same warm smile. Kiana managed to nod as she looked down refusing to meet any of their eyes. Enrico slightly turned his head to Kiana, taking a second glance at her. He truly hated his situation. Enrico wasn't fond of letting his mum or his aunt choose a woman he needed to be with. That was why he got his own place to enable his own privacy, but his aunt was doing it again. She told him what to do and he didn't have the guts to say no.

***

Kiana sighed quite exhausted, as she got on the last staircase to the floor of her apartment. Taking a deep breath as if to catch her breath, she walked down the hallway and as she drew closer, she narrowed her eyes. There was stuff outside the door to her apartment and most of it looked a lot like her properties. As she drew closer, she realised they were there, so she hastened her pace to the door. She stood quite confused staring around at her bags. Her breathing grew rapidly as she shook her head.

"It can't be." Kiana stated in a whisper, before she searched for her keys within her handbag. She got it out and inserted it on the door but it wasn't working anymore. She immediately realised the landlord had changed the lock of the door right after throwing her bags out. The rest of her properties like her couch, bed, table were all still within the apartment.

Kiana gulped down, as fear gripped her entire being. She ran a hand through her hair in a frustrated state. Kiana paced to and fro in front of the door for a second quite confused about what to do. She neither had a place to go to nor someone to call for help. She quickly got out her mobile phone and dialed the landlord's number but no matter how long it rang; he would always cut the call. Afterwards, she just stood still staring at her luggage. She shut her eyes for a second feeling quite defeated and so she walked closer to the wall, with her back rested on the wall, she slid down to seat on the bare floor. She recalled all that happened today and how she had sadly gone home by herself only to also find out she was now homeless. She buried her face in her palms and sobbed a great deal, feeling like quite a loser.