"I am sorry you have to hear that, they don't mean to hurt you, it's just their attempt to get at me," Laura explained to Chris a few steps away from them.

"Isn't that what you also think?" Chris said and pulled away from her, grabbing a glass of wine from the waiter.

“What nonsense are you saying? Of course I didn't think like that," she said, wondering why he was suddenly angry at her.

"It seems like you do to me," he insisted and made to leave to another side but his mother came to them with Mira following behind her, and he paused but still maintained a distance from her.

“Mom, don't," Chris said when he noticed her eyes fixed on Laura.

“How have you been, ma'am?” Laura asked, trying to strike up a conversation between them, but she scoffed instead.

“So you still recognize me? I thought you saw us as nobody years back. I don’t just understand why you decided to get married to my son now,” Mrs. Hugh said displeased.

“She is actually the woman that betrayed him when he had nothing and she came back now when he’s doing fine, what a shameless woman she is," Mira also added.

Like others, she also took the news of their marriage heavily and it took a lot of consoling from Mrs. Hugh to get her to calm down and come here tonight.

"Betrayed? That is a pretty big word to use," Laura said, trying to sound casual, not affected by their sarcasm.

“Mom, please stop, this is not the place for this,” Chris cautioned and took Laura's hands in his to leave.

"Don't you dare walk out on me, Chris," Mira yelled angrily, attracting attention from others.

"Who is this?" Laura questioned, although knowing who she was. No one had introduced her and she was definitely not on the invitation list.

"I am Mira, the woman who was supposed to be married to Chris if you hadn't appeared," Mira answered loudly.

Laura turned to Chris somewhat taken aback by her words. She seemed really heartbroken and had tears in her eyes.

“Could he have become a playboy in the years he was away?” Laura thought and shook her head gently.

"I will never marry someone like her," Chris voiced, staring at Laura as he said the words and added, still looking at her,

"You better behave yourself if you don't want to be thrown out of here," he said and turned to Mira who stormed away with tears in her eyes, and Mrs. Hugh followed after her.

Everyone returned to continue drinking and eating but not without doubts in their hearts about who Mira was, while some concluded that she must be one of the many ladies who admired the CEO of TK company.

Laura grabbed a glass of wine from one of the waiters and gulped it all down at once, angry at herself. She suddenly felt bad about agreeing to marry Chris without thinking it through and took another glass to drink but Chris snatched it away from her.

"What do you think you are doing? You will get drunk," he cautioned her.

"Did you ask to marry me to get rid of Mira? Isn't that a very cruel way to make someone who loves you suffer?" she asked him, getting tipsy and glaring at him.

"Why are you concerned about that? Didn't you also agree to achieve something?" he replied nonchalantly.

Laura remained silent following his words, not able to tell him she agreed out of anger to spite Avan. Seems like they were both the same kind of people.

She sighed and grabbed another glass, finishing it quickly before he could grab it away from her.

"Do you think it is wise for you to get drunk as the host?" he said, raising his voice a little, and that triggered her.

"Why did you choose me among every other lady you could pick from? Because you want to punish me for looking down on you? How childish," she bellowed.

"You and the people here are all the same people, no one is truly happy about this marriage. Including the groom," she bawled.

“Congratulations Mrs. Hugh,” Chris took a step closer and whispered in her ears, causing her heart to race for a second.

"Congratulations," he repeated and she looked on, surprised.

“Oh! Mrs. Hugh," Laura blushed, finding his words pleasant to her ears.

“Congratulations to you too, happy cooperation," she said shyly, raising her empty glass to make a toast and saw that it was empty.

Chris smiled watching her embarrassed face and smiled again. Laura tried to hide her face away from him and turned to leave but he pulled her back and held her in his arms.

He took the empty glass from her hand and passed it to one of the waiters.

Laura made to wrap her hands around him, suddenly thinking of what a kiss on those lips would feel like.

She leaned in closer to kiss him but he gently tapped her shoulder, causing her to open her eyes and she immediately apologized, flustered and more embarrassed.

“Will you like to go to the restroom so you can relieve yourself a little? You look drunk,” Chris told her.

Laura nodded and immediately ran off to hide in the bathroom.

She took as long as possible in the bathroom doing nothing but watching her face and hitting her head for acting so brazen by trying to kiss him.

She cleaned her face and with a little makeup on, she made to leave but was suddenly pushed back inside by a strong arm.

"What??"

Laura was startled and felt her back touch the wall before she could understand what just happened.

"Chris, are you drunk?" she questioned, but instead of answering her, he tore her mouth open and kissed her.

Laura placed her hand on the wall to hold herself against his strength and reciprocated his kisses. She closed her eyes, breathing softly on him, and only the sounds of their intimacy could be heard.

Chris pulled away after a minute to breathe and stare deep into her eyes, realizing what he had just done.

He tried so much to hold back all night but when she attempted to kiss him, he couldn't help but want her also.

He slowly pulled away from her and noticed her clothes and makeup were already messed up.

He reached out to help her adjust her dress and walked out of the bathroom without a word to her.

The ride home was awkwardly quiet. The two of them sat a few inches apart, tired and already drunk after drinking too much. Laura couldn’t help but fall asleep before they arrived.