Substitute Wife for the Mafia King R18-Chapter 289: Second Present

The day of our birthday party finally arrived, and it felt like a very close rerun of what happened the year previously except for the fact that we were wearing red instead of the light shade of purple that my sister fancied the year before.

We greeted the guests, we accepted the presents, and we played all the games that my sister had planned. Our parents socialized with the guests that they invited while the piles of presents kept piling up higher and higher. Everything passed by in a blur of events as I didn’t take note of much.

“Diana, that fiancé of yours is late,” Mother commented before scrunching her face in a look of disapproval.

It was so like her to nitpick on even the smallest things regarding the Vulkan family.

“Well...” Diana murmured before smiling like an angel to cover up for Anthony’s delayed arrival.

I also did my best to smile as I resisted the urge to remind my mother that the Vulkans were precisely the ones who were funding the spectacular birthday celebration.

“Don’t worry, Anthony will be here soon enough,” Diana replied smoothly while maintaining her smile.

Anthony arrived along with his parents less than ten minutes after my mother launched her complaint. I stood at my sister’s side as I tried to stop myself from staring at Anthony as our parents shared their polite duty of greeting each other.

“Happy birthday to the birthday girls!” Alfred Vulkan said with a wide smile.

His wife quickly added some kind words to us before they handed us our birthday presents wrapped in decorative boxes. Our parents quickly led them into the event venue and Anthony was left alone with my sister and me.

“Happy birthday Diana and Dahlia. This is a present for you from me,” Anthony said with a smile before handing my sister her birthday present.

“Thank you so much for coming and for bringing this. I hope you enjoy this party,” Diana replied flawlessly as she accepted the gift.

“This is for you,” Anthony said to me as he handed me a similar-looking box to the one that he had just handed to my sister.

“Thank you...” I replied as I tried to stop the rapid beating of my heart.

With some effort, I managed to offer him a smile when I accepted the present from his hands. Without much surprise, I found my hands shaking as I clutched at the present. Anthony spared a smile my way before Diana invited him inside. Even though I knew that the present that he had given me was nothing but an obligatory present, it still made my heart flutter. Out of all the presents that I would receive that day, his would be the only one that I was excited and looked forward to opening.

Because Anthony was Diana’s guest and also her fiancé, she spent a lot of time during the party entertaining him and staying by his side. We paraded around like a celebrity trio group throughout the party. Anthony looked like he was having a great time with Diana as his company. I tried my best to enjoy myself while not acting like a stick in the mud; however, it didn’t take long for me to feel exhausted from pretending to smile and enjoy myself all the time.

“I’m going to step outside to take a break”, I whispered to my sister.

“Okay...” she whispered back as she nodded her head a few times.

Being around so many people felt draining especially when it was pretty much my duty to look joyous and happy all the time. Stepping out into the garden felt like I had regained a part of my freedom. It was already dark out but I could not see any stars in the dark sky. Despite that, the soft breeze that blew against my face felt comforting in its own way.

All the guests were inside and that meant that I got to enjoy the peace and quiet of the garden all alone. It felt like the ideal short getaway that I needed. I wasn’t sure how long I walked around randomly in the garden while trying my best to hide away from any guests who may have strayed outside. I was also certain that Diana could handle everything by herself without my help, so it shouldn’t have been an issue for me to stay out for a while longer.

“Dahlia...” I heard someone call my name.

Since I didn’t hear anyone approaching me, I was quite shocked and almost jumped out on my skin as I whirled around. Since it was quite dark despite the lighting in the garden, at first I couldn’t quite tell who was standing in front of me. Although his voice sounded very familiar, I couldn’t be completely sure, and his face was inconveniently obscured by the shadow.

“Dahlia,” he called my name again and this time I was confident that I recognized his voice.

To my utmost surprise, Anthony was standing there in front of me as if he had come out to look for me. I glanced around and didn’t see my sister in sight. We were the only ones in the garden.

“What are you doing out here?” He asked before I could respond to him calling my name.

I truly struggled to find my voice and the words to say to him as I wondered what he was doing here when he was supposed to be with my sister at the party.

“What are you doing here?” I end up repeating the same question that he had just asked me as my mind froze up and ceased to function for a moment.

“I came looking for you. I saw you head out of the party,” he replied.

“Oh, I just needed a breath of fresh air. Do you need something from me? Is this something that I can help you with?” I asked as I tried to remain calm.

I wasn’t at all prepared to meet Anthony alone in the garden and I wondered what Diana was doing right at that moment instead of taking care of her most important guest.

“No, actually I’m just here to give you this,” he said while looking slightly hesitant.

That was when I realized that Anthony was holding something in his hands and when he brought it forward, I realized that it was a pot of flowers.

“Are those Dahlia flowers?” I asked before while failing to hide my surprised reaction.

“You’re right. These are Dahlia flowers,” he replied before showing me a gentle smile that seemed to touch my heart and make my core quiver.

–To be continued...