Under the Veil I Rule

His eyes never lingered on her face for too long, always darting away quicker than you'd expect in a normal conversation. It felt almost deliberately awkward.noveldrama

"That's good to hear," said Finnian.

"If he bothers you again, just give me a call. I'm heading out now."

With that said, he turned on his heel and left.

Amara watched him go, a bit puzzled by how strange Finnian had become lately. When Finnian had arrived, she'd been on the phone with Dorian, but the moment he showed up, she hung up.

Back at the office, Dorian immediately messaged him, "Did you manage to talk to Amara?" He added a teasing emoji at the end.

Finnian, not in the mood for banter, replied with a simple "Just exchanged a few words," then shut off his phone.

Dorian was lounging in his living room, reading Finnian's reply. He sighed and remarked to his companion, Elysia Moon, "Back when Amara used to keep her face covered, Finn was all over her. Now that she's revealed her face, he's too shy to even chat her up."

Finnian used to be a pretty assertive guy. In the past, he wouldn't have settled for "just exchanging a few words" with Amara; he'd have stuck around, talking her ear off. But now, faced with her beauty, he seemed too bashful to engage. How adorably innocent.

Elysia rolled her eyes. "He better not say more. Ama doesn't seem too interested in his chatter anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean? You think my buddy isn't good enough for your friend?" Dorian retorted, eyebrows raised in mock indignation. "What's wrong with my buddy?"

Elysia merely chuckled, "He's not good enough in any way."

Dorian paused, surprised by her bluntness, and chased after her, determined to argue his point. Elysia, uninterested in a debate, simply shrugged him off and walked away.

Meanwhile, Finnian was still trying to wrap his head around it all. How on earth did Amara end up looking like that?

Just then, his phone buzzed with a message from Liliana Porter: "Did you come by the set today?"

"Yep, already left," he replied.

Liliana didn't press further, likely guessing he'd run into Amara. Finnian didn't

dwell on what Liliana might be thinking; his mind was still occupied with the image of Amara.

"Oh, by the way, are you coming to Grandpa's party on Saturday?" he suddenly remembered to ask.

He'd previously invited Liliana, who had said she'd see how things went, but never confirmed. So he asked once more.

"I'll be there," she replied promptly this time, and Finnian sent back an "OK" emoji.

Saturday rolled around quickly, and the party was held in the grand hall of Vera Lodge's first floor. It wasn't just the Everly family in attendance, a few notable families from the area were there too, but only those on par with the Everlys. The slightly less prestigious families hadn't made the cut.

Amara had gotten a call from Lisa earlier, and had been getting ready since around two in the afternoon She chose a blue-purple dress, a bit fancienthan her usual attire but not over the top Her hair was styled loose waves, casually draped over her shoulders. She applied a flawless makeup look, and when she stood before the mirror, even she was taken aback by her own beauty.

She rarely went for full makeup, often just focusing on her eyes, so this was a treat Her already lovely features were enhanced, and as she admired her reflection, she couldn't help but smile.

With everything packed, she got in her car and headed to Vera Lodge. As she walked into the hall, she felt a mix of excitement and anticipation.