Under the Veil of Night

In the end, Kanae tied her hair partially to the back. She didn't want to make difficult hairstyle since it would be hard to take care of it once she went back home. Besides, this was only a business party. There was no need for her to dress so extravagantly.

The dress Laura picked for her was a red long sleeves dress. It was quite big at the lower part, making her able to walk easier.

"You're the representative of our company, Sis. Don't look so bad," Laura laughed.

Kanae scrutinize Laura's appearance too. The latter was using light pink makeup, which suited her perfectly. She was wearing light yellow dress with v neck and short sleeve.

"Admit it, Sis, I'm much prettier than you," Laura said smugly.

"Oh? Who is the one praising me over and over again before?" Kanae replied with a smile on her face, "How shameless of you to change your opinion so suddenly like that."

"I have the best tutor who teaches me that."

"Let me see that tutor, I'll give him a good bashing after that."

"Sis, how are you going to bash yourself?"

"What? I never teach you how to change your opinion so suddenly. Come over here you, brat!"

After enough bantering with each other, the two of them went to the party. The party was held in a city hall, which was located at the center of the city. This was one of the largest venues that happened recently, making the people lined up to get in. Every people who got the invitation didn't want to lose this chance.

Laura glanced towards the long line with darkened expression. Who would have thought that they still needed to wait this long after coming here earlier? If she knew that, she would have come here even earlier again.

"Be a little patience, Laura. For a business party, the four big families are the one who holds them. Usually, this is because there's going to be something big happen," Kanae said in leisure tone.

Even though she was acting calm, Kanae still remembered the time when she was inside this kind of party more than a year ago. At that time, she only followed behind Kevin in the party because he wanted to get a deal. After that, there was an incident in the party because of Sakura.

Her lips curled up into a slight smile. She missed that experience very much as it was also the first time she got the chance to stay with him for the longest. Having the time to celebrate both her birthday and his, it was a pleasant memory that she treasured so much.

Talking about Kevin, would he come to this party? She wanted to meet with him as Kanae again and not as Rei. It would be really fun if she could stay with him for a bit longer again.

"Sis, why are you daydreaming?" Laura asked curiously.

"I'm just thinking about the previous business party that the four big families hold," Kanae answered immediately.

"This party is slightly different. What the four big families want is for us to expand our contact information with new people. This will allow each company to grow bigger and bigger as time passes by," Laura said solemnly. With the recent move that Vena did to them, this was the best chance for her to build more connections. There was no way she wanted to rely on the moving truck for the rest of her time.

Kanae nodded her head. Her eyes were looking towards the long line in front of her. They were walking very slowly to reach the place and more people already lined up behind them.

After an unknown amount of time, they finally reached the door. Giving the invitation to the guard, they were allowed to get inside. A lot of people were filling the hall when they came in, making it rather hard for them to see each other.

"This hall is not enough to fit all of us," Laura said speechlessly.

"This is the biggest hall in this city. Let's just move to the verandah. There should be less people there."

"But I need to meet with some people to talk about the company."

"Are you going to move in this crowded place?" Kanae pointed to the sea of people in front of them. They were only two girls, so it would be impossible to break through the sea of people easily. Of course, that was without considering Kanae's strength as she didn't want to use them in this place.

Laura thought about what would happen if they try to force themselves inside as frown appeared on her forehead. It would be close to impossible for them to break through safely.

"Let's just head to the verandah."

Using the side area, which has lesser people, they made their way to the verandah. Although it was also slightly crowded, there were lesser people in that place compared with inside.

"I can finally breathe freely," Laura sighed.

Kanae smiled. "We're going inside again later. But I don't think it's a good idea to come in now."

"Searching for one person in the midst of thousands people is also crazy," Laura laughed heartily. It would be a miracle if she could meet with someone she knew in the midst of this sea of people.

Kanae was about to laugh when she saw the person behind them. Her eyes narrowed slightly, but her expression barely changed. It has been a long time since the last time she saw this little princess. To be exact, it has been six months since the last time they stumbled with each other personally.

"You also come here, Laura," the woman behind them, Sakura Nali, greeted with a cold tone.

Laura's body tensed up immediately. She quickly turned around to see Sakura standing behind her. Her eyes narrowed as she recalled the numerous annoying memories she had with this woman.

"And who is this?" Sakura looked towards Kanae with creased brows. She couldn't recognize Kanae with her makeover.

Kanae nodded her head calmly. "It has been some time, Sakura. How are you?"

As her voice didn't change, Sakura could recognize her voice. Immediately, her eyes turned large as if she was full of disbelief. "Kanae?"

"Yes?"

"You… impossible."

Seeing Kanae's current appearance made her recall their youth. Even though Kanae rarely dressed up, she has quite an astounding appearance. It always made her jealous because they often got compared with their advantage and disadvantages listed out.

After her father pursued the matter of Kanae to the point that the two of them nearly lost everything, Kanae never had the time to dress up anymore. She always felt glee when she saw the haggard look on the girl because of her lack of sleep. The astounding appearance this girl used to have seemed to disappear because of that.

This appearance soured her mood even more, but Sakura tried to push the matter into the back of her mind. She should never act like a foolish and idiot princess anymore.

"Is there anything wrong, Sakura?" Kanae asked in nonchalant tone as if she didn't realize that her appearance has large effect on Sakura. She always knew that Sakura prized her appearance, so her current makeover would make Sakura felt threatened.

"Don't try to act close with me. You're not even part of the Nali Family anymore, you no longer have the qualification to talk with me," Sakura replied with a rather cold tone after she had regained her composure.

When she found out about Kanae got out of the Nali Family, she got mixed feeling. She hated Kanae so much to the point that every sight of Kanae made her felt angry or annoyed. At the same time, Kanae was the one who has been helping her when she has problems. However, her heart was set. A single action couldn't change the past entirely.

Since she could never stand the sight of Kanae, she no longer bothered with them anymore. The sole reason she pushed them towards Vena was no other than the fact that they never have a good relationship even though the Nali and Aida Families have close relation.

"No qualification?" Kanae was rather surprised with the words that Sakura chose. She felt that it was rather laughable and funny. She knew that Sakura always placed herself as high as pedestal, but it was simply too ridiculous to think that it was that height.

Still, she didn't mind not talking with Sakura at all. To be honest, she didn't want to have any interaction with them too in the very first place.

Contrary to the calm Kanae, Laura was trying her best to not pounce to this woman and gave a good slap. She was still part of the Nali Family, so she had to behave in front of Sakura. How she wished she could follow after Kanae's footsteps as soon as possible!

"Yes," Sakura replied calmly. Her eyes were showing trace of mock.. "You're just an owner of a small company that's about to close down. Why should I talk with someone as low as you?"