Chapter 4: Wake Up!
"Why are you still not dressed? Which celebrant is late for her birthday party?" Her best friend Madeline berated her.
Angel hugged Madeline. "Thank goodness you woke me up from a nightmare."
Madeline frowned. "What's wrong with you? What nightmare are you talking about?"
"I can't remember. All I know is someone wanted to harm my Dad." Angel's voice was soft and tentative. She was confused, and what happened earlier seemed blurry and distant.
"You should not have slept when it is afternoon. Since you can't remember, then it is not important. Don't think about it anymore. Besides, it is just a dream. Hurry up and get dressed, or you will be late."
Angel went back inside the room, and Madeline followed behind. She was about to pick up the dark green cocktail dress lying on the bed when the image of a white wedding gown stained with red overlapped with it. She hesitated. 'Wasn't her birthday yesterday?'
"Hey, stop dilly-dallying!" Madeline urged her.
Angel hurried to the bathroom and changed into the cocktail dress. She applied light makeup.
For her hair, she parted it in the middle, twisted the front section to the right, and secured it with three silver diamond-studded bobby pins. She repeated the same process for the other section.
After fifteen minutes, she emerged, looking classy and elegant. Her slightly wavy hair cascaded down her back and below her shoulders to her waist. The silver hairpins stood out against her red hair. The silver necklace with a heart-shaped diamond pendant looked elegant against the dark hue of her gown. Because the silver pins pushed her hair, which was supposed to cover her ears, to the back, the teardrop diamond earrings were slightly visible.
"You are beautiful as your name is. I am proud to be your best friend." Madeline held her in her arms and pulled her out of the room. They took the elevator down to the grand ballroom on the second floor.
"You are damn lucky, Angel. You got a five-star hotel and an island for your 20th birthday. I hope Uncle could adopt me." The girl who was as tall as her said with envy.
Angel rolled her eyes. "Didn't you get your dream car for your birthday?"
"It is not the same. Your's is grander."
"It should be. I finished college in just two years and had Latin Honors."
"Okay. Stop boasting."
The elevator stopped on the 30th floor. Three tall men in dark suits entered. Suddenly, Angel felt suffocated. She could only see the profiles of the men. She felt that she was in a similar scene before.
Madeline, who did not notice the shift in Angel's emotions, continued chatting.
"So, you and Dylan will finally become official? Dylan is a good man. You and him are a match made in heaven. I admired that man's tenacity in pursuing you. He started courting you even when you were just in your first year, right?" Madeline elbowed her teasingly.
"Hmm." Angel just hummed. A pink hue appeared on her cheeks. Indeed, Dylan's relentless wooing had moved her, and tonight, after her birthday, she would give him her answer.
The elevator arrived on the second floor. Angel and Madeline exited the elevator, and the three men followed behind.
Angel frowned. Only the two banquet halls and the swimming pool were on the second floor. Her father had reserved the entire second floor, so all the people going there should be her guests, but she did not know the three men.
Angel did not have time to think further as they arrived at the ballroom entrance, but the door was closed. Angel felt that it was a deja vu. Had she not stood before this door the other night?
"Stay here and wait for the cue. I'll enter from the side door."
Before Angel could say a word to stop Madeline from leaving, she already left and entered the banquet hall from the side.
Angel has a foreboding feeling. She felt that something terrible would happen.
Suddenly, the door opened, and a lively birthday song filled the banquet hall.
Dylan, wearing a white suit and impeccably styled black hair, stepped out to escort her to the elevated platform, where a white couch stood out against a backdrop of red flowers.
He smiled at her, and two charming dimples appeared at the corner of his lips. Angel stared and was mesmerized by his smile and the dimples.
"You looked so lovely tonight, Angel. I would like to believe that I smite you with how you gaze at me." Dylan whispered near her ear. His voice was pleasant and magnetic.
Angel smiled. "Who wouldn't be smitten by your handsomeness?" Her gloomy mood shifted and teased Dylan a little bit. "I have a surprise for you after the party."
"Hmm. What could it be? I am looking forward to it." Dylan gave her another of his dazzling smile. He felt that the angel-like beauty walking by his side would finally become his girlfriend tonight.
Sitting on the couch, Angel was in a daze as she watched her friends and classmates perform songs and dances for her. She felt that she was reliving scenes that happened in the past.
Her father promised that if she could graduate before her 21st birthday, she could inherit a third of his assets and pursue her ambitions without him meddling.
Her father was very protective of her, to the point that she felt suffocated. The promise of freedom motivated her to study hard, and indeed, she graduated in just two years.
The party seemed to pass in a blur. After everyone had dinner and enjoyed their wine and dessert, a three-layer birthday cake with twenty pink candles arranged to form the numeric number 20 was placed on the elevated platform. The emcee invited her parents to join them on the stage.
Both her father and mother lighted the candles. But before she could make a wish and blow the candles, a dozen men in police uniform barged in.
"Mr. Steve Hart, you are being arrested for the murder of Allen Scott 25 years ago. You have the right to remain silent. Any statement you make may be used against you in a court..."
Angel stood frozen behind the cake as she watched her father being cuffed and taken by two policemen. She could not move even if she wanted to crouch down and help her mother, who clutched her chest and slumped on the ground beside her.
Her gaze shifted to the candles that burned brightly and slowly melted the beautifully crafted cake.
"Miss Hart! Miss Hart! Wake up!"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone