Prehalia's Demons(Completed) I #Wattys2019

39 I CHAOS: HOW IT BEGAN

"I would like to express my sincere gratitude towards all of our guests tonight for coming here to celebrate my son's future success as the Samuels' inheritor." There's a round of applause and my mother nods gracefully, waiting for the crowd to keep quiet again, so she could move ahead with the speech that she most definitely had someone write for her. "Jean-Jacques has been in and out of my life far too many times for my liking, but as a mother, there is no better feeling than seeing your son step foot inside of your house accompanied by your other child after so long. I will never forget this moment of happiness and I'll let it guide me through the hard times that may be ahead of us."

I and Leonardo exchange looks from across the room as I sip on my champagne. Everything is going according to plan. Anytime soon, Elisa should call Leo up on the stage to formally introduce him to the other powerful families. The moment my boyfriend has everyone's attention, he'll say something so shocking that it will cause a commotion but that's exactly what we want.

"So please greet with your applause my son, Jean-Jacques Samuels for his first words as our Company's CEO." My mother starts going down the steps of the scene and when she passes by Leonardo, he tries his best to smile at her and go as far as to bend down and kiss her hand. Then, he stands in front of the microphone and clears his throat. This is my cue to move. I abandon the glass of champagne on the table behind me and start maneuvering through the crowd as quickly and as swiftly as possible, trying my best not to evoke any unnecessary attention on me when all of it has to be placed on Leonardo, as he begins to speak.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to present myself for the first time ever. I'm pleased to meet all of you and have you here tonight to celebrate a new era in the Samuels' household."

I keep getting closer and closer to the front of the stage.

"The information that Mrs. Samuels just gave you isn't exactly true."

The murmurs around the room are almost instantaneous at his bold statement. I watch my mother's expression carefully. She's gradually becoming more and more aghast.

"My name is Leonardo Sanchez and I'm not Elisa Samuels' son."

I see my mother pat a waiter on the shoulder and whisper something in his ear, to which he nods enthusiastically. In a minute he's back with a glass full of something that's definitely not champagne.

Oh, no. I curse in my mind, my palms suddenly damp with sweat.

It's rum.

The man continues to stand right at Elisa's side with something on his silver tray, hidden under one of those fancy rounded lids. His face is unreadable, as well as my mother's but the shakiness of her hands as she takes her first sip of the alcohol shows me enough. She's getting angrier and angrier with every minute that passes; the fact that she's practically just another person in the crowd, who can do nearly nothing to stop the words from flowing out of Leo's mouth is taking it's toll and messing with her patience.

"I'm here not to take over the Samuels Empire, but to announce the real successor, the person who deserves this opportunity the most: my fiancée, Keelian Samuels. Applause for her!" He smiles brightly and claps his own hands, while I acutely feel all eyes that lay on me. I can hear the flabbergasted crowd whisper and hiss all around as I make my way to the stairs and the future I never knew I wanted before.

"Isn't this the older sister?"

"What about Jessica?"

"Is he really not her son? How shocking!"

"Not only that, but he's also Keelian's fiancée?"

"This family has some serious problems."

"The Samuels are a bunch of mental cases."

I can't help but flash a smile at the person who whispers the last of those sentences when I pass by. The middle-aged man suddenly has a hard time swallowing when he realizes that my gaze is fixated on him. After a quick search in my memory from earlier today when I not-so-discreetly checked the guest list, I remember that he's the vice-president of one of the companies under our own. He might want to reconsider expressing his opinion so openly if he wants to keep feeding the throats of his pretty baby twins that are currently being held in his and his wife's arms.

I finally make it to the top of the stage and for the first time in very long, I can let myself be the Keelian I used to be before. Confident, even arrogant, but also worth of respect and most importantly: very, very scary.

"Thank you, honey." I grab Leonardo's collar and kiss him sloppily in front of everyone, leaving even him delightfully surprised at my acting skills. "Now let's begin."

"My name is Keelian Samuels as you may know and I'm eighteen years old. I'm aware you might be skeptical of my family's decision to have someone so inexperienced take this place, but I assure you that I'm ready to begin this new journey with the help of my future husband and of course, my loving parents." I glance at my mother just in time to see her whisper something in the waiter's ear again. His already stone face gets more passive if that's even possible. "From today I'd like to present our company's new project that will turn everyone's life around."

This seems to make the crowd quiet down. I scan around and smirk at the realization that the majority is horrified by the sudden announcement.

"From today ,we will be concentrating on-"

"Keelian, move!" I hear Leonardo suddenly shout as he grabs my arm and pushes me at his side.

A gun shoots and suddenly everyone in the room starts to scream and run around. It's an absolute nightmare. The sound is deafening, with the added effect of the echo that resonates in the vast room, as a constant reminder of the obvious danger.

This wasn't our plan. Nothing is going the way it should and I can only stare as the chaos grows both inside of me and right before my eyes.

I tug at Leo's sleeve, panic rising with each second that passes. "We have to move! We're in plain sight, we have to hide. We have to-"

And before I get the chance to finish my sentence, Leonardo Sanchez drops to the ground.