"Darren?" said Celine in a small voice.
Darren immediately approached Celine grabbing her hands lovingly.
"Are you all right?" Darren asked, worry evident from his deep tone.
"A-"
Just as Celine was about to speak, the identity of Darren, and who he actually was immediately filled her thoughts, pouring a cold bucket of water over her head and she felt like slapping herself hard to wake up.
Celine pushed Darren away violently. "Do not bother me!" she said straight away.
"Celine ... wait! What's wrong with you?" shouted Darren feeling a bad premonition.
"Huh! What a bad romance!" clicked the stranger.
"Who are you? Why are you with my girlfriend here?" Darren asked almost shouting.
"You should be grateful that I'm here to accompany your girlfriend! From the moment you entered the banquet hall, and introduced yourself, your girlfriend was crying her eyes out!" explained the stranger.
Darren regretted that very much, Celine shouldn't have known about him this way.
"And you ask who I am, maybe I will become your love rival!" continued the man languidly.
Darren's expression immediately turned terrifying at that snarky comment as he saw red.
"Don't even try to approach her, if you don't want your life to be ruined in vain!" Darren threatened.
"Oh yeah, then do you think a woman would want to have a relationship with someone whose family doesn't like her, moreover they were opposing your so called relationship because of a different social status!" the man emphasized, "a woman will only look for a man, whose family was willing to accept her as she is, and not getting rejected because of money, property and position!" explained the man and left at once.
What that person said kept ringing in Darren's ears. Presumably true to him, so that he could be bothered by those words.
"Ahhh!!!" He kicked roughly while hitting the wall.
"How am I going to talk with Celine later?" cursed Darren.
He kept looking for Celine, and it turned out that the woman was chatting with the man from earlier. There was a smile etched on the corner of Celine's lips, even if only a little.
Darren decided to walk over to them, but on his first step a hand touched his shoulder stopping him in his tracks.
"Honey, where have you been? I've been looking for you since earlier," said Linda, Darren's mother.
"I'm looking for a friend Mama, I want to go and look for her first," said Darren who wanted to leave immediately.
"Uh, wait a minute, Mama wants to introduce you to someone you certainly like. Come on, come with Mama," said Linda.
"But Mama, I have to meet my friend."
"Meet your friend later, now meet the person I want you to first," said Linda stubbornly, she grabbed Darren's hand and dragged him along with her.
Darren is an obedient man, and very kind. He would never refuse listening to anything his mother said.
"Dear, guess who's this beautiful lady ... This is Saavana, your friend from childhood. You still remember, right?" said Linda.
"Uh, I remember, Mama. Hello Saavana ...," Darren greeted Saavana, but a second later his eyes drifted over to the place where he saw Celine earlier.
"Hello Darren," said Saavana, greeting him back.
"Well, Mama will leave you two here. Come on have a chat, you two." Saying her piece Linda left calmly.
But as soon as she took her first step, she was stopped when she heard Darren saying,
"Saavana, please enjoy the party. I have to go and greet other guests," said Darren.
"Ehh ... you can't go, accompany Saavana here," said Linda as she immediately turned back when she heard her son was leaving.
"Ehh ... you can't go, accompany Saavana here," said Linda. "Poor Saavana is left alone, honey, there is no one she knows here. You know, she has been living abroad for a long time."
"But Mama, Darren has many guests to greet. If you object to leave Saavana herself alone here, you can just accompany her," Darren replied.
"Darren ... No! Anyway you have to accompany Saavana, don't leave her behind." Linda continued to insist on her wish.
"Auntie, it's okay. Brother Darren must be busy, he also has to greet other guests because he will inherit the family company," said Saavana softly.
"Look, Mama, Saavana is fine," replied Darren. "Thank you, Saavana, for understanding." Darren smiled sweetly at Saavana.
Linda was about to stop him again when suddenly a man along with a woman in his hand came and greeted her.
"Hello Aunt Linda, hello everyone," said the man.
"Dave! Jeez .... how are you?" Linda replied and immediately hugged him.
"Very well, Aunt." Dave returned the hug.
"And-" Linda stopped her words as soon as she saw a woman standing beside Dave. Not only Linda, Darren had been staring irritably and wondering in his mind.
That woman was none other than Celine, Darren's own girlfriend.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Her name is Celine, she's my friend," Dave replied. "Celine, this is Aunt Linda, the host of this banquet."
Remaining polite, Celine smiled sweetly. "Ha-hello Auntie," she greeted softly.
Instead of responding to Celine's greeting, Linda sneered. "Isn't this woman the one you brought home with you, Darren? Look, she couldn't hold you back then, so she's looking for other prey now. Dave, you better watch out for this kind of woman."
Celine looked at Darren, waiting for at least a small word in her defense against his mother's humiliation, but it seemed that he had no plan to defend her.
"Aunt-"
Just when Celine said one word, Dave was already holding her hand and pulling her arm down slowly.
"Sorry Auntie, it looks like auntie needs to be careful in speaking. Whoever my friend is in the past and with whom she is hanging out, it is inappropriate that Auntie minds too much about it. I brought her, she is my friend and Auntie should appreciate her the same as Auntie appreciates me, if you can't, it means Auntie doesn't respect me at all. "
"Wooohhh, even you are helping her talk back and oppose me?" Linda replied. "What has this woman done to you?" she continued again shaking her head in disappointment.
"And again! Even after what I said earlier, Auntie is still being inappropriate. It means that Auntie doesn't respect me!" Dave replied.
"Let's go from here." Dave immediately grabbed Celine's hand.