All Chapters of August Rain: A Mafia Trinity Novel: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

"Mother, what is the meaning of this?" Elizabeth stares at the beautiful deep lilac evening gown her mother just presented to her. "It's for you, dear. You're going to a ball tonight!" her mother responds with a devious glint in her eye. When Agnes White made up her mind about something, there would be no persuading her otherwise. "Why wasn't I informed about this before? This is quite sudden!" Elizabeth exclaims, jumping up from her bed. Agnes looks at her with contempt, "Calm down, you ungrateful thing. This ball will have the country's most eligible bachelor present, and rumor is he'll be choosing a wife!" Elizabeth looks at her mother in surprise, "An arranged marriage? is that not a bit medieval, mother?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing! Of all the devious things her mother has put her through in the past, this is by far the lowest!"Not at all. This will benefit our family well," Agnes responds, "The Whites and Dereons are two of the country's mos

The picture of elegance and finesse in her deep lilac Alexander McQueen evening gown hugging her curvaceous figure, Black Goya Ruban Alta Louboutin platforms, and minimal jewelry, Elizabeth steps out of the black Maybach with her mother's words ringing in her head. Looking up at the beautiful mansion, she sighs and heads inside. These events always fascinated her, the glamour, the glitz, and elegance. Not that she was self-centered or spoilt, Elizabeth was a designer with her own Haute couture fashion house and these events always inspired her. Looking around like a little kid at Christmas time, she thinks to herself, "Maybe tonight won't be so bad..." then immediately her mind goes to 'landing August Dereon' and she groans inwardly. Taking a glass of champagne from a waiter, she decides to force herself to have a good time. Walking towards the Hors d'Oeuvres table, she picks up a tiny fairy cupcake and proceeds to nibble on it.Walking around the ro

She hears a voice behind her and turns around. Standing there was a dashing gent. With his tall and seemingly muscular body showing through his tailored suit, she smiles and responds "How could you tell?"Stepping closer and standing next to Elizabeth, he says " Most of the women in there love the limelight, while you're standing out here. Is there any other reason?""I was hoping to make a quiet exit, I didn't realize I was being watched," she replies and laughs. Looking this man up and down, she couldn't help thinking that he was quite handsome in his Armani tailored suit. "How could you not stand out? You are by far the most beautiful here tonight," he replies. "Trying to charm me, sir?" she says and looks at him in amusement. Laughing, he responds "I was, actually. But it doesn't look like you're easily charmed." Smiling, Elizabeth says, "Unfortunately I didn't come here to be charmed.." sighing again, she looks down then back up at him, "

Walking back inside, she realizes that everyone has gathered in the hall. "Oh, looks like it's showtime." she thinks and goes over to grab a glass of champagne from a waiter."Ladies and gentlemen. My family and I wish to welcome you all to Dereon Hall." An older very well dressed gent says to the crowd. "Now, I've heard some rumors going around that this ball was thrown in order to find my son, August, a bride like some sort of Cinderella story." he continues and chuckles. "On the contrary, tonight is my son's engagement party!" he says, beaming. At this, the crowd bursts out in chatter and whispers."He's engaged?!""Oh no, there goes my chance!""Are you kidding me?!"Elizabeth looks over the crowd as they all look horrified at their missed opportunity. Her eyes land on Evelyn who looks like a child whose candy just got taken."There goes that idea, Ev." she thinks and giggles. Elizabeth looks at the di

Elizabeth stares in disbelief.August Dereon heads to the stage with his fiancee, kisses her hand, and smiles. Elizabeth notices how beautiful Emily Gray looks. Black gown hugging her slim, athletic build, Louboutins on her feet and minimal make-up like Elizabeth, she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. Of course, August Dereon would be engaged to a stunner.He then turns around and looks at the crowd. Just as she thought, it was the stranger from the balcony. As he scans the crowd, his eyes fall on Elizabeth. They make eye contact for a split second, and he looks away again and frowns slightly. The women in the crowd are definitely swooning, Elizabeth notes. "Typical." she thinks drily."I'm pleased to see such a wonderful turnout of our city's most powerful families. On September 22nd The Dereon and Grays will become one. My lovely fiancee and I will only have our families present at this intimate affair, with a reception after

"So.. You're August Dereon," she says and looks at him. He sighs. "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you who I was. That look and the formality in your voice, I hear it every day," he replies and continues, "It was refreshing to have a normal conversation with another person."Seeing her Maybach pulling up, Elizabeth looks at him and replies sarcastically, " Well I'm glad I could provide you with much-needed normality and you didn't owe me an explanation, I'm just a random annoying socialite at the ball," she looks at him sadly and continues "If you'll excuse me, I need to go home. Good night, Mr. Dereon." She finishes and turns to get into the car."Dragonfly..." August trails off after her.Elizabeth whips her head around and says, "It's Elizabeth," and slams the door.  August POVAs he watches her Maybach drive away, August doesn't know why he feels guilty. He's known this woman all of 5 minutes and sh

Arriving at White Manor, Elizabeth slips off her platforms and walks barefoot from the car. Knowing her mother would be highly pissed off with her when she gets home, she decides to sneak in quietly. From the outside, her life seemed glamourous. The Whites being the second wealthiest family in town, second only to the Dereon Family.Agnes White ran this family like her father ran his company, no love lost to any mistake made. Elizabeth dreaded running into her mother right now. But alas, Anges was waiting for her as she opened the door."Mother-"SMACK!The sound of the slap resounded through the Manor. Elizabeth grabs her cheek and looks at her mother with disdain, "What was that for, Mother?!" she screamed."For failing," Agnes responds curtly. Elizabeth could not believe what she was hearing. "Failing?! August Dereon is already engaged to be married in 6 months' time. Your inside source had it all wrong

With her bags and belongings all packed, Elizabeth heads downstairs. Having thought this through, she takes her keys to the manor out of her bag and places it on the kitchen counter. She promised herself not to shed another tear for this family. Ever since Blair died, her mother had been nothing but cruel to her. Blair was always her mother's favorite and a musical genius. She had always shielded Elizabeth from her mother, but now that she was gone, Elizabeth got the brunt of her anger all the time. On the way from her musical recital one evening, a drunk driver ran a red light and slammed into Blair's car. Elizabeth was with her and barely survived. Instead of being happy that her daughter survived, Agnes had treated her with nothing but contempt. She knew her mother wished she had died instead.Pulling out of the Manor driveway, Elizabeth gives it one last look and drives away.She had already booked a suite in a hotel nearby as a temporary

"August!" Elizabeth exclaims and looks at the handsome man who just caught her. "Little Dragonfly, are you following me?" he says and gives her a devilish smile. Blushing profusely, she realizes she still had Liza on the line. Putting the phone to her ear, she says "Hi Liza?""I'm still here and want all the details when you get back. I'll get a mixture of cakes. See you at the office, Lizzy2." Liza responds and Elizabeth smiles, "You're a star, babe!" and ends the call. To everyone in the office, Liza was Lizzy1 and she was Lizzy2. An inside joke to the staff members.After ending her call, she looks up at August and says, "No, I wasn't following you, Mr. Dereon. I'm staying at this hotel for the time being." Why am I telling him this? she thinks.August grins, "I guess I'm following you then," he responds and chuckles."Uh..." Elizabeth was dumbfounded. August looks at her expression and couldn't help but laugh. "Relax, little Drag

Walking into Libellule House, Elizabeth was still dumbstruck at what had just transpired. Emily literally begging her to take on her wedding dress project."I have been such a big fan since day 1, and it would make me so happy if you would design my wedding dress!"Elizabeth couldn't say no to her, she'd looked so sincere. So she gave in. "Alright team, are we ready to go into battle?!" she exclaims, walking into the meeting room. Her team yells back, excited, and sensing her renewed energy."Despite the setback of our projects being pulled out from under our noses, I have some exciting news!" Elizabeth beams at them and looks at their anxious faces."Come onn, boss we can't stand the suspense!""Yeah please tell us!"Elizabeth chuckles and looks around the room. "This morning something rather spectacular happened on the way here," she continues, "We got the contract to design Emily Gray's wedding dress!"The whole room t