It’s Your Turn To Cry and Beg, Dear Uncle

"M-Miss…"

Roman was surprised to see the scene before him, but he was more worried about Kyra. He looked at the fallen cake.

James had always enjoyed Kyra's homemade birthday cake every year after that first time she had baked it for him. Ever since then, he never ordered from another even when he threw a big party for his birthday.

He would proudly present her small cake to all the guests and boast about the taste as well as how beautiful it looked. Obviously, not all the guests were able to taste it so James would call it a limited edition cake. Kyra still remembered how embarrassed she had been hearing the constant praise.

But now, she could only feel the sting from the guest's eyes.

Yet, impressively, the smile on her face remained. If it wasn't for the fallen cake, no one would realise how devastated she was feeling.

The woman beside James looked at Kyra curiously. "Who is this?"

Kyra looked back at her smilingly.

"Oh!" The woman clapped her hands in an eureka moment. "You must be James' niece! Hello, nice to meet you."

Lila spoke nicely as she went around the table of her three tier cake which was decorated professionally.

"And you are?" Kyra asked, still smiling. Maybe she heard it wrong, but Kyra seemed to hear Lila stressing the word niece.

"She's my girlfriend. Her name is Lila." James' deep voice and how he addressed the woman as his girlfriend struck a jarring note in her heart. "Lila, this is my niece, Kyra."

Even more painful when Kyra wasn't even asking him, yet James represented Lila. He slipped his hand down Lila's arm and held the woman the way he never held hers by intertwining their fingers intimately. Kyra watched everything before training her gaze back to James' sterling grey eyes.

"I hope you two get along well."

In that moment, Kyra seemed to notice something that never existed before in the way James looked at her and the only way she could defend herself against it was to widen her smile.

"Nice to meet you," Kyra said, her voice slightly trembling even when she tried to hide it. The words were even harder to come out of her as she felt a lump stuck inside her throat.

On the other hand, Lila seemed happy to meet Kyra. However, she appeared worried and a bit sad as she glanced at the broken cake on the ground.

"Umm…you must be surprised by the cake. I heard about you baking one for James every year but I really wanted to do something special for my boyfriend as well. I'm…really sorry."

Before Kyra could say anything, James spoke first again, "It's alright. I'm also happy with your cake as well. How do you know La Maison is my favourite?"

His voice was too gentle, just like how he usually comforted her, and now it was no longer her privilege. What was even more ironic was Kyra never knew that James liked to eat desserts, much less this so-called favourite patisserie.

As far as she remembered, James' face would crinkle every time he ate sweets. But, he would always eat with her because she liked it, and now it was no longer her privilege.

"Oh, bingo! I just chose La Maison because it's also my favourite. We have the same taste, Baby!" Lila's voice went one note higher out of excitement.

James chuckled and rubbed Lila's head lovingly. "Anyway, don't worry about this. Kyra won't mind about something silly like a cake, right?"

'Something silly?' Kyra thought absentmindedly, 'So, to you, all this time, it's just something silly.'

How foolish of her to think that being the one who made him cake every year meant she was special.

How silly of her to let his praise feed her confidence and self-esteem all this time.

But, most importantly, what a silly little girl she was to even still feel hurt by the way he turned and looked at her as if he was ordering her to agree. It was almost like she never knew the man in front of her.

Kyra had no choice but to succumb to this pressure. She didn't see the benefit from questioning any further or made a scene out of this when everything was her own problem.

"Yes, don't worry," Kyra murmured, as if she was reading from a script, "My hand just slipped. I'm quite…careless."

Kyra turned to Mr. Roman and how she wished that he hadn't looked at her with such pity in his eyes. "Mr. Roman, could you help me clean this mess?"

Mr. Roman worriedly looked at his young mistress and nodded assuringly. "Of course, Young Miss."

"Thank you."

She didn't have it in her to speak again and ended up just mouthing the words.

"Ah!" Lila exclaimed suddenly, "The photographer is here. Come, Kyra, let's take a photo together!"

Lila took Kyra's hand and pulled her towards the cake. With each step, the cake seemed to grow bigger and bigger to the point that it filled her whole vision. It was so beautiful and tall in comparison to her. The cake with purple decoration seemed to blend nicely with the Wisteria theme, seemingly telling her where her place was.

That she was merely a third party in the group photo where James held Lila by her waist, smiling out of happiness, while Kyra smiled to hide her broken heart.

After that, Lila and James took another photo with just the two of them before they invited the guests to join. Then, the next events were followed with drinking, eating, and talking.

Yes, they all praised Lila's cake and not a word of Kyra.

"You don't know how excited I was to meet you, Kyra!"

Kyra was jolted out of her daydream. Only then, did she realise that she was currently sitting on the same table as James, Lila, and James' friends. When she looked at the steak in front of her, she realised that they had entered the main course. She was completely out of it.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Kyra asked.

"I said I was excited to meet you! James often mentions you." Lila chuckled.

Kyra appeared confused, not knowing what to say. Her mind had gone blank all of the sudden. "Really?"

"Yes, you're as beautiful as everyone says!"

One of James' friends, Orlando, who delved in the oil business nodded in agreement. "She used to be short, but she grew up quickly."

"Pfft…" Harvey laughed. "Well, she can't always be ten and let you annoy her forever!"

Orlando smacked Harvey's back. "Who's annoying her?! I was playing with her!"

Lila chuckled. "How old are you now?"

Kyra glanced at Lila and answered curtly, "Twenty two."

"You must be in a job hunting period then. Maybe you can work with me."

Kyra shook her head politely even though she wished Lila would just stop talking to her. "No, thank you…"

"She's already an author."

Suddenly, someone interrupted her. Kyra turned to Oliver, the guy in a simple attire, navy shirt with the top button opened and a classic black pants. His raven hair dishevelled which made him appear laid back and effortlessly alluring.

Oliver took a sip of his wine and Kyra caught the seemingly modest watch around his wrist. For an unknown reason, Kyra suddenly recalled how the man had told her that the watch belonged to his late father and although it looked unassuming, it was in fact a limited edition Patek Philippe.

"Really?"

"Yeah, she's a good one too." Oliver smiled while praising her. He sounded genuine.

"Do you even read her work?" Anthony, who sat beside Oliver, asked.

"Yes."

His response surprised Kyra that she perked up. For the first time tonight, she was conscious of someone's words. After the mess at the beginning of the party, Kyra didn't know how she passed the time until the main course of dinner.

"What is it about?"

Lila turned to the man beside her. James had been silent this whole time yet now he seemed interested in the conversation. But, rather than interested, one could say that James was irritated instead.

His expression was cold and his voice sounded intimidating. But, Oliver smiled at him and responded.

"A one-sided love."