Persian Blues: Citylights, #4

By Arielle Alia

Xerxes, the youngest son of the head of the Persian House of Fashion is brokenhearted.

 

To ease the pain, the Midnight Ball competition is launched so he could meet women worthy of his affection.

 

Every designer in the Persian House of Fashion can join. They will seek out young women worthy of the young man's heart.

They will dress her up with their own unique ballroom dress creations and prepare her for the ball.

 

If the woman presented by the designer is chosen by Xerxes, money, prestige and a promotion awaits the designer.

 

Reece Ruiz, a junior designer in the Persian House of Fashion is determined to win the competition in whatever means necessary including making a deal with a mysterious gardener.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arielle Alia
• Release date: Jan 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393546092

Book preview

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead or actual events is entirely coincidental.

Find out more about the author and her upcoming books online at

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arielle/261797261752

and

http://arielle-ebooks.weebly.com/

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

THIS E-BOOK WOULD NOT be possible without the help and support of a lot of people.

To my family, especially my mother, Mrs. Josefina L. Alia who helped me edit this novel.

To my friend, Magdalena Mangulabnan, who helped me proofread this novel.

To my friend, Ron Ablazo, who read through the first draft of this novel.

And to the girls and guys of Eternal Equinox who continue to give me support as an independent publisher/writer.

To all of these people, I give my utmost thanks and gratitude.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

WELCOME BACK TO THE man-made island city of Noria! This time, the stories will be about the five fashion houses of Noria; the House of Persian, House of Nile, House of Jericho, House of Athens and House of Roman.

Since each fashion house is also the one managing the districts of Noria, the head of each houses are considered to be dukes and duchesses. Each district has its unique culture, beliefs and traditions. Whatever happens in a district also affects the other districts. So the stories of the five fashion houses are interconnected.

Arielle Alia

PROLOGUE

The district of Persian was located on the western part of the island-city of Noria. It was governed by the House of Persian, a clothing corporation. The House of Persian and its district specialized in quality ready-to-wear clothes. It boasted of several dozens in-house designers that continuously churned out beautiful clothes that ranged to everyday wear, travel attire, party clothes and other types of garments. The creations from the House of Persian were often found on display inside department stores and boutiques all over the world.

The House of Persian was currently headed by the Armand Family. The couple, Adam and Gwen Armand managed the district and their business together. Their district was among the top producer of income for the city of Noria, and their RTW clothes were sought out by customers all over the world. Aside from successfully managing the business of the House of Persian, the couple was also good at governing the Persian District. The inhabitants of the Persian District were proud of Duke Adam Armand and very fond of his lovely wife, Lady Gwen.

The couple had a loving marriage that produced three sons. The eldest, Cyrus, was currently in Paris and studying fashion and luxury business in the prestigious school, IFA Paris. Cyrus was slated to take over the Persian House of Fashion as well as the district once his parents retired. Their second son, Darius, had married the daughter of one of Spain’s richest families. The family of his wife, Marla, had become one of the biggest investors for the House of Persian. The youngest, Xerxes, had just graduated from a Business School in England. He came back to Noria to help out in the family business and fell in love with the lovely Aleena Marquez. But after three months, Aleena broke up with Xerxes and left him brokenhearted and inconsolable.

It’s already been two months since Xerxes broke up with that girl, but he remains depressed and uneasy, Adam Armand commented. His staff had reported that he rarely showed up in his office. He has begun neglecting his duties. Adam looked across the breakfast table to his wife. They were having breakfast that day, and the seat usually occupied by Xerxes had remained empty. The maid that went to his room had come back and informed them that Xerxes wasn’t hungry and wanted to be left alone again.

Even our household staff is noticing what is happening to him. He would either sulk inside his room for hours or wander around in our garden. Gwen sighed as she stared at the vase of beautiful white dahlias serving as the centerpiece for the table this morning. And as always a different kind of flower was among the flowers. This time it was a white peony. Gwen first thought that their gardener had a strange sense of humor. But she soon discovered that the flowers he often inserted among the other flowers he would send to the mansion were flowers often sent to mothers by their children. Flowers like peony, hydrangea, gardenia and sunflowers meant that the mother was always loved by her children. The appearance of such flowers often produced a smile in Gwen’s face. But the white peony among the dahlias today wasn’t enough to cheer her up. She worried