Free Web NovelChapter 115: Chapter 115 Individual Entry
Christina’s POV
Back at my desk, I opened The Aureate Awards website to look at what I needed to enter by myself.
Akira got interested. "Look at all these design categories!" she said excitedly in my mind.
"I know, right? So many options," I whispered back as I looked through the entry form.
Suddenly, I felt someone behind me. I smelled expensive perfume mixed with bitter black coffee before I could turn around.
Violet Lin appeared over my shoulder, staring at my screen like a hawk.
"Oh, looking at the competition website?" Her voice was full of smugness as she put her coffee cup on my desk with a loud clink. "I guess you heard what happened?"
I didn’t look up at her. "The way you talk so loud, even the janitor downstairs heard about it."
"The spot is mine," she said, smoothing her expensive dress.
"I’m not deaf."
"But you are stubborn." She pointed at my computer screen. "Still trying to get in? Don’t waste your time unless you have thirty million dollars just sitting around."
She put her perfectly done nails over her mouth. "Oops, I forgot. You don’t have that."
Akira growled inside me. "I want to bite that hand of hers."
"Planning to buy your way to the finals too?" I asked, finally looking up. "Even all the money in the world wouldn’t help. You’d have to get rid of every other person in the competition."
"Still being sarcastic, I see. But talking is all you can do now.Don’t worry about me. If things go badly, I’ll just pay a good designer to do the work. Easy."
I stared at her, really shocked. "Does Savannah know that’s what you’re planning? One scandal wasn’t enough? Are you trying to collect them?"
"She doesn’t need to know," Violet said with a shrug. "If I win, it’s good for Nyx. If she’s smart about what’s good for the company, she’ll stay quiet."
I looked at Violet in a new way. Her boldness surprised me. The office was full of people who could hear everything, but she wasn’t even trying to be quiet. Clearly, all the online hate from her last scandal had made her tougher instead of more careful. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
"I think you should look for another job," she added with a winning smile. "You’ll never beat me at Nyx. You have some talent, sure, but doing well in this business needs money and connections. And you?" She shook her head like she felt sorry for me. "You have nothing."
"And you have coffee breath."
"What?" She breathed into her hand without thinking, then realized I tricked her. "That’s mean."
"Whatever works." I shrugged.
She looked angry. "You’re so childish."
"Hey, Violet?"
"What?" She turned back to me.
"Would you at least say that without your money, I would have gotten the spot easily?"
She thought I was just looking for compliments, so she agreed like a gracious winner. "Sure, but it doesn’t matter."
"So that means you paid thirty million dollars just to get what I would have gotten for free." I tapped my finger on my chin like I was thinking. "It’s good to know what I’m worth. Thanks for telling me my price."
Violet’s face went blank. Her mouth opened and closed but no words came out. She couldn’t think of anything smart to say back.
Everyone else in the office suddenly got very busy. They pretended to work while listening in. Some hid their laughs behind folders. Others were probably texting about this in group chats.
Violet just stood there like a broken machine.
I gave her coffee cup back to her. "By the way, the final round has live sketching. Your hired designer won’t be able to help you then."
She held the cup so tight that coffee spilled over the edge. "You think you’re so smart. You think you’re so..." Her eyes got wide suddenly. "Married?!"
She grabbed my left hand and stared at the ring. "Is that a wedding ring?"
I pulled my hand away fast. "Yes it is. And it’s none of your business."
"You got married?" she said like she couldn’t believe it. Her eyes got narrow and suspicious. "Wait, isn’t today Rhys Granger’s wedding day? How could you... Oh, I get it now."
"Get what?"
"He’s marrying someone else. You must be really sad, so you put on a fake ring to make yourself feel better, right?"
Every person within hearing distance turned to look at my desk like satellites. The girl sitting in front of me leaned her head back so far I could see her face upside down.
Akira got angry inside me. "Tell her to mind her own business before I make her do it."
"No, I’m not sad. And yes, I really am married. Is that a problem for you?" I looked Violet up and down. "You noticed it right away. Have you been watching me closely? Do you have a crush on me or something?"
Several people in the office made quiet laughing sounds.
"Don’t be stupid," she said angrily. "And that’s ridiculous. You can’t really be married. Nobody heard anything about it. What about a wedding? Did the newspapers write about it? Or did you just run off and do it secretly?"
The last idea seemed to make her happy. Her smug smile came back.
I almost sighed out loud. Hudson had been wrong. The ring wasn’t keeping me out of trouble. It was making more trouble.
"Why can’t I be married? Just because every man you meet runs away doesn’t mean I have the same problem."
"Fine. Who did you marry then?"
"That’s absolutely none of your business."
Violet looked at me with squinted eyes. "Oh, I understand now. You’re hiding something. I bet your husband is nobody important, some poor guy. That’s why you didn’t have a real wedding. You couldn’t pay for it. Did you just find some random old man on the street?"
She made a mean face at my ring. "That doesn’t look expensive. Where did you get it, from a toy machine?"
The office got completely quiet. I didn’t notice until I realized how loud Violet’s laugh sounded. Every other noise like typing, chairs moving, and mouse clicking had stopped. Even the copy machine seemed to have paused.
Violet didn’t notice the change at all.
"What? Can’t talk now? Can’t think of a good lie?"
I looked up when I heard footsteps coming closer. Multiple people walking from behind Violet, getting nearer.
Violet kept talking. She had no idea who was standing behind her.
"Let me guess, you married some broke artist or maybe a waiter at some cheap restaurant."
