Chapter 13
“Are you gonna be a judge later?” Mariana asked.
Kamron shook his head with a smile. “No. But Uncle Edwin is here today. He’ll give you the pass. Isn’t that better?”
Mariana stepped back a bit. She didn’t like Kamron’s way of talking.
Kamron didn’t stay long. “I gotta go.”
He was the second son of the Montoya family. When it came to picking the best candidate, his word mattered. Mariana’s blatant interaction with him made other girls jealous.
As soon as he left, the mean comments started again.
“A cripple trying to go to the gala? She must’ve flipped after her fiance cheated on her!”
“I heard Mariana would do anything to promote Sandra. Now she’s doing it for herself. Who knows, maybe she has got something with Kamron.”
“Yeah, right! Like Kamron would ever go for her!”
Mariana couldn’t take it anymore. She turned around, and the coffee in her hand splashed all over the girl who had been talking.
“Ah!
“What are you doing?! I need this outfit for my performance later!”
The girl tried to fight back, but Sandra, pretending to be concerned, stepped in to hold Mariana back. “It’s your rude comments that started all
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this!”
Then, she turned to Mariana and put on a fake smile. “If you wanted to be selected too, you should have told me earlier. Why hide it from me? We’re cousins. I wouldn’t take something you like. How about I just drop out?”
She was pretending again.
“Sandra, is it really worth it to do this?” Sandra’s smart assistant piped up from behind, playing along and looking all sad.
“Our relationship has always been great. There’s no need to hurt feelings over a selection. Besides, Mariana is beautiful and comes from a wealthy family. She’s a much better fit than I am.
Sandra played the victim, highlighting Mariana’s beauty and wealth on purpose, which made the onlookers envy and resent Mariana even more.
Mariana frowned in irritation. “Back out now! And make sure you keep your word!”
Sandra was left speechless. Mariana still didn’t trust her.
Seeing the straightforward Mariana and the shifty Sandra, the people around them couldn’t help but feel that Sandra’s words seemed a bit insincere.
The moment turned awkward.
Sandra knew better than to push it, so she found a spot to sit quietly for a bit. She took the chance to glance at the card in Mariana’s hand. Seeing that the number seemed quite high, she sneered inwardly.
So what if Mariana had met Kamron in secret? He was on Ralph’s side. The number on the card he gave her was probably last.
Just then, Sandra’s assistant came out and got her the number card.
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Everyone saw it and realized she was the top pick for today. They had waited here for two hours and got numbers way in the back, but as soon as she showed up, she got number two.
Sandra, however, was not satisfied. She furrowed her brows and asked, “Why isn’t it number one?!”
In the past few days, Ralph had taken care of all the judges for her. As long as the person in charge from the Montoya Group didn’t object in the end, she was pretty much set.
The assistant shook her head. She had no idea what was going on either.
Just then, the doors to the exhibition hall finally opened.
The person in charge called out, “Number one, come on in!”
All the girls, who had been sitting there, started chattering and looking around. No one had heard of anyone getting number one. Even Sandra, who had been the center of attention just now, was only number two.
Who on earth was number one? How come no one had heard anything about this person?
Amidst all the murmurs, Mariana stood up, leaned on her cane, and walked in like she owned the place.
Everyone was shocked, especially Sandra.
“What? Mariana is actually number one?!”
Ignoring all the whispers outside, Mariana walked calmly into the hall and greeted the judges on stage, “Hello there.”
“Who… Who is this? A cripple? Is she making a fool of our organizing committee?”
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Chapter 13
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The judges were clearly not happy, and their sarcastic remarks were loud enough for her to hear.
“Thank goodness Mr. Suarez isn’t here,” one judge said, glancing at the empty seat in the middle of the judges‘ panel. “If Mr. Montoya’s people were here, they might think we’re not taking this seriously and trying to fool around with a lame candidate!”
