Chapter6
As everyone gossiped that Mariana was the one propping up Ralph’s company, Emmitt and Lillian were pretty ticked off. But they had to keep smiling.
The senior directors from the Mueller Group quickly closed the deals with the business partners, all smiles.
Mariana quietly watched people’s two–faced behavior, a sly grin in her eyes.
“Sandra lost. Now, let’s enjoy her singing a song for us.”
Mariana’s voice cut through the noise. People suddenly remembered the bet. Sandra was a star, and everyone was cheering for her to sing.
“My throat is a bit sore today.” Sandra quickly waved her hands, trying to get out of it.
“Come on. You have released songs. Is singing a song really that hard?”
“Stop making excuses. You can still sing even with a sore throat. Don’t you have the guts to accept defeat? Or should I suspect you didn’t actually sing those songs yourself?”
Cornered, Sandra had no choice but to grit her teeth and step onto the stage, standing in front of the microphone.
The music started, and Sandra began to hum. Her voice was super low, and the sound guy backstage made the backing track even lower on purpose. When people heard how bad her singing was, they freaked
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out.
“What the hell is this?”
“This is torture!”
“I thought Sandra’s old songs were good. Were they all fake?”
Ralph quickly reacted and told the staff member, “What’s going on? Hurry up and turn off the music!”
“Mr. McKinney, there’s a problem with the sound system, and we can’t turn it off…”
“Go cut the power!” Ralph roared again.
“If the power is cut, the place will go dark. Is Mr. McKinney really going to do everything he can to protect Sandra?” There were some whispers. “Why does it seem like Mr. McKinney cares more about Sandra than his own fiancee? When Mariana was wrongfully accused earlier, he didn’t even say a word.”
But two minutes later, the staff member came back, panting. “Mr. McKinney, someone started the backup generator a long time ago. Cutting the power won’t work…”
“Enough.” Ralph was tired.
Sandra’s short performance made everyone feel super awkward. If she were just off–key, it might have been funny, but her humming sounded like a funeral song. It was totally gross.
Whispers filled the air. Sandra held back tears and gritted her teeth, wishing she could just disappear into a crack in the ground.
Mariana stood on the edge of the crowd, watching coldly. This was
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just the beginning for Sandra and Ralph. Bigger surprises were coming.
She took the opportunity to walk out of the banquet hall with Karlee and asked, “Did you get all your people in place?”
–
Karlee patted her chest and promised, “Don’t worry. It’s all set. We’ve installed 360–degree surveillance here, and someone is monitoring the bug you planted on Ralph.”
“I’m going to skin them alive!” Karlee was fuming, cursing through gritted teeth.
Brill
Mariana gestured for her to lower her voice. She wasn’t as mad as when she first found out about their affairs. “What we need to do now is fight back.”
“Right, we must fight back!” Karlee calmed down a bit and then said, “By the way, Sandra sent a gigolo to your guest room upstairs. Our people have taken care of it. That guy won’t cause trouble in your room tonight.”
Mariana nodded. It seemed that Sandra and Ralph’s plan was to expose her as losing her virginity before marriage and completely ruin her reputation. But fortunately, everything was under her control.
“But I think their plan isn’t just about the guy in your room. You didn’t drink anything just now, right? Be careful,” Karlee warned her again.
“I will.” Mariana nodded.
She was careful and didn’t drink anything at the party, but she still felt uneasy. “Putting something in the drink is by chance. Better safe than sorry. I’ll check the room myself.”
For this party, Ralph invited the big shots from all walks of life in
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Forechester.
The party would go late, and Moonstone Hotel was by the sea. Ralph booked rooms upstairs for guests to rest and then went straight to his wedding the next day.
Holding the all–access room card from the private detective, Mariana took a special passage to the guest rooms upstairs, checked a few rooms along the way, and finally came to her room at the end of the corridor.
As she opened the door, she was instantly stunned.
She wondered, “Didn’t they say it had been taken care of? Why is there still a man in the room? Besides, he is no ordinary man.”
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