and ‘t give my’s darkand experienced place. With a crisp her, she staf into the car
large, shed
her Backload of a brochen, deliberated the engine and Blasted a poff of haust in his face hofrere spreding off
Best Ariel’s words lingered like a splinter in the back of everone’s mind
Katey need hey yes in thought.
She figured Ariel must have been triggered by all the buzz around today’s art exhibition. Seeing their family in the spotlight must have gotten under her skin.
That was why she spouted such ridiculous nonsense.
It was clearly a bluff.
The aerospace field wasn’t something anyone could just waltz into. Did Ariel really think getting into a postgraduate program was as easy as picking vegetables at the market?
Matt clicked his tongue and glanced at Nancy. “That was definitely on purpose. What do you think?”
Nancy finally walked over to stand beside Jayson and said calmly, “It’s good to be eager to learn, but making big declarations in front of a crowd without thinking of how embarrassing it’ll be if she fails? That’s just reckless.”
She didn’t take it seriously. Deep down, she looked down on Ariel completely.
Though after a moment, she glanced at Matt and asked, “Was she always this delusional?”
Matt hesitated. His gaze instinctively flicked to Jayson, who hadn’t said a word.
Jayson looked completely uninterested. He hadn’t even watched Ariel leave.
There was no reaction from him at all. Surely he thought the whole thing was ridiculous too.
The old Ariel used to be quiet and gentle.
Honestly, today felt out of character for her. Even Jayson thought that she was being impulsive. What if this whole thing blew up in her face?
Well, everyone could already see how it was going to end.
Jayson changed the subject. “Didn’t you say you invited Mr. Quinton? He never showed.”
Nancy paused. “Yeah, he said there was a last–minute business trip. But he sent his congratulations.”
As for Samson, she had included him in the invite list, but he hadn’t replied.
He was probably busy. There was no way he was intentionally ignoring her to make a statement.
Janice had pieced together most of what happened by now.
She smacked the steering wheel and scoffed. “Nancy must really think she’s got that spot locked down. Otherwise, her mom wouldn’t have dared to say all that about Mr. Hockney being impressed in front of so many big shots in the industry.”
Sarah had clawed her way up from nothing and learned to seize every opportunity to dress herself in borrowed
Chapter 322
glory.
Ariel rolled down the window. The wind hit her face, and she squinted slightly into it.
+25 BONUS
She wasn’t angry about the art exhibition. She hadn’t spoken out of frustration, or pride, or some burning need to prove herself.
She simply understood how others viewed her in contrast to Nancy–how that comparison always made Nancy shine brighter.
She also knew exactly what Sarah was thinking and what kind of effect Sarah and Nancy were aiming for.
The only reason she publicly declared she would be applying to Carlos‘ postgraduate program was to corner them.
They claimed that Carlos admired Nancy and that the spot was always meant for her. Many industry heavyweights had already taken it for granted that Nancy would be the one standing by Carlos‘ side.
By throwing her name into the ring in front of all those people, Ariel had essentially raised the stakes. If Nancy ended up failing the exam, it would be downright humiliating.
Ariel was never one for meaningless arguments. She preferred cutting straight to the heart of things.
Since Sarah and Nancy enjoyed putting on a show, she had no problem helping them make it even louder.
As for all the mockery coming her way, she wasn’t Nancy. She didn’t have time to get hung up on empty noise.
What mattered was the result.
