Chapter 83
Jayson had a stony look in his eyes. His tone was flat and steady.
Yet, Ariel could feel her cheeks burning. She felt as though something had pounded her hard on the chest.
The way Jayson had made his choice without the slightest hint of hesitation made it seem like Ariel’s feelings were not even worth considering when Nancy was involved.
He did not care whether Ariel had done it on purpose or not.
Nancy was at the top of his list of priorities. Jayson only cared about protecting her public image. He did not care if that would make Ariel feel troubled or embarrassed.
“Mr. Larkin, it’s just a dress. I don’t think that’ll be necessary.” Chad had a grim expression on his face. 1
He took off his jacket and draped it around Ariel’s shoulders. “Are you satisfied now?”
Ariel dropped her gaze and tried to steady her breathing silently.
Jayson stared expressionlessly at Ariel. Half of her dress was concealed under Chad’s jacket. Ariel did not try to refuse the jacket from him.
“It’s alright. I won’t let something like this affect me,” Nancy responded. She turned around slowly and elegantly. “We should head to our seats, Jayson.”
Nancy decided to overlook the issue.
Jayson turned his eyes away from Ariel and hummed in response.
The two of them walked away together.
Even Chad had a deep crease on his forehead. He patted Ariel’s back to comfort her.
Ariel curled her fingers. Then, she shook her head. “I’m fine.”
Anyhow, there was no way she was going to change into another outfit. Ariel did not see the need to do that for Nancy.
Before leaving, Matt glanced over his shoulder at Ariel. He could not help wanting to remind her. “It’s no use even if you wear the same dress. The person that Jayson likes is Nancy.”
It was not about the dress or the profession. It had always been about the person. Sadly, Ariel could not seem to understand that.
Matt shrugged before walking away.
“Nancy’s really popular in their circle, huh?” Chad scoffed. “All of them became so unreasonable when it came to issues involving her.”
Ariel slowly shook her head. “It’s not that they’re being unreasonable. It’s just that they give her preferential treatment.”
The way she got married to Jayson was a little inappropriate. His friends had some deep prejudices and misunderstandings about her all along.
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In the past, Ariel desperately wanted to explain and clarify things to them. Now, she no longer cared about it, and she did not need to do that anymore.
Chad gave a sigh. Even someone like him, who saw what happened from the side, could not stand how those people had treated Ariel. He could not even begin to imagine what her feelings were like.
Meanwhile, Ariel remained rather calm. She was even in the mood to get some snacks at the refreshments area.
It was relatively quiet in that area.
Just as she got there, Ariel spotted Wendy, who was touching up her makeup.
It made sense that she was there since Lucas was coming to the convention too.
Ariel was about to leave after grabbing a glass of soda when Wendy spotted her. “Ariel? How come you’re here today?”
Ariel halted in her tracks. “I came here with my boss.”
Wendy got up and walked over to her. “Is it Mr. Hockney? Lucas mentioned earlier that he wanted to speak to him.
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Ariel listened calmly without saying anything.
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“I heard that you and Lucas were very close when you were young.” Wendy tilted her head and smiled. “Lori said that Lucas doted on you a lot. He would give all the nice food and toys to you first. Lori even thought that you two would become an item.”
Ariel froze. Then, she met Wendy’s gaze.
“You should ask Lucas about that.” She did not seem flustered in the slightest as she responded calmly.
Wendy chuckled. “I was just joking.”
“I’m going to look for Lucas now. I’ll talk to you some other time.” She took a glass of wine. Wendy was about to walk away, but she turned around again and looked at Ariel’s necklace.
She said in a surprised tone, “How come you have this necklace? Lucas went shopping with me yesterday and bought me jewelry worth over four million dollars. The shop owner gave us a diamond necklace for free. How come he gave that to you?”
Ariel’s eyes hardened.
“It’s a free gift?” Ariel muttered inwardly.
Wendy finally realized she had probably shared too much. She said apologetically, “Perhaps I’ve got it wrong. I hope you won’t take it to heart.”
She finally turned around and left.
Lattan
Ariel stood there for a while. At some point, she grabbed the necklace and yanked it off her neck. Then, she tossed it into her empty glass.
The event commenced shortly afterward.
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The front row was mostly occupied by familiar faces in the industry. Ariel sat to Chad’s left, whereas Jayson’s and Nancy’s seats were found on his right. An aisle separated the seats between the two groups of people.
The host was giving a speech on the stage.
Ariel noticed that the crowd seemed to be getting more and more excited. Chad patted her on the shoulder. “He’s here.”
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