Chapter 46
Aria’s POV
Delilah stared at me like she didn’t even recognize me anymore.
Next to her, Jace looked stunned for a second before his eyes changed. Dark Hungry. He now looked like he wanted to peel me out of this silver gown. Same look that’s shared by many men present,
“What is she doing here?” Delilah spat.)
“I just said–she’s my plus–one,” Zane said with his arm still wrapped around my shoulders
“No, no freaking way! I will not let her into my party! You don’t even know the kind of outrageous stuff she’s done
“Oh, you mean those crazy accusations you made about Arial” Zane cut her off impatiently. “But what the hell does that have to do with
me
“She’s not a decent woman Mr. Elrod!”
“Yeah yo
you told everyone that she likes to hang out with guys. But honestly, I kinda hopes she flirts with more guys and hopefully she is willing to include me next time.”
There were a couple of amused chuckles and murmurs. Delilah’s face turned an ugly shade of red.
I pinched Zane’s arm. What the hell’s doing? I brought him here to help salvage my reputation, not destroy it even more.
Zane cleared his throat and continued. “Anyway, why are we still standing here? Seriously, even your brother wouldn’t block me at the door
like this.
Delilah glared at me like she wanted to claw my face off. And I just stared back at her with ease. This whole party was to celebrate the project with Zane–there’s no way she’d dare tum him away at the door,
Just as I expected, after a tense moment, Delilah gritted through her teeth, “Fine, Mr. Elrod. If you must bring her.
“Wonderfull Let’s go.” Zane beamed and offered me his arm. Careful on the steps, babe.”
We walked toward the hotel entrance.
Guests lined the red carpet, along with a few photographers. Most eyes zeroed in on me, and I could feel their judgment. But honestly, when you’re walking in with the most powerful man in the room, the stares don’t sting quite as much.
Now my only fear was that those photos would end up in Alpha Grayson’s hands. And he would see me walking arm in arm with Zane. In this
dress.
What the hell, Zane already sent him a picture anyway. I’d worry about his reaction later.
We stepped into the venue, and almost immediately, a small crowd of guests swarmed over to greet Zane
The Elrod family was extremely influential, but they almost only stayed in Europe and kept à los person, everyone wanted to butter up to him.
And during the chatting Zane ever missed a single chance to introduce me.
- le. So now that Zane was here in
Every time a new person walked up, he’d pull me closer and say, “Have you met my beautiful date? This is Aria Collins.”
16:27 Fri, 8 Aug
Chapter 46
Of course, I got plenty of raised eyebrows. These people were thinking about the nasty rumors Delilah spread about me. I could ted from
their faces
Then one guest said to Zane after I was introduced, “We all know who Miss Collins is. We thought she was with Alpha Grayson at the moment So we’re all a bit surprised to see her here with you.”
Zane raised a brow. “Oh? So are they currently in a relationship?
“Uh…no. Not in a relationship. This guy probably wanted to say I was Grayson’s bitch but didn’t have the guts to say it in front of Zane
“Then w
why the hell should worry about what Grayson thinks? He can’t stop me from pursuing such a beautiful lady” Zane tightened his grip on my waist with a grin. I replied with a small smile.
“And I think Grayson’s only Aria’s boss. Nothing else,” Zane continued. “Right darling?”
“Well…yeah. You can say that I said.
The guests all stared at me skeptically. Then before they could ask more questions, we were interrupted by Delilah’s voice. She had walked up to the stage with a mic in hand, smiling sweetly at the guests.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for being here. Tonight is a big moment for my husband, Jace Carter, so why don’t we let him say a few words about this exciting project?”
There was a thunderous applause as Jace took the stage. He’s literally glowing with pride. The lights dimmed until only a spotlight remained on him.
“Thank you,
thank you! Now, let’s talk about the future. Years a
sago, I had this vision–connecting Apex with European resources…”
He went on and on like the whole thing had been his idea from day one.
And the most ridiculous part–those were my slides he’s using! Can’t write your own damn thing genius?!
Heaned toward Zane. “Those are my slides, Thissed under my breath.
Zane raised an eyebrow. “Shit for real?”
“Yeah. And he’s using the speech I wrote. Every word of it!”
Zane let out a cold laugh. “Then why the hell are we letting him keep talking–LIGHTS!”
His voice cut through the room like thunder, drowning out Jace’s speech. The lights snapped back on, Jace stood frozen onstage, caught mid–sentence.
“What the hell happened?” he cried in shock.
I replied in a loud voice, “Those slides you were using? They are mine. So is your speech. You basically stole my entire project!”
The crowd burst into chatter. Jace’s face turned red.
“That’s just ridiculous! Why would I steal anything from you? I was your mentor Everything yo shouted.
vabout business came from me!” he
“And yet you’re the one stealing from your former student,” I said without flinching.
“Why don’t we settle this with a live debate?” Zane suggested suddenly.
Chapter 46
“What?” both Jace and I said.
“The person who truly came up with this project will obviously know it best. You both explain your vision for it. Let everyone hear it for
themselves.”
“With pleasure,” I said immediately, striding toward the stage.
I was going to crush that lying bastard.
AD
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