Those who had no clue what was going inside would assume a grand wedding was held inside.
As the organizer of the painting competition, Old Mr. Collins was so revved up about the event that he arrived at the hotel very early to usher the guests. He couldn’t wait to see who would emerge as the winner of the contest and be his apprentice.
Standing at the gate of the lobby, Old Mr. Collins saw a red Rolls-Royce pulling up in front of him.
At the sight of the luxurious car, he immediately stepped forward to greet the guest sitting inside.
It was Henry from the Moss Family who alighted the car.
“Young Master Moss! What an honor to have you here.” Old Mr. Collins was pleasantly surprised when he was informed of Henry’s attendance the previous night. He was extremely thrilled to have someone from the Moss Family attending his small-scale painting competition.
Feeling awkward, Henry thought to himself that he was only here to show his support to Janet, the darling of Young Master Mason.
Yet, he still put on a composed look and said to Old Mr. Collins, “I heard that the girls who are participating in this contest are very talented painters. So, here I am to see how good they are.”
Old Mr. Collins broke into a wide grin and answered, “They are very talented indeed. Young Master Moss, this way please.”
Then, he had a hotel staff lead Henry to the ballroom.
Much to his surprise, he spotted Young Master Sanders as soon as he turned around.
“Goodness gracious, Young Master Sanders! Your presence really graces the occasion. Why didn’t you inform me beforehand of your attendance?”
Lee dressed up for the occasion by wearing an all-black suit. He looked up at Old Mr. Collins and said, “Someone told me that the girls in the contest are all amazing painters. So, I guess I mustn’t miss the chance to admire their talents.”
Old Mr. Collins went speechless wondering why they all offered him a similar explanation.
Also, he was baffled as to why all of them suddenly had so much free time to be here.
Again, he put on an ear-to-ear grin and said, “Please come this way.”
Still rattled by their attendance, he turned around and started pondering over who they were rooting for.
Shortly after that, he saw a red Porsche coming in his direction again.
When he took a closer look at the bunch of people getting out of the car, he found all of them to be strangers.
Although he didn’t know them, he was sure they were no average people.
Frowning in confusion, Old Mr. Collins approached them and asked, “I’m sorry, you are?”
The girl standing in front of him fished out a name card and handed it to him. “I’m Lara, the top executive broker in Sandfort City.”
Old Mr. Collins adjusted his spectacles as his brain had difficulty processing the information. What the heck is an executive broker?
However, he still decided to let her in for the sake of the luxurious car parked behind her. “This way please.”
“Thanks,” Lara replied nonchalantly while chewing on gum.
One of her underlings who was following behind her asked her puzzledly, “Lara, how did you get yourself that name card?”
Lara tapped the boy’s head and answered him impatiently, “Have you forgotten what I do for a living?”
The boy instantly nodded at her with enlightenment.
When more and more big shots gathered at the lobby outside the ballroom later on, Old Mr. Collins gave up ushering them and went into the ballroom instead because he started getting confused.
He had never seen or heard of any of those big shots outside.
The fact that his small-scale painting competition had attracted so many of them left him in utter bewilderment. Were they all here because of him?
Despite the many questions in his mind, he was still overjoyed to see them there because the more people who attended the painting competition, the more respectable his social status was.
At that juncture, Emily, Janet and Chloe arrived at the hotel.
Emily was astounded the moment she stepped into the ballroom.
Tugging at Megan’s arm, she exclaimed, “Mom, why are there so many people here? Henry Moss from the Moss Family is here too! Look over there!”
Megan looked in the direction where Emily was pointing at and spotted Henry.
“There! The young master from the Sanders Family is here too!” Emily nearly squealed in excitement.
Janet sneered when she listened to her exclamation and moved her eyes elsewhere.
Chloe, who had never witnessed such a grand occasion, was so shaken that her palm was sweaty. “Mom, why is the contest this year attended by so many people?” she asked Shirley in a doubtful tone.
Shirley chuckled before she gave a cursory glance at all the big shots inside the ballroom smugly. “Chloe, there’s no point in being scared because all of them are here to admire your work out of respect for our family and Old Mr. Collins.”
Chloe smoothened the creases on her blouse and asked, “Really?”
These bunch of people seemed to be loaded and Chloe thought it would be great if any of them took a liking to her.
Hence, she had to make sure that victory was hers by bringing her A game later.
