CHAPTER 139

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 Content © 2024.

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.