Shandie's lips curled up into a smile as wide as that of some socialite and froze in place while her brain thawed.
What... Arielle?
Did I hear that right?crowd as well.
"Who's Arielle Moore?"
"Isn't Shandie Southall the champion? Why isn't she made the brand ambassador? Is Soir Coffee breaking the convention this year and opting for someone else apart from the competition winner?"
"Even if they are not picking the champion, should they not select a candidate amongst the top three finalists? I don't see this Arielle Moore amongst any of them."
In the gallery, the unsettled Cindy turned and glared furiously at the equally stunned Arielle in the row behind, who wondered why Vinson would make her the ambassador of the coffee chain.
"Arielle!" Cindy snarled. "What have you done? Why did you pull something like that on your sister?"
Cindy's eyes looked like they were about to pop. And were they not in a public space, Arielle was sure that the woman would have skinned her alive.
Henrick, too, had a look of surprise on him,
but it quickly evolved into a smile.
As both the girls were his daughters, it made no difference to him who got the job since he was going to get paid either way.
Henrick set aside some of his biases toward
Arielle and regarded her warmly. "How
could you not share this great news with
me earlier, Sannie?"
Arielle was quite impassive inside.
How did he manage to forget that he was her father when he upgraded himself to first class seats and left her all by herself in the economic class?
As disgusted as she felt, she did not show
her emotions as she shrugged
nonchalantly. "I only got to know about this
too, Dad."
"Liar!" Cindy seethed through gritted teeth. "You clearly did this on purpose!"
She was in the opinion that Arielle held back in a bid to see Shandie and herself sorely disappointed.The vicious girl!
"Cindy!" Henrick bristled at her. "What are you doing? There's no need to differentiate because Sannie and Shandie are both our children. So stop this."
Cindy raged until she was heaving, but had
to rein herself in in the presence of Henrick,
Arielle only smiled wryly when she looked at Cindy.
She had no desire to become some ambassador as she thought it was too much of a hassle and an impediment to the advancement of her plans.
Seeing the hatred in Cindy's eyes, however, made her feel that this was one possible way by which she could get back at them-pissing Cindy off and dashing Shandie's hopes would surely rend this family apart.
So long as there was disharmony between them, fault-lines which she could exploit would surely surface, and that suited her just fine.
Upon seeing the sliver of a smile upon Arielle's lips, Cindy became even more unwavering in her belief that it was all intended on Arielle's part,and was determined to not let the girl clinch that role which she felt rightfully belonged to her own precious daughter.
At that moment, the host took center-stage after conferring with Vinson. "Could we have you on stage, Ms. Moore?"
Arielle's eyes coincidentally met Vinson's when she looked toward the platform, and though she could not tell what sort of mood he was in through his dark gaze, she could only comply at the host's behest.
As Arielle placed one foot before the other in the direction of the stage, all everyone else could see was a slender silhouette from the rear.
Nevertheless, that was enough to impress upon them her gracefulness. Her poise was like a butterfly in flight, and the majestic air she exuded'was not to be understated.
Arielle's unadorned face did little to diminish her ability to dazzle. Her visage, as radiant as the sun and as pristine as the crescent moon, left the observing Shandie gnashing her own teeth onstage.
She slowly turned herself around after she stepped into the spotlight while the audience enthralled by her back-view continued to be transfixed in anticipation.
Gorgeous!She is simply gorgeous!