Once again, there was a pin-drop silence amongst the people with Laura.
They didn't mean to do it, but when they heard Kelsie, they immediately turned to look at Laura.
Although Laura never said anything, they always had a feeling she had done a nose job and lifted her cheekbones, but they had nothing to back their suspicion with.
Furthermore, they didn't want to offend her by mentioning something so offensive.
Laura kept a straight face, but was fuming inwardly. Yet, she was unable to come up with what to retort with knowing Kelsie wasn't lying.
One of her friends scoffed and pointed an accusing finger at Kelsie.
"What do you think you're saying? Who in Silicon Valley doesn't know Laura has never gone under the knife before?"
"Everything she has on her, are all natural. Are you trying to reduce the shame you're feeling by telling such a lie against her, you little brat!"
"Even if she has gone under the knife before, it's not your place to say!"
Truth be told, Kelsie was bored. After seeing the timer countdown appear on the screens around her and realized she was stuck with these noisemakers for the next thirty minutes, she couldn't think of a better thing to do with her time.
And given Laura's personality, she wouldn't let her have her peace and quiet until the start of the contest.
Even if she changed seats, it was safe to say Laura and her friends would follow her.
So instead of tiring herself out by walking around, she could as well sit here and mess with Laura instead. After all, she was on her own when they came to find her.
Kelsie felt her ears gently with her fingers, looking absolutely confused.
"If what I heard is you saying Laura has never gone under the knife before, then I must be bleeding from my ears."
Laura was furious and didn't know when she yelled out, "K-Kelsie Sutton, what the hell do you mean by that?"
Before Kelsie could answer her, one of Laura's friends jumped to her front in defense, glaring hard at her.
"Ever since you came in here, all Laura has done is defend you, but you actually dare to say something like this about her? Where is your conscience!"
Kelsie frowned and felt her ears again.
"Noisy. You're all so noisy. Laura, how exactly do you deal with these noisy people? Oh, I forgot so quickly."
"You need to remain friends with them no matter what since they're the Sutton family's life line in case they ever get into trouble in the future."
Laura couldn't take it anymore and said through clenched teeth.
"Have some dignity, Kelsie! I know you do not care about the Sutton family, but if you keep speaking like this, you'll make trouble for the ones who care!"
All it took was a few words from Kelsie to rile her up.
Kelsie saw this and scoffed silently. She knew if she said anymore, Laura would be unable to contain herself and make trouble for both of them.
She had seen the signs on her way in. There was a bold warning written on it which said not to cause physical or verbal trouble.
If one was caught doing so, both parties involved would be thrown out of the contest regardless of who started it.
This was an easy way to make money, she wasn't about to let such a fine opportunity escape her grasp.
As she turned her eyes away from them in irritation, Jett Adler appeared by the entrance.
Only a few people knew what he looked like, so he wasn't worried about being recognized.
His eyes flickered from one space to the other until it landed on a familiar person and he almost scoffed.
This shameless woman. Again.
Wasn't it just an hour ago that she claimed she wasn't stalking him?
She must've lurked around at the theater to hear what Eric had to say when he came to him and rushed down here as soon as possible instead of spending the night with her children.
In as much as he found her stalking shameless, a part of him couldn't deny he liked it.
He crossed his arms across his chest and gently leaned on the wall, mocking her in his heart.
"Not your type of man? Heh! You must've said that to redeem yourself in front of your children. I just knew you were bluffing when you said I wasn't your type!"
His brows suddenly knitted into a frown when he saw one of the boys with Laura move aggressively towards Kelsie, shouting in disdain, "What? You're no longer saying anything. If you were so sure of what you're saying, why don't you continue talking?"
The rest turned to Laura and began advising her again.
"Laura, I know you two are related, but you should sue her for this. If we weren't the ones here, we would've really taken her words for it."
"Think of what would happen to your pristine reputation if she repeats something like this to someone who holds a grudge against you."
"Yes. They'll use the opportunity against you during the Miss Silicon Valley beauty contest which will hold in a few months."
They were still talking when someone suddenly pointed out, "Hey, isn't that Bryan Baker? He's not a hacker, so what is he doing here?"
Everyone turned their heads to see Bryan Baker walking towards them in a brown suit, a hand slid into his pocket while the other held up a bouquet of roses, hair slicked backward.
His signature boy-ish grin didn't leave his face as he walked across the room.
Upon seeing him, some of the girls whispered among themselves and swooned over him, their voices dissolving into exaggerated gasps and dreamy sighs.
"Goodness, why are you so clueless! Isn't it obvious who he's here for?"
"It's his fiancée, Laura Sutton. Who else could he be here for?"
"He even brought her flowers. What a gentleman!"
"I bet he doesn't even care if Laura wins or not. All he cares about is that his woman is in this contest. So he came to give her flowers beforehand and reassure her that it doesn't mean anything if she loses."
"That is so cheesy. I love it!"
"I've seen it happen in a few soap operas. I didn't know Mr. Baker also watches soap operas. He keeps setting the standards so high!"
"I thought those things only happens in soap operas?"
"If you are doubting me so much, why don't you wait a few more seconds and see if what I said would happen will happen?"
The person had just said that when Bryan suddenly stopped in front of Kelsie and stretched the flower towards her.
Then he flashed her a charming smile.
"Kelsie, you don't have to put your all into winning the contest. It's enough for me that you tried to challenge yourself into joining this."
"Do you like the flower, or should I get another one? If you want, I'd even buy you the florist shop across the street."