A few minutes earlier,
When Odelia arrived at the venue, she asked the chauffeur to park the car a few meters away from the hotel entrance and watched the guests arriving one by one. The bell boys and the valets were having a busy time as they assisted the guests.
"Let's hang around out here for a while and enjoy the night air. I feel like stealing the show tonight," she said with a wicked smile on her face. Phillip had wanted to attend the party together as her plus one, but she declined the offer. She preferred to go solo today. She wanted them to see Odelia—not Philip Smith's date but Odelia Graham.
Odelia had planned to go to the party in a cab but hadn't expected Phillip to send her a chauffeur along with a red Bugatti Chiron. At first, she was a bit skeptical seeing the extravagant ride, but after pondering about what she wanted to achieve today, she realized the bigger her comeback, the better. So she had climbed in when the chauffeur came down to open the door for her.
After waiting outside for about an hour, Odelia noticed the crowd at the entrance had dwindled; she turned to the chauffeur and said, "We can go now."
The moment the red Bugatti Chiron stood in front of the hotel entrance, the bell boys, valets, and the reporters with their cameras all turned their gazes to the expensive car. They had seen several expensive cars tonight, but there was something particularly eye-catching about the one before them.
Their eyes were transfixed as they stared in anticipation at the important personality who would come out of the car. Their eager eyes followed the chauffeur, who had come down and walked to the other side to open the door. Some of the reporters nearly cursed out loud when the chauffeur walked at a leisurely pace as if he were in slow-motion video, only to open the door in a small crack and block the person from their view with his body.
"Please, you can step down now, Miss Graham," the chauffeur said and gave a bow before cracking the door wider. All the spectators whose eyes had been glued to the car from the moment it arrived were stunned into awed silence when they saw the beautiful woman who came down from the car.
The reporters forgot to click the pictures as they looked at the goddess in front of them in awe. Who is she? Is she a celebrity? They pondered, unable to take their eyes off her. It was the gasp from one of the reporters who had been close enough to hear the chauffeur's words that brought them back to their senses.
"Did… Did the man just call her Miss Graham?" The female reporter stuttered, asking no one in particular.
As soon as they realized who she was, the bright flashes began, and the loud whispers of the people present could be heard.
"Did she just say, Miss Graham? You mean, the one and only Odelia Graham?"
"No way! I thought there were some pictures of her looking quite poor a few days ago."
"I thought she was kicked out of the Graham family and abandoned by CEO Adam; how could she afford such an expensive dress?"
"Maybe she found a sugar daddy who is willing to splurge on her; she has a beautiful face and figure, after all."
"You don't say, maybe he is so old; that's why she even came without a date; how embarrassing."
Odelia moved with poise and grace, ignoring all their words. She had once also joined those socialites and had said such words before, not knowing any better; now that she knew what it was like to be in the other person's shoes, she accepted her reality calmly; she was soon going to change the narrative.
Odelia did not notice the black Rolls Royce that had pulled behind her as soon as her car left. The man exuded a cold aura, his deep and piercing gaze carefully watching the disappearing back. Why did she seem familiar? Don Gardner sat in the back seat and watched Odelia's disappearing back as she took confident and determined steps towards the gates, exuding a strong and unwavering aura.
When Odelia walked through the entrance, she felt all eyes trained on her, but she continued to walk without any pause. The lower part of her gown was made in such a way that whenever she took a step, it would show a view of her slender legs. Combined with the red heels that adorned her feet, Odelia looked like a scene out of a painting.
While other people would look tacky in such a get-up, Odelia looked like a full-bloomed rose, so refined and alluring, pleasing to the eyes.
The level of confidence she exuded, amplified her beauty and accentuated the exquisiteness of the gown. That night, in the luxurious ballroom of the Mitchell Hotel, Odelia looked as blinding as the sun. It could be said that she was the most beautiful woman in the ballroom. No, scratch that, she was the most beautiful woman in the world.
All the guests racked their brains to remind themselves of who she was. Where had they seen her before? Why did she look so familiar?
Anna, who had been mingling with the guests, couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Odelia—a completely different Odelia. The woman in front of her had captured everyone's attention and had all eyes trained on her like a moth drawn to a flame. She was dressed in a scarlet-red gown, exuding an overwhelming presence. One word came to mind as people stared at her: "Queen."
She exuded an aloof aura, treating the looks people give as air without any hitch in her steps. The people naturally parted and made way for her as she approached.
Anna thought she was in a nightmare as she stared at Odelia unblinkingly; she was about to go crazy from anger and jealousy.
With grace and poise, she moved like a mystifying being, walked towards the gift table, and placed her gift on top of the many presents.
'No, fucking, way! How is this Odelia? She had just seen Odelia a few days ago; she looked ugly and old. How was it like this now? No! It couldn't be Odelia," Anna screamed hysterically in her mind. What even tipped her over the edge was the whispers of people surrounding her.
"Wow, so beautiful!"
"Who is she?"
"She kinda looks familiar; where have I seen her before?"
"Wait, isn't that Odelia, CEO Gray's ex-fiancee?"
"Why didn't I see she was such a beauty?"
"Figures, maybe because she was always dressed in formal attire, looking like a business mogul or a strict professor."
Adam, who had also seen Odelia this new side of Odelia, didn't realize his eyes had not moved away from her ever since she fell into his line of sight. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen Odelia dressed up and in makeup before. He knew she was beautiful, but she never focused on showing her feminine side; she was such a strong woman who made men feel challenged by her aura.
He had never seen her combine her aloof aura with her delicate beauty this way, and even though she didn't even look his way, she had all his attention. She looked captivating and charming, reeling his attention in and not letting it go. She looked like something out of a fantasy book, making his gaze intense as he stared at her.
Anna had had enough! She was filled with rage seeing all the attention Odelia was receiving. Her eyes nearly burst out of fury, and what even broke the camel's back was noticing Adam's immovable gaze was fixed on Odelia; she couldn't take it anymore, so she did what she knew to do best.
She maintained her composure, plastered on a fake smile, and walked towards Odelia with a face full of fake concern. If she didn't turn the tables in her favor, Odelia would take away all the previous attention she had been receiving; she might even become a laughingstock. Wouldn't all her plans go to waste then?
"Sister, why did you arrive so late? I was beginning to worry and think something happened again. Did the police… I mean, I hope there was no trouble on your way here." She said, trying to remind the guests about Odelia's past behavior and draw people's attention to Odelia's predicament some days ago.
Picking up a glass of wine from a waiter who had been passing by, she elegantly twirled the wine in the glass cup and smiled back at Anna with an equally fake smile, brighter than the one on Anna's face.
"As you can see sister, I'm very good. In fact, I can even say I look better than you," Odelia said, her voice dropping to a low whisper at the end, making only Anna hear the latter part of her words.
Anna clenched her hands in anger, her nails nearly drawing blood as they dug into her palms, but knowing Odelia was trying to rile her up, she managed to calm down and smiled sweetly.
"That's good then, sister, let me take you to your seat; the party is about to begin," Anna said, acting as if she was the host and treating Odelia as a guest. Odelia smiled back and walked back with Anna to her assigned seat.
'If Anna wanted to do the work of the maids, she would humor her; after all, the show was about to begin.' Odelia thought, smirking inwardly.