Filed to story: Mia Bowen and Timothy Barrett Novel
du Citing next to her was the exhausted bodyguard.
A parent rebuked, “Hey little kid, it is the rules that the parents have to participate with the child. That man is not your father, so you don’t have the right to join.
“You don’t have the right to win the first¨Cplace prize either!”
“He’s right. The organizers should’ve verified the participants¡® identity. If anyone can ask for help from outsiders, that wouldn’t be fair.”
“I agree. They must disqualify the first prize winner.”
Ginger hugged the box tightly, her voice choking. “B¨CBut we won the first place. This is mine!”
The surrounding adults glared at her, demanding her to relinquish the first¨Cplace prize.
“Ginger!” Mia almost shed tears of joy the moment she caught sight of Ginger. Mia took huge strides and embraced her daughter.
The feeling of her daughter in her arms made her feel alive.
Ginger was first stunned to see her mother. Then, her lips pouted and she cried, “Mommy, I miss you!”
“I miss you too. How could you run outside all alone? Do you know how worried I was?” The anger subsided half the moment she found Ginger. She planted kisses on Ginger. “Why are you crying?”
Ginger tightened her arms around the prize. “Mommy, we won the first place. This is my prize.”
“That’s wrong, kid! As we said, you’re unqualified for the competition. Your win is invalid. We won the first place, so this should be ours.”
Mia stood up, looking at the family of three, who were clothed in branded logos as though trying to tell the world the brand they were wearing.
The middle¨Caged woman was also wearing a leopard fur coat.
Mia’s eyes sized them up before she responded calmly. “But my daughter won first place. The prize should be hers.”
The staff explained, “Miss, the objective of our event is to have the parents join with the kids. Your child has clearly broken the rules, so we must disqualify her. Please return the prize to us.”
Ginger turned around, burying her face in Mia’s clothes. She didn’t want to hand over the prize.
“Indeed, that is the rule. But you should’ve filtered out the contestants and informed them of the rules before the competition started.
“Since you didn’t say anything when she first joined the competition, that means her participation was accepted. How could you tell her that she’s disqualified right now?” Mia’s tone carried more weight of solemnity this time.
How could they bully a child just because their parents weren’t around?
Convinced by her reasonings, the staff looked at the middle¨Caged couple. “She has a point.”
Their son began to throw a tantrum. “I don’t care! I want to be the first¨Cplace winner!”
The middle¨Caged woman primped her coat, her voice was squeaky. “I don’t care! I bought the VIP tickets.
I bet this little kid bought the normal ticket. Are you sure you want to upset us because of an ordinary visitor?”
The staff was driven to a tight corner. for you?”
“Why don’t we get another first¨Cplace prize
“No! I want the one she’s holding!”
What a stalemate.
The middle¨Caged man stepped forward and ogled at Mia. “Why don’t you have your daughter hand over that? The staff can give you a new one.”
Mia scoffed lightly at his shameless attitude.
Mia didn’t expect someone to speak to her that way.
The man touched his Volex watch similarly to how Laura touched her precious jewelry.
It was actually an imitation and yet he cherished it so much.
Mia cocked a brow. “Why should I do that?”
“Miss, it must be difficult to raise a child alone. I can give you some compensation in return. How about that?”
“Hubby, why should we give her money? Are you on it again because of her pretty face?” The middle- aged woman lost it.
She took a step forward, glaring daggers at Mia. “Why are you making eyes at my husband? Are you trying to seduce him? Not a chance!
“Besides, don’t come here if you’re poor. This ain’t a place for someone like you.”
Mia chuckled and arched an eyebrow at them. “Who would like your husband when he looks like a swine? Oh, I guess you’re an exception.”
“Y¨CYou!”
“What about me? Speaking of, why are you wearing a leather coat in this hot weather? Do you think that you’re a rich lady or what? Be careful of nightmares now that you’re wearing animal skins on you.” Mia didn’t hold herself back at all.
This was the middle¨Caged woman’s first time getting humiliated. The fact that so many people, including her friends, were watching made it worse.
Anger got the best of her as she raised her arm to slap Mia. “What gibberish are you talking about, you bitch!”
This was Mia’s chance! Since the other party striked first, she could counter as self¨Cdefense. But she had to make sure she set up the right example because Ginger was around.
However comes t the middle¨Caged woman’s hand. Timothy pinned her down with his cold stare. “You have no right to hit her.”
Next, he flung his arm and the momentum pushed her onto the ground where she lay miserably.
Mia turned sideways to look at him. Images fleeted through her mind, but she didn’t know what they were.
Had she met this man before? She couldn’t remember.
Ginger, still in Mia’s arms, beamed widely when she noticed Timothy. “Cool!”
Her brisk voice rippled a pleasant influence on his heart and somehow lightened his mood.
He stroked her head. “Did you have fun?”
“Yeah! Mr. Bodyguard helped me tons! I won a lot of prizes!”
Her comment earned an exhausted smile from the bodyguard. That was exactly how he slowly lost himself in her pleasant chant of “Mr. Bodyguard”.
Timothy spared him a questioning glance. “I couldn’t reach your number.”
The bodyguard quickly got back on his feet, explaining politely, “I accidentally dropped my phone into the water.”
“He dropped it while catching the fish for me.” Ginger put in good words for him.
Hearing that, Timothy waved at the bodyguard as an acknowledgment. Considering how happy Ginger was. Timothy spared the bodyguard from the responsibility.
Mia held Ginger’s hand. “Let’s go home. I have something.
talk to you.”
“Hold it right there! Who says you could leave?” The middle¨Caged man behind them questioned, enraged. “You can’t just go off like this! You broke my wife’s bracelet!”
The middle¨Caged woman stood up, limping. “It cost thousands of dollars. Compensate me or I will call the cops!”
Mia looked at the broken bracelet, “Do Imitations cost thousands nowadays?
The middle¨Caged woman huffed, “What are you calling an imitation? This is my wedding anniversary gift from my husband. He bought it from Martian. No way it’s an imitation!”
Martiana? What were the odds? That was actually Mia’s brand.
Mia actually didn’t want to give a fig about the married couple, but her brand would suffer a loss if word about her brand selling imitations got out.
She questioned, “Martiana’s products come with an authenticity certification. Are you sure your husband bought it from the store itself?”
The middle¨Caged man’s eyes wavered for a brief second before claiming. “Yes. I have the authenticity certificate too. This is the real one. It can’t be an imitation!”
“Hubby, show them the certificate. Prove it that we didn’t buy imitations.”
His fingers scrolled through his phone for the e¨Ccertificate.
Mia took a glimpse and memorized the certificate code to share it with her butler to look into the issue.
The middle¨Caged woman held her nose high at Mia. “How’s that? Are you convinced? Compensate us for the bracelet!”
Sneering, Mia responded. “There is a certain way to verify Martiana’s product authenticity. The jewelers will leave a special mark on the internal surface. You can see it with a magnifying glass.”
“Have it your way. I’m not afraid,” said the middle¨Caged woman confidently.
But her husband appeared relatively unsure. “We don’t have a magnifying glass, though. The authenticity certificate will do.”
At that moment, an old man stepped out. “I have one. I can lend it to you.”
The adorable Ginger thanked politely. “Thank you, sir.”
The old man chuckled, “Not a problem, dear. Happy to be of help.”