Filed to story: Mia Bowen and Timothy Barrett Novel
Wasn’t Liam just a body double? Why were the paparazzi surrounding him? She didn’t want to make such a high-profile entrance!
Mia looked out the window. She happened to catch Timothy and Maya standing nearby. She could feel her headache worsening when she saw them.
Liam waited for a while longer, but Mia showed no sign of leaving the car. He bent down to knock on the window. “What’s wrong?”
Judging from the crowd waiting outside, Mia knew there was no way for her to avoid this. She took a deep breath before getting out. She had a pair of stilettos on, and the champagne-colored dress showed off her figure. It also made her look like she was glowing.
“Watch your head.” Liam considerately put a hand on the door so she wouldn’t knock her head when getting out.
The paparazzi’s cameras flashed at this scene. They were afraid of missing even a second of this. Liam had never announced any relationships in the past, nor had he had any sort of interaction with other women.
The fact that he was so concerned about Mia was enough to prove that this was his new relationship!
Mia stared at the paparazzi after getting out of the car. She didn’t really know what to do.
Fortunately, Liam was quick to react. He grabbed Mia’s hand and pulled her toward the venue.
Mia didn’t want the paparazzi to snap photos of her, so she hurried after Liam. The paparazzi were barred from entering. Only then did she sigh in relief. “Why were those paparazzi snapping photos of you, Liam?”
“Ahem. They mistook me for that famous actor. We do look alike, after all.” Liam could already lie through his teeth about this. Paparazzi always mixed truth and lie in their articles, anyway. There was nothing to worry about.
Mia relaxed. But as soon as she regained her composure, she felt a gaze land on her. She subconsciously looked in the direction it was coming from to meet a dark gaze. It was calm but had the ability to root her to her spot.
Mia quickly averted her gaze. Instead of looking at Timothy, she searched for her seat.
Meanwhile, Timothy stood where he was as he watched Mia. His mood improved fractionally at the sight of the champagne-colored dress she wore.
Then, his gaze turned icy again when he saw Liam beside Mia.
Maya walked over to Timothy. “What are you looking at?”
She followed his line of sight and saw Mia. Her expression turned ugly. “I didn’t expect Ms. Bowen to be so capable. It’s not easy to get into the finals, after all. I found it weird earlier, but everything’s clear now that I see who her companion is.”
Timothy turned to look at her. “What do you mean?”
“The man beside her is my cousin, Liam Lane. He’s also an award¨Cwinning actor from Nord City. I didn’t expect to see him here, nor did I expect him to be here with
Ms. Bowen. He’s always kept a low profile and never had any women in his life.”
Maya said these things on purpose. Sure enough, she saw Timothy’s expression turn icier. She shut her mouth and looked in Mia’s direction. A hint of confusion flashed in her eyes as she wondered when Mia had gotten to know Liam.
Liam and his brothers were actually quite distant from her and her family. Maya had heard that it was partly due to the daughter that had gone missing and partly due to
Dominic bringing Maya home from the orphanage to trick their grandmother.
Liam and his brothers hadn’t been happy about Maya taking the missing daughter’s place, so they’d kept their distance. In truth, Maya wanted to build a relationship with them, but they always ignored her. It was all because she was nothing but a replacement.
A trace of hatred flashed in Maya’s eyes. What right did Mia have to be so intimate with Liam?
Maya looked up at Timothy, “I was really surprised that you were willing to join the panel of judges, Tim. Thanks for helping me out.”
Timothy grunted in acknowledgment. Then, he turned to head to his seat.
Maya swallowed her resentment and pulled out her phone to text the person in charge. “Have you done what I told you to do?”
“Don’t worry, Ms. Lane. Everything will go perfectly.”
m
Maya smirked. Tonight, she would show Mia up in front of everyone.
Mia took her seat while Liam sat down in the row behind her. This was because the
11 designers who’d made it to the finals were all seated in the second row.
In the first row were the special guests and judges. Mia watched as Timothy walked in her direction. Then, he took a seat in the center of the first row. He was diagonally in front of her.
He crossed his legs casually after sitting down. He exuded the charisma of a mature man.
Soon, Mia heard the women beside her start to whisper among themselves. “That man is so handsome. Who is he?”
Mia wasn’t surprised to hear this. After all, Timothy’s looks had also attracted her back in the day.
Shortly after, Shelly tottered toward the first row. Her perfume wafted into Mia’s nostrils. When she saw Mia, she sat in the seat directly before her.
Mia held her breath. She wasn’t used to such strong perfume. Shelly turned to give her a smug look. “My perfume’s nice, isn’t it? It was made by a renowned perfumer, and it’s not being sold anymore.”
Mia fanned herself. “Well, that doesn’t mean you need to marinate yourself in it.”
Someone heard this and laughed. This angered Shelly. She glared at Mia. “You’re just jealous that you won’t get the chance to use this perfume in your life. Also, don’t think you can act all high and mighty just because you got to the finals based on pure luck.¡®
“1
“At least I didn’t cheat or get disqualified because I cheated,” Mia said calmly.
It angered Shelly so much that some of the powder on her face fell off. In the end, she snarled, “I couldn’t care less about a dumb, nondescript competition like this. Timothy and I are just here to cheer Maya on. After all, we’re going to be a family in the future.”
So, Timothy had come for Maya?
Mia lowered her eyes to conceal her true emotions at Shelly’s words. She’d already signed the divorce papers; who Timothy wanted to cheer on and be with was none of her business.
Later, no matter what else Shelly said, Mia ignored her. Soon, Maya walked on stage to announce the commencement of the ceremony. “As we all know, there have been some changes to the rules for this year’s competition.
“There will only be ten winners, which means one of the 11 finalists will leave with nothing. For the sake of fairness, the designers¡® names will be concealed when the judging is conducted. The announcement of the winners will also be different¨Cwe’ll start from the tenth place.”
Mia looked at the panel of judges. Timothy was among them. Obviously, he was one of the judges.
If she were being completely honest, she was quite nervous. At this moment, she received a WhatsApp message from Liam. “Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”
“
Half an hour later, the judging ended. On stage, Maya announced the results. “In tenth place, we have … In ninth place…”
Soon, they were down to the top three. Mia frowned. There were four finalists left.
The one who wasn’t among the top three would be the one eliminated.
Shelly turned to glance at her. “Don’t tell me you’re dreaming about being in the top three, Mia. The competition’s tough this year, and that Zoe is also one of the competitors. You shouldn’t even think about placing with your lousy skills.”
Mia faltered. She was Zoe, though. Should she thank Shelly for her compliment?
Maya soon announced the third and second place. Mia wasn’t among them. She noticed Timothy glancing at her, but he’d already turned away when she turned to look.
Mia looked down and waited for Maya to announce the winner. Maya saw Timothy and Mia’s interaction. Her eyes darkened slightly at the sight before she smiled and said, “And in first place is Wilhelmina Jones.”
Two seats away from Mia, a young lady shot to her feet and ran on stage excitedly to accept her award. Mia sat in her seat, clenching her fists awkwardly. For a split second, she’d thought she was in first place.
But after Maya announced the winner, Mia felt like she’d been slapped. She couldn’t even breathe normally. She thought she could at least place in the competition, but she ended up getting eliminated.
Shelly snorted. “Did you see that, Mia? I told you you should’ve given up hope long ago, yet you refused to believe me. People like you aren’t worthy of winning first place, so stop dreaming. Go back to the slums that you came from or go screw bolts in a plant or something.”
Mia stood up to head to the restroom. She washed her face to calm herself down. At that moment, her phone rang. It was a call from Liam.
Mia glanced at it but didn’t answer. She didn’t want anyone to comfort her right now. She just wanted some peace and quiet.
After washing her face, Mia exited the restroom. She saw someone leaning against the wall¨Che was unbelievably handsome.
She didn’t expect to run into Timothy here. Mia lowered her head and turned to leave, but he grabbed her wrist as she walked past him. “Is this the result you wanted?”
Mia looked up. “I don’t understand what you mean.¡®
Timothy said, “I mean that your new backer doesn’t seem to be capable of much. He couldn’t even help you win a competition.”
“Let go of me. I don’t want to talk to you.” Mia was in a bad mood. She didn’t want to explain who Liam was.
Timothy didn’t release her. “What? Angry already? It’s not too late for you to come to your senses. If you wanna find another wealthy backer, I could introduce a few people to you.”
Mia barked out a laugh. “I don’t need them, and I don’t need you to interfere in my matters. Let go of me!”
“You’d better watch your attitude!” Timothy growled.
As they fought, Maya’s voice rang out. “Tim!”
Mia watched as Maya and Shelly approached them from the other end of the corridor. At this moment, the grip on her wrist disappeared. Timothy retracted his hand.
A trace of mockery flashed in Mia’s eyes. He’d let go so quickly when he saw Maya coming. Was he afraid of her getting the wrong idea?
Maya’s gaze became colder when she saw Timothy’s and Mia’s linked hands. But on the surface, she smiled innocently. “I was looking for you everywhere, Tim. The judges are wanted for a discussion.”
Maya strode over and looked at Mia. “I’m sorry you didn’t win anything this time, Ms. Bowen. You’re pretty talented, though. Maybe you can try again next time.”
Mia didn’t say anything. She looked at Maya coldly.
Timothy turned away. “Let’s go.”