Chapter 12

Chris Bailey pulled on Anthony Bailey’s sleeves. “Daddy, Daddy, help Mommy! Someone is bullying Mommy!” he whined. With a passive expression, Anthony reached for his phone, searched for a contact, and dialed it. Once the person answered, he spoke, “Charmine is mine, people.” In the hall, the person-in-charge looked at his phone dubiously before he looked at Charmine who was currently held back by the security. He was scared to death with what he had just heard. Goodness... This woman was Anthony Bailey’s people? “Stop it. Stop! Don’t hurt this lady here!” he shrieked as though downright fearing for his life. What just happened? The securities were befuddled while the crowd went quiet in disbelief. Was she not unwanted? What changed his mind? The person-in-charge walked up to Charmine in an instant and bowed to her. “You must be Miss Jordan. You said you needed one minute, right? Please, take all the time you need,” he sputtered, and rather respectfully at that. “Here at Chanel, we’ve always strived to be fair and just. If you’re willing to give it a try, we welcome you wholeheartedly.” Charmine frowned; his attitude changed at the speed of a reader flipping her book. Who was on the line of his call? It was then when she felt a peculiar gaze glued on her. Following her instinct and looking up, she saw a man looking right into her from a glass door on the second floor. It was Anthony Bailey. What was he doing here? Anthony’s lips curled into a grin—that he himself was unaware of—when he caught her looking up at him. Chris, on the other hand, waved enthusiastically at Charmine. Charmine was startled. Why would Anthony help her? The kid was acting weird enough, but his father was even stranger! She already told him off yesterday, so what was he doing here? Had he genuinely fallen for her? Anthony’s grin slowly receded, replaced with a frown. Women would usually throw themselves at him at any given chance, but why was Charmine acting all weird and resistant? Noticing Anthony’s powerful gaze, the man trembled in fear as he quickly added, “Miss Jordan, is there anything you’d want us to help you prepare?” “No, I’m fine.” She marched toward the stage, confident in herself. What Charmine needed, as of this second, was to take away everything from Tiffany; her opportunities and fame. Of course, the crowd had no clue what was going on. They merely persisted in mocking Charmine’s choice of dress and her ignorance to compete for this role. She was perceived as the toad wanting to eat the meat of a swan. A chance already seemed way too generous for people like her. Who was she kidding? Even the designer did not understand what the person-in-charge was doing. How could he give this chance to a person like her? It would be a disgrace if this woman were to touch the designer’s product. “Not anyone can put on with my design. If the panel decides to let a no-body stay, I’ll quit designing for Chanel,” the designer protested. With that said, all the lights in the ballroom suddenly went off. After a few seconds of darkness, a light green spotlight appeared as it flitted to the T-stage. A wooden stump mysteriously appeared on the stage. Charmine sat on the stage as she leaned against the stump with one hand supporting her chin. The delicateness of her facial features was displayed in all its glory. She leaned back languidly, as though she was resting on a summer’s afternoon. Her dark green dress splayed out into a retro-like beauty. Her flaming red lips did not impede her elegance from being emitted. On the contrary, it made her seem more of a mystifying fey with an aura of coldness and perfection. In the darkness, fireflies began to appear as they flew to her. Some landed on her curled up lashes while some landed on her palm. It was picturesque, just like the painting of phantasmagorical heaven. The jewelry placed on her neck was a mere copy of the actual necklace, but even the copy seemed to have come alive when paired with her exquisite face. Everyone was awestruck by what happened as they were left breathless with the scene. Things became apparent: One did not have to dress in a simple gown nor wear a pretentiously innocent smile to portray exquisiteness. A truly beautiful woman could display it even with flaming red lips. The crowd went pin-drop silent. Everyone was stunned by her beauty. The silence remained until the end of her performance, when everyone finally recovered from the spell of her beauty and applauded thunderously. “Brilliant!” “That’s what the true ‘Glowing Forest’ embodies!” Recovering from her own state of shock, she completely disregarded what she had said before. “Who is she? I’ll have to take back what I said. Sign her!” she beamed. “We have to sign her!” On the second floor, Chris was jumping for joy. “Mommy is so pretty! Mommy is so pretty! Daddy, go on! She’s too pretty; you have to chase her now before someone else does!” “Speed isn’t always the key to success,” Anthony said flatly as he ruffled the boy’s hair. “Hmph. You’re too slow! I’ll help you!” Chris pushed him away and ran downstairs. Anthony frowned, “Stop him!” Nial followed suit, running after Chris.